"No. Where are they?" he snarled.
Jack's eyes sharpened on Stefan. "They're gone," he said.
"They were old." Jack's brow furrowed, but he didn't question how Stefan knew that. "We need to get her out of here, now."
Jack nodded as Ian reappeared. "Get the car," Jack told him.
"Is she all right?" Ian demanded.
"Get the fucking car!" Stefan snapped.
Ian's eyes darkened with resentment, but he didn't argue. Instead, he nodded and took off around the building. Stefan shifted his hold on Isabelle as blood trickled onto his fingers. Anger ripped through him again as he fully realized someone else had touched her, hurt her. He trembled with his urge to kill, to savage, and destroy.
He mistakenly thought he’d managed to rid himself of such urges, managed to leave them in his past, but he was completely wrong. The killer in him was still very close to the surface, and it was Isabelle who brought it out in him.
He inhaled as the realization sank in and further rattled his thin thread of composure. When her panic had slammed into him inside the club, he was jolted by the fact she was able to communicate it to him at all. Only bonded vampires could communicate with their minds, and the bond was forged through blood or sex.
Then, all those thoughts had fled as he was gripped by the overwhelming drive to get to her, to kill whoever was hurting her and anyone who got in his way. He was overrun again by the bloodlust that drove him for centuries, a bloodlust he was determined to rid himself of forever. He now knew that he’d failed.
He also failed in his need to keep her safe. She was injured by a part of the world he had never wanted her to know existed, and all because he was too stubborn to go after her when she left. It was his fault she was hurt. If it hadn't been for him, she never would have come to the club tonight, she never would have been outside, and she wouldn't have been hurt. Right now, he hated himself completely.
"How much did they take from her?" Jack asked worriedly.
"I don't know," Stefan said coldly.
"We need to get her blood, now!"
Stefan searched her face. She was extremely pale, her lips nearly white, but her heartbeat soundly, and she was breathing regularly. He closed his eyes and used his power to push himself into her subconscious mind, to search out the damage they inflicted on her. It wasn't something he could do if she was awake and fought him. However, now that she was unconscious and vulnerable, he drifted into her. Relief filled him when he realized they hadn't taken much of her precious blood. He pulled out of her mind to gaze at her unconscious form.
"They didn't take much," he said quietly.
"They must have! Look at her!" Jack protested.
"No, they didn't," Stefan grated.
"Then why is she out like a light?" Jack shouted.
Stefan ground his teeth and closed his eyes against the concern and self-loathing tearing him to shreds. "Because of the pain."
"What?" Jack asked in confusion.
Stefan's eyes flew open. Jack took an abrupt step back.
"The pain!" Stefan answered. "When you're a human, and your blood is drained unwillingly, it hurts. Trust me, I know. When you're a vampire, and it happens, it feels as if the fires of Hell are searing through your body. It's why she couldn't fight them off."
"Oh," Jack’s eyes scanned Stefan before returning to Isabelle. "Will she be all right?"
Jack took a step toward her; his hand extended to touch her. Stefan immediately stepped back as a hiss escaped. Amazement over his reaction coursed through him, but his body remained tense and rigid with animosity. He didn't know why he’d done it; Jack would never mistreat Isabelle, but the idea of him touching her instantly brought the demon out of him.
He knew he would lose control if Jack insisted on touching her. Jack's eyes came back to his, but to Stefan's amazement, he didn't argue with him, and he didn't try to get near her again. His eyes filled with a sad acceptance as he stepped warily back and his hand dropped limply to his side.
Stefan's eyes narrowed on Jack as he held onto her. She was so vulnerable, so frail and fragile it tore at his insides. He eyed Jack warily, unable to understand why Jack, a man who helped raise Isabelle, backed away from him without a protest. Stefan's emotions were becoming more tumultuous and disordered by the second. He was losing complete control of himself because of her.
"Will she be okay?" Jack asked again.
"Yes. She just needs some rest and some blood."
Headlights swung into the alley as Ian drove toward them. He pulled up with a screech of brakes, hopped out of the car, and raced toward them. "Jack, you drive!” Ian said. “Give her to me!"
He stopped before Stefan and held his arms out to take Isabelle. Stefan's nostrils flared as his jaw clenched and his temper built again. "No," he spat.
"Give my sister to me!" he demanded.
He reached out to grab her, but Stefan turned, so his body was between Ian and Isabelle. Ian's eyes flashed red, but Jack grabbed Ian's arm and pulled him roughly back. "Get in the car, Ian!" he ordered.
Ian rounded on him angrily, his hands clenched at his sides. "I will not! Not without—"
"Now! Get in the car, now!" Jack bellowed at him.
Jack shoved Ian toward the passenger side of the car. "Jack—"
"Ian, if you want to live, you will get in this car!" Jack shouted.
Ian stared at him in disbelief as Jack flung the door open and shoved him inside. Stefan’s anger ebbed as astonishment began to replace it. What the hell was going on with him and with Jack?
"Let's go!" Jack yelled.
Stefan shook off his confusion, now was not the time for it. He slid into the backseat and
