"So you want my help?" he demanded.
"You're one of the strongest ones I know. I didn't know where else to go."
Stefan snorted tiredly. It took him a long time, and a lot of death, to become one of the strongest. He’d always suspected he would pay for it, in the long run, now he knew he’d been right. His gaze went to the house as a crushing feeling of impending doom descended on him. He'd intended to keep Isabelle sheltered from his past, from the darkness lurking within his soul. Now he knew it wouldn’t be possible.
"That was a long time ago, Brian," he said. "Things are different now."
"Not that long ago, I can still feel it in you. You may fool them, but I know what you are, Stefan. We were together for a long time."
"Things are different!" he spat.
"Why, because of the girl?" Brian inquired.
Stefan's hands clenched. "You shouldn't have come here.”
"Well I did, now you have to decide what you're going to do."
He already knew what he was going to do, what he would have to do. "If I help you, you'll leave here and never come back."
Brian nodded briskly. "Fair enough."
"If any of them are injured, I will kill you."
"Fine."
"How long do you think it will be before they find you?"
He shrugged again, and Stefan took a threatening step toward him. "A day, maybe two," Brian answered quickly.
"Do you care to tell me what you did?"
"I killed one of them."
Stefan snorted as he shook his head and his gaze darted back to the house. Shit, what was he going to do? He didn't want Brian anywhere near any of them, but he was right, even if they both left the others would track Brian here, and they would destroy everyone who lived here. His time here was done; no one would forgive him for bringing this down on them. For the first time, he regretted stepping foot on this land and meeting Isabelle. He wished he’d never come here.
He didn't know what he’d been thinking. There was no way for him to escape his past, and it was about to come barreling down on all of them. He would be lucky if none of them were killed. He would gladly sacrifice his life, but he knew Isabelle would waste away and die without him. He couldn't allow that to happen. For better or worse, she was stuck with him, and he was going to do everything in his power to make sure she remained safe. He wished he could take it all back, wished there was some way to set her free, but there was nothing he could do.
"How many are coming?" he asked quietly.
"Four, maybe five."
Stefan whirled back to him. "How strong are they?"
"They have me on the run," Brian replied.
"You son of a bitch! I should kill you now!"
"You need me, and you know it. We can do this together. It will be just like old times."
"The old times are over with."
"So you say, but you're still a killer, Stefan."
"I know what I am!" he grated through his teeth. "Let's go."
He turned on his heel and headed toward the house. "Are you going to tell them?"
"I'm going to have to."
"The girl..."
Fury suffused his entire body once more. "I swear I will rip your throat out if you go anywhere near her."
Brian chuckled, and Stefan desperately fought the urge to hit him again. "I don't want her, but she reeks of you, Stefan. They'll go for her too."
"I know that, Brian. That's why she's getting out of here, with everyone else."
He pounded up the porch steps and hesitated at the doorway. "I can still destroy you, don't forget that."
"I know."
"Stay away from all of them, I mean it."
Brian nodded. Stefan eyed him warily for a minute more before opening the door. Isabelle, Ethan, Jack, and David were sitting on the countertops in the kitchen. Their eyes locked on Brian as he followed Stefan into the house. Isabelle's gaze instantly shot back to him as she leapt off the counter.
"You're bleeding!" she cried.
She cast Brian a scathing glance as she hurried toward Stefan. Brian grinned at her as he closed the door behind him.
"I'm fine," Stefan assured her as he grabbed her hands before she could touch the lacerations on his chest. Her gaze was worried and troubled; her delicate eyebrows drawn together as she studied him questioningly.
"What's going on?" Jack demanded.
Stefan lifted his head to look at them as Brian leaned casually against the door with his long legs crossed before him and his arms folded over his chest. "Brian seems to have gotten himself into a little bit of trouble," Stefan replied coldly.
"What kind of trouble?" David asked.
"Hey, I know you." Brian straightened away from the door as he stared questioningly at David.
"Philadelphia," Stefan reminded him.
Brian nodded; a sly smile curved his mouth as he studied David. "That's right; you were the one whose friends were in trouble. How did that work out?"
"You're at one of their houses," David replied.
"Well, that's good. Stefan and I never did believe in the soul mate crap, but I guess there must be some truth to it."
Isabelle's mouth pursed as she glanced sharply at Brian. The uneasiness in her stomach was beginning to grow by the second. Her gaze returned to Stefan, but his face was cold and impassive as he studied David, Jack, and Ethan. His hands on her arms were just as impersonal as the rest of him. She scanned the jagged gashes on his chest. They were already healed; the only evidence of their existence was the dry blood on his shirt and the jagged rips in it. He still wouldn't look at her, and he had effectively shut her out of his mind. Something was going on with him; something she didn't understand but instinctively knew wasn't good.
"What kind of trouble?" she asked tremulously, hoping to draw his attention back to
