"The kind that's going to follow me here, and soon." Brian drew her attention again as his gaze, curious and troubled, focused on her.
David, Ethan, and Jack slid off the counter; their bodies were tense as their eyes narrowed. "Then you should probably leave," Ethan said coldly.
"It's not that simple. They'll track me here no matter what. I either leave, and Stefan faces them by himself, or I stay, and Stefan helps me."
"We're here, we can help," Jack said.
"You're like pitting a lamb against a lion," Brian snorted disdainfully.
"Brian!" Stefan barked in warning.
"It's true," he retorted.
"And you're that much stronger?" Ethan demanded.
Brian met Ethan's hostile gaze. "I could break your neck before you blink."
Ethan's eyes sparked red. "Enough," Stefan said coldly, as he stepped forward to ward off a fight.
"And you? Are you that much stronger, Stefan?"
He finally turned his gaze back to Isabelle; he couldn't keep putting it off. Her gaze was turbulent as she stared up at him questioningly. There was an aura of sadness surrounding her that would have shredded him if he hadn't already steeled himself for the fact she was going to be hurt, and he was going to be the one to do it.
He remained silent as he stared at her, his jaw locked, and his eyes as cold as black ice. She didn't know the man standing before her, and she was beginning to realize she never had. The feeling turned her heart to a cold lump and caused her stomach to twist into knots. She refused to acknowledge it though. If she did, she knew she would break down.
"Well, Stefan?" she prompted.
"Yes."
Isabelle refused to acknowledge the agonizing pain ripping through her as she lifted her chin. She knew where that kind of power came from, what it meant. She could smell it on Brian, feel it radiating off him. She had smelled it on the others, but she had never smelled it on Stefan. Not once had she sensed anything wrong with him. She didn't understand any of this, and her sense of betrayal was threatening to choke her.
"Why don't you smell like him, or like the others at the club?" she asked.
Stefan frowned as Brian straightened away from the door. Jack and David cast her questioning looks. "What are you talking about, what smell?" Jack demanded.
She turned to stare at them in confusion. "Don't you smell it?" she asked.
The confusion in their eyes was her answer. She turned back to Stefan and Brian, her forehead furrowed as she frowned at them.
"Well, I do," she said forcefully. "Brian's nowhere near as bad as the ones at the club, but he still smells off. But you," she stared angrily at Stefan as loathing burned through her. "You don't smell like that. Did you cover it up somehow?"
Stefan shook his head as he stared at her in confusion. The fact she could tell something was off with Brian was amazing. Someone of her young age, who had never fed from a human, shouldn't be able to sense it at all. For a second, he thought it was his blood in her, but if she’d known about the ones at the club then that wasn't the cause.
His gaze darted to Ethan. "Do you smell it?" he demanded.
Ethan's jaw locked as his eyes, and nostrils flared. "Yes."
"What are you talking about?" Jack exploded impatiently.
"He's a killer, he smells of death," Isabelle said coldly. "And so is Stefan."
"Was," Stefan replied, just as coldly.
"Till when?" she demanded.
Stefan's jaw locked, and a muscle in his jaw jumped. His hands clenched on her arms as she stared defiantly up at him. "That doesn't matter,” he said.
"Till when?" she demanded.
"About two years ago Stefan suddenly got a conscience." Brian's lip curled as if the words appalled him.
Isabelle turned to stare at him in disbelief. "You weren't when I knew you," David blurted.
Brian snorted as he straightened away from the door. "Of course we were."
"Brian," Stefan growled in warning.
"Were you ever going to tell me?" Isabelle inquired.
"No."
She forced herself not to wince at his harsh admission. The fact she truly didn't know the man she had given everything to nearly shattered her. It took every ounce of strength and pride she had to remain standing, to remain looking at him, and not to flee the room like a coward.
"What made you change?" She was immensely proud her voice didn't shake.
"I did."
"Why?" Isabelle asked.
Stefan shifted his stance, his hands on her arms tightened. "There are some of us who are like the men you met at the club," he told her. "Brian and I used to kill them to stop them."
"Plus we got all of their power. When a vampire kills a human, they get stronger. When we kill one of our own, we get a lot stronger."
Stefan ground his teeth as he forced himself not to lash out at Brian. He was deliberately trying to bait them, deliberately being a jackass, and he was pissing Stefan off. Now, however, was not the time to beat his old friend to a bloody pulp. There was much more to the story than Brian was letting on, but he seemed determined to try and paint everything in the worst possible light.
"You ever kill a human?" Isabelle demanded.
"One," he admitted.
The color drained from her face, as for the first time she showed some emotion. "Why?" she whispered.
"It was a hunter, Isabelle; it was him, or me."
Isabelle's gaze settled on Brian, he smiled slyly at her. "That's when Stefan got a conscience."
"Now is not the time to talk about this," Stefan bit out. "You need to start packing."
"What?" she demanded angrily.
"You're not staying here."
"I'm not leaving!" She ripped her arms free of his grasp.
"You're all leaving."
"No, we're not!" Jack declared.
Stefan was struggling to keep a hold on his temper. Isabelle was still staring at him as if he were a monstrosity, and Jack, David, and Ethan looked about ready to explode.
"This is our home!" Isabelle declared.
"I know that," he hissed. "But you are going to leave until
