Emma caught up with him as he stopped by the island where the flowers sat. He frowned at them before grabbing the card. Scanning it, he returned it and turned to her. "I didn’t send these, Emma."
Her forehead furrowed in confusion, then the color drained from her face as she stared at the flowers with a look of abject horror. She snatched the vase off the counter, stalked over to the trashcan, stepped on the foot pedal, and dumped them unceremoniously into the trash. The lid slammed closed with an air of finality as she turned away. Ethan watched her agitated movements as she hurried across the living room and jerked the curtains closed over the glass doors leading to the balcony.
There was a firm set to her shoulders, but he didn't miss the tremble in her hand as she finished closing the curtains. "Emma, do you know who those are from?" She didn't speak as she walked around the room and pulled the rest of the curtains shut. "Emma?"
"I thought I saw him the other day, but I didn't believe it was possible," she muttered as she returned to the kitchen and yanked the curtains over the sink closed.
Ethan clasped her hand before she could walk past him. Hostility grew inside him as he took in the frantic look in her eyes. He hated that look, and with sudden certainty, he knew he would do anything he could to make it go away.
"Who, Emma?" he asked in a deceptively calm voice.
Her eyes zipped wildly around the room before settling on him. "Tristan."
It took him a minute to place the name, but when he did, rage settled over him. He somehow managed to keep himself composed as her troubled eyes watched him.
"You saw him the other day?" he asked.
"Yes, I mean no!" she cried. "I thought I did, but it couldn't be him. What would he be doing here? How would he know I was here? But who else would have sent them?”
He pulled her against his chest as tears spilled down her cheeks. It wasn't until her tears wet his skin that he realized he was naked. Bending down, he lifted her and swung her into his arms. It amazed him how little she was as he carried her down the hall and placed her tenderly on her bed. He turned back and noiselessly closed the door before settling beside her and pulling her into his lap.
"Tell me what you think you saw," he coaxed.
Finding comfort in his strong arms, Emma curled closer as his presence helped ease some of the instinctual terror sprouting forth with the realization Tristan might be on this island. She told him what she saw the other day on the beach.
"My parents wouldn't send them; I know Jill and Mandy didn't do it. If they weren't from you, that only leaves him," she whispered.
Ethan brushed her glossy hair back from her forehead as he tried to soothe the shivers racking her small frame. "If they are from him, then I will take care of it," he vowed.
"I don't want to see you hurt over this. Tristan is unstable; I don't know what he's capable of doing. I don't understand how he found me."
Ethan's jaw clenched, but he couldn't tell her why he had no fear of any human. "Are you sure it couldn't be someone else?"
She frowned as she searched her mind for anyone else who would send her flowers. She came up with nothing. "I'll call my parents and ask them tomorrow, but I know it wasn't them. They would send more of a card with them."
Ethan rested his chin on top of her head and ran his hands up and down her arms. The desire he'd felt for her earlier disappeared. All he wanted now was to keep her protected and ease her worry. He would do everything he could to make sure she stayed safe, even if it meant killing his first human.
Chapter Thirteen
Jill was about to dump the leftover eggs into the trash when she froze and looked up at Emma with consternation. Emma was tempted to hide behind her coffee mug; unfortunately, it didn't offer her much protection from her friend's probing gaze.
"Why are the flowers in here?" Jill demanded.
Mandy leaned forward on her crutch to see what caught Jill's attention. Her forehead furrowed as she lifted her head to look at Emma. "Did you two have a fight or something?"
"From the sounds I heard last night there is no way they were fighting," Jill said.
It may be useless, but Emma lifted her coffee mug and held it before her face.
"Then what is going on?" Mandy's hand pushed the mug back down so she could look Emma in the eye.
"The flowers aren't from Ethan," she admitted.
Mandy frowned at her before glancing at the trashcan. "Then who are they from?"
"Your parents?" Jill asked as she finished scraping the eggs into the trash.
Emma shook her head. "I called them this morning; they didn't send them either."
"Then who would..." Mandy's voice trailed off as her hand slipped away from Emma's mug. "No, that's not possible."
Emma closed her eyes and placed her mug on the counter. "I thought I saw him the other day."
"Are you serious?" Jill blurted and tossed the frying pan into the sink.
Emma winced at the clattering sound and glanced over her shoulder. She'd left Ethan in the shower, but he wouldn't be in there much longer. She didn't want to retell this story in front of him. She knew he wouldn't, but the look in his eyes last night made her think he might
