"I think I might be falling in love with the guy," Mandy whispered.
Emma released them and walked over to him. She slid her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest.
"I'm not going to run," she said. "It will only give him satisfaction, and he'll follow me. We're here to have fun, and we're going to try and have it. The police know, they'll be looking for him, I'll be no safer in the states than here."
Relief filled Ethan as he held her against him. He would have an easier time keeping her safe while they were on this island. He may not know exactly where Tristan was, but he would figure it out while they were here.
Chapter Sixteen
Emma leaned against Ethan's side as they walked along the beach back to the house. The warm air caressed her skin, and she couldn't rid herself of a goofy smile. It had taken a lot of prodding for them to get her out the house, but she'd finally relented to Ethan, Jill, and Mandy's insistence she had to try and have fun.
She'd had a couple more drinks than she was used to tonight, but she was hoping to ease some of her strain over the awful events of this day. Walking down the beach with Ethan though, feeling his body against hers, she could almost forget everything that had happened and the fact Tristan was somewhere on this island. It was peaceful here. She felt secure with him and her friends so nearby.
Jill and Mandy were ahead of them, giggling together as Jill ran through the sand. She made some strange dancing motion with her hands and legs that made Emma realize she was the sober one. Though lights from a couple of bars, and some homes, filtered over the sand, there were few people on the beach. Emma stifled a yawn as Jill twirled in circles that looked more like a spastic marionette than the ballerina Emma thought she was trying to emulate.
"She's not going to try out for a beauty pageant, is she?" Ethan inquired dryly.
Emma chuckled. "I hope not."
The gentle sound of the ocean on her right was almost enough to lull her to sleep on her feet as she stifled another yawn and snuggled closer to Ethan. Jill began to sing, which was the one thing worse than her dancing, as she hopped back to Mandy and slid her arm through hers.
"I think I'm going deaf," Ethan said.
"Can you make me deaf too?"
She'd meant the question to be airy, but he’d become rigid against her and abruptly stopped walking. Emma frowned as she turned toward him. His eyes narrowed; his eyebrows furrowed over the bridge of his nose as he searched the night around them. His nostrils flared, his head began turning slowly back and forth. Apprehension slid down her spine; she'd never seen him look like this before, never seen such a look come over anyone else before.
"Ethan?" she asked. Jill's singing was growing distant, but Ethan remained unmoving on the sand. "Ethan, what's wrong?"
A shimmer of movement to the left caught her attention seconds before Ethan pushed her forward. "Run!" he spat and turned away from her.
"What?" she cried.
"Run, Emma! Now!" he shouted.
A scream swirled up and choked in her throat. She swore his eyes flashed red when he looked at her over his shoulder. It was impossible, completely impossible, no one's eyes could do that. He was pushing her forward before she could pause to consider what it was she might have seen in his eyes.
"Go!"
The urgency of his voice, and the look on his face, caused her to turn and flee toward Jill and Mandy. Her feet slipped in the sand, her lungs burned from exertion, but she continued to race onward.
Ethan spun to face the threat he sensed in the air. The shimmering on his left caused him to move in that direction. He used the strength flowing freely through him since he was a child, and which only intensified tenfold upon his reaching maturity, to hone in on his prey.
Ethan seized the vamp by the throat. He lifted the man above his head as if he weighed no more than twenty pounds and slammed his two-hundred-pound frame into the sand. The man landed on his back with an explosive exhale that blew the hair back from Ethan's face.
Lips skimmed back to reveal the man's fangs as he hissed and his eyes turned a volatile shade of red. Ethan had never seen the vamp before, but the aroma of a landfill radiated from him and caused Ethan's nose to wrinkle instinctively.
"Who are you?" Ethan growled.
He didn't get an answer though as another flash on his right caught his attention. This one wasn't coming at him though; it was heading for Jill, Mandy, and Emma. Ethan twisted the head of the man beneath him sharply to the side. The crack of his neck breaking resonated loudly through the air, it wouldn't kill the vampire, but he wouldn't be following them for a little while.
Launching to his feet, Ethan poured on the speed as he raced across the beach to where the girls were heading toward the road. Mandy's gate was the most awkward he'd ever seen it as she struggled to run through the shifting sand. She stumbled and nearly fell, but Emma and Jill grabbed her arms and held her as they helped her forward.
The other blur was almost to them when Ethan lowered his shoulder and smashed into it. Years of playing football with his family and The Stooges had trained him on how to take down another vampire, and he did so now with ease. Satisfaction filled him as he heard a couple ribs give way from the impact, and he felt the unhinging of the other vampire's shoulder.
The vampire sprawled across the sand, kicking it up around him and causing Emma and the others to turn at the sound of the commotion.
"Keep
