"The promise of immortality is incredibly enticing to a lot of people." Stefan dropped the gardener's arm away in disgust, wiped his hands on his jeans, and rose. He pulled Isabelle away from the man and moved her over toward the bed.
This revelation helped to ease some of his guilt over killing the man. He no longer disliked the idea of tossing his body into the sea.
"At least we know who was leaving you presents during the day," he said. "Though there could be others." The color faded further from Emma's face, her eyes shot to the open French doors and then the hall behind her. "We will keep all of you safe."
She bowed her head but the anxiety etched onto her features didn't ease.
"We have to get rid of him, now," Stefan said stridently.
"The sun has set, Tristan and his friends will be out again," Isabelle said nervously. "We can't move him now."
Ethan studied the darkening sky before turning his attention to Emma. Her eyes were riveted to the body beneath the sheet. "He has to stay here tonight, doesn’t he?" she asked.
In answer to her question, laughter drifted in from outside, and something clattered across the balcony. Ethan leapt to his feet and hurried toward the doors.
"Ethan, don't!" Isabelle cried and scurried over the top of the bed toward him.
Without thinking, and driven by concern for Ethan's safety, Emma left her friends behind and ran toward him. Stefan made a move to grab her, but when Ethan turned toward him with a low growl, he dropped his hand down and stepped aside. Emma glanced between the two of them as confusion rolled through her, and she stopped a few feet away from Ethan. She would like nothing more than to throw herself into his arms to keep him from stepping outside, but if she threw herself into his arms now, she knew she would never look back.
She could forgive him one day though, she realized, not everything was black and white in this world. Sometimes the colors were the most frightening part of it. She realized that now, but it still didn't mean they could be together. There was too much she didn't understand...was scared of; he was part of a world she'd never known existed until yesterday. He belonged to a world she wasn't part of.
When he looked at her like he was now, she found herself not caring about any of those things. He'd risked his life for her, had killed for her, and he was staring at her as if she were the only thing in the world he could see. No one had ever looked at her like that; it made her feel loved in a way she never had before.
Then a new sound resonated from outside and he was turning away from her as more laughter echoed through the night. "He'll call the police to try and set us up, I know he will," Emma whispered.
"We can take care of the police," Stefan said. "They'll never remember they were here when we're done with them. He won't call them though; he's here to torment you and to taunt Ethan into responding. They have to be taken care of before anyone else dies."
Isabelle grabbed Stefan's arm, stopping him before he could leave the house. "There's more of them than you think," she hissed. "I can smell them."
That was the oddest statement Emma ever heard, but she wasn't about to question them on it. For now, there were some things she would prefer not to have elaborated.
"How many are there?" Stefan asked.
"More than last night," Ethan murmured. "At least eight, maybe more."
Stefan's forehead furrowed as he frowned and looked toward the doors. "Eight? Why are there eight of them together?"
Emma pulled the sheet closer around her when Ethan stepped in front of her and pushed her back a step. "Is that unusual?" she inquired.
"That many together, yes. What they're doing, and why, is something I don't understand," Stefan answered.
"The ones last night were young, and judging by the smell, and the way they're moving, these are young too." Ethan's nostrils flared as he scented the night. "Tristan created them."
"What?" Emma blurted out.
"These vampires are Tristan's creations."
"Of course they are," Stefan said with a note of realization in his voice. "Young, impetuous, and eager to please their creator."
"But where is his creator?" Isabelle asked.
"Not all of those created are willing to stay with their creator, I certainly wasn't," Stefan said bitterly.
Isabelle wrapped her hand around his arm and stepped closer to him. Emma glanced at Isabelle and Ethan as a new thought occurred to her, how were they both vampires? Had the same person changed them at the same time, or around the same time? But he'd talked about his parents and his numerous siblings; were they all vampires too? It was just more questions to add to the growing heap of them, but the heap would have to wait until later as laughter drifted in from outside again.
"We need to think about this before engaging with them," Isabelle said and stepped forward to close the doors. "But neither of you are going out there without me."
"You're not going out there," Stefan said briskly.
"So it's settled that we're not engaging with them tonight," she said with a falsely sweet smile.
Emma's gaze drifted back to the man lying next to the bureau. Her stomach twisted, she looked away before she spilled what little contents were in her belly as the eerie laughter continued to drift in from outside. "They'll stay out there all night," she whispered.
Ethan stepped closer to her; he went to rest his hands on her shoulders but dropped them down before he could. "I think you should get dressed." She frowned at him and then at the sheet wrapped around her. "Please, Emma."
She gathered the clothes she'd set out on the bureau before getting into the shower and stepped into the bathroom to change. When she came out of the bathroom, she immediately
