A grunt escaped him as something sliced down his shoulder and ripped open his flesh. He realized he'd been stabbed when he felt the air blowing against his exposed skin and the blood spilling down his back.
"Ethan!" Isabelle screamed from the doorway.
He didn't bother to look at her though as he kept Emma pressed against his chest with one arm and swung back at Tristan with the other. The knife, still embedded in his shoulder, hindered his movement but he was still faster than Tristan and managed to catch him across the cheek. Blood spilled as he sliced the right side of Tristan's face open from ear to chin with his claws. The blow exposed the white of his cheekbone and his lower teeth.
Shifting Emma, he bent and placed her carefully on the floor before turning to face Tristan as he came back at him with five of his companions. Reaching back, he wrapped his hand around the handle of the knife and tore it free of the muscle. Fresh blood spilled free, but he paid it no mind as he shoved Tristan back and smashed his hand into the chest of another vampire. Bone gave way beneath the crushing impact as he drove his fist straight into the man's chest cavity. His hand wrapped around the man's beating heart, a victorious smile curving his mouth as the man's eyes widened in horror a second before Ethan tore the heart from his chest and crushed it in his hand.
One of the other vampires fell back, but the other three launched at him while Tristan made a move to get around him toward Emma. Thrusting upward, Ethan's lips pulled back to reveal his teeth as he drove the blade of the knife to the hilt into the sternum of one of his attackers. The man's eyes bulged, his hands clawed at the offending weapon as he staggered back. Ethan seized another man by the throat, lifted him, and threw him into two vampires. Darting to the side, he grabbed Tristan's arm and flung him back before he could reach Emma. Someone grabbed his arm. Ethan jerked it free and spun to face his attacker. His fist caved in the right side of the man's face, shattering his teeth and nose.
Behind him, Emma was struggling to her feet, but he could hear the sluggish, erratic beat of her heart. If there was any chance she was going to survive, he had to get her out of here, now. The rage within him continued to grow as two more vampires came at him. A bellow ripped from him as he tore the throat from one and thrust his fist into the stomach of the other one. He was outnumbered, but his concern for Emma, his fury, and the power surging through him made him realize it didn't matter. He could and would kill every single vampire in this house.
Two of them fell back when he drove his fist into the chest of another and tore out his heart. The woman who knelt by Emma's side before turning her attention to Jill fled from the room and down the hallway.
"Mine!" Brian declared and disappeared from the doorway in pursuit of the woman.
Ethan leapt forward as Tristan spun away; he grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and jerked him back before swinging an uppercut at another man who lunged at him. The man's head shot back; blood spilled down his chin as his fangs were driven into his lower lip.
Claws raked over his side, slashing his skin open to the ribs as Tristan spun on him. Ethan barely felt it though as he pulled Tristan toward him and buried his fangs into his neck. He didn't taste the blood spilling into his mouth, didn't swallow it as he tore a chunk of flesh from Tristan's throat and spat it out. Grabbing Tristan's head with both hands, he jerked it brutally to the side. A resounding crack echoed through the room and scared another vampire into fleeing down the hall.
Emma tried once more to get to her feet, but though she willed them to move, they had stopped listening to her. It was getting to the point she could barely feel them anymore. She thought she should be terrified. Instead, she found herself oddly detached from her body and the weakness creeping through it. She wanted desperately to help Ethan, to fight with him, but there was nothing she could do as her body refused the commands of her mind.
She was pretty sure she was dying, it certainly felt that way as her heart did a strange stuttering thing again. Before her, Ethan moved to the side and grabbed Tristan. She'd never seen anything like the bloodbath going on in the room, but she still felt no fear of Ethan as he crushed another heart in his hand. A cry of alarm lodged in her throat when Tristan sliced Ethan's side open, tearing his clothing and skin apart.
"No," she managed to croak when she spotted Ethan's ribs beneath the blood oozing from the lethal looking wounds.
She'd never seen such ruthlessness before, never expected to see it in her life, and yet the sight of the blood and body parts splattered around the room and covering Ethan, didn't make her stomach turn. She was too concerned about the number of vampires still coming at him and the blood seeping out to cover his shirt and jeans.
Emma tried to lift her fingers, but they were as numb as the rest of her. Ethan shoved Tristan away from him and grabbed the arm of another vampire. Blood and bone erupted from the man's elbow as Ethan snapped it in half. Emma winced as the man let out a howl loud enough to rival an ambulance siren. Ethan shoved the man away and grabbed another one. Her eyes felt heavier, she could barely keep them open, but she had to know Ethan would survive this.
Tristan held
