Please come back after this, she pleaded silently.
Ethan jumped onto the man he’d thrown and placed his foot on the back of his head. He drove it into the floor and twisted his toe into it, caving in the front of the man's skull. Grabbing Tristan, he seized his head with both hands. Tristan howled, his hands flailed at him as skin and bone gave way. Ethan didn't stop as he continued to turn Tristan's head completely around before ripping it from his body.
His shoulders heaved, bloodlust pulsed through him, and he tossed the head away as if it were no more than a bowling ball. He lifted his head to take in the remaining three vampires in the room. They stared at him in disbelief and horror before turning and fleeing down the hall. Though all he wanted was to tear into something else, to feel more life slipping away in his bare hands, he didn't bother following them; they wouldn't get past the others—especially not Brian.
There was something far more important than blood and death right now. He spun away and fled back to Emma's side. Her eyes were mere slits as she watched him approach, her heart had slowed to an alarming rate, and he knew there was almost no time left for her. He ran into the kitchen and grabbed a towel and knife from it. Wetting the towel, he wiped away the blood covering his forearm as he returned to her side. His knees hit the ground beside her; her body felt almost lifeless, her head flopped against his chest as he gathered her in his arms.
The minute his arms wrapped around her, he felt more of his murderous impulses fading away as his body reeled back in the power and brutality it just unleashed. It was impossible to feel the urge to kill when all he cared about now was saving her.
"Emma?" Jill croaked from behind him.
Ethan didn't look back at the girl, but he could feel her steady approach. The mind control she'd been under broke when whoever had taken possession of her mind was killed. Just as the barrier preventing the others from entering the house fell.
"What happened?" Jill whispered.
"Stay back," Isabelle commanded.
"But what happened?" Jill whimpered.
"We'll explain later," Isabelle promised. "But you have to stay back."
Emma's eyes were only slits and dull as they came up to his. "I love you," she whispered.
"You're going to be fine," he told her, even if he wasn't so sure.
Panic tore through him as he tilted her head back and drew the knife deftly across his wrist. He didn't feel the pain of the blade as his blood poured forth. It was far more blood than his bite would provide, blood she desperately needed. Her eyes fell on his wrist as he held it up to her.
"Do it," she breathed before her eyes drifted closed.
"Drink, Emma," he pleaded as he pressed his wrist to her mouth. "Please." He could feel his blood seeping into her body, but there was no response from her. His lips dropped to her head; he cradled her closer as terror tore through him. "Drink, baby."
She remained unmoving in his arms, her head against his shoulder. The strange red filling his body faded away as his blood slipped into her. He hated to touch her while covered in the blood of the massacre he just unleashed, but he couldn't let her go. Tears burned his eyes as he kissed her forehead and pressed her closer against his chest.
"I can't lose you," he moaned.
A footstep on his right drew his attention to Isabelle as she knelt by his side. Her eyes were troubled as she stared at Emma. "Ethan—"
"She's going to be fine," he growled.
Stefan rested his hands on Isabelle's shoulders and pulled her away. "Don't," she started to protest.
"Stay away," Stefan warned. He pushed her behind him and placed his body in between them.
Ethan turned his attention away from them as he focused everything on willing Emma to live, willing her to stay with him. Emma's closed eyes suddenly flickered up to him, her body stiffened, her fingers jerked on the floor before going completely still as her heart stopped. He felt like a mirror dropped on the ground as everything within him fractured and fell apart. The only thing left of him was a black hole sucking out everything he was. There was no soul, no humanity, as he stared into her unseeing eyes.
And then her heart kicked violently against her ribs, she gasped in a breath as suffering twisted her face and a harsh cry escaped her. Her fingers clenched, her teeth clamped involuntarily down on his arm as her body jerked in his embrace. Though he hated her suffering, and would do anything to take it from her, he was also filled with ecstasy as her heart pounded out a far steadier beat than before. Alive, she was alive, and she was going to stay that way.
He rocked her as more spasms racked her body, and her fingernails tore into his skin. Her teeth finally unclamped from his wrist, and he pulled it away from her as the transformation continued within her body. Small mewls escaped her; tears spilled down her cheeks as her feet kicked spastically against the floor.
"I'm sorry, but it will be okay," he whispered in her ear. "This is the worst part."
Emma felt as if she were drowning in agony. Her skin was as raw as when she'd gotten a second-degree sunburn while visiting Florida when she was thirteen. She'd been blistered everywhere
