“Whatisthat?” Ian hissed.
Isabelle didn’t know, but it radiated through the inside of her, shaking her to the core. Something was off, something wasn’t right. It was not a scary feeling, not one that rocked her with fear, but it upset her nonetheless. There was something in those shadows that she had never felt before, something that she didn’t understand.
“What are you guys talking about?” Delia demanded.
“Isabelle go inside,” Ethan commandedsharply.
Isabelle shot him a nasty lookas her jaw clenched and her hands fisted at her sides.She wasn’t going anywhere if it meant leaving them alone with whatever the strange presence was. “No,”she retorted fiercely.His eyes narrowed as they darted to her.
“Come on.” A girl’s voice, Jess’s, cut through the air. Isabelle could tell that she was pulling on the man’s handbeside her, but he wasn’t moving.
“Hold on.” Thedeep, husky voice was a solid command that stopped Jess’s movementsinstantly. It also caused a bolt of surprise, and something else, something that she didn’t recognize, to jolt through Isabelle.
“Stefan,” Jess said impatiently.
Isabelle strained to see through the shadows. Her night vision was exceptionaland she was able to make out a small, thin girl, with light blond hairbefore the car. Her hand was on the arm of the man next to her. Isabelle’s gaze sharpened on him. His shoulders were broad, his build large and muscular, and his hair was as dark as the night surrounding him. The sensation, the disturbance in the air, was coming from him. It radiated off of him, pulsing through the night.
“It’s him,” Ethan whispered.
“Yes,” Aiden agreedhis voice barely audible in the completely still air.
“Huh?” Delia asked in surprise.
They all ignored her as they focused their attention on the strange man hidden within the shadows.Isabelle could barely make out the hard planes of his face and the firm set of his jaw. He looked as cold as concrete, and he was as still as stone. His eyes were dark, and narrowed upon them.
“Come on Stefan!” Jess said, pulling on his armagain.
He shrugged off her grasp as he stood stiffly; the shadows enfoldedhimwithin their embrace. Isabelle’s heart leapt into her throat. She suddenly knew what it wasthat was off, what he was. “Like knows like!” she gasped.
“What?” Delia asked in confusion, her eyes wild and wary as she took a quick stepawayfrom her and her siblings.
“Shit,” Ethanhissed, his stance becoming even more rigid as his hands fisted at his sides.Her brothers stiffened around him, grouping tighter together.
“You people are strange,” Delia said, her eyes dartingfearfully over them. “I want to see my mom.”
“What do we do?” Aiden whispered.
There was a shifting among the shadows, a smallbristlingas the man moved ever so slightly.“I wouldn’t do anything,” heinformed themcoldly.
Jess had called him Stefan, Isabelle remembered as she took an instinctive step closer to her brothers. There was something about his voice, something strange, but not unpleasant as it enveloped her like awarmcloak. It did something to the inside of her, caused something to stir and shift in a way that she had never experienced before. “Ethan,” she whispered fearfully.
He took a step forward, shielding her even more. The man, Stefan, laughed softly as he finally started to move forward. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
Another shiver wracked through Isabelle at the sound of his voice. The shadows parted around him as he moved swiftly into the light. Isabelle’s breath froze in herlungs;the world seemed to rock on its axis as her eyes locked upon him.He was perfect, broad, tall;magnificent. The hard planes of his perfectly sculptedboneswere highlighted by the light now playing off of his strong face.
His gaze traveled swiftly over her brothers before settling on her. His eyes were as black as onyx, and just as cold. They penetrated through her, racking her bones as they seemed to steal straight into her soul. For a moment, he was the only thing that she could see, the only thing she could feel.
Everything else disappeared.
Then, his gaze moved from hers, breaking thebriefconnection. Isabelle felt an amazing sense of loss as the breath rushed out of her, and the world slammed into place. With a startled cry, she turned and shoved her way past Aiden and Ianas shefledinto thesanctuaryof herhouse.
***
Stefan couldn’t move as his gaze locked on a pair of pure violet eyes. The young woman stared at him, her mouth slightly parted as she gazed at him with a deer in the headlights lookof pure panic. Her hair was dark, with soft gold streaks running through its shimmering depths. It curled around her beautiful, delicate face, before spilling down her back in thick waves. Her nose was small, and narrow, her tiny nostrils flaredas shegapedat him.
She was tall and slender, with the elegant grace that was innate to all of their kind, but with her, he knew that it would have been present even if she were a human.She was beautiful, perfect, unlike anything he had ever seen before, or had ever thought to see.He was surprised by the bolt of lust that ripped through him as the delicate tip of her tongue came out to nervously wet her full, luscious lips.
For a moment, she was all he could see, all he could sense. Then,the man next to her moved.Stefan’seyes darted to him as his instincts kicked into high gear. He knew what theyallwere,and he knew that they were going to defend their home, and each other. He had sensed them miles down the road, but he hadn’t known thathewas headingstraight into their lair. He still couldn’t believe it. Never had he seen so many of his kind in one place, and he knew that there werestillmoreof themin the house, and he could sense even more somewhere else.
