“Till when?” she demanded.
Stefan’s jaw locked, his eyes flared, and a muscle in his jaw began to jump. His hands clenched on her arms as she stared defiantly up at him. “That doesn’t matter.”
“Till when?” she hissed.
“About two years agoStefan suddenly got a conscience,” Brian supplied, disgust evident in his voice.
Isabelle’s eyes widened in surprise,she turned tostareat himin disbelief. “You weren’t when I knew you,” David said inshock.
Brian snorted as he straightened away from the door. “Of course we were.”
“Brian,” Stefan growled in warning.
“Were you ever going to tell me?” Isabelle asked softly.
“No.”
She forced herself not to wince at his coldadmission. He had intended to keep her completely in the dark about his past, about who,and what he was. The fact that she truly didn’t know the man she had given everythingtonearly shattered her. It took every ounce of strength and pride she had to remain standing, to remain looking at him, and not to flee the room like a coward.
“What made you change?” She was immensely proud that her voice didn’t shake, but remained firm and cold.
“Idid.”
“Why?” Isabelle asked softly.
Stefan shifted his stance, his hands on her arms tightened. “There are some of us that are like the men that you met at the club,” he told her. “Brian and I used to kill them in order to stop them.”
“Plus we got all of their power, and when a vampire kills a human they get stronger. When we killone of our own,we get alotstronger.”
Stefan groundhis teeth, forcing himself not to lash out at Brian. He was deliberately trying to bait them, deliberately being a jackass, and he was pissing Stefan off. Now,however, was not the time to beat his old friend into a bloody pulp. There was much more behind the story than Brian was letting on, but he seemed determined to try and paint everything in the worst possible light. It was becauseStefanhad changedhis ways, and left Brian, Stefan knew that, but he was not in the mood to tolerate his insolence.
“You ever killa human?” Isabelle asked softly.
“One.”
The color drained from her face, as for the first time she showed some kind of emotion. “Why?” she whispered.
“It was a hunterIsabelle;it was him, or me.”
Isabelle’s gaze darted to Brian, he smiled slyly at her. “That’s when Stefan got a conscience.”
“Nowis not the time to talk about this,” Stefan said coldly. “You need to start packing.”
“What?” she demanded angrily.
“You’re not staying here.”
“I’m not leaving!” she snapped, ripping her arms free of his grasp as she tilted her chin defiantly.
“You’re all leaving.”
“No we’re not!” Jack declared.
Stefan was trying very hard to keep a hold on his temper. Isabelle was still staring at him as if he was a monstrosity, and Jack, David, and Ethan looked about ready to explode. “This is our home,” Isabelle said coldly.
“I know that Isabelle,” he hissed. “But you are going to have to leave until this is over.”
Her eyes flashed a violent shade of red as she glared furiously up at him.“I think you should leave, and takehimwith you!”
