Reclaimed (11 page)

She ignored his pleas for a more pressing question on her mind. “How? How do you get chosen to be an Enforcer?”

“They look at the time you died. Were you pure of heart? Or doing things that don’t match their values? Are you willing to put your life at risk to save others, or do you care only for your own wants and desires? Since I died trying to save Elijah and Amelia—even in the face of such a betrayal—the Council deemed my moral qualities upstanding. Therefore, I am an Enforcer.

“Whereas people like Elijah, who died betraying his brother, are deemed beneath their notice, and therefore become whatever monster they are doomed to be. In Elijah’s case, a vampire.”

“So, if you die while helping someone, you are automatically an Enforcer?” she questioned in confusion. “If so, there should be a lot of you around.”

“Not as many as one might think. They don’t just look at the moment of your death. They look at your whole life. From the time you were a child to the time you die. It’s not a split-second decision. It isn’t even up to the Enforcers. It is up to the Council.”

“The council?” she squeaked.

“Yes. There’s a judge’s panel, of sorts, although no one’s ever seen them. Or will. But, we all answer to them. And by us, I mean the Enforcers. They decide who’s worthy, and who isn’t, and we’re sent by their orders to ‘collect’ them.”

“Is the order sent by carrier pigeon?” She fought back the urge to burst into hysterical laughter. Un-freaking believable.

“Don’t be silly.” He grinned. “They’re too unreliable. By owl, of course.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously,” he assured her.

“Holy crap.” She breathed deeply. “How in the world do they figure it out so fast whether you are worthy or not? I assume they don’t have warning you’re going to die?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Out of all the stuff I told you, you question
timing
, and only timing?”

“Well, it seems a bit of a rushed decision,” she argued as she blushed. “But I see your point. If all this other crap is possible, why question the how, huh?”

“Right.” He chuckled. “Anyway, my job is to kill all the monsters walking alongside humans like you. Monsters like Elijah,” he emphasized.

“Oh, my God. So if you see him, you have to kill him? That’s
horrible
.” He was duty-bound to kill his brother? This didn’t seem fair at all. No matter what he had done, Elijah was still his brother. He couldn’t desire his twin’s death
that
much.

Right?

“Yes, if ever I see him, I’d be duty-bound to kill him. Or to try, at least. He’s very fast and strong. Even with my powers, it’s not an easy fight. And even worse, if Elijah knows you’re here, inevitably Louisa will know as well. I’ve been hunting her throughout this life and have yet to catch her. She’s cunning. Dangerous. She’d think nothing of killing you again. Trust me.”

Stillness came over her as his words clicked in her head. A beautiful woman who would want to kill her….

Her horror must have been written on her face, for he grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently to get her attention.

“What? What is it, Sabrina? Have you
seen
her?”

“Yeah, in my dream,” she whispered. “She had long red hair, and brown eyes. Elijah fought her off by throwing a tree at her. It was the dream I had the night you were here. She kept trying to get to me, but Elijah wouldn’t let her. Now I know why.” She shuddered as she remembered the woman—Louisa—trying to get to her, desperate to kill her again. Great, so now she had a jealous vampire who wanted her dead, too?

So to sum it up, she was dating an Enforcer, who was required to kill his brother—who
happened
to want her—and had a jealous fiancée who wanted nothing more than to see her dead?

How had this become her life?

“Shit. I’d worried this would happen. I’ve been watching, but haven’t seen her. At least Elijah protected you.”

This time
.

“So you believe, both of you, I’m Amelia”—she put a hand to her chest “—reincarnated or something? Or I bear a striking resemblance to her? Is it even possible, to be the same person, reborn?” The condescension in her tone rang clear even to her ears, but she couldn’t help it.

“I believe anything to be possible. I’ve seen it
all
. And yes, I think you are she. I’m sure Elijah feels the same.”

Her mind reeled, but she had too many questions to linger. Shock would have to wait until later. Way later.

“Can you be hurt by these creatures? What do you eat? Are you immortal?”

He stopped her by pressing a finger to her lips. “Slow down, honey.” He laughed. “Yes, I can be killed. When I change into one of them, whichever I’m fighting, I’m as susceptible to death as they are. But it’s not an easy task to kill my kind. There are different ways to kill different species. Vampires, for example, need to be decapitated and thrown into salt water. It eats away their skin. If you don’t do both those steps, they come back to life. Werewolves go down when shot by silver bullets and burned in fire. But, when I’m in front of you, like this, as a human, I’m one in every way.

“The only way I differ from you is you can’t kill me. In human form, if I got hit by a train, I’d get up and walk away after a short break to recover. Run over? I’d heal almost immediately. Shot? My body absorbs it. The only way to kill me is if I am one of them. Then, I’m vulnerable.

“As far as food—well, you already know I eat normal food. When I phase, however, I take on the tendencies of the creature I become. If I’m a vampire, I thirst for blood. As a werewolf, I hunger for meat. I become that creature, and act as such.” He paused to await any questions she might have about his last statements.

“All those things are
real
?” she asked incredulously. It made sense that if Elijah and Isaac were real, the rest would be, too. But come on, man. All the things kids were terrified of, the things that went bump in the night, really did exist?

“Yes, everything you’ve heard of, and some you haven’t.”

“What do you mean ‘some I haven’t’?”

“Shines, mongrels, fourwers—”

“Okay, enough.
Way
too much information. I don’t even know what the heck those are.” She held a hand up when his mouth opened. “And don’t need to know right now. Maybe I’ll never need to know.” She shuddered. “Let’s get back on track. Why not stay an Enforcer to battle these…creatures? If you are, as you say, immortal as an Enforcer?”

“When I’ve changed into one of them, I’m faster, stronger. My reflexes are improved greatly. It makes it possible for me to beat them. As an Enforcer, while unable to die, I’m not as strong, nor as quick. I’m also susceptible to human weaknesses, such as being knocked unconscious. Not a good thing in a battle.”

Okay, that, at least, made sense. “Have you ever, as a vampire—?” She stuttered to a halt, scared of his answer.

“No, I’ve not bitten anyone. If I do, there’s a hefty price to pay. If I succumb to my beastly desires, I’m cursed to remain that creature for all my days, and in turn will be hunted down and killed. So, you see, I can’t afford to be weak.”

“Elijah, as a vampire, does he…act like one? I mean, kill people?” She shivered as she pictured Elijah jumping out at an unsuspecting old woman walking down the road.

The now familiar ice-mask he wore when he no longer liked the subject at hand reappeared when she mentioned Elijah’s name, and she cringed. Her inquisitive writer’s mind had to be getting the best of her. Perhaps she shouldn’t ask about Elijah.

Gee, do you think?

But she needed to know every detail about his amazing life. It felt so new and incredible.

“Yes, he
acts
as a vampire and drinks blood, though he tends to stay away from people. He has, on occasion, weakened and succumbed to his desires. But he mostly feeds off of wildlife and blood banks. He doesn’t change into a bat or anything, and sunlight doesn’t bother him, either. Elijah does, however, hate garlic. It will keep him away from your blood.”

“Crucifixes?” she asked.

“Hates them, especially gold ones. Gold burns vampires.”

“Gold? I thought silver hurt them.”

“A myth they put about to make everyone steer away from gold,” he stated as he shook his head. “It worked, too.”

“Son-of-a-bitch,” she grumbled. “I need to get a gold crucifix.”

“It won’t stop Elijah, or Louisa. It’s merely an annoyance for ones who are as strong as they are. They’d rip them off and heal right away. They’re most effective on newborns.”

“Well, there goes my grand plan. At least he hates garlic, since I happen to love it.”

“That doesn’t, I repeat, doesn’t make him safe or
trustworthy
. Sometimes, no matter how much a vampire tries to be good, he just can’t resist the lure of human blood—garlic or no garlic. I’ll be honest and say there are ones who succeed in resisting their animalistic nature. Elijah is one of them, and as such, he’s not high on our list of targets. But if I were to come across him, it would be different.”

She nodded, accepting the warning for what it truly meant:
stay away from Elijah, or I may run across him and have to kill him.
She didn’t want to put
any
of them in that position. Isaac had been trying to protect her, and in some twisted way his brother, all along. Her suspicions at his secrets faded away.

He hadn’t spoken to her about it before because he’d feared to turn her away. Plain and simple.

“If you came across him and let him go, what would happen?”

“Theoretically, if no one knew, nothing would happen. But if I were caught doing such a thing, I’d be tracked down and killed, like any other target of ours.”

His eyes glittered like ice, and she could almost hear his teeth gnashing together. “Did you find him earlier?”

“No, he’d already left and I didn’t follow his trail. I wanted to come here to explain this whole mess to you.”

“Can I ask another question, about Elijah?” She hated making him mad, but she had
one
last question. At his nod, she continued. “When I talked to him, he told me he couldn’t tell me what he is. Not wouldn’t, but couldn’t. Why? Did I misunderstand his words?”

“No, you understood. Just as my kind have their sets of rules, so do his. He’s not allowed to tell anyone of his existence, unless it’s a person he’s about to change. Or a person about to become his dinner, neither of which you are. Or
ever
will be.”

It would be impossible to miss the proprietary tone in his voice, or the warning he gave. She belonged to him and him alone. That didn’t sound too bad, even if he were some kind of freak of nature.

She’d never been normal anyway.

“Oh. I-I see.”

Staring off into space, she wondered what had happened in the meadow after Isaac had lost consciousness. Elijah had said he had killed Amelia, but had he really? Or did he blame himself for his weakness?

Isaac believed her to be Amelia reincarnated. It could be possible, she supposed. She’d been drawn to this area, and God knew she’d become obsessed with Isaac. And, to be honest, to some extent she felt drawn to Elijah as well. They were like two incredibly hot magnets, pulling her in opposite directions.

But she couldn’t deny it any longer; Isaac’s pull was stronger. And would win, hands-down.

“You’ve been quiet for a while now. Are you okay? Got any more questions for me?” He smiled playfully at her.

“Um, yeah. Tons. So many I can’t even sort them out to make sense.” She massaged her temples and flinched at the headache rapidly gaining strength. “You said you change into the creatures you fight. Do you have to become a werewolf to fight a werewolf, or can you fight a werewolf as a vampire?”

“I can become whatever I feel I need to be to win the fight. More often than not, I morph into the same species. It makes sense.” He shrugged his right shoulder, and then rubbed his head. It left his hair sticking up in places, looking delightfully mussed. Sabrina yearned to run her fingers through it. She reached out to touch his soft waves and jumped when a pounding on the door broke into their conversation. Before she could even hop to her feet, Isaac stood at the door, swinging it open.

Would she
ever
get used to how fast he moved?

Probably not
.

All thought left her as she caught sight of their visitor. The man was huge, at least six-and-a-half feet tall. He had to be a bodybuilder or something, judging by the bulging muscles straining underneath the black skin on his biceps. It didn’t even look like he could
fit
through the door.

Yikes
.

“I smell a mongrel.” He scrunched his nose as if disgusted. “I’d say it’s close by, no more than a mile. It must be looking for—” He threw a meaningful glance in her direction, and finished, “dinner.”

Isaac tensed, looking torn. She could tell he couldn’t decide whether to stay here, or to go after the mongrel. “Please, Isaac, I’ll be okay. Go. I’ll stay inside. I promise.” She met his eyes, eager to show him she told the truth.

After all, she didn’t have a death wish, and she could do without seeing this ‘mongrel’, thank you very much.

He rushed to her side and grabbed her arms. “I’ll get him. Connor will stay here to watch the house. He won’t let anything by.”

She had no trouble believing
that
.

“Be careful, Isaac.” Even knowing his strength, her heart dropped to her stomach at the thought of him chasing a dangerous...
whatever
it had been called. He grabbed her face and kissed her, leaving her clinging to him in need. But unfortunately, the kiss was brief. He had a mongrel to kill.

She staggered when he released her, and she didn’t miss the smug smile on his face as he vowed, “I’ll return soon.”

You better
.

She bolted to the window to watch him jog away. Wait, why could she still see him? She knew for a fact he could move faster than the human eye could see. His pants hit the ground, and she caught a glimpse of bare buttocks before he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Well, duh, mongrels didn’t run around in clothes. Whatever the hell a mongrel was.