Reclaimed (21 page)

When he mentioned Elijah being inside her house last night, her mouth dropped open, and her face must have betrayed her shock. “How did you—?”

“How did I know? Oh, what a cute story. You see, your sister told me all about the nightmare you had, and how you were yelling my name, and some stranger’s name. Whose could it possibly be?”

“Oh, knock it off,” she grumbled. She gripped her knees in an attempt to stop the shaking of her hands.

“I remember...Elijah. How
ironic
. And after you sent her to bed, you left. She tried to wait up for you, but alas, she fell asleep in the kitchen. Imagine her relief when I, being the loving man I am, carried you inside and snuggled you until you fell asleep. Isn’t it abso-fucking-lutely heartwarming?

“But wait just a minute.... I went home last night. I went to sleep worrying about whether you were okay. So that means I couldn’t have been here, holding you in my arms. Which leaves only one other person who could have been. I don’t think I need to say his name. Nor
will
I,” he snarled.

She cringed, but glared. “Maybe if my loving man hadn’t left me alone on the lawn, he wouldn’t have left room for another to sweep in and comfort me.”

Isaac paled and whispered, “What?”

“Did you really think I would just shrug and walk away after you left me? I told you I loved you, and you ran
away
.”

“You didn’t even mean it!” he yelled. His clenched fists rose to his chest before he lowered them. “It was nothing but a lie, a guilty gesture at best.”

“Oh really? You’re a fool.”

“I won’t argue that. Just look where I’ve ended up with you—twice now. Jilted.”

She sucked in a deep breath at the way he couldn’t separate her from Amelia. For the love of God, what would it take to make these men see she was not her? Tears filled her eyes, but she refused to allow them free rein. She turned her back to Isaac, swiped an errant tear away, and faced him once more.

“Now it’s my turn to tell you what I know, and you’ll sit and listen. Got it?”

He sat down, glared, and with an imperious motion for her to begin, crossed his arms over his chest.

Gee, thanks
.

“I had a nice night with my boyfriend. We went to dinner and came home. I went to bed, smiling when I thought of him. In case you’re confused, that’s
you
.”

He glowered, and she smiled bitterly. “I fell asleep, and for the first time in weeks, I dreamt. I dreamt about my boyfriend’s brother, who
thinks
he loves me. I can’t help but care for him, as well, though I’m not sure why. Maybe because he looks like you.” She shrugged. When a distant rumble of thunder accompanied his scowl, she snapped, “Oh, calm down.”

“Calm as can be. I promise.”

“Let me continue. I feel a pull toward Elijah, but it is minuscule in comparison to the pull I feel to
you
. I tried to explain this to him, but he got angry when I mentioned you.” Her pointed look in his direction, she knew, spoke louder than simple words could. “When I tried to explain to him how much you mean to me, he decided to kiss me to prove me wrong.

“Yes, I should have slapped him. Yes, I should have said no. But I’ll admit part of me felt curious. Would his kiss still pull me toward him as much as it once had? Would his kiss make me forget you? I decided to let him kiss me, and I’d find out the answers.”

She watched him hesitate before he asked, “And did it? Make you forget?”

She knew it had to be one of the hardest things he’d ever asked. She put a hand over his clenched fist and squeezed. “No, it didn’t. His kiss felt good. Breathtaking, even. But it wasn’t
you
. He must have sensed the change, because he pulled away. He opened his mouth to talk…then he’d disappeared, and you were there.

“Watching you two try to kill each other has got to be one of the worst things I’ve ever seen. It hurt so badly. And I knew I could do nothing to stop it.”

“Nothing but straddle Elijah’s back and get thrown across the forest for your efforts,” he grumbled.

“I wanted to get him
off
of you!” Sabrina shouted.

“Next time, stay back. I appreciate the sentiment, but your human powers are comparable to a fly landing on his arm. You feel it, but it doesn’t hurt.”

“Gee, thanks.” She frowned at him and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Anyway, I’ll shut up again.” He mimed himself zipping his lips shut before he leaned back on the couch. She glared at his show of drama.

“So after I get thrown off Elijah, I open my eyes to see him leaning over me. I knew you would be there too, if you could, so I assumed you might be headless. Or worse—dead. At this lovely moment, my sister wakes me up. Suddenly, I’m back in my house, knowing you were lying out there somewhere and I didn’t know where I’d find you.”

“Oh, Sabrina. I’m—”

“Shut up. I don’t want to hear a word. So
after
I manage to get my sister off my back, I somehow realize why I always thought the clearing in my dreams seemed familiar. It’s the place in the forest by my house. It appears different in my dreams, but I thought the similarities were close enough to make it a feasible location. I was desperate to do something to find you.

“So I run off to the clearing, and sure enough, there you were, still lying on the ground. I figured out you weren’t dead, just knocked out, and I attacked Elijah. But he easily warded off my
puny
human efforts and tackled me to the ground.”

“You
attacked
him? Are you insane?” he asked in horror.

“Heck yeah, I did. And it isn’t the first time, thank you very much. I gave him a black eye, too.”

“You gave…a vampire...a black eye?” he questioned incredulously.

He swallowed hard, and she wondered if he tried not to shout or laugh. Yet again, his face proved impossible to read. Stinking ice-man.

“I did. Now, where did I stop? Ah yes, I wanted to throw myself into your arms when you woke up, but you glared at me, yelled at me, and left.”

Isaac grabbed her hands earnestly and looked into her eyes. “Sabrina, I’m sorry. It’s just, seeing you in his arms, it brought back dreadful feelings. Hatred.
Betrayal
. It was too much to bear. When you told me you loved me, all I could think of was you and Elijah, making love. It hurt too much.”

“I didn’t make love to him,” she reminded him sternly. “I am not
Amelia
.” Her voice rose in frustration at the end of her sentence. She tired of being accused of feelings she did not have. It infuriated her. She glared at him and stood up. “Well, now you’ve heard my story, and you can leave.”

He gaped at her, clearly shocked. “Excuse me?”

“Leave,” she stated.

“You’re kicking me out?” He whispered.

The pain in his eyes looked so gut-wrenching, she longed to retract her words but didn’t. She couldn’t let him constantly mistrust her, and accuse her of betrayal. It just wouldn’t work.

“Yes. It seems to me all you and Elijah are capable of doing is waiting for me to betray you. Like
her
. You’ll never realize I’m not the same as her. So, I want you to leave. Now.” It broke her heart to say it, but she needed him to trust her. Against all odds, he needed to know she loved him and wouldn’t leave him. “Just because I look like her, doesn’t mean I
am
her. I love you, and
only
you. And because I love you so much, I won’t cause you pain, or anger. Not even false feelings of betrayal.”

“Sabrina, wait. I understand—” A shake of her head stopped his plea, and he stared at her finger pointed at the door.

“It’s my turn to say we won’t discuss this today. Maybe not ever. Go.”

His shoulders slumped as he walked to the door, but he strode back to grab her by her neck and kiss her. He clutched her so tight she almost couldn’t breathe, and he crushed his lips to hers with a desperation that called to her. She almost crumbled into tiny bits and pieces of herself. She clung to his shirt as his lips moved over hers, demanding a response. When he pulled away, she gazed into his eyes, refusing to budge.

There were no words to be said, no words she would say.

He hugged her one last time, and she heard him take a deep breath before he cursed and walked away without looking back. Once the door shut behind him, she collapsed on the couch, put her head in her hands and burst into tears.

Chapter Fourteen

Isaac sat down outside her door, feeling curiously weak. He needed to learn how to control his stupid temper. And he needed to stop comparing her to Amelia and unfairly judging her. Just because she looked like Amelia didn’t mean she’d act like her. No more so than he would act like Elijah because they were identical. The thought seemed ludicrous to say the least. So why should her case be different?

Bloody hell, she was right. He acted like an utter asshole.

Even so, why should he expect her to pick him, instead of Elijah? He’d always been honest enough to admit Amelia had been drawn to Elijah. From what he’d seen, Sabrina had felt the same irresistible pull. Is it actually possible through her love for Isaac, she no longer felt drawn to Elijah?

He hoped so. He debated returning inside to grovel for her forgiveness when he sensed Elijah’s presence. He hid nearby, and he seemed to call out to Isaac.

As if he wanted to be found.

Did Elijah want Isaac to kill him? Or did he assume Isaac would just let him go, since he was his brother? He focused in an attempt to pinpoint Elijah’s location. It looked like he waited at the clearing.

Of course. Where the hell else would he be?

***

Elijah grew more desperate with each passing moment. Louisa hovered constantly in the area, and he had yet to track her down. The time had come for them to have a one-on-one, him and his little brother. The same brother who hated him so much, he wanted to kill him. The thought depressed him. Hopefully, Isaac wouldn’t attempt to kill him again. But if he did, so be it. If Isaac did manage to finish him off, his time in Hell could be over. Sabrina had made her choice, and it hadn’t been him she’d chosen.

He needed to be strong enough to step aside.

Isaac approached from behind, and Elijah spun to face his twin. Isaac had looped around to the south end of the woods, only to come in from the opposite side of Sabrina’s house to approach.

“There’s no one else here. This isn’t a trap. I wish to speak to you.”

He got caught off guard by Isaac’s fist plowing into his nose. He’d seemed so calm, not as if he were ready to attack.

Son of a bitch.

His nose throbbed, and he cursed.

Just goes to show you can never trust appearances
.

“That’s for Amelia,” Isaac stated before an uppercut to his left eye. “That’s for me.” He picked Elijah off the ground and threw him across the forest. He slammed into a tree and rolled to safety as the tree crashed to the ground. “And this is for Sabrina.”

“Sabrina can take care of herself,” he muttered, remembering the punch she gave him. “She might be little, but the lady can fight.”

“It’s true? She punched you?” Isaac asked as he quirked an eyebrow.

Elijah tensed then relaxed. At least he had stopped the beating, if only temporarily.

“She’s a hellion. Damn near scratched my eyes out—and gave me a black eye!” he exclaimed in horror.

Isaac studied him and threw his head back in laughter. “You, a vampire, brought down by a tiny human. Absolutely brilliant,” he choked out over his mirth.

“Yes, bloody hilarious,” Elijah mumbled before arching a brow. He winced when pain shot through his head at his action. Thank God he healed fast. “Are you finished?”

Isaac hesitated and replied, “For now.”

“Good, because as much fun as this has been, we need to talk.”

“Sabrina is—”

“Sabrina is yours. We both know it. What I want to talk about is Louisa. She wants Sabrina. She is looking at duplicating history.” Thunder crashed overhead, and the wind blew as Isaac hissed. Elijah nodded before continuing. “Yes, I know. I’ve spoken to her, and she made it very clear to me. If we were to combine forces, your powers and mine, we stand half a chance of beating her.”

“
Combine?
Are you insane? I am the Ruler of the Enforcers. The Protector. You expect me to team up with my enemy, who I am, by all rights and purposes, sworn to kill? Do you know what will happen if anyone finds out I didn’t kill you last night? Or if anyone finds out I am here, meeting you now, and not trying to kill you? I would be hunted down, ostracized. I would be, in short, one of you. That is not acceptable.”

“Not even for Sabrina?”

“Especially for Sabrina,” Isaac insisted. “The last thing she needs to see is me hunted down and killed. She’d try to stop them—to save me—as you saw last night. She could get hurt. I’ll not allow that. We’ll have to discover another way to defeat Louisa, because we sure as hell won’t be working together. We should never see each other again, unless it is a battle to the death.”

“You think I want to be a monster, Isaac? You think I enjoy this life? This
Hell?
”

“You were a monster before you ever became a vampire,” Isaac swore.

“You want to kill me? Please, do it. I won’t even fight you. Just
do
it.”

“Go to Hell.”

“
Why
can no one see I’ve been there all along?” Elijah asked in exasperation before leaping on Isaac. They flew through the air clasped in battle and landed on the ground, Elijah on top of Isaac. Isaac hissed when rocks and twigs dug into his skin. Elijah smiled grimly and took advantage of the moment by slamming Isaac’s head into the ground. “Do it, Isaac. Finish what you have been dreaming of all along. Rip my head off my body. Let’s go.” Elijah even tilted his head to the side to allow easier access.

Isaac stared at him oddly before he flung Elijah off of his chest and jumped to his feet. “Elijah, I’m leaving. Stay away from me. And stay away from Sabrina. Just leave us
alone
.”

Elijah stared at his brother in frustration. He’d told Isaac to kill him, yet here he stood, unharmed and untouched. In a last effort to get Isaac to return and end his personal Hell, he called out, “Next time you break Sabrina’s heart, you might not want to leave her outside. You never know what kind of night creature will stumble upon a woman who is lying outside for two hours.”