Reclaimed (25 page)

She paused before whispering, “I know.”

“And you love Isaac.”

“I do.”

He sighed and inhaled the fragrance of her hair. “Let me enjoy this, just one moment longer.”

She laughed and glanced up at him as she conceded, “Okay,
one
more minute.” She had a moment’s warning as he stared at her lips, before he went to take the kiss he could apparently no longer resist. She flinched and shouted, “No, Elijah! Don’t do it, or I’ll have to punch you again.”

He groaned and closed his eyes as if deep in thought. “Damn it, Sabrina, it might be worth another black eye.”

She laughed and stepped back from his arms. “Oh, Elijah, you really need a—”

Clap, clap, clap
.

Oh man, someone watched them, and she knew it would be Isaac. And, of course, he’d found her in Elijah’s arms again. However innocent the embrace had been, it would look anything but to Isaac, who already felt insecure about his brother.

Her heart lurched, and she took a deep breath before turning to face Isaac. This was going to suck royally. Her eyes widened in fear and she found herself wishing it had been Isaac. But it looked far, far worse. Across the clearing, Louisa glared at her.

“You know, you almost had me convinced the girl could
live
. Clearly, you were lying through your teeth last night, Elijah. Didn’t anyone ever tell you lying to your maker is frowned upon?”

“I didn’t lie to you.” As Elijah spoke, he positioned Sabrina behind him. “We aren’t lovers. I already told you as much. She loves Isaac, not me.”

“She has an odd way of showing her love for Isaac. For if I’m not mistaken, it’s you she embraced. Not Isaac,” Louisa sneered.

“I only comforted him. That’s it. He was grieving over what you did to him and all the people he loved,” Sabrina replied in a rush of anger. She should be terrified of this woman—this
monster
. But instead, hatred flowed through her veins and gave her a heady sense of power.

“Oh, how darling. I’m sure that is what Amelia was doing as well. Comforting him,” Louisa said, sarcasm oozing from her voice.

“Sabrina, be quiet.” Elijah shushed.

“I will
not
!” she exclaimed. “She doesn’t scare me.”

“Louisa, knock it off. She is innocent. Leave her be.”

“Once again with the broken record. Don’t you ever say anything new?” She took a step closer to them, and Elijah snarled in response. She seemed to take heed of the warning, because she paused and raised her hands in a gesture of peace. “Did you like the dream you had last night, Sabrina? It’s one of my most shining acts of all time.”

Sabrina gaped at her and completely forgot her bravado. “You showed me the dream?”

“But, of course. Who else?”

“Which dream?” Elijah interjected.

“Why?” Sabrina questioned.

“Well, what would be the fun of killing you, if you didn’t remember the last day in detail? I have always been somewhat dramatic, and I love my scene to be set perfectly, in all ways. As a matter of fact, I’m still not quite ready to kill you yet. We are missing one key factor.”

“Isaac,” Sabrina breathed. “You leave him alone, bitch. He has done
nothing
to you!”

“Oh, you’re a delight. I’m here merely for informational purposes today, which is the
only
reason you’re still safely tucked away behind dear old Elijah. Otherwise, I’d be snapping your bones in two. Like I did before.”

“I think you’re wrong there, because I’m not
her
. I have information for you, too.”

“Oh? And what would that be?”

Sabrina stepped around Elijah’s protective stance and moved to walk up to Louisa. Elijah grabbed her, so she settled for leaning forward to hiss, “I’m not scared of you.”

“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Elijah snapped as he pushed her back behind him. Sabrina ignored him, and so did Louisa.

Louisa laughed. “Oh, my, you are fun. Too bad I have to kill you.”

“I
have
to breathe. You don’t
have
to kill me. How about we just call it a day and you crawl back to whatever little hole you came from? M’kay?” Even as she taunted the dangerous creature in front of her, she knew she played a dangerous game. But, she couldn’t seem to help herself. Seeing Louisa brought out feelings that overwhelmed her. Hatred. Fear. Sarcasm.

“Oh, I disagree. As much fun as you are, seeing your face makes me ill. Seeing him moon all over you again makes me even sicker. I’m going to kill you the same way I killed her: slowly, and happily.”

Sabrina shuddered at the promise, because Louisa would love to do just that. But she would be damned if she’d show any fear in front of the bitch, and so she forced a sardonic laugh.

“Bring it, bitch.” Sabrina stuck up her middle finger. Louisa’s eyes widened and she threw her head back and laughed.

“You are
so
going to be fun to kill. So much fun,” she said.

Elijah snarled, and she felt his muscles tense in preparation to defend her. Yet somehow, she didn’t think even he would be enough to stop this madwoman. She would die—and soon. It sobered her.

Louisa shook her head and said scathingly, “Down, boy. I’m not going to hurt her yet. But I want to talk about the day Amelia died. Sabrina woke up too early, and I didn’t get to show her everything. I think it’s time for her to find out who really killed her.”

“I know who killed Amelia. You,” Sabrina argued. “And don’t think I’ll be so easy to get to this time. I’m no cowering weakling, Louisa. You don’t scare me. And I have Isaac’s protection this time.”

Louisa stared at her before throwing her head back and laughing. “Oh God, you believe you can conquer me? How amusing.” She laughed and winked in Elijah’s direction. “She’s got much more fight in her than your whore Amelia. Too bad she doesn’t want you. She didn’t even mention you as one of the weapons in her arsenal.”

Elijah roared in anger, and Sabrina cried out when he shoved her backward and lunged at Louisa. She stumbled to her feet and watched in horror as he rolled on the ground fighting her.

“Run, Sabrina. Go to Isaac,” he yelled as he held Louisa down. She bucked against him and growled as she struggled to free herself. Sabrina tore her gaze from the fight and forced her feet to flee in the direction of home. Hisses and snarls filled the air around her as she sprinted away. She worried about Elijah, but also knew she had to get away. Her being there actually made him
weaker
.

It annoyed her to admit it. But that didn’t make it any less true.

The house lay in her sight when she got grabbed from behind, and she screamed in terror as arms clasped around her. She fought against her captor, fear giving her the strength to fight for her life. A hand slapped across her mouth, and she kicked harder to make up for the loss of sound. A grunt came from her captor when her foot succeeded in kicking its target, and the arms tightened around her even more, cutting off her breath.

“Jesus, Sabrina, stop it. It’s me, Isaac. Calm down or we’ll have Connor running to see what is wrong,” he whispered urgently in her ear.

Hearing the familiar voice, she sagged in his arms and attempted to catch her breath, which still came out in harsh pants from her struggles. Isaac, sensing she’d stopped fighting him, removed his hand from her mouth.

“What happened?”

“I went to the clearing, and Elijah came to see me.” She took a deep breath, “Nothing happened, I swear. He got upset and I consoled him. Nothing more.”

“Shh, it’s okay. I trust you, Sabrina. What happened to make you run?”

His statement gave her pause, but she forced herself to continue. “Louisa came along. She taunted me, telling me how she’d kill me like she had Amelia. She also told me I needed to know the truth about how Amelia really died. Elijah pushed me away and told me to run. They were fighting when I ran away.”

“Shit.” He ran his fingers through his hair and cursed under his breath, presumably warring at the desire to bring her inside to safety, and his equally strong desire to rid her of the threat of Louisa. “If I go and try to get her now when she’s off guard, I might stand a chance of beating her. But it could be held against me later. If I don’t get her, she could hurt you. I
have
to do something.”

“Not that!” she exclaimed. “Never that. You can’t risk yourself. There’ll be another day to get her.
Without
breaking any rules,” Sabrina insisted.

She could tell by the look in his eyes his mind had already been made up, and not in the way she wanted. She shook her head, but to no avail.

He kissed her hard. “Go. I love you.”

“Isaac, no,” she cried. But he vanished out of her sight before she could take a step in his direction. Fear and fury warred inside her, each trying to claim a stronger hold over her than the other. Though it killed her to do so, she ran toward the house. She’d reached halfway across the lawn when she slid to a stop. Screw this. She needed to find out what happened.

Sabrina bolted back, desperate to help in some way. She refused to cower in fear while Isaac broke every rule he’d ever followed—every rule he’d ever
made
—for her. She pressed herself harder than she had ever done before to get to Isaac before it was too late to do something, anything, to help. When she finally reached the clearing, she doubled over, grabbing her knees as she attempted to catch her breath, while simultaneously scanning the area. Isaac
was
there, but alone. He stood still, head cocked to the side. Deciding he looked safe enough for the moment, she backed away silently, hoping to return home unnoticed.

Please don’t let him see me; please don’t let him
—

“I should have known better than to assume you would go home, shouldn’t I have?” His voice had a resigned tone to it, laced with equal parts amusement and frustration. He turned to her and raised an eyebrow, and she flushed.

Son of a bitch
.

“I couldn’t just leave you.”

“You left Elijah,” he pointed out.

“You’re not Elijah,” she stated.

His eyes widened, and he studied her so intensely her heart stalled.

“What she means is I can take care of myself, but she doesn’t think you can,” Elijah spoke from above their heads.

Her eyes widened in shock, and she tilted her head back to scan the trees above. Did he want to get himself killed? She found him crouching on an impossibly high branch, and Elijah jumped down and landed on his feet, in a crouched position upon the ground.

“I don’t think so,” Isaac grumbled. “Still hiding from me?”

“I didn’t know if you wanted me to show myself.”

“Better than spying on us from above.”

Thunder crashed in the distance as he glared at his mirror image. He apparently did not like the image of Elijah lurking in shadows, watching them. She couldn’t blame him; neither did she.

“Isaac, calm down,” Sabrina warned. They didn’t need another Enforcer interfering in this mess, so he needed to keep his emotions in check.

He nodded and pulled himself together. “Where’s Louisa?”

“Gone. She ran away after Sabrina left. You should really get her in her house now. Or are you going to leave her outside in another endearing fit of jealousy?” Elijah asked hopefully, perking up in his excitement. “I’d be happy to escort her.”

Isaac growled, and Elijah laughed.

“Knock it off, Elijah,” Sabrina snapped. “It’s not funny.”

He sobered at her admonishment and gave a curt nod of his head. “Go now, before she decides the stage is set nicely and returns.”

“Elijah—” she started.

“Sabrina, go. Now.” He stared at her, love in his eyes, and she tore her gaze away.

Isaac grasped her hand and dragged her away. She looked over her shoulder, and her heart broke a little at Elijah’s face. Isaac squeezed her hand and she met his eyes. He gave her a reassuring smile. He paused and turned to Elijah. “I’ve changed my mind. We’ll work together. Meet me here at ten o’clock tonight so we can work out the details.”

Sabrina gasped in horror as Elijah nodded.

“Oh, hell no!” she shouted in fury.

“Oh hell, yes,” Isaac insisted, his jaw set stubbornly.

Not allowing her the decency of a proper fight, he pulled her into his arms and ran full speed to the house. In seconds, they were behind the locked door. She wasted no time turning on him in rage.

“Isaac, you can’t
do
this. What if the others find out?”

He tensed and looked out the window. “I can’t let her hurt you, and not do everything in my power to stop her.”

“Letting you kill yourself over me is not in my power.” She pushed his chest. “Look at me!”

His eyes collided with hers, and his jaw hardened even more. Not a good sign. “Watching you die is not in mine.”

“Your life will be forfeit if you do this,” she argued.

“My life is forfeit without
you
,” he cried in frustration. “I won’t budge in this. I need you to be safe. I am willing to take the risk of discovery, so long as I know you are alive and free from Louisa.”

Sabrina glared at him. “I will not let you destroy yourself for me. What kind of person would I be if I allowed you to do this? I’ll leave here right now, if that is what it takes to get you to stop this nonsense. Not killing your brother is one thing, but joining him? It’s
treason
.”

Isaac growled low in his chest, and pinned her between the wall and his hard body. “You will not leave me, do you understand? You are
mine
.”

Her eyes widened in apprehension at this new side of Isaac. Unsure how to proceed, she nodded and watched him nervously. Dare she argue more? He dropped his forehead against hers and pulled her into his arms.

“I can’t bear even the thought of you not in my life, so please don’t threaten me like that. Ever.” His voice wavered.

Remorse came over her. “I’m sorry, Isaac. I won’t do it again.”

She laid her head on his chest and breathed in the scent of his skin. She bit her lip in an attempt to hold back her tears. The time for arguing was over. He had made up his mind. No amount of arguing on her part would change it.