Reclaimed (30 page)

Louisa laughed, mocking her. “This is too much fun, Sabrina. I can’t wait for the show.”

Sabrina locked her jaw and refused to look at her. It hurt like hell to talk through her bruised throat, and she didn’t feel the desire to amuse Louisa. Stuck on the ground like a sacrificial animal waiting to be slaughtered, she knew she would soon die. She only wished she didn’t have to break Isaac’s heart in the process. Losing her would kill him.

Louisa hissed and slapped her. “Look at me.”

Though her cheek stung from the force of the blow, she still refused to look at Louisa. She stared into the moonless sky, allowing Isaac’s storm to wash over her. It gave an odd source of comfort, as if he were there by her side, holding her hand.

The excruciating pain in Sabrina’s legs cleared her head, leaving her unwillingly aware of every detail. When they had arrived in the clearing, the storm raging above knocked down a nearby tree. Unfortunately for Sabrina, it had given Louisa the wonderful idea to put the tree on top of Sabrina—
better drama
, she had said. Sabrina had fought, to no avail. It seemed impossible to win against Louisa’s inhuman strength.

Not a big tree by any means, it still proved heavy enough to effectively render her motionless. So, she’d gotten pinned down to helplessly await her death as her tormentor mocked her. But she’d be damned if she gave her the satisfaction of seeing her cower in fear. Even if it
did
paralyze her with its force.

Apparently Louisa had suffered enough of Sabrina’s silence, for she cursed and in a fit of anger, reached forward to grab her arm threateningly. Sabrina tensed, but managed to glower in stubborn silence. Louisa flicked her wrist, and a snapping sound met Sabrina’s ears. Pain shot up her arm, from her wrist to her shoulder, and she felt the arm drop, useless. Sabrina flexed a finger, testing it, and clamped her jaw tight to stop herself from crying out from the pain.

Jesus, that hurts like hell
.

Pain—remembered pain from her dream the other night—coursed through her. In a way, it helped her get through this. She knew what to expect, and just how bad it would be.

God help her
.

She stiffened and bit her lip, but managed to keep her silence. Louisa growled at her unresponsive victim and twisted the tortured arm under an agonizing squeeze until finally, Sabrina cried out. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and blood ran from the spot she had bitten to keep her cries silent.

“Not so tough now with a broken arm, are you?” she taunted.

“You’re…nothing more…than a bully. Like a teenager ripping wings off of butterflies for fun,” Sabrina managed to get the words out in a steady voice.

Louisa hissed and tightened her fist one last time before jumping to her feet. She leaned over and stroked Sabrina’s cheek. “Stay here, doll. It’s showtime.” She laughed, and stepped on Sabrina’s broken arm as she walked away to hide in the forest.

***

Isaac paused short of the clearing to assess the situation. He could sense Louisa had been here, and probably still hid somewhere. He strained to catch Sabrina’s presence: her perfume, her shampoo, anything.

There! A hint of lavender. His nostrils flared as he latched onto her signature scent. Heart pounding, he approached the clearing.

She was here.

As necessary as he knew his caution to be, it still hurt to go so slowly when he knew she was out there, hurt or…dead.

No, he would know if it she were dead. He would feel the absence deep inside him. She had to be alive, and he needed to save her. And when he finished rescuing her, he would kiss her senseless and wring her little neck for putting him through this torture.

He peered into the clearing from the cover of the trees, all senses finely attuned for any sign of ambush. The rain came down so heavily and the wind whipped so severely he couldn’t see anything. Aggravated at yet another setback, he forced himself to take a deep breath and concentrate on reining in his emotions. Slowly, the wind died down, and the rain dissipated.

He couldn’t see anyone in the clearing, neither Louisa nor Sabrina. He began to doubt his intuition, thinking he’d been wrong, when through the silence of the night, he heard a soft sob. Pausing, he cocked his head toward the noise. It had sounded like a tiny whimper, as if someone were trying to remain silent in fear of discovery. But it couldn’t be Sabrina. Why wouldn’t she want him to find her, rescue her?

To save him
.

She probably tried to make him leave, the little fool. She would kill herself to keep him safe. Didn’t she know he had no life worth saving if she died?

It was too damn dark. He closed his eyes and concentrated. It took a lot of energy from him, but a long, bright flash of lightning struck. When it did, Isaac opened his eyes to scan the clearing. Only a fallen tree lay in the clearing. Perhaps one last lightning bolt, mostly to be sure the cry had been a figment of his imagination.

Then he saw her.

His heart stopped dead.

Chapter Twenty-One

God, everything looked so dark. She could hear her breathing, erratic and uncontrollable. Each breath took an immense amount of effort, sounding unbelievably loud in her ears, easily drowning out the sound of the storm raging above her. She wanted to cry out, to yell out her despair to the forest that surrounded her, but instead bit her lip until she tasted blood.

Her arm hurt like hell, and the excruciating pain in her legs kept her way too alert for her liking. They were
almost
numb at this point, which she supposed couldn’t be a good thing. Not like it mattered anyway.

Soon she would be dead.

The sound of her gasping breaths was interrupted every once in a while by a sob escaping her lips, but she tried not to cry. She couldn’t let them find her. They didn’t need to witness this again.

But her hopes were dashed when his face appeared over hers, ghostly white against the black night. His voice washed over her like a healing balm, and some small part of her hoped he could save her, but the larger, and
louder
, part wanted him to leave.

Now.

“S-Sabrina,” he whispered. His blue eyes met hers, and she saw his eyes were bright with unshed tears. “Oh, God, what have I done?” he cried.

The anguish on his face hurt her so much she tried to reach out to touch him, only to gasp as she got reminded, all too painfully, that her arm had been broken. Isaac gazed at her arms, and her face, with tears in his eyes.

“I’m so sorry, Sabrina.”

“Not…your…fault,” she managed to force out through her swollen throat.

His gaze fly to her neck, and he blanched at her bruised skin. “What else is hurt?” he asked urgently.

“My…arm…” she muttered between her clenched teeth. “But Louisa—”

As she spoke, he cursed and probed her broken arm. She gasped in pain, and he withdrew his touch.

“I’m going to take the tree off of you, and get you out of here. I’m sorry, this is going to hurt….”

Pain laced through his voice, and his eyes apologized for the agony he needed to cause. She looked at him, ready to assure him she didn’t give a damn, and cried out instead. Louisa smiled at her over his shoulder as she raised the rock and knocked him over the head. Isaac went down without a fight. He hadn’t even seen Louisa coming since he had been so worried about her.

“You bitch,” Sabrina snarled, finding strength in her fury. “I swear to God I am going to kill you.”

Louisa laughed and slung Isaac over her shoulder. “I’m certain you’d love to do just that, darling.”

Fury swelled over Sabrina, and she fought to free herself using the few unbroken body parts she could still move. Unfortunately, she remained trapped beneath the tree so she watched in dismay as Louisa propped him against a tree and punched him in the face. Though he jerked at the abuse, he didn’t awaken even as blood gushed out of his nose.

“That was fun.” Louisa laughed. She turned away from Isaac and looked at Sabrina. “Everything’s coming together perfectly. Thank you for your help.”

Sabrina swallowed roughly and glared at her enemy.

“Go to hell.”

Louisa smiled and stalked over to her. “What did you say? I didn’t hear you.” She came over to Sabrina’s unharmed arm and grabbed it. “Did you say something, hmm?” Leaned into her face, she arched a brow and watched Sabrina, smiling delightfully—with pure evil. Excitement shone in her eyes, and lit up her face in a sheer mockery of joy. Sabrina knew if she opened her mouth, she would receive another useless limb as an award for her efforts. But she no longer cared.

“I said, go to hell, you nasty bitch.” The pain of her arm being broken came immediately, and she bit her lip without a sound. She felt her teeth rip through her lip and tasted the metallic flavor of blood on her tongue, but she refused to budge. The pain doubled when Louisa twisted the arm at an unnatural angle. Still, she didn’t cry out. It was the only thing in her control at the moment, and by God, she’d remain silent.

Louisa studied her with wide eyes, and exclaimed, “What the hell is
wrong
with you?”

It would have been almost laughable in any other circumstance. The woman who made a habit of torturing women and breaking bones asked what was wrong with
her
. But the irony got lost when Louisa released her arm and ripped the tree off her legs to throw it at Isaac. It landed against his chest, the thick crunching sound causing Sabrina to cringe. The tree rolled to a stop at his feet.

His eyes were open, and he looked
pissed
. He’d changed into a vampire; it showed in the hard lines of his face. He roared, murder written in his eyes, and threw the tree off of himself. He jumped up and charged at Louisa. He halted when Louisa grabbed Sabrina and held her in front of her like a shield. Louisa had one hand on her head and another on her shoulder.

“One more step, and you can say goodbye to her head,” she warned. “You’ll never be able to save her if she’s headless, no matter what beast you become.”

“Don’t listen, Isaac. She’ll kill me no matter what you do.”

“Shut up, you insignificant human.” Louisa growled in her ear. She turned to Isaac and taunted, “What a predicament, Isaac. What should you do? You can’t come save her. She’d be dead before you even get close to me. And if you don’t come to her rescue, she’ll die anyway.

“So will you step forward now, knowing she will be put out of her misery quickly, like a dog? It’s what your brother did to Amelia—stabbed her like a sick animal. She didn’t
deserve
his mercy. Or, do you wait, holding out hope that some way, somehow, you will overcome me? Now, that’s a laughable prospect.”

Isaac hissed. “I will kill you, Louisa. Have no doubt.”

“You are such a man, all talk and no action. All these promises you men make to women, but never follow through. Love, honor, respect—revenge.” She sneered in an unnerving imitation of humor. “I’m sure you swore to keep Sabrina safe from me. Yet here she is. Broken and bloodied. And soon? Dead.”

Louisa backed away, and Isaac took a casual step closer. She glared at his movement. “Stay back.”

He obeyed her command, holding his arms up in a gesture of peace. “Louisa, we can work out a deal, I swear. I’ll let you walk away, if you just give me Sabrina,” he said in soothing tones. “We can make this work….”

Louisa sneered at him. “No, and don’t move again.” She looked behind him and her eyes widened in horror. Isaac whirled around to see what stood behind him, only to see nothing but the gloomy forest. He cursed and spun back around. He’d fallen for the oldest trick in the book, damn it.

She’d left.

***

Louisa looked down at her bundle in disgust.

Weakling
.

Though even
she
had to admit she had been impressed by the strength Sabrina had shown thus far. She’d refused to give in to Louisa, and she knew Amelia wouldn’t have been so strong. She would have been screaming and crying like a baby long ago.

Sabrina had hardly uttered a cry the whole time, and she’d been much rougher on her than she had been Amelia. Louisa felt a reluctant respect for this woman, this mere human. She didn’t want to feel any kind feelings toward her, but found she did.

Louisa almost wished she didn’t have to kill her. She reminded Louisa of how she, herself, had been, so long ago. Stubborn, strong, beautiful. Even with broken bones throughout her body, Sabrina’s strength and beauty shone through into the night.

She ignored any and all feelings of pity or sympathy for Sabrina, and increased her speed. She almost made it to the cliffs when something hit her from behind. She fell on top of Sabrina and heard another bone break from the force of her fall.

Maybe I killed her
.

She jumped to her feet, but before she could reach a standing position, she got hit from behind and thrown back on the ground.

Elijah launched off the tree at his side and landed on Louisa, snarling. She twisted within his grasp, her hair whipping around them, and they rolled around the ground in a battle for control. Their breathing came out in harsh pants as each fought to get a grip upon the other, a grip that could give an advantage. They slammed into an old tree near Sabrina, and it shuddered from the strength of the impact.

Louisa fought against his hold desperately and kicked him in the stomach. He soared through the air and bounced off an enormous boulder. She leapt to her feet and sprinted for Sabrina.

Isaac only spared a cursory glance at Sabrina before he joined in the fray. Her biggest threat wasn’t lying alone in the forest; it was Louisa. And Louisa ran straight for her. He growled and launched himself at her.

The tree shook under the force of the blow, but she whirled around the trunk and climbed the tree. He followed suit, gaining speed as he got higher and higher. As Louisa reached the top of the towering tree, she froze. Her eyes looked from where Elijah perched on the outside of the thick branch to where Isaac stood on the inside. She’d gotten trapped between them, and judging from the panicked darting of her eyes back and forth between the brothers, she knew it.