Reclaimed

One, two, three, oh God…. Four, five, six.

Okay, breathe again. Deep breath. Good job. Now, to get rid of my sister.

When she felt steady enough to open her mouth and speak coherently, she took one more deep breath. She smiled tightly. “Marie, I’m okay. I-I feel bad for waking you up. Please go back to bed. I-I want to write this dream down before I forget it. Okay?” She managed somehow to hold back the hysteria forming a bubble in her throat as she shooed Marie up the stairs. Sabrina really wanted to pick her up and throw her into the damn bed.

God, could she waddle just a little bit faster?

“But what did you dream?”

“I don’t want to talk about it, okay? I had a dream about my book, and I need to write it down before I forget it. It will make an awesome fight scene. Good night,” Sabrina called. She slammed the door in her sister’s confused face, wasting no time before she sprinted down the stairs and into the kitchen to grab her knife. She really needed to get a gun one of these days. She burst through the door and into the night.

She made it halfway across the lawn before she tripped and landed on her knees. Damn it all to hell, she didn’t know where to go. Clutching her stomach to ward off the pain, she stared sightlessly into the forest. Her throat ached at the tears she held back, but her mind felt numb. Isaac lay somewhere out there and she could do nothing to help him. Possibly headless and tossed in the ocean to dissolve away into nothing.

She wondered if Elijah and Isaac had felt this way that day in the meadow while Louisa had ruined them all. Useless. Lying on the green embankment, watching their loved ones die….

Oh my God!

Eyes wide, she leapt to her feet in determination and dashed into the forest. She knew where to go.

Racing through the forest, she didn’t pause until she reached the clearing she had so often dreamt of. No wonder why Isaac hadn’t liked her being here in the light of day. Elijah brought her there in her dreams.

She stumbled into the familiar area and spun in a frenzied circle looking for Isaac.

Then she saw him.

He was lying motionless where he had landed in her dream, with his head on. She rushed to his side, tossed aside the knife, and surveyed his bloody, pale face. Was he dead? Wait, maybe he still breathed. There! Had his chest just risen?

Before she could investigate further, Elijah stepped out of the darkness he had hidden himself in. She grabbed the knife, jumped to her feet, and shoved him away from Isaac. He stumbled

backward and caught his balance warily. “Get away from him. Get away from us. Forever.” Anger washed over her like a medicine, and it helped to keep the fear for Isaac’s life away. “He’s been right all along. You’re no good for me, for any of us.”

He held his hands up with a comical bewilderment on his face and backed away. “All right. All right. I’m leaving.”

She turned her attention back to Isaac and relief swelled over her. Yes, his chest was rising and falling. He’d simply been knocked unconscious. He’d changed into a human.

Thank God.

“He’s not dead. He changed into human form when I threw you, and I took advantage of his momentary weakness. He’s knocked out.” He spoke slowly, as if to an imbecile. She kneeled beside Isaac, unable to move.

He’s okay. He’s alive.

Elijah moved to her side and touched her shoulder. She grabbed his hand and flipped him off his feet. Holy crap, she didn’t know she still had those self-defense lessons stored away in her brain. Not wasting any time, she jumped on top of him, held the knife to his throat, pushing in slightly until she drew a drop of blood from his neck. Not satisfied, she drew back and punched him in the eye.

“Damnation, Sabrina! Knock it off, you little hellion!” he exclaimed. He grabbed her arms before she could punch him again and stared at her in horror. She growled and fought to free herself.

She’d kill him.

She brought her knee to his stomach and pushed as hard as she could. This earned her a grunt, and a change of position. He tackled her so all her limbs were useless, and she could only squirm in an attempt to be free, the knife rendered useless by his clutch on her wrist.

The look on his face would have been comical if she weren’t so freaking furious. He looked at her like she was a freak of nature—this coming from a vampire.

Hah.

She struggled in his arms until exhaustion came over her, and she collapsed against his chest. “Bastard.” She whispered one last attempt at hurting him as he had hurt her.

He laid his head against hers and hugged her to his chest. “I’m sorry. For scaring you like that. I should have told you he was okay right away. Can you forgive me?”

Sabrina pulled away from his embrace and looked back at Isaac’s unconscious form, eager to see his rising chest. Instead of seeing him out cold, however, she met his gaze, her own widening in horror at how their position must look. He watched them, fury evident in his eyes, and his body trembled from the force of his rage. He snarled and Sabrina realized he intended to fight Elijah again.