“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.”