Elijah’s suggestion regarding teaming up against Louisa made sense. It would probably work, but it couldn’t be possible. Enforcers didn’t trust, nor work beside, monsters. It just didn’t work that way. He may as well go bite a human and join the vampire ranks, for that’s what would happen in the end. He’d be even worse than the average vampire, since he would have betrayed his own kind and their principles.
He shook his head to clear it of all thoughts of Elijah. When he got to Sabrina’s, he listened for any signs of crying. Everything sounded quiet. He leaned against the door, trying to determine if she was upstairs or downstairs.
Apparently Sabrina had been awaiting his return, because she opened the door at the first sign of his arr
ival. He stumbled inside and quickly righted himself. He tugged on his shirt and smoothed his hair in an attempt to appear natural. He knew he failed.
Well, that was smooth.
Sabrina paled as she scrutinized his disheveled appearance. Hopefully, she’d been too distracted by his uncharacteristic sloppiness to see his entrance.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m okay. I just had a minor…altercation.”
“Connor told me he sensed Elijah, and you had run off. He’s in my living room,” she said, warning clear in her eyes.
Isaac craned his neck to find Connor eyeing him.
Shit.
“Connor, thanks for watching Sabrina.”
She scoffed at his phrasing, and he cringed. He’d hear about his careless phrase of words later. If he got lucky enough to get a later.
“Did you catch him?”
Connor examined him, seeking any signs of a fight. In a pretense of setting his sunglasses down, Isaac turned so Connor would see his back. Sabrina gasped at his injuries, causing him to wonder at how bad they really seemed. “I did. We fought, and he managed to get me on the ground. I scraped up my back pretty good, and hit my head. He took advantage and ran. I tried to find him, but he’d already left. Or he’d blocked my abilities to find him. I’m not sure which.” Connor stared out the window, and Isaac watched his eyes scan the forest for signs of life.
“I can’t sense him. I wonder why you could find him before? It’s like he wanted you to find him. But why?”
Isaac cursed Elijah inwardly and forced a shrug. Connor being suspicious of his actions didn’t bode well for him. “I haven’t a clue. But he’s gone now, and that’s all that matters. Now, if you’ll excuse me?”
Isaac stared at him until Connor jumped to his feet. “Yes, of course.”
“Let me look at your back, Isaac,” Sabrina stated. Connor seemed to relax at the physical evidence of an altercation.
Thank God.
“I’ll keep an eye out for any trouble, Isaac.”
“Thanks. Especially Elijah,” he added for good measure.
Connor nodded and left, and Sabrina rushed after him to lock the door. Isaac motioned her to wait when she tried to question him. “Okay, he’s gone.”
“What happened?”
“Elijah made himself traceable, and I went to him. He wants us to join forces to defeat Louisa.”
She gasped. “What did you say?”
“I said the only thing I could. No. If I were to join forces with a vampire, I’d be betraying everything I stand for. My people would turn on me, and kill me. We’re enemies. I can’t form such an alliance. It wouldn’t matter to them if he’s my brother, or even if we were trying to defeat a more evil vampire.
“I would become something worse than a vampire, I’d be a defector. They would search for me more avidly than any vampire or werewolf. I would be the priority for all of my kind, the number-one objective to kill. Especially since whoever had the pleasure of finding me would become the next Ruler, which is a bit of an added incentive. And if you were beside me, you could be hurt. If you were not, they could use you to catch me, and you could be hurt. They are smart enough to know I wouldn’t allow anything to happen to you. I can’t be around Elijah. It just isn’t safe for any of us.”
She stared at him in dawning horror. “Oh my God, so if they knew you met him, and didn’t try to kill him—”
“They’d kill me,” he finished. “Those are our rules. The rules I have been required to enforce over time as well. If we do not follow the rules, the waters become murky, difficult to navigate. We would be lost at sea within moments.”