Reclaimed

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 o

f 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.