“Sabrina, honey. I’m going to have to bite you. It’ll hurt. A lot. I’m sorry, but this is the only way,” Isaac said, as soothingly as he knew how.
Her eyes widened in horror as she licked her parched lips, attempting to speak. He leaned closer to hear her words, which were barely a whisper.
“Not…you. Elijah…please.” She stared over his head at his brother, and Isaac fought the anger and pain that swelled up inside him. He knew why she said it. She was trying to protect him, to save him even now. But still, it hurt. And she must have seen it in his eyes, the doubts plaguing him even now.
“I…love…you. But no…please.” Once again she looked over his head at Elijah, and he heard his brother curse. Isaac watched as she turned her eyes back to him. “I’m sorry.”
He shook his head in confusion, wondering why she apologized.
“I’m sorry, too,” he heard Elijah murmur from behind him.
As soon as he heard Elijah speak, he knew. She hadn’t been asking Elijah to change her. She had been asking Elijah to help her stop Isaac from doing so at all. She was going to let herself die.
But he was too late in his discovery, and the last thing he saw was Sabrina’s stricken face, and the tears running down her cheek.
The pain exploded in his head, and he collapsed to the ground.
Sabrina focused on Isaac as the tears ran down her face. She was dying. She knew it. But at least she’d taken Louisa down as well. Okay, well she hadn’t, but the bitch was dead. That was all that mattered to her. Not whether she herself had killed her, but that she’d gotten the bitch down, one way or another.
Still, she hated betraying Isaac in her last moments, but she couldn’t—wouldn’t—allow him to ruin his life for her. Thankfully, Elijah had understood what she had wanted, even if Isaac himself had been oblivious.
“Take him…away. Leave me here.” She breathed, closing her eyes, and waited for death to take her. She was growing weaker by the moment and knew her time was coming. Every breath was a struggle; every movement was harder than the last. When she heard Elijah move beside her, she opened her eyes for one last look at Isaac before Elijah removed him from her side.
Instead of picking up Isaac, Elijah bent over her. She looked at him in confusion, and her eyes widened in realization of what he was going to do.
“No, h-h-h-he’ll kill you.”
Elijah looked at her in sorrow. “I don’t think so.”
Sabrina felt fury and fear overcome her, but was left wallowing in helplessness as he leaned over her motionless body. Oh, how she longed to fight him off, to punch his nose and kick him, all while she screamed.
But she couldn’t. The last of her strength had left her, and she could not even utter more than a paltry whimper of protest.
Desperately searching for a way to stop him, she whispered one final word.
“Amelia….”
Elijah tensed. “I’d have done this for her, if I had the power. Now I have the means to save you, and by God I will use it. I won’t watch you die again.”
Elijah bent over Sabrina and cringed. He hadn’t had human blood in a year, at least not fresh from a warm body. He’d raided blood banks on a regular basis, but it was like comparing a hot meal fresh from the oven to a meal that had sat out for two hours on the table.
He was worried he wouldn’t be able to stop once he started feeding, but strictly reined in his doubts. He had to do this; he had to save her. Isaac would understand. He would see he had done what he felt needed to be done. Elijah couldn’t allow Isaac to do what was against his laws and get himself killed in the process. Not when he had it in his power to save her as well, minus dire consequences, any more than he could sit and watch Sabrina die.
Not bloody likely.
Elijah leaned over Sabrina and cleared her wet hair away from her throat. He could see her pulse beating, faint and slow. She was barely alive, so time was certainly of an essence. Elijah leaned into her neck to kiss her while taking one final, fortifying breath.
He could do this.
Elijah bared his teeth and bit into her tender skin. She jerked in response and gasped beneath him. He knew he hurt her, but still he couldn’t contain his moan of delight. He lapped up her blood greedily. He’d never tasted anything so sweet in his life, and he devoured every drop he could manage. It wasn’t until she went limp beneath him and fell silent that he remembered who she was, and why he was doing this.
He gasped and jerked away, and in a panic searched her pale face for signs of life.
Was she drained, and dead? If so, he’d wait here for Isaac to awaken, and let him kill him as well. He would not, could not, go on.
Sabrina moaned, and he looked at her in renewed hope. He guiltily pushed down the animal instinct telling him to finish the rest of his meal. Instead, he bit his own wrist, drawing blood, and pressed his wrist to her mouth. The blood trickled in, and her eyes flew open in response. She arched her back in protest and tried to move her head away from his blood, but he held her firm. She whimpered, and tears rolled down her cheeks. When color came back to her cheeks, he allowed her to have her way, and he pulled his wrist back. His blood was smeared on her face, and he fought the surge of possessiveness that came over him.
Mine.