Reclaimed (29 page)

He stood outside Heathrow, trying to pick up Isaac’s scent. He found him easily and ran almost full-speed toward him. He paused when he saw a family staring at him. The pretty mother had wide eyes, as if she sensed something was wrong, and the husband glared at him, probably because his wife stared at him. The little girl clutched her mother’s fingers and smiled at him cheerfully, and he felt a responding grin come to his moth. He’d always wanted children, children who had curly brown hair and bright green eyes….

Another impossible dream
.

He forced himself to walk calmly away from the crowds of people surrounding him and stopped in his tracks. He flared his nostrils at the familiar stench. Louisa definitely hid close by.

Did she somehow know Sabrina had run? Did she know she was unprotected?

Blast it all to Hell
.

He hesitated as he agonized over which direction to take. If he went after Louisa, he could try to stop her and lose. If he went after Isaac, they could save Sabrina and later band together and defeat Louisa.

His decision made, he headed in Isaac’s direction.

***

Isaac already tried three hotels and stood inside the fourth of the evening. He had four people in front of him in line, waiting impatiently, when Elijah found him.

“Louisa’s here.”

He blanched and gripped Elijah’s arm. “In this hotel, you mean?”

Elijah shook his head, and reiterated, “No, but she’s in the city. I don’t know why, but I’m scared she’s doing the same thing we are.”

“Shit.”

“We have to find her first, Isaac.”

“I’m
trying
, Elijah. I’m hardly twiddling my thumbs here. Did you discover anything?”

“She has a flight at ten in the morning.”

“Can you smell her? I know my senses are stronger than a human’s, but they are nothing compared to yours,” he whispered so quiet it would be inaudible to the human ear. It killed him to ask Elijah to search for her, but he needed to brush jealousy aside tonight. Saving Sabrina won out over his petty feelings, and his sense of smell got ruined by the crush of people in the city. He
hated
cities.

“I can smell her, but it’s hard to tell if she’s here. I think she’s very close by, however.”

“You found me…can’t you find her the same way?” Isaac asked somewhat impatiently. He gave an irritated sigh and stepped forward another place in line.

“It’s not the same. I’ve tracked your scent for over a hundred years. Sabrina’s, I’ve only known a few days,” Elijah snapped.

This statement came out a bit too loudly, and earned them both an odd look from the couple in front of them. Isaac gritted his teeth and glared at them, until they turned around and whispered fervently to each other. They took a step farther away from them, and he grunted in satisfaction.

Nosy humans
.

“Oh,” Isaac said with some surprise. He hadn’t realized a vampire could sense people better once they were better acquainted with their scent, so to speak. He wondered fleetingly how often Elijah had tracked him, as he’d never seen him until Sabrina appeared. “Well, at least she’s still local,” he exclaimed while he ran a hand through his hair. He
barely
resisted the urge to reach in front of him and throw the people out of his way as they laughed in front of him in line.

“How about if I help out by checking some of the other hotels? Where have you gone?”

Though he didn’t want Elijah to be the one to discover Sabrina, he also knew time was of the essence, more so than ever before. Reluctantly, he named the hotels he’d visited and watched as Elijah ran off to aid him in his quest for Sabrina. For once, he didn’t feel jealousy rip through him at the thought of Sabrina being brought back to him in his brother’s arms. He needed to find her too badly to care how she it got accomplished.

He shifted his weight to his other foot, and relieved to see he finally stood next in line. He sighed as the couple in front of him chatted nonsensically at the receptionist. He resisted the urge to knock their heads together and throw their motionless bodies to the side.

When the couple
finally
moved toward the elevator, he quickly told the receptionist his concocted story of how his wife had come somewhere in England, and he knew she had to be in this town somewhere. He didn’t know what hotel she’d chosen, but wanted to surprise her since he’d come to England early.

The other times this earned the appropriate
oohs
and
ahhs
of appreciation from the recipient of his story, but this time it merely got a stern look.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t give out that information.”

“Not even for her husband?”

She shook her head. “Not even then.”

“Okay, I’m sorry for bothering you.” Isaac smiled, walked around the corner, and closed his eyes. He created a gust of wind that blew the doors to the back employee entrance open. The startled receptionist rushed to investigate the bang of the doors, and Isaac ran to her computer.

A few quick movements of his hands, and he yearned to shout in delight. She was
here
. She’d be safe now because he’d found her.

Thank God.

He heard the receptionist returning and went to the other side of the counter with a smile plastered on his face. When the confused receptionist returned, she jumped to see him standing there once more. “Sir, I told you—”

“I got a hold of her! She’s here, Sabrina Hodges in room 215. So, I’m going to go up to her room now.”

She perked up. “Oh how nice!” She pursed her lips and shook her head. “Oh, she must be the crying lady,” she informed him.

The sheer intensity of the happiness washing over him made his legs feel weak enough to collapse on the floor in relief. He laughed hysterically and forced a calming breath when the receptionist looked at him warily, like she worried he might be a little mad. He smiled at the receptionist, resisting the urge to pull her into his arms and kiss her.

“Yes, she thought I’d been delayed. She’ll be quite happy to see me, I assure you.”

The receptionist smiled. “Elevator is to your left, when you get off on the second floor, take a right, and a quick left.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

“Would you like the spare key?” she asked.

“Yes, that would be wonderful.”

The receptionist beamed at him, clearly happy in her role as co-conspirator, and handed him the plastic key. “She’s popular, your wife is. A girlfriend of hers stopped by an hour ago as well.”

He got halfway to the elevator before her words registered in his brain, and he stopped dead in his tracks. His blood ran cold, and his heart clenched in his chest.

He slowly turned. “A friend?”

“Yes, a pretty girl, about your age. Perhaps you know her as well?”

He wasted no more time or effort on the receptionist and bolted to the staircase. His legs were faster than any elevator could be.

“The elevator’s quicker, sir,” called the desk clerk from behind him, confused.

He arrived at her doorway in seconds, but the sinking dread in his heart told him she’d already be gone.

Or lying on the floor completely drained of blood.

He threw open the door and searched for any signs of Sabrina. The covers were wrinkled where someone had once lain, but the bed lay empty. He recognized her unopened overnight bag on the chair by the window. A pillow lay to the floor, and the bedside lamp had gotten tipped over. Of Sabrina, there was no sign. He growled in his throat and turned around. He ran out of the hotel room and through the lobby, not caring if anyone saw his mad dash.

The time for appearances had ended. He needed to find Sabrina before he was too late.

He didn’t stop to search for Elijah—he couldn’t afford the delay. Every minute wasted added to the minutes Sabrina would be scared, hurt, tortured, or even killed.

He ran faster than ever before, pausing for nothing. He could barely even see where he ran, his speed too fast to concentrate on anything. But that was okay, for he knew where he needed to go. Normally he would at least
attempt
to calm his raging emotions, to lower the risk of any unwanted injury or damage from the storm he had unleashed.

But not tonight.

Tonight, he welcomed the damage he caused. Tonight, he embraced the danger with open arms, relished the sound of trees crashing to the ground. Let the storms take down the whole country of England and everyone in her. He didn’t give a damn, as long as he could save Sabrina.

Every step he took, he saw her cry out in pain as Louisa broke her arm, broke her fingers, and broke her neck. He roared and amazingly, his speed increased. A cracking sound met his ears as a tree broke and collapsed to the ground in front of him. He hurdled it effortlessly and continued on.

Nothing would stop him.

***

Sabrina lay upon the bed sleeping when she heard the light knock on the door.

“Housekeeping, please open the door.”

“I don’t need room service. Go away,” she mumbled sleepily. She rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. Sleeping helped her forget what she’d done. Sleep was necessary for her sanity.

Another knock sounded, and it was more insistent. She heard the shuffling of the cart the maids always pushed through the hallway and glared at the door.

“Housekeeping, ma’am.”

“Can you please leave? I don’t want to be disturbed.” She sought and found the stupid sign on the door where it hung on the inside doorknob, and she cursed.

“Housekeeping,” the voice repeated.

She gave an annoyed sigh and glowered at the ceiling. It was nighttime. Why would there be someone knocking on her door at this hour? Maybe they did things differently in England. To be honest, she didn’t care; she just wanted to be left alone to wallow in her misery. She might as well let the bothersome maid in, and maybe she would leave.

Swinging her feet out from under the blankets, she rolled lazily out of bed. The pillow fell off the bed, and she stared at it for a moment.

Let the maid earn her salary. She can pick it up
.

Shaking her head at the laziness of such an action, she nevertheless walked to the door, leaving the pillow where it lay. Not pausing to look at the maddening maid, she unlocked the bolt, turned the knob, and swung it open.

“Come in.” She stomped back to the bed in a huff. Her hands were braced on the bed to climb in when the maid spoke.

“Thank you, Sabrina. You made it even easier than I thought it would be.”

She froze in horror, and a chill ran down her spine. She knew the voice behind her all too well—and she didn’t want to hear it when alone in a hotel room.

And she’d just invited her in.

Idiot
.

“Surprised, I see? Well, I don’t know why. You didn’t actually think your pathetic plan to leave Isaac would save you, or him, did you?”

She growled in a paltry imitation of Isaac and stepped toward Louisa. “You leave him alone! He’s done nothing to you. He never did anything to deserve what you did to him. He was innocent in all this. He still is.”

Louisa laughed, lounging comfortably against the closed door. She looked so calm, so relaxed.
So normal
. But looks were deceiving more often than not, and Louisa couldn’t be farther from normal. She’d come with one purpose and one purpose only: to kill her.

It chilled her.

“Oh, Sabrina. You’re so funny. It will truly pain me to hurt you.” She grabbed her heart, a pained expression on her face.

Sabrina stiffened. “How about you don’t? I’m leaving. Elijah’s staying. Even Isaac is staying. Why do you feel the need to do this?”

Her mind raced as she attempted to stall her enemy. She knew Louisa to be a formidable opponent, impossible to beat. But, she wouldn’t let the bitch kill her while she begged for her life.

Hell no
.

She’d done this to herself. Stupidly, she now knew, she’d flown the relative safety of her home and ran straight into the waiting arms of her enemy.

Now, she’d die.

“They won’t let you leave, you know. You’re stupid to even think your plan would have worked. Isaac won’t stand by while you leave him. Neither will Elijah. Even if he can’t have you, he won’t let you leave. You’re his one and only love. It’s disgusting.” She glared at Sabrina in spite and continued. “I don’t know what it is you do to cause this unwavering devotion. You must be incredible between the sheets. You certainly aren’t much to look at.”

Fury overcame her, and she forgot her fear. She glared and spat, “Go to hell.”

Louisa laughed. “Maybe someday, but first I will personally see you get there.”

The small talk obviously over, Louisa stalked toward her. Sabrina forced herself to cower until she reached the foot of the bed. Sabrina knocked the lamp off the bedside table, plunging the room into darkness. She launched herself over the bed to land on the other side. She ran for the door as fast as she could, and felt the cool brass knob under her hand before Louisa threw her backward through the air. Painfully, her head slammed on the floor and the wind whooshed out of her lungs, leaving her gasping for air. She attempted to roll to her feet, but the heel pressing down on her throat halted her.

Louisa smirked down at her. “Nice try, Sabrina. Impressive, even. You’ll be so much more fun than that weakling Amelia. I bet you won’t even faint from the pain.” She spoke with a far-off look on her face, as if she thought of the torture to come.

Sabrina clawed at Louisa’s foot, desperately trying to free herself. The world turned black, and still she fought until her hands fell to the floor beside her head, and she fought no more.

Chapter Twenty

Louisa picked up her useless bundle and snuck back outside. Once there, she didn’t pause until she’d reached the clearing. And when she and her unconscious guest arrived, there had been no time to waste in setting the scene.

A glance up poured rain down on Louisa’s raised face. The clouds covered the sky so densely that not even the moonlight could be seen. The only light illuminating the forest surrounding them were the intermittent flashes from lightning strikes. The resulting effect was gloomy and shattering. Sabrina watched her as she approached and crouched down beside her.