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“I’m so sorry, Sabrina.”
“Not…your…fault,” she managed to force out through her swollen throat.
His gaze fly to her neck, and he blanched at her bruised skin. “What else is hurt?” he asked urgently.
“My…arm…” she muttered between her clenched teeth. “But Louisa—”
As she spoke, he cursed and probed her broken arm. She gasped in pain, and he withdrew his touch.
“I’m going to take the tree off of you, and get you out of here. I’m sorry, this is going to hurt….”
Pain laced through his voice, and his eyes apologized for the agony he needed to cause. She looked at him, ready to assure him she didn’t give a damn, and cried out instead. Louisa smiled at her over his shoulder as she raised the rock and knocked him over the head. Isaac went down without a fight. He hadn’t even seen Louisa coming since he had been so worried about her.
“You bitch,” Sabrina snarled, finding strength in her fury. “I swear to God I am going to kill you.”
Louisa laughed and slung Isaac over her shoulder. “I’m certain you’d love to do just that, darling.”
Fury swelled over Sabrina, and she fought to free herself using the few unbroken body parts she could still move. Unfortunately, she remained trapped beneath the tree so she watched in dismay as Louisa propped him against a tree and punched him in the face. Though he jerked at the abuse, he didn’t awaken even as blood gushed out of his nose.
“That was fun.” Louisa laughed. She turned away from Isaac and looked at Sabrina. “Everything’s coming together perfectly. Thank you for your help.”
Sabrina swallowed roughly and glared at her enemy.
“Go to hell.”
Louisa smiled and stalked over to her. “What did you say? I didn’t hear you.” She came over to Sabrina’s unharmed arm and grabbed it. “Did you say something, hmm?” Leaned into her face, she arched a brow and watched Sabrina, smiling delightfully—with pure evil. Excitement shone in her eyes, and lit up her face in a sheer mockery of joy. Sabrina knew if she opened her mouth, she would receive another useless limb as an award for her efforts. But she no longer cared.
“I said, go to hell, you nasty bitch.” The pain of her arm being broken came immediately, and she bit her lip without a sound. She felt her teeth rip through her lip and tasted the metallic flavor of blood on her tongue, but she refused to budge. The pain doubled when Louisa twisted the arm at an unnatural angle. Still, she didn’t cry out. It was the only thing in her control at the moment, and by God, she’d remain silent.
Louisa studied her with wide eyes, and exclaimed, “What the hell is wrongwith you?”
It would have been almost laughable in any other circumstance. The woman who made a habit of torturing women and breaking bones asked what was wrong with her. But the irony got lost when Louisa released her arm and ripped the tree off her legs to throw it at Isaac. It landed against his chest, the thick crunching sound causing Sabrina to cringe. The tree rolled to a stop at his feet.
His eyes were open, and he looked pissed. He’d changed into a vampire; it showed in the hard lines of his face. He roared, murder written in his eyes, and threw the tree off of himself. He jumped up and charged at Louisa. He halted when Louisa grabbed Sabrina and held her in front of her like a shield. Louisa had one hand on her head and another on her shoulder.
“One more step, and you can say goodbye to her head,” she warned. “You’ll never be able to save her if she’s headless, no matter what beast you become.”
“Don’t listen, Isaac. She’ll kill me no matter what you do.”
“Shut up, you insignificant human.” Louisa growled in her ear. She turned to Isaac and taunted, “What a predicament, Isaac. What should you do? You can’t come save her. She’d be dead before you even get close to me. And if you don’t come to her rescue, she’ll die anyway.
“So will you step forward now, knowing she will be put out of her misery quickly, like a dog? It’s what your brother did to Amelia—stabbed her like a sick animal. She didn’t deserve his mercy. Or, do you wait, holding out hope that some way, somehow, you will overcome me? Now, that’s a laughable prospect.”
Isaac hissed. “I will kill you, Louisa. Have no doubt.”
“You are such a man, all talk and no action. All these promises you men make to women, but never follow through. Love, honor, respect—revenge.” She sneered in an unnerving imitation of humor. “I’m sure you swore to keep Sabrina safe from me. Yet here she is. Broken and bloodied. And soon? Dead.”
Louisa backed away, and Isaac took a casual step closer. She glared at his movement. “Stay back.”
He obeyed her command, holding his arms up in a gesture of peace. “Louisa, we can work out a deal, I swear. I’ll let you walk away, if you just give me Sabrina,” he said in soothing tones. “We can make this work….”
Louisa sneered at him. “No, and don’t move again.” She looked behind him and her eyes widened in horror. Isaac whirled around to see what stood behind him, only to see nothing but the gloomy forest. He cursed and spun back around. He’d fallen for the oldest trick in the book, damn it.
She’d left.
***
Louisa looked down at her bundle in disgust.
