by Juniper Hart
Inexplicably, a burst of anxiety shot through her, a fuzzy memory resurfacing.
I’ve been in this car before. The vibrations are the same.
It was a bizarre thought. After all, weren’t one car’s movements like another’s? Yet the rational thought didn’t stop her eyes from flying open as she looked at Klaus in dismay. The hairs on the back of her neck began to rise.
“Where are you going?” she asked, her voice strangely even.
“I’m taking you home,” he replied, shooting her a perplexed smile.
How do you know where I live without asking me? she wondered silently.
“You know what? I just remembered that I need to stop by my neighbor’s. Can you drop me off on the corner?”
The smile on Klaus’ face faded as he eyed her through his peripheral vision.
“I don’t think that’s a very good idea,” he said evenly. “You look ready to drop.”
But Sabine had captured a second wind and sleep was the last thing on her mind. She knew she needed to get out of the car and quickly.
“I’m fine,” she answered. “Right here is fine, Klaus. Really.”
He didn’t respond nor did he slow down the car, his jaw twitching in anger as his foot fell heavier over the gas.
“Klaus, what are you doing?” Sabine demanded, her heart pounding wildly in her chest. “Please, let me out of the car.”
“Nein,” he hissed. “Not until I finish what I should have all those weeks ago.”
A million thoughts raced through Sabine’s head as she sat in the passenger seat, watching the town of Hude disappear behind them. She had no idea where they were headed, Klaus not speaking a word since taking her, and she tried desperately to devise a plan for escape before matters got much worse.
Scream. Attack him. Try to jump out of the car.
But as each plan came to her mind, she dismissed them. She was very aware of the life she was protecting, hidden beneath her coat. She couldn’t endanger her unborn child, despite the anger that was simmering inside her. Every fiber of her being wanted to lash out and stop this madman. She could make out no weapon but that didn’t mean he wasn’t armed.
Tell him about the baby!
She didn’t do that either, the glint of sociopathy in his eyes deterring her from speaking the words aloud. Perhaps that was the reason he was coming after her. For all she knew, this man was the father of her child.
He’s not.
The voice in her head was male, flat, and disappointed at her thought. Sabine had no doubt that it was the black-eyed man she had been thinking of for days now. Somehow, his image was comforting but it wasn’t doing anything to save her now.
Sabine knew she had to try again.
“Why are you doing this, Klaus? What have I done to you?” she asked, keeping her voice even somehow. “I don’t even know you.”
“Shut up!”
His voice was like whiplash, silencing Sabine for a moment as she continued to think.
“Klaus,” she began in a quieter voice. “You have me confused with someone else. I’m not angry with you. If you let me go—”
“I told you to shut up!”
His crystalline eyes were on fire and Sabine did not doubt the validity of his madness in the least.
He’s going to kill me this time. I know he is.
Oddly, the thought didn’t scare her as much as it should have and from somewhere in the recesses of her mind, powerful words she didn’t understand began to surface.
Over thee, I cast a shroud. Over me, I cast a shroud. You can do no harm. Over thee, I cast a shroud. Over me, I cast a shroud. You can do no harm.
The words played over and over in her head on a loop and as she recited them, a strange feeling overfell her like a blanket covering her shoulders.
Abruptly, Klaus slammed on the brakes, causing Sabine to jerk forward with the motion, her head barely missing the dashboard.
“What are you doing?” he screeched, his face twisted in fury. “Stop it!”
“I-I’m not doing anything!” Sabine protested as he glowered at her.
“You aren’t supposed to remember!” he shouted, banging his hands furiously against the steering wheel. “Is this how you survived last time?”
“Honestly, Klaus, I have no idea what you’re talking about!” Sabine told him pleadingly. “Whatever you think I did—”
“STOP IT!” he shrieked, unbuckling his seatbelt. Sabine didn’t hesitate, taking the opportunity to open her door as Klaus struggled against his clothes. Beads of sweat broke out over his face and Sabine could see he was having a difficult time breathing. Her hands closed around the door handle but as she tried to wrench the door open to make her escape, nothing happened.
That’s why he opened the door for me. There’s no way for me to escape from in here.
“You remember everything, don’t you?” Klaus gasped. “Dammit, I was a fool to fall for your tricks!”
Sabine shook her head, but Klaus lunged for her, his teeth baring as he did. Her eyes bulged as she watched his eye teeth elongate against his gumline, a cry of panic escaping her lips.
What is he? What is he trying to do to me?
Desperation and consternation drew out the last card she had in her bag.
“Don’t!” she howled. “I’m pregnant!”
The words had the effect she had hoped and Klaus paused, his eyes bugging from his head.
“What?”
His voice was eerily flat.
“I’m pregnant,” she breathed shakily, allowing her jacket to fall away. “Four and a half months.”
Klaus’ eyes fell over her stomach, his breathing slowing as he took in the small swell of her stomach.
“Whose is it?” he demanded. “Who is the father?”
Sabine shook her head.
“I don’t remember,” she whispered, her eyes fixed on him.
Why doesn’t he believe me? What does he know about me that I don’t know about myself?
It was hardly the time to ask.
“Lies!” he bellowed but his body fell back as more confusion overcame his face. “You’re a liar, Sabine Mayer. Your act is done!”
Sabine Mayer. Is that who I am?
The name meant little to her but under the pressure she was enduring, it was impossible for her to analyze the meaning of any of it.
The flash of high beams behind them seemed to freeze Klaus again and his eyes darted into the rearview mirror.
“Teufel noch mal!” Klaus swore when he realized that he was blocking traffic. Sabine whirled about in her seat and began to scream.
“Hilfe! Hilfe!”
“Scheisse!”
Klaus was on the move before Sabine understood what was happening, the driver’s side door open as he flew into the fading sunlight. She watched in disbelief as he bolted across the road and into the field across the way. He moved with such speed, Sabine was sure she was imagining things but she didn’t give herself a moment to process his abrupt departure.
She scrambled over the console and through the driver’s side door, falling onto the pavement in her haste.
“Sabine!”
She yelped out in terror, thinking that Klaus had somehow managed to return without her notice, but when she raised her head, her eyes met a too-familiar set of black orbs.
“Sabine! You’re alive!” he cried, reaching down to scoop her up into his arms, but traumatized, Sabine skittered back in a crabwalk and out of his arms.
Is he after me too? she wondered, fear overwhelming her.
“Sabine? It’s me—Dex,” he told her, his eyes shadowing with confusion. “Are you hurt? Let me take a look at you.”
From a safe distance, Sabine shook her head.
“I don’t know you,” she managed to gasp. “Leave me alone.”
11
Shock overwhelmed Dex’s body as he stared at Sabine uncomprehendingly.
“Sabine, it’s me. Dex. Dex Rousseau from…” he trailed off and lo
oked around nervously. There was no one along the lone country road. In fact, he hadn’t seen anyone for miles when he’d driven toward the GPS signal of the BMW.
“Sabine, look at me,” Dex said imploringly when her face showed no signs of relaxing. “What did that bastard do to you?”
Sabine shook her head slowly and averted her gaze as she rose awkwardly to her feet.
“I don’t know,” she mumbled, the uncertainty in her tone almost palpable. “He was trying to kill me.”
The words sent another wave of chills down Dex’s spine.
“Why? What did he want from you?” he demanded. “How did he find you?”
Sabine shook her head once more, keeping a safe distance between them.
“I just want to go home,” she mumbled.
“Yes, darling, of course,” he told her. “I’ll take you home. Come on.”
She shook her head vehemently, the wariness on her face speaking volumes to what she must have endured.
“I-I remember you,” she muttered but Dex got the impression that she was talking more to herself than him.
“I should hope so,” he said lightly even though his heart was aching to see her like that. “We spent nine months together.”
Her head jerked up, eyes narrowing to study his face.
“Living together?” she demanded.
She really doesn’t remember. She doesn’t remember the compound or her training…or me.
“Let’s get you home to Bremen and we’ll talk,” Dex urged. “It’s not safe here in the middle of the road and who knows if Bremner is coming back with other demons.”
“What?” Her face paled. “Oh…we’re speaking English.”
She hadn’t seemed to realize it until that moment.
“Sabine, please just come with me,” he begged, his nose darting upward to smell for foreign bodies. “We can talk about it in Bremen.”
“I don’t live in Bremen. I live in Hude.”
Dex was sure he had never been so confused in his life, but he also knew he couldn’t add to Sabine’s perplexity by asking her a thousand questions.
“Fine,” he said quietly. “I’ll take you home to Hude, then.”
Begrudgingly, Sabine shuffled toward him, her body ambling toward the passenger side door of his rental car. He moved to open it for her but she shook her head.
“No!” she said harshly. “I’ve got it.”
She slid inside and instantly opened the door again, closing and opening it two more times. Dex didn’t question it as he climbed into the driver’s side and fastened his seatbelt.
“Where in Hude do you live now?” he asked quietly. “I’ll put the address into my GPS.”
The corners of Sabine’s mouth twitched.
“Get to Langenberger Street and I’ll guide you from there,” she told him, shifting her body away from him to press her frame against the car door. Dex nodded in agreement.
“If that’s what you want,” he told her. “Anything you want, okay, Sabine?”
She visibly swallowed and turned to look out the window but Dex got the distinct impression that she was carefully watching him through her peripheral vision.
Whatever he did to her, she’s not okay.
The fury he was feeling toward Klaus Bremner was almost unbearable. He had seen the demon rush off into the literal sunset and Dex’s instinct had been to shift and fly after him but then he’d heard Sabine’s terrified screams.
Now, knowing that Sabine was physically unscathed, he wished he’d captured the demon. He needed answers, needed to know why Sabine had been targeted. He needed to know if she would be targeted again.
“How did you lose your memory, Sabine?” he asked quietly when a long silence had passed. “What did Klaus do to you?”
He was afraid of the answer but the response he got terrified him even more.
“I have no idea,” she replied dully. “He left me to die on the side of the road, bleeding from a head injury and—”
She abruptly stopped herself.
“I only remembered my name but nothing before that. I didn’t even recall the assault.”
That explains where she’s been. She’s been trying to collect the pieces of her life.
“You said you remembered me,” he offered softly. “What do you remember about me?”
Sabine sighed.
“Nothing. Flashes. Sometimes I can hear something you may have said to me in my head but…really, I don’t have anything solid.”
She paused again and cast him a sidelong look.
“Is my name Sabine Mayer?”
A slight sensation of relief crossed over him.
“Yes,” he replied. “You’re from San Diego, California.”
Her mouth gaped wide in shock.
“What?” she choked. “I’m—I’m an American?”
Dex wondered how much he should tell her and how much he should spare her.
Does she remember that she’s a witch?
He blinked at the notion that she might have forgotten. After all, it was part of her identity.
But she’s forgotten that she’s an American.
“You are,” he finally said.
“Then what am I doing in Germany? Why do I speak German fluently and without an accent?”
Her questions shot out in rapid-fire succession, causing Dex to tense again.
“Let’s get you home and looked over,” he told her gently. “And then we’ll have a long talk about everything, all right?”
She didn’t seem to like his suggestion, but she clamped her mouth closed and again turned her smoky eyes toward the darkening skyline.
“How do you know Klaus?” she asked.
“I don’t—not really,” Dex told her softly. “I taught him once, a while back. He wasn’t familiar to you at all?”
“Taught him?” she echoed. “You’re a teacher? Am I a teacher?”
He cast her a soulful look, his pulse quickening as he stared at her. Despite her fear and exhaustion, she was every bit as beautiful as he remembered her. Being near her again roused all the feelings he had tried so hard to suppress over the past few months but he had already known that he would feel the way he did when he saw her. The chase he’d endured over the past few days had confirmed that he was still very much in love with Sabine. Searching for her had not been a handler seeking a Sleeper. It had been a male desperately in need of his mate.
“We’re not teachers,” Dex replied simply, steering the vehicle toward Hude.
“Then what the hell is going on?”
The frustration in Sabine’s voice almost broke his heart but he knew he couldn’t give her too much too soon. He needed to learn the extent of her injuries before disclosing confidential information. He had to ensure that she wouldn’t inadvertently blow her own cover.
I think it’s fair to say that this assignment is blown anyway, Dex thought grimly. He was sure that Anatoli would order them both back when she learned about what had happened but Dex wasn’t quite ready to go.
Not until I get my hands on Klaus and figure out what the hell he wants with my Sabine.
“I promise I will give you all the answers you need,” Dex told her earnestly. “But we need to follow protocol, all right?”
The expression on her face told him that she had no idea what he was talking about and Dex gritted his teeth.
I should send her back to the States and deal with Klaus on my own, he thought but the notion of being apart from Sabine again was too much to bear. He had no idea where Klaus had gone or how wide the threat was spread. Sabine might be in just as much danger at home as she was in Germany.
The best place for her is at my side. I’ll keep her safe now that she’s in my reach.
“There,” Sabine muttered suddenly, pointing out the windshield. “That’s my building.”
Dex found a parking spot and waited for Sabine to climb from the vehicle. Her movements seemed laborious.
“Are you injured? Did Klaus bite you
?”
Her head whipped around to look at him in dismay.
“Bite me?” she echoed. “Why would he bite me?”
She doesn’t know he’s a demon. Does she know who she is? Who I am?
Dex needed to find out.
“Lean on me,” he offered tentatively when he saw there were three flights of stairs to climb. “I can carry you if you want.”
She instinctively drew back and Dex sighed heavily. Whatever trust they’d once shared, whatever closeness, it was long demolished because of Klaus.
“I can do it,” she retorted stubbornly, reaching for the railing. “I’ve been doing it for weeks.”
He watched as she wobbled up the steps but as she’d said, she made it without any help or issue.
She’s not hurt—she’s tired.
Dex wondered when she’d last slept.
“Scheisse!” she swore in German when she’d reached the top of the stairs.
“What?” Dex asked, sprinting up to join her side.
“My keys are at the neighbor’s.”
She looked warily down the stairs and groaned.
“I can go for you,” he volunteered but even as he said it, he knew it wasn’t an option. Pained, Sabine shook her head.
“No,” she groaned. “But you can help me down this time.”
Dex swallowed a smile, not wanting to show her how pleased he was at the small victory.
We’ll get there, he realized. We were there once. We just need to get back.
The thought gave him hope for the first time since he’d begun the awful quest to bring Sabine back.
“Mein Himmel, you look terrible, Sabine,” Frau Schiller announced, her bird-like eyes fixed on Dex like bullets. “Who are you?”
Dex immediately liked the old witch, a smile touching his lips despite her obvious scowl.
“Dex Rousseau,” he replied, extending a hand. “I’m a friend of Sabine’s. We’ve been looking for her.”
Maria Schiller’s brows rose in disbelief.
“Have you?” she shot back. “Where? Because there was no missing person’s report. She’s been here for over a month and nothing?”
She whipped her head back toward Sabine.
