“So what happened, Iz?” Marie asked, settling back with her own glass of wine.
“I don’t know,” Izzy whispered, biting her lip as she tried not to cry. “I thought he loved me. I know it was fast, but I really thought he loved me. The hardest thing—” Izzy choked a little as she tried to continue through the tears. “The hardest thing is that I love him. I tried not to, but I let myself be vulnerable, and now he’s gone.”
Marie set her glass down and pulled her sister to her as Izzy let her tears flow fast and hard, her shoulders shaking as she gasped for air.
“It’s going to be okay, Iz. I know it may not feel that way right now, but it will.”
Izzy nodded, but she didn’t believe it. This was a deep, drowning kind of pain… a pain she wasn’t sure she could resurface from.
****
“Bain?” Rowan said his name softly.
Something hadn’t been right with her brother for a while now, ever since he had taken Izzy home. Rowan didn’t know what had changed. She was sure her brother had found someone who he cared about, who he even loved. A woman who was perfect for him. Izzy wasn’t fooled by his bravado, but Bain hadn’t spoken one word of her, and he hadn’t been back to the Human World to see her.
Bain had been sulking around the castle, had been reckless, even a little vicious out on missions, and there was a stifling tension every time their mother came around.
“Bain?” Rowan said his name again, a little sterner this time, and let herself into his room. He was lying on his bed, eyes cast to the ceiling.
“What do you need, Rowan?” Bain asked as she came and sat on the bed next to him.
“My brother,” she said simply.
Bain’s gaze drifted from the ceiling to his sister’s face.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, her eyes soft and concerned as they took in his face.
He forced a nonchalant air to his words. “Nothing you need to worry about, Ro.”
“No, I do need to worry. I hear how your missions have been going, I know every time the Sisters have had to heal you—five times in two weeks. So tell me what’s happening with you.”
Bain looked back to the ceiling. “Things are pretty fucked up for me right now. It’s been hard lately, but you don’t need to worry.”
Rowan shook her head, “Fine, then tell me what’s going on with you and Mother?”
Bain’s eyes narrowed, but didn’t stray from the ceiling. The disgust he felt towards his mother was thick, as was the tension. It was tangible in the air whenever they were around each other. The worst part was that she still wouldn’t tell him where Kyra and Kathleen were. She didn’t believe he was done with Izzy, so the woman had taken everything he had to live for from him. Bain couldn’t tell Rowan what was happening, that was one of his Mother’s stipulations.
“There is nothing to tell,” Bain said.
“Bain, I’ve had enough of this. I’m worried. Either you tell me what’s going on with you, or you can tell Cree and Lothar.”
That wouldn’t work. Cree and Lothar would know, they would read everything going on, and he wouldn’t be able to lie his way out of it. He’d avoided talking to his brothers for just that reason.
Bain was near pleading when he finally looked to Rowan and spoke. “Ro, do not ask this of me. I cannot tell you, and I certainly cannot tell them.”
“You mean you cannot lie to them,” Rowan corrected.
“No.” Bain sighed, struggling now, knowing he was coming dangerously close to saying more then he should. “I mean, if I tell any of you, I risk everything.”
Rowan’s eyes narrowed as her brow pinched together. “What does that mean? What did Mother do to you?”
Bain couldn’t lie, and he couldn’t avoid Rowan’s questions. “It’s not what she did, Ro… it is what she took from me.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Rowan was furious. Their mother had gone too far this time, and Rowan was damn well going to fix it.
She should have noticed. She was utterly disappointed in herself. She should have noticed Kyra’s absence, she should have seen Bain’s pain, and, furthermore, she should have realized her mother was up to something. But all this drama with the Dark Fae swarming the Human World—which Darion said he knew nothing about—and the search for the drifters, had occupied too much of her time. Her family suffered right in front of her, and it somehow missed her attention.
Rowan reached out to Cree as she stomped her way to her mother’s study, telling him to grab Lothar and meet her there. She threw open Esperanza’s door, her eyes lit with fury, anger fusing and seething within her body.
“Where are they, Mother?” Rowan demanded, cold anger and power whipping and snapping off her words.
Esperanza lifted her gaze to meet Rowan’s “So he told you? He held out longer than I thought him capable of.”
“Where are they?” Rowan demanded again.
Esperanza nearly rolled her eyes, but they narrowed instead at her daughter’s tone. She was unnecessarily outraged.
“Relax and watch your tone with me, Rowan. I have already sent Niles to retrieve them. They should be back any time now.”
“What were you thinking?” Rowan shook her head in disbelief. “Have you completely lost your mind? You used his daughter, your granddaughter, against him.”
Rowan was silent for a second as she studied her mother’s face. There wasn’t even an ounce of remorse in her steely eyes. She really felt she had done nothing wrong. It was outrageous and unfathomable for Rowan. Who was this woman? What had happened to her mother?
“Kyra is not a bargaining chip, Mother.” Rowan spoke softer this time as she thought of her niece. That little girl lived for and loved her father. This was wrong. It was hurtful to Bain, but it would have devastated Kyra if she had, at any point, understood what was happening. “And she certainly should never have been used as an ultimatum so you could control Bain. Did you stop to think of how this might have hurt her? She loves her father.”
“I did this for them,” Esperanza said matter-of-factly.
“No, you did this for you, because of your fear of how others perceive your family. You crossed a major line, and you have irrevocably changed your relationship with your son. It will never be the same, all because of your shortsighted superiority.”
“You’re being dramatic, Rowan. Time will see us through this. He may hate me now, and he may not see it, but this had to be done. A human does not belong in the royal family.”
“No, Mother.” Rowan spoke with a deceptive calm, but she was sad and trying with all her strength to remain clear headed and act like the leader she was. “You don’t belong in the royal family, or this castle for that matter.”
Esperanza’s eyes remained narrowed. “Don’t be ridiculous, Rowan. I am your mother.”
“But you are no longer part of my council.”
Cree and Lothar had made it to Esperanza room by then, both staying silent as they attempted to read the situation.
Rowan turned to the two warriors. “Lady Esperanza will be taking her leave of us. Help her pack her things and move her out of our castle. I believe mine and Bain’s childhood home has been vacant for many years now, but that should be adequate housing for her.”
“Rowan.” Lady Esperanza’s voice was high with outrage.
Rowan turned to her mother. “You don’t get to be outraged, Mother. You did this. Perhaps being where you raised your son will help you to remember who he is and understand how deeply you’ve hurt him.”
Rowan felt like crying. Bain deserved better then what his own mother thought him worthy of. He deserved to have someone love him for him, and she believed Izzy was the person who truly did, aside from her and the brothers.
“Rowan, what’s going on?” Lothar asked quietly.
“Lady Esperanza is no longer going to be staying with us.”
“You cannot do this, Rowan.” Esperanza finally stood, as if it had just dawned on her that she was no longer
in control of the situation.
“I can, and I have,” Rowan said simply.
“Rowan.” Esperanza’s voice held a warning tone.
“I can no longer trust you,” Rowan told her. She had to admit the confession hurt her, but only because of the truth behind it. “You not only betrayed and damaged your relationship with your son, you’ve changed your relationship with your daughter as well.”
Rowan left the room, sending a silent message to Cree to get her moved out of the castle, but to be sure she had everything she needed.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Kale landed in Izzy’s backyard, his head spinning from his conversation with Rowan. He’d been keeping an eye on Izzy for Bain. Every night he let him know she was at least safe. However, he didn’t tell Bain of her endless crying. The big guy didn’t need those bits of information. He saw the pain and remorse in Bain’s eyes every time he asked Kale about her.
The guy loved that girl and the girl loved him, but Bain had walked away and wouldn’t explain why not, even to him. Kale understood now. Esperanza was one egg short of her crazy dozen.
He was watching Izzy tonight for both Bain and Rowan. He was happy to do it, and was glad to be free of the castle at the moment. It sounded as if all hell had broken loose there.
Rowan was on a warpath, fighting for her brother, and had made it very clear that if Kale chose to speak to Izzy tonight, he was to keep a lid on the information he’d been given.
Kale was fine with that. He didn’t want to step into the shit storm Esperanza had created.
Lady Esperanza was a fucking piece of work. The pretentious bitch had always looked down her nose at him. Granted, he was a wild child and he didn’t give two shits about what others thought, which led him to do what he wanted and never consider the consequences. But Kale was who he was, and he made no excuses for it.
Lady Esperanza had made her opinions verbally known when Kale came back from a short time in the Human World, where he had visited a tattoo parlor. He personally loved the full-sleeve tribal art and dragon he had tatted on his arms and chest, but apparently, she didn’t think it was appropriate for a warrior of his class. She probably wouldn’t like the nipple rings either. Kale chuckled at the idea of her seeing those.
Izzy swore she saw a shadow swoop through her backyard, and like she had thought from the day Bain left, she was sure she’d been carrying around a winged shadow. She also believed it wasn’t Bain. She couldn’t even let her heart hope it was. Tonight she felt strong enough to walk out there and see who was watching her. She’d cried her last tear on Marie’s shoulder.
Izzy wrapped a blanket around her shoulders and headed out the back door, after disarming the security system Hawk’s Eye had installed. She hit the light switch, which didn’t light up all of her yard, but it was enough.
“I know you’re out there,” she said in a singsong voice. “I’m not sure who it is, but I know you’re there.”
A familiar frame stepped out from behind the giant maple tree in the back corner of her yard by her privacy fence.
Dark hair and amused, dark eyes came into the light cast by the soft bulb.
Kale’s face held a grin she had missed. Funny how she spent very little time in the Middle World, yet had come to care and value those she had met. She had missed Kale.
“I’m not the Immortal you were hoping for, right?” Kale quipped, but it didn’t hold his usual spark.
Izzy smiled as he repeated the words he’d said the night he took her to dinner.
“You’re a good escort.” She repeated her previous words back to him, earning her a new grin.
“I wish I had somewhere to escort you too, Izzy. You need to get out of the house.”
Izzy nodded at that. So she wasn’t crazy, she did have a shadow.
“How many nights have you hidden behind my tree?” she asked with an arched brow and wide smile.
“A few,” he admitted.
“Why didn’t you come see me? Say hi? I swore I felt like I was being watched.”
Kale’s face softened, seriousness taking over as his grin fell. “I didn’t know if you would want to be bothered by… well, one of us.”
Izzy smiled genuinely at him and nodded. “Well, if I told you that I had missed you, would that make you feel better? And make you maybe want to come inside instead of lurking in the shadows like a free-spirited stalker?”
Kale chuckled and made his way up on the porch to follow Izzy inside.
“I think I have some tequila in the liquor cabinet,” Izzy said brightly.
Kale laughed. Tequila would be good after the night he’d had. He’d taken a break from following Izzy for about an hour to take care of a bit of his own business, but when Rowan had called him, he had made a bee-line back to Izzy.
“Tequila sounds good to me.”
Izzy poured them each a shot as they stood in her kitchen. “So, you been keeping busy with other Fae business or just following me?” she asked him.
Kale took his shot. “We’ve been busy, but I’ve been checking up on you a lot of the time.”
Izzy smiled as Kale’s gaze flicked away from her.
“You’re keeping something from me.”
Kale took the bottle, pouring them each another shot. “We’ve been busy. Hawk’s Eye has been tracking a lot of Fae activity in your world.”
“Vampires?” Izzy said jokingly.
“Yes, in fact there have been some vampire attacks among some others.”
Izzy bit her lip. “Ok, joking aside, how bad is it?”
“It’s not something you need to worry about. We’re on top of it, and there have been no deaths.”
Izzy shook her head. “Can I ask one question that’s completely unrelated to the subject, but that I have to ask for my own sanity?”
Kale dipped his chin; he had a feeling he knew where this was going. “Sure.”
“Is he okay?” she nearly whispered, finding it hard to look at Kale as she asked. Did she sound desperate? Did she sound like a stupid, lovesick puppy asking about a man who had never admitted he loved her, who had walked away and never looked back?
Kale smiled at her. “I don’t know how to answer that. I don’t know what will make you feel better.”
“The truth would be helpful,” Izzy admitted, finally holding his gaze.
“He’s still Bain. He’s not an open book and he’s quiet, even with me. I don’t know what happened, Izzy. He hasn’t said a word to me about it, but who do you think has had me following you?”
Izzy smiled. She couldn’t hide the fact that she felt a small amount of pleasure from Kale’s admission. It was a sad smile, but she tried for jokes to cover her true emotions. “And here I thought you were following me because you missed my smiling face, and you were waiting for the right time to try and get me drunk again.”
Kale let out a soft bark of laughter. Surprising both him and Izzy, he pulled her to him, giving her the last bit of support she needed.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Izzy hustled through the bar, her costume making the work difficult. The skirt of her costume was much shorter than she liked, but people were hard pressed to find costumes nowadays that covered more than a skimpy piece of lingerie would.
Sally and Ben had decided to go with a Victorian gothic theme. Izzy was thankful. The new theme made her set up go smoothly. It wasn’t far from the haunted mansion theme they had originally talked about.
The cocktail waitresses were in red dresses and black aprons, all sporting vampire bites on their necks. It had made Izzy grimace slightly after talking with Kale. She’d never feel the same about vampires now. The male bartenders were in Dracula costumes, fangs and all, and Sally, the one female bartender for the evening, was in a vampire queen costume. It was fitting.
“Izzy, you’re like the anti-us,” Mark, one of the Dracula’s, laughed as Izzy rushed around, putting the final touches on the room.
She laughed and smiled. “I’m no angel, Ma
rk.”
Mark smirked, a very sexy twist of his full lips. He was a good-looking guy, not to tall, but tall enough she had to look up at him, with dark hair and eyes, and rich, dark skin. He made a delicious-looking Dracula.
“If you’re no angel, then you won’t mind if a vampire buys you a drink later.”
Izzy forced a smile. Actually, she would mind, but he didn’t know about the otherworldly creatures and how real their presence was.
“We’ll see. If I survive the night, I’m sure I’ll need one.”
Mark laughed, a deep sound coming from somewhere low in his abdomen. “You and me both,” he agreed.
The night was going to be crazy. The line forming outside the bar lent credence to that fact, but that was how Izzy needed it. She needed to keep busy, but still needed things to be smooth.
After finally talking to Marie about Bain and losing it, crying for a good hour on her sister’s shoulder, she was feeling a little better. Then seeing Kale, actually laughing and having a good time, well, that put her one step further into better territory. Not good by any means, but she was firmly set in better. As long as she was keeping busy, she wasn’t thinking too much about Bain and that helped to pass the lonely hours.
Marie and Marko were coming tonight. Even Eppie and Samuel had a sitter so they could come support her. She had a feeling Marie had told Eppie about Bain and her heartache over him, but Eppie hadn’t said anything. She just seemed eager to come support Izzy.
Ben found Izzy just before it was time to open the doors, a Devil costume covering his frame, and red face paint covering his square face.
Izzy looked over to Mark. “I think we found the anti-me.” She smiled, and Mark nodded.
Izzy hadn’t wanted to be an angel for the night. In fact, the thought of putting on wings had her wanting to cry again, but when you wait till the last minute to get a costume and you wear the most popular size, you take what you can get. She hadn’t been able to find anything in fact, so Marie came to the rescue with the angel costume.
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