Memory of an Immortal Heart (Immortal Hearts)

by Kita Bell

  “I didn’t realize I had bitten her.” Then Brand stilled, head whipping around to sight Joshua as he snarled, “How do you know where Eva’s Marque is?” Eva was his. His amati. The location of her Marque wasn’t a place Joshua should have ever seen.

  Joshua eyed Brand warily. “Pull your claws back. She freaked out, she showed me. I had to explain it to her.”

  Dread settled in Brand’s chest. “You explained to her? What exactly did you explain?”

  “Everything.” Joshua’s expression told Brand that Eva was less than happy. “Go talk to your amati.”

  Fuck.

  Brand turned and left.

  Ah fuck. His head hurt, his heart hurt – everything hurt. He had wanted more time. Tonight they were retrieving Eva’s sister, but today...today, he had hoped for more time. He hadn’t had enough. Not with Eva, not yet.

  The room was dark except for a lamp beside the bed. The blinds were drawn and the air was humid from the shower. Eva was sitting cross-legged in the middle of her bed, fully dressed, waiting for Brand. Raw feminine anger permeated the air.

  Her dark hair was damp, her eyes molten gold. Brand straightened and met that gaze. “You know.”

  “I know. Now tell me,” Eva hissed, reaching to sink her fingers into the mattress, as if she was trying to shred it, “if I’m your amati, did you ever intend to let me go? Or was I just another prisoner, this entire time?”

  Brand moved silently across the room to her and settled on the bed. It dipped beneath his weight as he reached forward, gripping Eva’s shoulders in his hands. Slowly, Brand smoothed his thumbs down her arms. His face was as serious as Joshua’s had been.

  Eva growled, resisting the urge to back away.

  Because it felt too good.

  And because, this time, she wasn’t willing to give ground. She wasn’t going to overlook anything.

  Brand raised his eyes. As if reluctant, he released her.

  “I never intended to let you go back to North Carolina, Eva. I felt guilty as hell letting you believe that – but you were too important to let out of my life. Too important to risk losing. There are blood tigers who go their entire lives and never find their amati. I didn’t want to be one of those who found her – and lost her.”

  Something inside her relaxed, went weak at those words. Eva straightened her spine. “So why did you let me return to my Gens?”

  “Because you needed your sister,” he said simply.

  “You Marqued me,” Eva shifted away. “You knew what you were doing, and you didn’t tell me, you didn’t ask me. You Marqued me.”

  “Eva…” Brand shook his head. “It was an accident.”

  She snarled. Maybe it was an accident, but she hadn’t wanted to know he regarded it as an accident. As if Brand hadn’t intended to Marque her at all. “What, you don’t want me for an amati?” she snapped.

  Brand’s blue eyes flared, changing to gold so quickly she wasn’t able to track it. Then he leaned forward, slid his palm around the base of her neck, pulling her close. Eva resisted; he stopped when there was only a bare space between them.

  “You are everything I ever wanted in an amati.”

  “What about Lis?” Eva hissed, and Brand’s face creased in amazement. Amazement and pain.

  “Lis?” he repeated blankly.

  “Joshua told me about Khael. About how you took his memories. About how you took the bond he shared with Lis.” Eva gritted her jaw.

  Brand slowly shook his head. “You can’t take the bond, Eva. It’s not possible. That’s why Khael isn’t…” Brand shook his head again, focusing on her. “I had no idea what it was to Marque someone before you, Eva. I had no idea what it was like to see that Marque on your body and know you were mine.”

  Brand eyes dipped, burning a possessive hole through her clothes. Eva flashed her teeth at him. “I belong to myself,” she retorted, still angry. And so confused. “You never asked me. Don’t say it was an accident or a surprise or anything. You absolutely knew what an amati bond felt like.”

  Brand’s gaze burned gold. “No. I have no idea what the bond feels like, Eva. Khael and Lis weren’t fully bonded. Lis Marqued Khael, Khael didn’t Marque her. And they were never…they never shared themselves with each other.” His face creased in frustration. “And I have no idea what our bond will feel like, either. Even that first year after taking the memories, I knew Lis wasn’t my amati. That was what made sorting everything out possible. Because I knew what Lis was to me, and I knew what she was to Khael. She was his amati, and she was my friend. Always my friend, Eva. But never anything more.”

  Eva stared, afraid to believe. “And how do I even know that’s true?”

  “I may have kept things from you, but I am not lying to you,” Brand growled. Then he stared at her. Eva shifted uncomfortably as Brand’s eyes widened in incredulity. “You’re jealous?”

  “I have no idea what I am!” Eva cried, on the point of being overwhelmed. She pushed away, determined to put distance between them, but Brand held her.

  “I thought you would hate me,” he muttered, peering deep into her eyes, as if searching for that emotion.

  “Maybe I do,” she whispered. Brand saw too much. “Maybe that’s what this is.”

  “I don’t think so,” he murmured, sounding amazed…and hopeful. Eva turned away.

  She had wanted to keep Brand. So maybe she could keep Brand. But…

  “These things don’t last,” she whispered, feeling horribly exposed, terrifyingly vulnerable. Brand’s strong fingers relaxed on her nape, his thumb gently stroking. She shivered.

  “The amati bond lasts forever, Eva,” Brand said quietly, his caress a warm glide over her skin. “There is only one woman in the world I can Marque, and that woman is you. There is only one woman in the world I can form a bond with. You. And,” his voice deepened, “there is only one woman I would ever want for my amati. You, Eva. You are stubborn, irrational and so damn beautifully strong that it frightens me. I want you. Always.”

  Always.

  Forever.

  Eva shook, but this time, from a different sort of fear. “I don’t think I can do that.” She shifted back. This conversation was breaking her heart. She needed to leave, and soon. Before too much was said. Before Brand said something like that again. “Don’t ask me that.”

  *“I have to Eva. You have to face this some time. You can’t keep running. Not always, not when…”

  And then it happened: Eva’s vision started to tunnel inwards. Everything began to turn gray, hazy. Brand’s voice blurred and grew muted and echoing as if he were speaking from down a long cement corridor, and no matter that just moments ago she had wanted him to release her, now she was glad for his support as her knees fought to crumple.

  She inhaled and scented blood – then her lungs froze up, her chest hurt. Her muscles cramped. She fought to breath as panic seized her; her heart rate spiked.

  It felt as if she had been running all morning, except she hadn’t…

  Reality dropped away as the Warning rose inside her.

  A slender too-thin woman strapped to a metal table – brown hair hacked off, frightened silvery eyes flaring with gold and red as she fought. She snarled, screaming. Then the beautiful empty-eyed woman laughed and turned, walking away. “Very well. Refuse to cooperate. My pets deserve a treat,” and she gestured to the fanged guards standing beside the door saying, “Perhaps you will be more willing when they are through…”

  Even as Eva struggled to attack, to fight, the Warning flared forward.

  She looked down. The concrete cell was small, cold. The light inside was painfully stark. A battered lump of flesh lay on the floor, where it had been dumped. The brown hair peeked out near the head, clotted with blood. The silvery eyes were swollen shut. There was a rattling breath, the stench of blood, and then an exhale almost too soft to hear…

  Everything went dark.

  “No! No-no-no-no-no!” Eva screamed, and lashed out at the force restraini
ng her. NO. No. “No. Not her. Not her…not…” She struggled, trying to get free. She lashed out, clawing with her fingers, finding purchase on something large and warm and solid. She dug her nails in then threw herself forward, starting to pull on the Change…

  “Eva! Snap out of it!” It was a raw deep snarl, and someone grabbed her shoulders, shaking her body before wrapping his arms around her, cementing her to his chest. The guards. Rohe’s guards… She screamed – furious, terrified – fighting. She struggled as he turned her body around, before pinning it to her own, then a rough hand shoved up beneath the hem of her shirt, skimmed over her belly before settling over her left breast…

  Brand.

  Eva stopped trying to attack. Everything went out of her, and for a moment, she simply hung limp in his arms.

  Her skin flared with awareness beneath his hands. Her sense of smell went into overdrive, and she sucked his scent in like a starving woman. His thumb traced over the Marque on her breast. The movement was slow and comforting, just shy of arousing…and incredibly grounding.

  She exhaled and it sounded more like a sob.

  “Do you know me now, Eva?” Brand asked, his voice low and rough; it was a serious, pointed, question. His presence at her back was an incredible comfort.

  “Y-yes.” She just needed to get ahold of herself. She willed her heart to slow down. “Yes.”

  “What happened Eva? What was that?”

  “Rainey…” she could barely force the words from her throat. She raised her fingers, briefly touching the back of his large hand through her shirt. He was warm, so warm. “I saw Rainey. And Rohe. It was a Warning. I had a Warning. About Rainey. About…”

  “A Warning that Rainey will…”

  Eva was incredibly grateful that Brand didn’t finish that sentence.

  Inhale, she thought, breathe in his scent. Exhale. Just keep doing that.

  Don’t think about the Warning.

  “We’ll get to your sister in time, Eva,” Brand said, “We won’t let Rohe kill her,” and he spoke the words like a promise.

  She believed him. Don’t think about that does to you. Don’t think about what he does to you.

  Eva didn’t have to think it. Her body felt it.

  But…forever? She shuddered and stepped away. Brand’s hand dropped down her body, a sensual caress that awakened her body so that it longed for more, then she carefully turned to look up into his face.

  Forever.

  Eva shook her head. “I need to think about getting my sister back. Rainey is my priority at right now, Brand. My only priority.”

  Brand breathed in as if to speak – the door rattled. Eva shot away from Brand as Kevin walked into the room, keys jangling in his fingers. “Joshua said everything was packed and ready to go, but that you wanted to review the plan…” Kevin took in the scene and froze like a deer in the headlights.

  They stared at each other, the room too quiet. Kevin paled. “Ah…never mind,” the young Tracker muttered, backing toward the door. “I’ll just be…I’ll go find Joshua…”

  “I need to get my jacket. It’s in the front seat.” Eva twisted off the bed, avoiding Brand’s reach. “I’ll need it tonight.”

  “It’s not safe for you to go with us.” Brand’s voice was a low growl. “Eva, after what just happened, you aren’t okay.” She heard in it a silent order for her to stop, to turn and look at him. To finish their conversation.

  I can’t. I’m not ready for this. She wasn’t…she needed to think. She needed to save Rainey. Eva should be focusing on her sister, not herself. After Rainey was rescued, then Eva could worry about whatever this was.

  It was impossible.

  “Eva.”

  “I’m fine.” Eva didn’t look back as she darted past Kevin out the door. “I’m really fine, Brand.”

  She wasn’t sure who she was trying to escape from.

  Chapter 15

  Eva slammed the SUV’s passenger door and stared up at the night sky as she tried to bottle her emotions. It was just after dusk, the sunset a faint pink burn in the western trees; she could tell that it would be clear tonight. She released her breath so that it puffed before her in the frigid still air, then pulled the blue fleece jacket firmly around her shoulders as she turned back to the motel.

  “I shouldn’t even be thinking about him,” Eva muttered. “He lied to me.” It was Rainey she should be focused on.

  Even if she was afraid to think about her sister.

  Eva didn’t want to imagine Rainey in Rohe’s hands. She didn’t want to imagine what Rohe must be doing to her sister. Two weeks, Eva thought, trying to control the terror that rose inside. Her stomach twisted. Rainey had been with Rohe two weeks. That means two knives.

  “Too long.” Eva snarled. She never should have let herself be taken by Rohe. If she hadn’t been taken, if she hadn’t been weak, she would have been at the Gens to protect her sister.

  The soft crunch of snow behind her, as if someone had shifted his feet. Eva ignored it, caught in her guilt.

  Then a cool quiet voice spoke, straight from memory, “Hello, Eva.”

  She froze.

  Slowly Eva turned. A tall man was leaning against the SUV, watching her. His short hair was dark mahogany, his gaunt face obscured behind sunglasses. He wore dark boots, dark jeans and a leather coat. He raised a gloved hand and pulled down the sunglasses to reveal pale gray eyes. “I saw your companions watching the Asylum. I need to speak with them.”

  “You,” Eva breathed, stunned. Her blood tripped in her veins. She hadn’t expected to see him here. She hadn’t expected to ever see the man – the Sakai – from cell 113 again. “I thought you were gone. I thought you would have left.”

  “I came back. So did you.” The man gave Eva an inscrutable look, then shifted his head just enough that Eva turned and followed his gaze – and jumped again. Brand was standing in the center of the parking lot, hands ready at his sides, a deadly expression on his face.

  Eva swallowed, meeting Brand’s eyes. “This is…”

  “Kieran,” the man from 113 supplied coolly.

  “…Kieran. He’s the Sakai who…helped me escape Rohe. The one who left me for you…” then Eva turned back to Kieran, because she had to tell him, because even if he was a Sakai, she thought he might understand, “My sister is in there.”

  “Rohe rarely varies hunting grounds,” the Sakai said, his expression as stark as Eva remembered. Eva shivered at the knowledge in his voice.

  Brand didn’t move a muscle, just leveled a long considering look at Kieran. “What do you want?”

  “I came to bargain. You have been watching the Asylum? I’ve been watching it longer. I know all the routes in, the exits, the guard changes and schedules. I know what will distract them. I can get you in.”

  “Why should we trust you?”

  Kieran’s eyes rested on Eva. Because she owes me, Eva thought he would say. Instead, he said, “Because I left her for you once.”

  “And you are offering to help why?” Brand’s snarl was soft, vicious, but the pure hatred that filled Kieran’s smile frightened Eva to the bone.

  “Because. Once we get in, Rohe is mine.”

  “This is a retrieval mission, nothing more. In and out. Nothing flashy, no unnecessary risks.” Eva watched Brand fold his arms over his chest, his expression uncompromising as he stood in the door of the motel room and frowned at Joshua. “We don’t have the firepower to take on all of Rohe’s people.”

  “What about the humans?” Joshua fingered a steel blade and glanced down at the map Kieran had sketched. “Where do they factor in?”

  “Noncombatants.”

  “An unlikely concern. The guards have been clearing the human patients out,” Kieran told them.

  “Killing them?” Eva tried to stifle her alarm.

  Kieran looked at her. “Dead humans create questions, Eva. Mass dead humans create even more. Rohe’s people are transferring them out to legit facilities in state vans.”
<
br />   Eva shivered, and looked at the map again. “Do you think Rainey is in the same section we were in?”

  “Yes.” Kieran flipped the map over, leaning against the table as he drew another quick sketch with the pencil Joshua had provided. “This is the basement level. Eva and I were contained here,” he slashed a quick X. “Rohe keeps her preferred prisoners in this area. The others she contains with the human patients. Used to contain with human patients.”

  “And these doors?” Brand looked over Eva’s shoulder, pointing to the left of the sketch. “Is that an entrance?”

  “No.” Kieran’s face tightened. “A furnace room. The only entrance to the hall is through the stairwell. Eva will remember where to go.”

  Eva tightened her grip on her arms. “The doors at the bottom cut into the line of cells where Rohe kept us. The hall that goes to the left leads to Rohe’s…” her voice failed.

  “Torture room,” Kieran supplied coolly, and Brand growled, his body a warm comfort at her back. Kieran flicked a glance between them, then turned the map around, sketching another level. “Although she always called it her experimentation room. This is the first level. Eva knows how to find the door to the stairs. After I cut the generators, Eva can run her retrieval.” He glanced up. “Rohe’s guards installed cameras at the north and west corners of the entrance, but I will take care of them.”

  “Eva’s not going in.” Brand growled, a fiercely protective note in his voice. Kieran and Eva both turned to look at him. “It’s not safe for you there, Eva.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “It’s not safe for anyone. And you need me to find Rainey.”

  “We have him,” Brand tilted his head at Kieran.

  “I won’t be with you. I will be hunting Rohe.” Kieran’s voice was flat. “That is the condition of my help.”

  Brand flashed his teeth at Kieran. “You’re thin, you’re unsteady and don’t think I haven’t noticed you flinch every time we turn a light on. You need blood. When was the last time you fed, Winterbourne?” Eva blinked, startled, and turned to look at Kieran. To really look at him. Brand was right – he didn’t look good.