Memory of an Immortal Heart (Immortal Hearts) (20 page)

So
maybe Brand’s family isn’t so perfect
, Eva thought dryly. Oddly
enough, it comforted her. It was nice to know that the Kades were well,
normal
.

“No to
both.” Bryan shook his head, shrugging lean shoulders beneath the heavy gray
parka as he watched the street. “Dmitrei dropped the girl off and left while
Seth was out at the east lake. The girl’s from Arizona. Just past Initium,” Bryan’s
eyes focused on Brand, “and her abilities got out of control. Her birth Gens
couldn’t handle her, so they passed her off to a stronger Gens. Dmitrei said
they
were about to kill her when he came along.”

“
Kill
her?” Eva said in horror
.
If the girl was just past her Initium, she
couldn’t have been more than sixteen. Eva had gone through her own first Change
at fourteen. It had been terrifying, exhilarating.

Brand’s
shoulders tensed. “Nikandria hasn’t been able to help her?”

“The
girl won’t even come out of tiger form. And your sister’s been trying, Brand,”
Bryan shook his head, then turned as an old mud-splattered SUV pulled up to the
curb behind him. “Dmitrei could control the girl, but whatever it is that
happened, she’s not
right
anymore.” Eva squinted at the tinted windows,
absorbing their words as Bryan opened the central door to the red SUV and
stepped in.

Not
right
anymore?

Eva
shuddered. If she had been fourteen when Rohe kidnapped her, she never would
have escaped. And sometimes, Eva wasn’t sure that she
had
.
Is that
what Brand and Joshua told their Gens about me?
That
I’m not right?
Eva bit her lip against the pain that rose in her
chest and told herself that what had happened earlier had no basis on her pain.
She was only going to be at the Kade Gens for a short while, anyway.

Brand
took her arm, tugging her toward the vehicle. “It’s warmer inside,” he murmured
against her ear, breath brushing her neck. Eva shivered for an entirely
different reason than the cold, and moved to sit behind the sober young man who
was their driver.

He
looked about nineteen or twenty, dark brown hair cut to shoulder-length, with
that same wild almost-mane that Brand and Joshua had. His pale blue eyes were
curious as he studied her in the rearview, and Eva thought the bone structure
of his face was almost identical to the red-haired man’s –
Bryan’s
,
she corrected herself.

She
glanced back at Bryan as Brand settled across from her and closed the door. As
the vehicle pulled away, the red-haired man gave a slight smile. “My son
Kevin,” he said, interpreting Eva’s curiosity. “I’m Bryan Ysperin, in charge of
security at Stronghold. You must be Eva Turner. I’m sorry for what you went
through.”

“You
aren’t a Kade?” Eva frowned as she turned her mind away from his last comment.
“Are you related then, like Joshua is?”

Bryan’s
smile warmed. “Yes. Distantly. But my amati is Gaviros’s line, and we like the
safety Stronghold provides our family.”

Eva
blinked. Amati? Gaviros’s
line
? Like it was separate. But didn’t Stronghold
belong to
Kade
Gens
?
It made no sense unless…“Gaviros isn’t a
Kade? He’s not related to the Kades?”

Brand
braced himself against Joshua’s seat as they took a sharp corner, his long legs
cramped in the foot space as he turned to Eva. His blue eyes smiled at her
confusion. “Both the Gaviros Gens and the Kade Gens stay at Stronghold, Eva.
Before my father died, Gaviros was his Shield. After my father died, we kept up
the arrangement. Our families have always lived close. Gaviros keeps Stronghold
safe with his ability and,” Brand shrugged, “we keep Gaviros safe with our
resources.”

“Oh.”
Eva wasn’t sure what to say. She had already known that Brand – and his
home – were different from hers, but… “I don’t think my Gens could do
that,” she said, dropping her gaze, “Share. We’re…not like that.” Maybe if they
had been, things would have been better. For her family – for her mother.

Brand
touched the back of her hand. “
You’re
like that, Eva.” His voice was
quiet, and Eva clenched her fist as she stared at her lap and felt something
thick and dangerous well inside her throat. Affection. Or just plain
gratefulness. She nodded, trying to disentangle herself from the emotion, and
Brand turned to speak to Bryan Ysperin.

They
turned onto a highway, heading north. Eva studied the dark interior of the SUV
then glanced out window. The landscape was so
empty
. Vacant. Almost
eerie. Eva shivered, turning back to Brand. She studied the strength in his
jaw, the power of his body, the depth in those dark blue eyes. Brand looked at
people as if he cared about them, as if he
knew
them…as if anyone could
tell him anything, and he would understand. It unnerved her. Eva shouldn’t feel
this way about Brand. Not like this. They hadn’t even slept together.

Eva
swallowed. “Can I borrow your cell phone? I need to call Rainey.”

Brand
broke off what he was saying and nodded, pulled out his phone and glanced at
it. When he looked up, his face was rueful. “We’re out of the coverage. Once
we’re at Stronghold, Seth can patch you through to anywhere, though.”

Eva
nodded and curled back into the seat. Even after what had happened on the train
she wanted to reach out to Brand, to trace the line of his jaw, follow that
sharp curve with her lips. The attraction she felt for him wasn’t right.
Maybe
it’s some sort of Stockholm Syndrome
…except Brand wasn’t her captor. Rohe
was the one who had kidnapped her, hurt her. Eva could leave Brand any moment.
In fact,
she
was the one who had chosen to go on to Stronghold.

That’s
it. I’m loosing it.

Not
even when Eva was going through Initium had she wanted to touch a male body so
badly.

She was
afraid. Because there was something about Brand, and about herself when she was
around him, that told Eva this might be more than attraction. More than
passion, or sex. More than kisses and condoms and release followed by a quick
slide from a disheveled bed, the tying of her tennis shoes and the jog home
before morning.

If Eva
tried to slip out of the bed Brand was in, out of the house Brand was in, he
would know what she was doing.

He
would know – and he wouldn’t let me go
.

The
thought terrified Eva. It made her think of Rohe, and the cell, of being
strapped down to that table, laid out to the world and vulnerable; Rohe would
be able to do anything to her, take anything from her, have her guards do
anything to her, and Eva wouldn’t be able to fight back. She would lose.

Every
time.

Only
worse. Because, with Brand, Eva wasn’t sure she could fight. She didn’t even
want
to fight. But she had that memory, that terrible sensation of exposure. The
stomach-wrenching fear that came from lying on a cold metal table, watching a
stark white ceiling and
knowing
that only pain would follow.

Yet a
stupid part of Eva argued that Brand wouldn’t hurt her. He would hold her, not
cut her. He would protect her, and pleasure her, and that – between the
two of them – it would be…

Eva
shivered.
Impossible
.

They
were Kaspian. She and Brand might be immortal, but when it came to love,
neither of them knew the meaning of forever. That kind of bonds just didn’t
exist. Kaspian took their lovers, bore the rare Kaspian child, and just…lived.
That was all. Nothing special, nothing more. Just…life. Uneventful. Unexciting.
Going on.

Forever.

Eva
hunched into herself, curling her arms around her waist at the empty painful
feeling that rose inside her. She stared out the window at the barren
snow-covered landscape and tried not to think.

It was
warm in the SUV, but she wished someone would turn the heater up. Or that Brand
would put his arms around her and drive that cold feeling away.

That’s
it
.
I’ve officially watched one too many of Rainey’s sappy movies.

She
needed to get her head on straight. She needed to talk to her sister.

Eva
needed…she needed to be ready to return to real life.

Without
Brand.

Brand
had handed Eva her passport when they stopped at the Canadian border. She
opened it and stared, trying to understand, so he tapped the picture and
explained, “Seth doctored it from the picture I snapped in Chicago. He sent the
documents with Bryan. We’d rather not,” he explained dryly, “spark an
international incident. Not with the humans, and not when we’re trying to
return home.” After the checkpoint, Eva slept the rest of the way, but now, as
they parked in Stronghold’s main garage, her silver eyes told him that she had
picked up on his tension.

Brand’s
shoulders tightened further as he stepped from the SUV, waiting for Eva to join
him. The garage was dark around them, large and spacious, but the lack of
lighting didn’t bother him.

Dmitrei
came to Stronghold
. At least Seth hadn’t fought him, but Dmitrei must
have spoken to Nikandria.

Brand’s
jaw tensed; he caught Eva’s bewildered look as she carefully examined the
interior of the garage, noticing Stronghold’s small jet and bush plane, the
line of land rovers and personal vehicles. He forced himself to slow his pace.

“This
is…” Eva sounded stunned, and Brand almost smiled. Almost.

“A
garage,” he supplied. “You slept the entire drive.”

“I was
tired,” she murmured, seeming unsettled, and ran a hand through the luxurious
waves of her dark hair, sparking Brand’s hunger.  They reached the
southern door, and Brand opened it to let her exit.

When
she shivered, Brand silently passed Eva the blanket he had asked Bryan for; her
breath bloomed into a cloud in the nighttime air. Eva took the blanket
distantly, wrapping it around herself as she stared around. Clear amazement
settled over her features as the two of them stepped onto the cleared path; two
feet of snow formed low walls around them as Brand led her toward Stronghold’s
inner perimeter.

“
This
is Stronghold?” Eva darted him a glance, her large eyes liquid silver in the
moonlight.

Brand
paused, frowning.
She looks afraid
. He looked out at the landscape,
trying to see it from Eva’s perspective. He had walked this path so many times
that he didn’t notice it anymore.

Thick
trees formed a barrier in the distance, rising up and out of the dark hills;
they were on a smooth tract of land. Snow obscured everything, the north garage
forming a large bulk at their backs. Stronghold was miles from any city, so the
stars were pristine and bright, shimmering in clear blue depths. Ahead, the
Inner Perimeter cut across the landscape like a bailey wall, over which Brand
could just see the dark roof of the Supplies Building. The Operations Building
rose beyond that. Finally, he responded. “Yes. Eva, I vow you will be safe
here.”

“That’s
not what I was worried about,” Eva muttered, and paused. “What is
that?
”

Brand
turned, saw a large shadow shift beneath one of the trees before moving away.
One of the panthers, he thought. “Gaviros keeps pets. Don’t worry. They’re
safe.” Her breath huffed out and Brand reached to take her fingers in his own,
wrapping their slender lengths in his hand. The gravel of the path crunched
beneath their feet.

“It’s
not much farther,” he said, tugging her closer. “I’ll give you a tour
tomorrow.”

“The
girl Bryan was talking about. Are you going to heal her?”

Brand’s
tension returned, and he quickened his pace. “There are far better healers at
Stronghold than I am. Samuel, for one. He is of Gaviros’s line. He heads the
Infirmary and will check you out tomorrow.”

“Why?
Oh…because of Rohe…”

Brand
watched Eva pale, and consciously gentled his voice. “You’re fine, Eva. You’re
strong and you’re healthy, but after what you went through…” he shook his head,
bottling his rage. “It’s better to be sure.”

“She
only ever used knives,” Eva whispered, hunching as they came to the gate. “The
scars are mostly gone.”

Brand
struggled with himself, with the rage that welled up every time he thought of
what had happened to Eva –
his
Eva – at Rohe’s hands. Of Eva
being abused, tortured, cut into…Brand had seen this before. He had memories,
too many memories, and the thought of that happening to Eva…

“Brand?
Brand
.”

Brand
came back to himself, realized that he was growling, and consciously relaxed
his grip on Eva’s fingers as she frowned at him. The Kaspian at the gate raised
eyebrows at Eva, then glanced at their clasped hands before letting them
through. “They’re waiting for you at the Infirmary,” the warrior said, and
Brand nodded sharply, pulling Eva along on the shallow path.

“Who
was that?” Eva asked quietly, as Brand opened the door to cut through the Supplies
Building.