Memory of an Immortal Heart (Immortal Hearts) (27 page)

“If
your father could see the two of you now, he would be so proud.” Gaviros’s
words were sardonic, and they both turned to glare at him. Seth snorted.

“So
Rohe seeks power,” Khael said, crossing his arms. “We already guessed that.”

“Yes,
that
has been well-established,” Seth growled. “As you would know, if you hadn’t
been late. As usual.”

“The
meeting was to begin when I arrived,” Khael fixed Seth with a long look.
“Therefore I am not late. You are early. As usual. We may begin now.”

Seth’s
snarl was feral, and Brand felt a stab of dark amusement. Khael was perhaps the
only person on the face of the earth who could elicit such a reaction from
Seth.

Brand
slid an assessing glance over his brother. Khael’s hair was cut short, the
curved red-black lines of his Marque stark upon his neck, but otherwise, he
seemed fine. Contained. Controlled.
Good
, Brand thought.
Maybe
bringing Eva here won’t cause too much upset
. He shouldn’t have felt
guilty. Yet he did.

Brand
realized Khael had intercepted his scrutiny. Khael returned his gaze with a
flat look, then refocused on Gaviros. “We need a Watcher on the east coast. Too
much has been going on that we don’t know about.”

“What
about Étienne Ysperin?” Joshua frowned. “He could look into it temporarily.”

Brand
shook his head. “He and Mercy moved a year ago. They’re outside Vancouver now.”

 “I
can go. It would be a temporary gig,” Joshua leaned imperceptibly forward, “but
it wouldn’t take much more than that. Seth already has a vicinity fix on Rohe’s
Asylum. And Brand and I drove through that area. It should be simple to find it
again.”

“If you
find it, you’ll go inside and get yourself killed,” Gaviros said severely.
Joshua growled denial. “Furthermore, nothing is ever ‘simple,’ Joshua. I would
have preferred to ask Dmitrei, but he left already.”

“It’s
been three years,” Brand pushed a pile of paperwork to both sides.
Divide
it, conquer it
. Life was easier in the old days. “Before that, it was five.
And before
that
, twelve. If not for Seth, we would have thought Dmitrei
was dead. We can’t rely on him. Not for this type of job.”

“We’ve
relied on him for other jobs. One of these days, your brother will remember
that he is family.” Gaviros spoke calmly, and Brand traded a long look with
Seth. Khael examined his fist, and Joshua stared uncomfortably out the window.
The silence in the room grew tense.

Finally
Khael spoke, not breaking his contemplation, “Joshua volunteered. His ability
will serve better than Dmitrei’s. Kevin Ysperin will go as well. The cub needs
to hone his ability in the field.”

“And
he’ll keep Joshua from any foolish risks,” Brand noted.

“Yes.”
Implacable.

Joshua
straightened. “Hey, I never said I wanted to play nursemaid. If you think I’m
going to take…”

“Are
you incapable?” Khael’s eyes sparkled with feral warning as he glanced up from
his fist. Brand watched Joshua bite back the challenge he had been about to
issue.

“Fine.
I’ll play nursemaid.” Joshua slunk into his chair, and Brand spared him a
moment’s sympathy.

“But
only if you are capable,” Gaviros said, mildness an utter contrast to Khael’s
danger.

“I’m
capable.” Joshua fixed his eyes on the far wall, face tight.

No
wonder Stronghold confused Eva. Their Gens had no clear structure.

Because
Khael wasn’t stable enough to lead, and Gaviros
would not
lead. Khael
was broken, and Gaviros had cast himself into a Shield’s role. The two might
hate each other, but they would trust each other to the death. Khael would
always move stubbornly forward, and Gaviros would always protect him.

So
both
,
in their own limping way, led.

The
method sometimes worked, sometimes was disaster.

It was
miserable in the crossfire.

And
, Brand
looked out the window letting the discussion drift around him,
it isn’t like
I can blame Khael
. Not now. Especially not since Eva had come into his
life.

Eva
…just
the thought of her pulled Brand in five directions all at once. He couldn’t sit
still, he couldn’t concentrate, and he was going fucking crazy with the need to
protect her, to fuck her, to Marque her.

More
than that, he needed the
bond
. He needed to make her
know
she was
his. That he was hers.

On the
deepest level.

His
instincts were everywhere. Even when he was near Eva, his temper was shaky, his
control shot.

Several
days of this, for Brand, had been painful. Worse, each day.

But the
past 700 years, for Khael, who possessed a partially complete mate-bond and a
dead mate… That wouldn’t be painful. That wouldn’t be excruciating.

That
was
hell.

As he
always did, Brand glanced at his brother’s shadowed face and wondered, in the
deepest part of his soul, whether it would have been more merciful to just let
Khael die.

Seth
looked over his glasses at her, unaccountably serious. “I’m going to ask you to
show me a specific memory, Eva. You can refuse if you want, but it would prove
useful to know.” He tapped the pen against the pad before him. The infirmary
office seemed much too cold.

Eva did
her best to relax her too-tight muscles. Seth’s expression wasn’t promising,
Nikandria had tensed, and somehow Eva knew this would be difficult. Unpleasant.

“Which
memory?”

“I want
the memory of how Rohe kidnapped you.”

Eva
flinched.

Nikandria
leaned forward. “Seth, is that necessary? I’m not sure Eva – ”

“If I
know how Eva was kidnapped, then I will be able to gauge Rohe’s resources. I
can warn my Watchers how Rohe operates. I will have a better sense of her
resources and goals. Even more, I might be able to run a search and find out if
any other Kaspians have disappeared under similar circumstances.” Seth’s look
was quelling.

“You
keep a list of disappearances?” Eva was unnerved – and somehow angry.
There
are enough disappearances to
make
a list off of?

“Only
from those Gens who keep me informed,” Seth responded coolly, and Eva knew he
was referring to her own Gens, the Turner Gens, who
didn’t
want a treaty
with Stronghold. “Are you ready?”

“Seth,”
Nikandria frowned, but Eva shook her head.

“It’s
not the memories of Rohe I mind,” Eva said, gripping her chair, “It is just…I
was so
stupid
.”

So
weak.

Then
Eva closed her eyes, forced her thoughts to go still, and
remembered
.

The
ground crunched beneath her feet, making the walk through the dry winter leaves
and ice of the park much more solitary than usual. Eva had stayed late at the
motel to balance the figures, helping train the new night clerk who had hired
on. The human girl’s name was Tina…Tila? Eva couldn’t remember. But the girl’s
face had been tired and peaked and she looked pregnant, and Eva could tell that
Tila wasn’t more than sixteen, though her application read eighteen.

Not
that Eva would judge. She understood the need for a job that didn’t ask
questions.

Even
more, she appreciated a job that let her study.

Eva
shifted the Accounting book beneath her right arm, uneasy as she cut down the
path. She usually managed to leave her textbook in the cleaning closet at the
motel. If the Gens saw her carrying a textbook, they would ask questions.
Especially Justin. He already knew she was up to more than working nightshift,
and if he suspected Eva had snuck a night class in on the side, he would tell
the Resh.

Eva
could kiss her night class and the job goodbye.

She was
four semesters into general studies. If she finished this class, she could
transfer the credit hours to a degree. And she and Rainey had been saving money
– they talked about it. Perhaps Seattle. It was on the opposite coast. It
would be easy to get lost in Seattle, to hide. They could rent an apartment and
work and go to class. Rainey could apply to a nursing program, and Eva…she
would figure something out.

Eva
stopped at the park bench and shoved her book into her backpack. The bag was
ancient, left over from high school days, but it still worked. Each time the
pack ripped, Rainey insisted on covering it in pins and badges to disguise the
tears. Eva smiled, dug out her iPod, and slipped the earbuds in. It would be a
short jog through the park to the Gens’ land on the other side. Eva and Rainey
had used this path for years, and so Eva never thought about her surroundings
as she ran.

Eva
cranked the iPod up to one of the pop tunes and let her feet take her home.

Running.
Running was her life. It had been in high school, and it still was now. It was
how she decompressed, how she thought, how she
lived
.
When Eva ran, no one could catch her. Not even the Resh.

Eva
closed her eyes. She could run this trail in the dark. She knew every root and
branch, dip and hollow.

She
didn’t hear it coming. She was listing to her iPod.

She
didn’t see it coming. Her eyes were closed.

Something
hit her side,
hard
. It was like being hit by a truck, and it
hurt, winded her. A hard body dressed in black plastered Eva to the ground and
she screamed, earbuds falling out. She caught a glimpse of pale skin, white
fangs behind a ski mask and lashed out, but the man pinned her again. This
isn’t right
this isn’t right
, she was stronger than humans, she should
be able to…

He was
wrong. He smelled like Kaspian. But there was more, a metallic taint – an
almost blood-like taint – to his scent. Eva never would have noticed, but
she was fighting and he was pinning her and they were close.

She
should have been able to get away. He shouldn’t have been able to do this.
Rainey
,
Eva thought, panicking. Oh god, she was going to get raped. Or killed, or
murdered.

All she
had to do was run. Eva kneed the man and he grunted, cursing as she writhed away.
She pulled to a crouch, staggered…

He
punched her in the temple. Everything stopped.

Pain
.
Eva’s body went limp and stunned, stopped responding.

She
couldn’t even think. Couldn’t move. “Rainey,” she mumbled past the blood, the
pulse in her head, not able to think
why
she was so terrified.
What would happen with Rainey…

He
fumbled with her clothes and she cringed…no her backpack. He was taking it.
Cold metal handcuffs around her wrists, nylon rope around her ankles. A thick
cotton gag in her throat.

Eva was
crying. She couldn’t remember why she was crying. Except her head hurt. It
hurt, and she couldn’t focus her eyes, it hurt so bad she could feel her face
swelling against the dirt and leaves. She was bleeding.

The
click of a com unit.

“I
bagged it,” her attacker said, and poked at Eva with his boot. “Put up more
fight than expected. I don’t know why the Mistress wants these things.”

Eva
started shaking. The gag was choking her, she couldn’t breathe.

Because
“it”…it was
her.

“
Sshh
,”
Brand murmured deep and low, and Eva found herself sitting on his lap in the
Infirmary office. She dropped her head, inhaled his scent through the weave of
faded blue cotton. Seth was gone and, when Eva glanced across the room, she saw
Nikandria closing the door as she left. Brand’s fingers stroked Eva’s hair,
palm trailing down her neck.

Eva
sucked in a breath and slowly unclenched her fingers. “How did you get here?”
Almost
steady
.

Brand’s
eyes were very blue. “Seth sent for me. He said you needed me.”

“
Seth
said that?”

“He’s
not always an ass.”

Eva
listened to the steady, warm beat of his heart, then closed her eyes. She
willed herself to stop shaking.
I need to call Rainey
.

“Eva?”

“I was
showing Seth how I was kidnapped,” she murmured. “The man…he just came out of
nowhere. I thought he was human, so I didn’t think he could be stronger than
me. But he was, and it was like a nightmare. I thought I was going to get
raped. Maybe killed. I didn’t know what Rainey would do.” Brand had gone still
and Eva buried her face into his chest. “It was…if I just hadn’t been listening
to that stupid iPod, I would have heard him coming.”