Memory of an Immortal Heart (Immortal Hearts) (28 page)

Brand’s
arms tightened. His voice was rough. “Not if he was Sakai.”

“Huh?”

“Not if
he was Sakai. You never would have heard him. Not if he was warrior-trained.
The only way you would have known he was coming – or fought him off
– was if you had been trained as well.”

Eva’s
smile didn’t want to come. “So I was easy prey.”

Brand
frowned. “No Eva. What I’m saying is that you were in a no-win situation. There
was nothing you could do. You couldn’t have heard him coming, or fought him
off.”

“I
could have run. I almost ran, but he hit me in the head.”

Brand’s
eyes flickered gold, his face compressed…then he relaxed. He gently kissed her
forehead. “You tried, Eva,” Brand said. “That is the past. What matters now is
that you’re safe.”

Eva
absorbed those words. She reached up a hand to comb through his hair. “It
wasn’t just that. It was Rainey.

“Your
sister?” He didn’t understand. “What about her?”

Eva
settled her head against his shoulder. “She’s
more
than a sister, Brand.
We were born so close together I can’t remember a time she wasn’t there. After
Mom’s death, I thought…” Eva’s throat closed. “Whenever I’m hurt, Rainey feels
it. Whenever Rainey’s in trouble, I
know
. We’re that close, Brand. We
have that bond.”

“A
bond,” Brand said in an odd tone, then shook his head. When he spoke next,
there was forced humor in his deep voice. “Do you look alike? Don’t tell
Joshua, he might get ideas.”

Eva
smiled faintly. “We both look like mom, but I have darker hair.”

“I like
darker hair.” He kissed her neck. “
Your
hair.”

Eva’s
heart tightened. “About Rainey and I,” she began. She needed to tell Brand
this. Because Rainey was important to her – but Brand, in a different,
frightening way, was also becoming important to her. Eva wanted to introduce
them. She wanted them to…
meet
.

The
idea made Eva wary and excited and afraid. Because if Rainey and Brand ever
met, what Eva had with Brand would become real.

Much
too real. Maybe
too
real.

And
really, what was she thinking, pretending that she had any sort of future with
Brand? She was just at Stronghold temporarily. She was…well, she was probably
Brand’s flavor of the month. Eva flinched.

Get a
grip
, she told herself firmly. The arm of the chair dug into her thigh, a
sharp reminder.

“All
these years, Rainey and I planned to leave our Gens together. She has to think
I abandoned her. That I left her. We do everything together, so if Rainey
thinks
that
…I can’t let her believe that, Brand.” Eva shifted, pushing
away from his chest because what she was talking about – ultimately
–
was
leaving. She had to go home. Back to a place she never
wanted to see again, but still a place infinitely better than the Asylum.

Brand
growled softly, held her to himself. Eva subsided. She looked up into that
fierce strong face. His brows were drawn together.

“I
don’t expect you to understand.” Her chest hurt, he was so close, so gorgeous.
“But when you’re that close to someone…Rainey’s the most important person in my
life, Brand. She’s…she’s
part
of me.” It came out choked. Eva wasn’t
sure what she was trying to tell Brand. But she had to try to explain Rainey.
She had to explain what Rainey meant to her.
Why
, when Eva was being
kidnapped, all of her thoughts had flown to her sister.

Brand
shifted Eva to a more comfortable position in his arms. His presence grounded
her. Frightened her. Brought delicious thoughts to her mind, wonderful
temptations to her body. Temptations that made Eva want to forget all about
everything and everyone else.

“She is
more twin than sister,” Eva whispered.

Brand
took Eva’s jaw, tilted it up. His eyes were very blue as he raised his hand to
touch her cheek. The faint smile, the warmth in his expression – it was
as if he were remembering – and the openness there riveted Eva unlike
anything else.

“I do
understand,” Brand said finally. “I grew up with Lis.”

“
Lis
.”

Brand
watched the silver in Eva’s eyes darken. She moistened her lips. “Who is Lis?”

There
was wariness to her scent, an almost jealousy that gratified Brand even as he
explained, “She was Khael’s amati.”

“Amati?”

Brand
cursed himself. “Lovers.” Which was only a shadow of the truth.

Eva
shook her head at the term. “So they were lovers. Where is she now?” Eva arched
an eyebrow, probably wondering how this could relate.

“Lis
and I were born five months apart.” The old grief rose, and Brand ran his hand
down the delicate arch of Eva’s spine. He focused on a medical chart on the far
wall. “I was older. Lis was Gaviros’s ward, so the two of us were always
together. If I was in the forest, Lis was in the trees. If Lis was on the
shore, I was in the ocean. If one of us was sad or happy, the other always
knew. If one of us was angry, we hunted together. All of my blood siblings,”
Brand focused on the books covering Samuel’s desk, “were born years apart. Far
enough that I was the only child growing up. So Lis became my sister.”

“What
about Nikandria?”

“She
was born three centuries later.”

Eva
went rigid, but Brand drew her close again and she settled. “So Lis was
Gaviros’s…ward?” she asked. “He wasn’t her family?”

“Not
directly.” Brand studied Eva. She was clearly uncomfortable, but also curious.
Trust
her
. Yes, he needed to. And it would help Eva to realize how safe she was
at Stronghold. With him.

Brand
shifted Eva’s body toward him. “Gaviros
is
Stronghold, Eva. Lis was the
only one Gaviros ever found who could sense a territory, who could track all of
the people inside it like he does. Lis was his great-granddaughter and he
adored her.” Brand knotted his fingers in Eva’s hair, grief rising. “He adored
her more than the sun or the moon or the stars. All of us adored her. Even
Khael. Especially Khael. Though Khael being the way he was, I don’t think she
ever knew.”

Eva
smiled sadly, touched his hand. “That sounds like Rainey. Easy to love.” Then
her smile died. “Brand, you and Lis…” she shook her head, looked away. “What do
you mean by ‘sensing territory’?”

Brand
narrowed his eyes. “Eva. This has to stay between the two of us. You can’t
mention it to anyone outside of Stronghold. Not your Gens – not even your
sister.”

Tension
eased from Eva’s body, her face turning serious. “Brand. You can tell me
anything
.
Any secret. I swear I won’t tell anybody. Not ever. Not even if Rohe gets me
again.”

Brand
brushed a thumb over her lips. “I believe you. But it’s not just my secrets, my
safety, Eva. I have no right to tell other’s secrets. And Rohe will never get
her hands on you again.
Never
.”

Eva
kissed his fingers and waited.

“The
outer perimeter of Stronghold isn’t just a border,” Brand finally said,
watching the gold in that serious gaze. “It marks the edge of Gaviros’s ability
to sense people in his territory…on Stronghold’s grounds. Gaviros knows anyone
who enters or exits. Any friend, stranger, ally or enemy. That is why he was my
father’s Shield. That’s why he is Stronghold’s Shield. That is why you will
always be safe here.”

“Because
he can tell when his enemies are coming.” Eva’s eyes lit. “If I had
that
ability, Rohe’s guards never would have caught me.”

Brand
smiled faintly. “Doubtful. If Gaviros knows someone is an ally, he’s not
worried when he senses them crossing the perimeter. But he only knows if
someone is an enemy if they are feeling…” Brand hesitated, not sure how to
explain, “…
antagonistically
. Most of the time those who cross are humans
who wander too far or get lost. Then Gaviros sends out Bryan, or Khael, to
drive them away.”

Eva
frowned. “But you said Khael was your Resh. Or no,” she corrected, looking
confused, “you said
both
Khael and Gaviros were your Resh.”

“And
they both
are
.” Brand dropped her gaze. He lifted Eva’s hand and began
to play with her fingers, uneasy by this direction in conversation. “Khael
would have been our Resh, but he can’t…he needs to leave sometimes. He needs to
go off by himself to settle his anger. His wildness.”
His control.

“Why?”

Because
of Lis
.
Because he lost his amati.
They had come full circle. Brand
studied Eva’s fingers, noted the slender strength of them, then raised the tips
to his mouth. He swiped his tongue across her index finger and felt her shiver
before kissing her palm, trying to lighten his pain at the next words. “Because
Lis died.”

Eva
breathed in once, then out. Quietly, she said, “I don’t understand.”

No, of
course not. Because he hadn’t told her.

“Lis
was killed by Sakai. She…”
She Marqued Khael. Then she died, before Khael
could Marque her in turn
. “Lis went off, and she was killed, and no one was
able to save her. No one was able to help her when she died. She died,” Brand
flinched, “alone. We didn’t even know she had gone. She didn’t even ask me to
come with her.” The two of them had always fought together. But not that time.
“If Lis had just come to me…” Brand shook his head, trying to bury the old
pain. No, he had made it so Lis
couldn’t
come to him. He should have
listened to her, and not been caught up in the excitement of following Khael.

Now
everyone had to live with the consequences. Everyone had to live with the
guilt. The pain.

The
memories.

Well,
not everyone.

Brand’s
jaw tightened. Eva cradled his neck, gently pulling his face to her own. Her
expression was warm, compassionate. Her silver eyes were beautiful, glinting
with unshed tears as she smoothed her fingers over his lips. She soothed him to
the depths of his soul.

“You
loved her. Do you hate them? The Sakai? For what they did to Lis?”

Brand
felt his lips twist into a grimace. “No.”

Eva
blinked. She withdrew her fingers. Then she looked down and studied them. “Then
you’re different from me. Because I hate them. I hate Rohe. For what she did to
me.”

Brand
waited.

Slowly,
Eva shook her head, and extended her palms as if she could stare into them…and
into herself. “I’m sorry. That’s not right. I don’t hate them. Not
all
of them. I mean Brand, the only reason I’m sitting here with you right now is
because…”

“Because
a Sakai helped you,” he finished softly, thinking of the man who had left Eva
in the snow by the side of the road, of the message the male had written in her
blood.

Eva
nodded. “I think he drank their blood. The guards’. After he saved me.”

“He
probably needed it,” Brand said pragmatically. He was nothing if not practical,
and he couldn’t fault a Sakai for being the same way. “No reason to waste it
and go hungry.

Eva
shuddered, looking up. “That’s gruesome.”

Brand
shrugged. “Sometimes gruesome is necessary.” Then he shifted forward in the
chair, lifting Eva to her feet as he rose and steadied her on the ground. He
needed to get back to work, and Eva needed…he studied the shadows beneath her
eyes, the now-distant tears shimmering in the back of her eyes, and wondered if
work shouldn’t wait.

Many
things could wait.

And
when he thought of how she had looked earlier when he came into that office,
the terror in her eyes…

Eva’s
gaze met his, and the gold that sparkled in them expanded. Slowly, she began to
smile, her face warming with amusement…and arousal. The lingering sadness
disappeared.

“I know
what you are thinking,” she whispered.

Brand
leaned down and brushed his lips to hers. “Then lets go. We can spend more time
‘thinking’ in bed.”

“You
have the worst lines,” Eva muttered, but she caught his lip with her teeth and
nibbled. Brand growled and carefully pulled back, afraid she would nibble too
much. By the time they moved to leave the Infirmary office, both of them were
breathing unsteadily.

When
they reached Brand’s rooms, Eva turned. Her fingers twined with his, and she
had been laughing…but now she became serious. “So you never slept with her.
With Lis. She was Khael’s amati, not yours.” Her silver eyes narrowed, boring
into his.

Brand
arched his brows, amused and discomfited by her use of the word. “Lis was my
sister, Eva. Besides, there was only one male she ever wanted. Only one amati.
And that was Khael.”

Only
one amati, ever.
Only one amati for me
. Eva.

He
needed to tell her. He
should
tell her.

Now.