Memory of an Immortal Heart (Immortal Hearts) (29 page)

But
then Eva kissed Brand on the lips, and he lost the words. They stayed inside
for the rest of the afternoon.

The
wind blew down the abandoned street, scattering a bitter dusting of cold snow
before it into the empty darkness of a dark alley before sliding around the
figure standing there. His gloved hands were settled into the long folds of a leather
trench coat, his chin dipped into the collar. The moonlight glinted on metal,
revealing the edge of a long sword just beneath the coat, ready for use, as the
figure watched the business entrance of the building across the street.

Supplies
were being unloaded into the back of the large truck parked behind it. The
workers had been at it for over an hour.

A faint
buzz caught his ear. It was an annoying sound, like the hum of a mosquito or a
wasp, but completely out of season for the winter climate. The left side of the
man’s lips twitched, tightening into a barely perceptible irritation. He
relaxed and pulled the phone from the left pocket of his coat. He studied the
screen. After a second of debate, he accepted the call, and raised the phone to
his ear, waiting.

There
was a pause. Then: “Our mistress grows impatient,” an irritable male voice
announced on the other end of the line. “She requires an update on your
progress.”

Corin
King settled his eyes on the small, dark grocery across the street and let the
silence stretch just long enough to remind the male of his status. Of who he
was speaking to. And of what King, as Strategoi, was capable of doing to a
subordinate who addressed him in such a manner.

“Sir,”
the male finally said, uncertainty entering his tone. “If you would be so kind
as to grant an update on your business for our mistress…” the words dwindled.
He sounded nervous.

Good
.

“I am
following a lead on the female and her accomplices,” the Strategoi said
indifferently. “I will have them soon.”

The
male cleared his throat. He didn’t appear to know what to say. King fixed his
gaze across the alley and watched one of the Kaspian from the truck joke with
the grocer, before signing the clipboard. The other Kaspian were already in the
truck, preparing to leave.

When
they left, so would he.

“My
lord…I’m afraid, but the mistress is very definite that she would request…”

The
phone clattered. Rohe’s voice floated over the line, sneering, dark and
seductive. King could almost smell her hyacinth-and-blood scent from where he
stood in a frozen alley in Banff. “I make no
requests
. I command. Or do
I need to remind you,” Rohe whispered to the man on the other end of the line,
“the meaning of
command
?”

The
scrape of fingernails on flesh, a gurgling wheeze. King waited, unmoved and
unmoving, for Rohe to resume the conversation.

“You
killed my man in Minneapolis,” his mistress finally purred as she returned to
the phone, her tone taking on a coy, dangerous lilt. “I am displeased with you,
my Strategoi.”

He
didn’t bother to respond.

“Furthermore,”
Rohe’s tone hardened, “I did not intend you to focus your hunt on just
one
of my pets. I ordered you to locate both. Yet you have not done that. You have
misinterpreted my commands, and I disapprove of the choice you made, Strategoi.
No matter how delicious the female might taste.”

King
shifted his stance, the heavy leather coat sliding on his shoulders as he
straightened in the alley. The truck was leaving. He noted the license plate
then injected just enough cold amusement into his flat voice to infuriate his
mistress. “My apologies. I had assumed you would have found him by now. The
male was hardly a challenge. He would not have left the Asylum.”

There
was a long, angry silence. Then: “You are certain of this?”

A
flicker of real amusement, cold and unpracticed, sparked in King. His lips
almost twitched. “My loyalty to you is behind bounds. But his loyalty is far
stronger. Hate makes for a powerful leash, my lady, more binding than mere
vows. He would no sooner abandon you than I. Though,” King scanned the alley,
“in regard to your welfare, we may possess a difference of purpose.”

Corin
King closed the phone on Rohe’s snarl and left.

Brand
called it “Stronghold’s bi-monthly dinner” but what Eva saw that evening, as
she exited the hall and glanced down from the second story of Stronghold’s
Nave, looked more like chaos.

“Eva!
Over here!” Nikandria gestured toward a long table stacked with paper plates
and plastic silverware, and when Eva got there, Joshua passed her a plate
before leaning to steal the piece of chicken she was reaching for.

“Where’s
Brand?” Joshua asked, taking a large bite. He leaned against the table and
crossed his legs. “Slaving for Khael again? Or is it Gaviros this time? I’d
guess Seth, but I think Brand has Seth running jobs for
him
right now.”

“He
mentioned coordinating East Coast operations,” Eva muttered, reaching for a
napkin.

“He’s
trying to pinpoint Rohe’s resources,” Joshua said easily, finishing the chicken
before reaching into the bucket to – again – steal the piece Eva
was reaching for.

Eva
raised her eyebrows. “You know, Nikandria gave you that plate for a reason.”

“She
did. But I guess my momma just didn’t raise me right.” Joshua granted Eva a
sharp grin, then looked over her shoulder, his expression turning genuinely
warm. “Shiri. You look like a truck. What has Bryan been doing to you?”

“The
usual,” said a heavily pregnant woman with curling chestnut hair. “And then
some.” Her eyes latched onto Eva in amusement; they were pale blue and full of
laughter, and Eva found herself pulled into a smile as the woman gave Joshua a
quick kiss on the cheek.

“Now
Shiri,” Joshua eyed her belly, “don’t do that. Otherwise Bryan will start to
wonder about us.”

“Oh
yes, Joshua,” Shiri said dryly, “I’ve been in love with you forever. I’ve just
been waiting until I was pregnant with my third child and you decided to
oh-so-romantically call me a ‘truck’ to make it official.”

Joshua
snorted. “Now we can run off to Kansas and live in sin. Finally.”

“Only
if you massage my ankles. If you do that, you can take me anywhere.”

“Joshua,
if you so much as touch my amati’s ankles I will kill you,” said Bryan Ysperin
in exasperation, coming up behind Shiri to wrap his arms around her. His hands
settled protectively over her abdomen and Shiri slid her fingers down to rest
on his wrists, then the two of them just stood, a small island of peace
alongside the busy table. Something in their faces unsettled Eva. Their
expressions were so open, so…contented. So happy. So…
together
.

Eva
didn’t remember the last time she had felt that way.

Except
lately – with Brand. Not always, but…sometimes.

When
they made love. When she didn’t feel like he was hiding something.

Eva
shifted her gaze, and found that Joshua was staring across the room through the
frost-caught windows to the night outside, an oddly uncomfortable expression on
his face. As if he felt as much of an outsider as she did. At least to what
these two obviously shared.

But the
longing in Joshua’s eyes was even more surprising.

His
restless gray gaze settled on Eva, and his sandy brows rose sardonically.
“What? You can have the last piece of chicken. I won’t take it. This time.”

“Hmm.”
Eva pursed her lips. She opened her mouth to make an observation, but Shiri
laughed and waived Bryan back before nipping between them to grab a pair of
biscuits from the tray.

“You’re
Eva, right? Bryan told me about you.” Shiri put the biscuits on her plate,
turning to Eva. “Nikandrie has probably beaten me to it and taken you into her
keeping, but if you ever need anything, or have questions, just come and find
me. Our suites are in the eastern wing.”

“Ah,
okay. Thank you.” Eva’s eyes were drawn to Shiri’s belly despite herself. She
battled the desire to touch it, the longing to feel the young blood tiger
inside, and clenched her fingers behind her back. The last Kaspian pregnant in
the Turner Gens had been her mother with Rainey, and Eva had no memory of it.
Kaspian children were so rare, so precious, that – even though the hope
that Eva would have children had been part of what trapped her in the Turner
Gens – she still itched with the need to reach out and feel that life in
Shiri’s belly. To feel the
wonder
of it.

Which
would be incredibly rude. And a definite violation of Gens and family.

Shiri’s
eyes darkened, and she tilted her head, a perceptive look on her face. She
quirked her lips and gave Eva a meaningful glance. “You should sit with us.
Fill your plate and bring Brand. The males can keep watch on El-Ai, and the two
of us can talk.”

“She’s
going to interrogate you, Eva,” Joshua warned, reaching for a biscuit on
Shiri’s plate and getting swatted back. “Watch out for Shiri. She waddles up to
you and pretends to be all sweet and helpless and fat, then she puts you
through the wringer.”

Shiri
snorted, ladling casserole onto her plate. “I’m pregnant not fat, lard-brain.
And you and I need to discuss,” she pointed the spoon at Joshua, “Natasha
Dagamis. I know for a fact Dmitrei slept with her when he was here. You need to
warn him about how she operates.”

“
Dagamis
,”
Joshua snarled, expression turning dark. “Like hell I’m going to get involved
with those vipers, Shiri. Dmitrei can manage his own love life. I’m not his
keeper. Why does everyone think I’m his keeper? Leave that to his brothers. He
can’t kill them and the Dagamis bitches can’t fuck them over.”

“Dagamis
bitches be damned. You’re the closest thing Dmitrei has to a
friend
,
Joshua,” Shiri shot back at him as she turned to leave. “Dmitrei won’t listen
to his family, but he might just listen to you. So bring that bucket of chicken
and follow me so we can talk. Eva, Joshua and I will save a spot for you and
Brand.”

“Fuck,”
Joshua muttered, kneading the scars on his fist as he watched Shiri walk away.
Then he turned to give Eva an irritable look. “Just so you know, before you go
making any deep commitments to Brand. The Kades? They’re bloody exhausting.
Make sure you take
that
into account before you decide to jump into bed
with him the next time around.”

“Ah…okay.”
Eva tried to control her guilty smile – and her blush – as she saw
Brand coming through the side door on the upper interior balcony of the Nave.
His dark blue eyes met hers through the shadows, and he smiled in turn, gaze
flickering with gold and wicked promise. “Sure.” Her voice was breathy.

“Don’t
say I didn’t warn you,” Joshua said darkly before following Shiri across the
open room, bucket of chicken cradled in his arms.

Seth
stepped from to block Brand’s path down the staircase. Below them, people
gathered and laughed in the well-lit Nave, but where they stood it was all
shadows and quiet. “It is your turn with mother tonight. Don’t forget.”

“I
won’t,” Brand growled. “I never have.”

“I
thought it best to remind you.” Seth followed Brand’s gaze over the balcony to
the empty space at the far table beside Eva. There was worry in his brother’s
blue eyes when they returned to Brand. “You haven’t told Eva that she is your
amati. You need to, Brand. For your sanity and her safety. For the bond
itself
to work. Secrets have no place between the two of you – your control is
shot and your decision-making is affected. From what Nikandria says, Eva has
begun to feel the instinct too. If you don’t tell her soon, it might damage
what you’re trying to build.”

Brand
reigned in his exasperation. “None of your business, Seth.”

“That’s
exactly what Khael told me seven hundred years ago.
None of your business
.
I was a fool to listen to him. You’re my family. That makes it my business.”

Brand
growled softly at his brother. “There are some things Eva isn’t ready to know,
Seth. Not yet. She’s had to deal with enough without learning that we’re bound.
That we
could
be bound.” First Eva’s Gens, then Rohe. No, Eva would hate
learning that her freedom had been restricted. Even by him. Brand stared across
the floor of the Nave; for once, the glossed books of the library failed to
catch his attention. He forced his shoulders to relax as he admitted, “I don’t
think she will react well when I tell her. I think…she will run. As happened
with Khael and Lis.”

Seth
gave Brand an almost sympathetic look, then straightened the cuffs on his
shirt. “You, better than anybody, know that was different. Khael drove Lis to
it, Brand. He couldn’t acknowledge their bond, and that is why she left.”

“He
left her first,” Brand muttered, watching Eva laugh with Shiri across the room.
“He couldn’t accept it, and so he left.” And Brand had gone with him.

“So you
are casting
Eva
in the role of
Khael
?” Astonishment.