Memory of an Immortal Heart (Immortal Hearts) (40 page)

Eva
frowned, wanting to step forward, to run her fingers through that dark hair and
feel the comfort as she pressed up against his body. Or to mess with his
organization of the silverware. Then she turned away before he could catch her
looking, and nervously picked up the bag of potato chips she had been munching
on. “My sister makes a mean lasagna. Her noodles and sauce are all from
scratch. All I can do is box pasta.”

Brand’s
gaze slanted to the bag she clutched, and he gave a faint smile as he finished
placing the silverware. “Box pasta and potato chips.”

“A good
combination,” Eva said softly, and felt an awareness open up between them.

He
wants to kiss me right now
, she realized. She didn’t know how she
knew, but she did.

Then
Joshua and Kevin came in, rattling the outer door, and Eva spun away and out of
the kitchen to show them where to wash.

Supper
was uncomfortable.

Kevin
kept avoiding her gaze and giving her guilty looks; Joshua ate the overcooked
and meatless spaghetti with a pained expression. Brand sat across from Eva,
occasionally fixing a stern glance on the other two…even as Eva felt the
restless need to make conversation just to somehow break the silence.

But she
didn’t have anything to talk about.

Except
Rainey.

And if
she spoke Rainey’s name…if she spoke Rainey’s name, all of her hope might come
tumbling out and she might start crying again. But she couldn’t
not
ask.

Eva’s
hand shook as she spooned sauce onto the gelatinous lump of spaghetti on her
plate. She didn’t want to eat it. “Did you…” she cleared her throat, glanced at
Joshua since she couldn’t bring herself to look at Kevin, “did you have any
luck?”

“I’m
sorry,” Kevin said heavily, staring at the table. “I thought I caught her scent
trail, but...I’m sorry. I’ll try again after supper.” Eva gripped her fork so
tightly she felt it bend.
Supper?
She wanted to tell him to not bother
eating, that she’d go out there with him, feed him on the trail and hold the
flashlight for him if that was what it took.

“Tomorrow.
You’ll try tomorrow. You did well,” Brand said bluntly to Kevin, then spooned
some of the canned beans Eva had found onto his spaghetti and swirled the
unappealing mixture around with his fork, “The trail’s two weeks old, and it
snowed. You did the best you could. But we’re
all
going to get a good
night’s sleep.”

“Khael
would have found her,” Kevin said, resignation stamped across his face. Eva swallowed,
trying to control her rising tension.

“Khael
is Khael,” Brand said inexplicably, and for the three from Stronghold, that
seemed to end the debate.

Eva
found herself caught in the odd position of wanting to comfort Kevin…and to
scream at him.

“She left
the computer,” Eva finally said, twisting her fork so that the tines scratched
the ceramic plate, then dropped it back down. She stared at the unappetizing
food. “Which is probably why she didn’t get my emails. We bought it off of
Natalie. Rainey is addicted to that computer. And she left her movies. Rainey
loves
Casablanca
, probably watches it at least once a month, can quote
every line. I don’t know why she would ever –”

“Eva.”
Brand’s dark blue eyes found hers. It seemed like he was going to reach across
the small table, take her hand, and Eva froze. She closed her eyes, bracing
herself, because she both desperately wanted that touch…and knew she shouldn’t
need it at all.

She
shouldn’t need anything.

Except
her body had stopped listening to her.

The chair
across from her creaked as Brand shifted forward, and Eva held incredibly
still, sucking the air into her lungs…a phone rang.

She
jumped, hissing. Her eyes flew open. Joshua was staring at the wall and chewing
his food, Kevin was staring at his plate red-faced, and Brand had stood to pull
the phone from his pocket.

Eva
felt her face go as red as Kevin’s. She bit her lip.
Stupid
.
So
stupid
. Her gaze snapped up again as Brand said Seth’s name.

Seth
was speaking in some language – some
other
, old-sounding language
– and Eva snarled softly, fixing her gaze on Brand as she desperately
tried to make sense out of the words. Or read his expression.

Because
she knew this was about Rainey.

Brand’s
gaze latched to hers. “What is he saying?” Eva demanded, and he raised his hand
to quiet her, even as Joshua made a
shushing
noise.

Brand’s
brow creased. His lips tilted downwards. His jaw tightened as the dark sapphire
in his eyes sparked with gold.

A
sinking sensation began to well from the pit of Eva’s stomach.

Then
Eva thought –
oh god
, despite the language they were speaking, she
could
swear
she heard the name… It hit her like a blow to the chest. The
table creaked loudly and Eva realized she had stood to grip the edge. She
leaned forward.

“
Brand
.”
Her voice was low and choked.

Brand
gave a sharp nod, thanked Seth, and closed the phone with a snap. His eyes
latched to Eva’s.

Eva
tried to speak, couldn’t. She shook her head. “Brand. Tell me. Seth didn’t just
say…”

“Seth
found a lead from Rainey’s photo.” Brand’s eyes held Eva’s, communicating
something she didn’t want to hear, but – deep inside – already
knew. “Rainey was snatched in town, Eva. One of Seth’s people sorted through,
caught it on a traffic camera.” As Eva’s breath rushed out in a soundless,
voiceless cry, Brand moved around the table toward her. “The plates for the van
that took her? They’re Vermont plates, Eva. They’re…”

“They’re
Rohe’s,” Eva whispered. Her mouth was dry. She felt sick.

Rohe
.

It hit
her –
Rainey
. Rainey had been kidnapped by Rohe…
her baby sister
had been kidnapped by a monster
– Eva slammed her palms against the
kitchen table, putting all of her suppressed fear, her fury, into that gesture.
The wood fractured, splintering with a crackling groan as plates, dishes,
silverware, pasta, potato chips and wood jumped into the air before falling as
the table caved down the middle, falling to the floor as Brand snatched Eva
back into his arms.

“No!”
No,
no, no…

Eva
tried to hit Brand, tried to deny what he had told her. She needed to get away,
she needed to move…she needed to Change, to do
something
…she needed
Rainey
…but
Brand had his arms wrapped around her, keeping her hands at her sides, keeping
her contained…and finally, the damn on her emotions burst as the fury and
terror, dismay and horror caught up with Eva, overwhelmed her.

She
blacked out.

Eva
couldn’t sleep. Rohe kept coming for her.

Every
time Eva closed her eyes, she saw the cell, the table again. The warmth in
Rohe’s face as she licked the blood from the surgical steel blade. Smelled her
own blood coursing down her arms as it went from a steady stream to a
pat
pat pat
into the vial Rohe held beneath her limp, exhausted fingertips.
Smelled the stench of her own sweat and fear as it filled the air of the room,
while Rohe inhaled that scent as if it were flowers or perfume.

Her
blood had been warm, the room cold.

So
cold. Colder than the water Rohe’s guards hosed her off with. Colder than the
steel of the table. Colder than the cell, even.

“No,”
Eva whispered, and ripped up the thick quilts from the corners of her bed,
pulling them tighter about herself, bunching them together as she tried to
retain some warmth. The moonlight sifted through the window above her bed,
washing her room into shades of gray and black, so that the shadows seemed too
dark. Too deep. Eva shuddered, smelling her own fear and sweat in the blanket,
and half-buried herself beneath the covers. Her eyes felt dry and swollen.

I’m
going with you
, Eva had told Brand after she came to.
I’m going
with you to get my sister
.

Because
she hadn’t needed to ask if he and Joshua and Kevin would be going to Vermont
for Rainey. That was something Brand would do anyway. Not just for her. No,
Brand would be going because…that was who Brand was. His hands had smoothed
over her shoulders and she could see the reluctance on his face.

Rainey
needs me
, she insisted.
She won’t know you. She won’t
trust you
.
She
needs
me.
Finally, he had agreed.

But Eva
didn’t want to go. The whole idea of returning to Rohe’s Asylum terrified her.

Because…what
if she didn’t escape this time?

Or
worse, what if…what if she got inside, then learned that everything that had
happened since her escape had simply been a dream? That she had never –
truly –
left?

“Don’t
be crazy. It’s real,” Eva muttered to her pillow. “It’s real.”
Please be
real
.

Despite
herself, she touched the bruise Brand had left on her breast, needing the
reassurance. Sensation coursed through her and she shuddered – no. There
was no way she would feel pleasure and comfort like this in the Asylum.

Footsteps
moved. The floorboards in the hall creaked as the door opened. “Eva?” a deep
voice said, and Eva jerked beneath the covers, gasping as she scrabbled through
the darkness for something –
anything
…before she realized that it
was Brand.

Then
she felt like an idiot.

Eva let
her hand drop, her heart pounding as she stared at him in the dim light of the
doorway. His arms were at his sides, his dark hair was sleep tousled. He had
stripped down to his boxers and taken his shirt off, and his golden skin looked
almost warm in the moonlight, his eyes burning through her like blue flames.
“Brand,” Eva whispered, and surprised herself with the sheer amount of relief
in her tone. Her body relaxed.

He
arched a brow, then hesitated as he glanced around her room. Eva felt her
cheeks go hot again; okay, her room was a mess. And – she looked down,
slid her palm over the wadded up pile of blankets and sheets that covered her
body – she had never had a man in here before.

Not
even a boy.

Just
Rainey and her mother.

The
floor creaked. Eva looked up and watched as Brand moved through her room,
navigating the piles of running shoes, work clothes and textbooks. He shuffled
half-finished homework off of the top of the ancient recliner and balanced it
carefully on her tiny cluttered desk. His gaze slanted over her old honor roll
ribbons and track trophies, then down to her diploma. Eva had been the first
person in her Gens to get one since her cousin Justin. Rainey had made the
frame, painting it with tiny golden stars.
“Tacky,”
her sister had
admitted at the time,
“but an awesome sort of tacky.”

Brand
sat in the chair and looked at her.

Eva’s
cheeks burned, tears too close. “Okay, I’m a mess.”

Brand
gave a half-smile. “I’ve seen worse. You should have seen Nikandrie when she
was young. And Cateline. I don’t think there’s any hope for Cateline. She’s
still a mess.”

Instant
– and inexplicable – jealousy coursed through Eva as she clenched
her fists in the sheets. “Who’s Cateline?”

Brand’s
smile deepened; he leaned forward and propped his chin on his fist. “Another
cousin. She’s Joshua’s particular cross to bear.”

Eva
blinked, then gave a shaky smile as she tried to regain control of her pounding
heart, her inexplicable jealousy. “And Joshua is yours?”

“Something
like that.”

The
silence stretched. It was too full of things – too full of
everything
.
Eva’s eyes fell to the crumpled sheets.

“Nightmares?”

“Something
like that,” she murmured, the words scratchy. “Are Joshua and Kevin still
downstairs?”

“Sleeping
like kittens.”

Eva’s
eyebrows rose. “Kittens, huh?” she asked, amused by Brand’s description.
Somehow she doubted Joshua and Kevin were curled up like kittens. Brand nodded
gravely, eyes glinting.

“Kittens,”
he reiterated firmly, and somehow knew he was laughing silently.

Eva
stared at him, feeling the need, the horror, the residual fear cascade through
her. But when Brand was with her, it lessened, became manageable. Eva held his
gaze, and bit her lip. Tried to contain her vulnerability. “Brand, will you…”
…come
to bed, hold me, be with me…
“…tonight. Just for tonight, can we…”

Brand’s
face hardened.

His
hand dropped from his chin as he leaned back in the chair, away from her. Pain
lanced through her – only, somehow, it didn’t feel like her pain. It felt
different, darker. “You said ‘temporary’ was over, Eva.” There was a growl, the
deepest of vibrations to Brand’s words. “That you had enough.”