Immortal Rapture: Immortal Heart (19 page)

Bain cocked a brow and looked to Makyle. “Who’s Isabelle?”

Makyle looked to him. “Shut up, you territorial asshole, she is my baby Fae daughter… even she says so… said… she said so.”

Bain shook his head and hit the cue-ball
, breaking the cluster of balls apart and sinking two solids.

“I think Makyle is drunk.” Kale snickered as he watched Bain continue to clear the table.

“It is a good possibility… I feel weird. I think I miss Sam.”

Uriah smiled
, and the others looked to Makyle.

“She was rude…
She threw an energy ball at me, and she slapped me, but I think I miss her.” Makyle looked to Uriah. “She is very pretty, isn’t she?”

Uriah laughed and leaned forward
, taking the glass from Makyle’s hand. “You’ve had enough, big man.”

Makyle
glared at him. “Are you saying she isn’t pretty?”

Uriah shook his head. “Not at all… but let me ask you this, do you think Marie is pretty?”

Makyle crossed his arms over his wide chest. “We’re talking about Sam, not Marie.”

Uriah nodded. “I know, but answer the question.”

Makyle threw his arms in the air. “Yes, Marie is pretty, but not as pretty as Sam, she’s powerful, and strong-willed, hotheaded… I wish she were here.”

Kale arched his pierced brow. “Who the fuck is
Sam, and how the hell did she wrap the infallible Makyle around her finger?”

“She bit me.” Makyle slurred his words as he stood from the couch to snatch his drink from Uriah. “I need some air
,” he said, stumbling from the room and out the French doors.

“Do we follow him?” Uriah asked.

Lothar shook his head. “No, he’s fine… He’s just got one thing, or better said, one person on his mind. Now I’m with Kale, who is Sam?”

“Oh there is history there,” Uriah said, smiling. “But we know of her as S
amira.”

Cree cocked a brow. “The genie?”

“Yep, it’s possible we’ve always seen Makyle as something less than he really is. I think Ro was the only one who saw past what he projects… seems he’s been more of a savior than any of us ever realized.”

Cree smiled softly. “Ro always
did see the potential and best in everyone.”

“Yes, she did
,” Bain agreed. He stood from the table and leaned on his cue stick. “She loved unconditionally.”

“She was the purest of souls
,” Lothar added.

Kale smirked.
“The last to judge the not-so-well thought-out decisions of others.”

“She was our queen, our family
, and most importantly, the gentle hand that guided us all to be better men,” Uriah said, lifting his glass before taking the last of his drink. “To Rowan.”

“To Rowan
,” they all echoed.

****

Marie laughed as she
sat with Kat, Holly, Izzy and Kyra. She munched on popcorn while they watched Brave. She slipped pieces of the butter kernels to Izzy’s little pet, an argolette she’d been told. Who knew that little flying hound dogs existed? Of course, it made sense that Izzy would own one.

“If you continue to feed him, he will try to follow you home
,” Izzy said as her finger brushed through Garcia’s thick coat.

“Would he be safer with me? Garcia keeps licking his chops when he looks over here.”

Izzy smiled. “Garcia knows better. He and Tracker get along just fine.”

“
I wanna shoot a bow,” Kyra said, pulling their attention from the pets to the movie playing out before them.

Marie smiled at the beautiful little girl
, her large, purple-indigo eyes beseeching Izzy to agree.

Izzy shook her head
and ran her hand over Kyra’s thick wavy blonde hair. “Ask your father.”

Kyra huffed. “He won
’t let me play with a bow… you know that, Iz.”

They all smiled
at Kyra, and Izzy sighed. “That’s because he wants you to be a proper young lady first… then you can follow in his warrior footsteps. Just like Aunty Holly.”

Kyra smiled wide and snuggled deeper into Izzy arms as a large yawn stretched her full little lips.

“I will become a proper young lady tomorrow.”

Izzy kissed Kyra’s hair and sighed happily.

It wasn’t long before Kyra was out, and Izzy was standing to carry her off to her bed.

“She’s so good with her
,” Holly noted as Izzy left the room.

“She’s always been great with our niece and nephew
,” Marie noted.

“She came into Kyra’s life just as she needed her most.”

Marie looked to Kat. “How so?”

Kat smiled softly. “Kyra’s mom died a few months back.
She and Bain fought when the freeze first took hold. Kathleen refused to come stay here at the castle. Bain refused to leave Kyra, so she came to stay with us. Not long after, we were all gathered around Kathleen’s pyre.”

Marie shook her head. “I can
’t believe all the things I don’t know about my own sister. She’s a mom and she’s this super powerful Fae who can heal and move shit like Uriah does…”

“And manipulate fire, like my Kale.”

“And she can sense emotions like Lothar,” Holly added. “She’s special and yes, very powerful. I saw her heal Uriah, it was… incredible.”

Marie’s brow furrowed. “What happened to Uriah?”

Kat smiled softly. “He was injured in a fire, none of us knew how badly, until Izzy had a vision about it. I wasn’t there when she healed him, but Kale told me about it. He said his wings were… well, in really bad shape. She fixed him up and sent him on the path that eventually led to you.”

“
Your sister was also amazing during our battle with the Dark. You would have been proud of the way she fought beside us.”

Marie smiled. “I’ve been proud of Izzy all my
life, and I’ve always looked up to her. I hate to think of her in danger, but there is no missing the lengths Bain will go to for her. I know she’s always safe with him. I just also know my sister. She’s independent and strong willed.”

“That she is. She pretty much threatened me the first time we met… and she didn’t have powers at th
at point in time.” Kat laughed. “She is very protective of the ones she loves.”

Marie nodded and smiled. Izzy returned
, and they finished Brave before Kat switched out the DVD. Mathew McConaughey’s voice and leather-clad body filled the screen, and Kat sighed.
She looked over at the others and grinned. “What do you expect? I’m a sex-fueled succubus.”

They laughed
. Marie snuggled back into the plush seat to get comfortable and popped a couple kernels of popcorn into her mouth and couple to Tracker. “Channing Tatum, half naked and dancing works for me.”

Izzy, Kat
, and Holly all sighed as they took in the sight of the warriors all passed out throughout the couches and chairs of the hole.

“This looks a little familiar
,” Kat said, looking to Holly.

Holly nodded in agreement.

“I wonder what happened to Makyle?” Izzy said, scanning the room. She even peeked under the billiards table.

Kat pointed to the open French doors where a soft breeze blew into the room. “My guess is he’s out there somewhere.”

Izzy shook her head and grinned. “You deal with them, find something fitting for them to do today.”

Kat and Holly exchanged impish glances and nodded.

Izzy kicked Bain’s foot as she passed him, earning her a sleepy grin. “Is that my Izzy I smell?” He reached out and found her arm. He pulled her to him, earning a small yelp from her as she fell into his lap. With his lids barely cracked, he found her neck and nibbled at her skin.

Izzy cupped his face and pulled back. “How
are you feeling?”

“Perfect now,
sweetheart,” he mumbled as he tried to pull her closer.

“No, you don’t. We’re one man down.
I have to go find Makyle.”

Bain pouted, his eyes finally open. “Why you?”

“Doesn’t matter, Kat and Holly have a job for you.”

Bain shifted his gaze to the other two women as they began the process of waking the warriors. He looked back to Izzy. “I’m not going to like this, am I?”

Izzy laughed and kissed his lips softly. “Probably not.”

She pushed off his chest and hurried out the French doors. She found Marie out by the
garden, Makiah in her arms.

“Good morning!” Izzy called out. “Where did you two disappear to last night?”

Marie smiled. “It was actually early this morning. Makiah was hungry and well… he needed a bath.”

Izzy arched a brow. “Oh?”

“Yeah, he wasn’t quite tucked in properly.”

Izzy laughed. “I see so, yes, a bath was in order.”

Marie nodded. “I peeked into the hole and admittedly walked away. Plus, I thought the sun might be good for this little guy.”

“It will be good for all of us. We haven’t seen much of it. Anyhow, you want to walk with me while I try to find Makyle?”

Marie furrowed her brows. “You lost Makyle?”

“It would appear so
. Based off what the guys look like this morning, they had a good night. I’m not sure Makyle has ever had alcohol and if he attempted to keep up with the boys, he’s likely hurting this morning.”

Marie nodded
, and they headed into the hedge maze. No more than five minutes into their search, they found Makyle face down in the grass. Izzy squatted next to him. Planting her feet, she rolled him over, earning her a pained groan.

“Makyle?” Izzy patted his cheek. “Makyle, come on. Wake up.”

Makyle cracked open a lid, one diamond eye landing on Izzy’s smiling face. “Ouch… the sun is too bright. My head hurts.” He lifted his hand to shield his eyes from the warm, yellow light.

Izzy grabbed his arm and forced him to a sitting position. Makyle looked around him
, and then back to Izzy. “What the fuck happened?”

She smiled and reached out to cup his head. Purple light flowed from her fingers
, and she healed the aches that plagued him from the night before. “I am healing you this one time,” she said as she pulled her hands back. “Next time you have a hangover, you are on your own. I am guessing you learned your lesson.”

Makyle smiled at her, feeling like a brand
-new man. “I don’t remember much.”

“What the hell were you drinking?” Marie asked.

Makyle furrowed his brows as he tried to remember the name of the fruit-flavored drink Kendal had made for him. His eyes widened as it came to him. “Pink Muffs.”

Neither Izzy nor Marie could hold back their laughter.

“That was the response of the men last night. Care to explain?”

“Later,” Izzy said as she grabbed his hands and helped pull him to his feet.

***
*

“This is your fault
,” Kale groaned to Uriah as Kyra placed a large hat on his head.

Kyra smiled and cupped Kale’s face. “Uncle Kale, red is your color.”

Kale grinned at her. “You think so?”

Kyra nodded and moved to Uriah
, and placed a big, floppy blue sunhat on his head. Cree was already wearing black, Lothar had green, and she had chosen purple for her father.

“Aunty Kat, are you sure you don’t want to join us?”

Kat chuckled as she looked at the ridiculousness before her. “No sweetie, I have work to do. You have fun with your uncles and your daddy.”

Kat smiled at the glaring men in all their glory. Izzy had charged her and Holly with finding a suitable
way for the guys to spend their day. Really, spending time with Kyra was a blessing, the makeup she had applied on them and the hats were more along the lines of punishment. Kat chuckled again as Kyra finished pampering the guys by placing a white feather boa around Kale’s neck. Kale lifted his gaze to Kat and grinned at her. She sauntered towards him and cupped his face in her elegant hands.

“You have fun, I’ll be back later.” She pressed her lips to his and smiled as she pulled back, leaving only a whisper of space between them. “Red really is your color.”

Kale groaned, snatching a quick kiss. “It’s your color now too,” he said as his red lipstick transferred to her pouty lips.

Kat left the room just as Kyra began filling the tea cups. She smiled brightly as Izzy, Makyle, and Marie with Makiah in her arms were heading towards her.

“What did you come up with as punishment?” Izzy asked brightly.

“A tea party.”

Izzy arched a brow as she stepped past Kat to peer into the dining room. She grabbed her cell from her pocket and snapped a picture. The flash caught all of their attention. Makyle stepped beside her and smiled, causing Bain to growl.