Immortal Rapture: Immortal Heart (22 page)

Holly’s hand tightened around Marie’s upper arm as she went to stand. Marie glanced over and caught the nearly imperceptible movement of Holly shaking her head
, telling her to sit tight and not move.

“Who were you after?” Holly asked.

Esperanza arched a brow. “Who do you think I was after?”

“Makiah
,” Marie breathed. “You leave my boy alone!”

“Your boy? And here I thought the child was the son of Uriah and Jelena. Where do you fit in… aw wait, you must be Uriah’s fling. He was always so pathetic, longing for the attention of the Immortal Sister, pandering to the will of a woman who would never love him… rarely
allowing himself the comfort of another, just for the possibility of getting up the Immortal Ruler’s skirt. And what did she get for allowing him to bed her? Death and an unwanted child.”

Marie felt her skin flame as the words were spat like venom from Esperanza’s malicious lips.

“Oh, you can glare at me all you want, but you’re no match for me… just a weak water nymph.”

“Stop it!” Holly snarled. “That’s enough. You won’t get Makiah and there is nothing we will do to help you.”

“Yes, I know, Holly.” She stepped up to the bars, her face framed by the unforgiving iron. “You’ve never been more than a worthless disappointment. However, I think I can find a use for you two, while we wait for Lothar and the others to come to the rescue… assuming they even want you back.”

Esperanza stepped back from the cell just as Holly hit the
bars, her arms extending and her fingers grasping for the fabric of Esperanza’s dress.

“Such anger left in your heart.” Esperanza laughed as she turned and began walking away.

“And there’s nothing but brutality in your soul,” Holly called after her.

Esperanza continued to laugh. “Who says I have a soul? Some servants will be by shortly to clean you both up. Do be kind to them, and if it’s of any consolation, it’s not the child I need.”

Esperanza made her way up the stairs to her throne room, where the vampires awaited her return. She pulled a silver dagger from the holster on her thigh. She smiled as she stepped inside the room and closed the solid door behind her, effectively sealing their fate.

Holly held Ma
rie’s hand tightly as they were led from the dungeon and through the castle. The iron bracelets they wore tamped any magic Holly could have used to help them. Her eyes shifted around, taking in every detail as they moved up the stairs and down an opulent hallway, stopping at a thick door with a lock on the outside. One of the guards opened the door as the other pushed them inside. “Ardea will be with you soon.”

The door closed
, and the lock slid into position.

Marie growled. “What the fuck are they going to do with us?”

Holly shook her head. She couldn’t bear to utter the words. She couldn’t tell Marie that Darion was an incubus and there was a good chance that was who they would soon be delivered to.

“I don’t know for sure.” Holly moved to the window that looked out over the forest that separated the two lands. Anger suffused her. She reached for a desk chair and swung it as hard as she could against the glass. The chair bounced off it, nearly sending her to her ass in the middle of the room.

“If it wasn’t Makiah she was after, then who? She obviously doesn’t think much of Uriah.”

“She’s just a malicious bitter woman, who feeds off the pain of others.”

Marie shook her head. She couldn’t understand… her mother was amazing and loving, the very opposite of Esperanza. How Bain had become the man who loved her sister so much and how Holly had turned into the woman who stood before her was beyond Marie’s understanding.

“Do you think it’s Makyle?”

“What?” Holly’s brows furrowed.

“Do you think they are after Makyle? He’s the only other constant.”

Holly’s eyes widened. “If she is, she has seriously gone bat-shit crazy. She is no match for an Immortal Ruler. He’ll bring—”

Holly’s words cut off as the lock on the door clicked open and a pretty fairy,
with curled, bright red hair highlighted with streaks of black, entered the room. Her irises were dark; they looked almost black. The only color that separated the black from the white in her almond-shaped eyes was the thin line of glowing red.

“The windows are sealed with magic. It won’t break.”

Holly glared at the girl. “Ardea?”

Ardea dipped her chin. “Yes. Lady Esperanza sent me here to prepare you for your meeting with
my lord.”

“What does your
lord want from us?” Marie demanded.

Ardea looked confused as her gaze shifted to Holly, who sighed.

“It’s nearly time for his feeding.”

Marie’s face drained of color. “Feeding.”

“Yes,” Ardea answered as she produced two dresses, both silk with high slits on both sides, low cut in the front, and nearly backless aside from a diamond, web pattern that held the two sides together. “Now please, get changed.” She handed the dresses over.

“Fuck you,” Marie spat as she threw the dress to the floor.

Ardea sighed. “There are guards just outside the door that wouldn’t think twice about coming in here and dressing you. They won’t be gentle and their hands will wander.”

Holly studied
Ardea; there was resignation and defeat in her unique eyes. “He’s been feeding from you?”

Ardea bit her lip as she nodded. “Yes, the battle changed him
, and Lady Esperanza has been calling on all in the castle to service him.” Ardea’s gaze fell to the window. “There was a time I would have gladly given myself to him.” She sighed and returned her gaze to the women. “Get dressed; we have little time before Lady Esperanza will call on you.”

Holly turned to Marie, handing her the discarded dress from the floor. She smiled reassuringly. “It will be okay
; they’ll come for us.”

Marie narrowed her brow before taking the dress. “I have one question.”

Holly nodded. “Ask.”

“What kind of Fae is their
lord?”

Holly took a deep breath. “He’s an incubus.”

Marie shook her head. She knew what that meant. Kat had told her all about succubi and their male counterparts, incubi. She prayed that Uriah had realized they were missing.

****

Uriah stalked the halls of the castle, making his way to Cree’s office.

“Something is wrong
,” he blurted as he pushed into the room.

Cree, Lothar
, and Makyle all lifted their gazes to him. “They still aren’t back?” Lothar asked, rising from his seat. He and Kyra had waited in the courtyard for a good half an hour for Holly and Marie’s return until Cree had summoned him. That had been nearly an hour ago,

“No, they still aren’t back.”

Cree furrowed his brow. “Go to the lake, that’s where I saw Marie in my vision. If they aren’t there, you report back here immediately. I will put the others on standby. ”

“I’ll join you
,” Makyle offered as Lothar and Uriah moved through the room to the balcony and took flight into the nearly dark sky.

Uriah’s stomach dropped as he sensed the trails of magic around the lake. He could taste vampires’ magic and something else, something dark
caster in nature. Pushing his wings to beat faster and harder against the cool air , he was the first to make it to the water’s edge, landing hard against the soft sand. His eyes landed on a swatch of light yellow fabric discarded on the wet earth. This time it was his heart that sank. He grasped the now-dirty yellow sundress laced with Marie’s scent.

Makyle growled as he landed next to Uriah. His head whipped towards the forest that separated the lands. “
Their scents lead into the forest.”

Lothar started for the forest, fear infusing his every step. He nearly attacked when Makyle’s hand gripped his bicep, stopping him in his tracks.

“You need to breathe, and we need to go let the others know what has happened.”

Lothar narrowed his steel eyes on the Immortal Ruler. “Since when are you the one with the level head… who waits when action is what is required?”

Makyle smiled. “Since I came here and saw the way you and your brothers work. You are stronger as a unit; you know that better than anybody.”

“There isn’t time for this
,” Uriah snarled, taking flight and heading back towards the castle.

Makyle arched a brow. “After all he’s lost to the
Dark; even he can see that he needs his brothers to rescue the one he loves.”

Lothar kept his gaze locked on Makyle before eventually looking to the sky and realizing he was wasting time. “Let’s go
,” he said, taking flight to follow Uriah. He knew Uriah was being the sensible one, the balance of the brothers, but even at this distance, Uriah’s emotions washed over Lothar. They were a heavy mix that threatened to weaken even the experienced empath.

By the time Lothar and Makyle returned
, the group was already assembled in Cree’s office.

Lothar’s gaze fell to Bain. His eyes and emotions
hid nothing of what he felt. Betrayal was heavy in his violet gaze. He shook his head, and Izzy looked to Lothar. There was nothing to be said that would comfort Bain, and there was little Lothar could do to help Izzy process the emotions that radiated off him.

“Kat?” Uriah spoke softly to the succubus as she stared at the floor.

Kat lifted her gaze and smiled sadly. “Yes?”

“Will you stay with Makiah?”

Her gaze shifted to Bain and Izzy. “I can help. I know the castle better than anyone here.”

“That’s not entirely true, Kitty.”

Kat’s heart swelled as Jake and Juliette entered the room. She found herself in Jake’s strong arms, while hers held tight around his neck. “Hey, Jakey.”

Jake squeezed her tight before letting her go and smiling, his light gray eyes as warm as she always remembered
. It had only been a few days since her trip to see Juliette, but Jake hadn’t been around.

“Not quite the dinner party I promised,” she muttered.

Jake smiled. “It never is with you, Kitty.”

She tilted her head, but didn’t argue.
Instead, she looked back to Bain and Izzy. “I can still help.”

Izzy smiled and nodded before walking over and cupping Kat’s cheeks. Her gloved hands barring her from Kat’s magic. “We all know you can. And we all know you’ve been back to that castle, but not a single one of us wants you to return there ever again.” She looked to Jake and smiled. “If Jake is willing to help us, I would much rather you watch after Kyra and Makiah.”

None of them wanted to voice their greatest fears, but if Marie and Holly were at Darion’s mercy, Kat didn’t need to walk into that castle and see them living out what she had been through.

Kat chewed her inner cheek briefly before finally nodding. Izzy released her face and hugged her tight
, whispering a promise that only Kat could hear. A promise that come hell or high water, Izzy would see was kept. The Dark would pay for everything they had done, for all the suffering that was dealt by their hand. Darion would pay for what he’d done to Kat and one day, Esperanza would answer for the pain she’d caused.

Kat smiled at Izzy and turned to hug Jake. “You be careful.”

Jake grinned. “I’ve been waiting for a chance at Darion.”

She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Just be careful.”

Jake nodded, and Kat moved back to Kale. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into his lap. Resting his chin on her shoulder, he murmured, “I love you, Kitten.”

She turned her head and caught the warm
, brown gaze that had become her blanket of safety and love. He was her heart and her soul, and she couldn’t imagine life without him. The others continued to discuss the details of the mission as Kat leaned in and kissed Kale softly. Sighing, she pulled back slightly. “You know the deal, right?”

Kale grinned and wagged his brows at her. “I have to come home in one piece or I am of no use to you.”

She laughed quietly. “Something like that. I love you. And I need you to be careful too and come back to me… You know it’s not easy for me to stay behind.”

Kale ran his fingers over her cheek. “I know that, Kat. However, I much prefer you stay away from that place
. Besides, Kyra will love the time with you, and come on, you want more time with that little bundle of Uriah’s.”

She smiled. “Yeah, gotta get my baby fix somewhere.”

Kale smirked. They’d had the baby conversation, and there wouldn’t be any little Kats and Kales running around for a long while.

“Don’t fight him
,” Ardea told Marie and Holly as they were escorted to Darion’s chambers. “He’s changed. He’s always had a deviant side, but it’s gone further than providing pleasure. He enjoys inflicting pain and if you fight back, it will spur him on. He will find pleasure in it.”