Immortal Rapture: Immortal Heart (6 page)

With those words, the foursome left. Uriah scanned the living room. Surprisingly, the house looked pretty good—only a few bottles and shot glasses still littered the coffee table. He left them there. He wasn’t a huge fan of drowning one’s sorrows, but he was giving himself a little leeway to do what he needed for right now.

Grabbing his
bags, he headed up the stairs to the guest room that was really more Kale’s room, but where he would be staying. Dropping his bag on the bed, he headed into the bathroom. Staring in the mirror, he looked at the already-healed tattoo… it was something Kale would love, but it was more him than anything else he could think of. It was perfect. It was rebirth and starting over. A symbol of the next step of his life, a step he had to get on board with. He didn’t want to live in a constant state of mourning. He loved Jelena and always would, but she’d been gone for over nine months now. He knew for sure that there was no going back, and there was no future where they would be together.

With a
sigh, Uriah started the water, stepping into the hot stream to wash away the pain and emotions of the past to start anew with what life would bring him. After running the hot water to cold, he stepped from the shower. With a swipe over the fogged mirror, he gave his appearance a once over. He looked tired, but his eyes seemed to have a little more life shining in them. He had to admit he felt better. Wrapping a towel around his waist, he emptied the contents of his bags on the bed and began putting his stuff away. He didn’t know for sure how long he would be here, but he wasn’t planning on living out of his bag.

After putting his things away, Uriah ran a brush through his hair and got dressed, then headed out of the room. He moved quickly down the stairs towards a sharp rap against the front door. He knew it wasn’t one of his brothers
. They would have simply let themselves in, and it had only been a couple of hours since Kale and Lothar had left. Uriah forced a pleasant smile as he opened the door. He was greeted by the small frame of Izzy’s youngest sister. Her dark, coffee-colored tresses swayed in the wind as the beautiful woman’s sharp, tanzanite eyes grazed over him.

She sighed. “Uriah… where is Izzy?”

Uriah’s smile was a little more natural as he answered. “Nice to see you too, Marie, Izzy is at Bain’s.”

Marie rolled her eyes. “Isn’t she always,”
she stated flatly as she peered around him to see the coffee table. Her brows arched as she caught sight of the bottles of alcohol that he, Lothar, and Kale had been drinking from the night before. Her gaze shifted back to his face and studied him closely. “I’m guessing that’s what has you looking a little rough today.”

Uriah chuckled. “I didn’t think I looked that bad.”

She scoffed. “Well, rough for you and your brothers is good by normal people standards. Now, can I come in?”

Uriah nodded and stepped aside, giving her access to the house.

“What are you doing here, Marie?”

“Well, I’ve been driving around for the past couple of hours trying to
get a hold of my sister—wait, what are you doing here?” she asked as she folded her legs beneath her on the couch.

Uriah sighed. “I needed a place to hide out for a little bit. Izzy was kind enough to offer up her home.”

Marie arched a brow. “Hide?”

Uriah shrugged. “I needed to get away…
What are you doing here?”             

“Like I
said, I’ve been driving around for a few hours now, trying to get a hold of my sister. I need somewhere to lay low. I didn’t want to go to my parents, and I certainly couldn’t go to Eppie’s. I knew Izzy wouldn’t be around, I also knew she wouldn’t care if I crashed here, but I couldn’t remember the damn security code. I got tired of driving, so I figured I would swing by and, wouldn’t you know it… I found lights on. So here I am.”

“Why do you need to lay low?”

Marie bit her bottom lip. “My car is currently loaded down with all my belongings, and Marko’s are littering the yard of our former residence.” She almost looked sheepish.

“Former residence?”

“Well yeah, I figured living with a cheating ass bastard wasn’t really where I wanted to stay, so it’s a former residence.”

Uriah thought back to the last barbeque Izzy and Bain had
. Marie had been with her boyfriend… Marko. Uriah almost smiled as he thought back to that day. He’d noticed from the first time he met Marie that she was like a flame, sparking with mischief and a beauty that rivaled her sister’s. She was quick witted, vivacious, and very much in love.

“Marko cheated?” he asked.

She nodded. “Yep, he never struck me as a lying, slime-ball, asshat, but secrets don’t generally stay hidden for long. So what has you needing to lie low?” She was studying him again, and a small frown marred her pretty face. “You too, huh?”

He shrugged. “Not exactly. She’s just… gone.”

Marie reached for the bottle of vodka on the table and unscrewed the lid. “What did you do?” she asked before swigging off the bottle.

Uriah shook his head
. She was so not like her sister. “Why would you ask that?”

Her face scrunched as she swallowed the alcohol. “Umm… well like I said, even on a rough day you look better than the average man. Girls don’t leave guys that look like you unless you give them a good reason… So, are you the lying slime-ball asshat in this situation?”

Uriah shook his head. “No, that’s not my style. She’s permanently gone.”

Marie tilted her
head; it only took a few seconds for the meaning to sink in.

“Oh
, fuck me. I’m sorry.”

Uriah couldn’t help but smile at her.
Yep, that was something that would never fly from Izzy’s mouth. It was also something a beautiful woman shouldn’t go throwing around.

“It’s a serious personality flaw
. I open my mouth and I don’t think before I let the words fall out of it. I’m so sorry, Uriah.” She wet her lips in a quick move that had Uriah’s mind creating all kinds of scenarios that involved her little pink tongue at his mercy. Shaking his head at the errant thoughts, he realized she was speaking again. “…I’m a good listener.”

He blinked. “Sorry, what?”

Her perfect brows pinched together. “Do you want to talk about it? I’m a pretty good listener.”

He shook his head
. Last night had been what he needed. He confided in his brothers and felt pieces of what he and Jelena had shared slip into a place where he could remember and move forward. He’d spent nine months mourning and now with a word from the Fates, it was time to move on and accept what was and wasn’t meant to be. He would always love her, but it was over and part of him felt peace at the thought. “Not really, it happened over nine months ago. However, it just really hit me that she’s not coming back.”

Marie nodded. “So what stage are you in?”

Uriah smirked and looked to the table with mostly empty bottles of alcohol. “Last night might have been testing and reconstruction… I may have indulged a little. Isn’t that part of stage six?”

Marie nodded. “I believe so… So have you moved into acceptance?”

“I’m close.”

She took two shot glasses from the night before and eyed the inside of them
. Shrugging, she grabbed a bottle from the table and filled the glasses before handing him one. “Well, I’m afraid you’re stuck with me unless you plan to try and kick me out of Izzy’s home. So we might as well continue to work on stage six and hopefully, push you into stage seven.”

He took the glass, clinked it to
hers, and shot back the sweet, clear liquid. Marie took her shot too, her brows furrowed, and she grabbed the bottle again to actually look at what she had poured them. “Whipped Vodka?”

Uriah laughed. Yes, they had gotten another bottle of the sweet vodka. “It makes a really great
Root beer-float-flavored drink.

She shook her head with a smile playing over her lips as she poured them each another shot.

Uriah was laughing for the second night in a row. He’d found humor in the company of others. Marie was funny and animated as her voice carried throughout the room. She was also tipsy at this point.

“Why are you laughing at me again?” she asked as she set her drink down. She’d moved from shots to the
Root beer and whipped vodka.

Uriah wiped some tears from the corner of his eyes. She had just finished telling him a story about
her and her sisters when they were in high school… seemed that both Marie and Izzy hadn’t changed all that much since their younger years. Izzy had been focused and confident even when she was a teenager, and Marie had apparently always been spirited and uninhibited. She made herself known her freshmen year with her outspoken nature, and it gave her the confidence to take on the world. She was also just funny. The more she talked, the more Uriah wanted to hear her voice. The more she laughed, the more Uriah thought it was the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard.

“It’s a good thing… I haven’t laughed like this in a while.”

She smiled. “It looks good on you.”

“Thanks, it feels good too.”

She smiled. “I bet it does.”

Silence fell between them for a brief moment, but was shattered by Katy Perry’s
Wide Awake
. Marie almost flinched at the sound and reached for her phone. Her smile fell as she looked at the screen.

“Bastard,” she whispered
, and then answered. “What do you want?” she snapped.

Uriah cast his gaze away, looking for something interesting to focus on
. He could hear both ends of the conversation and felt like an ass for listening in. When Marie started cussing in Spanish, he couldn’t help but chuckle and look back at her. She smiled. “You’re laughing at me again.”

“I suppose I am
,” Uriah admitted.

“Marie… Hey, who is that?”

Marie rolled her eyes and answered Marko. “That’s Uriah… you remember Uriah, right?”

“Where are you?” Marko demanded
. Uriah’s brows arched at the tone.

“It’s none of your goddamned business where I am
. In fact, you lost the right to ask that when you decided to go sleeping around, you fucking prick.”

“So your response is to spread your legs for the first man that shows you the
smallest amount of attention? You can call me a prick, but that pretty much makes you a whore. Then again, I should have known that was what I was getting into bed with when you fucked me the first night.”

“Fuck you!” she yelled before ending the call and throwing her phone down on the couch.

Uriah held back a growl. No matter what had transpired between the two of them, Marko was out of line. Katy Perry’s voice greeted them again. Marie’s phone was in Uriah’s hand before she could even think to reach for it. Her eyes widened, and her head tilted. “What are you doing?”

“Keeping you from engaging in this any further. You don’t need to subject yourself to his venom.” He ended the
call, sending Marko to voicemail.

She sucked in a breath. “You heard him?”

Uriah nodded and she looked away.

“I’m not a whore
,” she whispered. “I’ve been called reckless and I dive in headfirst, but I’d known him for a few months before I—”

Uriah shook his head and cut her off. “You don’t have to explain it to me
. You don’t have to explain yourself to anybody, ever.”

She bit her lip. “Yeah, but it matters to me that you not think that I just jump into bed with guys the first night… I may have slept with him on the first date, but we had known each other for a while.”

Uriah’s heart skipped a beat… It mattered to her what he thought. He thought she was perfect. The phone rang again, and this time he went to answer it. Marie must have caught the intent in his gaze. She launched herself across the couch to tackle him. Uriah caught her with one arm and pulled her to the side, holding her phone with his other hand out of her reach.

“Don’t answer it!” she nearly squealed.

Uriah turned his head to look into her beautiful tanzanite eyes. “Why?”

She whimpered. “Because he’s going to say something shitty about me, and likely you too.”

“Do you think his words would change what I see when I look at you?”

Her blue eyes softened and a stunning smile pulled softly at her lips. “He could taint your opinion.”

Uriah shook his head. “There is nothing he could say that could taint the beautiful woman I see when I look at you. Don’t let him break your confidence and don’t let his words shake your strength.”

Her smile widened. “You think I’m beautiful
?”

He laughed softly. “I’m not
blind, Marie. I thought so from the first time we met. I also happen to think you are like a breath of life, confident, and what some might call reckless… I call strength. So whatever this asshole has to say to me about you is of no consequence. What he may have to say about me means nothing. He doesn’t know me, and those who cast stones at those they don’t know are cowards who use the defamation of others to boost the low opinions they have of themselves.”