Immortal Craving: Immortal Heart Read online

  “No, in fact we need to keep our heads clear and take precautions.”

  Her eyes narrowed; they didn’t have time for this. Her mind drifted to the room that had been her prison in Darion’s castle.

  Something that should have been beautiful with its deep, rich colors and expensive fabrics; there wasn’t a piece of furniture in that room that had not been kissed with silk in some way. The colors used to be some of her favorites—deep reds and purples. She would have rather been left on the hay-strewn floor of her original dungeon cell.

  “You ok?” the Siren asked, his eyes full of the concern that had made her want to trust and help him.

  “Yeah, it’s just I spent years in that castle and I can’t stand the thought of more of my people still being there.”

  “I know. I want to help them just as badly as you do, but we need to be careful. I’m still working on entry and exit strategy.”

  She nodded. “Ok, what do you need from me?”

  “Have you somehow figured out who the Succubus out there killing the human men is?”

  A frown marred her pretty face. “I would have lead with that if I had, but I’m working on it. I went and saw both Gwen and Zoe; they seem to be doing well. They chose to stay together after we escaped and are keeping each other out of trouble. Gwen had it the hardest after her twin disappeared; she nearly refused to leave with us.”

  Katarina’s mind wandered back to that night. She sucked in a sharp breath; Gwen and her sister Synawen had been among Darion’s favorites. It wasn’t surprising. They were gorgeous, with such light blonde hair and some of the fairest skin she’d ever seen. Their dark blue eyes had shone starkly against their pale complexions. They had all been used, but Gwen and Synawen seemed to get the worst of it.

  Syna, as they had all called her, was already gone when they finally made it to her room to get her out. They searched as long as they could before—in Gwen’s opinion—abandoning her sister. Katarina asked Jake about Syna, but he said he never saw her again. They all needed support of some fashion and Zoe was Gwen’s.

  Katarina, on the other hand, had needed time and distance from everything that was connected to her captivity.

  She had been beaten, abused, and used. It took some time before she was comfortable enough with herself to finally give in to what her Succubus side had longed for and craved. The simple feedings had gotten her by for a while, but she finally had to give her body what it needed for survival… a good hook-up at least once every couple of weeks.

  It wasn’t until she had been free for over two years that she was finally strong enough to allow Jake back into her life. It was hard a first to look at him—he’d seen almost every humiliating experience she was exposed to. It seemed ridiculous, especially since he’d saved her, but it took time to be able to look him in the eye. Shame had been something she’d worked hard to release.

  “I don’t know what he did to you.” His low, strong voice interrupted her thoughts, bringing Katarina back to the small office she was sitting in. “But my imagination has come up with some pretty solid estimations. So I understand that you feel protective of the Succubi who escaped with you, but I’m Light Fae and I believe in protecting humans from our kind—so we need to find whoever is doing this.”

  Katarina lifted her gaze to a pair of sympathetic, understanding eyes. He was right; they couldn’t let this keep happening.

  “I’ll find and help her,” Katarina assured him.

  “You have your fingers in a lot of cookie jars right now. I know all of what you are taking on and I will do my best to protect you… but you need to be careful.”

  Katarina smiled. “I know and I will be.”

  “Good, have a safe night.” He nodded and smiled back at her.

  .

  Chapter Twelve

  Kale was still reeling from his conversation with Acacia.

  Katarina was still alive.

  She had been for the past fifteen years as he mourned her death and seethed at her betrayal. Now he was going to find her.

  Kale barged through the tinted glass doors into Hawk’s Eye headquarters.

  “Hi, Kale. To what do we owe the pleasure?”

  “Hello Sienna, where’s Lucas?”

  Sienna smiled her radiant smile at Kale and he couldn’t help but return the gesture. Whether he was raging or not, Sienna radiated calm.

  He’d thought it interesting that Sienna had wanted to move to the Human World, to run the front office of Hawk’s Eye. Sienna was a Nymph, so when she approached Cree for the position, they were all surprised that she would want to leave the forest of the Light Fae lands for the more concrete jungle of the Human World. But Sienna had brought their lands to the office and Kale suspected her home as well.

  Sienna’s magic was flowing through everything around her. Hawk’s Eye Securities lobby was a stunning display of her power. The room had various plants decorating it, a small indoor pond filled with Koi, and bouquets of flowers randomly placed around the seating area. She made Hawk’s Eye warm and inviting and it had been good for business.

  “He’s out on a job. Believe it or not, we do real security work here,” she answered.

  Kale shook his head at her snarky comment. “I realize that.” Kale surveyed the lobby and opened his senses to hear the everyday noises of the office, but it was quiet. He only heard one set of fingers flying across a keyboard and the muffled sound of someone on the phone. “It’s quiet in here. Is everyone on assignment?”

  Sienna continued to smile as she moved around the front office watering her plants. “They are, business is booming, but Lucas just called in a few minutes ago and should be back anytime now. You’re welcome to wait in his office.”

  “No, I’ll wait in my own. I need to do some research. When Lucas gets back, tell him to come find me.”

  “Of course, would you like me to make a fresh pot of coffee?”

  Kale shook his head. He didn’t need his nerves anymore on edge. “No, thank you. Take care of your babies.”

  Sienna beamed another radiant smile at him. “They do look gorgeous, don’t they?”

  “That they do,” Kale mused as he headed up the stairs towards his office.

  He and his brothers each had an office, though they were rarely used. They called upon Lucas to do most of their research, and even recon, so he wasn’t surprised by the thin layer of dust that had settled on his desk. The third floor was off limits to most of their employee’s, which included the maid service.

  “Ok,” Kale breathed. “Where do I start?” he asked himself out loud.

  Kale was good with computers and he did alright with research, but he couldn’t focus or decide where to start. So he did what any reasonable person would do… he searched the name Katarina Montague and, of course, came up with nothing. He tried just looking for people named Katarina and narrowed his search down to Vermont. He was going to find the little Succubus he’d followed the other night. Now, more than ever, he believed he’d been within reaching distance of Katarina.

  A throat cleared in his doorway. Kale lifted his gaze to a questioning Lothar.

  “What are you doing here, brother?” Kale asked.

  “I had an interesting conversation with Cree.”

  The air of question that had enveloped Lothar when Kale first looked at him washed away to something altogether different. Lothar’s dark, steely irises seemed to melt. They had a unique way of telling others that Lothar was reading them; they took on the qualities of melted, flowing metal.

  “All you need to do is ask, Lothar. I would answer anything you asked of me,” Kale said before returning his attention to the useless computer screen.

  Lothar moved into Kale’s office, closing the door behind him. “True, however, I can’t help but read you, Kale. I never know where your head is at.”

  “You never ask,” Kale remarked before closing the browser on his computer and shutting it down.

  “Fair enough. So you want to tell me where you
r head is at right now?”

  “It’s fucked up and confused.”

  Lothar smiled softly. “Katarina always had that effect on you.”

  Kale leaned back in his chair and sighed.

  “You know, little brother, you’ve never come clean and told us what happened to you that day.”

  That day, Kale thought. No, he never wanted to talk about it.

  “It changed you, you know that, yet none of us know what happened to you.”

  “Not true,” Kale countered.

  Lothar’s eyes narrowed. “Who have you confided in?”

  “The one person who could not tell… Rowan.”

  Lothar smiled. He could imagine how that conversation had gone. “Are you ready to tell me?”

  Kale squeezed his eyes tight and let the memories of that day take hold.

  Kale followed the Pixie into a trap. He didn’t see Katarina when he pushed through her front door; he was instead greeted by Darion and a handful of his guards.

  “Wait until nightfall,” Darion began ordering the Pixie, “then go and inform Rowan I have one of her warriors. Tell her I’ll give her and her remaining Immortal Warriors passage to come plead for his life.”

  “Where is Katarina?” Kale struggled and ground out the question.

  Darion smirked at him. “She’s in my castle awaiting her punishment for consorting with a Light Fae. I’ve told her, I will take her setting this trap for you into consideration when I decide her punishment. You see, you can’t trust a Succubus. She got tired of playing with you and came to me. She informed me she knew how to capture one of Rowan’s Immortal Warriors.”

  “She wouldn’t,” Kale growled.

  “Oh, but she did, only she ratted herself out in the process.”

  Lothar felt each emotion flood Kale as he told him what had happened that day. Lothar felt the pain, the sorrow, the betrayal, the love and the hate—it was a jumble of emotions that left his head spinning.

  “It’s time we get you some answers,” Lothar told Kale.

  Kale nodded. “Yeah, no shit, but I want to take my time. I want her to look at me and be forced to see what she has turned me into.”

  “You’ll get that, and I think I have a plan that will allow you to get your closure.”

  Kale’s brows rose. Lothar was the kind, reasonable one among his brothers. So the gleam in his eye seemed out of place but had perked his interest.

  “Talk to me, brother,” Kale smiled.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “This is your big plan?” Kale grumbled as he surveyed the crowded bar.

  “I know it seems out of character for me, but my real plan comes into play once we find her.”

  Kale, Lothar, and Cree were taking up a corner booth in a college bar. Kale’s failed attempts at research had ended with him frustrated beyond belief and him and his brothers trying their hand at a simpler way of locating her.

  They were in their fourth bar of the night, bouncing between college hangouts near where Kale had run into the Succubus and been taken out by the Trow. If Katarina was in fact the Succubus he’d followed, then these bars would call to her—even he could feel the sexual energy in the crowded, alcohol-filled room.

  “So you think we’re going to get lucky enough and she’s going to just walk through the door?” Kale complained, his tone filled with derision.

  “That’s the hope,” Cree said as he swallowed the remainder of his scotch. “It may not happen tonight but it’s the best we can do while Lucas tries to find her.”

  “My tequila at home is far better than this swil—” Kale’s eyes drifted to the bar entrance, stunned silence and pain ricocheted through him.

  He was right, she was thinner then he remembered, but the pale gold with platinum running through her long locks was just as he remembered. It looked soft and he guessed even now, fifteen years later, it would still smell as good. He longed to see her eyes, and maybe even feel some sort of emotion from her, but he knew if she saw him he’d have another chase on his hands—but this time she would not get away.

  “Take a breath,” Cree said as he slid from the booth. “You go left, Lothar will go right, and I will be the one to approach her.”

  “You see the goliath of a man behind her?” Kale nodded in their direction.

  “Yep, I see him,” Cree said with a smile.

  “That would be the tree of a Trow she has as protection,” Kale said.

  “Right, new plan,” Cree said, surveying the room. “We need to move them towards the back. Kale, go outside and guard the back exit. We’ll get Katarina and the Trow and bring them to you.”

  Kale hesitated for a second, his eyes reluctant to leave Katarina. She was so damn close. The thing was he couldn’t decide if he was so angry he wanted to haul her off and demand some answers or if he wanted to rush to her and crush his mouth against her softly curved red lips. She looked as sexy as the last time he saw her, still rocking a mix between classy lady and fifties pinup.

  “Go,” Lothar encouraged and lightly pushed Kale towards the dark hall that lead to the bar’s back alley.

  Kale shook his head as he reached the dark blue metal door with a sign saying: “HAVE A GREAT NIGHT FROM ALL OFF US HERE AT MURPHY’S LAW.”

  Murphy’s Law, ironic wasn’t it?

  Cree moved like a predator towards the Trow as Lothar headed towards the woman who had destroyed his brother’s heart and nearly killed him. He had liked Katarina and not once had he felt any sort of deceit in her, and now as she realized that two Immortal Warriors had closed in on her and her Trow, all he felt was despair and fear from her.

  “Tell the Trow to behave, Katarina,” Cree said from behind her and her bodyguard.

  “It’s been a long time and you owe a certain warrior some answers,” Lothar added.

  Katarina’s green eyes were wide as she stared at Lothar. How had she been so stupid? It had been a few days since Kale had almost caught her. She should have known, especially with the Succubi killings, that the brothers would be keeping tabs in the area, watching for any Fae that didn’t belong here.

  “Let him go, Lothar,” she said, nodding towards Jake, who hadn’t made a move since Cree stepped close behind him. “He has nothing to do with what you want from me.”

  “No, but he’s Dark Fae and we have a few questions for him,” Cree said, slowly pushing Jake forward. “Don’t make a scene and we won’t have any problems.”

  “You expect me to trust you,” Katarina said, annoyance clear in her tone.

  “I fail to see how you have much of a choice,” Lothar said flatly, “but we are not monsters and we have questions for the both of you.”

  Katarina locked gazes with Jake and smiled softly. “I’m sorry, Jake. Just do as they ask.”

  Lothar led the way, with Katarina at his side and Cree following with a hand holding Jake’s arm tightly.

  Time slowed and the world disappeared around Katarina as she locked gazes with Kale when they stepped out into the stale, still night. Her breath caught and flashes of some of the happiest—no matter how false they’d been—moments of her life played like a movie on fast forward in front of her.

  She swore she could feel the soft, intimate way he used to run his fingers over her cheek. Whenever life seemed to be too hard for her, he used to soothe her angst. She remembered the way it felt when he used to pull her to his hard chest and press his face to her hair. The way his smooth and seemingly loving lips would gently kiss every inch of skin he could get to.

  Even those memories couldn’t hide what stood in front of her. He was different—she could see it. She’d noticed a slight shift and dangerous air in him the other night and his once soft eyes were now hard.

  Had all of it been just an act?

  “What now?” Kale asked, breaking his stare with Katarina.

  Lothar looked to Cree, who smiled. His midnight wings burst out and took flight, taking Jake with him.

  “What are you doing?” Katarina screamed an
d shoved at Lothar.

  “We won’t hurt him,” Lothar assured her as he passed her off to Kale. “Safe house number two is waiting for you.”

  “Was that your plan?” Kale asked, his brows dipping.

  “You’ll understand when you get there. It has been prepared for the two of you. It’s time you get your answers, little brother.”

  Katarina’s eyes shot between the two brothers. Fear, and if Lothar trusted his gift—which he absolutely did—longing, was flowing off of her.

  Kale nodded, his own wings stretching out from his shoulder blades. He pulled Katarina’s back against his chest, wrapping his arms around her waist and leaned close to her ear, “We have some things to discuss,” he whispered before rocketing into the air.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Katarina pushed away from Kale the second her feet hit the dry ground of the forest floor.

  “Where are we?” she demanded, pushing her hair from her eyes as she tried to tame her unruly locks.

  Kale smirked. “Safe house number two,” he said as he grasped her upper arm, pulled her up the stairs, and through the front door.

  “It’s about time,” a small fairy said as Kale shut the door behind them.

  His smirk turned into a full-on smile. “Hello, Genevieve.”

  “The house is secure,” the fairy’s fuchsia eyes fell on Katarina. “She won’t be able to leave the house.”

  “Thank you, Genevieve.”

  “My pleasure,” the fairy said as she disappeared into a swirl of glitter.

  “Are you freaking serious right now?” Katarina fumed. “You had a Twilight cast a spell so I couldn’t leave?”

  Kale smiled. “No, Lothar did, but I have to admit it is genius. You don’t get to run and you don’t get to hide. You owe me some explanations.”

  Katarina scoffed, angrily. “I owe you? No, Kale. I owe you nothing. Why do you even care anymore? It’s been fifteen years. So you didn’t get what you wanted—just let it go.” She stomped down the hall, her hips swaying in her tight jeans and the heels of her red pumps playing an angry staccato melody against the hard slate that covered the main living space in Hawk’s Eye’s safe house.