Immortal Craving: Immortal Heart Page 9

“He would not have known to ask had you not told him he could,” Alistair pointed out.

  “Do you not believe that as soon as he found her these names would have appeared on our lists?”

  “No, because I have seen Katarina’s path change to include Kale in something that was solely her fate. Now they will take this path together and it may end badly for the warrior.”

  With a deep breath, she lifted her gaze to him, “Would you like to accompany me to find Jelena?”

  Alistair nodded and extended his elbow to Acacia. “Lead the way, sister.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Kale propped himself up with his hands against the heated tile of his shower; his head lowered as the steady stream from the shower head beat against his neck and shoulders.

  His emotions had gotten the better of him, and the more the situation bled into him, the more he realized that what he wanted wasn’t necessarily what was best.

  He told Kat he could be all she needed but the reality was that he wasn’t actually positive he could be… After Trevan had told them about Mata, he’d had Sienna researching the Succubi rite of passage. She’d gotten an Incubus to open up and share some of the more unusual details of the mating.

  Sienna had forwarded him all the information she’d gathered and he’d spent the last hour reading through it. It still amazed him that they had been so oblivious to such an important part of Succubi chemistry. It had mentioned a tattoo like marking that linked the two mates. There were other things about the intensity of the feed between mates and some other stuff about how the two just fit, blah, blah, blah—a bunch of stuff that sounded romantic.

  Only they didn’t seem to apply to him and Kat. Sure they were great in bed and, admittedly, he’d never cared for another like he cared for her. He loved her. It was a simple thing to admit to himself but it wasn’t simple in practice. There were so many complications to what he felt. There was a past that stood solid and seemingly unmovable in the way, which left him feeling almost empty inside… He wasn’t her true mate. He could never be enough for her.

  He wondered if she’d found her true mate yet, if she’d looked for him, but he wasn’t sure he could survive her answer if she had in fact found the one person meant to love her—the one person she was made for.

  Kale shut the water off and stepped from the shower, grabbing a towel to dry off the drops still running down his body. Lothar would be here any moment with the Trow and Trevan in tow.

  Kale heard their newest arrivals before he saw them. He stalked out of his room and into the kitchen, where he suppressed a growl as Kat held the Trow, Jake, in a tight embrace.

  Jake’s cement-colored eyes lifted to greet Kale, a smug smile twisting his lips as he squeezed Kat a little tighter before letting her go.

  Kale did his best to ignore the Trow as he moved into the room and greeted his brother with a dip of his chin.

  “Alright, you got to see him—now we need to get down to business,” he said tightly as he addressed Kat.

  “You might as well relax, Kale. It’s almost dawn. We have to wait until sunset to start our search. You could at least give us a few minutes.”

  Kale narrowed his eyes as Kat turned back to Jake. “You ok, Jakey?”

  “I’m fine, Kitty. I was worried about you.”

  Kale snorted, which gained him a glare from Kat, a sneer from her Trow, and twitching lips from both Trevan and Lothar as they suppressed what he guessed was a laugh or possibly a snort of their own.

  Kale turned to Lothar, “Well, now that we’ve reunited Kitty and Jakey, perhaps we can get back to work.”

  Lothar smiled as both Kat and Jake stood like stone statues with glares nearly as hard.

  “Don’t be an ass, Kale,” Kat muttered to him, and then wrapped her delicate hand around Jake’s meaty forearm. “Come on, Jake; let’s go make sure the house is light tight for you.”

  “Kat,” Lothar called to her. “You, Kale, and I need to talk. Trevan will help him. Come take a seat.”

  Kat sighed but smiled at Jake reassuringly and then took a seat at the table. Kale and Lothar followed and took seats across from her.

  Lothar smiled at her before starting in on what felt remarkably similar to an interrogation. Kat held back the anger she felt at how she was being treated by the Empath. Of all the brothers aside from Kale, Lothar should have believed in her innocence in everything that happened fifteen years ago.

  After telling the brothers everything she knew about the Succubi that had escaped with her and after telling them emphatically, multiple times, that she was sure that Gwen, Zoe and Amber were clear of the murders and that they were no threat to the Human World—she moved on to the two Succubi she’d lost contact with.

  She’d been searching for Brie and Candice and had thankfully traced Candice to Santa Fe. She had planned to take a trip and find out if she had lost control of her feedings and, if so, help her. Candice had been eighteen when they escaped so she was still a little young for Mata, but Kat wanted to be sure that living in the Human World hadn’t caused the true mate call to hit her younger than usual. After that, she’d planned to head to San Francisco where she’d last known Brie to be living.

  “Fine, Trevan and I will head to Santa Fe today,” Lothar told them. “At sundown, you two and Jake will head to San Francisco.”

  “She won’t talk to you,” Kat said firmly. “She’ll run.”

  Lothar nodded. He understood that Candice would fear him, but he could read emotions, which in most cases made it easy for him to deal with others, especially those who were scared.

  “She’ll probably try,” Lothar agreed, but was unconcerned. He would catch her. “It’ll be fine, Kat,” he assured her.

  “You can’t scent her magic. You won’t know if it’s her,” she argued.

  Lothar smiled. “I’ll know if she’s lying. Trevan and I can handle this.”

  Kat rose from her seat. “I don’t like this plan.”

  Kale smirked and Lothar leveled his eyes on her. “You don’t have to like it. This is the plan and you will follow whatever orders Kale gives you.”

  Kat narrowed her eyes on the both of them. “I’m not one of your good little warriors, Lothar. And I won’t be ordered around.”

  Lothar rose from his seat. “If you want to be a free woman when this is all over, I suggest you play nicely and do as is asked of you. Because as it stands right now, you have little choice and you don’t provide warm and fuzzy feelings in our leader.”

  Kat blanched at that. Her face becoming paler then Kale had ever seen.

  He hadn’t had a chance to explain what he had learned since he’d brought Kat back here, but Lothar was in leader mode and Kale would explain everything once he and Lothar had a minute alone. And, as wrong as it may have been, Kat needed to understand that he and his brothers were in charge here.

  “Kale, we had a deal. When this is done, I get to walk away with Jake.”

  “No, I said you could see Jake and here he is. I also agreed to let him come with us so you would feel safe, but I am in no position to decide what happens after all this Succubi business is handled. You will have to go in front of Rowan and she will decide what to do with you. However, if you do as we ask, I will do everything I can to make sure her decision is favorable to you.”

  Kat pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as her gaze flicked between Lothar and Kale.

  “I have one condition that I will not budge on,” she said, finding steel in her own voice.

  “We’re reasonable—you should know that much,” Lothar said, his tone softer now than it had been only minutes ago when he was basically threatening her.

  “You cannot send me back to Darion. Throw me in one of your prisons, kill me, but do not send me back to him.”

  Kale snarled, causing both Lothar and Kat to flinch lightly.

  Kale’s hands were covered by an eerie blue glow with flames dancing off his fingertips. She had pissed him off.

  Did she hones
tly think he would let her end up in that fucker’s hands? Did she truly not see how badly he still wanted her?

  Darion would pay for what he’d done. Kale wasn’t sure how yet but he would find a way.

  “He will never again lay another deranged finger on you. I will never let that happen, that much I can promise you, Kat.”

  Kat nodded, noticing how the flames on Kale’s hands also danced in the depths of his dark eyes.

  “Go get some rest, Kat. Kale and I have a few things to discuss.”

  Kat stepped in front of Kale to give him a small smile. “I never should have doubted you—not then and certainly not now… I’m sorry for all of it.”

  Kale shook his head. “I have the same sins to apologize for. We both made mistakes but we can talk about them later.”

  “Thank you,” she said in nearly a whisper, then turned and disappeared down the hall.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “When did you acquire a private jet?” Kat asked as her eyes roamed the posh interior of the small plane.

  Kale smiled. “It belongs to Hawk’s Eye. I’d rather fly myself than be trapped in a metal box.”

  Kat nodded. “I bet. So why aren’t you just flying?”

  Kale smirked. “And leave you and your tank alone? I don’t think so.”

  Kat shook her head as Jake snorted at the comment. “His name is Jake and I would appreciate if you would at least be cordial.”

  Kale made a rude noise deep in his throat. “This is cordial—I still owe him for the clothesline and brick wall.”

  Jake turned his attention to Kale and smiled with a wide, satisfied lift of his lips, which showed a remarkably white set of teeth. “Whenever you’re ready to go, just bring it, Little Birdie.”

  Kat let out a bark of laughter and then promptly covered her mouth as Kale fixed his gaze on her.

  Kale turned his glare to Jake. “Did you just call me Little Birdie?”

  Jake simply smiled and then turned his attention back to one of Kat’s magazines.

  Kale shook his head, pulling out his laptop and pulling up the files on the dead humans.

  It was odd that while this Succubus was killing these men, she was picking scum that didn’t deserve to keep breathing the same air as those who actually needing protection… from people like her victims.

  The first victim was from Phoenix and was out on parole. He’d spent ten years in prison after pleading guilty to aggravated assault.

  The second victim was in Pueblo, Colorado, who was a known drug dealer with ties to the cartel.

  The third and most recent victim was actually found in Boise, Idaho. Lucas had caught wind of this kill when an Elf working as a detective near the Boise portal contacted him. That was when Lucas involved Trevan and the body ended up in the morgue in New York.

  This guy was no better than the others. He was currently under investigation for child abuse. At least his five-year-old would hopefully be able to sleep again at night, knowing her father wouldn’t be around getting drunk and beating the crap out of her.

  These were not good men but it wasn’t their place to judge the humans. Kale and his brothers were charged with protecting them from the Fae. No matter what kind of people they were, their punishment should come at the hands of their own judicial system.

  The killings had stayed mostly in the western states. It seemed most likely that Brie was in fact responsible for these murders. Kale had to give the girl credit though—she’d been smart enough to not hunt in the same place over and over again. If it was in fact Brie who was struggling through this feeding frenzy, she was smart enough to not do it in the town she now called home.

  Six hours and lots of research later, the plane touched down in San Francisco. The time change worked out to their advantage. Thankfully Trevan and Lothar had provided the cover Kale need to at least get a few hours of shuteye. Kat appeared at little less refreshed when they left, but had crashed out only two hours into the flight.

  Once off the plane, a car service picked them up and took them to where they would be staying while in San Francisco. Kat’s eyes widened when they pulled up in front of the luxurious Tower Suite Apartment building.

  “You keep an apartment here?” Kat asked incredulously. “Where do you find the money for all of this?”

  Kale grabbed their bags and nodded at the doorman, who held the tinted-glass doors open for them.

  “Hawk’s Eye is a profitable business and we work all over the United States. So, yes, we keep apartments in a few major cities.”

  Kat took in every opulent detail of the lobby; the outside had been masculine and modern with a grey exterior reaching up the forty-plus floors with deeply tinted window and black fixtures. The top ten floors even had small balconies, which she guessed gave the residences a beautiful view of the bay.

  The inside boasted the same black fixtures and modern art that she had a feeling was probably created by local talent. Stylish furniture spotted the lobby in deep blue with accents in varying colors. The interior lobby was painted in shades of pearl white and gray and was breathtakingly beautiful. Kat’s heels clicked across the white marble floors as she and Jake followed Kale.

  “Let me guess—it’s a penthouse suite,” Kat said sarcastically.

  Kale smirked at her as they entered the elevator and he hit the button marked with a ‘P10’ and then scanned his key card. The button lit up and the elevator lifted them to the top floor.

  Kat scoffed and shook her head.

  The elevator opened to a large living area with leather furnishings and glass tables. To her left sat a sleek, open kitchen—perfect for a chef to entertain his guest. The apartment was missing a woman’s touch but it was designed and decorated in rich tones and, as she had suspected, had an astonishing view of the bay.

  “There are three rooms down that hall.” Kale gestured to a hall that stretched past the kitchen. “I suggest you take the room on the left,” he told Jake. “It’s the only one without windows.”

  “What about the wall of windows out here?” Kat gestured to where she’d just been admiring their view.

  Kale grabbed a remote that sat on the granite bar that separated the living space from the kitchen and hit a button. Kat and Jake watched as blinds slid down between the panes of glass.

  “This is a busy city. Your Trow isn’t the only one who has an aversion to light. The blinds will keep any rays from touching him.”

  “Could you call him Jake, please?”

  Kale smirked. “Sure, let me do one thing first.”

  Kale dropped his leather bag on the counter with the remote, turned with lightning speed, and slammed his fist into Jake’s jaw—laying him out on the cold tile floors that covered the twenty-two hundred square foot apartment.

  Kat gasped and rushed to kneel next to Jake on the floor. “What the hell, Kale!” she shouted.

  Jake sat up, rubbed his jaw and glared at Kale.

  “That was for the alley. He’s lucky I didn’t add another one for the Little Birdie remark.”

  Kale grabbed his bag and loped down the hall, tossing over his shoulder as he went, “Be ready to head out in one hour and just in case you get any harebrained ideas, my Twilight friend paid a visit to this apartment today, same rules as the safe house apply here… for the both of you.”

  Jake stood up and looked down at Kat with raised brows. “What rules?” he asked.

  Kat let out a heavy sigh. “The apartment is spelled—we can’t leave here without Kale.”

  Jake grunted and grabbed both his and Kat’s bags. “Better take advantage of that hour.”

  Kat nodded, taking her bag from him and heading to her room.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Kat knocked on Jake’s door less than forty minutes later.

  “Can I come in?” her soft voice called from behind the thick wood door.

  Jake smiled. “Of course, Kitty.”

  Kat found Jake sprawled out on the queen-sized bed that barely looked big en
ough for him.

  “Hey, you got a minute or two to talk?” she asked, closing the door behind her.

  “I always have time for you.” He grinned and sat up, making room for her to sit next to him.

  Kat crawled on the bed next to him, letting out another sigh—it seemed she’d been sighing a lot lately. She fluffed up a pillow and leaned back against the headboard.

  “What happened when Lothar and Cree took you?” she asked.

  She hadn’t had much time to talk to him. She’d seen him for only a few minutes before the weight of the evening had caught up to her and sleep had wrapped its greedy arms around her. Then they were on a plane and she fell into that greedy embrace again. But now she was cleaned up and ready to head out on their first recon mission.

  Kale had found Brie on Facebook of all places. Why she hadn’t thought to check the social media sight was beyond her, but lo and behold, there was the pretty Succubus in all her gorgeous red-haired glory. They found that there were a couple places she liked to haunt or maybe more precisely hunt.

  The first place they were going to hit was a popular bar called McIntyre’s in the Haight district.

  It looked to be more of an Irish pub-style bar, but Brie looked like she belonged there. Her delicate, pale features and fiery red curls would lead most humans to believe she was either of Scottish or Irish decent.

  Jake shrugged and Kat focused back on him.

  “Nothing. They asked a lot of questions, which I refused to answer, until our Siren friend showed up and told me to answer the questions. I was pissed at first, thinking he sold you out, but I believe him when he says that’s not how we were found. He has too much at stake here.”

  “I know, I don’t think he would jeopardize his chances of getting his sister back. So they didn’t hurt you?”

  Jake shook his head. “Nope, but I think they were pretty irritated.” he grinned, self-satisfied with that knowledge. “What about you, Kitty? What happen with that ass Kale?”

  Kat laughed. It was humorless and she knew how it must have sounded to Jake.