Immortal Rapture: Immortal Heart (3 page)

“They can do whatever they want…
At this point, their blood is for healing us. We have you for that and you have Izzy.”

Bain shifted his eyes from Cree. “But there will be another generation of warriors
. Kyra is the next generation and hopefully, she won’t be the last.”

Cree had once hoped to contribute to that generation of warrior
s. He and Rowan had talked about having children… just another part of the future he’d wanted that had been stolen from the both of them.

Cree nodded. “Has Izzy seen or heard from Makyle?”

“No,” Bain admitted. “Thankfully, her Fae blood has taken root and she is fully immortal now.”

“Then for right
now, we have more pressing matters to deal with. We’ll save the Immortals for later.”

“Fine, what issues do we need to deal with right now?”

Cree sighed. “We need to split the lands and do a sweep… see how our people are faring.”

“I’ll get Kale and Lothar. We can handle it.”

Cree nodded. “Uriah won’t be of much help for a while.”

Bain arched a brow. “What do you know?”

Cree shrugged. “I know Izzy was on to something, but the answers that Uriah will receive won’t please him.”

“Nice to see you haven’t lost your overwhelmingly helpful ability to be cryptic.”

Cree actually smirked; it was the closest thing to a smile that Bain had seen in months. “Some things can never be changed… ultimately, we are who we are.”

Bain scoffed and headed for the door. “We’ll get out there and report back as soon as we know anything.”

“Sure, sounds good…” Cree hesitated for a second before continuing. “Check the borders too.”

Bain sighed. “Same rules still apply to any Dark on our lands?”

Cree dipped his chin.

Bain didn’t argue. Cree had implemented a no
-tolerance law. Any Dark Fae found on the Light lands were either killed on sight or imprisoned; it all depended on how they handled being caught. It wasn’t the way Rowan would have handled the trespassing but, for right now, the Light didn’t have the means to deal with the Dark. Their people were suffering enough without the Dark trying to take more from them. It was a wonder that a full-on war hadn’t yet broken out. It was coming—there was no doubt in Bain’s mind about that. They would pay for the pain they had caused. The only thing Bain wasn’t sure about was what that meant for his own mother.

“What
up, big brother?” Holly asked as she struggled to catch up and keep pace with him.

Shaking his head and slowing his pace, he smiled at her. “Headed out to check on the lands. Where’s Lothar?”

“He and Kale are in the hole, drinking to what we witnessed this morning.”

Bain arched a brow. “You saw Izzy heal Uriah?”

She nodded and laughed lightly. “Yeah, we all did… Did you know she was a caster too?”

Bain blew out a deep breath. “I learn something new each day about her. She has permanent control over mine and all the brothers’ powers. If she has continued contact with you, she will be able to flash and maybe even grow fangs.”

“Well, that just wouldn’t be acceptable. Now would it?” she asked with a hint of sarcasm shadowing her tone.

Bain grinned and couldn’t help the answer that flowed from his full lips. “It all depends on what she would use the fangs for… I don’t mind a little pain.”

Holly made a disgusted noise. “Eww. You’re such a pig.”

Bain let out a hearty laugh before becoming serious once more. “Just
lightening the mood. She’s just… more powerful than I could have ever imagined.”

A shiver ran down Holly’s spine. “So, in other words, we all need to stay on her good side, because she can kick all our asses?”

Bain snorted. “Yeah, pretty much… but as far as I know, she hasn’t had contact with any casters… so I am guessing that whatever Reaper is part of her bloodline was part caster as well.”

Holly shook her head. “Well, she’s an impressive addition to our fight.”

Bain furrowed his brows. “She’s family, Holly. And hopefully, one day, she will be my wife.”

Holly smiled wide at him, her little fangs peeking past her lip. “I know that, Bain, and if you had any sense in that pretty, thick head of
yours, you would make the husband and wife part legit, before she gets tired of your ass.”

Bain growled playfully. “You know you’re not funny, right?”

Holly laughed. “I happen to think I’m quite funny.”

“I bet you do, kid.”

Pushing through the door, Bain found Kale and Lothar at the billiards table.

Lothar lifted his head from the table to see Holly enter the room with Bain. He felt his lips stretch at the mere sight of her. “What are you two up to?”
he asked as Kale sank the eight ball, effectively ending their game.

“She’s busy harassing me.” Bain
tilted his head towards Holly, who smiled brightly. “And I’m here to get the two of you.”

Kale put his cue down and leaned against the table. “What’s up?”

Bain shrugged. “Cree wants us to do a sweep.”

Lothar nodded. They all understood the reality of the situation… Uriah had been only slightly helpful lately and Cree, aside from the occasional order and the time he spent doling out punishments, had pretty much checked out.

“All right… same pattern as last time?” Kale asked.

Bain nodded. “Yep.”

Holly cleared her throat. “You know I could help out?”

Bain smiled. “We know that, Hols. But for right now, these people are used to seeing us. They don’t know you well enough to trust you like they trust us.”

“And they never will if you don’t start letting me help out.”

“Hols, can we not fight about this right now
? Things are complicated, and it’s a tricky balance we’re maintaining.”

She sighed. “I know
; I just want to be treated as an equal… I’m trying here, Bain.”

Holly felt guilty… she had run and lied, or had others lie for
her, and now she just wanted to be a part of the Light world again. The warriors were down to three, and they were running themselves ragged. She hated seeing the wear on their faces.

Lothar pulled her to his side, her slight pout doing him in as it always did. “You can come with me. And you know as far
as we are concerned, you are an equal.”

****

Uriah soared over the forest and lakes. He reveled in the feel of the cool air ruffling through his feathers. Landing in the dipping valley of the southernmost mountains, he regretfully pulled his wings in and pushed the hood of his down coat back. Closing his eyes, Uriah let his senses take over and sought the magic of the Circe. A smile stretched his lips as he found the traces of the magic he’d tasted only hours ago as Izzy healed him. Uriah took a deep breath of the cool air before he stepped through the line of trees. He started his trek through the thick forest to find the Foreshadowers and some answers to what was happening.

The snowpack began to lesson and before Uriah knew
it, he had stepped into the one part of Middle World that hadn’t been subjected to the freeze. Green grass bent beneath the deep tread of his boots and flowers bloomed… Magic had protected this area.

“You’re late
,” a frail voice murmured as three women appeared in front of him. “But late is better than never.”

“The Foreshadowers.” Uriah tilted his head and studied the elderly
women before him.

All
were in cloaks that showed their faces enough that he saw nothing more than wrinkled chins and thinned lips.

“That is what some call us. Come, come
, young Uriah. It’s time you get back on your path,” the middle witch said as she turned and gestured for him to follow.

“My path?” he questioned.

“To love and have something to fight for,” one of the others said as she turned and followed the first woman.

“Do you know how to find Jelena?”

“Come, we have much to discuss,” the last one said as she too turned and walked away from him.

With another deep breath of much warmer
air, Uriah followed the women into a thicket of trees.

Uriah sat across from the three women. He was still unable to see their faces, which made the situation even more unnerving. They’d said there was much to discuss, but had only spoken to each other in a language he had no hope of understanding.

Clearing his
throat, he finally spoke. “Do you know something about Jelena? Or about my brothers?”

“We do
,” the original woman said. She had taken the middle seat across from him, and Uriah guessed she was the leader of the three. “Your history is complicated.”

He sighed. “Are we cursed?”

The corner of the woman’s lips tipped up. “You’re the smart one.”

Uriah’s eyes narrowed. “I’d say my brothers are of equal intelligence…
Only we’d never been given reason to question something as outrageous as a curse.”

“You stand up for your brothers…” the middle woman noted before she looked to the other two. “He is the gentleman
warrior; he is the balance of his brothers. While Lothar is the responsible one and Kale is the impulsive one, Uriah falls between the two.”

“It all makes sense now.” The woman on the right nodded.

“It’s a sad place for him,” the cloaked woman on the left said, shaking her head.

“Stop
,” Uriah demanded. “Stop talking like I am not here.”

The two flanking the middle woman dipped their chins and fell silent.

“Why is it a sad a place for me?”

The middle woman’s lips flattened into a straight line before she spoke. “Because the curse worked differently for your brothers than it did for you.”

Uriah pulled in a deep breath. Fuck, they really were cursed. Izzy was on to something. “What curse?”

“The one that says the sons of Freya’s line will always lose their love
s.”

Uriah shook his head. “Who would curse my mother?”

The middle woman shook her head in what appeared to be irritated disgust. “You all know nothing of your past. How have you survived so long?” She looked to the other women. “Ask them about Ekon and they can tell you all the stories of the warrior who was the beginning of the Immortal Warriors, but not a single one of them can tell you where they came from.”

The women all nodded in agreement as the middle woman turned back to him. “Do you know or even wonder where the Greek, the Norse, or the Egyptian gods all went? Do you wonder about them? What led to their fall and the rise of the Immortal Three and Four? What led to the time of the Fae?”

Uriah admittedly felt a blush of shame… He didn’t live in the past, but that didn’t mean he shouldn’t be aware of it. Of his own history. There was a famous saying about repeating the mistakes of the past. Was that where they were headed, because they took little stock in the lessons history was willing to teach?

“I’m listening, tell me.”

A smirk played over the aged lips of the middle witch. “Well, part of your history was lost as your father never told you who your mother was.”

Uriah nearly scoffed…
She had just berated him for something that he had no control over. He let it go and simply focused on the story that was about to unfold before him.

“Freya was the daughter of Njord. She was a goddess of Norse descent. She was often called upon in matters of love
. When the heart ached, men would call to her for help in healing and reconnecting their love. Did you know your father was once loved before your mother?”

Uriah shook his head, but kept silent so she would continue.

“He loved a young siren. She was beautiful and loved him in return… Times were different, and the Light and Dark were at one another’s throats. Her untimely death struck your father to his core. He called for healing from any avenue that could provide him solace. The time of the Norse gods had passed, but Freya could not ignore the heartbreak of the warrior. She found your father and as she attempted to heal what had been shattered, she found love for herself. Time healed and love bloomed. Your mother hid her activities for many years, through a marriage and a whole other life outside of Asgard.”

Uriah smiled at the mention of the Norse version of Mount Olympus.

“Lose the smirk, Uriah. Asgard is more than the setting of the Thor movies.”

Uriah laughed at the scolding…
Of course he knew that, but it was where his mind went… mostly because of Izzy and her love of the movies, and her insistence that Bain and Chris Hemsworth had an uncanny resemblance. She wasn’t far off in her assessment, but no one was willing to agree with her in front of Bain.

When he looked back at the
women, he realized they weren’t laughing, so he promptly quieted down. “Sorry, continue.”