Immortal Rapture: Immortal Heart (2 page)

She smiled up at him and jerked a finger back at Izzy. “Ask Iz
; she was looking for Uriah.”

“What’s
up, Iz? Everything okay?” Uriah asked, stepping around his brothers to help her through the knee-deep snow. “I mean, aside from your inability to walk,” he teased as he reached out, grabbing her elbow to help her.

She blew out a heavy breath, her face
becoming serious as she looked at him. “You should have told us.”

Uriah’s brows furrowed. “Told you what?”

“All of it… Seems the powers I’ve gained from all of you have decided to stick with me now, and I had a vision. I know, Uriah.”

He tilted his head, but said nothing. Kale’s eyes narrowed as he stepped closer to the two of them. “What’s she talking
about, Uriah?”

He really wasn’t sure…
There were too many secrets he was holding lately. Letting out a sigh, he shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“You never healed from the fire in the club
,” Izzy said softly, her big, blue eyes sad as she stared at him.

Uriah couldn’t stand the look on her pretty face
. It was torture to see her pitying him, seeing him as less of a warrior because of it all.

“Is that true?” Lothar asked.

Izzy’s hand landed softly on his cheek. “It’s okay. We love you. We would have helped you.”

He shook his head. “Bain’s power didn’t
heal it, and neither did Jelena’s blood.”

“How bad is it?” Kale asked.

Uriah’s gaze fell to the ground. “I can’t fly anymore.” He could barely utter the words in more than a whisper.

Kale and Lothar exchanged worried
glances, and Holly nibbled on the inside of her cheek.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Kale finally asked.

Uriah looked to his little brother. “Because, I’m broken… in more ways than one. I don’t know where I belong or who I am anymore.”

“You’re our
brother, and you belong at our side,” Lothar stated firmly.

Izzy’s hand dropped from his cheek to tap a finger over his heart. “This may feel broken and it may ache, but deep
down, you are the same man I met in that parking lot. Bain was terrifying, but I trusted you… even if I was freaked out of my mind. Now you need to trust me.”

Uriah
’s lips tipped up slightly. “I do trust you, Izzy.”

“Good,
‘cause I’m going to help you. But I need to see your wings.”

Izzy saw the fear flash in his eyes
just before she felt the magic that released his wings. As her powers grew, she found that she could sense all forms of magic, just as the brothers’ gifts were now a permanent part of her. She would never have the control over fire that Kale did, her visions would never be as powerful as Cree’s, she’d never be able to uproot entire trees and fling them around like Uriah, or understand emotions like Lothar, but she could tap into all of it on a basic level. The one power that raged strong within her was Bain’s. She believed it had something to do with their constant contact and the connection they shared.

The scent of burnt flesh,
hair, and feathers grew around them as Uriah revealed the charred remains of his once-beautiful mahogany wings. The pain he felt radiated through Lothar, nearly sending him to the packed snow at his feet. Uriah couldn’t hold himself up. He and Izzy both ended up on their knees in the snow.

Her arms wrapped around him and her palms fell flat on the base of his seared wings. Her lids slid closed as she began chanting words that
no one truly understood. The language was ancient. She didn’t know what she was saying, but she remembered the words from the vision that told her she was supposed to help him.

Uriah’s face fell to her shoulder as tears streamed from his silver eyes. The tears came of relief
; the pain was lessening with each enchanted word she spoke. Her voice became a balm of comfort over him.

Kale,
Holly, and Lothar watched with amazement as Uriah’s seared wings healed, the skin smoothing as his flesh healed, and eventually his red-tinted brown feathers filled in.

“Do you know what she’s saying?” Holly whispered to Lothar. It wasn’t that long ago he was reading ancient Fae text on the
Island of the Fates.

“I think it’s Circe.”

Kale’s brows furrowed. “How would Izzy know Circe? It’s been a lost language for nearly a millennia now.”

Holly suppressed rolling her eyes at him
. Instead, she sighed. “Come on, Kale, how does Izzy do or know half the stuff she does? Between Makyle and the powers she’s gaining, I see no point in questioning anything anymore.”

Kale smiled and nodded. His attention
fell back on Izzy as she continued to repeat the four lines that were aiding her in healing Uriah.

“So what is she saying?” Holly asked again.

Lothar focused on the whispered words. “She’s calling on a goddess… I call upon the goddess. Magic of Circe. Healing touch of Aceso. Strength of the light to heal the suffering. It’s not verbatim, but that doesn’t make it any less incredible,” Lothar said, shaking his head.

“Is she part witch?” Holly asked, watching as Uriah’s wings began to shudder and shake.”

“She’s of Azreal’s line. She can be anything she wants,” Kale said proudly. He loved Izzy like a sister, and each day she grew and integrated into their world, the more it felt complete. With all the loss and heartache, she was a necessary constant. A different kind of necessary constant than Kat—he could never live without his succubus. Truthfully, he wasn’t sure he could live without any of the family he had left.

Izzy’s lids flew
open, and her gaze fell on the three staring at her and Uriah. Her gaze was bright and glowing, much like Bain’s, but in her own beautiful, bright blue. She smiled.

“Can we have a minute?”
she mouthed. They nodded and took to the skies, leaving her with an emotional and still crying Uriah in her arms.

Izzy stroked his hair and waited for him to settle. When he finally pulled back to look at
her, she smiled wide.

“There you are
,” she said softly. “I knew the man who saved my life that first night was in there somewhere.”

He smiled back and pulled her to him, hugging her tightly. “Thank you, Iz.”

“Anytime. I wish I’d known; I would have tried to help you sooner.” She pulled back and tapped her finger over his heart again. “Now you’ve got to heal this.”

He shook his head. “I don’t know how. It’s shattered.”

She nodded. “I know, and I am so sorry. Something has been nagging at me though, and it involves that pesky muscle.”

He chuckled softly. “What is it?”

“Why you, why Kale, and why Lothar? The only blood-related brothers.”

He shook his head. “I don’t understand?”

She smiled. “Me either. Why do your loves always appear to be lost forever? You all believed both Kat and Holly to be dead, and now Jelena. I know things work differently here, but it seems like really… awful luck.”

Uriah’s head tilted.

Izzy shrugged. “I’m sure I sound crazy, but you need to go find some answers.”

“Have you seen something?” Uriah asked as he stood and helped Izzy to her feet.

“I’ve seen a few things… but you, Uriah, you are haunting my dreams.”

He smiled, a touch of the old Uriah pushing through. “Don’t let Bain hear you say that.”

“He’s all growl and very little bite,” she teased. “ But in all seriousness, Uriah, there are answers out there for you and while I don’t know what it all means, I keep seeing you in a forest, speaking with a woman near a bonfire… there are a couple of other women there, but the older one, she’s important. She has answers for you.”

“Who is she?”

“I don’t know. I just hear one word… Foreshadow.”

Uriah’s brows rose. “The Foreshadowers.”

Izzy bit her bottom lip. “Maybe. Who are they?”

“Circe Witches.” His lips tipped at the corners. “That’s the language of the spell you were chanting.”

Her brows furrowed. “I wish I knew more about your history. I feel lost almost daily.”

“You have lots of time to learn all about it…
Immortality gives a whole new meaning to forever.”

She smiled. “It sure does. So
, do you know where to find these witches?”

“Last place they were seen was in the oak forest of
the Light lands.”

“Well, I would say that’s where you need to head then.”

“All right, let’s get you back to the castle first. Your teeth are starting to chatter.”

Izzy held on tight to Uriah as his wings pumped against the air
, and he found himself in the skies high above the light lands. The wind was frigid against her skin and caused her to bury her face against him. When they landed, he kissed her forehead and smiled down at her.

“Thank you.”

She shook her head. “Don’t mention it… I love you, Uriah, and I would do anything for all of you. That’s how family works.” Pulling him into her arms again, she hugged him tightly. “Now go find the answers you seek.”

Izzy watched Uriah take flight
. Something had been freed inside of him… she just hoped the answers he needed would be close and comforting. Large, thermal-covered arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her back against the hard body they belonged to.

“Why are you watching him like that?” Bain questioned softly.

She smiled and turned to look into Bain’s beautiful, violet eyes. “Because he’s almost healed.”

Bain smiled at her before slanting his lips over hers to kiss her deeply. When he finally pulled
back, she was thankful he held her so tightly. He still made her weak kneed.

“Thank you for helping him, my sweet, sweet Izzy
.”

She shook her head and smiled. “I’m glad I could.”

“I never doubted you would figure it out… Was it as bad as you thought?”

She bit her lip before answering. “I don’t think his wings had healed at all.”

Bain growled. “I wish he had come to us.”

Izzy shrugged. “We all deal in our own ways… Uriah has demons. He’s off to find some answers.”

Bain smiled. “Thanks to you… You know, I don’t know how I would survive without you. I love you, Iz.”

“I love you too.” She cupped his cheek. “How’s my boy today?”

He shrugged. “I’m better now.” He laced their fingers and pulled her towards the castle entrance. “Kyra has been asking for you.”

“How’s she doing?”

The poor child had been slapped with loss after loss. Her grandma was gone, supposedly somewhere in the Dark lands licking her wounds, her aunt had died in the battle for the Light, and she had lost her mother to the freeze. She didn’t understand why everyone was lost to her and thus had clung tightly to Izzy and her aunts, Kat and Holly.

Bain sighed. “She’s a strong kid
. She wants to have a tea party… Kale and I aren’t quite the guests she was hoping for.”

Izzy laughed. She had been the one to buy Kyra the tea set and the dress
-up trunk to go with it. She loved the large, embellished hats and had forced them upon all the brothers at one point. But she had a special place for her daddy and her uncle Kale, who were both good sports, but drew the line at dresses and makeup.

“Well, I think a tea party sounds perfect.”

Bain nodded. “When you’re finished with the party, you’re all mine.” He growled softly, leaning over to kiss her neck.

A deep shiver ran down Izzy’s spine
. This one had nothing to do with the snow blanketing the world beyond the stone walls of the castle.

Cree watched his brothers through the window of his office. It was really his room now. It had been seven months. The snow still covered the world, and the loss of Rowan was still a constant pain in his heart. He had tried everything. Searched every text and sought every kind of magic he could to get to her back. There were no answers. Still, his heart couldn’t let her go. He was a crap leader at this point. Their people were suffering, and he couldn’t find the strength to help them. He didn’t turn as Bain knocked on the door and let himself in.

“Any word from the sisters?” Bain asked as he made his way to the
fireplace that warmed the room.

Cree shook his head. “We’ve been cut off.”

It was the only reason Cree could see as to why the sisters had stopped making their way to the Middle World. They had lost Jelena in the same fight that took Rowan from him. They’d all become complacent in the rules that formed the relationship the two domains and, as always, love had blurred and distorted their place in each other’s worlds.

“Can they do that?” Bain asked.

Cree finally turned to look at his brother in arms, who hurt him to even glance at. He saw Rowan in Bain… His Rowan had been softer and petite compared to the hulking mass that was her brother, but they had mannerisms that were too similar and the eyes, the eyes were too fucking close for it not to hurt.