Immortal Rapture: Immortal Heart (24 page)

“It’s not just the warriors, My Lord
. The Immortal Ruler is here, as is the traitorous trow, and the female Izzy.”

A thump against the door reverberated through the
floor, drawing everyone’s attention. A second later, part of the door splintered and a fist appeared through the wood.

“Come Darion, this is not a fight you are prepared for.” Esperanza clutched his arm. “The end game was to
get the Immortal Ruler to heal you… let them focus on these two while we find a way to get to him.” She pulled him toward the hidden passage, grabbing Ardea by her hair to yank her with them. “Come, Jaeb.”

They disappeared into the passage with two of the guards and the wall slid back into place as
the final pieces of the door shattered, allowing Lothar, Uriah, Izzy, and Jake into the room.

Anger suffused Uriah as his eyes fell upon Marie’s nearly naked body strapped to Darion’s bed, with welts and bruises covering her perfect skin. With a
roar of pure rage, he lifted the remaining guard in the room and slammed him against the stone wall, just to pull him back and repeatedly slam him against the unforgiving stone. With a final flick of his fingers, he catapulted the guard through the window to the courtyard below.

Izzy moved to Marie’s side as Uriah gained control. “Hold on sweetie, we’re gonna get you out of here.”

Marie smiled. “I’m really glad to see you, Iz, but go help Holly.”

Izzy furrowed her brow and looked over her shoulder as Lothar was releasing Holly from the wall cuffs. She sucked in a deep breath and nodded, rushing to Lothar’s side.

“Is she alive?” Izzy asked as she reached them. He lifted his gaze, a wet shimmer to his steel eyes, and nodded.

They heard footsteps rushing the hall. Izzy cupped Holly’s head and healed
her enough that Lothar could move her without causing any more damage. She yanked a blanket from a chair and laid it over Holly’s body as Lothar cradled her.

“Get her to Bain.”

Lothar let his wings loose as he ran to the balcony and took flight.

Uriah had finished
un-strapping Marie and was wrapping her in a blanket. “I’m sorry,” he murmured.

She smiled at him and shook her head, then grimaced as he lifted her. “I know it hurts,
little nymph, but we’re going to get you out of here. I’m so, so sorry. This is all my fault.”

“Stop that, it is not
. They’re after Makyle… thought I was Izzy.”

Izzy’s gaze whipped to Marie. “What?”

Marie caught Izzy’s pained, sapphire gaze. “It’s not your fault either. Holly and I were in the wrong place because of me. But Esperanza wants Makyle… There’s something wrong with Darion. I think she believes Makyle can fix him.”

“Get her out of here. Now!”

“I’ll be back for you two.”

The ruckus from downstairs had Izzy biting her lip.

Jake smiled. “I’ll go to Cree. You block the door.”

Izzy sighed. “Be careful, Kat will kill me if something happens to you.”

Jake smiled and ran out of the room. Once
he was clear of the debris, Izzy began moving furniture to block the entrance to the room.

Bain rushed to Lothar as he hit the ground with Holly in his arms. He pulled back the blanket to see her wounds. His gaze locked with Lothar’s. “What the fuck did they do to her?”

“Just heal her
,” Lothar snarled.

Bain cupped Holly’s face and began the process. Her eyes fluttered open
, and she locked her gaze with her brother.

“Hey, big brother.”

Bain smiled. “Hey, little girl. We’re gonna have you all fixed up real soon.”

“Get the bracelet off me and I can heal myself. You need to get Marie.”

Lothar lifted her arm from the blanket. The bracelet fell from her wrist as Uriah landed next to them, his magic snapping it in half. Marie shifted out of Uriah’s arms and grabbed Holly’s hand.

“I’m here.” Marie smiled softly.

Holly sighed and smiled back. “You okay?”

Marie nodded and looked to Bain. “Go get Iz. Third balcony on the third floor.”

Bain took flight as the thunderstorm settled above them, and Makyle hit the ground. He stalked towards them as Kale came to join the group. Marie’s eyes were wide as Makyle’s glowing orbs fell upon her.

“Are you all right?”
he asked.

“They’re after you! You have to go
,” Marie shouted.

“What’s going on?” asked Kale. “Why are they after Makyle?”

“He’s sick… Darion. I think Esperanza thinks you can heal him. You have to go.”

Kale
furrowed his brows, and Uriah nodded. “She’s right, plus your brothers will be here any moment now. Take Marie and Holly back to the castle. We’ll follow.”

Makyle scoffed
; the idea of running was out of the question. “They are your mates and they need you. Go, and I will follow once the others return.”

Lothar looked to Uriah, who sighed, and then to Kale, who nodded. “He’s a fucking Immortal Ruler, he can handle himself
, and I will wait here for the others… go. Get them out of here.”

****

Izzy looked around the room, from the chains Holly had hung from, to the bed her little sister had been strapped to…
Anger welled and the chains were ripped from the wall and slung through the broken window. The bed flipped over and shredded into pieces. Izzy didn’t hear the scrape of stone over her heavy breathing. Only the cold press of metal against her throat stopped her emotions from destroying the room.

“Temper, temper
,” Esperanza chided. “Now calm down because you are going to help me.”

“In the words of the man who once called you mother, ‘you can fuck off’.”

Esperanza laughed. “Come, Darion.”

Darion smirked as he rounded Esperanza and stood before Izzy. “She’s a
wildcat too… just like her sister.”

Izzy reached for him, the sharp edge of the blade biting against her skin, drawing a small trickle of blood.

“Calm down, because you have a choice to make. Darion can place that bracelet in his palm on your wrist, it will stifle your magic, and you will essentially be human again. Then you can replace your sister’s position, or I will allow you to keep your magic, you will heal him, and I will let you go.”

Bain snarled as he flew through the balcony doors and slammed against Darion. The two rolled on the floor, both landing and taking blows. Izzy’s cry was the only thing that stopped Bain as he pinned Darion to the ground
, his fangs bared.

“Let him go, Bain
,” Esperanza ordered.

Bain narrowed his gaze on his mother. “Let her go.”

Esperanza smiled. “Not going to happen, but with you here, I’m not sure I need her. So new plan, heal him and I will let her go.”

Bain stared at his mother, his emotions warring.
Finally, he sighed and returned his gaze to Darion. Bain’s eyes began to glow and he blew over Darion’s injured face. Once the cuts had sealed, he lifted his gaze back to his mother’s. “Let her go.”

“Finish healing him
,” she ordered

Bain scrutinized the man before him. The man who had killed Rowan. If not for the blade at Izzy’s throat he would have ripped Darion to shreds, and basked in the blood that drained his life.
“What else needs to be healed?” he asked through gritted teeth.

“Whatever your wretched sister did to him!” she screamed.

Bain growled and looked back to Darion. As he focused, through the rage, he could feel the misbalance of magic.

He nearly laughed. “I can’t heal what’s wrong with him… but you know who probably could have? Your daughter.”

“It isn’t an unbalance of luck. It’s magic.”

Bain shrugged. “There is nothing I can do.”

Esperanza’s gaze locked briefly with Darion’s. In that transitory moment, Darion understood what she wanted. The iron bracelet in his hand closed around Bain’s wrist, cutting off his magic. Darion pulled a knife and placed it against Bain’s chest as Esperanza ushered Izzy forward.

“Then we will try your female’s magic…
She must have picked up some of Rowan’s gifts in the brief time she spent with her.” Esperanza’s voice dropped to a menacing whisper meant only for Izzy’s ears. “Heal him and I will let you both live. If I for one second think you are up to something, I will have Darion kill him… I have already sacrificed one child. We both know I will sacrifice my son as well.”

Izzy’s eyes locked with Bain’s as she leaned over Darion and began healing him. She felt his magic and as she
focused, she could feel the balance within him returning. Once he was healed, she leaned back and nodded. “It’s done.”

“Good
.” She pulled another bracelet from her dress pocket and tightened it over Izzy’s wrist.

“Move
,” she ordered Bain. “Into the corner.”

Bain stood, and backed
into the corner.

“You good?” Esperanza asked Darion as he stood.

“I feel much better… I do wish I could keep her,” Darion said, leering at Izzy.

Esperanza sighed and shoved Izzy at Bain,
grabbing Darion’s arm as she ran. They disappeared into the passage as the stone wall shifted closed.

Bain pressed his lips to the top of Izzy’s head. “You okay,
sweetheart?”

“I really, really hate her.”

Bain nodded and looked back to the stone wall that had closed behind them. “Me too.” His wings opened behind him. “At least I can still fly.” He wrapped her in his arms and took to the sky, just as Cree and Jake were exiting the castle.

“Everything okay?” Kale asked as they hovered over the courtyard.

Bain huffed. “Fantastic.”

Makyle arched a brow. “What happened?”

“Run in with Esperanza.”

Makyle nodded and a new storm formed above them. “Is everyone clear of the castle?”

“Everyone who matters,” Cree offered as he and Jake joined the others.

Makyle smirked and brought strikes of
lightning raining down upon the castle. Stone exploded and shards of the castle’s exterior littered the battle-strewn courtyard. Glass imploded and fire rose from the interior.

Bain shook his head. “I should probably stop trying to piss him off all the time.”

Izzy laughed softly. “I didn’t think you were trying, I thought it was just the natural order of the relationship.”

Acacia stood among the devastation
, reliving the lives of the Fae that had perished. She recognized the magic that had littered chunks of the castle among the dead in the courtyard.

“Are there any that are worthy of your domain?” Josiah asked as he stood next to his sister.

Acacia nodded. “A few. I suppose it comes down to how many of their sins were enacted at their own hands.”

“Isn’t that how it always is?”

“Even the pure of heart falter.”

“They do… how is she?” he asked, finally looking Acacia in the eyes.

There was a new depth to her peridot pools. “She misses her son, and she worries what it will cost Makyle for helping her.”

Josiah sighed and took in the destruction around them, taking in all the death and blood, the anguish and pain,
and all the collateral damage that was done. “He’s crossed the line once again. You stand here alone as part of your punishment… Do you not believe he deserves to be punished as well?”

Acacia sighed. “I believe we should be afforded the rights of those we eventually care for.”

“But we are not the same… We are more than any of these creatures.”

Acacia narrowed her eyes
. With a flourish of her arm, she held three glowing soul orbs. “The rest of the souls that litter this place are all yours.”

She faded out and left Josiah among the wreckage. With another sigh, he collected the souls and returned to his domain.

With the souls delivered to their different levels of the Underworld, Josiah found his brothers.

“How’d it go?” Alistair asked, lifting his gaze from the book in his lap.

“It was a war zone… Makyle was there.”

“Impossible
,” Zarek boomed. “We would have sensed him.”

“Be that as it may, he’s back in the Middle World
. I would recognize his magic anywhere.”

Alistair furrowed his brows. “Then he has found a way to cloak himself… Isabelle perhaps.”

“I knew it was a mistake giving that human our immortality,” Zarek groaned.

“But she isn’t human… never really was. A changeling obviously interfered with her line generations ago.”