Immortal Craving: Immortal Heart

by Magen McMinimy

  “Seems even the Dark leader has a vice, only his is his consort of Succubi. His guard told me a story about a group of Succubi he let escape. It landed him in the dungeons until he was able to escape and pass through the portal you’ve been searching for.”

  “So he knows where the Drifters’ portal is?”

  “No, the Drifters found him and helped him escape. The Succubus he helped save bought his passage into the Human World. That’s where I found him. He introduced me to the Succubus who’s been helping me try to find my sister. She was imprisoned for ten years before escaping five years ago.”

  “Who was she? What was her name?” Kale asked.

  “They call her Kitty,” Trevan answered.

  Kale chuckled. “They called her Kitty? That’s rich for a Succubus; they should have just called her pus—”

  “That’s enough, Kale” Uriah broke in.

  Kale smirked at his brother with a raised brow as if asking, What?

  “So what’s the plan now?” Kale asked. “And what does all this have to do with the Succubus kills?”

  “When the Succubi escaped Darion and came to the Human World, there were six of them. They scattered, but a few of them were very young. I believe these kills are accidents. I think this particular Succubus is waiting too long between feeding and isn’t fully in control of her power.”

  “Why is this just now happening? She’s had five years to figure out her control.”

  “I can’t say with one-hundred percent certainty. All I can say for sure is that Jaylyn had control of her Succubi power until one day she just lost it—nearly killed a Fae boy she was dating. I don’t know how the power works, but it is wrapped into emotion and, according to my father, is ruled by true mating. Sometime between a Succubus’ or Incubus’s twenty-fifth and fiftieth birthday, a feeding frenzy known as Mata begins. It happens every year after that, lasting about a month and only ends when they eventually find their true mate.”

  Kale’s eyes narrowed. “I’ve never heard any of this.”

  “Do we know the secrets of every Fae species? It’s not something Succubi and Incubi share with other Fae; it’s sacred to them.”

  “Why haven’t we had more deaths due to their Mata?” Uriah asked, curiosity bringing him to the table to take a seat next to Kale.

  “How many Succubi or Incubi do you know?”

  “Very few, I admit. They tend to align with the Dark.”

  Trevan gave a sad smile. “Yes and those who aren’t mated during their Mata are likely still living with an elder Succubi or Incubi, who helps them through it.”

  “What’s Darion’s end game with them? What’s his plan if they go into Mata while they’re his prisoners?”

  “He’s looking for his true mate.”

  Kale and Uriah exchanged a curious look.

  Trevan chuckled. It was low and lacked humor. “You don’t know what Darion is?”

  “No one really does,” Uriah noted.

  “Darion is a unique Fae; the son of a Succubus and a Devas.”

  Both Uriah and Kale narrowed their eyes on Trevan.

  He was spinning an interesting tale, except Devas were nature sprites and were only visible as spheres of light—they were not corporeal. They didn’t take on a form and therefore could not breed with a Succubus or any other creature for that matter.

  Trevan smiled, catching the lines of disbelief on the Immortal Warriors faces. “Like I said, unique. His father was an earth element and a powerful one. He was able to contain his light in the form of a human host. Every few decades, he traded it in for a new one.”

  “He was like a body snatcher jumping from host to host?” Kale blurted.

  “Something like that. His mate, Devorah—Darion’s mother—went with him to pick his new host from the Human World. When the body was worn and aged past her desire, they traded—letting the human return to his world with no memory of where he’d been for the past twenty years.”

  “So that makes Darion what exactly?” Kale asked.

  “He’s an Incubus who wields earth’s elemental magic. He’s also a seven-hundred-year-old Incubus who has not found his true mate.”

  Kales brows shot up. “Oh crap.”

  Trevan nodded. “Oh crap is right. His Succubi consorts keep his Mata under control.”

  “Did the Succubus who’s helping you know your sister?”

  “No, she would have escaped by the time Jaylyn went missing.”

  “Final question,” Uriah said. “How do you know all this?”

  “No one knows this much about Darion,” Kale added.

  “This is where it gets a little twisted. I know because Devorah is my aunt and Darion is my cousin.”

  Chapter Nine

  Darion was Trevan’s cousin. Kale hoped that whatever had happened to Jaylyn was not as twisted as it was playing out in his head. There were too many questions right now.

  Why would Darion be keeping Jaylyn—if not for controlling his feeding? Kale could only attempt to convince himself that if Darion was feeding off the poor girl, that it was all he was doing. A Succubi feeding has an inherent amount of sexuality to it, but sex doesn’t always accompany it.

  Aside from the weird cousin connection, there were still too many unanswered questions. While Trevan had opened up about his family and what he was doing… it all lacked in other important details.

  They had asked him about the Succubus that was helping him and he gave little in the way of details, other than he called her Kitty, which still made Kale chuckle. Trevan didn’t have a way to contact her. She called him—always from disposable phones and from a new number every time. He tried the most recent number he had with no results; only a recorded message saying the number was no longer connected.

  Kale was trying to put the pieces together, trying to find out how this helped Trevan with his sister. He needed to talk to Cree.

  Kale moved through the castle with one destination in mind. When he reached Cree’s office the door was open, but he had company in the form of an Immortal Three. Acacia smiled up at Kale as he stopped in the doorway.

  “Hello, Kale.” Acacia turned back to Cree. “Something worries your young warrior. I will leave you to attend to him. When you’re done, I’ll be in the garden.”

  Acacia moved with a flowing grace as she rose from her seat and breezed over to Kale. Her deep, olive-colored eyes were soft as she passed him and her lips stretched into a reassuring smile.

  “It all always works out as it has been foreseen—just ask your leader. He knows there is very little we can do to change the fates.”

  Kale smiled and nodded.

  “I will see you later as well, young Kale.”

  With that, Acacia disappeared down the long hallway, only the scent of jasmine remaining in her wake.

  Kale shook his head as he took Acacia’s vacated seat.

  “They are all so cryptic,” Kale quipped.

  Cree smiled and nodded. “So what’s up, young Kale?”

  Kale grinned. “I don’t know, seems I’m being shrouded by Succubi.”

  Cree dipped his chin. “Ah, your favorite Fae.”

  Kale’s smile fell a little. “I don’t want to hate the whole species because of what Katarina did. And a part of me still wants the closure of a face to face with her.”

  Cree narrowed his eyes.

  Everything concerning Katarina needed closure. Even Cree wanted it.

  He never saw her betrayal, he never saw Kale’s capture, and he certainly didn’t see Katarina’s death… and he had tried, but he couldn’t force his sight.

  Cree’s gift was fickle and temperamental. He knew more then he wanted when it came to the harsh facts of his and his brothers Immortality—no one really gets to live forever. But his gift almost always showed him the things that are devastatingly important. Katarina’s betrayal and Kale’s subsequent capture were devastatingly important to the brother sitting in front of him… to all the Immortal Warriors. They were a family. As
strong and tightly knit as any family could be.

  Cree must have stayed quiet for too long.

  “I’m not crazy, Cree,” Kale said, a slight discomfort tainting his words.

  “I know,” Cree assured.

  “I know I can’t talk to a dead woman.”

  Cree merely nodded and let his silence encourage Kale to work through his thoughts.

  “Also, I followed a Succubus last night… that my mind tried desperately to convince me was Katarina.”

  Cree’s face showed little of what he was thinking as he questioned Kale. “Do you doubt Darion killed her?”

  “I—I don’t know now. If everything Trevan told us is true… Well, Katarina was by far the most beautiful specimen of her species that I’ve ever laid eyes on. That has me thinking she would be the perfect Succubus for him to keep around.”

  “So it’s not just your brain that is giving you cause to believe that the Succubus you followed was in fact Katarina?”

  “It’s still crazy, right? Even with this new Intel?” Kale smirked.

  God, it really was crazy. Katarina was gone and that was the best thing for him.

  “Perhaps you truly do need closure. Unfortunately, time doesn’t always heal us.”

  “Yeah, but what can I do? Go hang out in that alley and hope the Succubus comes back?”

  Cree’s lips lifted into a knowing smile. “I think you have a better option waiting out in the garden.”

  “Acacia?” Kale asked, confused.

  Even though Acacia would be able to tell him if Katarina was in her world, they had always respected the Immortal Three—you didn’t ask questions and you didn’t really socialize. You were respectful, you fed, and you left.

  “Yes, for whatever reason, I never saw what was coming with Katarina, which never set well with me. I trusted her and Lothar believed in her. I don’t know how one can hide a nature as we’ve been told hers was. But that Immortal Three down in the garden is part ruler of where Katarina now resides—if she is in fact deceased as Darion has lead us to believe. I don’t know if the Immortals will allow you to speak with Katarina, but have you ever thought to ask them if she is in fact there?”

  After Katarina betrayed him and he had been informed of her death, Kale didn’t want to think about it. He’d loved her and every thought of her brought too much pain. So he’d chosen to lock it up, to deal with what hurt his soul by creating tangible, physical pain. The tattoos and piercings were his medication for a broken heart and a darkened soul.

  Kale gave Cree a half smile. He should have had the strength—because rules never truly deterred him—to ask one of the Immortal Three. The fact was he wasn’t sure he could handle the answer either way. He was bound in silence for fear of the truth.

  “I guess there’s no time as good as the present,” Kale said as he stood up.

  Cree stared Kale straight in the eyes when he spoke, “Regardless as to the answer you receive, maintain your cool and remember that no matter where this leads you, you have family to support you.”

  Kale chuckled. “It sounds like you fear me making a rash decision, Cree.”

  “I fear the pain the answer may cause you, and I know how you deal with pain, Kale... We all do.”

  Kale nodded. “I’m not as impulsive as you think.”

  Cree cocked a brow at him, letting his eyes pass over the full-sleeve tattoos covering Kale’s arms.

  Kale smiled wide with that patented mischievous tilt to his lips. “I thought about every tattoo and piercing that decorates my body. Especially the barbell below my waist—you don’t get that without thinking about it.”

  Cree didn’t need to know any more. He’d thought Kale had gone certifiably insane when he found out he’d gone that far with the piercings.

  Cree shivered at the thought.

  “Go find some answers, Kale. Tell Acacia she can find me here when the two of you are done.”

  Kale nodded and headed for the garden. He felt a thin layer of sweat form on his palms. He absently wiped them against his dark jeans and braced himself for answers that were over a decade past due.

  Chapter Ten

  “I had a feeling you’d be the one who came to find me.” Acacia smiled up at Kale, her eyes closed and face raised to the sun. She looked all too innocent, sitting in the grass with her legs crossed and the pale blue skirt of her flowing dress pulled around her knees and tucked under her. Nothing like you'd expect from one of the rulers of the Underworld. “Your sun is warm. Ours is but an illusion—it provides no heat, but it is beautiful.”

  “I’ve never asked you or your sisters about the Underworld.”

  Acacia patted the grass next to her as an invitation for him to join her. An invitation that was more like an order—its unspoken courtesy that what the Immortal Three asked of them, they gave. Kale took a seat next to Acacia and followed her lead, taking the time to close his eyes and lift his face to the sun.

  “You all hide in the shadows, for a very noble purpose, but you must take the time to enjoy the world you live in.”

  Kale didn’t say anything but he nodded. Acacia was right; he couldn’t remember the last time he sat in the sun and just enjoyed the heat.

  “Would you like for me to tell you about my world?” Acacia asked, still keeping her head tilted up to the sun.

  “Yes, I really would.”

  “The Underworld is an unusual place. The part my sisters and I rule is much like your World; it’s really quite beautiful. Our sun has no heat because those who reside behind our gates are comfortable at all times; their bodies maintain a steady temperature around them. Those who reside with us are happy. They live a new life without the needs of their former Fae life. It’s a good end for those who have earned the right to enter our Kingdom.”

  “What about your brothers’ Kingdom?” Kale asked, finally looking at Acacia.

  “Well, theirs is a little different. I can’t tell you the details, but the Dark side of the Underworld has different realms of purgatory—those who barely missed the mark into the Light Kingdom are often given the choice of work they do in our world.”

  “Do you know all who reside with you?”

  Acacia smiled at him. “I wondered if you’d ever ask this question. You know we work under strict rules that determine what we can and cannot do. I see the fates, I know when each of you will join my World, but I can never tell you. Just as I cannot warn you of the deaths of those you love. But I see the future you are running into and there is so much happening outside our worlds. The secret I want to share with you and that I always want you to remember is that I cannot lie to you.”

  Kale narrowed his eyes at her. This was news to him. “You can’t lie to me—so if I ask you when I’m going to die you would have to tell me?”

  Acacia smiled at him. “No, I told you I cannot tell you that. However, should you guess the day, the time, and the form correctly, then I would be bound to tell you that you were right. It is how you word what you ask, so give it a try and ask me the question to the answer you seek.”

  Kale took a second to find the proper wording and braced himself for the answers to what he had long ignored.

  “Did Darion kill Katarina?”

  “No, she did not join our world at Darion’s hand.”

  Kale’s stomach clenched. Katarina is still alive. Then he considered what Acacia said… She did not join our world at Darion’s hand. That didn’t mean he didn’t have her executed

  “Did he have her executed?” Kale asked.

  “No, she was not executed.”

  These were non-answers. Kale sighed as he thought of the right way to word the question.

  “Did Katarina ever join your world?” Kale asked.

  Acacia smiled. “You caught on quickly and yet I don’t know if the answer will bring you joy or cause you more pain… but your Katarina still lives in the Human World.”

  Kale let out a heavy breath. He wasn’t sure either. Was he relieved or was he feeling a new
stab of pain to know she was still alive? Kale hated his heart right then. It was as it always was, in a constant battle with his brain whenever Katarina was involved.

  “You know where she is?” he asked.

  “We know where all Fae are. It’s our job. We see you at birth, we are always aware of you, and we know when it’s time for us to come for you.”

  “You collect the souls of the Fae?”

  Acacia dipped her chin. “Yes, we come for all our brethren when it is time for them to join us.”

  “Brethren,” Kale said softly.

  “What would you call us, Kale? You know the first Fae were created from the Underworld, and we gave them the Middle World to reproduce and thrive. You descend from the Underworld. So yes, we view all the Fae—Dark and Light—as Brethren. But this is not what is important. What you need to figure out is what really happened with Katarina.”

  Kale nodded. Part of him was pissed that over the past fifteen years none of the sisters ever alluded to the fact that Katarina was still alive, but thinking of Cree he kept his cool. It was something he would have to deal with, but for right now he needed his feeding. Then he needed to get back to the Human World so he could start his search for Katarina. He was going to get his closure.

  Chapter Eleven

  Katarina sighed as she moved down the mostly bare halls of the Siren’s home. She knew his name—she hadn’t entered into a deal with the Light Fae without doing her research—but she refrained from calling him anything but Siren, which usually made his lips twitch into a very attractive smile.

  “Hello, Siren,” she said.

  She smiled and watched as his lips did as she had expected and twitched into that very same smile she’d been thinking of.

  “How is my trusted Succubus today?”

  “Stressed and wondering what the plan is.”

  “The plan is as it has been,” he replied, pushing a stack of papers aside and folding his hands on the desk top.

  “We need to move up the timeline,” she said, moving to take the seat across from him.