Memory of an Immortal Heart (Immortal Hearts) by Kita Bell

Dmitrei. Some extended
family like Joshua. And,” he hesitated, debating with himself, “my mother.”
    Once,
Brand had possessed more siblings. More family. But it was easier not to dwell
on them.
    Instead,
he watched the tension leave Eva’s body. The topic of family seemed to relax
her. And Brand wondered if Eva wanted a large family. He wondered if she wanted
children.
    His
children. Our children . Brand shook his head and felt like an idiot.
Fuck, she didn’t even know what she was in for.
    The
scent of the Sakai cleared from the air entirely.
    “We
have to go,” Brand said abruptly, taking Eva’s fingers again. “The path to the
car should be safer now.”
    Eva
gave him a tiny, almost trusting, smile. The bottom fell out of Brand’s heart.
He leaned down so that they were on eye level, his face directly before hers.
He looked at her lips again…considered them…and then restrained himself with
the mental promise of Later . Instead, Brand peered into those searching
silver eyes.
    “Don’t
worry, Eva,” he promised softly. “You’ll see your family again.”
    He felt
like an ass.

 
    Eva
studied the parking lot as they walked to Brand’s car.
    It felt
like someone was watching her, and yet…
    There
was a huddle of human drug dealers on the farthest corner of the lot. On the
opposite side was a young couple; the woman was watching the male and laughing
as he pulled a six pack from his trunk. She was holding a fuzzy blanket, and
Eva watched as they both got back into the car, in the back seat. She looked
away, feeling Brand’s presence at her side, holding her hand.
    Perhaps
twenty yards to her right two cops were getting out of a police car, glancing
nervously around at the trees. Another cop car and a covert-looking animal
control van were parked beside them. Eva flushed red, looked away – then
frowned, glancing back.
    “They’re
going into the park. The Sakai – ”
    Brand
squeezed her fingers. “No. Dead humans create questions. Dead cops especially.
They’ll be fine. Sakai are bloodthirsty, not stupid. They aren’t all that
different from us, Eva.”
    “They’re
monsters,” Eva said fiercely, remembering the empty – yet warm –
expression in Rohe’s eyes as the woman had cut into her arms, her throat,
draining off her blood into vials. As if Eva had been some sort of blood
dispenser. Or science experiment. She shivered.
    Brand
didn’t say anything.
    Eva
looked back at the cops. “They’ll be safe then,” she said, trying to convince
herself as she watched a cautious human step out of the animal control van,
cradling a rifle loaded with tranquilizers. Eva shuddered.
    But
Brand went still, and pulled her to a halt. His fingers tightened against hers
painfully. And the sensation of being trapped pushed down on Eva as it had at
Rohe’s. Eva panicked. She pushed against his arm, tried to pry her fingers from
his …until she looked up, and followed Brand’s gaze to the farthest, darkest
corner of the parking lot.
    A man
stood there, leaning casually against the trunk of a dead tree.
    He was
dressed in black, a dark leather trench falling to his elegantly crossed
ankles. He wore black dress pants, a black silk shirt. His hair was the rich
gold of a fallen angel’s.
    He
flicked away his cigarette. The glow of the embers seemed to match the piercing
amber of his gaze. He had been watching them.
    Her,
actually. Watching her .
    Slowly,
the man stretched his lips to smile at Eva. His teeth were white, perfect,
even.
    The
incisors were just a bit too long. The smile a bit too empty.
    It was
a warning, and beside her, Brand growled, clamping Eva to his side. The sound
rumbled through her body, frightening her in a way that was completely
different from the way the Sakai beneath the tree terrified her.
    The
Sakai uncoiled himself, and casually ground his cigarette beneath the heel of
an expensive dress shoe.
    He
looked up from the cigarette and gave Brand a meaningful glance – glanced
once