Free Immortal Blood by Magen McMinimy, Cynthia Shepp Editing Page A

forward to having you home.”
     
    Bain slid his phone back in his pocket and headed up the stairs to help Izzy. She was on the phone so Bain scooped up Garcia and put him in the carrying case that sat on a mahogany chest at the foot of her bed.
    “Marie, stop it … well yes… oh my god no… no… Marie, I can’t make it tomorrow because I need to head out of town… yes… Please stop. I’ll be fine… Marie! I love you, but I gotta go. If I have service, I’ll call you. Okay… I promise. Goodbye.”
    “Little sister worried about you?” Bain asked.
    Izzy sighed . “Yes, but she’s more worried about me leaving with you .”
    “Ah, and here I thought she liked me . I guess I didn’t make as good of an impression last weekend as I had thought.”
    “It’s not that ; she does like you.”
    Bain smiled . “She doesn’t really know me all that well; I can’t blame her for worrying. Can you?”
    “No , not really and I feel bad. I can’t make her feel better about the situation, and I certainly can’t explain all of this to her.”
    “Nope,” Bain agreed, “but you’ll be able to call her.”
    “AT&T has towers in the Middle World?” she asked sarcastically.
    The corner of Bain’s mouth twitched. “No, but we ’re not going to the Middle World exactly.”
    “What do you mean?” Izzy’s eyes narrowed.
    “You’ll see when we get there.”
    Izzy sighed. She’d never been good with surprises.

Chapter Fifteen
     
     
    Bain watched Izzy. She’d fallen asleep nearly an hour ago. She tried to stay awake, her lids falling slowly over her pretty blue eyes. She had blinked back the sleep a few times, but had finally given into it. He didn’t want to wake her, but they had finally arrived. She was going to need to see this to understand it.
    “Izzy .” Bain said her name and gently nudged her shoulder. “Time to wake up, sweetheart.”
    “I wasn’t sleeping , just resting my eyes,” she mumbled softly.
    Bain let out a bark of laughter . “You sound like my grandmother.”
    Izzy’s eyes flew open then . “Your grandmother? She’s still alive?”
    “Indeed she is. I’ll take you to meet her.”
    “Really?” That would be kind of amazing. Izzy wanted to ask how old she was, but wasn’t sure if that would be rude.
    Izzy blinked the sleep from her eyes as they got out of the car. “Where are we, Bain?”
    There was a slight nervousness in her voice; they were literally in a large field surrounded by trees. She could barely make out the road that had led them here.
    “Do you know what tree that is?” Bain pointed out a small tree being dwarfed by the taller ponderosa pines; it was thick with yellow leaves and full of bright red clusters of berries.
    “Uh, no , can’t say that I do. I’m not a botanist.”
    “No, but you are a smart ass ,” Bain muttered.
    Izzy raised a brow at him . “Okay, I deserved that. What kind of tree is it?”
    “It’s a Rowan .” Bain stood behind Izzy and turned her in a full circle. The perfectly rounded meadow’s circumference was lined with the bright trees.
    “Ok ay, that’s actually really cool, and they’re very pretty, but why did we stop here? Is this how we get to Rowan’s compound?”
    “This is her compound.” Bain smiled as Izzy’s brows knitted together. “Trust me and don’t hold your breath.”
    Bain pulled her against his chest and wrapped her in his wings as he spun them in a full circle. Izzy watched the ring of Rowans pass by. She felt a shift in the air. It warmed and, as Bain stopped them, she was greeted by a wide bridge that led over a small brook, and into a large, stone-built castle. The color was fascinating, in a soft terracotta with towers and turrets. There was a large, ornate shield over the tall, wooden doors, featuring an eagle perched on a man’s arm and a snake wrapped around the other.
    “Welcome to the Middle World and Rowan’s compound,” Bain said as he let Izzy go and stood tall and proud next to