Free Immortal Craving: Immortal Heart by Magen McMinimy, Cynthia Shepp

in with some clothes for you,” she whispered and smiled widely at him.
    Kale chuckled and whispered back, “Thank you, Iz. You are a goddess among us.”
    Bain cleared his throat as he pulled Izzy against his chest. “Quit flirting with her, Kale—she’s my goddess.”
    Kale laughed. “You’ve always sucked at sharing.”
    “Let’s go, Bain,” Izzy said, pushing him towards the door. “We’re staying at my place. Call us if you need anything.” She then looked to Kat. “It was nice talking with you.”
    Kat arched a brow. “And you,” she smirked.
    Kat waited until she’d seen Bain and Izzy lift off the ground before she turned to Kale. “I like her.”
    Kale nodded. “She’s impossible not to like. Bain’s a lucky man.”
    Kat nodded. “She certainly has her opinion of me nailed down.”
    Kale narrowed his eyes on her. Where was she going with this?
    “ Izzy’s the sister I’ve never had. She’s the one I talk to and she has taken a very protective role in my life. Family is the most important thing to her.”
    “And you’re her family,” Kat said.
    “We all are,” Kale said proudly.
    “And thus, she see’s everything one- sided, I’m the bad guy… Will you ever give her all the details of what happened to us? Or will you let me take the blame for all of it?”
    Kale snorted. “What version would you have me tell?”
    “The truth, Kale… The truth would be the best place to start.”
    “You and I must have a differing view of the truth in this situation, because in no way would the truth as I know it make you any less guilty.”
    Kat was fuming as she stomped towards Kale, one elegant finger poking into his chest.
    “You are a grade A bastard. You left me at the mercy of Darion! I wish he would have killed me. I would have gladly accepted death over what he did to me.”
    “Perhaps you should have considered what would come of you when you decided to screw me over,” Kale shot back.
    Kat’s palm flew at Kale’s face. He caught her wrist before it made contact and pulled her to him.
    “Be careful, kitten .” Kale dropped his nose to her neck, taking a deep breath and pulling her scent deep into his lungs. “I’ve been dreaming of the things I would do to you once I found out you were still alive. Don’t. Tempt. Me.”
    Kat shivered, her libido flaring to life at his words, but her brain wasn’t so sure those words were speaking of any kind of pleasure. There was a cold detachment swirling beneath the surface of his softly spoken words.
    “Let me go,” she whispered softly.
    Kale stepped back, releasing her wrist with a smirk that had her wanting to attempt the slap once more.
     

Chapter Sixteen
     
     
    Kale sat alone in the living room, the bottle Izzy had brought him on the coffee table. He leaned back, lounging in the large leather chair, the finger of his one hand tapping against the arm of the chair, while his other hand manipulated a ball of fire. His gaze was glued to the dancing blue, orange, and yellow—the flames calmed his edgy nerves.
    But still something was off. He felt it bone deep. Whatever had happened in the last fifteen years had changed Kat. Hell, the last fifteen years had changed both of them, but what killed him… What he had a hard time figuring out, was why she blamed him. She had gone to Darion—she had sent that Pixie to set him up, to get him to cross into the Dark’s land. She had done all of that. Everything that steamed from that afternoon had been consequences of her own actions.
    So why the hell was she so angry with him?
    He really did want to try and have an actual conversation with her. Maybe it was a little masochistic, but he wanted to know why she had felt the need to end what they had in the way she did. He still wanted answers.
    “This is a familiar sight, though I never thought I’d see it again,” Kat said, leaning against the wall between the hall and the living room.
    Kale lifted his gaze from the flames to Kat. Her hair