Immortal Destiny (The Immortal Prophecy Saga) (18 page)

“Sorry, forgot you can’t see in the dark.” He chuckled at his own joke and continued. “Where have you been?”

“Um…in the stables.”

“
Sure
,” Chase replied sarcastically. “Going into the stables wouldn’t create that look of guilt in your eyes. Try again, Ally.”

“Fine,” she said with a huff. “I went out to meet a vampire. I thought it was going to be Kat, but turns out it wasn’t.”

Chase looked at her with the same look that James had given her many times, loosely translated it meant, are you insane? “I think you need to tell me what’s going on!”

Chapter Twenty-six

Ally was not happy that she had run into Chase. It was going to put a dent in her plans. “Can’t you just pretend you never saw me?” she asked hopefully.

Chase smirked. “Not a chance, Ally. Now spill it.”

Ally then proceeded to fill him in on everything that had been happening whilst he was in London. Chase listened quietly, his face betraying the emotions swirling within him as their worst fears had been confirmed—Kat was a vampire.

She mentioned that Tristan had been the one to meet her in the meadow and found herself at a loss for words at his reaction.

“Tristan!” Chase bellowed. “Are you kidding me? Tristan?!”

Ally scrunched her eyebrows together. “Shush! You’ll wake up James. Yeah, I know he’s a vampire. He told me that much. What’s the big deal?”

Chase glared at Ally. “You have no idea who that creep is, or the things that he is capable of.”

“He can’t be that bad or I’d be dead,” she countered.

“He needs you for something. That’s the only reason you’re still breathing. Tristan is serious bad news. You need to stay the hell away from him.”

Ally rolled her eyes. “You sound just like James.”

“Well, maybe if I was more like him none of us would be in this mess to begin with. He would never have been so careless with Kat.” He ran his hands over his face trying to wash away the guilt and the pain of the events from months before. The wound had been reopened at this new information from Ally.

“No one’s perfect, Chase. We all makes mistakes, James included.”

Chase shrugged.

Ally watched him for a moment before making her decision. She needed his help and he needed a way to make amends for what happened to the girl he thought was his soulmate.

“Tristan knows where she is and he wants my help to get her out. In return, he’s going to give us the names of the elder council members.” She watched his reaction for a moment then continued, “We need that information to defeat Vincent and I have to help set Kat free. I think you of all people can understand that.”

He was torn. She was right that he did understand and he knew how much they needed that information, but was it worth the risk of siding with Tristan?

“James will kill me if he finds out, you know that right?” Chase sighed.

Ally smiled knowing that she now had an ally in Chase. “Yeah, but what he’s gonna do to me if he finds out is going to be a hundred times worse.”

He laughed despite the situation. This girl was something. She had more guts and courage than most of the immortals he knew. “Alright, I’m in.”

“Thank you, Chase. I’ll feel better having you by my side.” They shared a look, both thinking of the worst outcome and the ramifications if it came to pass. “I don’t want to deceive James. I hate the idea, but I know he won’t let me do it. He’d probably lock me in a tower somewhere.”

“He would.”

“The plan is to get Kat out tomorrow night and then Tristan will hand over the second parchment with all the names on it.”

“Tomorrow night it is then.” There was a question forming in Chase’s eyes. “Why does Tristan want Kat so badly?”

Ally hesitated not wanting to tell him, but she knew that she had to. “He’s Kat’s soulmate.”

Chase stared at her without speaking.

“Surprising, huh!”

“It’s like saying a demon could fall in love and live happily ever after,” he said with obvious distaste.

Ally laughed. “I see you’re point but it’s true. Their hearts start beating again when they meet the one.”

“Impossible!” he exclaimed.

“I felt it, Chase. He said that not many vampires even notice when it happens because they are so busy being evil, but the ones like him, they notice and they want it.”

“What do you mean ones like him?”

Ally told him what Tristan had said. Chase eyed her, unable to believe the fantastical information she was sharing. “I can’t believe we’ve never heard of this before.”

“It’s not exactly a common occurrence, so I’m not surprised you haven’t heard of it until now.”

“So Tristan is now a good guy and in love with his soulmate, Kat and wants to give us information to take out his once beloved leader, Vincent,” he said sarcastically.

“In a nutshell. But what do you mean once beloved leader?”

Chase smirked knowingly. “So he left out that part did he?” Ally nodded and motioned for him to continue. “Tristan was his second in command until Natalia came along . Tristan was turned by Vincent and the two caused chaos and destruction for a long time. Then Vincent saw Natalia and became obsessed. He wouldn’t rest until she was his, and you know the rest of that story…”

“What happened to Tristan after that?”

“He left the two and went off to god knows where. He hasn’t been seen or heard from in a long time. There were whispers among the immortals that he was in South America but that’s all we knew.”

“And now he’s back?”

“Yes. I wonder what brought him back in the first place.”

“I don’t know,” Ally said with a shrug before continuing. “I didn’t want to tell you about him and Kat. I’m sorry.”

Chase waved off her apology. “You don’t have anything to apologize for Ally. It just proves that I acted rashly and that she wasn’t the one. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about things since it happened and I think I know who I was supposed to be with. It’s funny cause I’ve known her for years but she was just a child so I never saw her in that way before, but when I came back and she was all grown up…something changed.”

Ally nodded knowingly. “Mackenzie.”

Chase nodded. “That’s why I came back. I went away to deal with everything and I wanted to be sure before I said anything to her. I was terrified of making the same mistake and ruining Mackenzie’s life the way I’d ruined Kat’s. But now I’m sure, more than sure.”

“She’s been worried about you, you know.”

“Mackenzie?”

“Yes. So why don’t we get some sleep and you can talk to her in the morning.”

“Good idea. So you seriously snuck past James?” She could see that Chase was impressed. Obviously not much got past James. She couldn’t help but laugh. Chase’s boyish enthusiasm was something they needed around here to keep the mood up.

“Yes, I snuck past James.”

“Impressive,” he said. “But about Tristan…”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t believe a word of it.”

“I didn’t either, but you can’t fake a heartbeat.”

Ally laughed again and said goodnight before sneaking up the stairs to her room.

She got into bed and thought about tomorrow night and all the possible outcomes. She knew that she might die doing this, but there was no choice. She owed Kat that much. They’d been practically sisters for years.

As she was about to drift off to sleep she felt a warm, hard body crawl into her bed and the voice that made her heart beat a little faster. “It’s just me, Ally.” James said. “I know we had a fight, but I couldn’t stand being away from you any longer.”

Ally rolled over and kissed him as if it was their last night together. After all, who knew what tomorrow might bring?

Chapter Twenty-seven

Ally woke up with a nervous anticipation running through her veins that had nothing to do with the gorgeous immortal sleeping beside her.

It was the day of the rescue mission, and the day she told James the truth about who he was. She was going to wait until after but she knew that what she was doing tonight would be risky. If she didn’t make it back, he deserved to know the truth.

She sat up in bed and glanced at James. He appeared to be sound asleep but she made a conscious effort to not think about it just in case. The man still liked to sneak into her thoughts every now and then.

“I don’t sneak,” said a sleepy voice from beside her.

Ally jumped at the intrusion on her thoughts. “Oh, really? Then why did you just answer my thoughts?”

He gave her a lazy smile and sat up as well. He ran his hands over her shoulders and pulled her down onto the bed with him. “I just woke up, little one. It’s a knee-jerk reaction I suppose.”

She rolled over to look at him. “Maybe…”

“I also heard Chase is back,” he said as he leaned in for a kiss.

Ally felt the inferno begin to brew. “I knew that already,” she replied without thinking.

James stiffened. “How’d you know that? He only arrived late last night.”

Oh no
…

“I, um, went downstairs for a glass of water and bumped into him just as he was coming in. He scared the daylights outta me.”

“Immortals have a habit of doing that to humans,” he said dryly. “You won’t have that problem when you are one. You’ll hear them coming, or at the very least sense someone nearby with a wide range.”

“Something to look forward to if I survive death,” she said sarcastically.

“Ha ha.” James leaned in again and kissed her neck.

Ally turned her head to give him better access. This was a sensation she could feel forever and never get sick of.

“That’s the point.” She could feel him smiling against her neck as he spoke.

Despite yet another intrusion she couldn’t help but laugh at his cheekiness. That was a quality that she never would have guessed he possessed until recently. He’d always been so dark and mysterious, broody at times and sexy as hell, but not playful. In his defence though, she realised he had been under a lot of pressure to keep her safe and trying to fight his basic nature, to not act like a caveman and force the relationship. That had earned a lot of points in his favour and was half the reason she had succumbed to his advances and agreed to marry him. In all honesty, she never really stood a chance against him and fate, but out of love for her, he made sure she felt like the choice was hers.

James groaned and lay back on the bed.

“What’s wrong?” Ally asked.

Glaring at the roof he answered, “We’ve been summoned to the kitchen.”

“Have you ever considered seeing someone about all the voices in your head?”

“Very funny, little one. Just you wait until it happens to you.”

Ally cringed. The thought of becoming something completely unknown to her still made her uneasy. “Perhaps I don’t have to find out?”

James looked at her seriously. “Are you still worried, sweetheart?”

Ally nodded. “A little yes. It’s not that I don’t want to spend forever with you, it’s just I have no idea what being an immortal is like. I do realise I’m half immortal already, but I’ve been living in a human world. No experience other than that.”

“But you’ve adapted incredibly well to all this and what we are. Would it be so horrible to be one of us?”

“I didn’t say it would be horrible, you’re putting words in my mouth. I said it’s the unknown that scares me. And yes, I can be adaptable but this is different. Being turned or whatever term you have for it is permanent. No going back,” she said as she began to gather clothes for the day.

James watched her from the bed and admired the view, he was only an immortal man after all, but he was concerned about her feelings toward becoming an immortal. “Ally, you will have a better chance of beating Vincent as an immortal. You’ll be a lot less fragile too. As a human, he could snap you in half without too much thought, but as an immortal, you’ll be an almost even match.”

Ally stiffened at the mention of Vincent and narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean an almost even match?”

“Wrong choice of words, but he has centuries on you in fighting skills and all that.”

“True.”

“Where’s my headstrong, fearless spitfire gone?”

“She’s hiding under a mountain of reality.” She looked directly at him with her green eyes. “I mean really, prophecy aside, what chance do I really stand of winning? Honestly, James, tell me.”

James jumped out of bed and took her into his arms. “Don’t lose hope, Ally. We’ve already lost if you have.”

She shuddered at his words.

“What is it?”

She leaned into his shoulder and held him tight. “I’ve heard those words before.”

“Let’s not worry about it right this minute. The battle has yet to begin. What we need to focus on is finding the elder council members and getting them back here. Then and only then, will we think about Vincent and becoming an immortal, if that is what you wish.”

She nodded, broke the embrace and looked up at him. “I just want to know one thing…Will I still be me?”

“Yes my darling. You’ll still be you.”

Ally relaxed a little after hearing that. James continued with, “Come on, let’s go downstairs and you can see the gang back together.”

*****

Downstairs everyone had gathered in the kitchen for breakfast and to welcome Chase back into the house.

Sophie was clucking over him like a mother hen when James and Ally walked in.

“I should go away more often,” Chase said with a laugh towards them.

James walked over and gave him a man hug. “It’s nice to have you back, Chase. As you can tell, everyone missed you.”

Chase slid a sly glance to Mackenzie who was watching him with her big doe eyes. Her cheeks blushed when she caught him looking at her and turned away to hide it. Chase saw the smile though before she turned. He knew it was time to talk with her, if he could only get her alone for a minute.

Logan and Marcus were seated at the table with their coffee, eggs and bacon. James went down to sit with them while Ally chatted with Chase, Sophie and Mackenzie.

“So,” Ally said once Sophie went away to get some more bacon and eggs for the boys. “Have you spoken to her yet?”