Prophecy: Caelestis & Aurorea (3 page)

Her stomach twisted and turned at the thought of having to pass through the place where Elena had transported Valentine to not once but twice. The last time she had been in the square, she had been forced to fight for her life and had then been abducted by Arkalus. She tried to focus on the time she’d been there before that. She had been with Valentine. He’d promised her that when they had fulfilled the prophecy, he would take her to see inside the cathedral.

She caught sight of it as they rounded the end of the square, passing the two columns and the beautifully ornate buildings either side. She looked up at the campanile and then at the people milling around the square. Her stomach growled, reminding her that it had been too long since she’d fed. The deer blood that Valentine had got for her in Romania had worn off long before she had left the castle but she hadn’t felt the hunger inside of her, all she had felt was the remorse and pain of losing him.

Her teeth itched but she held her vampire guise at bay. There was no time to hunt and feed. They had to get to England as soon as possible and tell Mathias what had happened. She hoped that he would have some answers for them.

Venturi stared at Prophecy who sat looking out the window of the train. She was beautiful. He hadn’t expected her to look like this and he hadn’t been prepared for how drawn to her he would be. There was something in her eyes and her movements that mesmerised him. He hadn’t been able to stop himself from following her when they’d met at the castle. The sight of her had lessened the pain of losing his sire, forcing it to the back of his mind. She was powerful, but it was her beauty that was devastating.

He leaned his left elbow against the arm of the long couch seat he was sitting on and brought his fist up to his mouth. Supporting his chin on his thumb, he splayed his forefinger and index finger out against his cheek and curled his other two around, pressing his ring finger against his lips.

He couldn’t stop watching her.

It was wrong, he knew it, but no matter how hard he tried to keep his eyes off her, they kept wandering back again.

She had turned the lights off in the compartment when they had entered and had muttered something about wanting to see the outside world as her excuse. He knew it was more than that. He could almost feel the weight of sadness she was feeling and it was written in every line of her face. As much as he wanted to, he had no way of stopping her from feeling that way. All he could do was try to take her mind off it for a short while. The witch they had met with was right. Prophecy was affected by the loss of the Aurorea she seemed to have feelings for. It had hurt her deeply.

He frowned when they passed a station. The lights shone on her face for the briefest of moments and caught on the tears in her eyes.

She sighed. He watched her bring her hand up, discreetly wiping her tears away but making no effort to hide them from him.

Sitting up, he tried to think of something to say to break the silence and get her mind off the Aurorea.

“I wish I could sleep,” she whispered.

“You can sleep. I will keep watch,” he said. She shook her head and smiled, showing him it wasn’t that she didn’t feel safe enough to sleep, it was that she couldn’t. He leaned forwards, his eyes reflecting his curiosity.

“Sleep brings me answers sometimes and I’m sure it would have one for me now.” She brought her eyes away from the window and looked straight at him.

“Answers?” he said, feeling even more confused. There was so much about her that he didn’t know but she was revealing it all to him little by little. The marks she bore and the amulet that was fitted around her hand gave her the ability to use a power that she had because she wasn’t wholly a vampire. He’d wondered what that meant from the moment she’d said it. It had been going around his mind the whole time she was confronting the witch. The anticipation of hearing more about Prophecy was overwhelming.

“I have visions. It was one of these visions that Valentine saw when we first met and he bit me.” She idly stroked the marks on her neck.

Venturi’s stomach tightened when he realised that they were the Aurorea’s and not her sire’s. There were so many of them, some of them fading away but others remaining prominent. How much blood had they shared? Had she tasted him too? He shunned the jealous thoughts that rose up at the back of his mind and focused on what she was saying.

“These visions are of the future. I remember seeing you in one. They guide me on the path to my destiny. If I sleep, I know one will come to me and it will help me find Valentine. My power is strongest when my heart fears, and right now, I’m petrified. One has to come to me. I need guidance. I need to find him.”

He struggled with his words, torn between wanting to reassure her that they would find the Aurorea and wanting to block out all mention of him. He focused on what she’d said about her visions. She’d seen him in one of them. He wondered how it was possible and then remembered that with magic anything was possible.

“Where are you from?” she asked.

He almost laughed at her abrupt change of subject. “Venice, originally, but that was a long time ago.”

“How long?” Her eyes filled with curiosity but he could see her thoughts and attention weren’t wholly with him. She was mostly making conversation to take her mind off what had happened but he was happy to give her a little respite by telling her about himself.

“A thousand years,” he said.

She didn’t appear at all stunned like he’d expected.

“I’ve met a few as old as you. Mathias is over a thousand and the previous leader of my bloodline, Iona was. I can’t imagine what it’s like to live as long as you have. Valentine has told me wonderful things about the world and the changes that have taken place, but he’s … well … I don’t know how old he is really. I’m sure he must have mentioned it.” She smiled to herself and he wanted to know what thought had evoked such a real look of happiness. “Three hundred. I remember hearing Mathias say it.”

“He’s a youngling.” He regretted his words when she scowled at him.

“You don’t know him. He’s smarter than you. He’s a hunter and he got me this far. Without him, I would be dead.”

Venturi swallowed and bit back the words he wanted to say. He wanted to defend himself, but knew that it would only make her angrier because he’d end up saying something offensive about the man she was protecting.

“A hunter? We are all hunters.” Leaning into the back of the couch, he held her gaze, not letting her look away. He could see that she wouldn’t anyway. She was determined not to let him win.

“Not like this. He’s unique. He hunts the vampire hunters. I’ve seen him fight them. I’ve seen him fight werewolves that are older than you and stronger than you’ll ever be.”

Her jaw tensed. His stomach twisted, tightening up with anger over her words. She didn’t know how strong he was, or how skilled. She had accused him of saying things about her precious Valentine when he knew nothing about him, yet here she was making offensive remarks about himself. He wanted to turn her words against her and make her see what she was doing, but found that he couldn’t. As much as he wanted to set her straight, he didn’t want to upset her further.

“Let us agree to disagree. I am not here to fight you, Prophecy. The last thing you need right now is another enemy. In time, you will change your opinion of me.”

“I didn’t mean—” She cut herself off and looked ashamed.

He leaned forwards and reached out to her but she ignored the hand he offered.

“You take everything to heart,” he said with a slight smile, hoping she would see it and come out of her shell again. “I have spent seven centuries as high guard to my lord, or should I say the man who was my lord.”

“I am sorry about what happened,” she whispered it with a weight of emotion that went straight to his heart.

“You believed you were doing the right thing. Many people have made such mistakes. It is in the past now and cannot be undone.”

“But you were his guard, surely you were close to him? How can you be so calm about it?” She sat a little straighter and fixed her dark eyes on him. There was such intent in them and he knew what she was thinking. He wasn’t unfeeling though. He did care about what happened, more than she could understand.

“He was more than my master,” he said and looked out of the window, watching the blurred scenery rushing by. They would have to change train soon. Dawn was approaching and they were due to arrive in Milan before it.

“More than your … oh!”

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She was biting her lip, her eyes wide with realisation.

“I … were…”

He smiled at how awkward she suddenly looked, as though this made what she had done even worse and her knowing that the man she had killed was his sire would automatically make him hate her. He couldn’t hate her. He’d sworn to protect her with his life. He couldn’t hate the one person who was destined to save them all from the jaws of Hell.

“I was his only child and the Chosen Son of my bloodline. When you murdered him, you passed the title of lord of Tenebrae on to me. The Chosen Daughter of our house is far away in America. We have not heard from her in some time.” He leaned back, running his eyes over her while she busied herself with smoothing a patch of her trousers. She looked as though she was having as much trouble speaking as he was. It was strange to find himself working with the one who had killed his sire, but at the same time it seemed right, as though his place was at her side.

“I’m the Chosen Daughter of my bloodline. I’m um … a Caelestis … I didn’t know if you knew.”

“I knew.”

“Oh. It’s strange. I can’t keep track of who knows what about me any more. There was a time when I knew nothing, possibly less than you did before you met me. Arkalus, the man who was the Chosen Son of my family, planted false memories in my mind to stop me from realising that I’m aging.”

He sat up and frowned at her. This was news.

“Aging? But you’re a vampire,” he said and looked her over again before taking a deep breath. Her scent told him she was without question a vampire, but then she did have the ability to control magic.

“My mother was a witch. She was turned when pregnant with me and when I was born, she sacrificed herself and passed all her powers to me. As a result, I’m part human. Valentine believes that I’m mostly vampire and that’s what I believe too. He says that my aging and magic are my only human qualities.” She smiled briefly. “I said it was complicated.”

“I hadn’t been told the full extent of matters regarding you. We were told what we needed to know and then asked to swear our allegiance to you or leave. Some of us left, but most have sworn to help you. I will occasionally contact the guards I left at the castle. When the time arises to go to war, they will join us.” He could see the gratitude in her eyes even if she couldn’t voice it.

There was a hint of relief in them. He knew that she had taken the loss of the werewolves badly and that she carried the weight of all those deaths, werewolf and Tenebrae alike, on her conscience. If there was a way to relieve her of that burden, he would have done it, but all he could do was bide his time and let her come to live with it.

“You said this Arkalus was the Chosen Son of your house. What happened to him?” he asked.

Her expression turned dark.

“He decided that he could no longer wait for the passing of our master, Iona, and killed her. Although he wanted to rule the house, there was something deeper behind his reason for murdering her and taking her place. He wanted to rule my heart, too.” A flicker of hurt and anger shone in her eyes before she turned her head away from him and stared out of the window.

It seemed to him that wherever she went, she captured men’s hearts. First, her family’s Chosen Son, and then the Aurorea she was now searching for. He had tested her during their journey and judging by the way she reacted to his treatment of Valentine’s name, she was in love with him.

Or at least she thought she was.

He wondered if he could change that.

Her anger and the way she’d wrapped her arms about herself told him that she hadn’t wanted the attentions of Arkalus and the very idea of it repulsed her. He would bide his time and see what could be done about changing her mind about her feelings for Valentine.

He cocked his head to one side when she sighed and toyed with her amulet.

She was thinking about him again.

“I do not condone in-house killing unless it is absolutely necessary. To do it for power alone should be forbidden,” he said and she raised her head.

“There are too many forbidden things these days,” she said with a spark of fire in her eyes.

He looked her over. “Like dissolution of the bloodlines?”

She didn’t say anything. Her eyes narrowed into dark slits and she held his gaze for a moment before looking away.

There was something familiar about her.

He grinned when it clicked into place inside his head like the missing piece of a jigsaw puzzle.

“The Creator Day masquerade is a wonderful moment of freedom from the laws … don’t you think?”

Her head shot up, her eyes round and her lips parted. She was definitely familiar, not only her face but her scent and the sense of power she emitted too.

“I take it you’ve been to one?” he said.

She nodded and stared hard at him as though she was trying to see if she knew him too. He swept his hair from his face and let her get a good look. She wouldn’t recognise him. The last time he’d seen her, she’d been half-scared out of her wits.

“For a woman who looked so stunning in plum, you wear black too much.”

A flicker of distress entered her eyes and she looked even more like he’d remembered. He wished that he’d known it was her back then. His lord would still have been alive today if they had managed to make contact at the ball.

“Which were you?” she said with a note of venom in her voice that he hadn’t been expecting. “I danced with two Tenebrae, both without consent. Which were you?”

He grinned. “I thought you’d remember me more clearly than that. One of two? I’m disappointed. You were the most enchanting woman at the ball. Forget the Venia that you were with at the castle, the one whose mate is a beast. It was you that every man wanted to be close to.”