Prophecy: Caelestis & Aurorea (6 page)

Drinking the rest of the blood, she placed the glass down and focused on the half of the scroll that Mathias was now pawing over.

“I recognise some of these glyphs.” Mathias smiled at her and she returned it.

“You think you’ll be able to translate it all? I don’t know how much it will be able to tell you but I’m sure when we find the second half of it we’ll know exactly how I’m supposed to fulfil this prophecy.”

He nodded and adjusted his glasses. “It will take time.”

“I can help,” Venturi said and she looked at him. The corners of his mouth tugged into a brief smile.

“Thank you.” She lowered her eyes to the scroll again. “Will it be better to have both of you working on this?”

“It will double the chances of success if nothing else,” Mathias said and then paused with his finger halfway down the scroll. “I have not been able to locate the second half, but I will keep working on it. I have asked many of my contacts to discreetly ask people they know about its whereabouts.”

“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” she said and touched his hand. “I have two more things to ask of you.”

“Go on,” he said.

“One is that I can have the room you so kindly allowed me to use before so I can get cleaned up.” She saw him nod but hesitated, unable to find the right words to say the second request that she had.

“And?” Mathias frowned at her.

She shut out the look of unease that Venturi was giving her.

“The other … I would like to sleep,” she said, dropping her gaze so it rested on the table.

“I do not see how I can help in that matter.” Mathias’ voice was laced with confusion.

She ran her finger lightly along the grain of the wood on the table, building up the courage to raise her head and explain to him what she wanted.

“Do you still have Valentine’s jacket?” Her head moved a fraction so she was staring at Venturi’s hands where they were grasping the table so tightly that his knuckles were white.

“I do, but I cannot see how it will help you sleep.”

“There’s something in the inside pocket. It’s a box,” she said and looked straight into Mathias’ eyes. “I need you to drug me.”

“Prophecy, no!” Venturi interjected and she stared at him.

“It’s the only way for me to sleep and I need the vision it will bring me. Can’t you see I can’t go on like this? I can’t. I need to find him.” She turned to Mathias and grabbed hold of his hand. “Please, Mathias. It won’t hurt me. Just let me sleep a while. I’m so tired and I can’t focus. I have to see if sleep will bring me a vision of Valentine. I have to find him before Kalinor…”

He placed his hand over hers and squeezed it. “I will help. Go and prepare yourself. I will come shortly and do what you have asked.”

She smiled and avoided looking at Venturi when she left the room. It was clear he didn’t approve of what she’d asked Mathias to do, but it was the only option left.

Venturi watched her go and then turned to face the Aurorea that he was left standing next to.

“You will send her into darkness and trap her with a vision that could torment her?” he said, not keeping the venom from his voice. What did he care if the Aurorea saw his concern about Prophecy?

“I will keep an eye on her. If she appears restless, I will give her the antidote. I am not going to risk her, Valentine would never forgive me if I did, but I cannot refuse her request.” Mathias opened a box and took out four round, polished stones. He placed one at each corner of the partial manuscript.

Venturi couldn’t understand how Mathias could agree to Prophecy’s request. He knew the drug she was speaking of and he knew how dangerous it would be to use it to make her sleep. If the visions she had affected her emotionally like a vision from blood could, then it would be insane to trap her with one. There was no guarantee that what she saw wouldn’t distress her and with the drug in effect, she’d have no way of waking herself up. He had used the drug before and the one he had used it on had shown no sign of movement. It had rendered them unconscious, not put them to sleep.

He dug his fingernails into the table and growled, struggling to control the feelings inside of him. It was her choice and her decision to make. If she wanted to risk her sanity for the sake of a vision, he couldn’t stop her.

“At least let me be the one to watch her,” he said.

“Why?”

“I have sworn to protect her, to guard her. I should be the one to keep a watch over her. If she shows the slightest sign of panic, I will wake her.”

Mathias eyed him closely and then sighed.

“So be it. I am not one to argue when it is pointless. She may only show the tiniest sign of distress. The antidote will take effect quickest if you inject her in the neck.”

“I know how to use it,” he said and then reminded himself that he had told Prophecy he would be kind to her companions. “I mean, I thank you for your instructions, but I am not a youngling.”

“Valentine’s jacket is in his room. Go upstairs and it is the third door on your left. You can check if Prophecy is ready while you are there. Her door is the one nearest the stairs.” Mathias bent over the parchment and pulled a book towards him.

Venturi watched him flick the book open and begin leafing through the pages and then he turned towards the door. Heading up the stairs, he kept the Aurorea’s instructions in mind and paused at the door that should have been Prophecy’s. He pressed his ear to it and reached out with his senses, trying to find her on the other side. He could hear water running and could smell some kind of perfume or scented product. Closing his eyes, he dragged himself away, running his fingers over the door as he went.

Going to the room where he was supposed to find the drug, he pushed the door open and inhaled deeply. It smelt like the vampire he’d met. He scanned the objects in the room and then stopped when he reached the bed. Laying neatly on it was the jacket that must have belonged to the Aurorea. It was a rich red colour and trimmed with gold decoration. The way it was laid out said a lot about its owner. It hadn’t been discarded or thrown onto the bed. It had been placed there with much respect and care. He wondered just what kind of man it was that Prophecy proclaimed to be in love with.

He had half a mind to take the box out of the pocket and toss the jacket back onto the bed, but he couldn’t bring himself to go through with it. Picking it up, he carefully removed the box that Prophecy had said would be in the inside pocket, and equally as carefully laid the jacket down on the bed. He smoothed the sleeves and stared at it.

It was strange that an item of clothing could draw respect from him, but it did. Whoever this man was, he had once had standing within his family and from what he’d learnt from Prophecy, he was extremely skilled. Maybe he wasn’t such a youngling after all.

“What are you doing in here?”

He turned on hearing Prophecy’s voice. She was standing in the doorway, a towel still held against her damp hair while her other hand secured the one around her body.

“I…” He was lost for words as he stared at her.

She came forwards and looked at the jacket, her already red eyes refilling with tears on seeing it.

“I came to get the drug,” he said at last and showed her the box. “Do not cry. I do not think so proud a man as this Valentine would like to know you are crying over him.”

He went to reach out to brush away the tear on her cheek but she rubbed the back of her hand across her face, disposing of it.

“I miss him,” she said in a voice heavy with emotion.

His chest tightened and he took a step forwards, wanting to comfort her just as Mathias had done on their arrival. She turned away, evading his touch. All he could do was watch her. She pressed a kiss to her fingers and brushed it against the collar of the jacket.

“He looks so beautiful in it. He was wearing it the night that we met and when he saved me from certain death. When I discover where he is, I’ll take it to him. He’ll be glad to see it again.”

She walked past him and out into the hall, pausing only briefly at the door to look back into the room. But she didn’t look at him. Her focus was wholly with the jacket and he could see her thoughts were with its owner.

Tightening his grip on the box, Venturi followed her into her room and closed the door behind him. He waited for her come back out of the bathroom. When she did, his eyes followed her progress across the room. She had changed into a satin nightdress. Its soft black material clung to her curves.

He swallowed when she sat on the edge of the bed and looked at him.

“Isn’t Mathias coming?” she said.

He shook his head. “He is going to start translating the scroll. I have said I would watch you and revive you if you show signs of distress.”

He was a little surprised when she lie back on the bed, accepting his words without any question. He’d expected her to demand that Mathias be the one to look after her, especially after the amount of time they’d spent bickering and the fact that he’d made no effort to conceal his growing feelings for her.

Approaching her, he toyed with the slim wooden box and opened the catch when he reached her. Pulling the lid up, he saw that one of the phials of black and one of the clear had already been used. He looked at Prophecy and saw in her eyes that she had an explanation.

“I didn’t say that I had gone with him willingly. In fact, he kidnapped me.”

“He kidnapped you?” He placed the box down on the small cupboard beside the bed.

“I prefer that to what he should have done.” She smiled at him and slipped under the bed covers, drawing them up to her chest.

His eyes came to rest on the marks there. He could clearly see the ones on her shoulders now as well as the one over her heart.

“What should he have done?” His tone was dreamy as he stared at the mark on her left shoulder, mesmerised by all of the symbols etched around the star.

“Executed me.”

He stared straight into her eyes, his own reflecting his disbelief. She didn’t seem at all disturbed by what she’d just told him and he couldn’t believe how light her tone had been, as though it didn’t matter that the man she so badly wanted to rescue was the one who should have killed her.

“There’s no need to look like that. He saved me, didn’t he? He’s the reason I’m here today and not dust in the wind like so many people want me to be.” Her eyes moved to rest on the box. “Now if you don’t mind … I’d like to sleep.”

He kept his eyes fixed on her a moment longer and then turned towards the box. Taking up the syringe, he pulled out one of the small glass bottles of toxin and punctured the lid with the needle. Drawing the liquid into the syringe, he contemplated what he was about to do. As much as he was against drugging her, he had no say in it. All he could do was watch over her and wake her the second she needed him to.

“Ready?” he said.

She nodded and closed her eyes.

Leaning over her, he slowly injected her neck, wincing at the same time she did. He withdrew the needle when it was empty and placed it back in the box, waiting a few seconds before pulling her left eyelid up.

Black.

Dragging a chair across the room, he placed it next to the bed and sat down in it. He filled the syringe with the clear liquid and tightly gripped it, staring at her.

The second she looked as though she was in trouble, he was going to wake her.

He didn’t care if she hadn’t had a vision, or if she’d only been asleep for five seconds.

He wasn’t going to let her get hurt.

He’d never let her get hurt.

“Mother?” Prophecy called out into the darkness.

It was cold and even in vampire guise she couldn’t see anything. The blood in her veins felt icy and her body was beginning to ache.

“Mother, are you there?” she said again but still no reply came.

She wondered what kind of vision this was. The last time she had been in a void like this, it had been when she’d somehow travelled into the stone in her amulet. She looked up at the sky, but there was no light.

Wrapping her arms about herself, she wondered where she was. It was getting colder and it was beginning to make her sleepy. Her head was heavy and her limbs were unresponsive. Sitting on the floor, she tried to keep her eyes open, but found it was impossible.

Lying down, she curled up into a ball and sighed out her breath.

“Valentine.”

She breathed in sharply when she felt suddenly light and her feet felt as though they were dropping. She was falling. She fluttered her eyes open and instead of being surrounded by inky blackness, she was lying in a park. The tall green trees swayed in the breeze and it drew her attention to the storm-swept sky behind them. The lightness of the clouds told her it was still day out but it didn’t frighten her. The sun couldn’t do her any harm. None of this was real, yet.

Getting to her feet, she wondered where she had been before if this was her vision. Wherever it was, it had been cold and numbing. She had felt alone and weary, so tired that she had wanted to give in.

She looked around her at the empty park and then up at the building in front of her. Its height was impressive as well as its length. On top of its spiked stone façade was a large terracotta-coloured dome. Her attention remained with it and she tried to make out the colours of the flag it was flying.

“Prophecy,” someone whispered and she turned on the spot, searching for the owner of the voice.

It was a voice that she knew well. Not her mother this time, but the man she was searching for.

“Valentine? Where are you?” she said and continued to turn. He was nowhere to be seen. She tried to convince herself that her mind was playing tricks on her. She’d been thinking about him so much that she’d managed to influence her vision. Shaking her head, she tried to rid it of any thoughts, wanting it clear so she would only see what she was supposed to.

She walked to the gate of the park and out towards a river she could see. It was broad and dark, muddier than the one that cut her city in half. She stared across it to the other bank and up at a church that sat on the hill.