Prophecy: Child of Light (19 page)

The tall witch gave her a sinister smile that sent a shudder up her spine.

“It is time you learnt your true power.”

* * * *

P
rophecy stared at the amulet as she walked. Her fingers still hummed and her whole body was buzzing. She couldn’t believe the things the witches had told her. She’d had a mother. She’d had a powerful, brave mother.

She lowered her hand when she heard a noise and then thought nothing of it when it didn’t come again. She continued along the dark streets, heading back towards the hotel. The sky was clouding over. Small streaks swept across the moon, glowing silver-grey as they passed it. She’d lost track of time when she was with the witches and couldn’t tell how late it was. The sky was still pitch black and the lights were still lit on the Eiffel Tower and other landmark buildings. There weren’t many people around though. She’d only seen a couple since leaving the witches.

The witches had told her to be careful.

She decided that she wouldn’t have felt so jumpy if they hadn’t said that.

She walked out of a small road and into a large square. It was dimly lit and the moon had disappeared completely behind cloud, leaving the world in darkness. She sharpened her senses so she would be able to pick up on anything out of the ordinary. She considered changing into her vampire guise so she could see better and then decided against it. There were still people around and she didn’t need to add any other crimes to her already growing list.

She frowned when she sensed something and looked around her at all sides of the square but couldn’t see anything in the shadows. Walking faster, she kept her eyes fixed on the road that would lead to the hotel, and sharpened her senses. Her imagination conjured images of werewolves and vampire hunters. It wasn’t far to the hotel. She could make it.

Something moved again. It was stronger now, which could only mean it was closer.

She jumped when a cat ran across her path.

“Stupid kitty.” She watched it go and tried to relax. That’s all it had been. Just a cat.

She froze.

Instinct forced her to change as her senses screamed of danger.

She turned on the spot and stared at the man standing not fifteen foot from her. His face was hidden in shadow, his scraggly hair hanging to below his jaw blocking the light. She sized him up, assessing the situation and all possible outcomes. He wasn’t of a broad build like Arkalus, or tall like Valentine. He seemed average in every way. Her instincts told her not to underestimate him when he moved forwards into a more brightly lit section of the square and she saw his face.

There was hardness in his eyes, and a sparkle of wisdom and calmness that set her nerves on edge.

“So you’re a Caelestis,” he said in a deep voice that made her stomach flip.

He knew what she was. He knew the bloodlines. He wasn’t a vampire; he was human. A hunter.

Her mind raced and she considered whether this was the hunter that Valentine had spoken of. She wished he were here with her. She couldn’t fight a hunter alone. She’d never met one before and she didn’t know what to do. If Valentine had never been able to kill this one, then how could she?

She backed off a step, wanting to place some distance between them and hoping she could get closer to the alley that led out of the square. She had been stupid to walk straight across it when she couldn’t see into the shadows. She should have walked around the perimeter, keeping to the shadows herself.

The hunter moved with her and her eyes were drawn to his hands. He had a weapon. She flexed her fingers, trying to focus but finding it impossible when the hunter raised the crossbow and pointed it at her.

“Why don’t you fight?” he asked with a frown.

She glanced at the alley and then at him.

“There’s no escape. I hadn’t realised that you were a Caelestis. I thought you’d be an Aurorea too.”

It was him. He was the one who had followed them when they’d first arrived in Paris. What did she do? It was obvious he wasn’t going to let her go, not without a fight first. She didn’t want to fight him. There was something about him that made a part of her not want to hurt him. He was familiar somehow.

She looked at the alley again.

“Not going to fight me then?”

She shook her head, wanting to run but finding her feet didn’t want to cooperate while he had the crossbow trained on her. She flexed her fingers again and he looked down at her hand, frowning at it and cocking his head to one side as he did so. When he lowered the crossbow a fraction, she bolted for the alley.

She had made it out of the other side when she felt something impact in her shoulder. She didn’t stop running as the pain erupted and every vein in her body felt as though it was filling with ice cold liquid.

She stumbled and fell, landing hard on her knees and left hand as she tried to stop herself from damaging the stone in the amulet she wore. Her head ached and spun, the world spinning with it as her mouth turned dry. She swallowed repeatedly but it had no effect. Pushing herself up onto her feet, she clutched at her head as it swam and her stomach turned, making her feel like throwing up. She cringed as the points on her shoulders, stomach and chest began to burn and the ice in her veins was replaced with a fire.

When she moved her arm, she felt the dart in her shoulder and reached over, trying to grab hold of it but failing.

She was hot, too hot.

She wiped her brow with her hand, stunned to find sweat coating her palm as she brought it away. She turned around, her eyes shifting in and out of focus as she tried to see if the hunter was nearby. Her senses were off the scale, as though a million people were surrounding her but not at the same time. She couldn’t concentrate on anything but the intense pain that ebbed and flowed through her.

She had to get to Valentine. He’d know what to do.

Pushing onwards, she clung to the walls of the buildings as she made her way back to the hotel at a painstakingly slow pace. Everything was getting darker, as though a black film was coating her vision and was getting worse as time drew on. She was barely conscious and had to force herself to keep her eyes open and keep moving. Her limbs were heavy as she approached the turning that led to the hotel. She felt numb, cold and hot at the same time. She reached again for the dart she could feel in her back and then pressed herself into the wall. She rubbed her back against it, gritting her teeth and crying out in pain when it didn’t shift the dart. It just hurt.

She looked up to see the hotel sign and forced herself to keep heading towards it. She stumbled through the lobby, ignoring the calls of the concierge and staff when they saw the state she was in. She needed Valentine.

Valentine would save her.

Fumbling with the little buttons in the lift, she tried to focus on them as they swam in front of her eyes and she pressed the one that she thought corresponded to her floor. When the doors opened, she fell out into the hall and tried to stand but found she didn’t have the strength.

She was so tired, so very tired. She just wanted to sleep. She crawled along the carpet, heading for the door to their suite by following her muddled senses. She could smell Valentine. She could smell his blood. He would fix her and make the hurt go away.

Reaching the door, she clawed herself up into a standing position and pressed her hand into it. Her head spun and she barely managed to stop herself from passing out as the world around her twisted and distorted in front of her eyes.

Mustering up the strength, she managed to bang her fist down once on the door before slipping into unconsciousness.

V
alentine paced the length of the room, his hand balled into a fist and pressed against his mouth as he waited. She couldn’t have been gone long. Mathias’ phone call had woken him about two hours after the sun had set. Stupid girl. Why had she gone without him? He knew where she’d gone and he couldn’t bear the thought of her going to see them alone. Why?

He sighed heavily and let his hand drop to his side. He winced when his shoulder throbbed with pain. Had she gone without him because she was under some kind of misguided belief that he wasn’t fit enough to go out into the night? He’d had injuries worse than this before and had still managed to fight.

Where was she?

He glanced at the clock again. It was almost three in the morning. If she had left shortly after sunset, then she had been gone a long time.

He had to find her.

Grabbing his jacket, he headed for the door and stopped dead when a weak knock sounded. He opened the door and dropped his jacket as Prophecy fell into his arms. He collapsed to the floor with her, cradling her gently as she writhed against him. She was burning up. He pressed his hand against her forehead. She had some kind of fever. He caught her under her arms, gritted his teeth against the pain in his shoulder and dragged her into the living area.

Going back to the door, he closed it and locked it. He looked at Prophecy.

She was lying on the floor muttering things to herself. When she moved, something caught his eye and he frowned. He went to her and pulled her up into a sitting position so he could get a better look at the slim shaft protruding from her shoulder. His stomach dropped when he recognised the type of dart. The hunter had found her.

He tried to ignore her ramblings as she moved closer to him. He didn’t want to hear the things she was saying while under the influence of the drug. He couldn’t stand hearing them.

She ran her hands up over his chest and he winced as they passed over his injury. She drew him closer to her, tugging harder when he tried to resist her and smiling coyly when he complied.

“My blood burns...” she whispered into his ear and tingles swept up his spine. “I hunger...”

He leaned to one side so his ear was away from her lips and the temptation they offered him but she pulled him back to her, digging her fingers in as she shivered with the fever. He looked at her. She was barely holding on as she moved her mouth back to his ear. He couldn’t miss the seductive tone her voice had taken on as she whispered into it.

“Only your blood can sate mine, Valentine... give it to me... don’t deny me...”

He closed his eyes, struggling against his desire to do as she’d asked and let her have what she wanted from him. He was powerless to resist her and she knew it. He tensed when she ran her lips slowly down the right side of his neck, teasing his skin.

“You have been drugged.” He tried to keep focused while she edged ever downwards. “The dart was drugged and fitted with a tracking device.”

He didn’t know why he was still talking, she wasn’t listening to him, but he felt compelled to talk, as though by doing so he could pretend this wasn’t happening and could still the desires that were beginning to take control.

She reached the curve of his throat and nipped at him with blunt teeth. He could feel her feverish skin against his shoulder as she drew the collar of his shirt to one side. He could feel it all happening, sense it before it even happened, and he knew there was no way he could stop her.

There was no way he would stop her.

He wanted it to happen.

He wrapped his hand around the dart in her back and pulled it out of her at the exact moment she sank her sharp teeth into his neck. He tensed, his whole body jolting with pleasure as she pulled on his blood and moaned low in her throat. He crushed the dart, letting it fall to the floor in pieces and trying to focus on it as he resisted giving in to the delicious feeling running through him. She just needed blood to cleanse her own of the drug and that’s what he was giving her. That was all.

Bringing his hands around as she sucked harder, stirring his passion into life, he hesitated for a moment, standing on a brink between retaining control and distance, and surrendering to his darkest desires.

He wanted to focus and suppress his memories, but she was so hungry for his blood, for him, that it made it impossible. He let his hands hover over her, wanting to hold her to him but not wanting to at the same time. He couldn’t cross that line. It was forbidden. They were doomed anyway. They had already committed sin when they’d fled together. No, he wouldn’t cross that line. Crossing it would be admitting that he was doing all this for a reason other than it being his fault that she was discovered. Her life had been stolen from her. That was the reason he was doing this. It had nothing to do with the reasons his dreams whispered to him.

He closed his eyes when she bit down harder, her fingertips digging into his ribs as she held onto him. Before he’d realised what he was doing, he’d wrapped his arms about her. He felt as though he was falling as he held onto her, burying his fingers into her wild red hair and holding her to his neck.

The feeling of her fangs in him was divine, an exquisite pain that defied words, and he found himself clinging to her and letting her take everything she wanted from him. He wouldn’t stop her, not now, not ever. He couldn’t stop her. He didn’t have the will any more. Something that felt this right could never be wrong. The law had no hold over him any more.

His body ached and tightened in response to the desire she was stirring in him, and he growled quietly when her fingers moved against his sides, drawing him towards her.

When he opened his eyes and the room spun, he pushed her away from him, forcing her to stop drinking. She looked at him. Her mouth was surrounded by blood and her eyes were still a vivid shade of green. He stared into them and didn’t stop her when she moved to lick the wound. He closed his eyes, breathing in deeply and relishing this last drop of pleasure she was offering him by closing the wound. Her tongue moved lightly over his skin, fanning the embers of his passion until he was forced to push her away again for fear of doing something he’d regret.

“We need to move. Are you feeling any better?”

She blinked at him and slid out of her vampire guise. She looked more conscious now at least. The drug would be starting to wear off and his blood would have helped, but she needed more if she was to cleanse her system. He stood up and ignored the way his head spun. He should have stopped her sooner. She’d taken so much from him and he’d been dangerously lost in the feeling of it all. He should have kept his focus and not let it affect him, but it had been impossible.