Prophecy: Dark Moon Rising

Alinar Publishing
www.alinarpublishing.com

Copyright ©2007 by Felicity Heaton

First published in 2007, 2007

“I take it back. You were right.”

Prophecy threw herself flat on her back to avoid the swipe the demon took at her. She sucked her stomach in when it attacked again. Its claws cut through her shirt and her eyes widened at how close it had been to gutting her. Quickly rolling out of the way before it could take another swing at her, she got to her feet and stared at her ruined shirt. Valentine caught hold of the demon that had attacked her and flung it against the nearest wall as though it was a rag doll.

He gave her that slight smile of his, evidently satisfied by the fact she’d admitted she was wrong.

“We should have run,” she said and his smile disappeared. It wasn’t what he’d wanted to hear but she hadn’t been able to resist wiping the smug look off his face.

She shoved him in the chest, pushing him out of the path of danger as the other demon lunged at him. Its claws dug into her arm, scraping through her flesh and leaving deep gashes in their wake. She bit back the pain and her hand flew to her arm in an attempt to stem the bleeding. In the split second it took for her to use her magic to heal herself, Valentine had caught hold of the demon by its head and smashed it into the flagstones.

She grimaced when the force of his blow crushed the demon’s skull, smashing it into pieces and killing it instantly. Valentine straightened up and flicked the blood and bits of brain off his hand, leaving little splatters across the hay that littered the floor.

“What in Hell’s name are these things?” A swift kick to the head caused the second one to stumble backwards before it had time to reach Valentine. She kicked it again, this time following it through with a barrage of punches while the beast was still dazed. It changed shape on her, taking on the guise of a human and sprouting leathery wings that reminded her of a dragon. She swiftly evaded the lunge it made at her and came around behind it. Kicking it in the back, she growled when she brought her hand up. She called the magic and it came in an instant when she saw that the demon was heading for Valentine.

The power of it surged through her, making her senses go into overdrive and her body buzz. She unleashed the glowing ball of magic and it went straight to its target, burning through its wings. The demon unleashed an ear-splitting cry and Prophecy flinched away from the sound as it echoed and rung in her head. She pressed her hands to her ears as though that would make any difference. All she could do was watch as Valentine got the demon in a headlock, his forearm against the front of its throat and his other hand forcing its head forwards, throttling it until its eyes rolled back and it slumped in his arms.

He released the body, letting it drop unceremoniously to the floor.

She uncovered her ears and looked at Valentine. He looked terrible. There were little gashes marring his cheeks and forehead, and she could see a dark patch on the side of his head. He’d probably got that when one of the demons had bashed his head against the stone wall. He ran a hand through his hair, pushing the black tendrils out of his eyes, and then frowned at her. She gave him a sheepish smile and averted her gaze. Her eyes dropped to his ruined clothes. Thankfully, he wasn’t wearing his red jacket. She didn’t want to think about how much angrier with her he would have been had he been wearing it rather than the black stand up collar one he’d chosen. It had long slashes in the material and she could see his chest through them.

“Okay … maybe you were right and we shouldn’t have come here at all, but I had to see if she was here.” She looked at their surroundings. They had been barely a few feet inside Elena’s magically cloaked world when the two demons had attacked them. The whole place was crumbling and she could feel that the only thing holding it together was residual magic. Elena had moved, leaving her once beloved home to go to ruin.

Prophecy’s gaze strayed to the two demons that were lying dead on the floor.

She wished Valentine would speak. This was starting to feel like Romania all over again. She had been wrong about going there, and she was wrong about coming here. It was stupid of her to actually believe that Elena would stay somewhere so obvious.

“We should have remained with our houses at a time like this. The balance of power is delicate and we have not done enough to show our command of our bloodlines. They could easily be turned against us. We do not need a mutiny on our hands, not when danger lurks so close and we need every warrior we can get.”

She wished he hadn’t spoken after all. She could see the hardness in his eyes and hear it in his voice. In fact, his whole body spoke of anger and irritation. He was standing a few feet from her, keeping his distance, and giving her the kind of look that he used to wear shortly before calling her a child.

She was worse than a child.

That’s what he used to tell her.

She growled and threw her hands up into the air, frustration getting the better of her.

“You heard what Venturi said. The part of the scroll he’s deciphered says that when the long night begins, Elena’s power will increase. We had to see if we could end this now. I don’t want to lead an army into a war I know they won’t return from,” she shouted and then took a deep breath, struggling to regain control of her temper. Valentine’s eyes had darkened at the mention of the Tenebrae. She sighed. Venturi hadn’t been the wisest person to mention when Valentine was already angry with her. She wished he would come closer to her so she didn’t feel so cold. The distance between them was making her worry. “We have been in control of our families for over three days now, Valentine. Tiberius will be able to maintain control of my family.”

“It is not your family I am concerned with. They would follow you to the ends of the Earth.” His tone was one of dejection and she sighed again.

Venturing a step towards him, she furrowed her brows into a sorry look and tried to think of a way to reassure him that his bloodline would still be at his family’s mansion when he got back. Over the past few days, she’d watched his struggle with them and it had made her realise that she’d had it easy with her own family. Only a few had left her when she’d given them the opportunity to. Nearly half had left the house of Aurorea and Valentine hadn’t offered to let them go.

“They won’t leave you, Valentine. I know they won’t. I recognise some of their faces from my visions. The high guard you left in command was there in the last one I had, along with others, and those of my own family.” She held her hand out to him but he didn’t make a move to take it. He gave her a sceptical look, as though he hadn’t believed a word she’d said.

She couldn’t blame him for being on edge about his family. Ever since he’d killed Kalinor and taken control of his bloodline, he’d been in a foul mood. She knew that it was partly because of who they were up against as well. He knew Elena better than anyone else she knew did, and something told her that the fear she saw in his eyes each time Elena’s name was mentioned was there for a good reason. She’d never seen him so frightened.

She rubbed her arm and his gaze dropped there.

“Are you all right?” He immediately closed the gap between them and pushed up the ruined sleeve of her shirt. His fingers ran over the dried blood on her arm, the only evidence of the wound she had healed. She watched his thumb brushing lightly against her skin and savoured the feeling of his touch. It calmed her, soothing her worries and easing her cares. She smiled when she looked up into his eyes and found that all of his anger was gone, leaving only concern behind.

“I’m okay,” she said and placed her hand over his. “I know in my heart that they’ll be there, Valentine. I wish you would believe me. I didn’t want to make you angry by coming here. I didn’t want this.”

He frowned and then gathered her up into his arms, holding her head against his chest and resting his chin on top of it.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered and sighed heavily. “I should not take it out on you. You have done nothing to deserve this.”

He caught hold of her shoulders and pulled away from her, his eyes meeting hers and searching them for a brief moment before he brushed the backs of his fingers against her cheek. She felt him wipe the blood from her jaw with his thumb and smiled when he licked it clean.

“You were right,” he said.

Her eyes widened in utter shock. “I was?”

“We did need to come here in case Elena was still here. You could have easily defeated her with my help and it would have spared many lives. But it was not meant to be. The visions you have had of the battle will come to pass. We shall lead our families into this war and we shall bring them out the other side.”

She smiled into his green eyes, thanking him for trying to reassure her even when it was hopeless. As soon as the long night began, Elena’s power would increase, making her stronger than herself. Defeating Elena then would be almost impossible. Prophecy didn’t want to think about whether or not she would be able to save Valentine in that crucial moment.

She watched him nudge one of the dead demons with the toe of his boot. Sometimes when she closed her eyes, she saw the vision again. She saw him about to get his head cut off and saw herself as the one doing it. After discovering that the robed person in her visions was Elena, she realised that it wasn’t her killing Valentine. It was Elena. When Valentine had brought her here to meet Elena and ask for her assistance, the witch had altered her appearance several times.

She couldn’t believe they’d asked for assistance from their enemy.

“Elena must have killed the curator,” she said while staring distantly at the two dead demons. They looked different now.

Valentine sighed. “And it was she who took me from the battle in the castle.”

“It was her who sent us there to kill the lord of Tenebrae, so she would have one less powerful enemy to defeat.” Everything was starting to become painfully clear and she felt so stupid for ever believing a word that Elena had said. “It was the zombie dogs wasn’t it? They ripped the curator and his friends to shreds. It wasn’t werewolves. She made us come to see her so she could send us to do her dirty work. Now she’s disappeared and the eclipse is getting closer. I can feel it.”

“These two will not be the only ones she will have left here,” he said and crouched to inspect the demons.

“What are they?” she asked again.

He looked at her. He was on one knee, his arm resting across his other thigh and his left hand against his hip.

“Aleaeries,” he said without any emotion. “Mercenaries. The best there are.”

She swallowed and stared at them. They’d changed shape on her at least three times during the fight, starting out in the guise of a human that had fooled her and Valentine into believing that everything was still all right. It had only been when she’d sensed that the magic holding the place together was weaker now that they’d realised Elena was gone. A split second after that the two demons had attacked. They had been strong. It was easy to see why their species were bounty hunters. With the ability to shape-shift and the skills they had, they were perfect for the job. They had reverted to their original shape after death had taken them. Their scaly skin and horns made them look like children of the Devil. They looked like something straight out of Hell.

Valentine stood up and brushed off his knee. She smiled at what he was doing. His trousers were ruined, so why was he bothering to rid them of dust? It was so like him to still want to be as presentable as possible even when he was wearing clothes with long tears in them.