Prophecy: Dark Moon Rising (33 page)

I am sorry I could not stay. The time has come to be strong. I will fight her until the last of my strength has left me. Promise me you will do the same. Follow your heart and do not be scared to make the hard decisions facing you. I will understand. Look to the mountains and your vision. You will know where to find me. Always yours, Valentine.

She smiled and held the note to her chest, staring at the ceiling. He was always telling her how strong she was. Maybe it was time she really started believing him. He thought she could do this and she didn’t want to let him down.

She frowned when she sat up. The sun was bright outside. Glowing white spots punctured the tattered curtains. Thankfully no harmful rays entered the room. She glanced down at the stack of spells beside the bed and then stared at them.

They were no longer in the order she’d left them. On top was a destruction spell. She picked it up and glared at it. Valentine must have looked through them and found one suitable for killing him with. She was tempted to screw the piece of paper up into a ball and throw it away, showing him just what she thought of his plan. Instead, she looked at the next spell down. It was the one she’d come across just before Valentine had shown up.

The one she thought could help her.

Picking it up, she barely had time to look at it before purple flames ate through the paper it was written on. She gasped in pain as it disintegrated before her eyes. The flames danced around her hand before slowly fading. Turning her hand over, she watched the magic swirling around inside the stone of her amulet.

What had it done?

The spell was gone.

She concentrated, trying to remember what the words of the spell were, and cried out in agony when her marks burned fiercely, as though white-hot pokers were being plunged into her body.

She squinted with watering eyes at her hand. The stone was glowing brightly and in its depths she could see the words of the spell swimming around.

It hadn’t destroyed the spell; it had absorbed it.

She passed the destruction one in her left hand across to her right and it had a similar fate to the other spell. Only this time the magic was almost black.

She frowned and thought about the spell.

Her eyes widened when the pain returned and she was shocked when the earth trembled. Her attention shot to the window when the room darkened and she raced over to it. Yanking the curtains aside, she braced herself for the sun, but none greeted her.

Silence engulfed the world.

She grabbed the box and looked at her hand, seeing that the stone in her amulet was normal again. This couldn’t be her doing.

Sprinting from the room, she’d made it to the top of the stairs when the first wave of excruciating pain tore through her, sending her senses reeling. She barely managed to hold onto the box of spells and clutched at the banisters, trying to steady herself and stop herself from collapsing. The wave passed and she pressed on, only to be hit with another as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

It was getting darker outside.

And colder.

The silence was wrong somehow, as though it wasn’t the right reaction to what was happening. Her marks pulsed and stung. Her head throbbed. Every bone in her body was aching.

It all felt as though any moment now, she was going to plunge into some terrible abyss and the world was going to be dragged with her. They were all going to Hell.

She made it to the door and staggered across the porch.

Power surged through her when she raised her eyes to the sky.

The shimmering white halo sent a shiver through her.

Screams pierced the air. The birds flew their roosts. People ran down the road outside the gates. Where were they running to? There was nowhere to go. You couldn’t escape this.

She closed the lid of the box and shut the door to her mother’s house. Giving it one last look, she remembered how peaceful everything had been last night and thanked her mother for giving her that time with Valentine. She turned away from the house and ran to the gates, vaulting them and landing silently in the street beyond.

It was pandemonium. Some people were running and others were sitting quietly, staring at the halo as though any moment now the sun would come back to light the Earth for them. Darkness made the streetlights buzz into life.

She pushed her way past the people who were crowding the small road and turned down the street that led back towards town. She got the distinct impression that getting a taxi wasn’t going to be an option.

Another shiver and pulse of magic raced through her. She glanced at her hand, willing the magic to stay inside and resist the call that was being sent to it. It seeped into her blood, dizzying her with the power, intoxicating her. She widened her eyes, struggling for focus as it overwhelmed her.

Spotting a payphone, she picked up the receiver and tried to shut out the panicked screams of the people around her. Everyone had come out of their houses to see what was happening. She could barely hear herself think.

She slotted some coins into the machine and decided that she really needed to get a mobile phone as she punched the number in.

“Hello?” A voice answered.

“This is Prophecy. Get me Venturi.” She didn’t waste any time. Right now there didn’t seem any time to waste.

Clearly Venturi was thinking the same as her because he was on the phone within a few seconds.

“Prophecy? Where the hell are you? Are you all right?” His panicked tone seemed to give her permission to feel the same. She couldn’t stop the feeling as it swept through her, the voice at the back of her mind telling her that this was it. The end was coming. She’d run out of time.

She shut out that voice too and concentrated on what had to be done. She had to be strong or they were never going to win.

“I’m fine. It’s madness here. Everyone has gone insane. I can’t get a taxi to the airport. I’ll have to run for it. Call the jet and have them prepare for take off. I’ll be back as soon as possible.” She paused and then added, “I hope to the Devil you’ve got that scroll translated.”

“We are almost there. Hyperion has been of great assistance. Are you sure that you are all right?” There was so much concern in his voice that she sighed.

“I’m fine. Are you okay? You sound a little…” She didn’t quite know the right word to choose. She’d probably offend him if she said he sounded panicked.

“The younglings are scared. It is taking everything we have to keep them calm. Not even Hyperion can soothe them. You must come back.”

She froze when she remembered what Valentine had written in her note.

In a calm, measured tone, she said, “Venturi. Contact your home in Romania. I have a terrible feeling that something is wrong there.”

There was silence.

After a minute, he answered in a composed voice, “I will. Be careful.”

With that, he placed the phone down. She didn’t want to add to any panic that he was feeling but there were only one set of mountains she’d seen in her visions and that was in Romania.

Hanging up the receiver, she waited until there was a gap in the crowd and ran as fast as she could down into the town.

Prophecy strode back into her house. Venturi was right. The younglings were panicking about the eclipse. They pushed past her, rushing about like the humans in Florence had been.

She stopped dead in the hall, still clutching the box of her mother’s spells. The look of alarm on their faces wasn’t just about the eclipse. They were looking at her with fear. Something else was going on here.

“Calm down!” she commanded and there was instant silence. Everyone stopped to look at her. “Someone tell me what is going on!”

“Prophecy!” Serenity came rushing down the stairs. “They’re here. They’re here.”

Prophecy looked at her as she came to a halt in front of her. She’d never seen Serenity looking so frightened.

“Who is here?” she said.

“The Law Keepers,” Serenity answered.

Those words dropped into Prophecy’s stomach like lead weights. She stared at the far wall for a moment, gathering herself. What the hell were they doing showing up at a time like this?

“Where?” she said with grim determination. There was no way she was going to argue about laws when there was a permanent eclipse going on, and a war about to break out.

“The study.”

She went straight there and pushed the door open. Every occupant of the room got a hard look as they turned to face her. Her anger dissipated a little when she saw Venturi. He was staring at her while Hyperion spoke to him. His look said it all. He hadn’t been able to contact Romania and he was worried.

She glanced at Piotr. There was a similar anxious look on his face.

Ignoring the four Law Keepers standing before her, she went around the table to Venturi. She placed her hand lightly on his shoulder and he turned to face her, his blue eyes showing so much sadness that her heart ached.

“No word?” she asked. It seemed like the right thing to say even when she already knew the answer.

Piotr shifted foot to foot behind her. Venturi looked over her shoulder at his guard, his expression softening.

“She will be all right,” he said.

Prophecy glanced at Piotr. He nodded but didn’t seem any happier.

Venturi took hold of her arm and led her away to the corner. She let him. She was too tired to oppose him taking command over her and she didn’t want to hurt him by making him talk in front of so many people. Pain squirmed in her stomach because of his touch. The claim hadn’t had time to settle down yet and the feeling of another man’s touch repulsed her. She held it back, forcing it to the recesses of her mind.

“There was no answer at the inn.” His voice was a whisper and he glanced at Piotr again. “My commander is worried about a woman back home. I am worried about my men. How did you know something was happening there?”

She hesitated for a moment.

“Valentine told me,” she said and Venturi’s look darkened. She squeezed his shoulder in an effort to comfort him. She didn’t know whether she was consoling him about Romania or about her seeing Valentine. “He was fine when he was in my mother’s house. He left me a note saying where to find Elena. The final battle will be in Romania. I’ve seen it so many times in my visions.”

He averted his eyes and stared at the carpet.

“I am glad you have been enjoying Valentine’s company while we hosted your honoured guests. Did you find anything of help in Florence?” The spite in his voice made her flinch.

She went to touch his arm but he evaded her.

Withdrawing her hand, she curled it into a fist. He had a right to be angry, even though he knew she had gone there to see Valentine. If he’d left her to see another woman, she would have been jealous too.

And she would have been angry if she’d had to play host to four Law Keepers.

“I found spells. They’re strong, and dangerous. I think I can fight her now.”

He looked at her again. “Valentine is not the only one who has been leaving you notes. The Three of Paris have been in contact.”

“Oh,” she said and frowned at his quick change of subject. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw one of the Law Keepers step forwards. She sighed and held Venturi’s gaze. The Law Keeper could wait all he wanted. She had more important matters to attend to. She raised her hand and tentatively touched Venturi’s cheek. “I am glad to see you again.”

He closed his eyes and sighed.

“Try to contact Romania again. Did you ask Dmitri?” She took her hand away.

“None of his men are there. Mia and himself are refusing to come down while the Law Keepers are here but I am sure they will be glad of your return.” He reopened his eyes and glared at the four uniformed vampires.

“I can’t blame them,” she said and caught hold of his arm, making him come with her.

As she approached Hyperion, he leaned casually back in his chair. He didn’t seem at all flustered by the Law Keepers. He smiled wickedly at her and nodded, his gaze raking over her body. She rolled her eyes when he gave her a hungry look.

“Having fun?” she said.

He grinned and dismissively waved his hand at the Law Keepers. “They do not bother me.”

She was about to ask how it was possible for him not to be bothered by the Law Keepers when he growled at them. They all flinched and backed off a step.

“Been toying with our guests?” She raised a brow at him and tried to stop the smile his broad grin drew out of her.

Evidently, he found Law Keepers amusing. With his Watchmen lining the wall near the door and the power he had, Law Keepers wouldn’t prove much of a threat to him. They were probably nothing more than irritating little flies buzzing around him, unworthy of his attention unless he happened to grow bored.

He growled again and stood sharply. Every Law Keepers’ eyes flashed the colour of their bloodline, revealing to her that they were missing the Nocens, the Validus and the Caelestis. She noted the lack of the Caelestis Law Keeper. Was he elsewhere on business or somewhere in the house? Surely Venturi would have told her if he was in the mansion.

She looked at the Vehemens Law Keeper. She recognised him from their encounter in Budapest but he looked different in the light. He was standing with two of the others nearer the back of the room. Between her and the three stood the Law Keeper for Aurorea.

Ignoring him as she passed, she went straight to the Vehemens.

“I am lady of this house. I believe you had a matter you wished to discuss with me.” Her voice was smooth and calm, her air relaxed as she fixed him with an innocent look, barely holding her annoyance beneath the surface. What right had they to come here at a time like this?

The Aurorea moved forwards. Clearly he saw himself as head of the group. It was odd considering that all Law Keepers were deemed equal. She had a right to speak to whichever one she chose, and she had chosen the one least likely to put up a fight. In the Vehemens’ eyes, she could see that he remembered her and he knew what she’d seen that night. If she were to mention it, his career and that of the female Nocens Law Keeper would be over before the hour had passed.