The Fire Within (The Fire of The Soul Series) (10 page)

"This is what you call a small gathering?"
I ask Victor as we stand before the crowd at the top of the staircase.

"Only a handful," Victor grins before he
takes my hand in his, and we walk over to our seats facing out towards the
crowd. There are four other people at our table, all of them facing the crowd.
The table is rectangular in shape and is covered by a white sheet with lace
trimmings. There is a spread of food across the table, roasted and cold meats,
vegetables, baked potatoes and salads. Two people at our table are sipping from
the clear goblets. It would have been stupid to assume that the crimson liquid
inside of the goblets was anything but blood. However, I am far from stupid and
that assumption did not come to mind.

Victor pulls out my chair and I placed myself within
it, smiling slightly at the people sitting with us. Victor places himself beside
me on my left, and on my right is a bulky tanned man, and I have a feeling that
he is not a vampire.

"Good Evening Gentlemen, Astoria," Victor
addresses the three gentlemen and the Lady sitting at our table. "As I'm
sure you have already assumed this is my dear Annabelle, my betrothed,"
Victor says smiling genuinely at the other people sitting at our table.

"Anna, on your far right is Lord Baron he is an
old friend of my parents. Beside you is Kayden, he is in charge of my Special
Force Intelligence and one of my closest friends. Beside me is Lady Astoria and
Lord Augustus, again they are old family friends and my Godparents,"
Victor says, introducing me to his family.

"It is so very nice to meet you all," I
say sweetly and for the first time in my life I actually mean it. Victor stands
after everyone has sat down in their seats. He ushers me to stand up with him
and so I oblige.

"I thank you all for attending tonight. Each
and every one of you are dear to my heart, and so I have asked you to come hear
tonight, so that I may present my betrothed to our society. I want you all to
treat Anna as one of us. We have not as yet decided on a wedding date, but I
hope that you will all be apart of it," Victor says before sitting back
down, and I quickly follow suit. It isn't long until everybody is eating and
enjoying each other's company. The food is divine; it tantalizes my senses and
melts within my mouth.

It isn't too long until I have my fill. Victor is
still talking to Lord Augustus and Lady Astoria. Kayden turns to me and smiling
sweetly asks "May I have this dance Anna?" I had promised Victor to
stay beside his side but having one dance with his closest friend could hardly
hurt.

"Of course you may Kayden," I reply
standing up and allowing him to lead me out onto the dance floor.

"Please call my Kay." He says grinning
from ear to ear. He places one arm around my waist, and takes my hand in his as
"Air on a G string" by Bach starts to play. The soft and gentle curve
of the music floats through the air and urges us to dance. Kayden starts
swirling us around in slow, smooth circles. Kayden's crooked smile is adorable
and it reminds me of a happy puppy. The moment is beautiful and innocent, two
people simply getting to know each other through song and dance until we are
interrupted. Kayden stops spinning us in circles, and although I am glad for
the rest it gives my spinning head, I am shocked to see the man in my
nightmares before me, but it is so blatantly obvious that he is not Christian
that it seems to paralyse me. It isn't until Kayden turns to me that I seem to
be pulled out of my paralysis.

"Anna, are you alright?" Kayden asks. His
eyes hold concern for me, and I am touched that he feels something so strong
after we have only just met.

"I'm quite alright, Kayden. Do I know you
sir?" I ask the gentleman that has interrupted our dance. The brunette man
with onyx eyes seems to be slightly put off for a moment, but soon his carefree
smile returns to his lips.

"Unfortunately it seems that we have not met up
until this moment. I am Shade, a humble vampire simply seeking your permission
for a dance," Shade says, as Kayden steps away from me and Shade. Kayden
gives Shade a manly slap on the back.

"Don't be modest Shade. Anna, this here is one
of the finest warriors I have ever had the privilege to work with. Shade is my
second in command," Kayden gives me one last crooked smile before walking
away, most likely to either find Victor, or to interact with the other people
in the crowd.

"Wow you smell amazing and it isn't the cheap
perfume that a lot of vamp ladies wear. You smell
human
?" He says,
and his onyx eyes seem to become even darker.

"I suggest that you don't even think about
it," I say to the man that I am dancing with.

"Don't worry princess; I don't like drinking
human blood. It reminds me too much of the mortality that I left behind,"
Shade says as we start dancing. Pachelbel's 'Canon' starts to play.

"Victor gave me a purpose to live. I don't
remember much of my human life but I remember how I died. It isn't pretty so I
won't repeat it in front of a lady," He gives me a grim smile there,
before he continues "Kayden found me just within the Vampire territory, he
was out on parole and he found me and brought me to Victor, begging him to let
me live. He must have known the injustice done towards me or saw that I could
have been something greater than a savage beast, and Victor simply agreed me.
Now, as Kayden said I'm his second in command, his right hand man," Shade
seems to go distant for a few moments before his eyes find mine again and
smiling softly he says,

"Victor deserves all the happiness in the
world. I doubt that you know very much about him Anna, nor the trials and
tribulations he's been through. He's searched for centuries trying to find the
perfect wife, and now he's found you, and I know that you're all he'll ever
need or want. But if you're not sure that Victor is all you're ever going to
need and want, then you need to find out quickly if he is or isn't, and if he
isn't then you need to leave before he gets too attached," The song ends
and Shade has time to make one last comment "Anna you don't need to give
me an answer, but just think about what I've said." He steps away but
before he walks away he bends down, picking up my hand in his, and kissing it
lightly on the front as he says "It was an honour to met you."

Before I even have the chance to turn around Victor
is by my side again, beaming as if he's the happiest man alive.

"Hey, I was waiting for you to finish with Shade,"
Victor says as he takes my hand in his and as "The Girl with the Flaxen
Hair" by Debussy starts playing, he pulls me into a slow dance.

"He was telling me of how great you are and the
things that you've done for him," I say as I look up into Victor's crimson
eyes. His lopsided smile return to his lips as his eyes softened to extents
that I've never seen before.

"I did it because Kayden asked me of it, and he
is like a brother to me. Now Shade is like a brother to me as well. If it
wasn't for Kayden, Shade would have died that night. I'm not proud to admit
that fact but it's the truth," Victor says, there is a coldness in his
voice that I cannot identify that terrifies me and makes me wonder if he would
have saved me. I lay my head upon his shoulder as he draws me in closer.
"You do know, don't you, that I will never hurt you or let you down,"
Victor whispers in my ear and I almost want to believe him, believe in the
words that he is saying, but how can I when he all but admitted that a human
life means nothing to him.

"I know you'd never intentionally hurt
me," I whisper back and allow him to carry me away in the slow dance,
along with the graceful song. Oh, if I only I could believe him; If I could
only believe myself.

Darleen's P.O.V

The room, if it can even be called that, is dark and
shabby. I had only woken a few minutes ago along in the dark. All hell had
broken loose when news had reached Rupert and I that Annabelle had fled with
her suitor; Victor. However it wasn't just Rupert's anger that had flared when
the news had reached us, but Mr Sitzman's anger as well.

Those few hours had been the scariest of my life.
Not only had I learned that Rupert had willingly taken on a part of that
devil's soul, but that I had been a gift bestowed upon my husband by that red
eyed devil. Rupert's anger had flared because he believed that he had been
cheated, lied to, bamboozled.

However, Rupert's anger wasn't what was scary. It
was Mr Sitzman's cold, calculating demeanour that scared me to my wit's end.
That, and the fact that every few moments something about his appearance
changed, the flash of eye colour, the colour of his hair, the shape of his
teeth, fingers, body. The jump and shiver of flesh as it changed colours, shape
and texture. It was through these changes that I learned that not only one of
Annabelle's suitors is a devil, but both of them are. It was in those few hours
that not only did I fear for my own life, being stuck in between a rock and a
hard place but it was the first time in my life that I actually feared for my
daughter rather than being frightened of her, and the mysteries that surrounded
her like a heavy fog.

That had been days ago. Now in the present moment, I
am stuck in this dark, shabby room. My hands are tied to the post of the bed,
and a gag across my mouth. I can hear heavy footsteps clomping down the stairs
that I remember lead down into this dark room.

"Darleen?" I can hear Rupert calling for
me. I try to scream his name but all that comes out is a muffled cry. I can
hear pounding feet run the distance of the room, and there before me is Rupert,
my husband, his eyes wet with tears.

"Darleen, it's okay. I'm going to get you out
of here. Don't worry," Rupert whispers gently, sweetly but something is
off, not even in our most intimate moments has Rupert ever talked so lovingly
towards me. I know something is terribly wrong. Then he stops, almost as if he
can see that I know that something isn't right. Rupert sits down next to me on
the bed, the backs of his finger caressing my cheek gently.

"You know something is out of sorts don't you
Darleen. Your husband never talked to you so sweetly, as if you were actually
worth more than an old debt made over cold blood. Not that here your worth
anything but what does that matter?" He speaks softly, as if I am a
frightened, caught mouse in the cat's claws.

Before my eyes the man I believe to be my husband,
who looks and sounds so familiar to Rupert transforms before my very eyes. Now,
however, sits Christian, his platinum blond hair pushed back out of his blue
eyes, a wicked grin planted firmly on his lips.

"Do you really want your husband here? After
how he treated you? Though you can be certain that you won't find any peace
with me, Mrs VanDyken. I can promise though it will be tenfold worse,"
Christian says grinning from ear to ear.

"I won’t hurt you tonight, I promise you that.
I'll just open your mind to the concept of how unworthy you and your husband
are of life. I want you to know how little I care for you and your husband, and
the reason why I'm holding you both prisoners, which is to capture your
daughter, to lure her out and make her my own." Christian continues, he's
making sure that I'm listening as his hand is closing in on my neck, squeezing
it until I'm blue in the face.

"Oh dear, you've got quite an unusual shade to
you Mrs VanDyken. I can so easily kill you if I only tighten my hold just a
little bit more," Christian says demonstrating his point and now my breath
has run out. He releases his hold just that fraction of a bit so that I can
pull in a breath of air "But that would be quite a waste. Rupert and you
will live until you no longer have a purpose for me. So I hope that you find a
way to be of use to me Mrs VanDyken or your life may be quite short
indeed." He takes off the gag of my mouth with his free hand. His blue
eyes are sparkling; there is merriment evident within him in his enjoyment of
killing and death.

"Oh one more thing, I suggest that you don't
scream until you've regained your breath. Not that it's going to help you any
but have fun with it." He runs a finger over my lips and then releases his
grip before he gets up. He goes as quietly as he came and I think over his
words. I know that this devil of a man will not care for us, but it is all that
more threatening, and real as I struggle to breathe air into my lungs. All I
can do is pray for Anna and hope that she will not fall victim to this man's
games.

Anna's P.O.V

To say that the evening was mesmerizing would be an
understatement. Although I could have spent the rest of my life dancing and
being swept away by the sweet music, all things have to come to an end. As the
crowd starts to thin I realize that this enchanting, mesmerizing, beautiful
evening is indeed slowly coming to its end. It isn't long until there are only
a handful of people left, barely enough to count on two hands.

Not long after everyone leaves I am being led into a
living room of sorts, adorned with deep chestnut brown furniture surrounding
the roaring fire. Lord Augustus and Lady Astoria are sitting next to each other
on one of the love seats. Lord Baron rests in an arm chair, a concoction of
blood and scotch entwined in his silver goblet. Kayden leans against the silver
mantle piece above the gated fire place. Shade is in another armchair across
from Lord Baron and I am sitting with Victor in a second love seat, directly
across from its matching pair. The only other noticeable things in the room are
the slim, glass coffee table between the matching love seats and the walls
adorned with bookshelves filled with books of every shape, colour and size.