The Fire Within (The Fire of The Soul Series) (11 page)

"This place has really gone to the dogs,"
Is the snarly remark that breaks the silence. It doesn't surprise me much that
it comes from a drunken Shade. I have been watching him partying it up all
night, and now in the silent and peaceful room, where there are no rowdy girls
he can get attention from, he is entering into a dark and brooding mood which I
have been expecting to surface for sometime.

"What do you mean?" Victor asks his voice
quick and sharp, like the edge of a dagger. I can see that he is assessing some
threat or another that could have arisen during the time he was with me, but I
simply cannot comprehend what this threat could be.

"He means," Kayden quickly speaks up
without turning from the flickering flames. "That while you and that
bloody prince of the Skin-walkers were gone, not only did you leave your role
in your Adviser's capable hands," "Here, Here," Lord Baron
cheers and I instantly know that he is Victor's adviser, "But that
Christian did as well Fawkes has been giving us trouble at every bloody turn.
So it would have been better if this place had gone to the dogs, rather than
those blasted two-faced devils," Kayden spits, the venom obvious in his
voice as he talks about Christian and the Skin-walkers.

"We need to start planning for war; those
devils need to learn their place in the Underworld. That it is below us
vampires and that they can either bow to us, or that their existence can be
extinguished like the flames of mortal lives," Lord Baron spits, before he
takes a large gulp of the goblet in his hands.

"Maybe it's time for the secret weapon to be in
use Victor," Lord Augustus' voice is soft but firm as he meets Victor's
crimson eyes "If war is to be on the way and you to lead us, then perhaps
it is time to train yourself to be able to use it to it's full extent. It would
be stupid not to use everything we have to aid us if it is war that we seek
against the two-faced devils." There is uneasiness in Victor that I cannot
explain, a tension in his shoulders, an aching in his soul that I can feel
reverberating within my own.

"Can we talk about this later," Victor's
voice is soft, pained as if what ever secret weapon they are talking about
pains him to speak of it. As if it was a curse more than a blessing in time of
war. Augustus nods his head in agreement

"I don't understand. I know of Christian and he
is a nasty piece of work but not all the Skin-walkers could be like him. Why
must we seek war if not all Skin-walkers are bad? Would it not be more
profitable to simply organize an assassination of their Leader?" I ask,
begging for the situation to be explained.

"They're ruthless, carnal devils. They have no
understanding of mortal life, or how precious life is. All that they care about
is their own desires, whether of blood or flesh. They think death is simply a
game, that the lives of mortals are something for them to play around with.
That they hold the scissors of fate, to cut the strings of mortal life, to see
the flames extinguish in their prey's eyes. They're all the same and they all
deserve to die." Shade's voice is cold and holds no mercy for the
Skin-walkers, the ghosts of his past echoing in his eyes. Everyone is silent
for a while as Shade's words sink in.

However after a few moments Lord Augustus speaks up,
"Shade is right, Anna. Skin-walkers are cold and ruthless. They are
carnal, however they are not primitive creatures, they are smart and strong and
with their lack of regard for any sort of rules they are simply deadly. The
only thing that they are afraid of is us, Vampires, which is why we have
dominion over them. However, be that as it may, they do not care for anyone's
life mortal or immortal."

"My husband is correct on this matter Anna, we
vampire women do not seek war, we do not enjoy dwelling in death but if the
Skin-walkers do not meet the hand that fate has dealt them with, then our world
and lives as we know it will be nothing more but a barren waste land. We cannot
survive while they still live." Lady Astoria adds, her bell like voice
tinkling over the cold words. I cannot fathom why but I feel as if I understand
what she is saying, I feel as if I understand what they're all saying. I feel
eyes on me and I turn to find Kayden watching me.

"I've been in service for Victor for a few
centuries Anna, I've lived by my sword and acted without stopping to think, at
least when it came to those devils. I've taken lives, and saved a few too. I've
seen things that nobody should have to see. But in all this time I've come to
learn that all that Lord Augustus and Lady Astoria have said is true, the only
reason why we haven't taken the problem out yet is because of the Shape
Shifters, my own people Anna. We're like the Skin-walkers in a sense, but
instead of taking on the form of other people we take on the form of animals. I
refuse to kill my own kind until I know that every single one of them is on the
Skin-walkers side, something I hope will never happen but that raises problems
of its own." Kayden says, his voice just as cold and uncaring as the
other's towards the Skin-walkers. It is silent for a while, everyone reflecting
on the words that have been spoken. I can feel something stirring within
Victor. I want to do something to help him, to make him feel better but there
is nothing that I can do, there are no words that I can say. I feel at home and
yet lost all the same.

"Anna, out all of us I'm probably the one to
hate them the most. They took something from me when I was a child, something
that every child needs. Well except for you, you probably would have been
better off without your father. But I was not. They took my parents from me, in
the dead of night. My memory of the beach was with Skin-walkers who had taken
the place of my parents. I thought it was them, I had arrived at the beach with
my parents but when I came back to them they were different. They were cold and
cruel towards me; I could see it in their eyes that it wasn't them. I lost
control that day, I killed two Skin-walkers and although I don't regret it, I
never learned of what happened to my parents. I've searched every inch of the
Underworld for them and I am yet to find them. I came to the conclusion long
ago that those Skin-walkers killed them. It is that or I killed them myself and
I can not allow myself to believe that. I have no place in my heart for the
Skin-walkers, every single one of them are the same, and every single one of
them are going to die. Whether all at once, in a war that will live on through
the histories and us forever, or I will hunt them down and kill them one by one
with my own hands, it really doesn't matter to me. I will not rest until I have
seen to it. I don't expect you to understand Anna, none of us do but it is a
necessity that will be met," Victor says before getting up and crossing
the room, pacing the length of the Persian rug. Again silence ensues, each one
of those present falling into their own thoughts. I remain silent, out of
respect for Victor's parents. I know it would have meant the world to him if I
had had the opportunity to meet them.

"They were good people. They didn't hate me
because I was a Shape Shifter, if anything they loved me because of it. I
remember when I first met them Vic, I was so terrified that they were going to
cast me aside, simply because I wasn't a vampire, but they didn't. I remember
his father asking me if I was on vacation here, and when I told him that I was
not I remember him smiling at me. I remember him asking if I was a vampire with
that same smile on his face and when I told him that I was not, that I was a
Shape Shifter he knelt down so that he was at my height, looked me in the eyes
and told me "good, because my son here needs to learn that not all Shape
Shifters are bad." I had been petrified.

Anna's P.O.V

I run as fast as I can, from what? I
don't know. My feet burn as if I'm walking through fire, my muscles spasm from
the over-exertion, and I'm failing to breathe properly. Its stupid to run, as
it is almost impossible to out run a vampire, but I had to try because he was
here, and Victor – my protector, my saviour and my betrothed – was not.

"Come out, Come out wherever you
are." I hear his cold voice purr, daring me to face him. I shudder
violently as I wait in fear for his approach. "I know you're here love; I
can hear your heart beating." I hold my breath, but I know that it will do
nothing if he could hear that clearly. My eyes flutter close of their own
accord as I will my heart to stop beating so fast.

"Stop trying to deny the inevitable
love. I will eventually find you and mark you as my own, and you will be alone
once more, without a shoulder to cry about the injustice on." A few
minutes of silence pass before he's speaking again, this time his voice is gentle,
alluring as he says "I promise not to harm her, I will allow her to keep
her life as a sign of good faith but you must show yourself Anna, I am getting
weary of this game." I instantly know he's lying, about sparing Meg's
life. Christian's a cold, heartless bastard, he wouldn't spare a life to even
keep his own.

"You're lying. If I have learned
anything in my time here, it's that promises don't mean anything, unless if you
make a vow to keep your word," I say as I step out from the little alcove
I have been hiding in. As soon as I am in sight his eyes are devouring my body,
as if I were the most beautiful thing in the world.

"You are correct love, I wouldn't
be able to keep that promise, and I wouldn't make a vow to do so either. Meg
has very little time left. The question is will you go past the point of no
return? Will you surrender yourself to save your friend? Or will you let her
die in your place? Clock's ticking Love, which is it going to be?" His
dark eyes dare me to choose, to choose Meg or myself but before I can answer
him, the world shakes violently and I hear a deep voice speaking out over us.
Christian stands still before me, he hasn't moved, it's almost as if the
earthquake did not just happen, as if he heard nothing. He's just standing
there waiting for my answer, I try to answer him but as I open my mouth to do
so everything but me, wisps away in a cloud of black smoke.

I wake up with a start, searching the shadows in the
room for that devil of a man but he's not here, and as I relax back into the
bed, I simply stare up at the roof. What was that? It could not have simply
been just a dream, now could it? It seemed too real, felt too real but what
other options did I have than to acknowledge it as a bad dream? The
possibilities are vast and terrifying, like the idea of Christian being inside
of my head, knowing my thoughts and fears, reading me as if I were an open
book! But I cannot dwell on the possibilities.

I lay in bed for a while longer, letting the light
of day awaken my mind and chase away the fears of the night, before I get up to
get prepared for the day. I already know what I'm going to wear and so it isn't
such a dreary process to prepare myself.

It isn't long until I'm dressed and in the study
room, the same room which had been in our use last night, that I find myself
looking through the books upon the wall. Victor has row upon row of books, the
shelves reaching from the mid-waist to the ceiling. He has books that I love,
books that I hate and books that I've never heard of before. I search for a
book about the history on vampires and after an excruciating and thorough
search I find one stuck in between
Les Miserables
and
Dracula
.
The cover of
The Underworld; Vampires and their History
is gray and
drab; it is thick as to the point where it would be classified as a tome.
However when I pull on it to remove it from the shelf, it barley moves. Instead
the sound of grating stone comes from the fireplace and I stop my struggles to
remove the book, if only to see what is making the horrid sound.

I move cautiously towards it, both afraid and
curious as to what the secret is to the horrid noise. As I peer into the
fireplace I can see stairs leading down into darkness, which pikes my curiosity
further, and brings questions to the front of my mind. I can hear footsteps
echoing off of the stone wall as they ascended the stone steps, and I can hear
voices floating up as well.

"Victor, I know I'm not your adviser or
anything but I am your Oath Brother. You need to get rid of that thing, it's
nothing more than skin and bones, and I don't think your betrothed would be
very pleased to know what you're doing to it." I hear Kayden say to
Victor. I quickly move away from the fireplace, and make my way out the door,
closing it quietly behind me. My mind races with questions, what is he hiding?
Why is he hiding it? What is he doing to it and why? But the answers evaded me,
and I refuse to ask him about it.

"Anna doesn't need to know about my little
experiments." I hear Victor say. There is silence for a while before I
hear him speak up again. "Kayden, he knows where my parents are and yet he
refuses to tell me. You know better than anyone that I'll do whatever it takes
and more to find my parents, to even know what happened to them."

"I know Vic, but do you need to use your gift?
It'll eventually kill him won't it?" Kayden asks, I cannot see them as I
hide in the alcove next to the study doors, but I can hear the concern in
Kayden's voice and I can imagine his hand resting on Victor's shoulder.

"Death is impossible for people like him, so my
curse won't kill him, but it will cause him unbearable pain, and that's all I
need to get the information from him," Victor says, his voice dark and
cold, I shuddered to imagine that voice being directed to me so coldly.