Immortal Destiny (The Immortal Prophecy Saga) (15 page)

This will be the last entry I make for a long time, if ever again, but there is one secret I have kept from you this whole time, my dear confidant and that is the identity of James father…

James’ father is none other than wickedest of all vampires, their leader…

Vincent.

Chapter Nineteen

The tears streamed down Ally’s face as she read the diary. Although she was not yet a mother, the grief Nicola had felt leapt of the pages and broke her heart.

She cried for the mother that had made the ultimate sacrifice, and in doing so had lost her child. She cried for the son that had never known his mother or how much she truly loved him and she cried for James knowing that Vincent was his father.

“Isabella was right,” she whispered into the night. “He must never know.”

She held the book to her breast and got up intending to go to bed, but she stopped and headed out onto the terrace instead.

There’s no way I can go back to bed yet. If James wakes up what am I going to tell him? I need to get myself under control first
.

She leaned against the railing on the terrace and stared out into the cold, black night, thinking about the impossible situation Nicola had found herself in.

Would I have the strength and courage to do what she did? I don’t know if I would. The thought of giving away a child, even for such reasons as those, tear at my heart.

The truth would shatter James…I don’t know how I will be able to keep this from him, but I must. The most tragic part is that it means he will never be able to read the diary himself and know the love that his mother felt for him…

Maybe I should tell him? Oh, I don’t know!

She wrung her hands together, grappling to decide what the best thing to do was. “Argh,” she muttered.

A breeze flew up behind her and she jumped.

“It’s only me,” Isabella said quietly from behind her. “Have you read the diary?”

Ally turned to face her. “I have.”

“And have you come to the same conclusion as me, now that you know who his father is?”

Ally turned back around and stared into the night again. Isabella moved forward and stood beside her, patiently waiting.

“I don’t know,” Ally answered. “I can’t believe Vincent is his father! I just…”

“You’re shocked and speechless,” Isabella added helpfully. “I know how you feel, trust me. I was exactly the same when I read it. But we must decide what to do together.”

Ally nodded. “I only want what’s best for him, and I think I see now you only want that too.”

Isabella nodded and sighed.

Both of the women feel into a comfortable silence watching the moonlight dance across the tree branches swaying in the breeze.

Ally was the first to break the silence. “At first I agreed with you because of Vincent, but something feels wrong about keeping his father a secret. He has a right to know.”

“He does,” Isabella agreed. “But is the right to know worth shattering everything he ever thought he knew about himself? This isn’t just about Vincent being his father. It means that he is half vampire, Ally. That he will start to believe he could be as bad as his father somewhere deep down inside him, and question whether he really is a good man…And most of all, we can’t forget the prophecy.”

Ally turned to Isabella. “What about it?”

“You have to kill his
father,
” Isabella reminded her. “He may be evil and deserve his fate, but how do you think James will feel about that?”

Ally sighed. “But he hates Vincent! We all do.”

“Ally, come on. Put the all that logic you love so much aside for one second and think with your emotions. He is evil, we all agree on that, but imagine he was your father and James had to kill him. Not to save your life or anything like that, but because it was his destiny. It’s premeditated murder…How would you feel?”

“Premeditated murder only applies in the human way of things, surely?”

“Yes it does, but you know what I’m saying.”

“Unfortunately, I do. Let me think on it for a day or so.”

“Alright, but for god’s sake don’t think about it when he’s around.”

Ally’s face scrunched up. “Bloody mind reading.”

Isabella turned to leave. “Goodnight, Ally. Try to get some sleep.”

Ally nodded. “Goodnight.”

She was alone again, with only the night for company.

After five minutes, she was about to go mad! “I need to walk or something,” she muttered to herself and descended the steps into the garden.

The cool breeze whipped around her hair and her cheeks turned pink from the chill. Pulling her jacket closer, she wandered aimlessly about the garden. She still held the diary in her hand with an iron grip.

“Nicola, if you can somehow hear me, tell me what I should do. Should I tell him? Or keep it a secret?”

A voice whispered past her on the breeze. Ally froze. She heard it again brushing past her ear like a lovers caress. She strained and listened harder, but it was muffled.

“Nicola?” she whispered hesitantly. “Is that you?”

“Yes,” the breeze whispered.

Ally held back a shriek, and took a deep breath. “I read your diary…I know the truth about who his father is.”

“Vincent…evil…James…good,” the whisper chanted.

“I know that,” Ally said, feeling a mix of part fear and part ridiculous. “Should I tell him who his father is?”

Before she got an answer the wind died down, and the hairs on her neck raised. She grabbed her stomach and turned to run to the safety of the terrace.

“Ja—” she started to call out, then realised she still held the diary in her hand! “Bloody hell!”

Just as she ran onto the terrace she saw something moving out of the corner of her eye. Quickly, she turned around and watched in horror as a shadow stood on the edge of the forest surrounding the manor. Her breathing quickened at the sight. It was too far away for her to make out anything other than the shape of a person. It took one step closer…and then another…and another.

All the while, Ally was frozen to the spot, watching the sinister shadow weaving its way towards her. Her heart was hammering, her body was trembling and her throat had gone dry.

A sound echoed inside the house, her head turned towards the sound, but she saw nothing inside. She looked back towards the shadow, but it was gone. Ally looked around everywhere to see where the shadow had vanished.

But it was no longer there. The eerie feeling had left with it and in its place was shock and fear. A voice shimmered in her mind,
“Ally!”

“Should’ve known that was gonna happen,” she muttered to herself, getting ready to lie to him about why she was on the terrace in the middle of the night.

“I’m on the terrace.”

Ally knew she had about thirty seconds before he appeared beside her. She ran over to the day bed and hid the diary under the mattress. He wouldn’t see it there…

Chapter Twenty

Ally found herself in his arms before her eyes had seen him open the door. Too soon, he pulled back and she saw the worry flashing in his eyes.

“What are you doing out here, Ally?” he asked as he let her go. “It’s not safe out here at night. Even within the grounds, we don’t know what’s lurking out there.”

“I just needed some time to myself. Just five minutes to think about things…” Ally looked back towards the spot where the shadow had been just a moment ago before continuing. “There was something out there.”

James’ sharp eyes focused on Ally. “What was it?”

“A shadow of a person or something,” she said. “It was just standing on the edge of the forest. I couldn’t tell anything else about it from so far away.”

“Stay here,” he ordered, then took off at a speed so fast her eyes couldn’t follow. Less than a second later he was standing on the other side of the grounds, searching.

She was tempted to follow but she knew he would be back before she had even taken a few steps, so she waited and watched.

James came back to her side just as quick as he had left. A mask of fear covered his face. He only had to utter a single word for her to realise how close to danger she had really been.

“It was a vampire.”

“How do you know for sure?” she asked.

“I could smell him. The scent was a bit off, not as rancid as normal, but it was a vampire. I’m sure of it.”

“A vampire?” Ally began to tremble again. “I thought it was a ghost or something.”

“No, not a ghost,” James said with a concerned look. “Ally, why were you out here in the first place?”

Ally looked away and began to study the railing. James knew she was stalling and waited patiently for her to confide in him.

She took a deep breath and started speaking. “I just freaked out a bit that’s all. I used to be out at night all the time, and I loved it! It’s when I felt most like myself, and now I’m never out there and I missed it. I looked out the window and it just looked so inviting, I couldn’t help myself.”

“That’s what you freaked out about?” He asked, cocking one eyebrow.

Ally’s eyes drifted to the side. It wasn’t a lie, she really did feel that, but it wasn’t exactly the reason why she was out here.

“Why don’t tell me the whole truth, Ally. Not just the half-truth,” James said, crossing his arms.

She scowled. “Alright, it wasn’t just that. So much has changed. To begin with, I couldn’t get away from you fast enough.”

James interrupted, “Gee, thanks.”

“Let me finish. And now I can’t stand to be away from you even for an hour! I don’t want to be one of those girls that has nothing happening besides what her boyfriend is doing, you know?”

He nodded. “Yes, I see where you’re coming from. But Ally, let’s be realistic. You will never be one of those girls.”

She just looked at him.

“Immortal soulmate relationships aren’t typical human ones, Ally. Our souls are bound together and when the other part of you isn’t there, it doesn’t feel very nice. So we try to avoid it wherever possible.”

“Regardless. I had a career, a life…well a sort of life. I was out at night, investigating people, I read books, and practically lived at the local bookshop.”

“Yes, you had a life doing all of that. But were you happy?”

Ally sighed. “No, I wasn’t happy.”

“So why are you sad about something that wasn’t making you happy?”

“When you say it like that I don’t know anymore.”

James chuckled. “How about a compromise to bring some of your old life into your new one?”

“I’m open to that.”

“I’ll build you a library ten times bigger than your old bookstore and you can stock it with whatever you like!”

Ally’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

“Yes, really.”

“That’s a pretty awesome compromise.”

“I thought so,” he said, looking smug. “There’s something else I want you to consider.”

“What? A second library?”

“No.” He bent down on one knee and pulled out a small black box.

Ally gasped and covered her hands with her mouth.

“I want you to consider becoming my wife.” He opened the box and she stared at the perfect princess cut diamond set in white gold, with a row of little diamonds on either side.

Her eyes almost popped out of her head. She looked at James and then at the ring. It was breathtaking and the perfect choice, but when she looked at James again, she knew what her answer would be.

She would never be happy with anyone else, and her heart almost exploded in her chest with love for him. “Yes,” she whispered and he picked her up in his arms twirling her around. “I love you, James.”

“I love you too,” he said and kissed with every bit of love he had.

He broke the kiss and lowered her to the ground. He took her hand and slipped the ring onto her finger. She held her hand in front of her face and stared at the diamond. “It’s beautiful.”

“I had planned on doing this tomorrow, but it seemed right somehow to do it here. Maybe not as romantic as I wanted it to be, but right.”

“Apart from the vampire,”

“Yes, apart from the vampire,” he agreed. “Can we go inside?”

Ally smiled up at her love and kissed him with everything she had.

“Promise me you won’t run off again?” James asked as they walked back inside the house, hand in hand.

“I promise I won’t run off again.”

Little did Ally know that was a promise she wouldn’t keep…

Chapter Twenty-one

“I want to tell Gran before we tell anyone else,” Ally said, her legs wrapped in a mess of twisted sheets.

James pulled her close against his bare chest. “That’s fine with me, little one.”

“Good. I’ll tell her after breakfast.”

Ally and James got up and went downstairs.

“Have you seen Gran?” Ally asked Sophie, as she took a strong coffee from her.

“On the terrace,” she answered, busily organising toast, bacon and eggs for everyone in the kitchen.

Ally gave James a quick kiss and went out to find Adele.

“Morning Gran,” she called out.

Adele visibly jumped and shoved something under her legs. “Morning, sweetie.”

Ally say down and took a sip of her coffee, smiling to herself and breathing in the crisp morning air. “I have something to tell you.”

“Would that something be to do with a book I found stashed here this morning?”

“Oh my god,” Ally said horrified. “I forgot all about that.”

“Well, luckily I found it and not someone else.”

Ally grabbed the diary. “Please tell me you didn’t read it?”

Adele shook her head. “No, I’m not in the habit of reading someone’s personal thoughts. What is it?”

“Why do you people keep saying that? You read minds yet your uncomfortable reading a diary?”

“There’s a difference between the two. Only slight, mind you but still a difference. Now what is it that has you so worked up?”

Ally hesitated.

“Well?”

She sighed and confessed. “It’s James’ mothers diary. Isabella didn’t burn it after all.”