Prophecy: Child of Light (7 page)

He was still looking at her, his eyes never having strayed from hers the whole time she was thinking. There was a hint of sadness in them, hidden just below the surface but not far enough away for her not to see it. She still couldn’t get over how they almost perfectly matched the green eyes of a Caelestis vampire in its demon guise.

He moved slightly and she found the courage to ask him another question.

“What did you see?”

He looked at the wall behind her and his brows drew into a thoughtful frown. “Battles, blood, you... it was all hazy, but you seemed to be fighting to get to something or someone. There was a door. You looked as though you were fighting to save... and I... you said...”

“Valentine?” she said.

His eyes met hers. They were wide, making him look as though he’d seen a ghost rather than heard her say his name. Had he seen himself in her blood? Had she spoken to him?

He turned away, avoiding looking at her by staring at the door.

How could he have seen things in her blood that hadn’t happened yet? Had it somehow show him her future? She struggled to remember anything eventful that had happened during her life as a vampire and came up with nothing. All the years she’d spent locked away in the house had seemingly been passed in the same way. Her thoughts went back to what he’d said. It was so familiar and she realised why.

“I have dreams like that. They started recently. I dream of great battles, of demons and witches,” she said and kept her eyes fixed on him. He looked over at her but didn’t say anything. “Why do they call me an abomination? Is it because of these things I can see? They’re not dreams are they? My blood wouldn’t show you a dream.”

“A vampire has never been known to have visions, but it is possible that what you are seeing is one.” He moved over to the table where the passports were. His air turned awkward and she frowned as she realised he’d avoided her first question.

“Why am I an abomination?” She repeated it, letting him see that he wasn’t getting away without answering it.

“I honestly do not know. Maybe because they fear you.”

She supposed that they had every right to fear her if she really was the child of the prophecy. Was that why she hadn’t been allowed to talk to most of the vampires in her house and why they weren’t allowed to speak to her? They all probably knew who she was and what she was going to do. If they had spoken to her, they may have accidentally revealed things to her that would have raised questions in her mind. Iona, her mother, knew exactly what she was and yet she’d tried to keep her hidden. Arkalus had said that their mother had been a fool and not worthy of running the house. Something in her heart said that she wasn’t the only one in grave danger now. Arkalus would use this new turn of events to attempt to overthrow their mother and take her place as master of their bloodline. She couldn’t believe that everyone had known about her all this time and no one had said a word.

Not even Serenity.

How could her maid and best friend have kept so quiet about it? They had spent long sleepless days and restless nights talking about how cruel it was that she was kept shut up inside the mansion. Not once had her friend told her that there was a dark and horrible reason she was a prisoner in her own home. If she had known that leaving the house to hunt would lead to things like this happening, then she would have remained indoors. She would never have gone against her mother.

Now, she was going to kill her family. She was going to kill Iona, and Serenity. She was going to kill every member of the pure bloodlines of Aurorea, Venia, Vehemens, Validus, Tenebrae, and Nocens. She was going to kill all of the bastard bloodlines that infested the planet. She was going to kill the demons that walked in both day and night. She was going to kill everything.

Even Valentine, who had dared to rescue her from death.

She pressed her hand into her stomach as it turned over. “I don’t feel so good.”

“It must be overwhelming to suddenly be faced with all of this.”

She barely heard what he’d said as she screwed her face up in agony and struggled against her desire to change. She looked into his eyes as the bones of her face shifted to allow her fangs to descend, and her vision and senses sharpened.

“The Hunger is not helping,” he said in a matter of fact tone and placed the passports into a bag. “It will pass. It happens to us all when we have executed our first kill.”

She shook her head and forced her demon guise to recede. The Hunger? She’d read about that. Her tutor, Tiberius, had taught her about the symptoms; the incredible craving for blood that it awakens inside you and the way it seems impossible to slake your thirst.

“Get some rest. We shall be safe here for now. When evening falls then we shall go to the airport.”

“To England,” she muttered to herself.

“To Paris.” He corrected her.

“Paris?”

“We will ensure that we were not followed and then we will travel on to England.”

“Followed?” She regarded him with curiosity. “You think they’ll follow us so quickly?”

“Not them, no, but a hunter may. I was looking for him when I found you in the cemetery. I have reason to believe that he is in Prague, and he is looking for me. Most hunters are easily dispatched but this is one you should fear.”

“Are we not safe from anyone?”

“No, not any more.” He lightly touched her bare shoulder and she fought to conceal the warm shiver it sent through her. He intimated the blankets he’d laid out in one corner. “Rest. You will need your strength. The Hunger is only going to get worse.”

She did as instructed and lay down on the makeshift bed. Closing her eyes, she thought about everything, from the prophecy to the way his touch felt electric. She couldn’t sleep. She could sense him still watching her, standing sentinel beside the door and obviously not intending to sleep himself.

She was going to destroy all demons.

Her family had joined forces with their enemy to hunt her down.

She was no longer safe from anyone.

But she was now certain of something.

All that stood between her and death was the vampire who should have been her executioner.

P
rophecy shifted in her seat, tugging at her clothes and the belt across her waist. She struggled to breathe. Everything felt too tight, irritating. She pulled at the belt again and growled underneath her breath. She wriggled closer to Valentine, who was sitting beside the window of the plane with the blind pulled down. He gave her a dark look and she knew that he wanted her to distance herself from him.

They were near the wing of the plane and the seat nearest the aisle was empty. She wished that Valentine had the blind open so she could see the night. The closeness of the people around her was making her feel as though she was suffocating. She was barely keeping control of herself as she breathed in all their intoxicating scents. She could hear every heartbeat, could smell their blood as it coursed through their veins, could almost feel it. She dug her fingertips into the arms of her seat, gripping it tightly. She clenched her jaw and resisted the desire to shift into her vampire guise and kill every person on the plane, drinking her fill until the hunger inside of her was sated.

The blood of her first kill was nearly gone, leaving her with an intense craving for more. Valentine had already had to stop her from getting out of her seat three times. She knew he didn’t trust her.

Her head came to rest against his shoulder as the plane banked and she didn’t have the energy to remove it. She felt as though she wasn’t going to make it through the flight let alone what the future held for her. Everything was so overwhelming and frightening. The hours she’d had to reflect on what she’d been told hadn’t helped in the slightest. She still felt as though her fear and the sense of emptiness inside her were going to consume her.

She still didn’t know whether she should trust him.

It felt so wrong to be next to him, to be leaving with him to some foreign land. It went against everything, against the laws that had been laid down for good reason. She shouldn’t be this close to someone of another bloodline. She shouldn’t feel like she could trust him.

But she was, and she did.

She leaned into him as her stomach twisted and her teeth itched, desperate to descend. He tensed and she took a deep breath, taking in the rich scent of his blood. It seemed to soothe the Hunger and take the edge off her fear, but left her with an intense desire to get closer to him.

Her fingers twitched relentlessly while she edged them up towards his collar. Her breathing became heavy. She wet her lips and stared at his throat.

“I do not recommend it. You would not like the visions it would bring.”

She hastily withdrew her hand and tried to look innocent as he raised a brow at her.

Valentine looked at her. She stared back at him with wide eyes. He tried but couldn’t erase the feeling of her breath against his neck or the quiet thrill that had run through him when he’d realised what she’d wanted to do. She wasn’t ready for drinking vampire blood, especially if it came from one his age. Besides, he didn’t want her to see the things he’d done. She’d never trust him if she saw those, and he needed her to trust him.

She curled up on the seat, her hands shaking as she tried to smooth down her trousers, seemingly trying to find something to occupy herself with. It wouldn’t work. Nothing could take your mind off the Hunger, especially when you were in the grip of it as badly as she was.

He could still remember the violence of it when it had taken hold of him all those centuries ago. It had been like a fever, burning and consuming him until he felt weak and ready to give up the fight. It had taken the blood of four to sate it. Something told him that Prophecy’s Hunger would be the same.

He tensed when her head came to rest against his shoulder again and resisted his desire to push her away. Ever since they had boarded the plane, she’d been so close to him, and he couldn’t stand it. It made him want to lash out at her. He wanted to tell her that she was suffocating him with the way she was clinging. He looked straight ahead at the back of the seat in front of him, ignoring her as she whimpered and gripped his arm instead of her seat.

Closing his eyes, he told himself that she was just frightened and he was the only person here for her. It was understandable that she would want the reassurance that being close to someone would give her. Not only was she in the midst of the Hunger but also this was all new to her. She had never been around so many people and it must be hard for her considering she probably wanted to tear all their throats open.

Taking a deep breath, he relaxed into his seat and let her be close to him. It was only for a short while. They were already halfway through their flight and he’d be able to have a little more freedom from her when they were on the underground heading to Gare Du Nord in Paris.

It had been hard to watch the lights of his home disappear, so hard that he’d had to close the blind. It had felt as though he was watching his life drifting into the distance rather than the city.

He turned his head away from the blind and looked at Prophecy. She was sitting with closed eyes and furrowed brows. He still couldn’t believe what he’d done. Deep inside he hoped that none of this would be in vain and that his instincts were right about her. Whenever he thought about everything he was risking in order to take her to England, his stomach turned and a part of him wanted to kill her.

Her jaw tensed and she made a small noise of pain.

He could sense how frightened she was. It wasn’t just the pain of the Hunger. It was what lay ahead of her and the prophecy. It was what lay behind her.

She was leaving her life behind too, but she’d never been out in the world. It probably all seemed so overwhelming.

He sighed and resisted the temptation to clear her red hair from her face as it slipped out from behind her ear. Instead, he ran his fingers through his dark locks, loosening them.

A person stopped nearby.

He raised his eyes to find a woman smiling at him, her red lips curving perfectly into it and her hazel eyes shining. Her tight blue uniform told him she was a stewardess.

He gave her a toothy grin and then let it fade from his face as Prophecy’s fingers curled up into tight fists of hurt.

“Is everything okay over here?” The stewardess gave an anxious glance to Prophecy and then looked back at him. He noted that the stewardess seemed more concerned with him than the girl beside him. “Is it her first time flying?”

He just nodded and forced another smile.

When she began to walk towards the rear of the plane, he looked over the seat behind him and followed her progress. She looked back at him, brushing the hair from her face and smiling broadly before disappearing into the area behind the curtains.

She’d be an easy kill. She was willing and she’d taste as sweet as she looked. All he had to do was accept the offer she’d been clearly giving him and walk to the rear of the plane. She was probably waiting for him. He could go back there, kill her silently, and drink enough to keep him going and give the rest to Prophecy.

What in the Devil’s name was he thinking?

Killing on a plane?

Feeding Prophecy?

He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. The quicker they got to England, the better off he would be. He needed to place some distance between him and the girl again. She was tainting him with her closeness, corrupting his mind and making him think about doing things that were dangerous.

He’d spent years travelling across Europe and not once had he broken the rules he’d laid down for himself. He would use the contacts he had to get blood when he needed it. He wouldn’t risk people finding out about his species by killing publicly, not unless it was key to his survival.

Especially on a plane, a place where there was a one hundred percent chance of someone discovering the body before you managed to disembark.

His eyes opened as Prophecy moved in her seat again, shifting away from him. He frowned and looked at his arm where it was now void of her.