Prophecy: Child of Light (44 page)

“When is it coming?” He looked sceptical and she wished she could tell him the date of the eclipse so she could prove that going into battle without translating the scroll was the right move, but she hadn’t caught it or it hadn’t been mentioned.

“Soon.” She saw her answer did nothing to convince him. Leaning forwards, she placed her hand over his where it was resting on his knee. “Please, Valentine, believe in me. My every instinct is telling me that time is running out and we have to go into battle now. Elena said it herself. She knew I’d had a vision and what I’d seen. We have to go now if we’re to save the world. We have to stop the lord of Tenebrae before it’s too late.”

He sighed and curled his fingers around hers. “We will go to war, but only if Dmitri’s men report back that there is an army and only if Mia and Dmitri will offer us their services.”

She gave him a grateful smile. It was obvious that he still wasn’t convinced that going to war was the right thing to do, especially after they had insisted on seeing the scroll because there was a chance it would contain information needed to fulfil the prophecy. A part of her said that Valentine was right, they were going in blind, but she couldn’t wait any longer. She wanted to take hold of her destiny and she wanted it over with already.

The star on her chest ached and she pressed her hand to it. It sparked fear in her mind and doubts rose to the surface. She tried to ignore it, but the more she did that more painful it became. Removing her hand, she stared into the glowing pale purple stone on her amulet. There was movement in its depths. She blinked once, twice, and suddenly everything in the room disappeared and she was surrounded by darkness.

“Valentine?” She looked around her. In the sky above her was a faint purple star. She looked at her hand and realised that the amulet was gone. Panic raced through her. “Valentine!”

“Shh, child.” A soft female voice whispered the words to her and she turned on the spot, trying to seek out the owner of it. There was no one there. There was nothing but darkness.

“Who are you?” Her voice was unsteady and she hated how weak it made her sound.

“I am but a memory.” The voice came back, a slight note of amusement lacing it. She wondered how anyone could be happy about being nothing more than a memory.

“What do you want? Where is Valentine?” She turned again, peering into the darkness, but she still couldn’t see the owner of the voice. Something flickered past her out of the corner of her eye and she spun to face it. There was nothing. She growled and slid into her vampire guise, hoping the change would help her see better in the inky blackness.

“Your love is safe,” the woman said.

She found herself face to face with a flickering image of him. He was sitting on the couch, seemingly frozen in time.

“Did I do that?” she said, reaching out to touch him but the image wavered and died.

“You did, child.”

“I remember doing something similar in a vision I had.”

“You need the book. It will teach you how to use the power you have.”

A warm breeze swept past her and she turned around. There in front of her was a woman, the woman she had seen in her vision of Venice. Her mother. She trembled and immediately slipped out of her vampire guise, not wanting her mother to see her true face.

“It’s all right, my sweet girl, I know what you are.” Her mother stepped forwards. A beam of light shone down on her. Prophecy stared at her face, taking in the features of it now she could see it clearly. “You look like me. Your father would have been proud.”

Her father? She had so many questions to ask. Is that really what she looked like? Her mother was beautiful. She furrowed her brows and sighed when she realised that her mother looked no older than she was now and she knew what it meant. She had sacrificed herself at such a young age.

“Why did you do it? I’m not wholly vampire, you know? Why did you do it?” She panicked when the vision of her mother flickered and faded slightly. “Don’t go. I have so many questions.”

“I’m here for you, child. I’ll always be here. But right now, I cannot answer the questions because you yourself do not know the answers. I am but a memory, your memory. I can only tell you what you already know. Your heart fears the wrong decision and that’s why you called me. It is not concerned with why I did what I did. I can only tell you this. If I had not, the world would have been doomed. It was my destiny, just as this is yours.”

Prophecy went to move towards her but the image of her mother disappeared. She spun around, trying to see if she had gone elsewhere but finding nothing but darkness again.

“Are you still there?”

“I am, but I am afraid you must go. Valentine and the world need you. I have one parting gift of words... trust in Valentine, for as he has saved you, you will save him. Do not fear mistakes and falls, they will only make you stronger. Believe in yourself, but do not let yourself be blinded to the words of others. There is treachery and deceit all around you and it will in time reveal itself. Sometimes, the right decision will seem wrong, but it will help show you the path in the darkness... remember, this is your destiny, you cannot change it.”

She frowned when her head spun and the world came back. Taking a deep breath, she cast a glance around her at the room. It was still frozen in time. She waved her hand in front of Valentine’s face and frowned when he continued to stare at the floor. Her mother had told her to trust him and that she would save him. The witches had said the same thing. She would save him and he would save her. A chill ran down her spine. She was surrounded by treachery and deceit and she was going to make mistakes. She had already made so many mistakes, but she had learnt from every one of them and she had grown stronger just as her mother had told her she would. Were there more to come? Was she overlooking something?

This was her destiny. That’s what her mother had said. She couldn’t change her fate. It was all mapped out for her and all she could do was follow the path, no matter where it led her.

And right now, it was leading her into battle.

Her heart told her it was the right thing to do. It was time to pay a visit to the lord of Tenebrae and put an end to the prophecy.

“Prophecy?” Valentine’s voice roused her. She hadn’t even realised that the world had started moving again. “Is something wrong?”

She smiled. “You didn’t notice?”

“Notice what?” He looked confused.

“I went somewhere. I stopped time, just like I did in the vision I had of the battle.”

His brows flickered a little. “Where did you go?”

She held her hand up and stared at the amulet. “I think... this sounds crazy... but I think I went in here... or at least...” She pressed her hand to her chest. “I went in here.”

“Your mother?”

 
She nodded and smiled fondly. “She told me it was all right to make mistakes and that I had to trust in you. It was something about mistakes and wrong decisions showing me the path in the darkness... it’s my destiny and I can’t change it. I guess that means I’m destined to make mistakes... does that make sense?”

He raised his brows and stared at the carpet for a moment before answering, “I suppose it does.”

She looked up as the door opened again and Dmitri walked in, followed by Mia. He gave her a hard look and she knew what it meant.

“There is an army then,” she said, not giving him a chance to speak.

He nodded grimly. “My men have seen this army you spoke of. They are strong and ready to move.”

“Then we must stop them before they do.” She held his gaze and then looked across at Valentine. “This is my destiny, Valentine. My heart tells me so. I saw the vision of the battle. I can’t ignore it. I’m destined to fight these vampires, and fight them I will, but I can’t do this without your help.”

He placed his hand over hers and the corners of his mouth twitched into a slight smile. “I cannot leave you to fight this alone. You already know that, Prophecy. Wherever you go, I go also.”

“Sweet,” Dmitri said with a smirk.

She scowled at him.

“I see what you want to ask old friend.” He ignored her and looked at Valentine when he stood. “My house is your house, my men are you men. To Romania we will go.”

Her eyes strayed to Mia who was pouring blood into glasses. When Mia looked over her shoulder, Prophecy gave her a look that said she wanted to know her feelings on the matter.

Mia walked slowly across the room and handed Valentine a glass of blood. Prophecy took the one offered to her and waited for Mia’s response to her silent question. Mia clinked glasses with her, raised it into the air and smiled.

“To war. We shall mercilessly shed the blood of our enemies until it turns the rivers red and the stains the land for all time. None shall be spared.”

Prophecy got the impression from Mia’s speech that the female vampire missed fighting and was actually looking forwards to it. She smiled and looked up at the painting of Mia and Dmitri above the fireplace. She’d never been in a battle before, let alone a war, but she knew they could win, especially if Valentine was by her side to give her the strength she needed.

“To war.” Dmitri raised his glass of wine.

Valentine placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled into her eyes while he held his glass up. “To war.”

She stared at the blood in her glass and slowly raised it. A tight feeling of nerves and excitement settled in her stomach when she remembered the epic battle she had seen. There was no going back now. This was it. This was her destiny. She was going to save the world.

She smiled.

“To war.”

P
rophecy stared at the tinted window, watching the world flying by outside. She’d never been in a car before and she hadn’t expected her first time to be a limousine. She gave Valentine a little smile when she found him watching her. In his eyes, she could see that he was still amused by how new everything was to her. He’d told her to never stop asking questions, and that she was so young and everything was fresh and new for her.

“Can you drive?” she said.

His smile broadened. “Of course.”

“So why didn’t we steal a car and drive all the places we had to go?” She turned so she was facing him where they sat on the back seat of the limousine. Dmitri and Mia occupied the wide seat that was directly behind the driver’s window opposite them.

She glanced at them. They were sitting close together. Mia was so close to Dmitri that she was almost on his lap. She couldn’t hear what they were saying to each other. Their heads were constantly bent towards each other, their eyes sparkling while the other whispered in their ear. She wished that she was that close to Valentine.

Her eyes dropped to the distance between them and the way she was sitting with her hands neatly laid in her lap while he leaned back against the seat, his arm resting along the back of it. She wondered how he’d react if she moved closer to him, as close as Mia was to Dmitri. He wouldn’t push her away, she knew that much.

She shuffled a little closer, closing the gap down to around two feet.

“I chose the method of transport that was fastest and most reliable. A train can go faster than a car and is less likely to get stuck in traffic or pulled over for breaking the speed limit.”

She shrugged. “We could’ve just killed whoever pulled us over.”

He shook his head and smiled. “But we could not kill traffic.”

“I can’t drive.” She dropped her gaze to the floor and stared at Mia’s foot where it was toying with Dmitri’s. Mia ran it up his leg, caressing him. Prophecy didn’t want to imagine how Valentine would react if she did that. The sight of Mia and Dmitri’s intimate gestures made her think about her feelings for Valentine and how she could act on them without coming across as a complete amateur. Everything she knew, she’d learnt from movies and television programmes. She didn’t know the right moves, didn’t know how to kiss him. She was getting tired of waiting for him to show her how it was done. She smiled when she remembered her vision. It wasn’t long now until they made it to Romania and he was going to kiss her in the valley. He was destined to.

“I did not think you could. I can see this is your first time in a car.” He reached out and gently caught her chin, bringing her face around until their eyes met. “What are you thinking in there?”

Her eyes were wide and she swore her skin felt hot where his fingers were lightly resting against it. She shakily raised her hand and took hold of his, wrapping her fingers about it and letting the tips of them caress his palm. He frowned for a second, as though he was trying to figure out what she was up to, and then his eyes dropped to her mouth. She swallowed hard and parted her lips, letting her tongue sweep along her lower one.

She lowered his hand, holding it by her chest while she stared into his eyes. His gaze moved from her mouth to meet hers. There was fire in their green depths again, passion that she had stirred by doing nothing more than taking hold of his hand. Moving closer to him, her knee knocked against his. She smiled awkwardly, feeling clumsy. His lips reflected her smile and his eyes narrowed tenderly. She started when his hand closed around hers and pulled her closer still.

Averting her gaze, she stared at his neck and the marks she’d placed on him. They had healed, but she could still see them. Her fangs itched and tried to descend. She wanted to taste him again, wanted his strong blood flowing through her veins. Leaning towards him, she noted the way he released her hand and raised his jaw, as though he knew what she wanted and wasn’t going to refuse her.

Her stomach and chest tightened when she edged closer to his neck. She glanced up at his face and found he was watching her, but he showed no sign of stopping her. He looked down towards his shoulder and she took it as a silent giving of permission.

Darting her tongue out when she reached his throat, she ran it over the mark she’d previously placed on him and closed her eyes. His skin tasted divine and she could smell the rich scent of his blood. Her fangs descended and her eyes switched to their emerald state. She lightly scraped his skin with her right incisor, listening to his sharp intake of breath and feeling thrilled when his hand closed around her wrist and held her tightly. She licked at the small wound she’d created. The sharp metallic tang of blood filled her senses, blocking out everything but Valentine. She placed her free hand on his bicep, holding him while he held her. She nipped at him again, deeper this time, and was rewarded by another sharp intake of breath from Valentine and a droplet of blood.