Prophecy: Dark Moon Rising (14 page)

“Maybe you are the great power, and not Elena.”

A sudden clap of thunder boomed overhead, making her jump. It was joined by another simultaneous bolt of lightning and rumble.

“It’s close,” she said and wondered where the storm had come from. She signalled Serenity when she saw her standing not far away talking to Cornelius. Serenity came over to her immediately, giving her a wide smile. Prophecy frowned. “Has there been any word from Mia or Dmitri?”

Serenity shook her head. “I can ask the guards if you’d like?”

“No, you’d better stay inside. The storm seems bad.” Prophecy touched Serenity’s arm and waited for her to go back to Cornelius before turning to Valentine. “This doesn’t feel good. They should have been here by now.”

“They did not say that they would definitely be able to attend. Some matter of business may have arisen and needed attending to.” Valentine looked down the length of the room at the tall windows at the end of it when another flash and rumble tore up the sky. “The storm is bad though.”

It was unusual for a storm to come from nowhere in these parts but he shook it off. With the music playing and the din of chatter filling the room, it was possible that they had missed the warning signals. He’d been so caught up in dancing with Prophecy that a war could have broken out and he wouldn’t have noticed.

He gave her a smile when she looked at him. She still looked on edge. Her eyes were constantly scanning the gathered crowd as though she was searching for something. Every time she glanced at him, she gave him a little smile, as though it would hide from him how worried she was. Moving to block her view of the room, he waited for her to look up into his eyes. She furrowed her brows when she did and he could see all of the tension in her.

Brushing the backs of his fingers against her cheek, he absorbed how beautiful she looked. Her hair was almost back to its natural colour again now. The silken blood red strands of it pooled around her shoulders, hiding her neck and almost obscuring the silver star she always wore around it. He ran his fingers down over her jaw, gliding them along the chain that held the star and eventually taking hold of it. He looked at it for a moment and frowned. A sudden sensation that he should know something about it filled him and he struggled to keep hold of the feeling, trying to understand what it meant. It slipped away just as quickly as it had come and he was left staring at the silver star. There was something about it, something important.

His gaze dropped to the fine dress she was wearing and his thoughts slipped away, replaced by a desire to take her away from the prying eyes of both their families.

“You are beautiful tonight,” he whispered and moved nearer to her, sliding an arm about her waist and locking eyes with her.

She smiled. “Not nearly as handsome as you. I remember that night at the ball and how you looked so like a prince.”

“I am a lord now.”

“Better than a prince, then.” She placed one hand against his chest. “Do you think we’re neglecting the guests?”

“Not at all,” he murmured and drew the hair away from her neck. He pressed a soft kiss to it, tasting her skin and his marks. “Do you think we are?”

“Yes…” she sighed the word out and leaned into him. “But when you do that, I suddenly don’t care.”

He smiled against her throat. Extending his canines, he barely scraped her neck, creating a small incision in it. He wrapped his lips around it and closed his eyes when he sucked on the wound. She moaned quietly, her fingers tightening against him. A dance between their families was no place for this kind of behaviour, but the scent of her blood was overpowering and he was too weak to resist tasting her.

“Valentine?” Her fingertips dug into his shoulder and he resisted the temptation to groan when he caught the scent of her desire.

A streak of lightning split the sky and the lights flickered for a moment when thunder rolled over the Earth.

He realised that Prophecy was suddenly alert and stiff against him. Drawing away from her, he licked the small wound on her neck, and then looked from her to the room. Everyone had stopped dancing.

Heaving a sigh, he released Prophecy and took hold of her hand, bringing her with him while he walked towards their families.

“It is merely a storm,” he said, hoping to reassure them so they would go back to dancing and forget the weather. “We have had worse here before. If the lights go out, we will light the candles. Weather such as this should not frighten you … unless you are all nothing more than little children? We command more destruction than lightning, and are more sinister than a storm. Come … dance … laugh … enjoy this night.”

They looked at each other for a moment and then started to talk again. He was relieved when some of the people began to dance.

“It does not sound good.”

He turned sharply and barely held the growl inside when he saw Venturi stood close to Prophecy. She gave the Tenebrae a smile and then turned to face himself.

“It will pass?” Her words sounded more like a question than a statement.

“It will, given time. Nothing bad will come of it.” Valentine touched her arm and then intimated the dance floor. “Maybe we can take your mind off it.”

She nodded and walked towards the centre of the dance floor. Valentine held Venturi’s gaze for a moment, his expression dark and hard, before walking after her.

Looking over the heads of the gathered people, Valentine signalled the band. They nodded and abruptly ended the piece they had been playing. When the next one began, Prophecy turned to look at him with an expression that said she recognised the music. She should do. After all, it was what they’d danced to at the Creator Day masquerade.

He held his hand out to her and she slipped hers into it. It looked small compared to his and he stared at it for a moment before closing his fingers around it and drawing her slowly towards him.

He ran his fingers down her cheek while the first slow violin notes filled the room, keeping his eyes locked with hers the whole time and feeling the desire flowing between them. As the rest of the orchestra began to join in, he curled his fingers around her waist and brought her body against his. Her fingers tensed in his the moment he started dancing with her, as fast a waltz as she’d survived the last time, only this time there was no fear in her eyes.

There was only hunger and desire.

She smiled broadly, her eyes changing to their green state and the points of her teeth visible between her lips. She licked them, pulling him in until he could see only her. He slowed their dancing, wanting more time to be closer to her. The world twirled and laughed by them, the other dancers in the room still running to the giddy tempo.

Lifting her off the floor, he turned with her on the spot, kissing slowly across her chest and savouring the taste of her skin before nipping at her collarbone. She slipped her arms about his neck and ran her fingers into the hair at the back of his head. He closed his eyes, the divine sensuality of her touch driving him mad with desire. Sharpening his teeth, he growled when she leaned back, forcing his head lower towards her bosom. He drew a fang over one and was rewarded by a sweet moan of pleasure from her. Licking the cut, he breathed heavily as he savoured the metallic tang of her blood. It spoke to his own, whispering words of want that he was unable to ignore.

He groaned when she pulled herself towards him and rained kisses down on his temple and cheek. She nicked his earlobe with her teeth and all control dissipated. Clutching her backside, he ground against her and sneered when she giggled.

He cursed the rest of the room when he realised they were all staring at him. Roaring at them, he carried Prophecy through the crowd and pinned her against the wall. Who were they to stare, trying to make him feel as though this wasn’t appropriate behaviour. He was their lord and she was their lady. What they did was none of their families business and they certainly had no say in it.

Prophecy brushed her lips against his as she kissed across his jaw and he paused for a moment, trapped in her green eyes when she drew back a fraction. He stared at her for what seemed like minutes before crushing her mouth with a feverish kiss. Her teeth clashed with his and it was only a matter of seconds before he could taste their combined blood on his tongue. It didn’t stop him, and it only seemed to drive her on. She arched against him, her fingers desperately holding him to her while her lips danced passionately on his. His eyes closed. He gripped her sides so tight that he was sure that he was hurting her, but he couldn’t stop, not until this feeling inside of him began to ebb, and with each kiss it just seemed to be growing.

A drop of blood coursed down his chin and he tilted his head back when Prophecy rushed to lick it up. He struggled to stop his claws from extending and puncturing her sides when she pressed long wet kisses around his mouth, cleaning all the blood away, and then licked his lips for him. Shoving her hard into the wall, he grinned when he knocked the air from her and kissed her again. His teeth scraped against her lip and he felt as though he was drowning in the taste of her. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he groaned when her body rubbed against his, sending desire like a burning wildfire through him.

The tempo of the music began to slow and he pulled back enough to see that her lips and chin were covered in blood. Spots of it had dripped down onto her exposed chest. He watched her bosoms rise and fall with her heavy breathing and then dipped his head. She mewled and dug her fingers into his hair when he licked up every last drop of blood on her chest, working his way slowly upwards towards her mouth. Slipping out of his vampire guise, he cleaned her jaw and chin, savouring the taste of their combined blood. When he reached her mouth, he kissed her gently, making the most of it.

She was smiling when he finished and he went to wipe the blood away from his lips. She stopped him with a green flash of her eyes and brought her thumb down, trailing her fingers across his cheek. He stared into her eyes while she captured the blood from his bottom lip and then licked her thumb clean. The look in her eyes said it all. She wanted to be away from here, wanted to be alone with him as badly as he wanted to be locked away in her room with her.

Lowering her to the floor, he smoothed down his jacket while she straightened her clothes out. When they looked reasonably presentable again, he took hold of her arm and looped it over his. He placed his free hand over hers and led her back to the long table that was almost empty of glasses now.

He caught Cornelius’ gaze as he passed him. His aide looked somewhere between astounded and jealous. Serenity raised her brow at him and Valentine dropped his gaze to the floor for a second before finding the strength to meet hers. She gave him a look that could only be interpreted as jealousy.

Leading Prophecy towards the table, he noticed how agitated she was when he stopped. She toyed with the empty glasses, her fingers trembling and making them rattle against each other.

“Something wrong?” he whispered by her ear.

She shook her head and looked at him with hungry eyes. “Dance again?”

Her voice was nothing more than a whisper, barely audible over the music that was playing. It was a slower dance. He looked at the packed dance floor and then back at her. In her eyes, he could see that she wanted to be in amongst them, lost in the sea of bodies so people would stop staring at her and they could be alone. He nodded and took hold of her arm, leading her into the very centre and starting to dance with her.

He’d only had her in his arms a matter of seconds before someone cut in. He frowned when he saw Venturi whisking her away and went to growl at him but someone took hold of his arm.

“Look at me,” the soft feminine voice said and he felt compelled to do as they’d asked.

His eyes widened when he saw who was standing in front of him.

Valentine shook his head in disbelief while he stared at the woman now holding his hand. He felt numb at the sight of her dressed in inky black satin that was cut low to reveal her ample breasts. She started to dance with him and all he could do was follow her lead. After a moments struggle with his senses, he found his voice.

“You are not real,” he said, staring at her, from her blonde glowing hair to her slim fingers that were tightly grasping his hand. He looked into her eyes and confusion overwhelmed him. He shook his head and closed his eyes, refusing to believe what he was seeing. When he opened them again, she was still there, her red lips smiling at him understandingly. He felt as though he was a youngling again and was having trouble grasping something, rather than the terrifying truth of it. “I felt you go. This cannot be real.”

“I assure you it is,” Lucya said and turned with him, drawing him closer.

He came to his senses then and looked across at Prophecy. She was frowning at Venturi.

“If you make a move to alert her,” Lucya whispered, “we’ll kill her.”

Fear clenched his heart in a vice-like grip. He tried to pull away from her while resisting looking at Prophecy. He couldn’t risk that this was real. Lucya could have survived. Either that, or the person dancing with him was someone far worse.

“What is it that you want from me?” he said calmly, holding Lucya’s gaze.

“A kiss?” she said with the sweetest smile he’d ever seen grace her lips.

He shook his head in the negative.

Her eyes darkened. “If you refuse me, Prophecy will die.”

“There must be something else you want. A kiss cannot be the reason you are here. There is something darker at work. I can sense it.” He tried to buy himself time to think of a way out of the situation. That time slipped through his fingers when lightning flashed overhead, sending the room into darkness. He wanted to move, wanted to run then, but he couldn’t.

He couldn’t because the veil had slipped and he could see whose hands were firmly holding his.

Elena.

“Kiss me.” It wasn’t a request this time. It was a command that he felt in every bone of his body. Elena’s power washed over him, and for the first time he felt the true extent of it. It sent cold fear sweeping through him when he realised that he wasn’t strong enough to fight it. He tried to pull away even as he edged towards her, dipping his head. A prisoner in his own body, all he could do was watch in horror.