Prophecy: Caelestis & Aurorea (33 page)

Holding her, he watched her face, waiting for a sign that she had fallen asleep again and was calm. When her body became heavier against his, he knew she was asleep. He waited for a few minutes before sighing out his breath.

He’d meant what he’d said.

Defeating Kalinor and Arkalus wasn’t going to be easy, but it wasn’t impossible.

Impossible was leading their families to war as one army.

It was going to take a miracle for that to happen.

“Where are we going?” Venturi said while they walked from the station out into the centre of the city.

“To my family’s mansion,” Prophecy said and continued walking when Valentine stopped dead.

“It isn’t safe.” Valentine’s voice was stern and she turned to face him, her eyes pleading with him not to start this again. All throughout the journey to Prague, he’d been telling her the same thing. He didn’t want to go straight to her family’s home. He wanted to bide their time and go to his apartment or a hotel so they could scout the city and see what the situation was.

“I have to.” Her brows furrowed into a look that expressed all of her feelings. She couldn’t leave her family under the command of Arkalus for any longer than was necessary. She’d made a silent promise to save them from his tyranny, and she intended to keep it.

She had to see if her friend was all right. Even though Arkalus couldn’t kill Serenity because of the claim, he could still hurt her. She didn’t want to think about the danger that Serenity had placed herself in by agreeing to switch with her so she could escape that night.

Hopefully everything would be all right, but she wasn’t holding her breath. Since claiming Serenity, Arkalus had spent most of the time in Russia and now that he was back, Prophecy wasn’t going to make her friend endure his company for any longer than was necessary. Regardless of Serenity’s feelings for him, Prophecy had to free her family of his rule.

She looked from Valentine to Venturi. He looked as though he was staying well out of her argument with Valentine and she couldn’t blame him. She hated being dragged into their arguments and it was unfair of her to expect him to put himself into the path of Valentine’s anger again. He’d already done that by agreeing to go with them to Prague. When he’d repeated that he’d vowed to protect her and would go with her because of the promise he’d made, Valentine had given him a look that could kill.

The two men hadn’t really spoken to each other during the journey and when they had, their comments had been derisive to say the least.

“Valentine?” she said when she brought her eyes back to rest on him.

He frowned for a moment, his expression unwavering, before sighing. He didn’t need to say anything more for her to know that she had won.

“I just want to check it out.” She held his gaze and hoped that he could understand what she was telling him. She’d mentioned Serenity a few times during their trip, and Valentine knew who she was and what she meant to her.

“I understand,” he said and held his hand out to her.

She slipped her fingers into his, holding his hand while they walked through the centre of the city. A glance to her right found Venturi. He wasn’t looking at her. His eyes were scanning the old buildings that surrounded them and the tourists that were moving between the bars and restaurants, or just taking pictures of the beautiful clock tower and church. She wondered if he’d been to Prague before. He looked as though he hadn’t, or if he had it had been a long time ago.

When he looked at her, she smiled briefly before her gaze dropped to the floor and then moved across to the bag that Valentine was carrying. They had taken everything they had thought was necessary from Mathias’ house, including the journal and the two parts of the scroll. Venturi had busied himself with it during their journey. She mused that it had been a clever tactic and a perfect way of avoiding having to make pleasant conversation. She was sure that he would have been quite happy to pass the hours talking to her about his life and the things that she had done in her short one, but Valentine had stayed so close to her that if he had, things would have kicked off again between them.

She didn’t want that, not when she was enjoying the current bout of silent treatment they were giving each other. She preferred it to the bickering and the childishness.

She smiled to herself. Hopefully this would be the start of them getting along better.

She looked at them both, praying they didn’t contradict what she’d just said by saying something snide to each other. When they both remained silent, her gaze wandered the buildings that towered above her. They were nearing the river now. She could smell its earthy richness and could feel the cooler air that came off it, making the warm night feel chilly.

It wasn’t far now to her family’s mansion. They would be there in less than quarter of an hour. She didn’t know what to expect when she got there, but she hoped that her worst fears wouldn’t be realised. It was impossible for Arkalus to kill Serenity, but he could order the guards to.

Valentine looked at Prophecy while he turned down the road that would take them along the riverfront towards the house of Caelestis. She looked troubled. Her eyes were dark while she stared into the distance. He knew what she was thinking. There was no way that she could hide the source of her fear from him. He wished he could tell her that her friend was safe, but he couldn’t, all he could do was hope for her sake that she was. Losing Serenity would be a great blow to her, and although it would fuel her in the fight against Arkalus, it was something that would take away from her strength in the end.

He glanced at Venturi, glad to see that the Tenebrae wasn’t looking at Prophecy. Venturi seemed more concerned with the world around him, but he knew that it wasn’t wholly true. He wasn’t the only one that had picked up on Prophecy’s feelings. The Tenebrae would be wary of looking at her, but he would know exactly how she was feeling and how she looked. Valentine didn’t need to see Prophecy’s face to know that she was upset. A simple focusing of his senses on her told him that she wasn’t happy. She was scared. He could feel it in how tightly she was holding his hand.

Keeping his senses locked on her, his eyes settled on the water. The lights along the bank made it twinkle and he watched the boats full of tourists as they went downstream. In the distance on the hill, he could see the cathedral. It was lit up beautifully, as was the old gateway at the end of the Charles Bridge.

It felt like years since he’d been back here, and his old life felt as though it was a million miles away, some distant memory. He sighed, trying not to think about the life he’d left behind in order to go with Prophecy. He was glad that he hadn’t fulfilled his orders and murdered her that night. He didn’t want to think of what the world would be like now if he had executed her, or where she would be if he’d left her in Oxford like he’d planned to.

He frowned hard when he thought about the position he’d held for all those years and how loyal he’d been to his family. He’d spent centuries in faithful service, a proud and devoted Aurorea, an honoured hunter. He’d given it up so easily, had turned his back on everything he knew in one night and walked away from it, but it had been hard on him.

In his heart, he was still the hunter he had been back then, he was still loyal to his family, but he was loyal to another too now. Where Kalinor had demanded his devotion, Prophecy hadn’t asked for it. Yet his heart had given itself to her without question and he had felt less pained about his sacrifice when he had realised what he had gained in return. She was everything he had secretly yearned for throughout his years as a hunter. Lucya had left him a broken man, but Prophecy had fixed him again and shown him that his family hadn’t made him who he was, he had been that man all along.

“Are you okay?” Her voice stole into his thoughts and he looked at her, trying not to let her see his mixed emotions but knowing he’d failed when she stopped walking. Her expression became one of deep concern. “What’s wrong?”

He turned away, not from her, but from Venturi. The last thing he needed was the Tenebrae seeing how much being back in Prague affected him. He folded his arms across his chest and stared across the water at the cathedral.

She moved around him, taking hold of his arms and forcing him to uncross them. He didn’t stop her when she placed them around her shoulders and wrapped her arms about his waist. Her head came to rest against his chest and he closed his eyes, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

When she pulled back and looked up at him, he managed a smile.

“I am fine. There is nothing to worry about.” He ran his fingers across her cheek and then trailed them down her neck. He brushed them against the still healing marks there and remembered the night he’d made them. Running them further down, he looked at the star she wore around her neck and then at the symbol on her chest.

When he looked back up, he found her dark eyes were fixed on his fingers where they were resting against her chest.

She met his gaze, concern visible in hers. He gave her another slight smile, letting her see that what he’d said was true. He was fine now. There was no point in holding onto the past when the future was so uncertain. It was better that he concentrate on making it through this and helping Prophecy survive what lay ahead of her. Once this was all said and done, he was going to tell her those words she’d stopped him from saying, and he was going to keep the promise he’d made to her. He’d never let her grow old or die.

Prophecy stared down at the house. She shrank back into the shadows when a couple of guards passed by barely a few metres from her. It would be easy for them to sense the presence of her, Valentine and Venturi if they were really concentrating, but they seemed to be more concerned with talking.

She didn’t pay attention to their conversation. Her gaze roamed back to the house and the main gate.

There were twice as many guards as she remembered.

Was it because of her that Arkalus had posted more guards, or did he fear Kalinor?

“What happened in Russia?” she said to Valentine and saw the pain surface in his eyes when he remembered. She placed her hand over his and moved back along the hill with him, heading farther into the undergrowth. Her voice lowered to a whisper. “No, not that … I know what happened then. I just … how is it Arkalus is still alive? Doesn’t Kalinor know what he did?”

“He does. I told him. I had to lessen the trust between them so Kalinor would go easier on me. He is only alive because Kalinor has a use for him. Once that use disappears, he will kill Arkalus for what he has done,” he said.

She believed him.

It must have taken a lot of convincing by Arkalus for Kalinor not to kill him.

What had he promised him? Had Arkalus told Kalinor that he would bring her to him? Surely that was the only thing that would have any bargaining power.

She froze when she heard a voice and listened hard. Her chest tightened and she looked at Valentine.

“Serenity,” she said and hurried through the woods that lined the hill outside the mansion walls.

Through the trees, she could see her aide. She waited until they were far enough away from the gates not to be noticed and then made her way down to the road. She caught hold of Serenity’s arm, placing her hand over her mouth to silence her while she dragged her into the woods.

Turning her friend to face her, the smile fled her lips when she saw the dark bruise surrounding her eye. She released her friend’s mouth and her stomach dropped when she revealed the fact that Serenity’s lower lip was cut and swollen.

“What happened?” she said.

“What are you doing here?” Serenity whispered and cast a fearful look around them. “They’ll kill you if they find you. Arkalus has ordered his guards to show you no mercy. The lord of Aurorea wants you dead and if Arkalus doesn’t do it, then he dies.”

She looked at her friend, completely unaffected by what she’d just said. Of course Kalinor wanted her dead, but she knew Arkalus. He wouldn’t kill her, not even if the Devil himself commanded it.

“What happened?” She repeated her question. “Answer me. It was Arkalus wasn’t it? I knew I shouldn’t have left you.”

“You had to. I offered to take your place remember? I am fine, really.” Serenity toyed with her hair and Prophecy frowned when she noticed that she was trying to cover her neck.

“I’m so sorry,” she said and lowered her head when guilt swept through her. “I should have stayed and faced him.”

“He would have killed you. You had to leave and I was happy to help you. He would have made you miserable. You had to escape and find your…”

Prophecy frowned when Serenity trailed off. Her friend was looking over her shoulder. She looked there also and smiled at Valentine. He seemed shocked to see the two of them together and she wondered just how alike they looked to him.

“You’re as handsome as Prophecy said you were,” Serenity said.

Prophecy glared at her, not finding it as amusing as her friend did.

Valentine gave Prophecy an awkward look and she smiled slightly.

“Who is your friend?” Serenity looked past Valentine.

Prophecy leaned to one side and saw Venturi standing a few feet behind Valentine. She beckoned him closer and ignored the black look that Valentine gave him.

“Valentine of Aurorea, my aide and friend, Serenity.” She introduced them and was surprised when Valentine extended his hand and pressed a kiss to Serenity’s when she placed hers into it. He was either doing it to make her happy, or his hatred of all Caelestis vampires was fading.

“It’s a pleasure,” Serenity said with a shy look.

Prophecy raised a brow, her insides twisting with jealousy when Valentine smiled. She knew he didn’t have the slightest interest in her friend, but it still didn’t stop her from feeling irked by his gesture. She growled quietly but not quiet enough that Valentine didn’t hear her. He looked at her while letting go of Serenity’s hand, his eyes full of confusion. She turned away from him and smiled at Venturi.