Prophecy: Dark Moon Rising (3 page)

“At least your instincts are still with us,” he whispered and lowered his finger so it was hovering just above her open mouth.

He squeezed it hard until the drop grew too heavy and slipped from his finger. It ran over her lower lip and touched her tongue. She swallowed. Relief coursed through him when she licked her lips and a tiny frown flickered on her brow. Her mouth opened again and he squeezed another drop onto her tongue.

Her eyes fluttered open for the briefest of moments, revealing glassy green eyes to him. She rolled them when she looked at him, as though she was having difficulty making him out and then they stopped dead, focused on his neck.

She sniffed.

He swallowed and braced himself, knowing what she was going to do and willing her to do it. He wanted to feel it, wanted to bring her back to life even if it meant weakening himself in the process.

Her fingers twitched and he took hold of her hand, raising it for her when he realised that she didn’t have the energy to even do that. He brought his throat down to her mouth and closed his eyes when her lips touched it. They were soft, gently exploring his flesh. Her tongue swept over the marks she’d placed on him, some of them now faded and gone, others still prominent.

He inhaled sharply when her teeth punctured his skin, sinking deep into him in a bite that told him how weak and desperate she was. He gathered her to him, making it easier on her to feed.

When she gave a stronger pull on his blood, elation swept through him. His fingers curled tightly around her shoulder, holding her against him while she drank. Her actions stirred the fire inside of him that only she ever made, turning him desperate with need and desire, hungry with passion.

He felt her growing stronger. Her bite deepened and her fingers brushed against his neck, making a shiver run down his spine. He breathed out heavily, his brows furrowing and his sharp canines teasing his lip while he struggled for control over his body and his desires.

The feeling of being so close to her, so intimately connected, was divine. It told him everything he needed to know about her, reaffirming her affections for him and her need. He sighed and held her head against his neck, relishing how she was making him feel. In almost three centuries of life, he had never had someone need him as much as she did. He had never been with someone who wanted to share his blood and be this close to him. In return, he’d never felt the need to be with someone as intensely as he did with her. Being apart from her was like losing a part of himself. He’d become so dependent on her. He’d hated her dependence on him when they’d first met, the way she’d clung to him, but now he recognised it as a sign of her affection for him, and he realised that on some level he’d acted the same way throughout their journey together. He needed her.

He pulled back when she finished licking his neck and looked at her and the way he was clinging to her, so desperate to bring her back to him because he couldn’t live without her.

Wiping the blood off her lips, he licked his finger clean and went to sit back in his seat. She whimpered, her arms immediately wrapping around his neck and stopping him from moving. Looking down at her face, it hit him hard how young she really was—too young to have this kind of pressure on her. She was too inexperienced. She’d barely seen anything of the world, had barely lived. She’d passed so many years trapped inside the mansion, kept away from the world and forced to experience life via her television and books, via the stories her family told and the tales they brought back with them from their travels. When she’d finally broken free of her cage, she’d plummeted head first into a dangerous world, one where she was hunted and persecuted, made to run in order to preserve her life, chased by those that had once been her friends. What kind of life was that? Now she faced an enemy so powerful that her chance of success was slim, and a future so uncertain that only her belief in herself and the choice she had made kept her going.

He wrapped his arms about her, lifting her off the seat and carrying her with him to the curved couch on the opposite side of the cabin. He sat down with her, her backside resting on his thighs while he cradled her in his arms. His eyes scanned her face. It was peaceful with slumber but she twitched occasionally, her brows knitting and her nose wrinkling up. He wondered what she was dreaming about and whether it was another vision. If it was, he hoped it wasn’t about battles and people she loved dying. He’d seen how shaken she was whenever she dreamed of his near-death. He wished he could take that vision away, freeing her of the anxiety it made her feel.

He couldn’t imagine how frightened she had been when she’d had her first vision. Her blood mother had probably told her it was just a dream, but Prophecy would have known in her heart that it was more than that. A vision felt more real than a dream and left you with an intense feeling that you’d actually been there, present in whatever had happened.

His fingers swept the hair from her face so he could see it better. She fluttered her eyes open, their dark depths searching his for a moment and filled with a sleepy haze.

“Get some rest. I will watch over you,” he whispered down at her. “I will always watch over you.”

The corners of her lips tugged into a small smile and she sighed when she leaned into him, resting her head against his upper arm and falling asleep again.

Locking his arms around her, he watched her sleeping, his eyes never leaving her face.

His thoughts turned to Elena and Venice. He wished he knew what lay ahead of them and where Elena had gone. A witch as powerful as her was unpredictable. It would lessen his worry about the impending battle if they at least knew her location. He would have to contact Mia and Dmitri and ask them to keep an eye open and their ears to the ground. Venturi could contact his kin in Romania.

Wherever Elena had gone, she hadn’t moved long before they’d arrived in Venice. The magic had only just started to deteriorate so she couldn’t have been gone for longer than a day or two. He sighed. A day or two of travel could have taken her anywhere in the world. She didn’t have to rely on conventional methods of transport. Her magic could easily transport her a thousand miles in a snap of her fingers.

He hoped that his instincts were right when they said that she wouldn’t have gone far. She would have hidden herself well though, well enough that finding her would be impossible.

Prophecy shifted and mumbled something. He pushed his thoughts away, listening to her in case she spoke again. She didn’t. She curled up on his lap and pressed her cheek into his chest, sighing heavily.

His gaze dropped to the amulet that was securely fastened around her hand.

Elena’s magic was potent, powerful enough to keep her alive after all this time and command the dead. Was Prophecy a match for that? He’d witnessed her destroy an entire building and obliterate the spell that had created Elena’s home for the past few centuries. She’d called tempests and had healed him after Kalinor had exacted his lust for torture on his tired body. Would she have the power to defeat Elena?

He remembered her mother’s book. He’d seen her with it a few times and could picture it where it was laying on the desk in her room. She’d had no success in opening it yet and he wondered if she ever would. How was she supposed to find the key to it? They didn’t have time for another wild goose chase. Finding the two halves of the prophecy had been difficult enough.

“My lord?” the stewardess said and he tore his eyes away from Prophecy to look at her. “We shall be landing in Prague shortly.”

“Have the car ready. I want to be taken directly to the Caelestis mansion.”

He watched her walk away and then returned his attention to Prophecy. She would need the safety of her family when she was so weak. With rest and more blood, she would be back to full strength in a day. He just hoped that Elena’s plans, whatever they entailed, didn’t start before then.

Venturi got to his feet the moment he caught sight of Valentine carrying Prophecy through the wide lounge of the Caelestis mansion. He went to move but then stopped, reminding himself that he’d vowed not to chase after her. Valentine passed him, his green eyes narrowing into a dark look when their gazes met. Venturi swallowed. His every instinct told him to go to her, to see what was wrong. He clenched his fists, struggling for control over his emotions but they easily won and his heart overruled his mind.

In a few strides, he was beside Valentine, his eyes immediately fixing on Prophecy where she lay in the Aurorea’s arms. She looked pale, her skin washed of colour. Her eyes were closed and the way her hands were resting limp in her lap made her look unconscious rather than sleeping. She was leaning against Valentine’s chest in a way that made her appear as though she was hiding in his embrace.

“What the Devil happened to her?” Venturi said, his tone sharp and demanding.

Valentine glared at him.

Venturi stepped to the side, placing some distance between himself and the Aurorea when he saw the darkness in his eyes. It wasn’t wise to anger Valentine, not when Prophecy wasn’t around to defend himself. He’d done that back in England. He’d underestimated how strong the young vampire was and how badly his love for Prophecy affected his judgement. Valentine would happily kill him. The only thing stopping him was Prophecy.

“She used too much magic, that is all. In a day she will be back to normal.” Valentine continued to move through the house with her and he continued to follow him.

He knew where Valentine was taking her. He was going to her room, going to shut her away from the world and remain with her, keeping her to himself. A growl escaped him and he was thankful that Valentine had his arms full of Prophecy when he realised what he’d done.

Valentine’s look said it all. He’d crossed the line by threatening him. If it had been anyone but Valentine that he’d growled at, he would have happily turned submissive to heal the rift his actions had caused, but he couldn’t. He could never bring himself to be submissive to Valentine, not while the Aurorea commanded Prophecy’s heart.

Venturi followed him up the stairs and was joined by Serenity at the top of them. She looked worried, her dark eyes betraying her anxiety for her friend. He placed his hand on her shoulder, giving her a smile when she looked at him.

Valentine stopped outside Prophecy’s door and Venturi watched as Serenity opened it for him. He frowned when the Aurorea went to enter and was surprised when he stopped. Valentine looked at him for a moment, glanced down at Prophecy, and then raised his eyes to meet his again.

“She will be fine. There is no need to worry,” Valentine said and then carried Prophecy into the room, stealing her away from him.

He stood in the hallway and stared at the closed door, trying to make sense of what had just happened. Valentine had reassured him. The Aurorea had actually acknowledged his feelings for Prophecy and had reassured him that she would be all right. He felt floored, stunned by this change in him.

He looked at Serenity when she came back out of Prophecy’s room. She smiled and intimated the stairs. He took the hint, following her towards them with only a backwards glance at Prophecy’s door.

Valentine had better be right. She had better be fine in a day.

He didn’t think he could cope for much longer than that without seeing her.

Prophecy stared at the streaks of rain on the window, watching each drop splatter against the glass and then run down. She sighed and rested her head on her hands. The rain went out of focus and she switched her attention to the group crossing the dark grounds towards the gates. They were wrapped in heavy coats, their arms pulling them shut around them to protect their bodies from the storm. They were going out to hunt. She wished she could do that, wished she could escape the confines of her house.

She frowned when it hit her that she was again sitting by her window wishing herself away from her room. How many times had she done that in the past?

Her whole life had changed because of her decision to disobey Iona’s rules and leave the grounds to hunt in the city. Her eyes moved to the distant lights of Prague.

When she looked back now, everything seemed so much simpler then. She told herself that it was all an illusion and that the easy life she’d had back then would have eventually ended. It couldn’t have lasted forever.

One day she would have discovered her destiny or someone would have discovered her.

Valentine had opened her eyes to the world and now she couldn’t close them again. No matter how hard things seemed, and how tough they became, she could never go back. This was who she was now. To go back would be to lose her memories again, to live a lie. Back then she had been a weak girl, a youngling, caged in her family’s house. Now she was a strong warrior, a woman of great power, and a lover.

She smiled, thinking about Valentine as her fingers toyed with the silver star that hung around her neck. He was back at his family’s mansion, trying to reassure his bloodline and convince them to follow him into war. She knew he was having trouble with them. His reluctance to leave her two days ago had told her everything he couldn’t put into words. Again he was torn between duty to his family and duty to her.

Standing up, she leaned against the wall beside the window, her eyes still scanning the dark grounds below her.

She’d told him to go in the end. A little reassurance that she would be all right here in her home without him for a couple of days was enough to send him on his way, albeit reluctantly. He’d kissed her so hard, so passionately, that she’d wondered if he’d felt as though he was never going to see her again. It had stirred worry in the depths of her stomach, making the demon at the back of her mind whisper words of death and loss to her.

The moment night had fallen, she’d called his family’s home and spoken to him. She’d spent most of that night on the phone, talking to him about what he thought Elena’s plans were and trying to find the right words to say that she missed him.

She looked around her room, heaving a sigh when her eyes came to rest on the door. The only people she’d seen in nearly three days were Valentine, Serenity and Tiberius.