Prophecy: Child of Light (46 page)

A cursory glance around the room revealed that they were still being watched with interest. Even the barmaid had stopped her work in order to stare at them. Prophecy frowned when she realised that the barmaid wasn’t staring at them so much as just staring at Valentine. Stepping forwards, Prophecy placed herself between him and the barmaid. When it didn’t stop the woman from looking at him, Prophecy looped her arm over his. She glared at the barmaid and felt anger rise up inside of her when she found the woman was still watching Valentine. A growl rumbled quietly through her chest and her eyes switched into their demonic state for a split second.

She smiled triumphantly when the barmaid hurriedly averted her eyes and began cleaning glasses again.

Turning around, she found Valentine looking at her with a raised brow. She swallowed and smiled nervously, hoping he wasn’t going to bring up the laws again. She was tired of the laws. These people knew of the existence of vampires. She’d done nothing wrong by threatening the girl. In fact, the woman was lucky she had managed to control her temper so much. The temptation to leap over the bar and force her to stop staring at Valentine had been great. Her stomach rumbled at the thought of fresh, warm blood.

She felt Valentine’s hand on her arm and looked up into his eyes. He smiled a fraction of a smile, one that reminded her of when they’d first met. He never had smiled properly as far as she could remember. No, he had smiled properly. This was his real smile. This slight curve of his lips that he seemed to share only with her. The rest of them were for show.

She giggled to herself. He was too serious to smile broadly as Dmitri did. It wasn’t his nature to grin and laugh, that’s why he would have been such a perfect Law Keeper. His harsh and stony expression was just the way he had always looked. It hid the real him, masking the tenderness of emotion she knew existed inside of him.

He led her through the inn and she could feel his eyes on her at all times, even when they passed the barmaid. The intensity of his look was something she would always be able to feel. It was as though he could see straight through things, straight through her and into her heart. There was nothing she could keep hidden from him. He really would have made a perfect Law Keeper.

They followed Mia and Dmitri up the stairs to the first floor and she watched them. They were always close together. Dmitri’s heavy arm rested around Mia’s slim shoulders, marking the contrast in their build as strongly as her knowledge of them marked the contrast of their nature. Mia seemed like the epitome of graceful and elegant perfection, a well-bred and beautiful vampire, while Dmitri was rough and unpolished, a broad shouldered hulk of a man who could crush a man’s head with his bare hands. It seemed strange that two people so opposite should be attracted to one another. She glanced at Valentine. She supposed that it was the same with them in a way. Their houses were opposed, their ages at different ends of the spectrum and while he was wise, she was naïve about the world and the way it worked.

In both cases, the relationships were illegal. She couldn’t help but think that Mia was brave for going against everything she knew in order to be with Dmitri. She had forsaken her species so she could be with him. To come out during the Creator Day masquerade must have taken great courage. The Law Keepers wouldn’t have forgotten the sin Mia had committed. If they had seen her there, they would have captured her, regardless of their orders to find Ineru.

She sighed. Ineru. Yet another case of ill-fated and illegal love. How many other couples were in hiding out there because their relationship broke the rules? It was a ridiculous law; one that she wished would be removed. There were far worst crimes happening in the world than love.

Her thoughts roamed back to the masquerade. What she’d thought about Mia was also applicable to Valentine. He’d surrendered his whole life to be with her. He’d sacrificed his position and turned his back on his family. All for her.

She looked up when they passed through a door and entered a room. It was dark, lit only by a dying fire in the hearth. It wasn’t a large room. There was just enough space for a double bed, a couch and a side table. The floor was wood, as dark as the walls, and at the far end was a dirty window that had the shutters drawn across.

She came out of her thoughts when she heard Valentine speaking with Mia.

“This is the only room available, I am afraid.”

“It will serve us perfectly well. We do not need space or finery. Tomorrow night we shall leave this place behind us and head out to meet our army,” Mia said with a serene smile. She walked further into the room and stopped near the window.

Prophecy’s stomach rumbled again and she pressed her hand to it, frowning.

“I will share the bed with Prophecy if the one room proves to be a problem.” Mia’s smile turned wicked.

Prophecy looked at Valentine to see what his reaction to the idea would be. Mia was obviously teasing him, but it didn’t mean he was going to see it that way.

“Keep your nose out of my business, Mia.” He almost growled the words.

She grinned at Mia who was smiling broadly, evidently amused by how annoyed she’d made Valentine.

“Come, Valentine, don’t sound so sore.” Dmitri clapped a hand down on his shoulder and grinned. “I could share with your woman.”

Valentine grabbed hold of Dmitri’s wrist and growled with effort as he twisted it around, forcing Dmitri to kneel.

“Dmitri!” Mia scowled at him.

“Valentine,” Prophecy said, approaching him slowly. He looked at her and released Dmitri, as though he’d seen in her eyes what she was going to ask of him. She pressed her hand to her grumbling stomach and rubbed it.

He frowned and stepped towards her, his gaze filling with tenderness. “I will go out to hunt. There is still a long time before the sun rises. I can scout down towards the castle and bring back something for you to eat. There are canisters in the car that I can fill.”

She shook her head. “I can go.”

“I do not want you going out there, not yet.” He pressed the palm of his hand against her cheek and ran his fingertips around her earlobe. “Stay here.”

He removed his jacket, laying it out carefully on the end of the bed.

“I will come with you,” Dmitri said with a broad grin. “It is a long time since we hunted. If you go alone, Mia will not let me hear the end of it.”

Mia frowned and then turned to face her. “Do not listen to him. He is playing the fool to amuse you.”

“A fool?” Dmitri laughed at her words and Prophecy giggled along with him. She liked how Dmitri acted. It made him seem less frightening. “Come, friend.”

She held her hand up to stop Valentine when he turned to leave with Dmitri. Valentine looked back at her and smiled.

“I shall not be long. You will be safe here,” he said and then walked towards the door.

“Be careful,” she whispered.

Dmitri pressed a kiss to Mia’s cheek and nodded at her as he left, following Valentine down the stairs.

Mia walked past her and closed the door. Prophecy moved to the window, not hearing the things that Mia was saying. Opening it, she pushed the shutters out of the way and watched Valentine and Dmitri walking along the road towards the woods. When they started to get lost from view, she leaned forwards, craning her neck so she could watch them until the very last moment.

Her eyes moved to rest on the distance in the direction of the castle. It was too dark to see it now. The moon was high in the sky but it did nothing to light the world. The street below her was deserted. Clearly the people of this village did know of vampires. They were wise not to be out when darkness had fully fallen.

She listened to Mia cross the room and sit down. Turning her back to the window, she frowned.

“How long have you known Valentine?”

“A long time,” Mia replied and placed her hand on the seat beside her. “Come and sit for a while, Prophecy.”

Prophecy glanced at the window again and then did as instructed. Sitting on the couch beside Mia, she waited for her to properly answer her question.

Mia adjusted the skirt of her black silk dress, smoothing any wrinkles out, and then sighed.

“Valentine has always been like a brother to me, even when the law made him see me as nothing more than a contact.” Mia paused when Prophecy frowned at her, not hiding her confusion about the laws and the questions that were forming inside her. “I know what you are thinking but there is nothing forbidden about contacting another bloodline to retrieve information needed by your own. The law only forbids relationships and closeness between bloodlines. That is why the Creator Day masquerade is always held in high regard. The bloodlines love the chance to shed the law for one night. I could not live with just one night of freedom, and I believe that neither can you.”

“I can’t. The laws are ridiculous. I wish someone would abolish them,” Prophecy said, trying to hide how stupid she felt for forgetting the laws. Everything seemed illegal these days.

“Every walk of life must have laws to govern it. We are no different. Without the law, there would be pandemonium. They work for the majority of the population and most can live with them. There is only a small percentage that cannot.”

“I suppose.” Prophecy removed her boots and curled up on the seat. Staring at the window, she thought about Valentine. “So you were just his contact then? That is how he treated you?”

“At first, yes, but over time he became more accustomed to my company. After I had committed my sin with Dmitri, he told me that he would continue our tentative friendship and he would not turn me over to the Law Keepers.”

Prophecy’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Never.”

Mia smiled. “I was as surprised as you. To have Valentine openly disobey the law for my sake made me realise that he valued the friendship we had and that a part of him was not so loyal to the upholding of the law. When he contacted me to arrange our rendezvous at the masquerade, I knew in my heart the reason was because he had feelings for you. I cannot remember what excuse he used as the reason that he was helping you. I only remember that I did not believe it.”

Prophecy stared at the fire while she thought about what Mia had said. Valentine did indeed have feelings for her, feelings that she shared. She started when Mia placed her hand over hers where it rested on her knee. Looking up into Mia’s dark eyes, she found them smiling at her.

“I am glad that someone has opened his eyes for him. Valentine has too much heart to be a Law Keeper.”

Prophecy smiled and placed her hand over Mia’s. “I know. I’m glad too.”

A distant howl sliced through the silence and Prophecy’s eyes immediately shot to the window. She frowned and stood, walking over to it and staring out into the night.

“Valentine will come back,” Mia said.

Prophecy’s frown remained in place. “I don’t doubt it.”

“Yet you still worry about him.” Mia paused and Prophecy nodded, her eyes scanning over the trees in a vain hope of pinpointing where Valentine and Dmitri were. “Valentine is experienced and they are only hunting animals. Dmitri will sport with him a while. They will hunt each other to sharpen their senses and skills before the battle tomorrow.”

She stared at one particular spot in the forest and reached out with her senses, trying to feel Valentine.

When she couldn’t sense anything, she let her eyes wander their own course over the trees while her thoughts remained with Valentine. Dmitri would sport with him, just like Mia had said.

She only hoped that their fight didn’t end as the last one between them had.

V
alentine slowed to a halt in a clearing and looked at his surroundings. He was deep in the forest now. Dmitri had disappeared into the night shortly after they had entered the woods. He didn’t mind. He wanted a good hunt tonight, wanted to let himself go a little. He glanced back in the direction of the village. Mia would say things to Prophecy that were bound to cause questions in the girl’s head. Mia, for all her airs and graces, loved to stir trouble, especially where he was concerned.

Bringing his attention back to the woods, he scanned the dense pine trees and sniffed the air. The smell of the trees and the damp earth flooded his senses, but he quickly tuned them out by focusing on the subtler scents. Animals had passed this way not long before and so had something else. He smiled. Dmitri.

He started to walk again, heading in the direction that Dmitri had taken. He was about the leave the clearing when a noise caught his attention and his senses screamed danger. Not reacting fast enough, he growled in pain when claws slashed down his back, ripping through his shirt.

Turning, he narrowed his eyes on Dmitri, who grinned in amusement. He dropped the satchel he was carrying that contained the empty canisters, stripped his shirt off and looked at it. It was ruined.

“That was my only shirt,” he said, the frown remaining etched on his brow.

“I have one to lend you, though your scrawny body will be swamped.” Dmitri laughed.

Valentine threw the shirt to the floor and tensed his jaw.

“What does it matter? Prophecy will prefer you like this,” Dmitri said, casually walking towards him.

He gave him a look that conveyed how unimpressed he was but his old friend ignored it and continued.

“New?” Dmitri nodded towards his chest.

He looked down at the scar on his shoulder and touched it. “Werewolves.”

“It has healed well,” Dmitri said and there was a flicker of guilt in his eyes.

“Do not feel responsible for all of your kind, old friend.” He placed a hand on Dmitri’s shoulder and smiled. “Prophecy healed it.”

Dmitri nodded. “Mia told me of your little woman’s power.”

Valentine stretched and looked up at the moon and the stars through the trees. “I thought she would.”

He knew what was going to come next. Mia wouldn’t have just told Dmitri about Prophecy’s magic and her past, she would have mentioned the things that he’d said. Fixing his gaze on one star in particular, he stared at it while he waited.

Dmitri moved and he could sense the growing distance between them. It was a wise move on Dmitri’s part. Valentine clenched his fists, growing impatient and wanting the questions to be over with already. He didn’t want this talk. It had been bad enough when he’d told Mia.