Immortal Destiny (The Immortal Prophecy Saga) Page 13

  The coffee cup Adele was holding dropped to the ground and shattered to a million pieces. She was next to Ally in a flash. She grabbed Ally by the shoulders, twisted her around, and gave her a hard stare. “Please tell me I’m wrong. Tell me that James’ father is not Vincent,” Adele almost pleaded.

  Ally looked away, unable to bear the grief in her grandmother’s eyes.

  “Ally…”

  “I can’t tell you that, because you’re not wrong,” she took a deep breath and faced her grandmother again. “Vincent is his father.”

  “Oh my god,” Adele said and stumbled back to her seat. “How is it possible?”

  “It’s a long story, but do you still believe I should tell him?”

  Adele looked up at her with wild eyes and didn’t speak for a full minute. “You must,” she replied gravely.

  That was not the answer Ally was hoping for.

  Adele broke the heavy silence. “In answer to your question though, yes he will forgive you. He might even do it himself…”

  Ally sat down next to her grandmother and let her troubles engulf her for a time. She would be happy when James was around, but for the moment, reality was staring her in the face and she couldn’t ignore that.

  A few hours later, James walked Ally to their room and lingered in the open doorway. “Are you sure I have to go talk to Damian?” He asked as he tucked a stray hair behind her ear, and dragged the back of his hand down her cheek. Ally shivered in response and looked into his eyes and found herself caught in his gaze.

  “Yes, I’m sure,” she whispered, not sounding convinced at all.

  James’ eyes clouded over. Ally knew what would happen next and felt no desire to fight it.

  Relishing the feel of his lips on hers, she moved closer to him and felt his arms slide around her waist and held her to him. A sigh escaped her throat as he deepened the kiss.

  A growl rumbled from inside him, and she knew that he would end the encounter sooner than she really wanted but he had other obligations to attend to.

  All too soon, James softened the kiss and put a small amount of space between them.

  “I better go before we start something that needs to be finished,” he said with a cheeky grin.

  Or maybe you should stay.

  “Ally…”

  “Right,” she said with a frown. “The mind reading.”

  “I wouldn’t have to be a mind reader to know what’s going through your mind. You don’t exactly have a poker face, you know.”

  She took a deep breath and stepped backwards into the room. “I’ll see you soon.”

  “I won’t be too long.” The disappointment at leaving was written on his face. “We’ll be in the study if you need us.”

  Ally nodded and closed the door. She leaned against the back of it as she tried not to sulk that James had to be somewhere other than with her. She wanted him more than ever because their bond was growing stronger each day. The more she knew him the more she loved him, and the more she loved him, the more she wanted him.

  A single touch could set her body on fire…

  A simple look sent shivers down her spine…

  Three little words made her soul sing…

  Chapter Twenty-two

  The next three days belonged to training and the nights to James. They had talked until there was nothing left to say and spoke to each other with their bodies when the words had dried up.

  Try as she might to forget about the revelations in the diary, it haunted her day and night. James had asked her to marry him and she had agreed with her whole heart, but knowing what she had to do tonight was eating her alive.

  She also knew that she needed to speak to Isabella and tell her what she had planned. It was a conversation that she was dreading.

  Ally was gathered with the rest of the gang on the grass for yet another day of training, when a smell she knew but couldn’t place straight away floated under her nose. And the feeling of being watched came over her again. The same sense of unease bathed all her senses until she was no longer aware of anything else.

  A voice invaded her thoughts and brought her back to the present. “Ally?”

  She looked up to find all the immortals staring at her. “What’s wrong?” Adele asked.

  Ally hesitated telling them the truth for a moment, it was highly possible she was just overreacting but on the odd chance she wasn’t, she decided to tell them. “I smelt something and I’ve felt like someone has been watching us for the last three days.”

  “Impossible,” James said with a hint of arrogance. “We would have sensed it if someone was nearby.”

  Overreaction as I thought then.

  Damian disagreed. “Well we should have, but we’ve underestimated the vampires before and look what happened, James.”

  Adele was inclined to agree with him, but James had migrated back to the land of cavemen. “Yes, but not when it comes to sensing them.”

  “James, you have to admit that we are most relaxed here and not always on guard. It’s entirely possible,” Damian said then turned to Ally. “What did you smell?”

  “It smelt like jasmine and musk.”

  Adele gasped.

  “What is it Adele?” Damian asked clutching her arm.

  “I know that scent,” she said looking at Ally with wide eyes. “It’s what Kat always wore.”

  “Of course it is!” Ally exclaimed. “That’s why it was familiar to me.”

  All four of them knew what this meant. The manor was not the safe haven they had thought it to be. If Kathryn could get past them, what else could?

  “Could it have been her in the forest the other night?” Ally asked James.

  He shrugged. “It could have been. That would explain why the smell wasn’t as rancid as usual. She still has a bit of humanity at this point so it masks the full smell of a vampire when they are first turned.”

  Ally’s eyes lit up and a spark of danger flicked in them. James braced himself for what he knew was coming next. “Maybe she needs help. And maybe there’s still hope if there’s even a small trace of humanity left in her. Perhaps that’s why we’ve been seeing all the flowers? It’s a message that only you or I would understand!”

  “Ally,” James began. “She is beyond help, even in the early stages.”

  “How do you know for sure?” she challenged. “Have you ever spent time with a new vampire to know for sure?”

  James screwed up face. “Certainly not!”

  “Well then you don’t know, do you?”

  “Ally, I can see where you’re going and it’s out of the question!” he said, returning to the former caveman thinking again.

  “What, you’re going to forbid it?” she asked with deadly intent.

  James had his back up now. “As a matter of fact, yes I am going to forbid it!”

  Damian sighed and Adele rolled her eyes. They both knew where this was going.

  “Fine,” Ally said to James. “Forbid away. Doesn’t mean I’ll take any notice of it…”

  “Ally.”

  “I’ll be in my room if any of you want me.” Turning to glare at James, she added, “That of course doesn’t apply to you! I’m unavailable as far as you’re concerned.” With that, she stormed off to her room.

  “Really, James?” Damian drawled. “You didn’t see that coming?”

  James was staring at the back of Ally and began to shake his head. “Women! I’ll be in my study. Keep a close eye on her, she’s planning something… I can feel it.”

  Adele giggled under her breath and Damian stifled a laugh. “What are we going to do with those two? Things were going so well.”

  “Then the caveman reared its ugly head,” Adele said. “He’s right though, she will be planning something. He knows her too well already.”

  They joined hands and began a slow walk back to the house.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Ally opened the door to her room and slammed it shut behind her. She leaned back against t
he door with her eyes closed and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.

  “If there’s even the slim chance of helping her, then why the hell wouldn’t we?” she fumed aloud as she moved away from the door and flopped down on the bed trying to decipher if there was anything she could do.

  Something began to tickle her nostrils, a smell not at all unpleasant and something familiar. The smell which had been faint at first began to become more potent and got her full attention. “Oh God, not another one.”

  She hesitated for a moment and turned her head to the pillow beside her.

  There it was.

  A red flower with a note attached.

  Unable to move, she just stared as it glared back at her – cold and unmoving. Her hands took on a life of their own and trembled as one reached out to take the note. As she brought it closer an ice cold shiver ran through her.

  Was that an omen?

  She dragged in a deep breath for courage and began to read the note –

  Ally,

  I need your help.

  Meet me in the forest outside the manor tonight.

  Come alone.

  Kat.

  “So it was Kat!” she exclaimed.

  Ally began to pace up and down in front of the window, reading the note over and over again. Common sense told her that she ought to tell the others about it and decide as a group what they should do, but she knew what their response would be. Everyone had been so adamant that there was no hope for Kat once she’d been turned. They were probably right, but Ally had relied on her gut instinct for too long now to ignore it.

  It was not the smart thing to do. It was reckless and it might even get her killed but this was Kat. If the situation had been reversed she knew that Kat would do the same thing she was about to do. She wouldn’t even hesitate.

  “So much for telling James tonight,” she said quietly looking out the window. “God help me…If Kat doesn’t kill me, James will.”

  A few hours later, she quietly gathered what she could, a jacket, her walking boots and the only weapon she had in her meagre arsenal, a knife. She picked up the knife and twisted it back and forth in her hand. I don’t know if this will even help me, but I need to take something!

  The house was silent as she crept through. A floorboard creaked under her feet as she reached the terrace door. She stopped immediately and looked to the ceiling above, waiting for any movement. Not that there’s much point though, he could be down here before I even heard him make a sound. After a minute of silence she decided to keep moving but avoided stepping on the floorboard again, just in case.

  Once outside, Ally ran towards the forest eager to get the potential suicide mission underway. She looked back to the house and saw James through the study window. Her heart jumped into her throat. He was pacing back and forth, but he wasn’t looking out the window. She took a deep breath to calm her beating heart. Truthfully, she desperately wished he was going with her, but she knew that would never happen.

  Her mind sprang back to the night he found her out on the terrace when he had asked her to marry him and extracted a promise from her. It played over and over in her mind so vividly, she felt as though she was reliving it.

  “Promise me you won’t run off again.”

  “I promise I won’t run off again.”

  The guilt sprang up and wound an icy coil around her heart. “I’m sorry, James, but you’ve left me no alternative.”

  Ally had meant those words with all her heart when she had spoken them. Her heart and mind were in a deadly conflict. Her mind knew the reality of the situation, that James would never agree and she was Kat’s only hope, but her heart screamed at her to go back to James and spend the night safely in his arms. The simple thought of her hearts true desires sent a warm tingle through her and her heart started beating faster.

  Traitorous body.

  I can’t, I have to go…

  She looked for what might be the last time at her handsome soulmate and drank in the sight of him. “I love you, James,” she whispered then ran towards the forest without looking back.

  Chapter Twenty-four

  “Here we go,” she said quietly to herself.

  She walked over and stood on the edge, waiting. The trembling was unavoidable. She was scared. Not knowing exactly what to expect made the control freak in her anxious and knowing that she was about to come face to face with her former friend, quite simply terrified her. Not for the first time tonight she wished that James was by her side.

  The clearing was silent, eerily so. She looked around trying to see something in the dimly lit hideaway. No one was there, not even a lonely cricket would sing tonight. Ally took a few steps further into the middle and called out, “Kat? Are you here?” She paused. “It’s me, Ally.”

  The trees in the distance began to rustle and she could hear the very faint sound of twigs breaking. She tried to focus on the sound to work out exactly where the sound was coming from. She couldn’t pin point it exactly but she knew the general place.

  “I came alone as you asked. I’m here to help you.” She looked again waiting for what she hoped was Kathryn to emerge from the trees. “Please come out.”

  No sooner had she spoken the words did the shadow from the other night appear on the edge of the trees. She jumped at the sight but tried to remain calm and collected.

  The shadow took a step closer.

  “Kat?”

  The shadow didn’t speak but it advanced closer. She noticed that it kept looking around as if it was expecting someone else and didn’t trust that she would come alone.

  As the shadow grew closer she could see the long black gown that touched the ground and the hood that cloaked its face. She wondered why Kat felt the need to be clothed in such a way but decided that maybe that was what new vampires felt comfortable in.

  Ally walked towards the shadow in a slow and steady pace, ready to run at a moment’s notice.

  They met in the middle.

  “Kat,” Ally said breathlessly.

  The shadow spoke for the first time, but it was not what she had expected to hear. “Don’t run,” rumbled the deep male voice.

  Ally stood frozen to the spot. It was a trap! They had all been right!

  What am I going to do?

  “Ally, don’t be afraid. I’m not here to hurt you.”

  Her mind flashed back to her first encounter with a vampire. Vincent was the whole reason she was standing here in the first place. She remembered what she had done last time that bought some time, maybe James would save her again. “Isn’t that what the spider said to the fly?” she retorted.

  The vampire let out a soft laugh. “I believe so.”

  “Where is Kat?” Ally demanded and grabbed the knife from the back of her jeans.

  “Vincent has here.”

  Ally gasped. “I was afraid of that.”

  The vampire nodded, seemingly agreeing with her sentiment.

  Ally looked up and tried to see who she was talking to. “Take off the hood. I want to know who you are.”

  The vampire lifted his arms up and pulled the hood back with both hands. Ally sucked in a breath at the handsome blonde vampire that stood before her. His brown eyes twinkled mischievously back at her and his smile was almost smug. She began to understand that he mistook her reaction for one of appreciation, when in fact it was surprise. Ally could still appreciate a beautiful man, but nothing compared to her James.

  “I was surprised that you looked like a human that’s all, so you can lose the cocky smile.”

  “Sure, sure.”

  “What’s your name?”

  “Tristan.”

  “So Tristan, why are you here instead of my friend?”

  “Vincent is holding her captive, and I need your help to get her out.”

  Ally scrunched up her face and tried to work out if he was telling the truth. She had an uncanny ability to sense when people were lying to her, but this guy was tough to read. “So you need a hu
man to help you?”

  He nodded.

  “And what exactly can I do that a vampire can’t?” Ally asked, deciding that something was definitely off, but he didn’t appear to be a danger to her at this point in time and he had been with Kat and that was all that mattered right now.

  “You’re the prophecy girl, right? That’s makes you half immortal, so not exactly your run of the mill human. The part I really need you for is to get Kat to come with me. She knows you, Ally. Even in her vampire form, she knows you and she will trust you, therefore trusting me to get her to safety and away from the piece of…well, that vampire.”

  “And why would I help her to escape from Vincent and into your clutches? For all I know you’re just as evil as he is! And did it occur to you that she may not want to come with me? In case you’ve forgotten, she’s a vampire now and probably just wants to kill me. Especially if Vincent has her!”

  “She’s not evil!” Tristan cried. “There is still a lot of humanity in her.”

  She desperately wanted to believe him, but it went against everything she’d been told by the immortals she trusted. “So you’re telling me she’s not a danger to me?”

  Tristan shook his head. “I didn’t say that. She’s a vampire, and you’ve got blood running through your veins which is a big temptation, but she’s trying to stay good and fight the evil.”

  Ally sighed quietly. “So the Kat I knew really is gone then?”

  “James was right in a way when he said Kat was gone, but there is still hope. She just won’t ever be human again.”

  Ally’s eyes narrowed and her mind starting ticking. How does he know so much about me and what we’ve been talking about?

  “You’ve been watching us, haven’t you?” Ally accused him.

  Tristan shrugged casually.

  “You’re the one who left all of the flowers for me to find, aren’t you? And it was you the other night.” It all started to fall into place. “Kat was never here, was she!”