Immortal Destiny (The Immortal Prophecy Saga) Page 2

  She lay there for what seemed like forever before her breathing slowed and he knew that she was sleeping. James looked up to the heavens praying the dream Alessandra had was just a dream and not a premonition. He felt the dread gnaw away at him as he tried to block out his instincts on the situation, but it didn’t do much good.

  Earlier that day, he’d received a phone call from Chase informing him Vincent had made his way to Scotland and was on the hunt for Ally. And now this, too! He didn’t even want to contemplate what kind of danger she would be in if Kathryn and Vincent were hunting her at the same time…or worse still, hunting her together.

  Looking at his soulmate again, he let out a soft sigh. “I’ve waited over three hundred years for you,” he whispered. “I can’t and won’t lose you now, little one. I wouldn’t survive without you.”

  She stirred a little. “You won’t,” she breathed.

  He smiled and planted a kiss on her forehead, then pulled her closer to him and tried to get some sleep. He had a feeling he should get it while he could.

  Chapter Three

  Ally’s eyes fluttered open after a long night of tossing and turning. The warmth and heat from James hard body surrounded her and she revelled in the sensation. She shivered with delight as his scent tickled her nostrils and she breathed in deeply. He always smelt like rain and earth. It was unique and it was him.

  Slowly, so she didn’t wake him, Ally pulled away from his embrace and moved back a bit to get a better look at the man lying beside her. Her appreciating eyes took in his dark brown hair that was slightly messed from sleeping, his devastatingly handsome face, and then lower down to his perfectly sculpted chest.

  Resting her eyes there a moment, her hand began to reach out and touch the smooth planes of his shoulders, and brush her hands lightly over his stomach and down to the thick cream blanket that lay draped across his hips, but she pulled it back.

  The desire began to pool low in her stomach and her skin became increasingly warm as she stared at him.

  I never get to just look at him. He always knows when I am…it’s such an unfair advantage. Damn immortal senses.

  A deep sultry voice interrupted her reverie. “See anything you like?”

  Startled, Ally blushed and cast her eyes upwards to find him looking at her with his trademark half-smile that dazzled her senseless. Twin sparkling emeralds held her captive as James reached over and pulled her closer to him. Her breath caught in her lungs as the heat tickled at her skin. He leaned in and her eyelids closed.

  His demanding lips captured hers in a kiss that sent her spiralling. The flames of desire licked at her skin, as he put his arm around her and pulled her even closer to him. In one swift movement, he had her underneath him. She opened her eyes and stared up at him, lost in the haze of passion. He moved in for another kiss and she was swept away.

  In the fog, she felt like something was picking at her brain. The sensation slowly rose above the more pleasant ones. The irritation was bubbling and she could no longer deny it.

  “James, stop it,” she murmured between breathless kisses.

  He pulled up slightly, putting a small space between their bodies. His eyes which had been alight with fire were now brimming with hurt and acceptance. Ally saw the emotions swimming in his eyes. Why on earth did he stop? And why does he look so devastated?

  “You asked me to stop, Ally,” he said, obviously listening in on her thoughts.

  Ally groaned and pulled herself out from under him. “I wanted you to stop with the mind thing, not stop kissing me.”

  James sat up and raised an eyebrow at her. “I wasn’t doing ‘the mind thing’ until just then, and only because I didn’t know why you wanted me to stop.”

  “You can just ask me, you know, like regular people do.”

  “Well we aren’t exactly regular people, are we?” James gave her a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “One or both of us are confused. What ‘mind thing’ are you talking about?”

  Her face scrunched up mildly in thought. “It felt like someone was trying to send me something, just like you did the night of the masquerade ball.”

  “My memories?”

  “Yeah, it felt the same as that.” It only took a minute for her to realise it hadn’t been him. Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open. “Wait…Are you telling me you didn’t do that just then?”

  Anxiety flashed across his face. “No that wasn’t me, little one.”

  Ally’s voice rose. “Well then who was it?”

  “I don’t know, but I have an idea.”

  “Who?” She demanded.

  James fiddled with the blanket and appeared to be deciding whether or not to share his theories. “James…”

  “You’re not going to like my answer, sweetheart.” He held eye contact for a moment before telling her. “Vincent.”

  Ally gasped. “He can do that? I thought that was an immortal thing?”

  “Remember what I told you? Once the immortal blood is running through their veins, they become stronger than they naturally are. They are able to do things that immortals can do.”

  “So they can read minds then?”

  “Not exactly,” he said, slightly scrunching his face. “It appears they aren’t able to read our minds, but that doesn’t mean they’ll stop trying. Damian has a theory that some of them may be able to communicate amongst themselves, but for some reason they can’t get into our heads.”

  “So what was he trying to do then?” Ally asked and put her hand on her hip.

  “Like I said, they won’t stop trying to gain access.”

  She nodded and sighed, as the fear climbed up her spine at the thought of Vincent trying to access her mind as well as wanting her dead. Ally hadn’t seen him since that night over a month ago, when he’d been about to kill her, but it was still fresh in her mind. She saw the evil gleam in his eye, heard the rasping voice and remembered the way he moved with such speed and unnatural grace. She barely suppressed a shudder at the memories.

  She contemplated in silence for a second before she spoke again. “Tell me exactly how the vampires are different from us again.”

  James face hardened. “They’re evil.”

  “Well that was a short summary,” Ally said and rolled her eyes. “I was hoping for something a bit more detailed than that.”

  James gave her a half smile. “The vampires only have one goal in life and that is to feed on humans. Their secondary purpose is to eradicate the immortals and more specifically you.”

  Ally grimaced and he continued. “They haven’t been able to replicate our abilities to create fireballs and we are hoping it will stay that way, but something in our blood reacted with them and gave them an ability that we don’t have…”

  “Which is?” Ally asked and gestured with her hands.

  “They can shape shift into fog, clouds or mist.”

  A light flickered in Ally’s eyes. “Right, the night they invaded your village, they came in as a fog.”

  “Right,” James nodded. “We haven’t been able to figure why as yet.”

  “But even without the fireballs and mind reading, they’re as formidable as our kind now…”

  “Unfortunately yes…”

  “Hmmm,” Ally said. “There’s just one thing I don’t understand.”

  “What is that, little one?”

  “How could he try to access my mind from such a distance?”

  James shifted uncomfortably.

  “What aren’t you telling me?” she demanded.

  “Why don’t you get dressed and meet me in the kitchen. We can talk about it over breakfast,” James suggested. He knew the truth would send her into a tailspin and was biding his time.

  She sighed. “James, you’re stalling.”

  “Over breakfast.” He looked at her with that smile again.

  Before she knew what was happening she found herself nodding in agreement. “Fine, but you can’t win every argument just by looking at me like
that.”

  “How about winning every argument like this then?” He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her.

  “No fair,” she said with a grimace when he pulled away. “It’s an unfair advantage.”

  James laughed and jumped out of bed. “Maybe you could try it on me sometime,” he said as he opened the door and looked back to where Ally sat on the bed. He gave her one last look then walked out and closed the door behind him.

  Ally let out a breath and tried to compose herself…that man had far too much power over her senses. She was practically witless when he was around. But perhaps he was onto something when he suggested that she try it on him sometime. She stored the thought in her memory for the next time she needed to sway his decision.

  Getting out of bed, she grabbed her jeans, royal blue long sleeve V-neck knitted top and a thin black indoor jacket that reached her knees. She took a quick shower in the luxurious bathroom she shared with Adele, and dried off in front the crackling fire back in her room. Once she was dressed, Ally went back into the bathroom to quickly brush her long brunette locks and put on her makeup. She went for her signature look, smokey grey eyeshadow and a natural pink lip gloss. The last thing to do was grab the locket she wore every day which contained a picture of her mum and dad, her heart padlock bracelet, and the plain silver bangle.

  Now ready to go downstairs, she grabbed the door handle to leave and go meet James in the kitchen, but she felt an almost physical pull to turn and look at the chair in the corner of her room, opposite her bed. Unnerved, she slowly pivoted around and what caught her eye, stole the breath from her lungs.

  A crimson flower sat on her chair…

  Chapter Four

  Ally gasped, and her eyes widened at the surreal sight before her. She backed up against the door, unable to breathe or utter a sound. The sight of the crimson flower flung her mind back to last night and her dream came flooding back.

  Trembling like a leaf as she brought her hand up to cover her gaping mouth, she muttered, “Oh my god…was she really here? I thought it was a dream?”

  Ally tried to get control of her breathing and nerves. The shaking began to subside to a manageable level, and she forced one hesitant foot in front of the other as she made her way over to the flower. Part of her hoped it wasn’t real, that it was just some strange figment of her imagination brought on by stress.

  She inched closer and closer until she stood before the light gold chair, leaning down with her hand outstretched hovering above the flower.

  Taking a deep breath, she lowered her hand and curled her fingers around the green stem. She lifted it up and took a closer look.

  It can’t be the same flower, she thought trying to convince herself, but Ally knew it was…

  The flower was a message.

  Did it mean death? And did it mean the dream had actually been real? How else could it possibly have been in her room?

  This can’t be happening, she thought and dropped the offending flower back on to the chair.

  A knock on the door brought Ally back to reality. She quickly turned to face it and hesitantly called out, “Come in.”

  Mackenzie opened the door and popped her head in. “Morning, Ally.”

  Visibly relieved that it was only Mackenzie and not James or another one of the growing number of immortal residents in the house, she let out a pent up breath and brightened, making sure to stand in front of the flower.

  “Morning, Mackenzie,” she said, and pasted what she hoped was a smile on her face. “What can I do for you?”

  Hesitating, the young woman stepped into the room and closed the door behind her, then leaned back against it awkwardly. She opened her mouth to speak but then closed it again. Ally felt a real smile form over the forced one.

  Am I really that hard to talk to?

  She obviously had something to say, but was so painfully shy, Ally decided to help her out and started the conversation. “Sit down if you like,” she said with a gesture towards the bed.

  Mackenzie sat down. Once Ally knew the flower was out of her line of sight, she went over and sat next to her. “Now, what’s wrong?” Ally gently prodded.

  Mackenzie big blue eye’s widened slightly. “Oh, nothing’s wrong. I just I wanted to ask you something, but I don’t want to sound...cold, I guess.”

  Mackenzie was a sweetheart; she didn’t believe that she could ever say something cold, unintentionally or otherwise. “I’m sure you won’t. Out with it.”

  “It’s about Chase.”

  Ally frowned, but nodded encouragingly.

  “How is he? We haven’t seen him since he lost Kathryn.”

  “James spoke to him last week and he’s doing ok,” Ally said. “James got the feeling he’s still pretty cut up about what happened to Kat…But I guess we all are.”

  Mackenzie dropped her head and began to fiddle with her dress. Ally could see the slightest bit of pink colouring her creamy white cheeks.

  “Do you know where he is?” Mackenzie asked.

  “London.”

  She looked up and her eyes met Ally’s. “London? What on earth is he doing in London?”

  “Killing as many vampires as he possibly can, I believe,” Ally informed her.

  Mackenzie gasped and her blue eyes widened again. “But he could be killed himself!”

  Ally cocked her head to one side and began to speak. “You’ve known him for a long time, but that isn’t the voice of someone concerned for a friend…”

  Turning a very bright shade of red, Mackenzie turned her head away from Ally.

  “I’m sorry,” Ally said. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

  “I know that…” she replied as she felt the unshed tears threatening to fall. “I’m just living in a fantasy land when it comes to Chase.”

  Ally raised her eyebrows. “I’m not sure that’s true. But I still don’t understand why you thought you would offend me.”

  She bit her lip and hesitated before revealing the truth to Ally. “Because your best friend was his soulmate, and now she’s dead. And here I am asking you about him, when I should just forget about it. It was never meant to be…”

  The unshed tears began to fall unbidden from her eyes. Ally wrapped her arms around her and let the girl sob into her shoulder. Her heart was breaking for Mackenzie. She remembered those five lonely years after she had met James, when she thought that he hadn’t cared. It was a feeling she wouldn’t wish upon anyone, especially not Mackenzie.

  “Are you certain Chase doesn’t feel that way about you?”

  Mackenzie sniffed and lightly she shook her head. “I’ve seen the way James looks at you. The look an immortal gives their soulmate is unmistakable.”

  Ally thought for a moment. “Something wasn’t right between Kat and Chase. And I’ve seen him look at you in the way you’re talking about.”

  A small light of hope flickered in Mackenzie’s eyes. “Chase was acting strange the night before he left to rescue Kathryn. I thought that maybe…but I was wrong.” She looked up at Ally, the guilt was there to see. “I felt terrible because I was so happy that he might feel the same way about me, but at the same time I knew Kat had been taken by the vampires and was in serious trouble…I never wished her any harm, I promise.”

  “Oh Mackenzie, please don’t feel terrible. Anyone in love would have felt the same way as you did. And I know you would never have wished Kat any harm,” Ally said reassuringly.

  “Thank you,” Mackenzie said. You’ve made me feel a lot better. I’ve felt so guilty ever since that night.”

  Ally put her arm around Mackenzie’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “What are friends for?”

  Mackenzie raised her eyebrows in surprise. “I’d like to be friends.”

  “We already are,” Ally said, with a warm smile.

  “Do you think he will come back soon?”

  “I hope so,” Ally said, trying to give her hope.

  Mackenzie brightened and stood up. “I f
eel so much better now. I’m glad I spoke to you.”

  “Anytime,” she said, as she gave Mackenzie a warm hug.

  Mackenzie walked to the door and paused, glancing at the chair. “What a gorgeous flower! Did James leave that for you?”

  Damn.

  “Umm…not exactly.”

  “Are you alright, Ally? You’ve turned as white as a ghost.”

  Ally waved it off. “Yeah, fine. I, uh, just need to meet James. He’s waiting for me in the kitchen.”

  Mackenzie gave her a broad smile. “Don’t let me keep you then,” she said and left the room.

  Making her way back over to the flower, she muttered, “Now what do I do?” Deciding there was nothing more to be done, she unwillingly picked up the flower to take downstairs with her to show James, and walked over to the door. As she grabbed the handle, a voice shimmered in her mind. “Trust your instincts, Alessandra. They will light the way on the darkest of nights.”

  She turned around so quick she almost gave herself whiplash, but Ally saw that no one was in the room.

  Who the hell was that?

  Completely freaked out, she dashed out of her room without a backward glance and hurried to the kitchen. She didn’t want to be alone.

  ******

  Ally held the flower behind her back as she entered the kitchen. James was sitting at the table, with a coffee in his hand reading the local newspaper. She noticed the light blue button up shirt he was wearing. The colour brought out his eyes and made him look even sexier, if that was possible. She wished he was standing up so could get a look at him in jeans, but that would have to wait.

  He noticed her entrance and he gave her a look that wondered where she’d been.

  She walked over to the table and sat down, and nestled the flower behind her back. “Sorry, got held up.”