Hells Royalty The Princess (8 page)

I took a moment to answer this one, I didn't really want him
to know a lot about my past and I sure as hell did not want him to know that I
fell in love with a vampire and that if his life was threatened I would
probably forfeit mine.

"Well that vampire that you saw staked is named Grayson
Marx.  When I was 17 and in some trouble he helped me, actually he saved
my life.  I had been beaten pretty badly and he helped to recoup me so
that I didn't die.  Grayson still has his humanity and that keeps him
normal almost.  He is good, he doesn't harm humans and when he can he
takes out demons just like me.  We worked together for about a year hunting
demons and sending them back to hell.  He was the first real friend that I
had since my mom had died so he will always hold a place in my life. 
Apparently Aaron believes that by holding him hostage that I might remember the
favor Grayson did me and save his life in return by giving myself up.  I
don't know though it is a blotchy plan.  To risk my choice on a vampire,
it’s weird that he would depend on that.  I guess that is why he was
holding both of you hostage.  It would be hard for me to not give myself
up when I know a good dark creature and a prophet's lives were at stake. 
It’s just too much to leave to chance, we will have to wait and see I
guess." I stood and headed to the back door.

Jace stopped me in my path by wrapping his arms around me
and giving me a big hug.  I was shocked because I don't give or receive
many hugs, but then he nearly gave me a heart attack.  He pulled his head
back and laid his lips on mine giving me a kiss.  The kiss was not pushy
or anything, it was soft and sweet and would have been great had I not been a
hybrid demon witch kissing a prophet.  That just felt off to me and the
fact that my heart was locked up tight did not help.

I stepped back and then around him, "Jace I need to get
some air.  I need to recharge with the earth I will be outside." And
with that I left the room and headed to the far edge of the yard.

I got myself as far away from his as possible.  I
didn't know what to do with what he just did.  I don't get involved with
anyone ever, in any way, under any circumstances, not anymore.  The last
guy I had kissed had literally broke my heart and I vowed that I would never
let myself get close to anyone again.  But he was so nice and
caring.  I could see myself liking or even falling in love with him. 
I could see us lying on the couch watching television, joking about the show we
just watched.  Then I could see a demon breaking in the house and
attacking and him being hurt or probably killed because I wasn't on my
guard.  Being close makes you vulnerable.  I couldn't do that to him
or to myself.  I would not let someone else be hurt because of me.

I sat down on the earth and talked to her.  She was
calm today, accepted my condolences for all the bad things going wrong and
wished me well on my journey.  After the casualties I asked her for a
favor.  I asked her to bring me some rain so that I might send a message
to Grayson.  She told me to be patient and it would be here soon.

I sat and waited and in the quiet of the woods my mind
wandered and the tears began falling.  I cried for so many reasons. 
My mother was gone and could not guide me in the battle to come or even my life
in general.  I cried for Jace because he was so sweet and he deserved
someone who could love him whole heartedly, not someone who only had the shell
of a heart.  I cried because I could not be the one who could do that for
him and that made me sad for myself.  I only cried for myself because I
wished I could be normal and never have to deal with any of this stuff but then
I remember how wonderful magic is and the many good things that I can and often
do with my magic and that makes me cry even more.  I really cry for my
love for Grayson and how it can never be shown or given to him.  I keep
crying getting all the emotions out of my body because I know firsthand how
they can manipulate spells and magic and make it go awry.  As the tears
start slowing I feel the first drops of a summer rain and I look up into the
sky that is only light gray and a nice shower begins to fall.  Then I send
my message to Gray, knowing as soon as I send the rain on it will seek him out
and give it to him for me.

I whisper the message, "Gray, it’s me Kat.  I need
to warn you! A demon named Aaron is after me, he is strong, nasty and very
manipulative.  He wants to use you to get to me and a prophet saw that he
will be sending someone to capture you.  Please be careful and keep your
head down.  Please stay safe for me! Don't trust anyone.  I will
contact you when I know more. Take care and don't take chances." I was
done and I sent the rain to find him, thanking it and mother earth for her
services.  I wiped my face and headed back to the house.  The rain
would find him as soon as it could and I could only hope that he took to heart
what I said.

As I headed to the house a thought came to me about how to
open the journals for Jace.  Since his mom knew my mom and she had helped
to create the locks; they would have known I would be the one to help him open
them.  I wonder!

Luckily Jace had brought over all the journals this morning
when he came back.  I only needed to settle down and test my theory.

Unlike my books that my mom had spelled to open at certain
ages of my life when I should learn more, his were still sealed shut even after
he began having visions.  That made me curious, so we tried a drop of his
blood on the seal but nothing.

"Damn it!" I muttered a little louder than I
should have.  What is the problem, why won’t they open?

I was trying all the spells that I believed that my mom
would use and still nothing with his blood.  As I was getting more
frustrated with my mom and her complicated spells Jace sat down beside me and
decided that this was the opportune time to ask me some personal questions.

"So my visions that we talked about earlier, can you
help me better understand this?" He asked warily, it almost sounded like
he doubted what I had already told him.  Well isn't this just dandy!

I sat the journal down on the coffee table and looked up at
him to explain in better detail just what exactly he wanted me to help him
understand.

"Well, I mean what good reason would this Aaron guy
want to capture and kill a vampire and even me?  I just can’t make any
sense out of it." He sighed clearly frustrated.

Jeez oh Pete, was he thick headed or really just that naïve?

"Ok, well look at it this way.  Grayson Marx is
one of the only good dark creatures that has gone above and beyond to help me,
by saving my life and then helping to kill demons and send them back to
hell.  He does what I do, just on a different level because he can get
closer to some of the stronger vampires and other creatures that I haven't been
able to yet.  The death of him would allow many demons to live and wreak
havoc on human lives." I was trying to not sound exasperated by his question
and I was also trying to avoid the details that involved the story of me loving
Grayson and that I would do anything to save him.

"Ok so I understand your reasoning it just seems weird
to me that Aaron would choose to kill someone you haven't seen in years. 
Why me though and also if he is so strong like he looks in the picture why
hasn't he been able to capture you yet?" he sounded like he was grasping
at anything to get answers out of me.

"Why you?" I scoffed at him, guessing that he was
really not all that bright, how could he not see what his life means.

"Hmm, well let’s see.  You are a new prophet, a
young one that he could capture.  Once he captured you he would probably
keep you captive so as you had visions you would be able to tell him what you saw
and he could manipulate when and how he wanted to.  This would mean that
he would probably cause a lot of problems and let a lot of good people die who
should live and let a lot of bad people live who should have died.  He
could let the next Hitler live and help him take over the world.  A demon
having a prophet all to himself would be a very dangerous thing.  Prophets
usually have some sort of protector, a guardian of sorts to keep them safe from
demons such as him." I looked to him as he was deep in thought.

After a few minutes he nodded like he finally understood
what his life would mean if it fell into the hands of Aaron or any demon. 
I decided to go on and answer his very demeaning question, why I hadn't been
caught yet.

"As for Aaron and his strong powers, I am simply
smarter and better than he is.  Yes he is a very strong demon, probably
one of the strongest who has come after me, but the others haven't simply just
stumbled across me and found me.  No, whenever I would get the sense that
there were within 20 miles of me I would go seek them out and let it look like
they had discovered where I had been hiding.  When truth is it was me who
used my witch powers to track them down.  Aaron can only rely on his demon
powers and I'm betting a dark witch is helping him also, but she is not strong
like me.  Once you start using dark magic Mother Nature will turn her back
on you and not assist you in even the simplest of tasks.  I only rely on
my natural powers that mother earth has lent to me and because of that I have
some wicked abilities.  I am able to cloak myself so that I cannot be
scryed for or found in spells.  I also use magic to wipe out most of the
traces I may have left behind so that helps out a lot when it comes to leaving
a trail.  I use my witch magic more than my demon powers so that's why I
believe he appears stronger than me in your visions?" I finished up my
spill on why I am actually better than Aaron, and it had nothing to do with
pride, yeah right.

"Well that's good because I would really hate for your
demon powers to take over now when you have me in your clutches." Jace
joked but I didn't laugh because I was the only one who knew how close those
dark, demon powers were under the surface and how easily I could tap them and
use them.  He noticed that I did not laugh so he sobered up and went on
with his questions.

"Ok so how do we stop Aaron from capturing Grayson and
myself?" he was all serious now, I could tell this was something that he
did not want to happen.

"Well that is a damn good question.  I have
already sent a warning to Grayson to stay low and keep his eyes open. 
Hopefully that will be enough because that is about all we can do about
Grayson, short of bringing him here and protecting him.  As for you, you
have the best guardian around, me." I shrugged my shoulders showing that I
was well capable of taking care of him.

I looked out the window at the sky which had a beautiful
blue color.  It was so peaceful looking, like nothing bad could ever
happen.  I could only sit and hope that my warning found Gray in time so
that he would not be captured, I don't think my heart could handle him being
captured.

"Ok, so if this Grayson gets your warning and protects
himself, I should probably see a change in the vision then, right?" Jace
asked hopefully.

"Maybe, but I'm not sure.  I don't really know how
all the vision stuff works, that's kind of why we need to get these journals
opened so you can learn your heritage." I picked the journal back up and
run my fingers along the paper edges, thinking again.

"One last question and I will let you get back to the
journals.  How do we prepare for the battle with Aaron?  We know it
will more than likely happen regardless of who he captures." He was all
solemn now.

How do we prepare ourselves for the battle with Aaron? 
Like I hadn't been preparing myself for that battle already for the past few
years without knowing who I was actually fighting.

"Well Jace, I honestly don't know.  I do know that
I have one more journal that has yet to open and I figure it will open the
night I turn 21.  So I have less than a week before I have full powers and
full knowledge of what I can do and what my powers hold.  I can only hope
that Aaron does not find me before then because I don't know if I will be ready
for him.  If he does happen to find me the only thing I can do to prepare
is make sure all my defensive spells are well versed, my herbs and magic are
fully stocked and that I have no distractions to keep me from performing at my
total best.  I need to be able to protect myself and others from what he
might dish out but until then we need to get you familiarized with your history
because you only have 3 days before you turn 21 and get your full powers."
I looked at my finger where I had been rubbing it along the pages and saw that
is was starting to prickle with a drop of blood and just like that the book
sucked it in and began to glow.

"Jace I think we got it.  Give me your finger I
need another drop of your blood." I said quietly like it would make this
not real if I talked in a voice louder than a whisper.

He sliced his finger and placed it on the paper edges where
mine had been and instantly the book turned hot and opened for us.

"You did it, you actually opened the journals!" he
exclaimed and yanked me up off the couch into a bear hug.  Again he kissed
me on the temple and that tingling came back in my gut and made me feel
uncomfortable.

He let go and scooped up the journal, anxious to see what
secrets that it held.  I decided that this was something that he would need
to look at alone.  He would need time to learn the history and the
future.  This was a huge step for him and for me, because I had just come
to the realization that my mother knew this would be happening.  She would
have been told of this future event, there was no other way around it. 
She wouldn't have been able to create the lock that she had without the
knowledge.  I left the house and headed to the back porch.