Immortal Prophecy (The Immortal Prophecy Saga) (28 page)

He stopped and gathered his courage to continue telling the story. The night before had been glorious, today however had been nothing short of a nightmare for him.

“When we arrived at the airstrip just near my home we were ambushed…” he trailed off remembering the event.

Everyone waited in silence for him to continue.

“Natalia,” he said with a sadistic laugh, “was waiting with a greeting committee. There were ten of the bastards. We didn’t stand a chance. As we got off the plane, I heard Natalia’s shrill voice and knew instantly that we were doomed. She taunted me and I let my guard down for a moment believing that she was back and wanted to be good not evil but I was dead wrong. She grabbed Kat before I had a chance to breathe and said that she would kill her that instant if I didn’t reveal the location of you and Ally. What could I do? I couldn’t just stand there and watch my own sister kill my soulmate.” Chase was clearly grief and guilt stricken over the situation. No-one in the room would have blamed him for what he did. Perhaps they hadn’t been as careful as they ought to have been but who would have seen it coming. Natalia shouldn’t have known where they would be.

Chase looked at James with a heavy heart. “What would you have done in my position James?”

James wanted to take some of guilt away that Chase felt but James also spoke the truth when he said, “I wouldn’t have done anything different. Our soulmates are our lives which can also make them our biggest vulnerability if someone is willing to use them against us.”

Chase smiled a sad little smile and continued, “I was so distracted by the thought of Natalia killing Kat that I didn’t notice that two vampires had crept up behind me. Next thing I knew I felt a burst of pain on the back on my head and everything went black. When I came to, Kathryn was gone, everyone had gone.” He looked to Adele, “I ran straight to the house got in my car and started driving to the manor. I received the call from you a few moments after I started driving. I knew there was no point in looking for Kathryn in the area.” A tear ran down his chiselled cheek. “Natalia won’t let her go anytime soon. Kat is the perfect bait to lure Ally out and I just handed her over on a silver platter…”

Adele had softened towards him as well. She could see he had only been acting out of anger and fear.

The room was deadly silent as everyone absorbed what they had just been told. Henry was the first to speak. “So what do we do now?”

Ally looked up to find all eyes on her. Everyone was looking towards her for a solution.

So this is where the true part of being a leader comes in, she thought to herself. “I don’t think we should attempt a rescue until tomorrow at first light. The vampires appear to be able to get about in the daylight but I have a hunch that they are still at their peak during the night. We have to attack when there is an advantage. If we are going in there then we are going in to win, not walking into a suicide mission.” Ally addressed the group like a true leader. She was finding more and more that this is where she was meant to be.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Ally continued, “I want input on the plan but I don’t think we should risk the lives of Sophie and her family in this.”

“I agree,” James said strongly.

Adele and Chase nodded their agreement.

“But we want to help in some way,” Mackenzie said shyly.

“And you will, just not with the battle,” Ally said reassuringly. “We will need meals tonight if you could organise that Sophie. Logan we will need Destiny, Cooper and another horse saddled and ready tomorrow morning at dawn. Henry I need you on standby to bring us a car should we need one. I won’t bring you anywhere near danger though I promise,” Ally smiled at him. “Mackenzie can you organise a guest room for Chase?”

Ally turned to Chase. “You will stay here until we find her and I don’t want to hear any arguments.”

“I had none, but thank you,” Chase said holding her eye contact a moment longer than was necessary. He didn’t mean anything other than gratitude, but James didn’t like it and moved to take his place beside his love, Ally. She leaned into James instinctively without noticing. It didn’t however escape James’ notice. He was very pleased with how things were progressing.

“Tomorrow we will set out on a tracking mission. We can go back to the airstrip where it happened and see if they left any clues behind that we can follow. In the meantime, I want each of you three,” she motioned to James, Adele and Chase, “to contact each and every immortal you know. See if they know anything about where we could find Natalia or anything to do with the vampires. And I think one of us should stay behind in case the vampires decide pay a visit to Carlisle Manor. We can’t leave the Muir’s unguarded.”

Adele made a decision. “I will stay behind and protect them. You need Chase and James with you Ally.”

“Thanks Gran, but are you sure?”

“I am sweetie, besides, I’m an old woman. What use would you have for me,” she joked.

“Adele you are younger than me,” James quipped.

“Yes, but you seem to have aged better,” she said with a wink.

Ally leaned in closer to James, once people had begun talking amongst themselves and said softly, “I want to talk about the conversion later when we are alone.”

“We are going to be alone later are we?” he said with a sultry smile and gleam in his eye.

“Not that kind of alone time, but I thought we could talk, spend some time getting to know each other better.”

“I’m growing on you aren’t I?” He teased.

Ally smiled and said, “Maybe.”

“I told you that you would come around,” he said feeling very pleased with himself.

She teasingly punched him in the arm. He mocked her with a show of pain.

Adele was standing off to the side, watching Ally interact with James. They really were a perfect match and they seemed so much more comfortable tonight than they had before the ride this morning.

She had watched her granddaughter grow so much in the last week. It appeared that Ally had really found herself in this land, with James and with her role as leader. People were already looking up to her and following her without question. It was a small start, but it was promising. The incident with the vampire seemed to only strengthen her resolve. She had expected Ally to go to pieces the first time she met with a vampire but then she had met Vincent and survived to tell the tale. The girl was made of stronger stuff than Adele gave her credit for. She wished that Ally’s parents were here to see her, they would have been so proud. It was hard for Adele watching her only daughter’s child walking the path of destiny that she was, but some things were bigger than us. Ally seemed to have a firm grip on that concept. Adele’s heart filled with love and pride for Ally.

Adele found herself wondering what else happened on the ride that Ally hadn’t mentioned. Something had definitely changed between James and Ally but she wasn’t entirely sure what.

Adele needed to have a word with Ally before things progressed further than what she had suspected. Ally needed to know what she was in for once the time came to be intimate with James.

Sophie excused herself to go start dinner. Everyone would need a good hearty meal in their bellies for tomorrow. It wasn’t much, but she felt like if that was all she could do to help, then she would do it to the best of her ability. Sophie’s heart went out to Ally and Chase, they had both lost someone dear to them in different ways. She remembered James and Adele when they had lost Damian. She had been a lot younger then but she would never forget the hurt and pain that had been inflicted upon them that day. It still haunted them to this day, she could see it in their eyes but Ally appeared to bring them both the happiness that they truly deserved. She couldn’t recall ever seeing James this happy despite the situation. Sophie thought back to when Chase had entered the room and Ally flew into him. Ally had courage taking on an immortal. It was completely deserved but Sophie knew she never would have the nerve to do it.

Mackenzie had come downstairs to the kitchen, “Do you need a hand?”

Sophie jumped and turned around to face her daughter. “Oh Mackenzie! You startled me. I have it covered for now, but come back once you have made the room up for Chase. I will need help then.”

She studied her daughter for a moment. “Are you alright, sweetheart?”

Her lower lip began to tremble. “I’m scared that Chase won’t come back or that he will come back different like he was tonight when he first arrived. That wasn’t the Chase we all know.”

Sophie walked over and pulled her daughter into a warm embrace. “We must hope for the best but be prepared for the worst in case it does eventuate.”

Mackenzie nodded.

“Why are you so worried about Chase in particular?”

Mackenzie shrugged and blushed. “He is a nice guy and it would be a great loss if he changed or worse was killed.”

Sophie wondered why she had never seen it before. Her daughter was in love with the one man she could never have. Mackenzie was in love with Chase.

Sophie hugged her again. “Oh my dear girl, I never knew,” she said, letting on that she had worked it out.

“I never told you,” Mackenzie said softly. “I knew I could never be with him. I’m not his chosen soulmate so what was the point. I just watched and loved him from a distance all these years.”

“Unrequited love is never easy but in this situation you can take heart that it literally isn’t you. The immortals are different to us. You can see that just by looking at James and Ally. They each have one partner and one only that they can ever be with.”

Mackenzie appeared to be mulling things over. “It’s so romantic but it is also a tragedy in waiting,” she said at length.

Sophie hadn’t grasped what she was getting at, “Why?”

“Think about it mum, there is only one person out there for them. First they have to find them and then they have to keep them safe from all types of dangers for eternity. I know that there aren’t fights to the death between immortals and vampires every other day but what if it happened and you lost your one true love forever, because it could literally be forever. “

“You’re a very astute young lady Mackenzie.” Sophie smiled proudly at her beautiful daughter.

She blushed again. “Thanks mum, don’t tell dad but I think I got that from you.”

Sophie laughed and promised to keep it to herself.

”It may seem like a big risk to someone on the outside like you said, but if you felt what they feel for each other I believe that even someone like you that plays it safe would throw caution to the wind and grab onto it with both hands.”

Mackenzie shrugged still not totally convinced the concept of soulmates was a good one.

Sophie smiled knowingly and decided to phrase it differently. “Let me ask you this. You see what Ally and James have between them, keeping in mind she is fighting the emotions she feels, would you give your very life for a chance at a love like that?” Sophie asked, trying to get her daughter to understand that some things in life were worth the risk. Her daughter had a habit of playing things safe.

Mackenzie sighed wistfully imagining what it would be like if she was Chase’s soulmate and knew instantly that her answer was an easy one, “Yes I would.”

Sophie embraced her daughter once more and then sent her on her way. “Now run along and sort out his room. Make sure it’s perfect, that is the least we can do for the poor man.”

Unbeknownst to Sophie and Mackenzie, Chase had been in the corridor listening to every word. He hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, he had been coming in to get a glass of water when he heard his name and stopped instinctively. Chase listened intently to the conversation. Mackenzie had been so worried about him that it touched him to the very soul but he also discovered she was in love with him. That he hadn’t seen coming.

Looking back, the signs had been there over the years but he hadn’t noticed. Chase always thought she was beautiful and sweet, and there had been a spark if was honest with himself, and still was. He had thought of her as a child until he saw her again tonight. Last time he laid eyes on her she would have been fifteen. That was four years ago. He had been away seeing the world while Mackenzie had matured now it seemed that something more substantial was brewing between them. However Kathryn was his soulmate. All of a sudden, Chase felt so confused about what he was feeling. Kathryn was lost somewhere out there and here he was thinking about another woman. Some soulmate he was turning out to be. Something was wrong, Chase thought distraught to his very soul. He shouldn’t even be noticing another woman. Perhaps he should speak with James about it later but the priority was getting Kathryn home safely. He wandered back upstairs to the lounge room lost in his thoughts about the two women that had suddenly occupied his heart and soul, each in their own ways.

Chapter Twenty

S
OPHIE CAME BACK UP THE STAIRS
to announce that dinner was ready. Mackenzie had come back down to help Sophie serve up the feast for everyone. They all moved to the dining room off to the side of the lounge and sat down to eat. It appeared everyone was lost in their own thoughts tonight, which was to be expected under the circumstances.

James noticed that Chase was sneaking looks toward Mackenzie. She seemed oblivious as was everyone else but something was very wrong. His soulmate was out there somewhere at the mercy of Natalia and he was slyly looking at his housekeepers daughter.