Prophecy: Caelestis & Aurorea (34 page)

Valentine growled.

Not looking at him, she held her arm out and presented Venturi to Serenity in a way that would annoy Valentine the most.

“This is Venturi, lord of Tenebrae and my sworn protector.”

He bowed and looked up at Serenity. “The pleasure is all mine.”

Valentine gave Prophecy a dark look when she met his eyes. She raised her brows, acting as though she didn’t have a clue about what had upset him.

“Is your lord at home?” Valentine said directly to Serenity.

The way he openly ignored her made Prophecy frown. She resisted the desire to talk to Venturi to make Valentine jealous, or mention that Arkalus had tried to claim her the last time they were here.

When Valentine glanced at her, she gave him a hurt look and it hit its mark with deadly accuracy, causing his brows to knit and a sorry look to surface in his eyes. He walked across to her, his arm snaking around her waist when he moved around and came to stand behind her.

“He is home,” Serenity said with a glance over her shoulder at the mansion.

“Does he still take walks in the garden?” Prophecy said.

“Yes, each evening without fail. He says that it gives him time to think.”

“Good,” she said and stepped closer to her friend. “I need to ask you to do something for me.”

“Anything. I will happily do whatever it takes to help you, Prophecy.”

She looked into her friend’s dark eyes. The sight of the bruise underneath one of them made her stomach turn and anger boiled up inside of her. She couldn’t believe that Arkalus would be so cruel as to hurt her friend like this. She didn’t want to see what marks and bruises were hidden beneath Serenity’s hair or her clothes. She felt terrible enough already without being confronted by the full extent of Arkalus’ cruelty.

“I need the dress.” She held her friend’s gaze.

“Dress?”

“The one…” She stumbled on the words, her focus automatically moving to Valentine and the place where his hand was resting against her hip. “The one he wanted me to wear that night. You still have it?”

Valentine’s fingers tightened against her. She closed her eyes briefly and then placed her hand over his, silently comforting him.

“Of course. Why?”

“It’s a vital part of my plan. Can you leave it outside the east gate tomorrow evening?”

“By the Devil, you’re going to fight him!” Serenity’s eyes widened, her voice rising.

“I’m sorry. I know your feelings for him, but it has to be done.” She watched her friend shaking her head as though she was refusing to believe what she was hearing. “He must be stopped. By killing him I will free you of his cruelty and our family of his reign.”

“I still love him, regardless of the things he does to me,” Serenity said with a solemn air and sighed. “But I know that what you do is right. He has not led the family well, and many wish to see him fall, but none are brave enough to take his life.”

“It is not a way to gain leadership,” Venturi said and Prophecy looked at him. “You know my feelings on this matter … but if the man has become a tyrant, he must be stopped.”

She nodded. She knew that Venturi didn’t approve of in-house killing for the sake of power alone. She didn’t want power. She just wanted one less person hunting her, and her family to be free of his reign.

She looked back at Serenity and caught a glimpse of the scabs on her throat when she swept her hair out of her face.

“I can heal those for you,” she said and stepped towards her friend.

Serenity shook her head. “He will know you are here. They don’t hurt, not any more. In a few days, they’ll be gone.”

Prophecy smiled and pulled her friend into a hug. Holding her tightly, she closed her eyes and sighed.

“I will free you … you and all of my family.” She pulled back and held Serenity at arms length. “Tomorrow evening. Don’t fail me.”

Serenity smiled but Prophecy could see the hurt in her eyes. She knew that her friend was torn between helping her and protecting the man she was in love with. She just hoped that when the time came, Serenity would side with her instead of Arkalus and would bring her the dress.

“I won’t. Be careful,” Serenity said and then turned to Valentine and Venturi. “Take care of her. Please?”

They both nodded and Prophecy watched her friend slip silently through the trees. She looked at the guards, checking that they weren’t facing this direction, and by the time she looked back, Serenity was gone.

She sighed.

Valentine wrapped his arms about her and she leaned her back into his chest.

This wasn’t going to be easy but it had to be done.

Tomorrow night she would kill Arkalus.

She would set her family free.

Valentine followed Prophecy through the woods. He kept his eyes fixed on her back, not wanting to think about what her plan entailed. She wasn’t telling him everything and he suspected that it was with good reason. If she was going to do what he thought she was, then he would have stopped her had she admitted it.

He had spent an hour back at his apartment attempting to persuade her that he should accompany her and in the end he’d resorted to telling her that he was coming whether she liked it or not. She needed back up. If she got into trouble, he was going to step in and kill Arkalus for her. Her position as the Chosen Daughter of her house meant that it didn’t matter which of them did the deed. If he killed Arkalus, the family passed to her. If she killed Arkalus, the outcome was the same.

When he’d insisted on coming with her, Venturi had attempted to do the same. Valentine was pleased that she had told him he had to stay behind and work on translating the scrolls. The sour look on the Tenebrae’s face had made his night and made the thought of what Prophecy was going to do a little more bearable, at least for a short while.

Now he was against it again.

He frowned when she stopped beside a rickety wooden gate. There, laid over a low branch of a tree, was a red dress. He growled at the sight of it. Prophecy turned to look at him.

“It will throw him off and make him easier to kill,” she said and picked up the dress. She held it out to him. “You came here to help.”

He took the dress and scowled at it. It was blood red and looked as though it was going to be rather revealing.

His eyes widened when he realised that Prophecy was stripping off in front of him. He tried to stop his gaze from roaming over her body as she exposed it slowly to him, but he couldn’t help himself. He growled and she looked at him, a smile teasing her lips and her eyes twinkling with mischief. She tossed her clothes to one side, leaving herself in just her underwear and boots. He frowned at her, desire sweeping through him when she stepped towards him.

He held the dress to one side, letting her get close to him. She pressed her hands against his chest, her fingertips digging in a little. Her hips grazed his, sending his desire spiralling down to them. He slid one arm about her and cupped her backside, holding her against him.

She gave him a wicked smile.

“Temptress,” he whispered into her ear and smiled when she shuddered in his arms. He licked her earlobe and then coursed his lips downwards to her neck. She tilted her head to one side and mewled. He closed his eyes and gave her what she wanted, surprised that she was asking him to do such a thing when she was about to attempt to seduce Arkalus.

He sank his teeth into her neck and her body jerked against his, her fingers tightening against his chest. The taste of her blood was divine, a sweet ambrosia that he would never get enough of. He sucked hard on the wound, letting his mouth fill with the rich liquid before swallowing it down.

“More,” she whispered the command with so much desire that he was powerless to resist complying with her request.

He bit down harder, letting his other teeth puncture her flesh and mark her. He’d never bitten her so deeply before. Her body leaned into his, her backside tensing beneath his fingers while he held her to him.

Releasing her neck, he drew back and looked into her eyes. They were dark and full of desire. He parted his lips when they dropped to them, her tongue sweeping along her lower lip and her hands sliding upwards. She wrapped them around his neck when she kissed him, her mouth claiming his and her tongue brushing along his, capturing the remains of her blood.

She was breathing heavily when she eventually pulled back. He held her gaze, trying to see in it the reason why she’d let him bite her just moments before she was going to see Arkalus. Her hair might cover the marks, but it wouldn’t cover the scent of fresh blood on her and there was no way she could hide the scent of him. Arkalus would be able to smell him all over her.

She smiled.

“Why?” he said and held the dress out to her.

Taking it from him, she placed her feet into it and then pulled it up over her hips.

“When I kill him, I want him to know that I’m yours. I want you to know that I’m yours. What I have to do tonight is no reflection of my feelings. It’s just a way to get close enough to him to kill him, to be near him long enough to do it without him calling for help.” She slipped her arms into the dress and pulled it up.

He frowned when she unhooked her bra and removed it. She handed it to him with a little smile and he held it up, raising a brow at it. He placed it carefully over the branch and picked her other clothes up, placing them there also. He smoothed them down, ridding them of twigs and leaves.

When she turned around, he realised that she wanted him to do her dress up. He stepped up behind her and ran his fingers down her back, amusing himself with the way she writhed beneath his feather light touch. He lowered his head, pressing kisses across her shoulders while he slowly tightened the ribbon that tied her dress up.

Prophecy closed her eyes, stifling her nerves and savouring the way he was kissing her shoulders. She leaned her head away from him when he drew the hair away from her neck and kissed up it, his tongue occasionally sweeping against her skin. She smiled when he licked the marks he’d just placed on her, sealing them. She had meant what she’d said to him. She really did want Arkalus to see that she belonged to Valentine, regardless of whether there was a claim between them or not.

Turning in Valentine’s arms, she smiled up into his eyes and ran her finger down his cheek.

“If I look like I need a little help, don’t hesitate to rescue me,” she said.

He nodded and the corners of his lips tugged into a slight smile. She pressed a kiss to them and tried to squash the nerves that were beginning to build inside of her. She’d been crazy to think she could do this without him. If he hadn’t been here, she would have been petrified of confronting Arkalus. With Valentine here, she knew that if something went wrong, he would save her. He would never let Arkalus hurt her.

Pulling away from him, she took a deep breath and sighed it out.

She looked up at the sky through the trees and then at Valentine.

“I…” She trailed off and looked deep into his eyes, hoping he’d see what she wanted to say. She couldn’t say it, not yet, not until all of this was over and they were finally safe.

He cupped her cheek and sighed, his eyes narrowing into an affectionate look. “I know.”

Placing her hand over his where it rested against her cheek, she held it for a moment and then turned away from him, heading towards the door. She had to get there before Arkalus or her plan wouldn’t work. She wasn’t scared of the guards finding her. None of them dared to come into the garden, not since she could remember. Arkalus had always claimed the place as his sanctuary. The only person he’d let walk there was her.

She tugged the wooden door open, glanced back at Valentine, and then walked through it. Closing it behind her, she extended her senses and scanned the garden for signs of potential danger. When no signatures came to her, she started walking along the path between the low box hedges. The flowers were still as beautiful as she remembered. They grew so well considering that no one could tend to them during the day.

She wondered what would happen to them when Arkalus died. He was the only one who looked after them. It was strange that someone so brutal could be so compassionate about something as delicate as a flower.

It was a whole different side to him that she’d never understood.

Whenever she’d walked with him here, she’d been fascinated with the different species of flowers and the topiary, and had been happy to spend hours sitting beside the ornate fountain in the centre of the garden. The only thing that had marred her experience of this place was Arkalus.

She’d lost count of the number of times he’d tried to touch her or hold her here, the failed attempts to kiss her. He’d never once really heard the words she’d said to him. It was as though his heart couldn’t bear to hear them so each time she said them, they were immediately erased from his memory.

She didn’t love him.

She hated him.

She hated him more than anything, more than the Aurorea and the weaklings.

It was funny how her opinion could change about the Aurorea. Now that she knew Valentine, she knew that not all of the Aurorea were the same. Besides, her family were as guilty of hating the Aurorea without a reason as his were about hers.

She stopped walking when she reached the fountain.

Looking back at the wall and the door that was almost hidden by the creepers, she reached out with her senses to check that Valentine was still there. She smiled when she felt him. Hopefully she would be the only one able to. The connection between them had been growing. When she’d first met him, she’d been unable to sense him as clearly as she could now. Arkalus had spent time in his presence and would know his scent, but would it be enough for him to sense if he was there? Her scent should distract him enough to keep Valentine safe.

She hoped.

She wandered in circles on the gravel path that surrounded the fountain. When a few minutes had passed and her pacing was taking its toll on her nerves, she sat down.

The air temperature was dropping. She glanced at the fountain and saw that the warm water was beginning to release mist into the cooler air. She watched it gather and glide over the edge. It slid over the gravel like a snake, reaching out in all directions.