by Heaton, F E
Her slender bare arms curled around her mate, her face contorted in despair, and then she screamed. The world turned black, the air thick with magic, and a crackle of electricity leapt down Sophis’s arms and over her skin.
Venturi raced in from the hallway that led to the grand reception room and yanked a black cloth off a side table, sending the vase of red roses crashing to the floor. He threw the cloth over the Aurorea and held onto Prophecy, and Sophis had the hideous feeling he was trying to restrain her for some reason.
“Prophecy, we must move... we must get Valentine out of danger,” he said and Prophecy lifted her head and looked at him, her gaze glassy and expression distant.
She turned away from him as though he had never spoken and stared down at Valentine in her arms, the aura surrounding her growing darker with each passing second.
The ribbons of red twisting around her arms burned through the black cloth, leaping high into the air, and the darkness in the room increased. The bulbs in the chandelier flickered on and off.
Prophecy threw her head back and screamed again. A red shockwave shot outwards with her at the centre. Every bulb and crystal in the chandelier exploded and the windows burst outwards in a million glittering fragments. Glass rained down on Prophecy from the chandelier but melted before it reached her, falling through the red haze to fizz and pop on the cold marble floor.
Sophis’s senses reeled, the world twisting before her eyes and her stomach turning.
When she settled again, she realised that Vivek was rocking with her, holding her close to his chest.
“Are you alright?” she said, struggling to breathe the acrid thick air that filled the entrance hall.
“I was going to ask you the same thing,” he whispered. “I am fine but I think we should move.”
He took her hand and stood, and Sophis stared at the lacerations on the back of his black jacket. The glass must have hit him. Blood glistened on the fabric but he didn’t seem to notice his wounds. He touched her temple and his fingers came away red. He wasn’t the only one hurt. The glass must have caught her too.
Sophis rubbed the blood away, rose to her feet and looked around them. The entryway was dark but outside it was still bright, and it was pushing against the darkness, driving it back again.
Chills chased over her arms and down her spine as she turned to find Lady Prophecy still in the middle of the room, her eyes filled by swirling dark purple as she stared at the shattered windows. Rich threads of magic in the same colour chased around her arms, coiling through her fingers. They leapt and arched from the glowing star marks on her shoulders and chest, lighting her skin in eerie hues of purple. The black cloth that had covered Valentine was in tatters on the floor, scorched by the melted fragments from the chandelier. Prophecy held him close to her, silently stroking his thick black hair with her left hand. She moved her right one to his back. The amulet she wore on it glowed red and the ribbons of magic emanating from it turned crimson too as they touched Valentine’s blistered skin.
Sophis couldn’t believe her eyes as the wounds there healed, leaving perfect pale flesh behind.
Venturi sat back, his dark clothing torn in places and lacerations on his face. Patches of red marred his overlong blond hair but he didn’t seem to notice the cuts. No pain showed in his black eyes. They were warm with concern as he stared at Prophecy. She turned her head slowly to face him and opened her mouth. Even though he was injured, he didn’t hesitate to give his lover what she was silently requesting. He pulled the sleeve of his black shirt back and offered his wrist. She pushed it away, leaned in and bit down hard on his throat. He grimaced and his jaw tensed, his eyes screwed shut in evident pain. Prophecy continued to hold Valentine to her as she drank from the Tenebrae. The darkness increased, pushing back the sunlight, leaving a large area in front of the house in shadow as black as night.
The more she drank from him, the more the darkness grew. By the time she released Venturi, Prophecy had half the grounds in shadow.
Valentine stirred, fluttering his eyes open briefly before they closed again.
Venturi took Valentine from Prophecy and helped the Aurorea vampire to his feet just as Lord Hyperion, Commander Tynan and several Watchmen reached the vestibule. All kept back as though they had sensed the same danger that Sophis had. Lady Prophecy was volatile.
The young Caelestis vampire rose to her feet and didn’t stop there. She left the ground, hovering a few inches above it, murderous intent in her swirling purple eyes.
She looked down at her hands and her red hair drifted upwards to dance in the air above her as though she was underwater. Her skin darkened and the stilted threads of magic changed with it, nearing black now as they twisted and writhed around her body like living creatures. Twin black orbs of magic grew from her palms, bright purple sparks leaping from them. She smiled viciously, exposing her fangs, and then roared as she flung her arms forwards. Rubble and wood exploded outwards into the grounds, the world darkened beyond what Sophis could see, and high screams shattered the distant silence.
Valentine pushed out of Venturi’s arms and Sophis couldn’t believe it when he dared to approach Prophecy. Magic swirled like a storm around her, a tempest that forced everyone back and shifted debris with its might. Fragments of broken vase and roses battered Valentine but he didn’t stop. He held his arm up to protect his face and pushed on through the raging maelstrom, his other hand reaching out to her. Lady Prophecy turned her dark eyes on him when he neared her, her eyebrows knitted into a tight scowl, and snarled. He held both hands up to her and the bolts of magic crackled and leapt to him, disappearing into his skin. It didn’t seem to hurt him. It turned red whenever it touched him and the more that gravitated to him, the lighter purple the rest of the twisting threads around Prophecy became.
“I am all right, my love, and I am glad that you are too,” he whispered and his green eyes implored her to hear him. “Come to me, and let me be your anchor. You do not need to do this, my love.”
Prophecy looked as though she was going to refuse and knock him aside with her power, and then her expression changed from one of pure darkness to one of pleading and fear. She reached for him, her arms visibly shaking. The moment their hands touched, her magic turned red and she dropped out of the air. Valentine caught her and smiled when the purple swirling in her eyes shrank back, revealing her brown irises.
“I was scared I had lost you,” she said and flung her arms around him.
Valentine held her close, murmuring quiet private words against her hair. Sophis cast a nervous glance at the world outside. She was glad that Lady Prophecy was back in control but it was getting lighter again and the hunters had already made it halfway across the extensive mansion grounds. She could see them now, breaking through the scores of werewolves fighting to hold them back and racing towards the house.
“Can you continue?” Valentine said and Prophecy nodded and stepped back. She looked at the open side of the house, her eyes wide with shock. Hadn’t she realised what she had done? Had her magic been in control? Valentine took hold of her right hand, pressing his palm against the rich purple stone in her amulet. Magic flowed around their joined hands, calm now, smooth red ribbons that fluttered as though in a breeze. “I will be your anchor and give you my strength.”
Venturi stepped forwards. “Let me lend you my strength too.”
“I have already weakened you too much,” Prophecy said, her brow furrowing as she looked at the Tenebrae lord’s bloodstained throat.
“I am still strong, Prophecy. Let me help you.” Venturi held his hand out.
Prophecy opened her mouth, her expression saying that she would refuse his request, but Valentine nodded and moved to make room for him. Venturi placed his hand over theirs, clutching them both.
“Together we will give our side the darkness we need to defeat the hunters,” Prophecy said and closed her eyes and held her other hand out, her palm facing the broken wall.
Sophis again wished that
she had her power when the world outside turned as dark as a moonless midnight. It was incredible even though it seemed to be as dangerous to the wielder as it was to those around her.
“You six remain with the love birds and protect them.” Hyperion’s voice was loud in the entrance hall, jolting Sophis into awareness of her surroundings. More Watchmen had joined the others and there were Venia guards lining the back wall behind Prophecy, Valentine and Venturi, awaiting orders. Hyperion grinned at Commander Winter where he stood beside him, dressed head-to-toe in black, with his cloak obscuring part of his chest armour and the lower half of his dragon-like helmet raised to reveal his face. Commander Winter handed Hyperion a staff tipped with a long blade. “The rest of you follow me to glory.”
With that, he was gone and so were the rest of his Watchmen, leaving the Venia guards staring after them.
“Move out,” Commander Tynan hollered and the guards drew their swords and sprinted as one into the darkness.
Vivek squeezed her hand and she nodded. They ran together over the rubble in front of the mansion and then across the grass, reaching the perimeter of the fight within seconds. Hyperion and his Watchmen had already carved a path into the heart of the battle, leaving dying hunters littered across the ground. Vivek released her and readied his dagger. Sophis drew her sword.
The four Law Keepers passed her, all dressed in their elegant black uniforms and holding their swords at the ready, and she tried not to get caught up in watching them fight. She focused on the hunters closest to her, dealing swiftly with a woman by decapitating her. The sky lightened again and Sophis hoped that Lady Prophecy could hold off the witch in the hunters’ ranks.
She didn’t intend to die here today.
Sophis fought through into an opening in the battle and stopped dead when she saw down the gently sloping lawn towards the rubble and twisted iron that used to be the wall of the mansion grounds. There were so many hunters. Hundreds of them. Vivek came out of nowhere and cut down one she hadn’t noticed.
“Pay attention. I will not lose you here.” He spun and stabbed another hunter in the shoulder before swiping the dagger across his throat. The man’s garbled scream died when Vivek plunged the dagger into his heart. Sophis shook herself and leapt back into the fight.
It was vicious and chaotic, both sides fighting frantically. The hunters kept swarming in, replacing those that had fallen, and whenever she had a chance, she looked around, hoping to catch sight of Izabella or Aleksis. Vivek remained close to her, fighting at her side, protecting her as promised. He was going to stay with her and ensure they both made it through the battle. That warmed her inside, chasing away some of the fear in her veins. With Vivek beside her, she would be safe and so would he.
Hyperion’s small army of Watchmen were merciless, pressing ever onwards towards the boundary of the mansion grounds like black shadows in the night, their foes falling silently in their wake. The werewolves moved with them, all in animal form, tearing the fallen to shreds with tooth and claw. Sophis hung back, closer to the mansion, intent on protecting it and the one person who was critical to their side. The six Watchmen hadn’t left Lady Prophecy and her two men. They formed a barrier around the three, black spears at the ready and the visors of their dragon-like black helmets down, covering the lower halves of their faces.
No hunter had reached them yet but Sophis didn’t doubt they could deal with any who managed to break through the ranks. Hyperion had raised and trained his personal army well and was proving here tonight that the Validus were by far the most powerful bloodline out of the seven. Her family’s guard couldn’t come close to comparing with the skill, strength, speed and ferocity of the Watchmen, but they fought valiantly, risking their lives to protect their bloodline and the others. She was sure that together they could defeat the hunters and win this battle.
Lady Lilith of the Vehemens swept past Sophis, dressed now in jeans and a dark jumper more suited to battle, her long blonde hair down around her shoulders and her eyes vivid red, the colour of her bloodline. She buried a knife into the neck of a female hunter close to them and drove her hand forwards, slicing deep. The female dropped to the floor and the Vehemens vampire moved on. Lincoln followed close behind her, head-to-toe in black, blending into the darkness and like his mate’s shadow as he dealt deadly blows with his sword, killing any who tried to near her.
Sophis clashed with a dark haired man and she hesitated for barely a slither of a second as she recognised him as one of the men from the warehouse.
He moved in that instant, thrusting a stake at her, and she came to her senses and dodged it. The man’s momentum drove him forwards and past her, and she turned and brought her sword down hard. Another sword blocked it and she snarled when she found herself facing Izabella. The raven haired woman glared at her, dragged the man by his arm, and pushed him behind her. Sophis lunged at her and Izabella blocked again, their swords clashing, and drove her backwards. Vivek came forwards with a snarl, bloodied from his fight against another hunter, and cut Izabella across the arm of her short black coat. The woman let out a brief grunt of pain, scowled icily at the dagger in Vivek’s grip, and turned tail. Sophis tried to pursue her but the dark haired hunter was in front of her before she could move more than a step, blocking her path.
“She will come back,” Vivek said on a snarl and attacked the man.
He was right. Izabella would return and she wouldn’t be alone.
Marise passed her, a dark blur in her black Law Keeper’s uniform. Only the bright silver arc of her sword as it sliced through the hunters gave her away. She fought them back with deadly efficiency, her face a picture of calm, making her the epitome of a Law Keeper—emotionless, powerful, and amazing to Sophis. Jascha battled close to her, his long dark hair wild and a vicious glint in his ice-blue eyes as he snarled and struck with his sword, driving back the hunters and keeping them from reaching the mansion.
It seemed they had the same idea as Sophis. They had to form a defensive line and not allow any hunters past it. It wasn’t just for the sake of keeping Lady Prophecy safe so she could maintain whatever spell had turned day to night. There were young vampires in the mansion who wouldn’t last in a fight against these hunters. They were all enhanced and all of them were strong, skilled in fighting, and experienced in dealing with vampires. Several guards had already fallen to them. There was another reason for protecting the mansion too. The lords and ladies were fighting but at least one out of their Chosen Son and Chosen Daughter would be in the mansion, shut safely away, the next leader of their bloodline if their current ruler fell to a hunter’s stake or blade. It was imperative that those in the mansion survived.
Commander Tynan came up beside his brother Jascha, his sword bright in the darkness as he dealt with the vampire hunters, forming another link in their defensive line, his snarls as vicious as his brother’s and the violent look in his ice-blue eyes enough to have most weaker hunters thinking twice about attacking him. Vivek moved off to block the way a short distance to her right and beyond him were three Watchmen, all of them fighting with spears, skewering and hacking at any who dared to come within their reach. Together they would defend the mansion and the future of their bloodlines.
A group of hunters broke through the vampires ahead and swarmed towards them, too many for them to deal with whilst holding the line. Sophis concentrated on those heading for her, her sword at the ready. Her senses sharpened as she allowed her eyes to change and her true face to emerge. Silver threads outlined the hunters charging towards her, her preternatural abilities showing her the course they might take by forming ghosts of them ahead of their physical bodies. She brought her sword up in a fast arc as the first man reached her, cutting him down, and then twisted her wrists and swung at the next.
Danger sparked across her senses but she was so absorbed in the enemies before her that she didn’t react in time. She heard the whizz of something cutting through the air, sensed its fast approach, and tried to evade it. A low
grunt and snarl echoed in her ears as the crossbow bolt struck someone close to her and she turned, her ears ringing as her eyes fell on Vivek. He stood a few feet in front of her, one hand clutching his thigh close to the arrow protruding from it and the other flexing around the dagger.
“Vivek!” She reached for him but another hunter seized the chance to attack her while she was distracted. She knocked his sword away with her own and then Vivek was there, slicing deep into the man’s chest and snarling as he drove him backwards into another vampire. The guard dealt the killing blow, thrusting his sword through the man’s back and out through his chest.
Vivek continued to fight, snarling and swiping wildly at any who came within reach. Her heart clenched when he stumbled and righted himself. The bolt was poisoned. He fought on, his jaw clamped shut and ice-blue eyes full of pain, and Sophis knew that he was doing it to protect her. Each lunge and thrust he made was only quickening the poison’s invasion of his body and hastening his death.
“Vivek,” she said and he tried to swipe at her as she grabbed his arm. The blade missed her throat by bare millimetres and the momentum of his swing sent him crashing onto his backside on the grass. She was by his side in an instant, her knees pressing into the ground, and pulled the dagger from his grasp. He snarled, his breathing hard and fast, scaring her. She didn’t relent. She pressed her hand hard against his shoulder, pinning him to the ground, and yanked the crossbow bolt out of his left thigh.
He roared and bucked up, thrashing wildly.
“Don’t you die on me,” she said and bit her wrist. She pressed the bleeding puncture wounds to his mouth and he drank some but no matter how much he took from her his condition didn’t improve. Her blood wasn’t strong enough. Tears stung her eyes.