“Like human teenagers, our kind can be, quite temperamental during that stage of life and it was almost a tradition for them to run off from their families in an attempt to assert their independence and explore their new powers. Ethan was particularly challenging during that time,” he smirked in his son’s direction. “However, they would always turn up after a few months, maybe a year of being on their own, but this was different and they were staying gone much longer without word.”
“A year on their own? I can’t fathom letting Chloe just leave like that. Why didn’t anyone search for them?”
“Ahh, yes, well parents of our race have a bit of an advantage in that department. We can sense our descendants through the blood bond that exists. The more closely related we are, the stronger the sense. So even though these children were gone, their parents always had a general idea of where they were and that they were safe. Then one day fifty children who had not yet undergone the transformation were all taken in what turned out to be a well-coordinated and patiently planned attack.”
“The bond does something else as well. Elder members of a family can strongly influence the actions of their descendants. In fact, the bond with a very old member of the race, like Lucias, or myself can be so powerful that any direct command given cannot be disobeyed. To do so would cause unbearable pain. As you can imagine, that kind of power is easily abused. Lucias has used that bond to enforce his will and build the most lethal and loyal army imaginable.”
✧
“For the last three-hundred years our people have lived in fear. Lucias has been far less conspicuous in his quest for power, no longer openly slaying humans and there has not been a disappearance in nearly twenty years. However, there have been rumors about a new kind of soldier under Lucias’ command. Those who claim to have seen them speak of enhanced abilities, movement so quick they are difficult even for vampire eyes to track. There are whispers that they are infected, that Lucias’ has discovered a way to control the virus that plagued our kind so long ago and use it to his advantage.”
“But our people have not been idle, the Elite have spent these many years recruiting and training new members to battle Lucias’ forces when the time comes. And the Agency has implemented training programs in all of the remaining vampire colonies around the world, teaching our people to fight, to protect themselves.”
“So where is Lucias now?” Alexa inquired.
“That we do not know, which makes him all the more dangerous. He has been lurking in the shadows, waiting patiently for his opportunity. You must understand, Ethan’s only desire in leaving was to keep you safe, to let you have a normal life.” Elijah looked at his son and Alexa saw so much love in his eyes. “His mother and I realize what a leap of faith it took for him to tell us about you and Chloe. We would have remained silent, but it seems fate has intervened. I was not certain when I met you that you were the girl Ethan described as his soul mate, but I had my suspicions because of Chloe.”
At that Alexa looked up at Ethan, feeling the sting of tears in her eyes yet again. She hadn’t imagined their connection, it was real. He was real and he was here with her again.
Elijah stood and walked to the window as he continued. “When I completed your blood work I knew it had to be you. And just a few minutes later I received word about Dr. James and his practice.”
Alexa’s gaze shot to Elijah. “Dr. James, Chloe’s dentist?
“Yes. He was killed two days ago, along with several members of his staff. His clinic was burned to the ground to cover it up, but not before the Elite intercepted his posts to a dental community website about his findings in Chloe’s x-rays. Did he discuss it with you?”
“No, he didn’t get the chance. An emergency patient come in before he could view Chloe’s x-rays, but he had done an initial exam of her teeth and gums and assured me that whatever was wrong, it did not appear to be related to her teeth. She was screaming the whole time we were there, so I decided to leave. I had already been referred to your practice, so I just thought I would reschedule with him if I didn’t find answers.”
“Based on what he posted, the x-rays revealed the fangs that you saw earlier tonight. As with all of our kind, they are only visible at certain times, usually when we feed, but they sometimes present themselves in response to intense emotions. Like us, we believe our enemy has been closely monitoring the internet looking for any activity that would reveal the coming of the child from the prophecy. We cannot be certain yet, but it is very unlikely that Dr. James’ death was an accident. We believe Lucias is getting close.”
“Wait, what prophecy?” Alexa questioned.
Ethan ran his hand down his face as he sighed. “I am not sure where to start.”
Elijah placed his hand on his son’s shoulder to offer reassurance. “Start at the beginning, my son, with your mother.”
CHAPTER 13 - The Prophecy
He took Alexa’s hand in both of his as he began. “My mother is a seer. She has visions of things that have not yet come to pass.”
“So, what, you’re saying she can see the future?”
“Yes. It is an unpredictable talent that she cannot entirely control. Visions often come to her randomly, but with a great deal of concentration she can focus to see a specific person or event. Her ability is strongest in relation to people close to her, mainly family. Moments after I was born, a very powerful vision completely overcame her before she was even able to hold me in her arms. She saw the end of the war. I was to father a female child with a woman who bore a unique birthmark. This birthmark.” He lightly touched the spot behind Alexa’s ear where the mark laid hidden beneath her hair. The light touch sent a small tremor through Alexa’s body. “That child would grow to become more powerful than any member of our kind to come before and would control the fate of our people.”
“And you think Chloe is this child? This is why you left us?” Alexa asked, her voice barely above a whisper as she struggled to wrap her mind around the gravity of what was happening.
Ethan glanced at his father briefly. “Yes, I left because of the prophecy, to protect you and Chloe. We do not know the outcome of the war only that her coming signals the start of open war that also ends with her. She is what Lucias is after, what he has been searching for nearly two-hundred years. He believes that whoever possesses the child can control her powers. Above all things, he craves power, to rule our people and the humans alike. And trust me when I say, if he cannot have her, he will stop at nothing to keep her from fighting against him.” Ethan stood and began to pace as he proceeded.
“I still don’t understand why you left. Why couldn’t we have gone away with you?”
“While my mother’s talent is rare, she is not the only one of our kind who is able to see the future. Lucias has at least one equally powerful seer in his employ who saw my future, my child, and he has been waiting, watching, trying to find her every day since he first heard the prophecy.”
“How can you know that?”
The question prompted Elijah to intervene. “Perhaps it is best if I continue with this part of the story. Ethan was very young when it all happened.” As Elijah began to recount that night, it was almost as if he was back in that place, the home he and his beautiful wife had built, well over two-hundred years ago.
✧
It was late in the evening in a cozy Spanish villa where a seven year old Ethan lay with his head in his mother’s lap as she stroked his overly long wavy hair, softly singing one of his favorite songs in Spanish. Josephine loved to keep his beautiful chestnut locks long, despite his father’s feigned disapproval. Elijah had never been very good at denying his beautiful wife anything she desired, the length of their son’s hair was no exception. Ethan’s eyes began to feel heavy as his mother’s words drifted through his mind.
Amor con fortuna
me muestra enemiga.
No sé qué me diga.
No sé lo que quiero,
pues busqué mi daño,
Yo
mesmo m’engaño,
me meto do muero.
Y, muerto, no spero
salir de fatiga,
No se que me diga.
Amor me persigue
con muy cruda guerra
Por mar y por tierra
Fortuna me sigue.
¿Quien ay que desligue
amor donde liga?
No sé qué me diga.
Fortuna traidora
me hase mudança
Y amor, esperança
Que siempre enpeora
Jamás no mejora
Mi suerte enemiga
No sé que me diga…”
His raven-haired little sister, Camille, was just a few feet away playing with a new toy their father had brought home the night before, clapping and giggling as the wooden top spun and bobbled before eventually falling on its side. Her giggling was quickly replaced by whining as she toddled over to her mother and brother, her perfect ringlets bouncing with each step. She held the little top out in front of her, demanding one of them spin it for what must have been the hundredth time.
Josephine gently lifted the now sleeping Ethan’s head to lay him down as she attended to her demanding two-year old. She knelt down beside Camille and looked into her bright green-grey eyes before placing a little kiss on the tip of her button nose. Taking the top and placing it on the floor in front of them, she began a quiet countdown trying not to disturb Ethan, “Uno, dos…,” but before reaching three she was overcome by a vision causing her to fall backward into the end table that housed the oil lamp providing light in the small playroom. The loud crash awakened Ethan with a start and summoned Elijah from the parlor where he was reading.
Camille began to wail, scared and confused as her mother lay still on the ground, her eyes rolled back into her head as the fire from the lamp began to spread across the floor. Elijah dashed around the corner, retrieved a wet rag from the wash basin and tossed it over the growing fire, stamping it out entirely before rushing to his wife’s side.
He sat on the ground, lifting her head into his lap as he consoled his terrified children.
“Ethan, Camille, come sit beside your papa. It is all right, your mama is just having a dream. Do you remember what she told you about her dreams?”
Ethan nodded as he slowly approached his parents. Camille was too young to fully understand, but she adored her big brother, so she gripped his hand tightly and followed behind him, her wailing reduced to a slight sniffle as she sucked vigorously on her thumb.
Josephine’s eyes returned to normal and she immediately looked up to her husband, her face stricken with panic as she attempted to sound calm, ”Mi vida, we must leave now. We have only moments. It is Lucias.”
Not one to question his wife’s power, Elijah scooped Camille into his arms as he helped Josephine to her feet.
“Ethan, cariño, take my hand. We are going on an adventure.” Josephine smiled at her son, trying to comfort his fears as they fled the only home her children had ever known.
✧
They followed Elijah to the study where he passed Camille to her mother and using his supernatural strength and speed he pushed aside an enormous bookcase revealing a secret tunnel he had built shortly after Ethan’s birth and Josephine’s accompanying premonition.
Josephine gripped Camille tightly as she jumped down into the darkness. “Ciera los ojos, cariño,” she whispered through her daughter’s bouncy curls. While Josephine and Elijah could see perfectly in the darkness, both children were many years away from reaching their preternatural potential and would be completely blind in the lightless tunnel.
She hesitated just long enough to see Elijah drop through the opening with Ethan securely in his arms before she sprinted down the long corridor.
Elijah gently placed Ethan on the ground. “Stand right here, my son. Do not move, I must close the entry.”
With only a faint amount of light filtering through the opening above, Ethan could barely see anything and only felt a slight breeze from his father’s rapid movements as he jumped back up to the floor of their former home and replaced the bookcase that concealed the tunnel.
Ethan heard the soft thud of his father’s feet hitting the ground a few feet in front of him, followed by a loud crash above and a blood curdling scream.
“God, forgive me.” Elijah whispered as he picked up his terrified son and rushed off after his wife and daughter. In all the chaos, he had forgotten the human cook that remained in the kitchen. Her eldest son usually came to escort her home by now. The tear that escaped Elijah’s eye was immediately whisked away by the force of his speed as he ran. She was gone, and if her son had not already met the danger on the road, he would soon. As much as he cared for the woman and the boy he had delivered nearly fifteen years ago, he could not risk his family. Going back would mean certain death, but still his heart ached with their loss.
A few minutes later, Elijah bounded up through the opening at the end of the tunnel, finding himself in the field several miles from their home where Josephine and Camille waited.
Josephine immediately recognized the pain in her husband’s expression and reached for his hand in silence. She already knew. She saw the fate of the cook and her young son, but could do nothing to prevent it without damning her own children. She had hoped Elijah would not know, at least for a while, but it was done. Her own heart ached with the loss of the humans that had helped to care for her children all these years, but now was not the time for grief.
“Mi vida, we must keep going. It will not be long before Lucias discovers how we escaped. Lucias has already called for his seer, Asana, to join him and she is less than two days journey from here. Asana is very powerful and is no doubt focused on Ethan. He was ignorant to my ability before, but once she is in our home, near my things, she will know I have sight and he will not be so careless in his future pursuits of our family. He will keep Asana by his side at all times.”
Elijah gently squeezed Josephine’s hand. “My love, I will always follow you.”
She smiled and stood up on her toes, shifting Camille slightly to the side, as she pressed a light kiss on his lips.
“There is a ship leaving for the Americas in a few hours. It is the last one for several weeks. We must make for the coast and barter passage. Lucias will be forced to wait to pursue us, giving us time to reach the settlement of our people in the new land and contact the Elite. They are our only hope.”
✧
“We boarded the ship that night and headed off to the Americas. Once we met with the settlement and contacted the Elite, we were immediately moved to their compound near Boston and guaranteed their protection. That was about the time we first met Barb.” Elijah chuckled as he recounted the memory.
“Barb, the nurse I met this morning?” Alexa inquired.
“Yes, the one and only. I do not know what we would have done without her.”
“And I don’t know what I would have done without all of you pestering me all these years,” Barb said chuckling in the doorway.
Alexa had been so engrossed she hadn’t noticed the woman’s entrance, but the sight of her was comforting. Ethan stood and rushed over to the plump woman, scooping her up into a big bear hug as she kissed his cheek.
“Well, it’s good to see you too, boy. You’ve stayed away far too long.” She said swatting his bottom as he set her back on her feet.
“But that is impossible.” Alexa shook her head, feeling thoroughly confused. “She is human and that was like two-hundred years ago, right?”
“Exactly how do you know I’m just a human, child?” Barb asked obviously enjoying herself.
“Well, it’s kind of hard to describe. I didn’t actually listen to your thoughts, but I’m sure that I could have.” She blushed slightly at how cocky she sounded. “Your mind doesn’t feel like theirs do, it feels, human I guess. I didn’t realize it at first, I suppose because I was laboring under the delusion that everyone was human, but after being around the three o
f you,” she gestured to Ethan, Elijah, and Chloe, “the difference has become quite obvious. I’m pretty sure I could identify any vampire that got close enough now.”
“Interesting. You are partially correct. Barb is human, though I doubt you would be able to read her mind,” Elijah said smiling at the nurse.
“You might be strong, child, but I can guarantee you can’t crack into this hard head of mine,” Barb stated surely tapping her temple.
“She is an extremely powerful witch, probably the most powerful in the world, though she would never own up to it. She protects her mind with magic.” Ethan said, still smiling at his old friend.
“You’re right, I am far older than I look, though I look plenty old. It goes against the code of my people to use magic to extend one’s life beyond their natural potential, but all those years ago I bound myself to this family,” she said pointing at Elijah and Ethan, “and I swore to protect them until this damn war is finally ended.”
Choices of Fate (Fate Series) Page 12