“I’m going to test your ability to read my mind first,” he explained. “This is a very handy ability when fighting a vampire. If you can get inside their head, then you can know what their next move will be before they have made it. It will give you the advantage every time. The problem we currently face is they can now do the same but regardless it’s a good talent to master.”
She nodded, taking in all the information.
“I want you close to your eyes and block out everything. Your mind needs to be blank. Can you do that?”
Ally closed her eyes and blocked everything out except James. It seemed impossible to blank him out.
He continued, “Now I want you to mentally reach out to my mind. It sounds more complicated than it is and the more you do it the more natural it will become.”
She focused on James’ mind, and she imagined a line running from her mind to James’. It seemed to work because she felt her mind pushing at something.
James was sitting opposite her. His face lit up when he felt the mental push; she was able to do it.
He started to shake his head in disbelief. He didn’t want to interrupt her by telling her that he was so proud of her, but he was. James decided to think of a move that he could pull on her and see if she reacted before he made the move.
Ally smiled widely to herself when the thoughts came through. She had done it and was immensely proud of herself. She had an image of herself at the ball a few days earlier in the scarlet dress that had belonged to her mother, and her grandmother before her. She started to wonder how old the dress actually was, now that she knew how old her grandmother really was. Just then the image dropped, and she saw an image of James grabbing her by the throat. She reacted instantly without even thinking and threw her arm up to block him. She felt contact with his arm, and her eyes flew open in an instant. She saw his emerald eyes shining back at her with pride. He had said that she needed to trust him, and this was why. She had no need to be scared, because he was testing her abilities. Once she had opened her eyes and locked eye contact with him, she knew that she was safe.
“I did it!” she said, astonished.
“Aye, little one, you did.”
“I can’t believe it! I didn’t think I’d be able to.”
“Have more faith in yourself,” he said simply.
He believes in me. The simple fact that he believed in her sent warm fuzzy feelings throughout her body.
“What’s next?” she asked eagerly.
“I’ll keep testing your ability to read my mind when you aren’t ready for it. I have no intention of hurting you, and I won’t, but the vampires will. You need to be able to do this without a moment’s notice.”
She nodded in agreement, and he continued. “Next we need to test your reflexes. They are vital in any battle. You need to think on your feet, react quickly and change your plan at a second’s notice. Remember this isn’t just any enemy. A vampire can move faster than the blink of an eye, as can immortals. However, you are at a disadvantage at the present moment, so you need to be able to do something that will throw them off balance and give you a chance to run or stay and fight. I would prefer running, but I know that you won’t do that, so I need to make sure you have as much information at your fingertips as possible.”
She smiled at his comment. He knew her well enough to know that she wouldn’t run from a battle.
“You have to pick your fights well. Even I will turn tail if I think I’m out manoeuvred, unless it’s vital that I stay and fight. This afternoon was a perfect example of being at a disadvantage and turning.”
“Would you have done that if I wasn’t there?” she asked.
“No, I would have stayed and fought.”
“So I was the disadvantage,” she said sadly.
He replied firmly, “No it was the situation not you. My job is to keep you safe.”
She shook her head still not convinced.
“Look at me, Ally.”
She glanced up and was greeted by warm eyes filled with love and concern. “You once asked me if I was a bodyguard. Do you remember?”
“How could I forget?”
“I am a bodyguard, Ally. Yours,” he said with conviction. “I will keep you safe at all costs. I don’t care if it means running away, that’s what I will do, every time.”
“No, you won’t,” she replied. “We both know that when the time comes, you must let me face a battle on my own no matter the cost. My safety won’t be the number-one priority. Fulfilling the prophecy will be the goal.”
He knew that one day it would come to that, but he intended for her to be completely prepared. He would not sit back and watch his soul mate die. But this was now, and they needed to focus on the task at hand, not the future battles.
“We need to stay focused on the problems of now. We can deal with the prophecy when it comes, but know this Ally, I won’t lose you! Damn the consequences.”
Ally was touched. How could she not be, hearing that he loved her so much? But he would see in time that this was bigger than them.
“How do we test my reflexes?” she asked, gently changing the subject.
He held his hand up and opened his palm face up.
“Watch my hand,” he said, as a ball of white light appeared to hover slightly above his palm.
She looked on in amazement. “How did you do that?”
“I will explain it later when you have the ability. This is just a harmless ball of light. We can create fireballs, and running with the theory that the vampires now have our abilities, you will need to know how to dodge them.”
She shook her head in confusion. “How am I supposed to dodge a fireball?”
“Instinct,” he said simply, then continued. “I’m going to throw this at you, it won’t hurt. Try to dodge it.”
She shrugged. “I’ll try.”
He gave her no warning and threw the ball straight at her heart, which is where the vampires would aim. For an Immortal it would just wound them, but for a human, it would be fatal.
She instinctively threw her hand up and the ball of light bounced off, hit the wall and then dissolved into nothing. James stared blankly at what he had just seen, his mouth was hanging open slightly and his mind was racing with questions.
“How did you do that?” he asked, completely stunned.
“I don’t know,” she answered. “I just reacted instinctively. I didn’t really think about it.”
He threw another one without warning, and she held up her hand with the same result.
“What the hell was that for?” she squealed.
“An experiment,” he said, turning the information over in his mind. “That shouldn’t happen; it should just dissolve into nothing the second it comes into contact with something. It bounced right off you,” he said, rubbing his chin in thought.
“Would the same thing happen with a fireball?” she asked.
“I don’t know and we aren’t finding out,” he said with a firmness which indicated he wouldn’t be discussing it further.
She rolled her eyes at his obstinacy. “Think of what we could do if it did. The vampires would never see it coming.”
He saw the excitement forming in her eyes, and attempted to cut the thought dead in its tracks. “Not a chance, lass.”
Not one to give in, Ally called his bluff and said, “If you don’t do it, then I will find someone else that will.”
He loved her attitude but it wasn’t worth the risk. “I’ll kill anyone who tries.”
“No you won’t,” she said defiantly.
James pinned her with a hard stare, and she realized that he actually would.
“Ok, so you would. But consider the possibilities. What if you aim it off to the side of me that way we won’t cause any damage?”
“Except to my house,” he said dryly.
She looked around. “That’s true.” She thought a moment, then said, “The balcony.”
“No, Ally. I’m not doing it.”
She could feel
the anger rising inside her. She was the one at a disadvantage, and he was holding back! This might be an amazing discovery they stumbled upon, and he wouldn’t test the theory. The vampires would be waiting for him to aim at them. If the immortals could aim at her, and she could deflect them, it would be the advantage they needed.
She held her palm up. “This isn’t fair James. You can do this cool fireball thing.” Her voice was getting higher with each word, the anger rising with every breath. “And I might be able to deflect it and possibly save my own life, and you won’t even test the theory!” She practically spat the last word at him.
Ally watched as his eyes widened into saucers. The surprise upon his face was confusing her, until she caught sight of a flickering flame and looked down at her hand. To her great surprise and astonishment, there was a fireball floating above her hand. She stared blankly for a moment then realized her hand could be on fire. She threw it, without thinking about which direction it would go. It went straight for James. He jumped out of the way so fast she barely saw him move. Her hands flew up to her mouth, and then she stared wide-eyed at the open window where the fireball had exited the room.
She looked back to James with horror in her eyes. “I’m so sorry.”
He looked at her, then the window in his bedroom, and laughter started to bubble out of his throat and spilled into the room.
“I could have killed you, and you’re laughing,” she said horrified.
“I’m sorry, Ally, but the look on your face was too much.” He collected himself and continued, “How did you do that?”
“I don’t know. I was really angry, and then I looked down, and there it was.” She inspected her hand for any potential damage. “I didn’t mean to throw it at you, I just thought my hand was on fire and flicked it,” she said sheepishly.
“I know you didn’t mean too Ally, but you’re lucky I can move quickly,” he said trying to reassure her that he wasn’t angry.
“Maybe we should take a break from testing my abilities,” she said. “Who knows what other damage I might do?”
“If that's what you want, but we are making progress.”
“Throwing random fireballs is progress?” she asked as she sat down on the couch.
He walked over and sat down next to her. “No, discovering that you have the ability to throw fireballs is the progress.”
He got up and poured another whiskey for himself and gestured towards Ally for a refill. She nodded gratefully. She could use another drink after that.
I can’t believe I’m capable of that. What else can I do that I don’t know about yet? She wondered with a mixture of excitement and concern.
James came back to the couch with two whiskeys and handed one to Ally. She took it and he lifted his glass in a toast, “To my little spitfire, who can throw fireballs,” he said as they tapped glasses lightly.
“We will need to practice that again, so you know how to do it on cue,” James informed her.
“I hope I can do it again,” she said thoughtfully. “I still want to try to deflect a fireball.”
He looked at her over his glass. “I don’t think so.”
“Don’t make me angry again, or I will intentionally aim for you this time,” she joked.
“We will discuss it another time. Is that a fair compromise?” he asked.
She rolled her eyes, “That’s what my parents said when they were going to say no but wanted me to lay off for a while.”
James laughed and it was so infectious that she found herself laughing with him.
Despite the situation, she enjoyed his company, and he appeared to enjoy hers. Ally wished they could spend more time together like this instead of running off to fight vampires. She knew that she had to deal with them eventually, but she would have loved some more time like this before the battle began. Even so, as she said to James earlier, ‘life changes, plans change, and we need to adapt.’ She could take a leaf out of her own book.
Ally looked at James, and though she loved being here with him and didn’t want to leave, she knew that they had to be up at dawn and needed some sleep. She was about to say just that when she noticed three doors against the wall. How odd, she thought, what could be behind the doors?
“What’s caught your attention?” James asked breaking into her thoughts.
She looked like a child with her hand caught in the cookie jar. “I was just wondering why you would need three doors against the wall like that?”
“Dressing rooms,” he said, as if it was nothing.
“You need three dressing rooms?” she asked.
“No, but the women before me obviously did.”
She laughed at the joke and looked around again. “Is that the bathroom?”
He loved her curiosity. “Why don’t you go find out?”
She couldn’t resist and jumped out to go have a look. Descending the steps, she found herself staring around in awe again. The bathroom was the same neutral theme as the bedroom with an antique off-white bath with gold claw feet off to the side. A large TV hung over the vanity, which ran in an L shape around the room, and what appeared to be a three-person shower with the most incredible shower head she had seen in her life. It was a silver plate in the ceiling of the shower. She imagined it would feel like showering in the rain, and being someone who loved the rain, it looked amazing. She definitely wanted this room, and if she was honest, she wanted the man who owned it too.
James silently came up behind her.
She turned around startled. “Remember what I said about a cat bell?”
James burst into laughter again. “What do you think about the bathroom?”
“I’m in love with the shower and all of it really. We should definitely swap rooms.”
“I’ve already told you how you can have this room,” he said, as he wrapped his arms around her waist.
He looked at her and twisted her around, so her back was pressed up against his hard chest, and whispered into her ear, “Come with me.”
Taking her by the hand, he led her back into the bedroom, over to the large space in the middle of the room.
“Wait here,” he said.
She stood still watching him cross the room to the iPod dock as he pressed play. After what felt like an eternity, a soft slow song she had never heard before began playing throughout the room. James prowled back to where she stood, holding eye contact the whole time. When he reached her, James took her hand pulling her into his arms and began slowly turning her about the room.
She had remarked on his dancing before and knew that she had enjoyed it. Ally deserved romance, and he was going to give it to her. Neither spoke as they stared deep into each other’s eyes, lost, while the world melted away. Ally knew she would remember this moment forever.
He continued turning her about the room, his hand was resting on the small of her back, and she felt it slip lower and lower. She knew that she should stop him but god help her, she couldn’t find the will or the strength. It just felt too good. His eyes clouded over with desire and were starting to resemble the black onyxes from this morning. She felt the heat and desire growing within her own body. The flames were heating by the minute and soon would refuse to be doused. James slid his hand back up to the small of her back, and she almost whimpered. He twirled her around, once more before he slowly lowered her into a seductive dip and brought her back up. Gazing into his eyes, Ally found herself mesmerized, unable to look away.
The emotions swimming around between them were so intense; she felt them threatening to overwhelm her. Ally raised her hand to gently stroke his jaw. He closed his eyes, and she smiled slightly. It was so hard to fight these feelings and hold them at bay. For tonight, she decided that she didn’t want to fight them, who knew what may happen tomorrow. The last thing she wanted right now was regrets.
He opened his eyes, as she pushed herself up on her tiptoes and captured his mouth with hers. He let out a groan of pleasure, and they gave themselves over to the moment. They wer
e both tired of fighting it and holding back. James seemed to understand what Ally needed.
He picked her up in his arms without breaking the kiss and moved her over to the big, soft bed. He pulled back for a moment to look at her, whilst he brushed her hair with his hands and stared at her. She felt the intensity of his gaze, and wanted to shy away from it but she couldn’t take her eyes off him, even for a second. He was perfection personified and what she felt for him was so strong and so intense it scared her to her very soul. But tonight wasn’t about being scared, it was about giving in to temptation and seeing what it felt like to be with this man, whom she had been haunted by for five long years.
How did I survive without him for this long? What she felt for him all those years ago was nothing compared to what she felt for him right now. Part of her knew that life would never ever be the same again, now that he was with her again, and she didn’t care. Life without him wouldn’t be a life at all. But she wasn’t ready to tell him all this yet.
James had been trying so hard to hold himself back, and she saw the hurt that it caused him. But he would have her undying gratitude forever because he had respected and loved her enough to give her the time she needed to come to terms with things.
“Ally,” he whispered. “I want this to be something special that you remember forever.”
“It will be,” she answered breathlessly in between kisses.
“Correct me if I’m wrong but you are…” he trailed off trying to find the right word.
She pulled back and looked at him. “Innocent?”
“Aye, I want you to be sure this is what you want.” James paused before saying, “It’s difficult, but I want you to know I can wait for as long as it takes.”
She studied him for a moment, and felt a healthy dose of reality hit her. He was right.
James sensed that his instincts were correct. She wasn’t ready. They had been swept away by the moment and lost sight of things.
He rolled her on her side and pulled her close to him, and planted a kiss on the back of her head to reassure her that he was ok with her decision. She sighed with contentment and closed her eyes.
James pulled back the sheets and snuggled beneath the covers with her.
He waited until she had fallen asleep before getting up and turning off the lights. Climbing back into bed, he snuggled into her again, closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.
Chapter Twenty Two
Immortal Prophecy Page 29