Prophecy: Child of Light (Vampires Realm Series Book 1) (Reading Sample) - Felicity Heaton (novels to read for beginners .TXT) 📗

brought peace between their families, that she would die for peace in general. Now she was giving him a lesson on only fighting necessary battles. Something told him that her answer to most fights would be the pragmatic option.

Talking wasn’t going to stop this fight.

He turned away from her and focused on Caden, shutting out the feeling of her nearby and silencing the voice in his head that was telling him that she was right—this was unnecessary.

But he couldn’t let the hunter do that to her and get away with it. Caden’s actions deserved retribution and this was the most satisfying form Valentine could find.

He quelled his desire to change into his vampire guise. Caden wouldn’t get the pleasure of provoking him into using the heightened strength it gave him. He would make sure that the hunter suffered at the hands of his weaker side so he would know never to touch Prophecy again or he would unleash his full strength upon him and end the merry dance they’d shared these past two decades.

It would be a shame to have to do it, but he could if he wanted to.

The hunter’s eyes narrowed, his feet shifted and his hand came up to reveal a slim shaft of wood.

Valentine shook his head. “Been grave robbing again?”

The hunter spun the piece of wood around to reveal the other end of it. “Found it in a church. At least I know it’s definitely blessed, not like that time in Budapest.”

Valentine raised a brow at the crucifix and heard Prophecy hiss behind him when she noticed it. He wanted to turn to look at her but taking his eyes off the hunter would be a childish mistake. The battle was close to starting. He could feel the anticipation building inside of him and it was reaching a crescendo. Soon, one of them would make a move and then everything would become a blur as the fight began.

He extended his senses to see how far from him Prophecy was. She was close.

Reaching his hand out behind him, he pushed her out of the way at the same time that he sprang forwards towards the hunter. He slammed his fist into Caden’s face, catching him hard across the jaw and smirking as the hunter stumbled backwards a few feet and tightened his grip on the makeshift stake. He was ready for the hunter’s retaliation and easily blocked the punch he threw and the kick that followed it.

Ducking down, he swept a leg out towards Caden’s feet and growled when his foe leapt over it. For a middle-aged man, the hunter certainly had a lot of energy. There had to be something driving him. Valentine just hadn’t figured out what yet.

He kicked Caden in the shin and then flipped backwards onto his feet, instinctively blocking the hand holding the stake as Caden thrust it towards him.

“Getting slow in your old age,” Valentine said and launched into a barrage of punches, each one hitting their target and knocking the hunter backwards. He growled and caught him hard in the stomach, smiling with satisfaction when Caden doubled over. Grabbing hold of the long dark locks of his hair, he slammed the hunter’s head down into his knee and let go of him.

Caden fell to the floor and pressed his hand to his head, his teeth gritted in obvious pain and his eyes screwed shut.

“Valentine!” Prophecy called to him and he turned to look at her. She pointed at something.

His eyes quickly moved to follow her finger and he frowned when he saw two dark, dangerous shapes coming towards them on the opposite side of the river.

“Werewolves,” he whispered and tried to calculate how much time he had before they reached them.

“Getting weak in your old age,” the hunter said and pushed himself up onto his feet.

“No. I could kill you in a heartbeat, but that is not the purpose of our tryst. This is merely a warning. If you go near her again, I will end this.”

Valentine responded fast as the hunter launched a fist at him. Catching hold of it, he twisted Caden’s arm around and punched him hard in the chest, launching the man into the air. The hunter landed heavily on the ground and lay still. Valentine stared at him for a moment and extended his senses. He hadn’t killed him. He could hear the man’s heartbeat coming quiet and steady. It took a lot more than idle play fighting like this to hurt the hunter. He knew that from experience.

He could feel the werewolves coming now. They were there on the edge of his senses and closing in. He watched Caden get to his feet once more.

“Leave. This is not your fight,” Valentine said and the hunter looked at the werewolves as they approached.

The smaller werewolf was running over the bridge, a larger one following a short distance behind it. The hunter nodded and gathered his jacket before leaving.

Valentine set his jaw, slid into vampire guise and roared at the approaching werewolf.

He could feel Prophecy close behind him, could sense that she had changed into her demon face too.

She would have to fight now.

Prophecy reacted the second the werewolf sprang towards Valentine. As it landed, she moved swiftly, kicking it hard in the back at the same time as Valentine caught it across the jaw. She dodged its claws as it swiped at her and snarled. The other werewolf was fast approaching. They didn’t have much time.

She swept its legs out and extended her own claws in an attempt to level the playing field. Lashing out, she slashed down its back, smiling grimly as it howled in pain and then rolling out of the way when it turned to bite her. She found herself standing by Valentine. He had a hand pressed into his shoulder.

“You’re hurt. Fall back,” she said and ignored the dark look he shot her way.

The werewolf pounced and she pushed Valentine to one side while she went the other way, dodging it and punching it hard on the back as it moved past them. She growled and leapt on it, digging her claws in and avoiding its jaws as it tried to get hold of her.

Valentine appeared in view and she motioned for him to leave but he stood firm as the werewolf went straight for him. She jumped from its back, trying to kick at it but missing. It roared at Valentine. On the edge of her senses, she picked up the other werewolf and turned in time to see it crossing the bridge.

She looked back at Valentine. He growled with effort and twisted the werewolf’s arm, snapping it clean in two and forcing the bone through its skin. It whimpered and tried to escape, but he blocked its path and grabbed it around the throat, crushing it to strangle the beast as it struggled against him.

She ducked when she felt the second werewolf leap towards her and rolled underneath it. Coming to a standing position, her eyes widened when she saw that she’d allowed it to run straight at Valentine.

“Valentine!” she almost screamed his name.

He turned just in time to catch hold of the werewolf’s front legs.

She grimaced as the stars began to itch and her right hand tingled. She could feel the power growing inside of her as the marks became hot, burning her skin until she could almost feel the ones on her back connecting to those on her front. When Valentine was thrown to the floor, threads of purple crackled between her fingers, making them prickle with tiny spots of pain as the magic passed through them.

Her breathing became heavy when she watched Valentine stand with a wobble and the werewolf began to close in. He couldn’t fight any more. She couldn’t let him fight any more.

She looked down at her hand where the magic was beginning to grow. It twisted ever faster as it formed a ball of purple and became white as it started to move so fast that she could no longer make out the individual threads.

“Valentine!” she shouted at him while he grappled with the werewolf again, his face contorting in pain. “Run!”

The moment he rolled to one side, she grasped hold of her right wrist, letting her palm face the werewolf. It turned to look at her and snarled as it started towards her. She curled her hand into a fist, forcing the power back inside of her, and drew it back as far as it would go.

The werewolf pounced.

She slammed her fist into it, punching a hole straight through its chest and releasing the magic inside of it.

The werewolf yelped and exploded, showering the square with blood and flesh.

Panting hard, she fell to her knees, her head spinning, and closed her eyes.

“Prophecy?” Valentine’s voice appeared close to her and she looked at him. He was plastered with bits of werewolf and was gripping his shoulder. “Are you all right?”

“Fine,” she said and pushed herself up into in a sitting position. “Just feel a little weak.”

“What in the Devil’s name happened?”

“I don’t know.” She stared at the amulet. He’d been in danger. The witches had told her that the strength would be called whenever her heart feared. She’d been scared that she was going to lose Valentine.

He offered his hand to her and she looked at it for a moment before slipping hers into it. It felt comforting as his fingers wrapped around hers and he gripped her tightly, helping her stand. When he released her, she stared at her hand again. When Valentine had been hurt by the werewolf below the Eiffel Tower, she’d feared for his life and the strength had come. It couldn’t just be a coincidence. It came whenever she wanted to protect him the most. It hadn’t come when they were fighting the vampire hunter or when the hunter had attacked her. It had only come when she’d been petrified of losing him.

“We should move,” Valentine said, picking a piece of werewolf flesh off his jacket. He frowned at it and then slung it to one side. “You might want to work on using something less volatile next time.”

She smiled at his mock annoyed tone. He was still impressed by the power she now commanded. She could see it in his eyes.

A clock struck out the hour in the distance and she tiptoed to pick a piece of werewolf out of his hair.

“You might want to get cleaned up.” She continued to smile.

He ran his hands over his hair, frowning as he found it was saturated with blood and small chunks of flesh. He gave her an unimpressed look and then started walking in the direction they’d been heading in before the hunter had shown up. She followed him, wondering how he was going to get cleaned up before they went to the station. As they rounded a corner, she saw a fountain and then looked at him. He was smiling.

“You’re not…” She started.

He peeled his jacket off and handed it to her. “I am.”

She raised her brows as he dunked his head into the clear pool. Threads of red crept through the water, turning it a pale pink.

Holding his jacket up, she wrinkled her nose up at it and began to remove all the little bits of werewolf. She shook it at the same time as Valentine shook his head, flicking water all over her. She frowned and he smiled at her.

Handing him his jacket, she kept her face blank when he took it from her, the smile not moving from his face. She wanted to tell him it was incredibly childish to take such obvious pleasure from splashing her, but couldn’t find the words when he continued to smile at her, his whole face lighting up with it. She’d never seen him smile properly before. They’d always looked restrained or forced, but now he was really smiling at her and she was glad that she couldn’t blush.

She drew her eyes away from him as