Prophecy: Child of Light (Vampires Realm Series Book 1) (Reading Sample) by Felicity Heaton (best feel good books .txt) 📕

“The werewolves,” Prophecy said and his attention was with her. She looked less confident now that she knew that Kalinor was here. He knew what she was thinking. If Kalinor were here, then Arkalus may be too.

“Not ours,” Lucya said. “She really is a dirty little Caelestis isn’t she, Valentine? Imagine my horror when I learnt of what you had done. Years of loyal service thrown away on such a filthy, despicable little creature.”

Prophecy growled and moved. He put his hand out to stop her and his jaw tensed when his palm pressed into her chest. He swallowed hard, a part of him wanting to let go while the rest of him rejoiced over the feeling of her soft bosom beneath his fingers. He held her firm, not letting her push him away when she tried to move forwards.

“I’ll kill you.” Her tone was venomous and he believed that she would kill Lucya if he let her go.

He toyed with the idea, wondering who would actually win. Lucya was older and wiser but Prophecy had more passion and strength. He could feel her power when she growled. It rumbled through her chest and his fingers, little tremors that betrayed how close she was to losing control.

“Prophecy.” His voice was almost a whisper. He caught her eye and she immediately relented, backing off a step while taking a deep breath, probably to steady herself.

Indigo sneered at him and slipped into her vampire guise, her pale violet eyes switching into their lapis blue state. “Let’s fight. I’ve always wanted to get my claws into you.”

He arched a brow and licked his canines while surveying both Lucya and Indigo.

“I said leave…this is my fight.” Elena stepped in front of him, blocking his path. He growled at her, showing her that he wasn’t about to do anything she told him to. “You have more pressing matters to attend to.”

He noticed she was already calling up the magic. He could see it building between her hands as she muttered something beneath her breath.

“Don’t you…” He started.

She clapped her hands together. His surroundings shifted, the scenery spinning at a dizzying speed and making him queasy. When the world came back into focus, he was in St. Mark’s Square.

Prophecy doubled over, clasping her stomach tightly and trying to steady her insides.

“…Dare.” Valentine finished his sentence.

She looked at him. He was kneeling on the floor, a surprised look on his face. She pushed herself up onto her feet, closed her eyes and waited for the floor to stop pitching and the world to stop wobbling.

She reached out to Valentine, who was getting to his feet, but before she could touch him, she felt a pull inside of her. It felt as though the magic had been sucked out of her and her body was a sudden void. Valentine dropped to his knees beside her, resting on all fours and grasping the pavement as though he was trying to steel himself against something. He changed into vampire guise and then back into human form before his face screwed up in pain.

“No!” He breathed and dug his fingernails into the paving as though he was holding on for dear life.

Feeling her power return to her, she crouched beside him and placed her hand on his back when he growled in apparent hurt.

“What is it?” She frowned down at him and felt her heart wrench when he looked up at her with a lost expression, his mouth moving but forming no words. “What’s wrong?”

His brows furrowed. The look of pain in his eyes increased and she swore she could see tears forming in them.

“Lucya.” He pushed the word out in the quietest of whispers.

She snatched her hand away as though he’d burnt her with his words. Her chest tightened, her brows meeting in a frown as she looked at him. He searched her eyes and she noticed that he looked even more hurt now that she’d withdrawn her comfort from him.

“She is…gone…” he whispered.

She couldn’t stop herself from gathering him to her when she realised what he was saying. She closed her eyes and rested her cheek against his while he clung to her, holding her tightly and burying his face into her neck.

Lucya was his sire and Elena had killed her.

She’d seen vampires who had been devastated by the loss of their sire. The bond was irreplaceable and once it was broken, the child was left feeling empty and lost. She tightened her grip on him, not wanting to hurt his shoulder but desiring to hold him as close as possible so he knew that he wasn’t alone.

She could feel his breath against her neck and his fingers bunching the material of her shirt as he held onto her where they knelt together on the floor. Her fingers played in the shorter hair by his neck, trying to soothe him as best she could.

“Everything will be fine,” she whispered into his ear and savoured the feeling of him in her arms. She could feel him trembling and could sense his pain. She pressed the smallest of kisses to his ear.

Her eyes opened when she felt him nuzzle her neck. He let go of her shirt and flattened his palms against her bare back underneath it. She swallowed hard when his teeth scraped against her throat. A shiver of desire echoed through her. Her fingers tightened their grip, drawing him closer while she silently begged him to go through with it and bite her.

“Valentine…” She started and tensed when she saw movement in the shadows. “We’re not alone.”

He released her, his eyes still lapis blue and his canines still sharp. She looked at his mouth, the desire to kiss him rising up inside of her and making her forget the possible danger she’d just seen. She was surprised when his eyes dropped to her lips. She wetted them, anticipation building in her stomach and chest as she waited for him to make a move.

She was about to close her eyes when a roar broke the still air.

“Damn it,” she growled.

When she looked at Valentine, he was getting to his feet, his face back in human form. She sank back onto her heels, muttering a string of obscenities under her breath and then trying to find a bright side to it all. She supposed that if he had kissed her, she would have spent eternity wondering if it had just been because of the pain of losing his sire.

She took hold of his hand and smiled when he pulled her up onto her feet.

Two broad-built vampires were approaching them from one side while another three came from behind. They were moving slowly. She cursed the sky as fat raindrops began to fall, saturating the pavement in the blink of an eye. The thunder rumbled overhead, the lightning illuminating the wet square. Her senses to sharpened in order to compensate for the effect the rain had on them.

She took a deep breath and shifted into vampire guise. She flexed her fingers, waiting for the vampires to make a move to reveal which family they were from.

Valentine growled as they approached. The hairs on the back of her neck rose and the marks on her skin prickled. She gave a thought to the amulet in her pocket and her hand hovered over it. The temptation to use it was great, but she couldn’t risk the distraction that putting it on would cause. She had to focus.

Putting one foot out in front of her, she kept her eyes fixed on the two vampires. Valentine turned to face the others. They were carrying weapons, long blunt pieces of wood. Something told her they weren’t here to kill them.

She looked at Valentine.

They were here to bring them home, but she couldn’t be sure which family they would be taken to.

Valentine breathed heavily and tried to keep his focus on the three vampires that were skulking towards him. They didn’t smell like Aurorea. They didn’t act like his family either. His family’s guards would never been seen without their uniforms, no matter what their orders were. These vampires were from Caelestis.

The lengths of wood they carried told him they wanted them unconscious. Lightning flashed in the distance and he noticed that two of them had manacles hanging from their belts.

His eyes switched to blue, his teeth sharpening and his claws growing. If they wanted to take them, they were going to have to fight. If they fought, instinct would force them to reveal their demonic face and he would have confirmation of their bloodline.

The one in the centre of the three changed. He caught a glimpse of green when the vampire charged towards him and threw a punch that he easily dodged. He caught the vampire in the stomach with his fist and then quickly switched his attention to the other two. They were both running at him now, the wooden clubs they carried held high in the air.

He heard Prophecy cry out his name when they reached him. Bringing his arm up above his head, he knelt and blocked the first vampire’s attack. He swiftly moved his hand, arcing it around and catching hold of the vampire’s arm before he had time to get another attack in. He pushed the vampire’s elbow up and punched it from below, forcing the joint up in a way that would have broken a human arm. The vampire growled in pain and cracked the bone back into place.

Valentine rolled out of the way when the other two vampires lunged at him, one of them swinging the club dangerously close to his head and the other attempting a punch. He growled when he caught a foot in his stomach. Getting to his feet, he frowned at the vampire responsible, and attacked. He moved fast, punching him across the jaw with his right and then in the stomach with his left. He caught sight of Prophecy as she gracefully turned and brought her leg around at head height of one of her vampires. It connected solidly, making the vampire fall to the ground as it attempted to regain its senses.

Pain shot through his shoulder as one of the vampires attacked him, catching him hard with the club and following it up by kicking him in the back of his leg. His knees gave way and he collapsed to the floor. Grasping his shoulder, he barely had time to avoid being knocked out as he moved backwards and the club flew past his face, close enough that he could feel the air shifting around it.

He grabbed it and yanked it away from the vampire. Using it to assist him to his feet, he tensed his jaw and then roared at the three vampires that were circling him. Prophecy was still fighting valiantly. Her moves were impressive. It was the first time he’d really seen her fight and he was glad to see that she could handle herself well. She kicked the vampire that tried to grab her and managed to catch the other one at the same time, knocking them both to the ground. She didn’t give them a chance to get up, she attacked immediately, springing on them and punching them while they struggled to stand. She was fast, accurate too.

Spinning the club in a lazy arc at his side, he smirked at the vampires surrounding him.

The rain continued to pour down from the heavens, drenching them.

He wiped the water from his eyes and waited, knowing that they would attack if he kept still.

They did.

He smacked the club against the one that the first vampire swung at him, knocking it away. The other two attacked and he was ready for them. He brought the club down hard on one of the vampires shoulder, repaying him for his earlier attack, and caught the other with a swift elbow in the face. He growled with effort as they swarmed on him, kicking and punching as fast as they could.