James rolled his eyes. He would have been better off not saying anything at all. Women! He was trying to save her the terror of seeing what was chasing them.
The vampire in pursuit appeared to be human, apart from the fact that he was running ridiculously fast.
James didn’t recognize him or have any idea as to how the creature managed to learn the location of Ally.
That was something to figure out later. He manifested a fireball in his hand and threw it behind him at the vampire to slow him down. The creature dodged, but the fireball hit him on the shoulder, momentarily throwing him off balance. He righted himself in a second and was back in pursuit.
James looked forward to Ally. She was a mixture of fear and awe. He felt pride run through him that he impressed her. Oh good God, he thought, I’m acting like a school boy when we have a vampire hot on our heels!
He focused back on the task at hand. James threw another fireball behind him and this time, he managed to score a direct hit to the heart. It wouldn’t kill him, but it was enough to make him back right off and give them the chance to make it back to the manor. James didn’t know how many there were, or if they had already made it there and doubled back, finding them by mistake. Part of him didn’t want to know.
The thought of anyone at home being hurt made him physically ill. When these people came to him as servants and friends, he vowed that he would protect them and keep them safe from harm no matter what. They had to get back quickly to get Ally safe and make sure everyone else was alright.
Ally blocked everything out once she saw James hit the vampire in the heart. Things were serious, and they needed to get back to the house as quickly as possible. She was terrified, but she forced herself to look back a few times. This was a good chance to see what she would be up against. Meeting Vincent was one thing, seeing a vampire in action was something else entirely. She knew that Vincent was a hell of a lot more dangerous than this vampire chasing them, but she hadn’t seen Vincent displaying his full potential. He had only been toying with her. As she thought back over the night, she understood why James had snapped at her on the plane. He knew what she was up against and up until this moment it hadn’t been clear to her.
She accepted the betrayal by James and her grandmother. It made perfect sense now. Who would want to tell someone they loved that this was their future? She couldn’t stand there and say she would have done it differently because she knew that she wouldn’t have. She would protect those she loved with her dying breath and looking at the vampire once more she realized that it might be just that, her dying breath.
It was time to stop playing around and working things out in her head. She needed to work with James and learn how to fight them; it was more important than their relationship right now. She knew he would agree with her. They both understood the importance of her role.
Ally hated that she was seeing this, but no-one could have asked for a better introduction in dealing with a vampire. It was a lesson that she had needed to learn.
She felt focused and determined. Her path in life was right in front of her, and she was jumping on it. These vile creatures needed to be removed from this earth. Humans wouldn’t stand a chance against them without the immortals guarding them.
She felt anger towards the immortals that had fled. She knew that wasn’t fair, but she couldn’t help it. They had a role to fill as well and damn it all, if she was going to hold up her end of the bargain, then they bloody would too! Ally decided she would contact each one personally if she had to. Surely being the prophecy girl had some kind of pull with these people.
They had been pushing the horses hard and fast for half an hour and finally Ally could see the fences surrounding Carlisle Manor coming into view. They were almost home, almost safe. She glanced back again to see James was almost beside her. The vampire had disappeared behind them.
“Come on,” he yelled. “We have to jump. I won’t stop to open the gate. Can you do it?”
“I can,” she replied firmly.
“Let Destiny do all the work, just hang on,” he advised.
“I know what I’m doing, James,” she snapped and urged Destiny to go faster. The gate was almost upon them. She let Destiny have her head again. The horse knew what to do. Ally trusted her implicitly.
James watched in terror as Destiny and Ally approached the gate. He felt the relief rage throughout his body that they had cleared the jump easily. James had backed off a bit to give her room, now he urged his own horse faster and let him jump the gate.
He called to Ally to keep going. “Don’t stop until you see Logan or the stables!”
She nodded back to him.
Logan came running around the corner of the house. His relief was visible upon seeing Ally and James. He heard two horses thundering towards the house and people yelling. Logan didn’t know what to make of it, but he had a feeling it wasn’t going to be good.
Ally stopped when she reached and jumped off Destiny. She handed over the reins and waited for James to catch her up to her and do the same.
“Is everyone alright?” James asked breathlessly, once he’d dismounted.
“Aye, what’s happened?” Logan asked his eyes wide with concern.
James sighed with relief. “We had an uninvited guest on our ride.”
“A vampire?” Logan asked shocked.
“Aye, a vampire.”
Logan scratched his head in thought. “How would they know where you live, let alone where you were?”
“I don’t know but I intend to find out,” he said not even trying to hide the fact that he was visibly shaken and very concerned for everyone’s well-being.
“Hold on,” Ally said, as something rather obvious occurred to her. “It’s daylight.”
James and Logan both looked at her and said, “Aye.”
Ally rolled her eyes, “Aye” she mocked. “What the hell is a vampire doing running around in the daylight, or is that a myth?”
James looked at her in awe. He had been so consumed by the fact that a vampire was chasing them, he hadn’t even noticed that crucial point.
“No little one, that’s not a myth. They shouldn’t be running around in daylight as you put it.”
“So why were they?” she asked.
“Remember your dream, they descended upon the village in a fog, today it was a thunder cloud. What had they done to become our equals?”
She thought back over the dream. It dawned on her. “The Immortal blood.”
“Aye, back then they only would have known about a few things that it would grant them. That was fifty years ago…”
She finished the thought for him. “So you think now that they have had fifty years to experiment and perfect things they have discovered they can get about in daylight?”
He looked at her full of pride. “That is exactly what I’m thinking.”
“Hmmm, that’s not a good thing,” Logan said with obvious worry.
“Logan, my boy, don’t worry. I will take care of it,” James said with confidence and slapped him tenderly on the back.
“Aye, James,” he said as led the horses to the stables to tend them.
Ally and James started for the house. She took his hand and held it in hers. “Let’s go find Gran and tell her what’s happened. She might have some ideas that will help us.”
He stopped and looked at her. “Are you alright? You seem very calm, and although I’m impressed with how you handled things out there and just now. It worries me.”
She smiled and said, “I came to a few conclusions on the ride back home.”
“You will have to tell me later.”
“I will.” They turned and walked up the stairs to the terrace and inside to the kitchen.
Sophie walked into the room, just as they were arriving. “Back already?”
“We had an unwelcome guest,” Ally said.
Sophie looked to James, who confirmed it by nodding his head.
“What? They don’t even know where this house is?
And how could they know where you were?” she asked, confused and very concerned.
“Logan asked me the same questions, and I don’t know the answers.”
“Well this is very troubling indeed.” She sat down and put her hand to her cheek. “What are we going to do?”
James considered telling Sophie he had no idea, and that they were probably all doomed but he had to at least try to inspire some hope. “I don’t know yet. We need to speak with Adele. The three of us will work something out.”
Ally reached out and took his hand again to comfort him. He looked down at their hands joined together and looked into her eyes. He hoped the gratitude was conveyed in them. James didn’t want to worry Sophie, but this was serious and Ally seemed to understand that, without being told.
“Everyone here is ok?” he asked appearing to be bright and easy.
Ally knew it was only a mask that was being held in place by a thin thread.
“I think so,” Sophie said. “I saw Henry and Mackenzie not fifteen minutes ago.”
“Good, then everyone is fine.” James felt another surge of relief. No-one was hurt. Perhaps they didn’t know where he lived after all.
Sophie was fidgeting so Ally thought it might be a good idea to give her a small task to keep her busy. “Would it be too much trouble to ask you for some coffee?’
Sophie smiled, “Not at all my dear.” She got up and started fussing about in the kitchen making a pot of coffee.
James smiled at Ally. “Thank you,” he whispered.
“Now we just need to find Gran,” Ally whispered back.
As if summoned Adele popped her head in the kitchen with a big bright smile and said, “Did I hear my name mentioned?”
She saw James and Ally holding hands and almost leapt with joy until she looked at their faces. Instantly, she knew something was very wrong. “What’s happened?”
“A vampire,” Ally said.
“In broad daylight?” Adele asked shocked.
“So it would seem,” James replied.
“You’re both alright?”
“Fine, but we thought it best to tell you what happened,” Ally replied.
Adele noticed how calm Ally was and looked to James for more information. He just shrugged his shoulders and looked down at Ally lovingly.
Sophie brought over a pot of coffee and four cups. Ally served everyone a cup while James relayed what had happened, in great detail, all except for the part where they had almost slept together.
Adele couldn’t seem to make heads or tails out of it either.
“This is a big problem,” she said absently.
“But what is the solution, that’s the bigger problem,” James said with a growing frustration. He felt helpless and it was not something he liked. Ally, Adele, Sophie, Henry and their family were all in danger. At least, Adele was an Immortal and Ally was half Immortal, but the rest of them were only human. If they were attacked when he wasn’t there, they wouldn’t stand a chance and depending on how many creatures attacked, they may not stand a chance even with him present. He wiped his hand over his face in an effort to remove some of the frustration. James felt like he was always running at a disadvantage these days, be it with the vampires or Ally. They needed to find a solution and fast.
Ally spoke up and grabbed their attention. “I think it’s time I learnt to hold my own against these guys.”
Adele smiled in approval of Ally’s idea, “I agree.”
They both turned to James. His expression made it perfectly obvious that he was reluctant to agree with the plan. “You’re only half immortal Ally. I don’t want you anywhere near the vampires yet.”
She looked at him deadly serious. “I don’t want to be anywhere near them either, and I don’t intend on seeking them out, but the reality is that one managed to find us today. I need to know what I am capable of as a half immortal and what I can do to defend myself should the need arise.”
He looked at both women sitting in front of him and knew he was going to lose this argument.
He agreed that Ally should be prepared, but he didn’t know what she was capable of at this point, and he didn’t want to tempt the fates by teaching her yet.
In the end, logic won the day. He had to teach her; she was the prophecy girl after all. They were only delaying the inevitable by keeping her in the dark.
He nodded in agreement. “I will teach you, but promise me that you won’t take on too much in a battle until you have become a full Immortal.”
“I promise.”
“Why do I have a bad feeling about this?” he muttered to himself.
Ally and Adele chuckled quietly at him.
“When do we start?” Ally asked.
“We might as well start this afternoon, but I need to make a few inquiries beforehand about the information that has come to light. Perhaps another immortal has come across this before.”
“I’ll do the same,” Adele said.
James was grateful for the help. “Thank you.”
“Have you heard from Kat?” Adele asked Ally.
“No I haven’t actually.”
Adele appeared surprised. Fear slivered through Ally’s body. She had a feeling that something was wrong. Horribly wrong.
Ally pondered what Chase had told her for a moment. Chase said at the ball that he and Kat had lots to discuss. “Chase is an Immortal right?”
“Aye, he doesn’t act like one though,” James answered with a voice that was full of annoyance.
“Don’t you like Chase?” Ally inquired.
“He needs to grow up,” he replied.
Adele rolled her eyes at him. “Chase is a fine young man. The problem is you still see that young boy who pulled a prank on you.”
James’ face became indignant. “I do not.”
Ally laughed at his expression.
“I told you he was a bit serious,” Adele teased.
“Obviously,” Ally said joining in the fun, glad to have a moment to feel normal again.
James glared at them both and then something important dawned on him; Chase knew the location of the house and also that they had taken Ally there…
“I will kill him,” he growled as he jumped to conclusions.
Ally and Adele looked at him confused.
“Kill him over a prank? That seems a bit extreme don’t you think?” Ally said.
“No, little one, I believe he may have given away our location.”
It was Adele’s turn to be indignant now. “He would never.”
“Are you sure? If they threatened him with something important enough he might give away our location,” James said.
Soul mates could be used as pawns in this game of life and death with the vampires. Chase thought he had found his in Kathryn. He had no clue as to what the circumstances may have been, but he was fairly certain that something had happened.
“I don’t believe it,” Adele said, but as she began to look at things from James’ point of view she started to wonder. “I’ll call him.”
With that, she pushed up from the table and went in search of her phone to make the call.
Ally looked at James. “Maybe I should call Kat?”
He put his arm around her. “Just wait, Adele will find out what is going on…”
“What aren’t you telling me?”
His face became pained; she could see the internal struggle he was facing.
This can’t be good, she thought.
“The thing is, vampires will use anything and everything at their disposal to get what they want, and sometimes they manage to take something from an immortal that is irreplaceable and the most important thing in their lives.” He looked at her, and the sadness weighed heavily on his heart. How do you tell someone that their best friend might be dead?
She followed his train of thought. “That would be their soul mate right?” She felt rather proud of herself until a moment later she became aware who that was, “Oh God, Kathryn!”
He
held her close. “I'm sorry my love."
She felt her heart rate increase; the room felt hot and stuffy. She couldn’t breathe couldn’t think. Blackness was threatening to consume her.
James could sense her inner turmoil and wanted to help her so desperately. He tried to think of something, anything that would make her feel better and calm down. Something dawned on him, there was one emotion he knew she felt that was stronger.
He pulled her face up to meet his, looked deep into her eyes and whispered in a voice that was pure compulsion. “Relax little one.”
Her eyes were pools of sadness and hurt. He couldn’t stand seeing this any longer. It broke his heart. James pulled her against him and kissed her. She responded instantly to him.
All thoughts of hopelessness and despair were gone, even if it only lasted a moment, she was grateful. Ally was terrified for her best friend and Chase. What happened to them? Were they ok?
So many questions…too many questions…
James pulled back slowly, and she felt bereft. She wanted to feel the sensation again that only James could give her, but she also needed to keep control of herself. Adele would be back soon with news, good news hopefully.
“Whatever happens, we’ll get through this,” he said to his love, with a false confidence.
Adele walked back into the room. She was visibly shaken up, and as she sat down at the table, a tear rolled down her cheek.
Ally couldn’t speak, couldn’t breathe.
Adele looked to both of them to deliver the news. “It was Chase.”
“I will kill him!” James thundered.
“I don’t think you will have to,” she said with sadness.
“What about Kat?” Ally asked with hesitation.
Adele looked at Ally for a moment before replying, “The vampires have her. He doesn’t know if she is dead or alive.”
Ally gasped, and James pulled her close in an attempt to comfort her.
“What happened?” he asked.
“They were ambushed when they got off the plane. It seems that someone knew of their plans and arranged it.”
“Natalia,” he hissed the word.
Ally looked up at him. “Who is Natalia?”
James looked ashamed and Adele looked stressed.
“She is Chase’s half-sister. Many years ago, Vincent became fixated with her, obsessed even, and we failed to save her. He stole her away from us, and he made her one of them.”
Ally stared at him dumbfounded; there was a fate worse than death.
“An Immortal can become a vampire?” she asked with hesitation.
“Anyone be it human or immortal can become a vampire,” he said with sadness. “She is the reason they learned what immortal blood could do.”
“And now this vampire has my best friend?”
“Aye,” he sighed with defeat.
Ally felt a surge of hope flow through her. She wouldn’t be defeated. Her best friend needed her. “We need a rescue plan.”
James looked at her incredulously, “What do you mean a rescue plan?”
“Well, if you think I’m going to sit around while these creatures have my best friend you’re dead wrong.”
Adele smiled sadly at her granddaughter. She admired her spirit, but this was going to be too dangerous.
“We don’t even know where they are, or if she is alive and what about your promise that you wouldn’t go looking for the vampires,” James said, trying to reason with her.
“That was before,” Ally stated defiantly.
“I forbid it!” James said with finality.
Ally glared at him. “You forbid it? You’re not my lord and master James.”
“I bloody well am!” James said indignantly.
“No you’re not! My best friend needs me. This is my life, and it’s my choice. If you think you can stop me, then you are going to be disappointed.”
James looked like she had slapped him in the face, she didn’t want to hurt him, but she wouldn’t let him stop her. “Now you either help me, or you continue being stubborn and I will most certainly perish.”
He looked at Ally with defeat in his eyes. “What choice do I have?”
Ally turned to her grandmother. “Where is Chase and what does he have planned?”
“He’ll be here within the hour. He was on his way when I called him. As for what he has planned, I don’t know exactly, but he won’t be in any condition to plan rationally.”
Ally felt her skills as a private investigator kicking into action. They needed a plan. More importantly they needed to do some ground-work to help them formulate a viable plan of attack. That was one thing that she’d learned very early in her career. To find a mark successfully you needed to do some research, find out their habits and haunts. What moves they made and why. Ally decided that these were all skills which would come in very handy for finding the vampires and saving Kathryn.
“How do we track them? Do we know where their lair or whatever you call it is?” she asked. “If we are to find them, then we need to know their habits.”
“ vampires rarely stay in one place for long. Once the source of blood has dried up or too many vampires are around, they move on,” James answered.
“Do they move around in a pack normally or stay solitary?” Ally was in detective mode now.
Adele answered, “It depends, but being a group has benefits for the vampires. If they have a strong leader running things, they don’t have to worry about taking care of themselves. Life is easier. However, having said that, there are a lot of nomad vampires too.”
Ally nodded taking the information in. “When Chase gets here then I can get more specific information about what happened. Hopefully, he will give me what I need.” Ally started to lose herself in thoughts about potential scenarios the vampire would be found in. Everything that popped into her mind was something that she had seen or read in vampire books. None of it was probably true but there was that old saying where there is smoke, there is fire.
Maybe, just maybe, something that was floating around in her mind would be right.
James stood up and walked over to the terrace doors. He needed some air, so he slipped outside. The girls would continue planning whether he was there or not, and Adele knew as much as he did.
Things were getting out of hand fast; he felt like everything was going against them. His greatest fear was that he would lose Ally and with her going off to save her friend, she was running into certain death.
Ally watched James walk out the door, and her chest tightened. She turned to Adele, who put a comforting hand upon her shoulder. “He is just terrified of losing you, sweetheart.”
Ally sighed. “I know and I don’t want to hurt him, but if there is even a slim chance of rescuing her, then must take the risk! She would do the same for me.”
Adele smiled sadly at her. “He will come to see that, just give him a bit of time.”
“A few hours ago it was James giving me time.” Ally did not miss the irony of the situation before her. James was normally the pushy one, now it was her.
“The world around us can change in the blink of an eye, and we have to adapt or perish,” Adele said.
Ally looked at her grandmother and then found her eyes pulled towards James. He was leaning against the terrace railing. She couldn’t see his face, but she knew he felt helpless.
Adele spoke again and caught her attention. “There is something else you must know.”
Ally waited for more bad news.
“Kat has gone through the conversion. She is now an Immortal.”
“What? I don’t understand. How is that possible?”
“Chase believes that she is his soul mate, so he made her one of us.”
Ally thought her head might explode. She didn’t see that one coming. She wondered what the process of conversion was again.
“Is this a good thing or a bad thing for the present situation now that she is an Immortal?” Ally asked, trying to understand what th
is all meant in regards to Kathryn being held captive.
“To be honest, it could go either way. She might have the skills to escape, but she may not know they are available to her or how to use them. It depends on what Chase told her. On the other hand, they may use her now that she has immortal blood running through her veins.”
Ally nodded taking it all in. Something occurred to her. “Now that she is an immortal, can’t we communicate with her?”
Adele smiled proudly at Alessandra, “If she was conscious, perhaps we could but the connection will be strongest with Chase, and he can’t get any response from her.”
She thought a moment. “I haven’t experienced that yet with James. Is there something wrong with me?”
“No sweetie, you just don’t know how. Look over in his direction and clear your mind of anything but him.”
Ally shrugged her shoulders and did as she was told. At first, there was nothing, then she heard it. James’ voice was clear as day in her mind. She listened intently to what he was thinking.
“How am I supposed to protect her? It wasn’t supposed to be like this. We were meant to have time to get to know each other, fall in love not be invaded by vampires or Chase screwing things up because he couldn’t protect Kathryn. What the hell did he think he was doing by bringing her here anyway?"
Ally sat quietly listening and getting an insight into James that she needed. “This might come in handy,” she said to Adele with a smile.
“It worked then?”
“It did. He is sad, angry, and scared.”
“I could’ve told you that without reading his mind.” Adele said with a slight smile.
Ally glanced at James once more. “So what are we going to do about Kat? You agree with me, don’t you?”
“I don’t like the idea of you being anywhere near the vampires at this point in time or ever preferably, but I agree we need to get Kathryn back if she is alive.”
Ally didn’t want to even think about what might happen if Kathryn had become a vampire, but she needed to know. “What happens if she has been turned?”
“Into a vampire?” Adele hesitated for a moment to give Ally a chance to back out; the answer wasn’t going to be what she wanted to hear. Ally motioned for her to continue.
Adele’s voice trembled as she spoke the awful truth. “Then she must die.”
Ally gasped. “No, there has to be another way!”
Adele shook her head sadly. “If you ever have the unfortunate luck to meet Natalia, you will understand why. She was an immortal too, but all trace of humanity is gone. She is insane and evil, not a good combination.”
“But surely every person is different?”
“That’s just it Ally. A vampire is no longer a person; they become pure evil.”
Ally sat in shocked silence for a moment. Either her friend was already dead, had become a vampire and would have to be killed anyway, or she was alone and terrified god knows where with one of those options about to become a reality. She didn’t like it one bit, and it strengthened her resolve to rescue her friend, one way or another.
Adele motioned to James. “He needs you Ally. We can work out a plan when Chase arrives.”
Ally nodded and got up from the table and slipped outside the door to the terrace.
She came up beside him and leaned over the railing. Ally said nothing waiting for him to talk if he wanted to. She had come out here to stand beside him when he needed her. Ally hoped that he understood that she would do that always, no matter what. Their relationship was still up in the air, but she would be there for him regardless.
He stared out at the vast wilderness before him. “I want to protect you, Ally. But I feel like I’m losing control of the situation.”
She looked up at him with love in her eyes; it touched him to the very depths of his soul and warmed his heart. “You have a grasp of how I felt then,” she said with sadness. Ally wouldn’t have inflicted the feeling upon her worst enemy, let alone this man who she was beginning to adore.
“I now understand why you reacted the way you did.” His face softened, and she felt the love pouring out of him. “I’m sorry Ally.”
She felt her heart expand at his heartfelt words.
“Thank you, but I’m not angry at you anymore. All I want now is to annihilate those evil creatures,” she said with a conviction that surprised James.
He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead.
She smiled up at him.
“Me too, my little spitfire.”
“I’m going back inside, do you want to stay and clear your head a bit longer?”
“I will stay,” he said, grateful that she understood.
She started to go inside then turned back. “Don’t be too hard on Chase, we both know you would have done the same thing.” He held her eye contact for a moment before she slipped back inside.
He didn’t want to admit it, but he knew she was right. The sun was beginning to fall behind the horizon, as he watched and waited for answers that he knew would never come. He reflected upon how much life had changed in the last week. It was quite an eye-opener to feel what Ally had felt like, and he only admired her more for the way she handled herself.
Her conviction surprised and impressed him. She really was the prophecy girl. He knew that already of course, but with each passing day she was becoming more and more settled in her place. He was slowly gaining the confidence that maybe they weren’t doomed.
James had thought that he loved her five years ago and the truth was he did, but it was nothing compared to what he felt for her now. Soul mates were destined to love but sometimes the all-encompassing passion got in the way of what it was really about. Passion was an incredible emotion that he had never experienced fully until she walked into the kitchen that morning, but there was so much more to it than that. He respected her, cherished her and valued her as Alessandra, not just as his soul mate or the prophecy girl, chosen by the powers that be. She was courageous and held herself in a way that was almost regal.
James was so grateful to have found her.
Chapter Nineteen