Vampires Realm Prophecy 01 - Child of Light

at her hair and let it slip through his fingers. It was no wonder he hadn’t recognised her at first. It was black as midnight. Peeling her off him, he set her down.
    “What happened?” he said.
    She looked sheepish and ran her fingers through her hair. “You like?”
    He managed a restrained nod.
    He did like it. He’d thought she was pretty when she’d had red hair, but something about the darkness of her new colour drew his attention to her face and he found himself wondering if she’d always been this beautiful. Maybe she had been. Maybe he’d been blinded by the fact she was a Caelestis. Maybe he’d missed her as much as she’d missed him and it made her seem even more attractive.
    Or maybe during their time apart he’d finally let go of his reserve towards her.
    His gaze dropped to her mouth.
    Her lips were smiling at him. He’d thought about them so much. He’d thought about her so much. She’d been on his mind from the second he’d awoken in St. Mark’s Square to find her gone. He hadn’t been able to rest until he had discovered where she’d been taken and was on the train to Prague.
    He raised his eyes to meet hers and held her gaze. Slipping his hand into his pocket, he withdrew her amulet and held it up for her to see.
    “I believe you lost something,” he said, his smile broadening when her eyes filled with happiness.
    She held her hand out and he realised that she wanted him to put it on her. He carefully placed each ring on her fingers and then drew the bracelet around her wrist. He fastened it and ran his fingertips over the metal, letting them brush against her skin at the same time.
    She shuddered beneath his touch.
    He let his hand linger against hers, the tips of his fingers still resting on her wrist. Looking deep into her eyes, he could see the fire in their depths, could feel it in the way her hand was trembling in his.
    He dropped his eyes to her mouth again.
    He knew what she wanted, what he wanted.
    He wrapped his fingers around her wrist and drew her towards him.
    A shout broke the still air and his head shot up, his senses sharpening to assist his search for the perpetrator. Another shout was followed by another, but this one was by a different person. He frowned when Prophecy grabbed his hand and started pulling him towards the town.
    “We must leave,” she said. There was panic in her voice and her eyes.
    “What is happening?” He walked with her.
    She opened her mouth to say something and then closed it and carried on walking. He frowned. There was something that she wasn’t telling him and he wanted to know what it was. She had to have a reason for keeping it from him. When she finally spoke, he understood why she had been so reluctant.
    “Arkalus wanted to claim me.” Her voice quivered and betrayed her nerves. He frowned, a dark feeling of anger and jealousy rising up inside of him as he pictured Arkalus with her. “My maid, Serenity, has always wanted to be his. We’re of similar stature. She helped me. We dyed our hair, swapped clothing, and doused her in so much of my perfume that Arkalus wouldn’t have been able to sense it was her. She was to wait by the window for Arkalus to go to her. In the dim light, he wouldn’t have been able to tell it wasn’t me. She wouldn’t stop him from claiming her. He would think her silence the perfect opportunity to claim her. I mean, claim me. He would think it was me being silent and obedient for once.”
    She glanced back at the mansion and he got the feeling she was avoiding looking at him. He’d thought she’d want to gloat at how she’d managed to make him jealous, but she seemed to hate it as much as he did.
    “I think it worked. I hope it worked. If he claimed her then he can’t kill her. That’s right, isn’t it?”
    Valentine had to think for a moment. It had been a long time since he’d read anything about claiming and mating. A claim was a bond of love, something he’d never experienced, and it meant that you wanted to be with your mate until the end of your days.
    He nodded. “You cannot kill your mate, no matter what the feelings are between you really. You have declared your intention to remain with them for eternity. The ancient rite makes it impossible to raise a hand to murder the person you have claimed as your love.”
    She gave him a thankful smile and he saw that she was relieved to hear his words. They walked together towards the centre of the city, stopping by the river. He could