Vampires Realm Prophecy 01 - Child of Light

you did.” She smiled and he withdrew his hand. “In fact I know you did. My back is killing me.”
    He grinned at her, almost letting slip a laugh when she pulled a face of discomfort and pressed her hands into the small of her back.
    “I believe that makes us even,” he said.
    She frowned at him as though trying to figure out why they were now even and then her eyes widened and he realised that she’d remembered throwing him against the wall in the warehouse.
    “I guess we are.” She gave him a brief smile and then her expression became one of intent as she looked back up the street they’d just walked down. “I think we should keep moving. Arkalus will be trying to find me.”
    He nodded and began walking again. She was right. Arkalus had wanted to claim her and even though he was probably bonded to her friend now, it wouldn’t stop him from trying to find her. If Kalinor discovered that they were in the city again, he would stop at nothing to capture and kill them. If he discovered that Arkalus had betrayed him, he would raise an army and declare war on Caelestis, regardless of the consequences to the human population of Prague.
    He kept glancing at Prophecy as they walked along the river to the Charles Bridge. She looked fascinated again, her eyes constantly scanning her surroundings. He’d forgotten that she’d never seen her city first hand before. A quick look around them told him that no one was following them so he slowed the pace the slightest amount, giving her more time to take in the buildings and scenery. He had to give her something good to remember. There were bad times ahead of them. His instincts told him that from here on in, it was going to get a lot more difficult and a lot more dangerous.
    St. Petersburg awaited them.
    Prophecy was going to face her biggest challenge so far.
    She just didn’t know it yet.

Chapter 24
    Prophecy squashed the turmoil and the sickening nerves that walking the streets of Prague were giving her. Valentine seemed so relaxed. She couldn’t understand his leisurely pace. She wanted to get away from the city as quickly as possible, but he was delaying them by going to his apartment first.
    She had been so relieved to see him alive and well that it had calmed her at first, but now they had entered the heart of the city and everything was setting her nerves alight.
    She frowned and kept her eyes fixed on the floor as they passed under the gate at one end of the bridge. It was tall, imposing, and old. Just like the rest of the buildings around her.
    Her eyes crept up, taking in the sight of the bridge spanning the river in front of her. There was something ominous about it. The ornate streetlamps that lined it did nothing to actually light it. It was cloaked in dark sepia tones. The yellow glow of the lamps seemed to draw out all colour, washing everything in its dull sickly light.
    She rubbed her arms, trying to keep the sudden chill off them. Looking up at Valentine, she wanted to ask him to forget going to his place for weapons. This whole area of the city had a feeling of foreboding about it. She brought her eyes back to the bridge. The wide causeway was lined intermittently with statues that seemed to loom out of the darkness, leering at her as she passed. It reeked of antiquity, of danger, just like the other streets they had walked down. The bridge was so old that it had long been closed to traffic, and because of the late hour, her and Valentine were the only ones walking along it. The emptiness of it only added to the anxious feeling it gave her.
    She looked up. It had rained shortly before she’d escaped and the clouds were still knit closely together, threatening her with another downpour at any given moment.
    She fixed her gaze straight in front of her and blocked out the words of danger her imagination was whispering. She could barely see the other end of the bridge. There was just darkness greeting her and the cathedral high up on the hill. It felt as though she was walking into nothingness, into certain death.
    Silence reigned, engulfing all noises around them until the whole city was still.
    It was too quiet.
    “When do we leave?” she said, wanting to break the silence and using conversation to calm her nerves.
    “There is a train to St. Petersburg in two hours,” Valentine replied without taking his eyes off the gate that was now becoming visible at the other end of the bridge.
    “Two hours,” she repeated. She was relieved to hear