Vampires Realm Prophecy 01 - Child of Light

could out run him on foot when he wasn’t in his werewolf guise, he’d been around werewolves too long. He bolted after him, easily passing him, and weaving through the close-knit trees. The deer wasn’t far away now, but it was running. He could hear its quickening heartbeat and could almost taste its panic. He grinned, narrowing his eyes and extending his claws. He didn’t care what he was hunting. It always made him feel the same. The pounding heartbeat, erratic breathing and sense of fear, it all combined to make an intoxicating feeling of hunger and desire burn in his veins. It was better than any drug.
    Running down a steep incline towards the valley, he caught sight of the doe running barely a few metres ahead of him. He redoubled his effort, growling when fallen branches hindered him. Dmitri was less than twenty metres behind. There was no way he was going to let him get this kill.
    He was closing on the deer now. The echo of its heartbeat in his ears was growing louder and the bloodlust was getting stronger. He sneered and changed into vampire guise, making the most of the impending kill.
    Leaping over a fallen tree, he caught the deer around the neck and in one swift movement, snapped it. It fell to the floor, limp and lifeless, its heartbeat stopping instantly. He dropped the satchel to the floor while letting his face shifted back into its human guise. Dmitri ground to a halt a few feet from him, panting and muttering something. He looked up at him and removed a canister from the bag, holding it out to him. Dmitri took it with a frown.
    “I always was faster than you,” Valentine said with a smile.
    “You cheat, and I am out of practice.”
    The note of moodiness in Dmitri’s voice made his smile widen. His friend had always been a sore loser.
    Extending his claws, Valentine slashed the deer’s throat open, bleeding it into the canister he was holding. When it was full, he waited for Dmitri to fill his. He licked his teeth at the scent of blood that was pervading the air, calling to him and making his stomach growl.
    “You will not eat?” Dmitri stood, screwing the lid onto the container.
    He shook his head. “It is only a small deer. Prophecy needs the blood more than I do. The magic tires her.”
    Dmitri smiled. “It is a sorry state, no? Men reduced to madness. We give them everything and leave ourselves with nothing when it is us who have killed the beast.”
    He nodded. “But it is better than being lonely.”
    Dmitri started walking with him back to the village. “Or hearing them complain.”
    Valentine couldn’t agree more. “Arguments are something I can live without, even if it means I go hungry.”
    “She will make you take some, cold or not. Your little woman cares about you. I cannot see why.”
    He shot Dmitri a black look but Dmitri laughed at him. Shaking his head, Valentine smiled and sighed. Dmitri was right. Prophecy would make him drink some of the blood whether he liked it or not. If he refused, he would only worry her and he didn’t need her worrying about him during the battle.
    * * * *
    Pushing the door open, Valentine nodded to Mia when he entered. Her eyebrow immediately rose on seeing the state of his clothes and his body, and she stood the second Dmitri entered. She sighed.
    “You could not take off your clothes before changing, my love?” she said with a frown.
    “I have brought you a present,” Dmitri said, deflecting her attention away from his ruined clothes to the canister he was holding. She smiled and took it. “It is only deer blood.”
    “It is better than nothing,” she said and sat down on the couch, beckoning him to join her.
    Valentine’s attention was drawn to the bed and Prophecy. She was curled up on top of the covers, still fully clothed, but without her boots. Her hair had fallen out of its ponytail and was flowing across the pillow. He glanced at the marks on her neck and then back at her face. She looked so peaceful.
    He quietly placed the canister down on the small side table and sat beside her. Reaching out, he carefully brushed the rogue strands of hair from her face. She shifted, curling up a little more and mumbling something. He wondered if a vision was plaguing her. She needed rest, not more dreams to wake her in a panic.
    “She worried herself to sleep,” Mia said in a gentle tone.
    Not responding to her, he kept his focus on Prophecy. She was still wearing her amulet. Her fingers were tightly curled around the stone, as