Vampires Realm Prophecy 01 - Child of Light

refused. She isn’t strong enough.”
    “Of course I refused, but I think she’s stronger than she looks. She threw me across a room in Prague. I underestimated her.” His hand moved to his stomach and he remembered what it had felt like to be flung against the wall like a rag doll. Everything about her seemed to be strong, including her blood.
    Mathias smiled broadly. “An easy mistake to make when they look so frail. Feed her. She’ll need to be strong if she’s to cope with everything that is happening. The Hunger will only make things worse.”
    He gave Mathias another smile of gratitude and then walked over to Prophecy. She looked up at him as he approached, her hand leaving her mouth and her eyes wide. He extended his hand to her and intimated the door with his other one. When she placed hers into his, he tensed his jaw and steeled himself against his desire to take his away. Her fingers were soft against his palm and it felt strange to have her hand in his.
    He closed his eyes and cursed himself when her hand slipped from his and she walked past him towards the door. He shouldn’t have helped her stand. He should have kept his distance and just told her where to go to get blood to feed her Hunger. Why did he feel the need to help her? Why did he want to comfort her and tell her that everything was going to be fine whenever he saw her struggling to come to terms with her new life?
    Glancing across at Mathias, he found his friend was watching them, or more specifically him, with a look of curiosity. He gave Mathias a warning look and walked past him. It was bad enough that he felt like this inside without someone picking him up on it.
    He found Prophecy waiting just the other side of the door in the hall. She looked lost. He realised that in more than one way she was. He’d turned her world upside down, had stolen her family from her, and the life she’d known. She had a lot to deal with and if she wanted to be close to him then he shouldn’t stop her. It didn’t mean anything. The things he felt were nothing. It was just remnants of her blood and a strange sense of duty to her caused by what he’d done. He felt nothing. She was a Caelestis. He was only helping her because he was responsible for her discovery. That was it. It was nothing that he felt for her. It was forbidden.
    He ignored the confused look on her face when he realised that he’d been silently staring at her while lost in his thoughts. Leading her down the hall, he held the door to the kitchen open for her. He flicked the light switch and she immediately took in her surroundings. To him, it just looked like any other kitchen—empty white cupboards, white refrigerator, and dirty work surfaces.
    Opening a cupboard, he shook his head when he found they weren’t empty any more. Mathias had clearly been maintaining a good façade for his human housekeeper. There were all kinds of vile food piled up on the shelves, stacked as poorly as the books in the other room.
    He opened the refrigerator and bypassed the various foodstuffs as he searched for the blood. He found it at the back in a steel canister. Taking it out, he unscrewed the lid and raised a brow. He’d never been one for cold blood, not unless it was absolutely necessary. He took a deep breath. Still, it was good blood.
    Taking down a glass, he filled it up and almost felt like teasing Prophecy with it when she immediately reached out to him for it. She sidled up close and licked her lips, her eyes pleading with him to let her have it. She looked like a child who was waiting for her first taste of blood—eager and desperate. He handed it to her. She stared at it for a few seconds and then began to drink. She was hungry. In under a second, she’d downed the glass and was looking to him for more.
    He checked the refrigerator to make sure there was more than just the canister he held and then refilled her glass.
    She took a sip and then stopped, looking at him with questioning eyes.
    “It’s human blood.”
    He nodded. “Were you expecting animal blood? Mathias drains the body of every last drop so he doesn’t have to go out to hunt as often. It draws less attention to him. It is a good way of working if you can stomach it being cold.”
    “Can’t you?” she said.
    He looked down at the canister. The thought of cold blood turned his stomach. “If I have to, but only when I am desperate.”
    “That’s a no then,” she said and finished off the blood. She placed the