Vampires Realm Prophecy 01 - Child of Light

man’s expression became one of confusion and Valentine knew it was no use telling him again not to look. The man’s eyes were already moving to Prophecy and all Valentine could do was wait.
    Prophecy snarled at the clergyman, exposing her fangs by curling her top lip up.
    The man stumbled backwards, his face blanched and his hands trembling as he stared at her.
    “Wha... what... what is she?” The clergyman looked at him.
    “We’re angels with broken wings.” Valentine grinned, snapped the man’s neck and caught his body before it hit the ground.
    Grabbing the keys from the man’s belt, he carried him over to the small door and opened it. He placed the man down just inside and returned for Prophecy when he heard her whimpering outside. The sun was rising. He could feel it. He helped her up onto her feet and picked up the bag as he walked with her into the cold stone building, locking the door behind them.
    He dropped the bag, put his arm about her waist and led her deeper into the church. It was small and bare. The altar was home to a single gold cross. He got the feeling that it wasn’t visited very often. He didn’t mind churches and the crosses that adorned them barely bothered him. They were handy places to hide since most demons hated them and most hunters never thought to check them, presuming that vampires hated them too.
    Setting Prophecy down in a sheltered part of the building, he went back for the clergyman and the bag. She was muttering to herself again by the time he returned and her head snapped up when she smelled the man. Valentine let the man fall to the floor beside her and smiled when she pulled him to her and sank her teeth into his neck.
    Watching her feed, Valentine wondered how many more sins they would commit before the Law Keepers caught up with them. Revealing the existence of vampires to humans was always a favourite of theirs, but this time wouldn’t count since they had killed and fed off the human. The law was really created for vampires like Mathias, who clearly harboured feelings for his female housekeeper. Some of the most well known trials by the Law Keepers had been about human/vampire relations.
    He couldn’t see the attraction himself.
    He stared at Prophecy. She was gorging herself on the clergyman, drinking so deeply that she looked as though she’d been starving for blood. How did she do that? How did she make him watch her like this? How did she make him want to watch her as though she was the most enthralling thing on earth?
    Sitting down, he leaned back against one of the pillars, sighing to himself as he watched her.
    She’d literally drained the clergyman dry when she dropped the body. His eyes followed the motion of her hands as she wiped the blood from her face, licking and sucking her fingers clean as she relished the last of it. He could feel the sun rising but it didn’t bother him. They were safe here. They had gone far enough into the outskirts of Paris to not be tracked by the hunter. The area was quiet, the church was locked and the clergyman was dead.
    Valentine closed his eyes.
    He frowned when he felt Prophecy close by. He opened one eye and watched her curling up next to him. Holding an arm out to one side, he let her nestle close to him so she would feel safe.
    “You shall be fine by nightfall,” he assured her.
    “The witches... power... a key... my blood... the hunter in the square... why don’t I fight? I’m sorry... sorry for everything... you’ve sacrificed... ” She trailed off when her head came to rest heavily against his shoulder and he realised she’d fallen asleep.
    “It will be worth it. I am certain of that,” he said and let his hand rest around her upper arm, holding her to him.
    She winced.
    He frowned again.
    Peeling the jacket off her shoulder, he pulled her shirt to one side to reveal what should have been smooth white skin. It wasn’t. There on her shoulder was a black star, intricately patterned with symbols around it. It was red raw like a new tattoo. His fingers hovered over it and he was surprised when he could feel power in it. Moving his fingers downwards, he looked inside her shirt to find a similar mark over her heart. He let her shirt cover her again and stared at her. Something was going on here.
    Prophecy was going to have to do some explaining tomorrow.
    But for now, she could sleep.
    His eyes remained fixed on her face. He could remember his first encounter with a hunter and what it was like to be