Vampires Realm Prophecy 01 - Child of Light

she looked at it for a moment before slipping hers into it. It felt comforting as his fingers wrapped around hers and he gripped her tightly, helping her stand. When he released her, she stared at her hand again. When Valentine had been hurt by the werewolf below the Eiffel Tower, she’d feared for his life and the strength had come. It couldn’t just be a coincidence. It came whenever she wanted to protect him the most. It hadn’t come when they were fighting the vampire hunter or when the hunter had attacked her. It had only come when she’d been petrified of losing him.
    “We should move,” Valentine said, picking a piece of werewolf flesh off his jacket. He frowned at it and then slung it to one side. “You might want to work on using something less volatile next time.”
    She smiled at his mock annoyed tone. He was still impressed by the power she now commanded. She could see it in his eyes.
    A clock struck out the hour in the distance and she tiptoed to pick a piece of werewolf out of his hair.
    “You might want to get cleaned up.” She continued to smile.
    He ran his hands over his hair, frowning as he found it was saturated with blood and small chunks of flesh. He gave her an unimpressed look and then started walking in the direction they’d been heading in before the hunter had shown up. She followed him, wondering how he was going to get cleaned up before they went to the station. As they rounded a corner, she saw a fountain and then looked at him. He was smiling.
    “You’re not... ” She started.
    He peeled his jacket off and handed it to her. “I am.”
    She raised her brows as he dunked his head into the clear pool. Threads of red crept through the water, turning it a pale pink.
    Holding his jacket up, she wrinkled her nose up at it and began to remove all the little bits of werewolf. She shook it at the same time as Valentine shook his head, flicking water all over her. She frowned and he smiled at her.
    Handing him his jacket, she kept her face blank when he took it from her, the smile not moving from his face. She wanted to tell him it was incredibly childish to take such obvious pleasure from splashing her, but couldn’t find the words when he continued to smile at her, his whole face lighting up with it. She’d never seen him smile properly before. They’d always looked restrained or forced, but now he was really smiling at her and she was glad that she couldn’t blush.
    She drew her eyes away from him as he put his jacket on and was thankful that he had stopped smiling when she looked up at him again.
    “Where now?” she said to fill the silence.
    He picked up the bag and started walking. She hurried to catch up with him and fell into step beside him, smiling when he looked at her and spoke.
    “Venice.”

Chapter 17
    The ceiling above her bed was cracked and dirty. She’d never been in a room as small as the one she was currently occupying. The sun was setting outside. The call of the night had awoken her and she was giving herself a moment to wake slowly for the first time in a week. It was nice, relaxing, and something she was missing dearly.
    They had arrived in darkness at the main station in Venice. The vaporetti had all finished for the night, so Valentine had made her walk all the way along the Grand Canal to their hotel. They’d found it down a tiny side street. All of them seemed to be narrow around here. It must have been a haven for her kind considering that sunlight would barely penetrate most of the city. They could probably move safely around it during the day if they needed to.
    She hadn’t seen much of the city as none of the landmark buildings had been lit because of the late hour. The ornate streetlights did nothing to illuminate the murky streets but they did give Venice a feeling of antiquity. She could see the attraction for humans and demons alike. All of the pictures she’d seen of it had been beautiful, making it look like something out of a dream rather than reality.
    Sitting up, she clawed her hair back out of her face and sighed. She was getting tired of it being in her eyes all of the time. She scanned the room, searching for something she could use to tie it back. Rummaging through the empty drawers in the dresser, she smiled when she found a length of string sitting discarded in the bottom of one. It would have to do until she could find something more suitable.
    She pulled her hair back again and wrapped the string tightly around it before