The Fire Within (The Fire of The Soul Series)

by Racquel Kechagias

  "Yes, I'll let them know Victor. I'll see you later then," He says as he straightens up. I nod my head in agreement. I will see him later tonight and I will be there to introduce him to Anna.

  Captain Kayden leaves the room with a smirk on his face, we have been the best of friends since we were children and as I grew up and took my place as king, he grew up and became the leader of my army and the head of my Special force intelligence, the Acer Tempesta.

  There is a lot that I have to be prepared for but how was I meant to be prepared for a woman like Anna, scratch that how was I meant to be prepared for Anna? That girl is more than I could have ever expected. I rub my face with the palm of my hand, how am I going to win her over again? It had been difficult enough the first time but to do it a second time when she isn't sure if the feelings she has for me is due to her heart or that part of her soul which is eternally mine? I have to try at least; I cannot just let her get away when I've waited all my life for her.

  Christian. If it wasn't for that bastard Skin-walker I would have had more time to win her over. If he hadn't interfered I wouldn't have had to steal her away to my kingdom before I even had time to win her heart. That Skin-walker has always been a problem for me, ever since he took the throne. The Skin-walkers are a brutal, vicious and primitive race and he was probably the worst of them all.

  I sigh again; it isn't easy being king, especially when you have the threat of war on your hands but war is necessary when dealing with primitive people like the Skin-walkers. Shape-shifters aren't a problem like their cousin Skin-walkers. They are more civilized and it is only because of them that I haven't declared war on the skin-walkers.

  I leave my war room, leaving the problem of the Skin-walkers in there for now. At the moment I have a celebratory feast to organize. I will find my head of house servant and leave the preparations with him and then I will go and prepare for tonight's feast and prepare what I am to say to Anna tonight. I can only wish that Anna will be in a forgiving mood tonight, not that what I did should be treated lightly but because I'm already missing her and it had only been a few hours.

  Chapter 7 – the King’s Feast

  Anna's P.O.V

  The darkness is all consuming. It swarms around me, light as air and yet so heavy that it is impossible for me to breathe. It comes off of him in waves, waves as high as mountains, waves that crashes down around me. His blood thirsty eyes demand my attention; the intensity of his gaze pierces me to my soul. His desire is evident in his eyes, and it sends a shiver throughout my core. He is unfamiliar and yet I feel as if I know him well.

  "Who are you?" I ask, my voice wavering slightly as we continue to stand within each other's presence. He is so far away one moment and in the blink of an eye, he is standing before me, the back of his fingers grazing gently over my left cheek in the mock of a loving caress.

  "You don't know?" He breathes, his dark onyx eyes bearing down into mine. Looking up into his eyes is a mistake. As soon as our eyes meet I feel as if I am drowning, the ability to breathe escaping me.

  "Victor?" I ask, the grim curl to his lips deny it; He is not my betrothed.

  "Guess again," He breathes, as he kisses my neck, his teeth brushing against my skin. Those two words and his actions are what give him away; it is also what takes the last of my breath, and my fleeting sanity away from me. As I succumb to him, the devil and the all empowering darkness that gathers around us in a thick, heavy fog his name crosses my mind; Christian.

  I quickly sit up in my bed and frantically look around me, as I will my heart to stop beating so fast, but the room is dark and it is impossible to see anything at all. I bury my head in my hands in the darkness, my heart still beating like a drum, the cold tears streaming down my cheeks as I cry. I will myself to understand that it is only a dream, and nothing more but I cannot shake how real it feels, as if that devil had been in this very room with me not too long ago.

  A resounding knock at the door makes me jump in fright. I quickly wipe the tears from my eyes, before I say "Come in," my voice wavers slightly. The door opens slowly and when I see that it is Victor, my breathing relaxes, as does my heart rate. With Victor around Christian isn't a threat. With Victor I am as safe as I can be with a vampire.

  "Anna, are you quite alright?" Victor asks, as he comes into the room, turning the light on behind him. His soft crimson eyes see the tears on my cheeks, and I can see in his eyes the recognition of my tears and what they mean. "You were crying," He states as he stands stock still.

  "It was just a nightmare," I say nonchalantly, but flinch when I see the pain in his eyes. "About Christian," I want to add but I don't know what his reaction to me dreaming about him would be.

  "Why are you here Victor," I ask, hoping out of bed. I am still in the day dress that I had been wearing before I had fallen asleep. I blush slightly at the mess that I must look like, but I am glad to see the soft smile back on Victor's face, even if it is at my own expense.

  "I came up to escort you to supper and to inform you that I'll be having a few guests over in honour of your arrival." Victor smiles softly as he offers his hand to me. I place my hand in his and allow him to draw me near. Victor kisses me softly on the lips before he murmurs "You look beautiful by the way."

  We make our way down the hallway and to the supper room in silence. It isn't until we get to a large set of doors that Victor comes to a halt before turning to me. "There will be many of my kind here tonight Anna; you must stay by my side. A lot of the people attending tonight do not have the same kind of control over their blood lust as I do Anna and if one of them should catch you alone, I fear that they will not be able to control themselves." His eyes plead me to understand, and I do. They are vampires, bloodsucking monsters.

  I reach up and place a kiss on his lips. "I'll stay by your side Victor," It looks as if he is going to say something, there is a simmering to his eyes, the questions burning within them but the door opens before he can say a thing, and we are welcome by the applause of a few hundred people.

  "This is what you call a small gathering?" I ask Victor as we stand before the crowd at the top of the staircase.

  "Only a handful," Victor grins before he takes my hand in his, and we walk over to our seats facing out towards the crowd. There are four other people at our table, all of them facing the crowd. The table is rectangular in shape and is covered by a white sheet with lace trimmings. There is a spread of food across the table, roasted and cold meats, vegetables, baked potatoes and salads. Two people at our table are sipping from the clear goblets. It would have been stupid to assume that the crimson liquid inside of the goblets was anything but blood. However, I am far from stupid and that assumption did not come to mind.

  Victor pulls out my chair and I placed myself within it, smiling slightly at the people sitting with us. Victor places himself beside me on my left, and on my right is a bulky tanned man, and I have a feeling that he is not a vampire.

  "Good Evening Gentlemen, Astoria," Victor addresses the three gentlemen and the Lady sitting at our table. "As I'm sure you have already assumed this is my dear Annabelle, my betrothed," Victor says smiling genuinely at the other people sitting at our table.

  "Anna, on your far right is Lord Baron he is an old friend of my parents. Beside you is Kayden, he is in charge of my Special Force Intelligence and one of my closest friends. Beside me is Lady Astoria and Lord Augustus, again they are old family friends and my Godparents," Victor says, introducing me to his family.

  "It is so very nice to meet you all," I say sweetly and for the first time in my life I actually mean it. Victor stands after everyone has sat down in their seats. He ushers me to stand up with him and so I oblige.

  "I thank you all for attending tonight. Each and every one of you are dear to my heart, and so I have asked you to come hear tonight, so that I may present my betrothed to our society. I want you all to treat Anna as one of us. We have not as yet decided on a wedding date, but I hope that you will all be apart of it," V
ictor says before sitting back down, and I quickly follow suit. It isn't long until everybody is eating and enjoying each other's company. The food is divine; it tantalizes my senses and melts within my mouth.

  It isn't too long until I have my fill. Victor is still talking to Lord Augustus and Lady Astoria. Kayden turns to me and smiling sweetly asks "May I have this dance Anna?" I had promised Victor to stay beside his side but having one dance with his closest friend could hardly hurt.

  "Of course you may Kayden," I reply standing up and allowing him to lead me out onto the dance floor.

  "Please call my Kay." He says grinning from ear to ear. He places one arm around my waist, and takes my hand in his as "Air on a G string" by Bach starts to play. The soft and gentle curve of the music floats through the air and urges us to dance. Kayden starts swirling us around in slow, smooth circles. Kayden's crooked smile is adorable and it reminds me of a happy puppy. The moment is beautiful and innocent, two people simply getting to know each other through song and dance until we are interrupted. Kayden stops spinning us in circles, and although I am glad for the rest it gives my spinning head, I am shocked to see the man in my nightmares before me, but it is so blatantly obvious that he is not Christian that it seems to paralyse me. It isn't until Kayden turns to me that I seem to be pulled out of my paralysis.

  "Anna, are you alright?" Kayden asks. His eyes hold concern for me, and I am touched that he feels something so strong after we have only just met.

  "I'm quite alright, Kayden. Do I know you sir?" I ask the gentleman that has interrupted our dance. The brunette man with onyx eyes seems to be slightly put off for a moment, but soon his carefree smile returns to his lips.

  "Unfortunately it seems that we have not met up until this moment. I am Shade, a humble vampire simply seeking your permission for a dance," Shade says, as Kayden steps away from me and Shade. Kayden gives Shade a manly slap on the back.

  "Don't be modest Shade. Anna, this here is one of the finest warriors I have ever had the privilege to work with. Shade is my second in command," Kayden gives me one last crooked smile before walking away, most likely to either find Victor, or to interact with the other people in the crowd.

  "Wow you smell amazing and it isn't the cheap perfume that a lot of vamp ladies wear. You smell human?" He says, and his onyx eyes seem to become even darker.

  "I suggest that you don't even think about it," I say to the man that I am dancing with.

  "Don't worry princess; I don't like drinking human blood. It reminds me too much of the mortality that I left behind," Shade says as we start dancing. Pachelbel's 'Canon' starts to play.

  "Victor gave me a purpose to live. I don't remember much of my human life but I remember how I died. It isn't pretty so I won't repeat it in front of a lady," He gives me a grim smile there, before he continues "Kayden found me just within the Vampire territory, he was out on parole and he found me and brought me to Victor, begging him to let me live. He must have known the injustice done towards me or saw that I could have been something greater than a savage beast, and Victor simply agreed me. Now, as Kayden said I'm his second in command, his right hand man," Shade seems to go distant for a few moments before his eyes find mine again and smiling softly he says,

  "Victor deserves all the happiness in the world. I doubt that you know very much about him Anna, nor the trials and tribulations he's been through. He's searched for centuries trying to find the perfect wife, and now he's found you, and I know that you're all he'll ever need or want. But if you're not sure that Victor is all you're ever going to need and want, then you need to find out quickly if he is or isn't, and if he isn't then you need to leave before he gets too attached," The song ends and Shade has time to make one last comment "Anna you don't need to give me an answer, but just think about what I've said." He steps away but before he walks away he bends down, picking up my hand in his, and kissing it lightly on the front as he says "It was an honour to met you."

  Before I even have the chance to turn around Victor is by my side again, beaming as if he's the happiest man alive.

  "Hey, I was waiting for you to finish with Shade," Victor says as he takes my hand in his and as "The Girl with the Flaxen Hair" by Debussy starts playing, he pulls me into a slow dance.

  "He was telling me of how great you are and the things that you've done for him," I say as I look up into Victor's crimson eyes. His lopsided smile return to his lips as his eyes softened to extents that I've never seen before.

  "I did it because Kayden asked me of it, and he is like a brother to me. Now Shade is like a brother to me as well. If it wasn't for Kayden, Shade would have died that night. I'm not proud to admit that fact but it's the truth," Victor says, there is a coldness in his voice that I cannot identify that terrifies me and makes me wonder if he would have saved me. I lay my head upon his shoulder as he draws me in closer. "You do know, don't you, that I will never hurt you or let you down," Victor whispers in my ear and I almost want to believe him, believe in the words that he is saying, but how can I when he all but admitted that a human life means nothing to him.

  "I know you'd never intentionally hurt me," I whisper back and allow him to carry me away in the slow dance, along with the graceful song. Oh, if I only I could believe him; If I could only believe myself.

  Darleen's P.O.V

  The room, if it can even be called that, is dark and shabby. I had only woken a few minutes ago along in the dark. All hell had broken loose when news had reached Rupert and I that Annabelle had fled with her suitor; Victor. However it wasn't just Rupert's anger that had flared when the news had reached us, but Mr Sitzman's anger as well.

  Those few hours had been the scariest of my life. Not only had I learned that Rupert had willingly taken on a part of that devil's soul, but that I had been a gift bestowed upon my husband by that red eyed devil. Rupert's anger had flared because he believed that he had been cheated, lied to, bamboozled.

  However, Rupert's anger wasn't what was scary. It was Mr Sitzman's cold, calculating demeanour that scared me to my wit's end. That, and the fact that every few moments something about his appearance changed, the flash of eye colour, the colour of his hair, the shape of his teeth, fingers, body. The jump and shiver of flesh as it changed colours, shape and texture. It was through these changes that I learned that not only one of Annabelle's suitors is a devil, but both of them are. It was in those few hours that not only did I fear for my own life, being stuck in between a rock and a hard place but it was the first time in my life that I actually feared for my daughter rather than being frightened of her, and the mysteries that surrounded her like a heavy fog.

  That had been days ago. Now in the present moment, I am stuck in this dark, shabby room. My hands are tied to the post of the bed, and a gag across my mouth. I can hear heavy footsteps clomping down the stairs that I remember lead down into this dark room.

  "Darleen?" I can hear Rupert calling for me. I try to scream his name but all that comes out is a muffled cry. I can hear pounding feet run the distance of the room, and there before me is Rupert, my husband, his eyes wet with tears.

  "Darleen, it's okay. I'm going to get you out of here. Don't worry," Rupert whispers gently, sweetly but something is off, not even in our most intimate moments has Rupert ever talked so lovingly towards me. I know something is terribly wrong. Then he stops, almost as if he can see that I know that something isn't right. Rupert sits down next to me on the bed, the backs of his finger caressing my cheek gently.

  "You know something is out of sorts don't you Darleen. Your husband never talked to you so sweetly, as if you were actually worth more than an old debt made over cold blood. Not that here your worth anything but what does that matter?" He speaks softly, as if I am a frightened, caught mouse in the cat's claws.

  Before my eyes the man I believe to be my husband, who looks and sounds so familiar to Rupert transforms before my very eyes. Now, however, sits Christian, his platinum blond hair pushed back out of his blue eyes, a wicked grin p
lanted firmly on his lips.

  "Do you really want your husband here? After how he treated you? Though you can be certain that you won't find any peace with me, Mrs VanDyken. I can promise though it will be tenfold worse," Christian says grinning from ear to ear.

  "I won’t hurt you tonight, I promise you that. I'll just open your mind to the concept of how unworthy you and your husband are of life. I want you to know how little I care for you and your husband, and the reason why I'm holding you both prisoners, which is to capture your daughter, to lure her out and make her my own." Christian continues, he's making sure that I'm listening as his hand is closing in on my neck, squeezing it until I'm blue in the face.

  "Oh dear, you've got quite an unusual shade to you Mrs VanDyken. I can so easily kill you if I only tighten my hold just a little bit more," Christian says demonstrating his point and now my breath has run out. He releases his hold just that fraction of a bit so that I can pull in a breath of air "But that would be quite a waste. Rupert and you will live until you no longer have a purpose for me. So I hope that you find a way to be of use to me Mrs VanDyken or your life may be quite short indeed." He takes off the gag of my mouth with his free hand. His blue eyes are sparkling; there is merriment evident within him in his enjoyment of killing and death.

  "Oh one more thing, I suggest that you don't scream until you've regained your breath. Not that it's going to help you any but have fun with it." He runs a finger over my lips and then releases his grip before he gets up. He goes as quietly as he came and I think over his words. I know that this devil of a man will not care for us, but it is all that more threatening, and real as I struggle to breathe air into my lungs. All I can do is pray for Anna and hope that she will not fall victim to this man's games.