by F. E. Heaton
"Where's Mathias?” Emily said.
Prophecy looked at her and considered telling her the truth, but the look of confusion and the slight edge of fear in Emily's eyes made her realise that tidying up after Mathias wasn't the only reason she came here every day. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and realised that she couldn't break Emily's heart by telling her what had really happened.
"He's ... um ... we're house sitting for him for a while. He had to go to Europe to see his family.” She gave her a shaky smile, hoping that it had sounded like the truth. She hated lying, especially when it was done with the sole purpose of protecting someone's feelings.
"Europe?” Emily looked uncertain and then smiled. “Yes. I remember him mentioning his family once. Prague isn't it?"
Prophecy swallowed on hearing the name of her city and nodded. An awkward silence descended and she tried to think of something to say. Emily looked as uncomfortable as she felt. Prophecy smiled each time the woman looked at her and was about to find an excuse to leave and let her get on with her work when Emily broke the silence.
"So when did you get here?"
"Um ... just yesterday.” Prophecy hesitated, wondering if she knew Venturi's real name and fearing saying it in case someone had told Emily a different name. “Our friend let us in."
"The Italian?” Emily said with a shy smile. “He's very sweet. He keeps trying to help me do my job."
"I'm sure he does,” Prophecy said and ground her teeth at the thought of Venturi flirting with Emily. What did she care? He was nothing to her. “He'll be around for a while. As for myself and Valentine, we have to go soon."
"Valentine? I've heard Mathias mention him so many times. Is that your boyfriend?"
She laughed. Boyfriend? Well, as ridiculous as it sounded, she supposed he was in a way. She'd always thought of them as lovers rather than boyfriend and girlfriend.
"What's funny?"
"Sorry,” she said and sat down in one of the armchairs by the fire. “I just hadn't thought of him like that. He's just Valentine."
"You mean you're not in a ... well ... steady relationship?” Emily sat down opposite her, her eyes wide.
"For eternity. We've just never labelled each other like that. I know I'm his and he knows he's mine. That's all there is to it."
"What's all the noise?” A deep voice sounded and Prophecy looked over the back of her chair at Venturi. When she stood up, his eyes dropped to her apparel and she tugged at the hem of Valentine's jacket, trying to cover more of her legs with it. It reached her knees, but that wouldn't stop Venturi's imagination from filling in the blanks. His pupils dilated, his eyes lingering on her legs before he ran them up to her face. “Prophecy?"
"What?” she said and then realised that he wanted an answer to his question. “Oh. Emily came by and I had to tell her that Mathias had gone away to Europe for a while to see his family. Remember that he told us about it? He must have forgotten to tell Emily."
She walked towards him, giving him a look that said to go along with it. He frowned for a moment and then raised his brows.
"He didn't tell you?” he said straight to Emily.
Prophecy looked over her shoulder at the woman and saw her shake her head.
"Just like him to forget something as important as telling you.” Venturi walked across the room to Emily.
Prophecy frowned when Venturi placed a hand on Emily's shoulder and smiled into her eyes.
She was still frowning when strong hands grasped her waist and sensed Valentine behind her. She leaned her back into his chest, smiling absently when his arms snaked around her waist and he kissed just below her ear.
"So this is where my jacket went,” he said and she leaned her cheek against his.
Venturi gave her a dark look and she felt Valentine's hands capture her hips and pull her backside flush against him. She arched her body into his, savouring the jealousy that entered Venturi's eyes. She bit her lip when Valentine pressed another kiss to her throat and nuzzled it.
Before she could say anything, he spun her around to face him and crushed her lips under a passionate kiss. She wrapped her arms about his neck, forgetting that the action would raise the hem of the jacket she was wearing, and closed her eyes. Her lips played against his, their tongues duelling for a few seconds before he pulled back and looked at her with eyes full of desire.
Running her fingers downward, she frowned at the marks on his chest and then gave him a shy smile when she remembered their lovemaking. Heat stirred in her abdomen but it dissipated when Venturi spoke.
"I have to get something to eat. For some reason I feel incredibly queasy all of a sudden."
She looked up at Valentine and saw he was smiling.
"You're terrible,” she said and leaned her head against his chest. He tensed. She realised that he'd noticed that Emily was in the room.
Releasing him, she turned to face Emily. The woman gave her an embarrassed look.
"I think we've kept you from your work long enough. If you want to stay on while Mathias is away ... I'm sure we'd appreciate it.” She nudged Valentine and he frowned at her. “Wouldn't we?"
"Absolutely,” he said with little enthusiasm and walked past her towards the kitchen.
She cringed inside, knowing that he was going there to stir more hatred between himself and Venturi.
"I'll start with the unused bedrooms,” Emily said and hurried from the room.
Prophecy sighed and looked down at her clothes. She should go and stop Valentine, but she didn't want Venturi to cause more trouble by staring at her legs. She had to change first.
* * * *
Valentine walked straight into the kitchen, his eyes immediately seeking out Venturi. He watched him rummaging through the refrigerator and leaned against the counter. Crossing his ankles, he folded his arms across his bare chest and waited.
Venturi shut the refrigerator and unscrewed the cap on the canister of blood he was holding. He poured some into a mug and Valentine frowned.
"Try not to drink it all,” he said.
"Why?” Venturi frowned right back at him. “Are you hungry?"
"No, not at all, but Prophecy will be.” He kept his expression hard when Venturi raised his brows. He wasn't going to give the Tenebrae the pleasure of seeing the jealousy he could evoke in him with one simple gesture.
"What happened to you?” Venturi nodded towards him.
Valentine smiled when he realised that Venturi had noticed the marks across his face and body.
He unfolded his arms and raised one hand to his cheek.
"Some bastard weakling had the audacity to attempt to fight me,” he said and then dropped his eyes to his body. “As for the rest. Well, that is all Prophecy's work."
He raised his eyes quickly enough to catch the dark jealous look that settled on Venturi's face for a few brief moments before his expression became one of disinterest. He smiled inside and scratched his neck, drawing Venturi's attention to the new marks that littered it. Walking across the room under the pretence of getting some blood for himself from the refrigerator, he made sure that Venturi saw the full extent of what Prophecy had done to him.
"Prophecy mentioned something last night about finding the copy of the scroll and the journal.” He frowned when there were no other canisters in the refrigerator and closed the door. Looking at Venturi, he leaned against the kitchen island, tensing his muscles as he did so.
Venturi seemed to be very interested in his blood.
Valentine's eyes dropped to Venturi's clothing while he stared at the cup he held. It wasn't much different to the outfit he usually wore himself, only in place of a jacket he was wearing just a dark grey shirt. Mathias must have lent it to him. He stared at Venturi's boots, noting how well looked after they were compared with his own. He really needed to get some polish to them. They were disgraceful. All the fights he'd been in had scuffed them to the point that they were probably irreparable.
Bringing his eyes back up, he
assessed Venturi's build and height. He was almost the same as him, a little shorter perhaps and broader, but their build was almost identical.
"There you two are,” Prophecy breathed when she walked into the room and his attention was immediately with her. He noticed that she was dressed now, her black combats and shirt hiding her body from prying eyes. He also noted that she went the long way around to get to him, choosing to come around the kitchen island and avoiding walking past Venturi. She held his jacket out to him and then a look of concern flitted across her features when her eyes came to rest on his cheek. She brushed her fingers against the long scratches there. “I should fix those."
He caught her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. “You have done quite enough healing recently. You need to keep your strength up."
He poured her a cup of blood from the canister next to Venturi and held it out to her. She took it from him with a smile. He slipped his jacket on, not bothering to button it.
"When do we leave?” she said.
"You're going somewhere?” Venturi placed his mug down and frowned at her.
Valentine frowned at him. “To London. The second part of the scroll is in a museum there. We shall leave once it is dark. We can find a car."
"The great Valentine stooping to stealing a car?” Venturi said.
Valentine growled, showing Venturi that he was one step away from starting a fight. Prophecy stepped between them, her hand resting against his chest while she scowled at Venturi.
"I've had enough of this. If you want to come along, I suggest you think before you speak. I'll quite happily leave you here to translate the first part of the scroll. There was nothing in the book worth my knowing. The secret is still locked away and I need to know exactly what I'm dealing with when the final fight comes.” Her tone was serious but he could feel in the way her fingers were brushing against his chest that she wasn't as angry as she sounded. At least not with him.
She turned to face him, a smile curving her lips when she looked into his eyes.
"I hope that Hyperion was right and that—"
"He saw you?” Venturi cut her off, his look incredulous.
She looked over her shoulder at Venturi. “He did. He even helped me in his own way. He's really quite nice. I don't see why everyone makes such a fuss ... where was I?"
Valentine smiled and ran his fingers down a length of her hair. It really was beginning to become more red now. He couldn't decide whether he preferred it her natural red colour, or black. She looked up at him and raised her brows, silently directing her question at him.
"Hyperion being right,” he said.
She thanked him with a smile.
"I hope he was right and I'll recognise it when I see it. I spent almost an hour staring at the scroll last night whilst sitting out in the courtyard. The Devil knows how I'm going to recognise it."
"I shall be with you. Together I am sure that we will find it,” he said. She nodded and he looked over her head at Venturi. “If you wish to come, you can stand guard so we are not caught by the security patrols. We could use an extra pair of eyes."
Venturi seemed to consider his offer and then looked at Prophecy. “I have sworn to protect you. I will come with you."
Valentine frowned at the way the Tenebrae had answered her. His arm snaked around her waist, drawing her to him, and he narrowed his eyes on Venturi's when the Tenebrae looked at him. Using his free hand, he cleared Prophecy's neck of hair and brought his mouth close to her ear.
"We should get ready,” he whispered and then pressed a kiss to the marks on her throat, drawing Venturi's attention to them.
"I could use a shower,” she said and took hold of his hand. Slipping her fingers into his, she led him from the room.
He glanced back over his shoulder and smiled at Venturi who was standing in the kitchen scowling.
"I think I could use a shower too,” he said with a smirk.
Following Prophecy from the room, he felt a strange sense of satisfaction when Venturi growled.
It was wrong to tease him, in fact it was completely immature, but it was fun and it had a purpose.
Prophecy was his.
The quicker Venturi learned that, the better.
Chapter 20
Prophecy slipped the leather glove on, wriggling her fingers until the material snugly encased them. She looked at her other hand and the amulet. She didn't know whether it would work if she put her glove on over it, or even under it. Was it worth the risk? She slipped each ring off her fingers and then put the glove on before putting her amulet back on. It was best they didn't leave any sure evidence behind.
She watched Valentine putting his gloves on and stretching his fingers. He wasn't wearing his red jacket tonight. He'd left it back at the house. After their shower, he'd changed into a pair of black trousers and one of the black shirts he kept at Mathias’ place. She noticed that he'd polished his boots and she smiled at the sight of them. They were a reminder of just what kind of man he was. So proud and loyal, and a real perfectionist.
Her attention drifted to the car they had arrived in. Valentine had neatly parked it on the road outside the museum. He'd scared the hell out of her with his driving and she'd spent half of the journey clinging to her seat. Inside she knew he had driven that way to scare Venturi. They seemed to have started some kind of twisted competition to prove who was the better vampire.
She wanted nothing to do with it. If they wanted to kill each other, she was just going to stand back and let them. She had more sense than to interfere in their little game. The snide remarks that had flown around the car had shown her a new side of Valentine. She had expected it from Venturi, but she'd been surprised when Valentine had given as good as he'd got. Some of their comments had been bordering on childish and she'd spent a lot of time rolling her eyes at them, but at the same time she'd found it funny and a little thrilling.
After all, she'd never had two men act this way about her. Whether they knew it or not, it was one hundred and ten percent jealousy that was making them act like younglings.
"Are you certain that you can handle what she has asked you to do? You could go home if it is a problem for you. She will not think any less of you.” Valentine pulled his other glove on and then swept his hair out of his face.
She sighed and pulled an unimpressed face. Here we go again. She was beginning to regret suggesting that Venturi come with them. She was beginning to wish she'd come alone.
"I think it is you that should go home. I could slip into this place without the need for a man on the outside watching for trouble. I could get that scroll in the blink of an eye. You, youngling, will fail dismally.” Venturi leaned against the car, his arms folding across his chest.
Were they always going to be like this?
She picked up the goggles and looked at them. According to Valentine they would cut down the glare of the security guards torches and would stop the light from temporarily blinding them. Even with the protective layer over their eyes, the torches could still damage their vision for a few seconds. A few seconds was all it took to get killed.
Slipping her pair on over her head, she let them dangle around her neck and set about tying her hair up. She pulled it back so it would stay out of her face and tied it into a ponytail high up on the back of her head.
When she'd finished, Venturi and Valentine were still exchanging snide comments and dark looks.
She cleared her throat loud enough for them to hear her and smiled at them when they looked at her.
"If you're both done?” She intimated the museum.
Valentine smirked at Venturi. She decided that she had to find Venturi a love interest because she was starting to dislike this jealousy stuff and the way Valentine was acting.
Grabbing his arm, she dragged him away from Venturi and stopped when she reached the front of the museum. She gave him a hard look and then sighed. Stepping up to him, she ran her hands up his chest and looked into his eyes.
"Can you
please go back to being the man you were a few days ago?” she said.
He frowned at her. “Whatever do you mean?"
She stepped away from him and threw her arms up in the air. “This is driving me insane. I don't like Venturi ... there ... I said it. I don't like the way he looks at me and flirts with me and I don't like how he makes you act!"
"Prophecy ... I—"
"No ... let me finish.” She cut him off and fixed him with a black look. “I expected it from him, but not you. You know how I feel about you and that I would never look at him that way. You're the only one in my heart. The way my magic reacts to you is testament to that."
"I know,” he said with a weight of guilt in his eyes. “I am sorry. I do not know what has got into me. I just cannot help reacting to him. I—"
"It's all fear, isn't it? You're scared that he'll take me away?"
He nodded and hung his head forwards. She walked back to him and ducked her head so she could see up into his eyes.
"Please don't think that he could ever take me away from you. It's impossible. I could never feel for him like I feel for you.” She smiled when his eyes met hers. “You don't have to act like this to keep me. Acting like this is only driving me away. Let him be. The less you react to him, the less he'll act like this."
He hesitated for a moment and then wrapped his arms about her, holding her tight. He seemed so different recently. The strong man he had always been, stern and confident, had been replaced by someone so full of fear and trepidation. Is this what love did to people? Hyperion had told her that love made her strong, but it made his sister weak. Did love make Valentine weak? Or was this all because of the things that had happened and Venturi's presence?
Pulling back, she frowned at him.
Valentine frowned back at her, wondering what she was thinking and feeling as though he was being scrutinised. He avoided her gaze and looked across at Venturi where he was leaning against the car, watching them. Prophecy was right. He wasn't worth it. The way he had been acting since first hearing mention of the Tenebrae was nothing like the man he was. His love for Prophecy was strong, as was hers for him. Venturi could never come between them. If he kept acting like this, he would open himself to mistakes and would slip up. Now wasn't the time for jealousy and childish fights with a man who was half his equal.
