When Ally walked back inside she found all four members of the Muir family gathered around the kitchen table. She was met with looks of genuine sadness and horror. They had been with James for a long time but had never encountered a vampire before.
Adele motioned her forward and drew her into the group.
Henry spoke, “I’m sorry about your friend, lass.”
Ally smiled gratefully as everyone nodded.
“We will get her back,” Ally said with a feigned confidence.
“Chase should be here soon,” Adele said with a trembling voice. “You are all welcome to stay and hear what he has to say, but no-one will think any less of you if you choose to leave.”
Ally looked around at the faces that were forlorn, confused and lost. These people needed a leader.
Taking a deep breath to calm herself and get her thoughts together quickly, she began to address the group. “This is not something that any of us wants to know or wants to deal with, but it is a reality. Whether we are human, immortal or in my case a bit of both, this involves us all. It touches our lives, whether we like it or not. We all need to join together and fight this evil that has the audacity to enter our lives creating destruction and heartache. As Gran said we won’t think any less of you, but I personally believe it is vital for everyone to listen to what Chase has to say for their own knowledge.”
Unbeknownst to Ally, James had quietly entered the room and had listened to her impassioned speech with pride. This was the woman who could lead them to victory. He felt humbled and honored to be her soul mate once more.
Every person in the room appeared to be mulling over what she had said.
James remained quiet in his corner. It was imperative that she be able to convince them that she was in charge. It was her first true test as a leader, and he knew that he would need to stand behind her in this. He would guide, support and stand by her no matter the cost, but ultimately, it was up to her and no-one else.
Sophie was the first to speak. “I agree with Ally. I think we should all stay and listen. She is right this affects us all, and I think I speak for everyone here when I say that we love James and would do anything for him.” She looked toward James as she spoke.
Ally followed her line of sight and noticed James had come back in and was leaning casually against the wall, watching her proudly. He smiled warmly as she met his gaze, and she felt the heat begin to rise again. Not now, she thought.
James looked at her knowingly and smiled. He was listening in to her thoughts again.
She sent him a speaking look and turned back towards the crowd.
Henry spoke up next. “Sophie is right. We have never faced this before, but we all love you James, and Ally even though I have only known you a short time I think of you as part of our family. We would do anything for you as well.”
Ally felt loved and cherished. It was a nice feeling that she wanted to hold onto. As she looked around at the faces before her, she felt their love, acceptance and confidence in her ability to lead them through this.
It spurred her forward. She had their faith and respect; it was all the encouragement she needed.
James came up behind her to take his place next to Ally.
She looked up at the man beside her, then addressed the group again. “Together we can defeat them. We just need to have faith and courage.” She looked to her Gran and could feel the pride flowing from her.
James rested his hand on the small of her back. It felt so right for him to be beside her, she could never imagine anyone else being there.
In our darkest hour of need, the people who stand by us are the ones we need to hold onto and cherish, that is true loyalty and friendship. It appeared that she had just inherited four people that would stand by her no matter what.
The doorbell rang, and Henry went to open the door since it was his role as Butler. He left the room quickly knowing it would be Chase.
“Poor Chase,” Mackenzie said quietly.
Sophie gave her daughter a hug. “I know, lass but everything will work out, you’ll see.”
Mackenzie nodded into her mother’s shoulder.
Ally and James took a moment to step back from the group before Chase entered, and the tale of terror was told to the group. James was worried about how she would handle listening to the story of Kathryn being abducted, but she had proven herself to be a strong woman already.
“I’m very proud of you Ally. You spoke like a true leader.”
“Thank you, I don’t know where it came from, but it just felt right. You are quite stealth aren’t you,” she laughed. “I didn’t hear a sound when you came in.”
He smirked. “One of the perks.”
“If you’re going to keep that up I’ll have to attach a cat bell to you, so you don’t scare me half to death every five minutes.”
He chuckled softly and kissed her forehead. “Ah my little spitfire…you make me laugh.”
Chase entered the room with Henry hot on his heels.
“Glad to see someone can find some enjoyment today,” he said with a deathly tone.
Ally was taken aback; this was not the kind, soft Chase that she had encountered a week ago. This version of Chase was seething, terrified almost to the point of insanity. Ally felt a pang of sadness for him, she knew that this was all because he was terrified for Kathryn. It wasn’t his fault but there was no need for him to be nasty to the people that would help him. No-one had forced him to bring Kat to Scotland; he chose to do that, and somehow they ended up as the bad guys. Something in Ally snapped, and she walked straight up to Chase and slapped him.
She wasn’t sure who was more surprised, Chase, James, herself or everyone else in the room.
Adele watching from the sidelines said with a quiet seething anger, “I told you that you would answer to me if something happened to that girl, but it appears that you will be answering to my granddaughter.”
Ally felt a murderous rage coming over her. She hadn’t felt like this until he had entered the room. What is wrong with me? She thought.
Chase didn’t say anything for a moment, he was shocked into silence then he spoke, “What the hell was that for?”
“Kat was in your care, and now she is out there somewhere in God knows what condition all because of you! If it wasn’t for you, then she wouldn’t be in this mess. The vampires now know where we are thanks to you, and we were almost killed today by one. If you’re going to come into this house and ask for help, then you could damn well show a bit more respect. How do you think I feel about my best friend missing? I have known her all my life. You’ve known her for five minutes. If you’re going to be angry at someone, then you can damn well be angry at yourself!” She poked him hard in the chest.
Chase was angry. James could see it and was about to step in before Ally got hurt in a moment of rage, but before he moved a muscle, Chase had backed down.
“You’re right,” he said as he slumped down on one of the chairs behind him, looking distraught. Ally kneeled down in front of him.
“We all want her back Chase,” she said. “You just need to lose the attitude.”
She was firm but a fair leader who obviously wasn’t afraid to pull someone back into line when they needed it. This was not the time for loose cannons and Chase was shaping up to be one hell of a ticking time bomb!
“I’m sorry,” he said as he hung his head in his hands.
She laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. James had to fight back the jealously that was growing within him. This wasn’t about him. She was comforting someone who needed it. Ally was the group leader, and she was acting the part very well.
“Tell us what happened. We need to know everything, so we can form a plan to get her back,” Ally said gently.
Chase looked up and surveyed everyone in the room, and he felt the sympathy that was being sent his way. He felt it most from Mackenzie. She had always been such a sweet girl.
“The night we left the Masquerade ball, I took her home to her house.
On the way home I told her of the immortals and the prophecy. I explained that we were soul mates and she said that she felt it too.” he smiled at the memory. “I said that I wanted to go to Scotland to help and that her place was with me. She agreed and said that she wanted to help, too. I explained the dangers, but to be honest, I don’t think either of us ever really thought we would be in trouble. We were so caught up in the moment and the romance of it all, we just figured true love would save the day, and that would be that.” He shook his head as if realizing what a stupid thought process they had shared.
“Go on,” Ally urged quietly beside him.
“She packed her things, called her parents to tell them she was going to Scotland with Ally, and then we went back to my house, so I could gather my things for the trip as well. I was going to take her that night and only be a few hours behind you and James, but we decided that perhaps we would stay in Melbourne for the night and leave in the morning. So I arranged flights out of the country in a private jet, and we left yesterday morning. I started the conversion on the plane, and she was an Immortal by the time we landed.”
He stopped and gathered his courage to continue telling the story. The night before had been glorious, today, however, had been nothing short of a nightmare for him.
“When we arrived at the airstrip, just near my home we were ambushed…” he trailed off remembering the event.
Everyone waited in silence for him to continue.
“Natalia,” he said with a sadistic laugh, “was waiting with a greeting committee. There were ten of the bastards. We didn’t stand a chance. As we got off the plane, I heard Natalia’s shrill voice and knew instantly that we were doomed. She taunted me, and I let my guard down for a moment believing that she was back and wanted to be good not evil, but I was dead wrong. She grabbed Kat before I had a chance to breathe and said that she would kill her that instant if I didn’t reveal the location of you and Ally. What could I do? I couldn’t just stand there and watch my own sister kill my soul mate.” Chase was clearly grief and guilt stricken by the situation. No-one in the room would have blamed him for what he did. Perhaps they weren't as careful as they ought to have been but who would have seen it coming. Natalia shouldn’t have known where they would be.
Chase looked at James with a heavy heart. “What would you have done in my position James?”
James wanted to take some of the guilt away that Chase felt but he also spoke the truth when he said, “I wouldn’t have done anything different. Our soul mates are our lives, which can in addition make them our biggest vulnerability if someone is willing to use them against us.”
Chase smiled a sad little smile and continued, “I was so distracted by the thought of Natalia killing Kat that I didn’t notice the two vampires who had crept up behind me. Next thing I knew I felt a burst of pain on the back on my head, and everything went black. When I came to, Kathryn was gone, everyone had gone.” He looked to Adele. “I ran straight to the house got in my car and started driving to the manor. I received the call from you a few moments after I started driving. I knew there was no point in looking for Kathryn in the area.” A tear ran down his chiseled cheek. “Natalia won’t let her go anytime soon. Kat is the perfect bait to lure Ally out, and I just handed her over on a silver platter…”
Adele had softened towards him as well. She could see he had only been acting out of anger and fear.
The room was deadly silent as everyone absorbed what they had just been told. Henry was the first to speak. “So what do we do now?”
Ally looked up to find all eyes on her. Everyone was looking towards her for a solution.
So this is where the true part of being a leader comes in. “I don’t think we should attempt a rescue until tomorrow at first light. The vampires appear to be able to get about in the daylight, but I have a hunch that they are still at their peak during the night. We have to attack when there is an advantage. If we are going in there, then we are going in to win, not walking into a suicide mission.” Ally addressed the group like a true leader. She was finding more and more strength in the thought that she was where she was meant to be.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Ally continued, “I want input on the plan, but I don’t think we should risk the lives of Sophie and her family in this.”
“I agree,” James said strongly.
Adele and Chase nodded their agreement.
“But we want to help in some way,” Mackenzie said shyly.
“And you will, just not with the battle,” Ally said reassuringly. “We will need meals tonight if you could organize that Sophie. Logan we will need Destiny, Cooper and another horse saddled and ready tomorrow morning at dawn. Henry I need you on standby to bring us a car should we need one. I won’t bring you anywhere near danger though, I promise,” Ally smiled at him. “Mackenzie can you organize a guest room for Chase?”
Ally turned to Chase. “You will stay here until we find her, and I don’t want to hear any arguments.”
“I had none, but thank you,” Chase said holding her eye contact a moment longer than was necessary. He didn’t mean anything other than gratitude, but James didn’t like it and moved to take his place beside his love, Ally. She leaned into James instinctively without noticing. It didn’t however escape James’ notice. He was very pleased with how things were progressing.
“Tomorrow we will set out on a tracking mission. We can go back to the airstrip where it happened and see if they left any clues behind that we can follow. In the meantime, I want each of you three,” she motioned to James, Adele and Chase, “to contact every single immortal you know. See if they know anything about where we could find Natalia or anything to do with the vampires. And I think one of us should stay behind in case the vampires decide to pay a visit to Carlisle Manor. We can’t leave the Muir’s unguarded.”
Adele made a decision. “I will stay behind and protect them. You need Chase and James with you Ally.”
“Thanks Gran, but are you sure?”
“I am, sweetie. Besides, I’m an old woman. What use would you have for me?” she joked.
“Adele you’re younger than me,” James quipped.
“Yes, but you seem to have aged better,” she said with a wink.
Ally leaned in closer to James, once people had begun talking among themselves, shewhispered, “I want to talk about the conversion later when we are alone.”
“We’re going to be alone later, are we?” he said with a sultry smile and gleam in his eye.
“Not that kind of alone time, but I thought we could talk, spend some time getting to know each other better. And I want to read the prophecy remember?”
“I’m growing on you aren’t I?” he teased.
Ally smiled. “Maybe.”
“I told you that you would come around,” he said feeling very pleased with himself.
She teasingly punched him in the arm. He mocked her with a show of pain.
Adele was standing off to the side, watching Ally interact with James. They really were a perfect match, and they seemed so much more comfortable this evening than they had before the ride this morning.
She had watched her granddaughter grow so much over the last few days. It appeared that Ally had really found herself in this land, with James and with her role as a leader. People were already looking up to her and following her without question. It was a small start, but it was promising. The incident with the vampire seemed to only strengthen her resolve. She had expected Ally to go to pieces the first time she met with a vampire, but then she had met Vincent and survived to tell the tale. The girl was made of stronger stuff than Adele gave her credit for. She wished that Ally’s parents were here to see her, they would have been so proud. It was hard for Adele watching her only daughter’s child walking the path of destiny that she was, but some things were bigger than us. Ally seemed to have a firm grip on that concept. Adele’s heart filled with love and pride for Ally.
Adele found herself wondering what
else happened on the ride that Ally hadn’t mentioned. Something had definitely changed between James and Ally, but she wasn’t entirely sure what.
Sophie excused herself to go start dinner. Everyone would need a good hearty meal in their bellies for tomorrow. It wasn’t much, but she felt like if that was all she could do to help, then she would do it to the best of her ability. Sophie’s heart went out to Ally and Chase. They had both lost someone dear to them in different ways. She remembered James and Adele when they had lost Damian. She had been a lot younger then, but she would never forget the hurt and pain that had been inflicted upon them that day. It still haunted them to this day, she could see it in their eyes but Ally appeared to bring them both the happiness that they truly deserved. She couldn’t recall ever seeing James this happy, despite the situation. Sophie thought back to when Chase had entered the room, and Ally had flown into him. Ally had courage taking on an Immortal. It was completely deserved, but Sophie knew she never would have the nerve to do it.
Mackenzie had come downstairs to the kitchen. “Do you need a hand?”
Sophie jumped and turned around to face her daughter. “Oh, Mackenzie! You startled me. I have it covered for now, but come back once you have made the room up for Chase. I’ll need help then.”
She studied her daughter for a moment. “Are you alright, sweetheart?”
Her lower lip trembled. “I’m scared that Chase won’t come back, or that he will come back different like he was when he first arrived. That wasn’t the Chase we all know.”
Sophie walked over and pulled her daughter into a warm embrace. “We must hope for the best but be prepared for the worst in case, my darling.”
Mackenzie nodded.
“Why are you so worried about Chase, in particular?”
Mackenzie shrugged and blushed. “He is a nice guy, and it would be a great loss if he changed or worse was killed.”
Sophie wondered why she had never seen it before. Her daughter was in love with the one man she could never have. Mackenzie was in love with Chase.
Sophie hugged her again. “Oh my dear girl, I never knew,” she said, letting on that she had worked it out.
“I never told you,” Mackenzie said softly. “I knew I could never be with him. I’m not his chosen soul mate so what was the point. I just watched and loved him from a distance all these years.”
“Unrequited love is never easy but in this situation, you can take heart that it literally isn’t you. The immortals are different to us. You can see that just by looking at James and Ally. They each have one partner and one only that they can ever be with.”
Mackenzie appeared to be mulling things over. “It’s so romantic but it is also a tragedy in waiting,” she said at length.
Sophie hadn’t grasped what she was getting at. “Why?”
“Think about it, Mum, there is only one person out there for them. First, they have to find them, and then they have to keep them safe from all types of dangers for eternity. I know there aren’t fights to the death between immortals and vampires every other day but what if it happened, and you lost your one true love forever, because it could literally be forever. “
“You’re a very astute young lady, Mackenzie.” Sophie smiled proudly at her beautiful daughter.
She blushed again. “Thanks Mum, don’t tell Dad, but I think I got that from you.”
Sophie laughed and promised to keep it to herself.
”It may seem like a big risk to someone on the outside like you said, but if you felt what they feel for each other, I believe that even someone like you who plays it safe would throw caution to the wind and grab onto it with both hands.”
Mackenzie shrugged still not totally convinced the concept of soul mates was a good one.
Sophie smiled knowingly and decided to phrase it differently. “Let me ask you this. You see what Ally and James have between them, keeping in mind, she is fighting the emotions she feels, would you give your very life for a chance at a love like that?” Sophie asked, trying to get her daughter to understand that some things in life were worth the risk.
Mackenzie sighed wistfully imagining what it would be like if she was Chase’s soul mate and knew instantly that her answer was an easy one, “Yes, I would.”
Sophie embraced her daughter once more and then sent her on her way. “Now run along and sort out his room. Make sure it’s perfect. That is the least we can do for the poor man.”
Unbeknownst to Sophie and Mackenzie, Chase had been in the corridor listening to every word. He hadn’t meant to eavesdrop. He had been coming in to get a glass of water when he heard his name and stopped instinctively. Chase listened intently to the conversation. Mackenzie had been so worried about him that it touched him to the very soul, but he also discovered she was in love with him. That he didn't see coming.
Looking back, the signs had been there over the years, but he hadn’t noticed. Chase always thought she was beautiful and sweet, and there had been a spark if he was honest with himself, and still was. He had thought of her as a child until he saw her again tonight. Last time he laid eyes on her, she would have been fifteen. That was almost four years ago. He had been away seeing the world while Mackenzie had matured, now it seemed that something more substantial was brewing between them. However, Kathryn was his soul mate. Suddenly, Chase felt so confused about what he was feeling. Kathryn was lost somewhere out there, and here he was thinking about another woman. Some soul mate he was turning out to be! Something was wrong, Chase thought distraught to his very soul. He shouldn’t even be noticing another woman. Perhaps he should speak with James about it later, but the priority was getting Kathryn home safely. He wandered back upstairs to the lounge room lost in his thoughts about the two women who had suddenly occupied his heart and soul, each in their own ways.
Chapter Twenty
Immortal Prophecy Page 27
