“Now to get to the stables, you head out that door onto the terrace, turn left and follow the gravel path. You will see them once you turn the corner a few metres down the path.”
Ally memorized the instructions said her thanks and headed towards the terrace doors.
“Enjoy yourself Ally and I believe he has a present for you.” She said giving the impression she knew what it was.
Ally stopped and turned around. Curiosity got the better of her, “Do you know what it is?”
“I do, but go find out for yourself,” she laughed. “I have a feeling you will be very happy with it.”
Ally smiled with excitement as she turned and continued towards her destination. She wandered out the door to the terrace and down the steps finding the path at the end of it, as she followed and turned the corner, the stables came into view. She stopped short. Behind the stables lay a view of the mountains that left her breathless. Ally could not get over the beauty of this place.
“Is there anywhere around here you don’t have a breathtaking view,” she wondered aloud.
Movement near the stable caught her eye. James was standing talking with another young man who was holding the most beautiful horse she had ever seen. She was torn between watching the horse and James. The horse seemed to sense her presence and looked up. Ally was convinced that it was looking right at her. The horse threw its head back and whinnied in greeting. She was pulled forward in a trance towards this horse.
James noticed the horse and followed its line of sight to see Ally walking towards them. She was staring at the horse. James watched her walking over. He longed for the day she looked at him that way.
He turned to Logan, the stable hand who was holding the horse. “I will take it from here Logan.”
Logan looked towards Ally then back at James and smirked. “Aye, James.”
“Saddle up Cooper would you,” He said without looking at Logan.
Logan laughed with amusement and went off to saddle the horse.
Ally felt James watching her. She looked across to where he was standing. The other man, presumably Logan had disappeared. Ally looked back towards the horse for a moment then her gaze was drawn back to James without her even being aware of it.
As she drew closer, he stepped forward to meet her. “How was your breakfast?”
Her eyes lit up as she answered, “It was delicious and very sweet of you to organize it for me, thank you.”
“I did hear a rumour somewhere that it was high on your list of favourite foods.”
He was trying so hard, she could see it and she felt her heart warm a little more to him.
“The rumour is true. I wonder where you heard it?” she joked.
“I’m afraid I cannot reveal my sources,” James said with a smirk.
They looked at each for a moment then he said with a smile that told her, he was rather proud of himself. “Are you ready for your present?”
Her face was awash with excitement, “Definitely.”
He turned to the beautiful white horse beside him. “May I present your gift.”
She looked confused for a moment then it dawned on her, the horse was her present. She found herself speechless for a moment “The horse?” she asked breathlessly.
He nodded with delight. “I hope you like her. I chose her especially for you.”
She clasped her hands in front of her and smiled so wide her face hurt. “You got me a horse?”
He laughed at her excitement, “Yes I did. I know you are fond of them.” He patted the horse. “This is the reason I went away for a few days.”
She stared at him for a moment then threw her arms around him with pure delight. “Thank you James! She is beautiful.”
He put his arms around her and enjoyed holding her for a moment.
She slowly pulled herself away and smiled up at him, her eyes and face were lit up with the excitement. She turned to meet her horse.
“Does she have a name?” she asked as she stroked her muzzle. “I can’t believe you bought her for me.”
He studied the way she was with the horse and found himself jealous of the horse. He groaned internally. What is this woman doing to me?
“She doesn’t have a name I thought you might like to name her yourself.”
“I would,” she stopped and looked up at James. “This is an incredible gift, thank you.”
“I would give you anything, Ally.”
“I know.” She paused before continuing, “I missed you while you were gone and I had time to think about things, a lot of things. I’m still scared, I don’t want to be but I am.”
He stepped closer. “I realize you’re scared Ally but I won’t hurt you…I couldn’t.”
“I know that you wouldn’t hurt me intentionally, but we don’t know what’s going to happen. What if I lost you or you lost me. It is a real possibility James.”
“Your right, we don’t know what will happen but I’m willing to take a risk. I would rather live and love to the fullest with you my love, than hide from it and be safe never experiencing what a life with you by my side has to offer.”
“I’m just not there yet, James,” she said with a sad smile.
“Ally look at me.”
Ally looked at him, tears threatening to spill. “I know that, my darling,” James said tipping her chin up to look at him. “I will wait for as long as it takes. You have enough pressure on you already; I don’t want to add to that. I want to support you and help you in any way I can. I want to make you deliriously happy and make you feel special and loved.”
What the hell am I waiting for? She wondered to herself. Here was this amazing man right in front of her asking for nothing and wanting to give her everything in return. It wouldn’t be fair on him though, he said he wanted her to feel what he did, love him like he loved her and go to him because she couldn’t bear to be away from him. He deserved that and much more, she had enough respect for him to offer nothing less than that.
“When you say things like that you are very tempting.”
“I shall have to say more of them then,” he joked.
Ally smiled in spite of herself.
“Come on let’s take that horse of yours out for a run,” he said with a sly grin.
She nodded her head and smiled back, she couldn’t wait to take her out for a ride.
“Logan, bring Cooper around,” he called out to the stable master.
Ally eagerly climbed up onto her beautiful horse.
“She is pure Arabian, a bit flighty and headstrong but the most enchanting creature I have laid eyes on and she seems to have a sweet temperament that she shows to a few select people.” He paused and patted her muzzle then looked up at Ally. “She reminds me of you, that’s why I picked her.”
“You are far too observant you know,” she said with a smile.
“I have been told that on many occasions,” he laughed.
“Ah here is my horse and Logan.”
“Here you are James, all saddled and ready to go,” Logan said as he handed the reigns over.
“Thank you. Logan, this is Ally.”
“Welcome to Scotland, Ally. It is a pleasure to meet you after hearing so much about you,” he said with a nudge to James.
Ally giggled as James squirmed. “It’s nice to meet you too, Logan. I met your sister, Mackenzie this morning too.”
“Seems you have met the entire clan then,” he winked.
James wanted to move, he didn’t like other men around Ally. It was crazy he knew that but immortals often felt stronger emotions about things than most humans. Logan sensed the vibe and went back to tending the horses in the stables.
James turned to Ally. “Are you ready?”
“I am,” she said as a slow smile broke over her face.
“Have you thought of a name yet?” he inquired as they started towards the gate that separated the grounds from the forest.
She smiled at him, like she had a secret.
“What are yo
u smiling about?” he asked.
“I thought of a name that I think is very appropriate.”
“Which is?”
“Destiny.”
“It’s definitely appropriate,” he said with a smile at her name choice.
“As I said earlier, while you were away I had a chance to think about everything. I came to the realization that I can fight this destiny with everything I have, only to discover that I never really had a choice to begin with and end up losing my life in the process.” She paused taking a breath, “Or I can go with it, learn everything I need and have the best chance possible at defeating Vincent when the time comes for me to take him out.”
He looked at her with pride written all over his face. “That is a good way to look at it.”
It was nice to see that he was proud of her. It gave Ally a surge of confidence. With him by her side she had a feeling that she could do anything.
“I know it won’t be easy, in fact I’m sure it will be bloody hard but it’s bigger than me. I have been reacting out of fear and trying to wish it away but something about this place has changed me and made me think about things. If I have something to do for the greater good then I can’t run from it, no matter how much I may want to.”
James felt in awe of this woman and he was proud to be her soulmate. This was the girl he knew was hidden deep under her fear. She had accepted her destiny and was prepared to put her life on the line for the greater good. This was what she needed to be in order to have a chance at fulfilling the prophecy. However, the thought of his beloved Ally anywhere near Vincent again made his heart sink. All he could do was pray that she could defeat him. James knew that without Ally, he wouldn’t survive.
Chapter Seventeen
ALLY AND JAMES RODE OUT TOGETHER along the Scottish highlands in a companionable silence for the first hour. Ally was so caught up in the mystifying beauties of the highlands that she hadn’t noticed the silence.
The loch they came upon was still and peaceful with the grassy banks surrounding it. Ally still seated upon Destiny, looked around in awe. James came to a stop just behind her and sat back on his horse to watch her unguarded for a moment.
She felt James’ gaze upon her and her eyes sought his. A wave of guilt mingled with desire ran through her. The pull for this man was undeniably strong it took all her effort not to throw herself at his feet and beg him to take her, but she resisted. She knew she had to for both their sakes. He would never be happy with anything less, than everything that she was and she wouldn’t be able to give him that, until she sorted out this mess of information and emotion that was swirling around her head.
Ally decided to use this time alone to get to know him better and to get some questions answered. Where to begin? She thought.
The questions and confusion must have shown on her face for he moved his horse closer to her and asked, “What’s wrong Ally?”
Ally looked up at him and tried to find the strength she knew was hidden somewhere deep inside. She would need her strength and courage to survive whatever it was that was going to happen.
“I need answers to questions,” she began. “And I need to make sense of everything that I have already been told but I can’t seem too. I have accepted it but there is a big difference between accepting and understanding.”
His eyes were full of compassion. “Let me help you.”
She smiled gratefully. “I still don’t know what an immortal is or does exactly?”
She saw a sense of pride run through him. “Immortals are guardians of the human world as you know. We were once a proud race until the vampires killed half our population, purely because of our pride and indifference. We have been in turmoil ever since which of course is where you come in. The amount of immortals still willing to protect the humans from the vampires is not enough. These creatures are dangerous and evil. Our aim was to rid the world of every last one but that now seems like a distant dream. The most we have been able to achieve lately is to keep you safe.”
“Well to be honest, I’m glad that you did,” she smiled.
He tensed up. “Yes I am too, but you know keeping you safe is far from finished.”
She leaned down to pat Destiny. “I know James.”
“As for what we can do, well we aren’t limitless but there isn’t much out of our grasp. We can read minds, some of us see the future, some have a talent for battle,” he paused. “Damian, had a talent for battle. He was one of the most talented warriors we had ever seen.” The sadness James felt was obvious in his voice.
Ally felt so sad for him. Like James, she knew what it was like to lose people that you loved. “I see the emotions that run through you and gran when he is spoken of. He must have been a remarkable man. I’m sorry that he was lost to Vincent.”
She saw genuine gratitude in his eyes. “Thank you Ally.”
He gathered himself and nudged his horse to keep walking while they spoke. Ally did the same and listened intently as he continued telling her of the immortals.
“Apart from reading minds and the like, our abilities are things like creating fireballs to throw at our enemies, moving faster than the human eye can see and we also possess what humans call a sixth sense.”
Ally rolled her eyes. “You could have told me the cool stuff at the beginning.”
He felt laughter bubbling up and erupting. “I wish I knew it would have been that easy to convince you, I would have done things differently,” he said once the laughter died down.
“Well I may not have been happy but it’s nice to know this comes with a few perks.”
“There are a lot of perks to being an immortal. You are right though, we have focused on the negative side of things. We were just so worried about you that we allowed fear to grip our hearts. Vincent and the prophecy have been in the front of our minds so we fixated on that.”
He was being gentle with her, she appreciated it.
“Anything else I should know about the immortals?” she asked with genuine curiosity. These were her people and she needed to know everything about them. Ally also needed to know about the vampires if she wanted to defeat them, but one thing at a time she thought.
James looked at her with a side smile. “There are lots of things but I think that you will find out most of the little things along the way.”
Ally nodded in agreement then decided to tackle another thing that she didn’t really understand fully.
She took a deep breath, this was something she needed to know but it scared the hell out of her. “Tell me about soulmates.”
He looked surprised, “What do you want to know?”
“Is it always like this?”
“You mean like it is between us?” he asked gently.
She nodded.
“It is always like this.”
“Doesn’t it bother you that you have no choice in this? That your partner is preordained and you don’t get to choose?” She asked bluntly not stopping to think what she was saying.
He gave a startled laugh.
She realized that she had probably insulted him. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”
He smiled, “I know what you meant Ally, don’t apologize. It doesn’t bother me because you were made for me, my perfect half. If I had been given the choice to choose for myself I would never have been able to find anyone more desirable, suited, beautiful or complimentary to me than you, my darling and I am the same for you.”
She studied him for a moment and came to the conclusion that he was right. He was all those things to her and more.
“If you look at it from that point of view then you just might be right.”
“You will find that I usually am,” he said with a sly grin.
Ally kicked Destiny into a canter, she needed to feel the air rushing past her and more importantly she didn’t want to think for a while. She had more questions but they could wait till later.
She looked behind her to see James hot on her heels, she drove
Destiny harder, the horse beneath was made to run. Her gait was smooth and fast.
Ally felt so happy and carefree out here on her horse, with the beautiful highlands stretched out before her and James riding with her. She now understood completely the exhilaration that was written all over his face this morning. They continued galloping across the highlands till they came across a beautiful grassy hill overlooking the loch and a nearby glen. James called out to stop so they could have lunch.
He dismounted and pulled out a blanket for them to sit on and grabbed the packed lunch that Sophie had prepared for them. Ally sat down and looked around while he unpacked the lunch and laid it before her.
If she was honest with herself, she never wanted to leave this place. The dread found its way back into her mind and she realized she may never leave but not in the way she thought. If Vincent finished her off…
James interrupted her thoughts, “Wine?”
Ally looked dazedly at him for a moment before the question registered. “Yes actually I would love one.”
The spread before her was rather impressive. It consisted of a bottle of white wine, cold chicken sandwiches and two mini cheesecakes. It was simple and perfect, she loved it.
“Let me guess, your sources told you I love cheesecake and cold chicken sandwiches.”
He smiled knowingly.
“I think my grandmother should stop giving you an unfair advantage over me,” she joked.
“Lass, I need all the help I can get,” he said with a half-smile.
She couldn’t help but laugh at that. It was partly true; she felt sorry for him but admired his perseverance.
“I don’t know how you left this place, it’s incredible. How long have you been away?”
He looked around at scene before him. James was glad that she appeared to love this land as much as he did. “I haven’t been home for five years.”
“You haven’t been back once in those five years?” she asked with genuine interest.
“There was nothing here for me; my place was guarding you Ally,” he said with a seriousness that surprised her.
“What about Sophie and Henry?”
“I love them like they are family,” he paused not wanting to upset the fragile balance of understanding that they had but he had to be honest with her. “You can’t understand yet but you are my life, my love and my world. I would never have risked leaving you even for a day once I found you. I had to stay away from you but I would never have left you unguarded.”
Immortal Prophecy (The Immortal Prophecy Saga) Page 17
