He was blown away by the woman sitting in front of him! She was wise beyond her years and looked at the world in a different way to most people.
“That is very wise Ally. I believe that I and most of the people wandering the earth could learn a lot from you.”
She blushed again. Great quality in a leader Ally, she chided herself.
He took her hand and helped her up, “So you wanted to talk.”
She nodded.
“Then come with me,” he said with a gleam in his eye.
What are you up to? She wondered.
He led her out of the lounge room and up the circular staircase that lead to the first floor.
This floor of the house was his alone, the master bedroom suite and study were all that occupied it.
He led Ally to the door of his room and opened it. She saw where he had taken her and she suddenly felt very uncomfortable.
“Why are we going into your bedroom?” she asked.
He smirked and then put her mind at ease by saying, “This is the only room in the house that we won’t be disturbed.”
“How convenient,” she quipped.
James laughed and nudged her through the door.
She took in the room and turned in a small circle, it was huge. She turned to James. “This isn’t a room this is half a house.”
“Do you like it?” he asked.
Ally looked at James like he had two heads. “Do I like it? Of course I do, it’s beautiful,” she said in awe. “I thought I loved my room but I have changed my mind. I want this one.” She laughed.
He smiled, “You can have it anytime you want it.”
A wicked grin spread across her face. “Oh that’s so sweet. You would move into my room and give me this one.”
“That’s not what I meant,” he said as he drew her into his arms, “and you know it.”
She smiled up at him and he leaned down and kissed her softly.
She felt bereft when he pulled away and fought the urge to pull him back.
He kept her hand in his and said, “Come with me.”
He led her over to the white couch that was in front of the fire. The room was in an L shape so she hadn’t noticed the balcony till she reached the couch.
“You have a balcony too,” she said her eyes wide. “Now I definitely want to switch rooms.”
He smirked and said, “You know how you can gain access to this room.”
“That’s called coercion.”
James smiled lazily. “Perhaps, but I’m not above it to get what I want.”
She studied him. “I don’t think there is much that you wouldn’t resort too to achieve what you want.”
He wasn’t entirely sure if that was an insult or a compliment. “That sounds like an insult.”
She looked surprised. “No not at all. I admire you greatly for it.” She got up and wandered over to the french doors leading onto the private balcony. “You know what you want and you won’t let anything stand in your way. You won’t accept defeat and show no fear. I envy that.” She sighed.
He walked over and picked up two glasses and the decanter of whisky on the side-board. He gestured to Ally with an empty glass.
“Whiskey?” she asked.
“Scottish whiskey, sixteen years old pure malt and one of the best in the world,” he said, as he admired the glass before him.
“Sounds like you know what you’re talking about.”
“I have been around a long time and you tend to learn a lot, but I am fond of whiskey and currently trying to produce one that is better than this.” He said, as he walked over and handed Ally the glass.
She liked that he had ambitions other than destroying the vampires. He was a man of substance and had seemingly used his many years on earth to better himself. It was a noble.
She started to wonder just how old he was. Looking at him, she would guess that he wasn’t a day over twenty five but she knew that was far from the truth. She tried to work it out from the facts she had. Damian was killed around fifty years ago and he had commented tonight that he was older than Adele.
How old is Gran? She wondered.
It hadn’t occurred to her that she might be older than she looked but she was an immortal and who knows how long she had been around before she met Damian? Her mind was having another moment where it felt like it was going to collapse on itself. She caught James watching her with interest.
“What are you trying to work out?” he asked curiously.
“Your comment just now got me thinking about how old you are and that I have no idea how old Gran is either. You mentioned tonight that you are older than her, how much older are you?”
He smiled, “Do you really want to know?”
“Yes I do, you don’t look a day over twenty two but I know that isn’t right,” She paused before asking again. “How much older than Gran are you?”
He looked into his whiskey glass and then out into the night. “I am about one hundred and twenty years older than her,” he said as looked down at her, to gauge her reaction. He wasn’t sure how she would react. She would have known that he was older than he looked but she wouldn’t have the capacity yet to fully understand just how old he was.
Ally’s mouth fell open at the information he had given her. Her mind was racing trying to calculate the figure but came up empty. Without knowing how old Adele was, she had nothing to work with.
He watched her trying to work it out, she was fascinating when her mind was working. He fought the temptation to peek inside her mind. It was a new novelty for him to wait till she spoke to find out what was going on and he found himself enjoying it.
“I give up,” she conceded with a smile.
“She is a hundred and eighty years old.” He waited for her to work out his age.
She stared at him incredulously. “That makes you three hundred years old.”
“Give or take,” he said with a shrug.
She took the whisky and moved to the couch in front of the warm fire. James followed behind her.
She sat down in a bit of a daze and looked at him. “You’re really three hundred years old?”
“Aye, I am lass.”
“Wow,” she muttered aloud. “I thought maybe a hundred.”
He laughed softly, “Afraid not.”
She thought about the fact that he was three hundred and decided that he was an immortal so it was natural for him to be a lot older than expected. It was quite a shock, but she came to the conclusion that it didn’t bother her as much as she first thought. It was just the surprise that had made her react that way. James looked very concerned, he obviously knew that it wasn’t something she had been expecting but going with the new theme of things, she just took it in her stride.
“Old man,” she joked.
The relief that ran through him was visible. “So you’re not fazed?”
“I would be lying if I said I wasn’t surprised, but no, it doesn’t bother me,” she said, honestly and raised the whiskey to her lips to taste it. The flavour was smooth, smoky and refined. She found that she enjoyed the taste immensely.
“What do you think?” James asked.
“I actually love it,” she said taking another sip. “I didn’t think I would but its smooth, refined, bold taste is rather enjoyable.”
His lips lifted on one side which she was beginning to understand meant the he was impressed and surprised.
“It seems that we have more common ground.”
“We have,” she agreed.
He looked to the fire and paused to enjoy the moment. It was perfect. He had his love by his side and a glass of his preferred whisky in hand. This is what it could be like night after night, he thought full of hope. They just had to survive whatever might come tomorrow.
“You wanted to talk to me about something in particular?” he asked.
Ally was staring into the fire, also lost in the moment when his words brought her out of the daze that had claimed her. “I did,” she w
asn’t quite sure how to broach the subject, so she decided to start with something easier and work her way up. “I need to know what kind of defences I have against the vampires, should we find them tomorrow.”
He looked at her sadly and brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. She sighed inwardly at the loving intimate gesture. “To be honest my love, I don’t know that you have any. You are only half immortal and we haven’t had time to put your abilities to the test to discover what you have or if the ones you may have would be of any use to you against the vampires.”
He was concerned she could feel it radiating out of him.
“Then we have to adapt and work around it. Is there anything we could do tonight to test it out?”
He looked thoughtfully at her for a moment before an idea struck. “Perhaps,” he said, testing the idea in his mind for the potential success of such an idea.
“What is it? Don’t keep me in suspense,” she urged him on.
He liked her enthusiasm for the potential plan but he wasn’t sure if it was a good one or not. She was right though, they need to know if she had any defences.
“I’m not sure that this will work but it’s the best idea I have right now. We can try a few different things and see what you can do. We will start with something easy so I can gauge where you are at.”
“I’m ready,” she said eager to start.
He looked at her for a moment. “You are going to have to trust me Ally.” He paused, “Do you trust me?”
“With my life,” she said without hesitation.
His smile radiated with joy. “Then let’s begin,” he said.
Chapter Twenty-One
“I’M GOING TO TEST YOUR ABILITY to read my mind first,” he explained. “This is a very handy ability when fighting a vampire. If you can get inside their head then you can know what their next move will be before they have made it. It will give you the advantage every time. The problem we now face is they can now do the same with immortal blood but regardless it is a good talent to master.”
She nodded taking in all the information.
“I want you close to your eyes and block out everything, your mind needs to be blank. Can you do that?”
She closed her eyes and blocked everything out except James, it seemed impossible to blank him out.
He continued, “Now I want you to mentally reach out to my mind. It sounds more complicated than it is and the more you do it the more natural it will become.”
She focused on James’ mind and she imagined a line running from her mind to James’ and it seemed to work because she felt her mind pushing at something.
James was sitting opposite her. His face lit up when he felt the mental push; she was able to do it.
He started to shake his head in disbelief. He didn’t want to interrupt her by telling her that he was so proud of her, but he was. James decided to think of a move that he could pull on her and see if she reacted before he made the move.
Ally smiled widely to herself when the thought came through. She had done it and she was immensely proud of herself. She had an image of herself at the ball a few days earlier in the scarlet dress that had belonged to her mother and her grandmother before her. She started to wonder how old the dress actually was, now that she knew how old her grandmother really was. Just then the image dropped and she saw an image of him grabbing her by the throat. She reacted instantly without even thinking and threw her arm up to block him. She felt contact with his arm and her eyes flew open in an instant. She saw his emerald eyes shining back at her with pride. He had said that she needed to trust him and this was why. She had no need to be scared, because he was testing her abilities. Once she had opened her eyes and locked eye contact with him, she knew that she was safe.
“I did it!” she said, astonished.
“Aye, little one you did.”
“I can’t believe it! I thought I wouldn’t be able to.”
“Have more faith in yourself,” he said simply.
He believes in me, she thought. The fact that he believed in her sent warm fuzzy feelings throughout her body.
“What’s next,” she asked eagerly.
“I will keep testing your ability to read my mind when you aren’t ready for it. I have no intention of hurting you and I won’t, but the vampires will. You need to be able to do this without a moment’s notice.”
She nodded in agreement and he continued. “Next we need to test your reflexes, they are vital in any battle. You need to think on your feet, react quickly and change your plan at a second’s notice. Remember this isn’t just any enemy. A vampire can move faster than the blink of an eye, as can immortals. However you are at a disadvantage at the present moment so you need to be able to do something that will throw them off balance and give you a chance to run or stay and fight. I would prefer running, but I know that you won’t do that, so I need to make sure you have as much information at your fingertips as possible.”
She smiled at his comment that he knew her well enough to know that she wouldn’t run from a battle.
“You have to pick your fights well. Even I will turn tail if I think I can’t win unless it is vital that I stay and fight. This afternoon was a perfect example of being at a disadvantage and turning.”
“Would you have done that though if I wasn’t there?” she asked.
“No, I would have stayed and fought.”
“So I was the disadvantage,” she said sadly.
He replied firmly, “No it was the situation not you. My job is to keep you safe.”
She shook her head still not convinced.
“Look at me Ally.”
She looked up and was greeted by warm eyes filled with love and concern. “You once asked me if I was a bodyguard. Do you remember?”
“How could I forget?”
“I am a bodyguard Ally, yours,” he said with conviction. “I will keep you safe at all costs, I don’t care and if it means running away that is what I will do, every time.”
“No you won’t,” she replied. “We both know that when the time comes, you must let me face a battle on my own no matter the cost. My safety won’t be the number one priority. Fulfilling the prophecy will be the goal.”
He knew that it would one day come to that, but he intended for her to be completely prepared. He would not sit back and watch his soulmate die. But this was now, and they needed to focus on the task at hand, not the future battles.
“We need to stay focused on the problems of now, we can deal with the prophecy when it comes, but know this Ally, I won’t lose you, damn the consequences.”
Ally was touched. How could she not be, hearing that he loved her so much? But he would see in time that it was bigger than them.
“How do we test my reflexes?” she asked.
He held his hand up and opened his palm face up.
“Watch my hand,” he said, as a ball of white light appeared hovering slightly above his palm.
She looked on in amazement. “How did you do that?”
“I will explain it later when you have the ability. This is just a harmless ball of light. We can create fireballs, running with the theory that the vampires now have our abilities, you will need to know how to dodge them.”
She shook her head in confusion. “How am I supposed to dodge a fireball?”
“Instinct,” he said simply then continued. “I’m going to throw this at you, it won’t hurt. Try and dodge it,” he said.
She simply shrugged and said, “I will try.”
He gave her no warning and threw the ball straight at her heart, which is where the vampires would aim, for an immortal it would wound them, for a human it would be lethal.
She instinctively threw her hand up and the ball of light bounced off to hit the wall and dissolve into nothing. James stared blankly at what he had just seen, his mouth was hanging open slightly and his mind was racing with questions.
“How did you do that?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she answ
ered, unsure of what was so interesting. “I just reacted instinctively. I didn’t really think about it.”
He threw another one without warning and she held up her hand with the same result.
“What the hell was that for,” she squealed.
“An experiment,” he said, turning the information over in his mind. “That shouldn’t happen; it should just dissolve into nothing the second it comes into contact with something. It just bounced right off you,” he said, rubbing his chin in thought.
“Would the same thing happen with a fireball?” she asked.
“I don’t know and we aren’t finding out,” he said with a firmness that indicated he wouldn’t discuss it further.
She rolled her eyes. “Think of what we could do if it did. The vampires would never see it coming.”
He saw the excitement forming in her eyes.
“Not a chance, lass.”
She called his bluff and said, “If you don’t do it then I will find someone else that will.”
He loved her attitude but it wasn’t worth the risk, “I will kill anyone that tries.”
“No you won’t,” she said defiantly.
He looked at her and she realised that he actually would.
“Ok so you would, but consider the possibilities. What if you aim it off to the side of me that way we won’t cause any damage?”
“Except to my house,” he said dryly.
She looked around. “That’s true. ” She thought a moment, then said, “The balcony.”
“No Ally, I’m not doing it.”
She could feel the anger rising inside her, she was the one at a disadvantage and he was holding back! This might be an amazing discovery they stumbled upon and he wouldn’t test the theory. The vampires would be waiting for him to aim at them. If the immortals could aim at her and she could deflect them, it would be the surprise attack they needed. She was getting angrier by the minute.
She held her palm up. “This isn’t fair James, you can do this cool fireball thing.” Her voice was getting higher with each word, the anger rising with every breath, “and I might be able to deflect it and possibly save my own life and you won’t even test the theory,” she practically spat the last word at him.
Immortal Prophecy (The Immortal Prophecy Saga) Page 22
