The Kingdom of the Nine; The Vampire Legacy IV

by Dawn Gray

  10

  Julian stepped into the light of the small room that I sat in and smiled down at me.

  “These are his.” I whispered, touching the book in my lap gently with the tips of my fingers. “These are Larado's prophecies, aren't they?”

  “Yes, and it seems they called you right to them.” Julian knelt down on the floor beside me and looked at the page that I had the book open to. “Have you found anything interesting?”

  “Several things.” I whispered and flipped the page again, finding the one about a young woman, who was the barer of a child that held vampire blood that was to battle evil with two other people. “Okay, I've noticed something strange about all of these that I've read.” I said and looked at Julian, who was just sitting down on the floor. “There all a triangle, three sides, or involving three people. With this first one, the one with the Queen, it was her, her son, and someone who would be a protector, battling whatever evil there is, the second one, the light, the dark, and the heart, is obviously three people. It's all one big threesome.”

  Julian smiled. “You're the first to ever figure that out so quickly. Larado believed that the power of three people was the strongest because of the aspects of it. In religion there's always the Father, the Son and, the Holy Ghost, the same power of three that seems to be in Larado's Prophecies.”

  “So, where am I?” I asked, looking up at him. Julian looked at the wall, then back at me as if he hadn't heard me.

  “What do you mean?” He questioned. I smiled and shook my head.

  “The one about me, where is it?”

  “What makes you think that there's one about you?” He asked, innocently.

  “Why am I here?” I inquired. “Why would I come back to a house, after so many years, if not to fulfill a prophecy that my ancestor dreamt up?”

  “You're too smart for your own good.” He whispered as the humor seemed to fade from his face.

  “I know.” I smirked and flipped through the pages of the book, and then I started to slow down as I moved through the yellowed brittle pages of this strange novel, and it was when I stopped on a page that held the symbol of three connected rings of gold, each with a stone of a different color. Blue, green and brown. I looked up at the fright in Julian's eyes as we looked over this page and I nodded. “This is it, isn't it?” This is the prophecy.”

  “Yes.” He whispered and I could feel his eyes watching me as I read through this interesting poem. I stopped and looked up at him.

  “Again, with the power of three?” I asked. Julian nodded. I studied the page; images came to me. I looked at the symbol at the top of the page as I said the words that were stuck in my head, aloud. “An Earthly brown, a soul is found, as skies are blue, whose powers are true, and seas are green, to fight forces unseen. This doesn't make any sense.”

  “What's the matter?” I looked up at him, at the worry in his eyes, but I wasn't sure if he was worried about what didn't make sense to me, or if he was worried that I had figured it out.

  “These people, they're us.” I whispered.

  “I know, or at least, I know about you and me.” He replied, lowering his gaze to the floor. “The blue and green, they're our eye colors.”

  “Yes, I know that, and I know who the brown belongs too.”

  “Who?”

  “It doesn't matter now, but what does is that there's a fourth person involved.” I whispered. Julian looked at me, as if to tell me I were crazy, but I think the look in my eyes told him that I knew exactly what I was talking about.

  “But, he does everything in threes.”

  “Not this time, there are clearly four people involved.”

  “Okay, where, because I've gone over this thing hundreds of times before you came home.” he asked.

  “Here!” I said, pointing to the words I had just said aloud.

  He shook his head and closed his eyes. “I don't see it.”

  “Julian, it's right there.” I sighed, and then turned the book so that he could see it. “Listen, it tells you who is involved, by the color of our eyes. You, me and our third, but what looks like descriptions of us, is really telling me that there is someone else. A soul is found, whose powers are true, to fight forces unseen. We won't know who this person is until we fight whatever evil spirit is out there.”

  “We're not fighting anything.” He said, sternly.

  “Oh, come on, Jules; don't pull this stuff on me now.” I sighed, rolling my eyes, as I closed the book, got up and placed it back on the shelf.

  “I'm just worried about your safety.” He whispered. I leaned down, and kissed him on the forehead as he looked up at me.

  “I know you are, and I'm grateful for it, but it's going to come true, whether or not you decide to fight.” I replied and walked over to the door, and then I turned back to him. “Are you still coming to check on me later?”

  “In a little while.” Julian answered, looking up at me. I smiled, nodded and left the room, quietly.

  I never made it to see Julian come in the room. My mind had been in such an overload the last few days that as soon as I hit the pillow, it decided to shut down.

  11

  It was just after sunrise when I opened my eyes and looked at Julian, who slept peacefully beside me, and then I stretched out the sleepiness from my body, before I flipped the covers off and got out of bed.

  I dressed quickly, but quietly, in a long black skirt, and a soft purple top, then slipped on a pair of soft-soled shoes and left the room, leaving the door open a crack. I could smell the coffee from the kitchen, and the scent of the cinnamon buns that flowed from the oven, as I walked into the room. Pamela, the head cook in the morning, handed me a cup of coffee and told me that breakfast would be within the hour, and served in the breakfast room, towards the front of the house.

  I smiled, thanked her for the coffee, and walked out of the room. As I strolled through the halls of this house, I stopped in one of the small rooms that Julian used to entertain potential clients for whatever business he was in at the time, and I had learned that he had several occupations over the last few decades. His latest was an advertising agency, which was very successful.

  As I stood, looking out the window in the almost bare room, I felt a presence behind me, which made me turn and look at the man in the doorway.

  Nick stood there, droopy-eyes and calm, in a pair of snug black jeans and a black T-shirt, with his hands in his jeans pockets.

  “I know, I shouldn't be wondering around alone.” I said, softly, watching his expression, which didn't change. “But, what can I say, I don't listen.”

  “I didn't say anything.” He replied.

  “But, you wanted too.” I smiled and moved closer to him, setting the coffee cup down on an end table. Nick rubbed his chin and came further into the room.

  “What are you doing up so early?” I asked, smiling. “I thought vampires were more of an afternoon society.”

  “Well, when the sun rises, so do I.” He replied. I watched him study my face for a few moments, as he stopped several feet from me, then he gave me a bit of a smile. “You might as well ask whatever it is you’re going to.”

  “What are you talking about?” I asked, glancing away, then back at him.

  “The question that's written all over your face.” He said, quietly. “Ask it, before I choose not to answer.”

  “Fine.” I said, softly, and then thought a moment about how to word it before I just decided to let it out. “We're linked, you and I.”

  “Yes, we are.” He replied.

  “Julian told me that you gave me your blood to save my life, but he didn't go into detail about why you felt you had to do it, or why the link is there, after all this time.” I walked over and sat down on one of the cushioned chairs in the room and watched Nick stand there, his thoughtful, but hard, brown eyes stared me down for a long moment before he cleared his throat.

  “A link, like ours, is powerful. It won't ever go away. We'll be linked for the rest
of your mortal life.” He whispered, loud enough so that I could hear it. “It will fade when we're apart and grow strong again when we come together.”

  “So, this is why I never felt fear around you.” I asked. Nick nodded and looked towards the windows. “Exactly what happened between us to make it this way?”

  There was a short period of odd silence between us before he began to speak.

  “Julian had gone on a business trip, out of the country. I guess he never expected you to come down, so, he didn't feel the need to stay around.” I watched Nick's eyes cloud over as he turned to look at me. “It was storming, as it did most August nights, and the rain was heavy and cold. I was here with Quinn, Michael, and David, standing in the sitting room, looking out the windows, when I watched someone walk by. I had a strange feeling it was you; just by the way you walked. So, I decided to follow you to see where you were off to in such a hurry, and why you were down here, alone, in the first place.

  “You went out to the rocks, on the other side of the beach, and, by the way you were acting, it was my belief that you didn't know what you were doing.” He sat down on the chair across from me, leaned forward and put his elbows on his legs as he watched me. I put my head back against the chair and closed my eyes, letting the sound of his voice fill my senses. “From where I was standing, I could see everything, including the bruises and the blood that was on your face. You were crying, mumbling on about something, and then you screamed. It was something that made me want to cover my ears and run from it, but I couldn't because I could feel the pain you were in.

  “My footing slipped, which made you turn from the water towards me and I watched you look at me with such horror on your face and in your eyes that I felt like killing the person that did that to you, because I knew you couldn't really see me from where you were standing.” I opened my eyes as Nick's voice muffled a bit, and I watched him put his head down. I knew he had no clue that I was looking at him. “You said a name that I didn't recognize, and that I don't remember, then you started to scream at the sky, with your eyes opened and your arms spread wide, and I watched you with such fascination and it made me realize, in that second, exactly what Julian was so attracted to. You held a power in you that just radiated, but I was caught off guard, and as the lightning struck so close to you, I watched you lose your balance.”

  He looked up suddenly and stared me right in the eyes, but, then I noticed the strange distant look in his, as if he weren't really seeing me right then. Slowly, his lids drifted closed and his lips moved as the words started to flow, again.

  “I watched, as if I were watching a movie, as you fell off the rock you had been standing on, down to the ones below it, and it took me only a second, but what felt like an eternity, to move down by your side. You were bleeding, severely, from the back of your head, and I knew at least some of your body was broken, so, I made a choice, a quick one, without any thought and I opened a vein in my arm and made you drink, because you weren't dead, yet.” He opened his eyes and looked at me, directly into my eyes and he sighed. “It took a few minutes for it to start working, and by then I had managed to carry you most of the way back to the house before the loss of blood started to affect me. Quinn came out, with Michael not far behind, and he took you and brought you in, while Mike helped me.”

  “You told Julian that I was attacked. He said that it was unusual for you to care about a person who didn't serve some usefulness to you.” I whispered, keeping my voice low.

  “This was true, then.” He replied and stood up, crossing his arms as he paced the floor.

  “Why me, then, why did I deserve so much loyalty from you?” I asked. Nick looked at me as I slowly got out of the chair.

  “You embodied everything I ever wanted to have in a woman, but could never have, and it was still that way when I got here, because Julian had you, and Creolas wanted you, too, which made it my responsibility to protect you, because, even if I couldn't have you, you were still in very real danger from other things.” He answered, honestly.

  “What about Connie? What about now?” I asked. He sighed and shook his head.

  “While you were something I desired, she was something I could have, and at first I was with her to be near you, but then I started to love her, and it turned out that I wanted her, just as much, if not more than you.” He replied and shook his head. “Right now, I came back here to protect you, because my brother had also returned. I hadn't realized the effect it would have on me, feeling our link again, and I also didn't count on my cousin being so much more protective.”

  He smiled at me as I walked closer to him, a genuine smile that made me smile back, but as I reached out and touched his arm, a shock blasted threw my body and images flashed through my mind. I suddenly felt strong arms around me holding me up as I struggled to breathe.

  “Tell me what you see!” Nick said, softly, in my ear. I felt his breath on my face as he leaned close to me but I was unable to see him, through the haze around my eyes. “Caitlyn, you have to try. It's the only way.”

  “I remember,” I started, struggling to get the words out, “that night, I remember why I came here.” The warmth spread through me as he sat down and held me close on his lap. I placed my hand flat against his chest, feeling his heart beating. “My father came to see me, which he did every six months or so, and took me to a place close to here, to show me his new beach house. I asked him why he couldn't take me; if he had so much money to waste on a new house, why couldn't he take back something that was supposed to mean more to him then money. He got mad and smacked me across the face, then began to tell me about my mother, about how worthless she was, and what a slut, and that's when I went after him. I don't know where it came from, but I held a lamp in my hands and I threw it at him, but it missed.”

  I could feel the hot tears streaming down my face as I told him my story, trying to keep the picture clear as I went along.

  “There were things that happened next, that seem a little fuzzy, but I know that there was glass breaking and fists flying, mainly towards me, and that’s when I had to get out, when he had me pinned against the wall, his face close enough to mine that all I saw was a blur and all I could think about was Creolas and his advances.” I took in a deep breath and let it out, slowly, feeling my lungs shudder as I did. “I thought I had killed him when I slammed the wine bottle down over his head, but I didn't care, I just wanted to get away, and I did. The first place I thought of was the rocks, because of my recent thought of Creolas, and I knew that my father would never find me there, and that's all I remember. The rest is a blur, after leaving the house, but I do remember waking up in this house, and seeing you, Quinn and Michael standing around my bed, discussing the effects the blood you gave me would have on me, but then I faded out again.”

  Slowly, as my eyes cleared, I looked up into his face and saw those brown eyes looking back at me. They looked soft and full of emotions as he held me across his lap, close to him. I reached up and touched his cheek, which made him close his eyes and I could almost feel the desperate need to get away from my touch, but he rested his head down against mine and closed his eyes, tighter.

  “You're the third.” I whispered to him, and then felt him nod. “You do realize that, don't you?”

  “I've known for several years now.” He whispered back. “I've also had my suspicions that there was someone else involved, like you suggested to Julian last night.”

  “You were spying on me?” I asked, smiling, but I closed my eyes and just listened to him breathing.

  “I watched you leave your room, alone.” He answered. “And, you know how I am by now.”

  “Yes, always the protector.” I whispered, and then felt the sudden grogginess that you usually feel after a good cry and slowly, I drifted to sleep in his arms.

  It seemed like only minutes, but it must have been awhile later that I opened my eyes, just a bit, to see that I was sitting on the floor in Nick's arms, and I could tell by the slow, evenness of his
breathing that he, too, was asleep. I closed my eyes, not yet ready to move from my comfortable spot, and relaxed again, but that was when I heard the footsteps in the room.

  “What the hell?” Julian's voice sounded confused and I'm sure he was, by the scene that the two of us created, asleep on the floor in a secluded room. I could feel Nick shake as Julian kicked his foot. “Hey! Hey, Nick!” I felt Nick stir and his head lifted from mine, but I kept my eyes closed to see what was going to happen between them. Nick let out a breath; close to my ear and, I'm assuming, he looked up at Julian. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  “Keep your voice down, she's still sleeping.” Nick ordered and I tried not to act to surprised when he stood, lifting me up with him and brought me over to one of the large chairs, which he set me down in.

  I felt him place the throw over me and hear him move towards Julian. I opened my eyes, knowing that they would be too preoccupied with themselves to know I was watching and I saw Nick walk by Julian without a word. This seemed to be their downfall, that they were such rivals that they couldn't come to terms with the fact that they had to work together, but then I watched him stop, just passed Julian's right side and he stood up straight. Julian, shocked by the sudden actions of his cousin, turned a bit to look at Nick.

  “She asked me about our link.”

  “So.” Julian replied, and I heard Nick sigh, then pause, as if debating on whether to attempt to continue or not.

  “I told her what I knew, and then she broke down.” Nick turned to Julian, looking him in the eyes. “She almost fainted, and needed help to get passed it.”

  “I suppose you helped her.” Julian replied, crossing his arms.

  “I tried.” He sighed, and put his hands on his hips. “I'm not going to hurt her, Julian; I wish you would see that.” But, I think the fact that Nick called him by his name and didn't just refer to him as his cousin made Julian stop and think. “I'm here to protect her from whatever it is that's coming back and you know that it is.”