Immortal Fate

by Adams, Samantha

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  She walked towards the sea of vampires. Her skin crawled being surrounded by so much evil. Vincent stood with his arms crossed, never taking his gaze of her. He radiated power as strong as he had the night that Natalia had been killed. Ally came to halt right in front of him. “Call them off,” she demanded.

  He raised an eyebrow. “No. I’m not a lap dog at your beck and call, Princess.”

  “This is between you and me,” Ally said and stood her ground. “Things have changed. This isn’t about the god damn prophecy anymore.”

  He uncrossed his arms and took a step closer to her. “If you want me to call them off then leave with me now.”

  “You know I can’t.”

  “Not can’t,” he challenged. “Won’t.”

  “It’s the same result in the end, so what does it matter.”

  His arm snaked around her waist with lightning speed. He pulled her against his body, sending a shiver through her. “I know you still feel what lies between us.”

  She didn’t answer. Couldn’t.

  “No?” he asked. “Then why can I feel your pulse beating harder. The slight tremble running through you wherever I touch you. Your lips ache for mine. Your blood heats with unfulfilled desire. You still want me. You still love me.” He was an inch from her mouth. Her throat ran dry. Familiar heat warmed her body that she couldn’t push aside. Her body burned for his. She wanted his kiss still. “Just say yes.”

  “Yes,” she whispered breathlessly.

  His mouth crushed hers with a fierce possession. He devoured her. He still owned Alessandra.

  James’ fists curled tighter and tighter the closer she got to him. He knew that he should just turn away now. Anyone could see what was coming. She’d made her choice, but part of him wanted to believe that he still had a chance. He felt the pity around him. He didn’t want their damn pity. He just wanted them to go.

  His eyes never left her once.

  He was touching her!

  No, Ally. Don’t. Please.

  Vincent kissed her and she responded. The bottom fell out of his world. She’d made her choice. She’d chosen Vincent.

  And then all hell broke loose.

  “Alright, Madison,” she gave her a daughter a quick hug. “Now it’s up to us to make sure these vile creatures don’t storm the place. I’ve got an idea. We need to let the immortals get to the vampires to kill them, but we need to keep the vampires out.”

  Madison eyes swept over the sea of vampires. A tremor raced through her. The emotions threatening to suffocate her. Ally, James and Vincent were an emotional nuclear weapon that she could feel on the verge of exploding. A hand on hers brought her back to the present. “Madison,” he mother spoke softly. “I know it’s hard but you have to block them out. The emotions they’re feeling will destroy you if you don’t.”

  “They’re so strong!”

  “I know, We can all feel it. I know that it’s worse for you. But they need us now. Every single person down there is counting on us to keep them safe. Without our magic, they will die.”

  Madison shook her shoulders out then gave her mother a determined nod. “I’ve got this.”

  “You yes do, sweetie.”

  “Now let’s bring out the fire tigers to start with then whatever else we can conjure up.”

  Madison smiled and joined her hand with her mother’s as they began the incantation in unison to wake the tigers from their eternal slumber.

  “Fire Tigers we call to thee,

  We need your help to set us free,

  Guard us in our time of need,

  And help us to complete this deed.”

  Deep roars echoed from the beneath the ground as it began to shudder and quake. The tigers were coming. They pounced from within the ground, landing with a crack in front of the manor. Flames danced and twirled around them, as if moulded from the very fires of hell. More warning roars sounded to the vampires as they paced back and forth before coming to halt. One stood on each corner, with the third standing before the immortals on the terrace behind them.

  The vampires eyed the tigers warily. It was obvious to all that none of them wanted to take on a fire tiger. But they had orders, so the first line advanced.

  The tigers lazily moved forward and pounced with graceful power on each one, turning them into nothing but ash.

  “Come on let’s bring up a dragon or two,” Arabella instructed her daughter. “If the tigers are making them nervous, then two dragons should do the trick nicely.”

  They called the dragons using the same chant.

  “Fire dragons we call to thee,

  We need your help to set us free,

  Guard us in our time of need,

  And help complete this awful deed.”

  Again the ground rumbled and quaked but with more force. The vampires looked at each other. They knew whatever was coming wasn’t going to bode well for them. Two dragons taller than the manor rose on either side of the house. An ear splitting screech filled the air. Then the dragons started breathing fire all over the remaining vampires. The smell of burning flesh burnt their noses and made their eyes water, but seeing the vampires defeated and the few remaining ones scattering into the night made everyone cry out ecstatically. All except for James. His gaze was fixated on Ally and Vincent.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Ally pulled herself out of his arms, breaking the kiss when the first earth rumbling roar cut through the earth. She glanced back at the manor and stared in shock at the fire dragons coming out of the ground. Vincent pulled her attention back to him.

  “How does the story end Alessandra?”

  “I don’t know.” She whispered back.

  “Then let me tell you. It ends with my redemption.”

  He pulled her into his arms for one last kiss, pouring every drop of love that he felt for her in to it. He savoured the final moments.

  Alessandra knew what he wanted her to do when she felt the cool blade being slipped into her palm. She had made her choice, but every part of her rebelled at the thought of what she was about to do. “Keep your eyes closed.” She whispered against his mouth, the tears falling freely down her cheek. She drew the dagger back and forced her leaden limbs to move. With one swift movement, she drove the dagger into his heart. His eyes flew open as he fell to his knees and he drank in the final sight of her. She let go and stepped back with her hands over her mouth. A torrent of tears and sobs escaping her.

  “I’m sorry,” Ally whispered and fell to her knees in front of him.

  “This is my atonement, Alessandra.”

  She stroked her cheek. “Alessandra will always love you. You own her remember.”

  He smiled weakly. “She owns me too.”

  “Forever.”

  “Forever.”

  And then he was gone. Nothing but ash and the dagger remained.

  She fell to the ground and let Alessandra grieve for the love that was never meant to be. Her stolen moment in time.

  Chapter Forty

  “I’ve missed this place,” Ally said looking around at the waterfall that had come to be their special place. Her eyes focussed on the little tree that still grew out of the water. Her little tree as she’d come to think of it. Her gaze moved to the man sitting beside her, his expression dark and brooding. “James?”

  “I have to know,” he blurted out. “I can’t spend forever wondering who you wanted, whether I was second best. Did you kill him because you wanted to or because you had to?”

  “I had to kill him, James.” She answered. “There was never a question of that.”

  He hung his head. “Well I guess I have my answer then.”

  “No, you think you do but you don’t.” She turned her body towards him. “Killing Vincent was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. I’m not a killer by nature. It was always going to be hard. But things changed between us.” She let out a groan then stood up and started to pace. “This is so hard to talk abo
ut with you. I want you to understand but I don’t want to say anything about him, because I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “I’d rather hear the unabridged truth, Ally. Imagine I’m Kat or something.”

  “Bit of a stretch to imagine that.” She gave him a small smile.

  “Stop avoiding. You know what I meant.”

  “Yes I do. Alright, here goes. This wasn’t part of his plan. He never meant for me or for him to fall in love. I was the flaw in the plan that he never saw coming. I resisted for as long as I could, but there was something about him that intrigued and fascinated. I knew that he was a bad man. He made no secret of that. He told me what he was and what I was. I think that we both had something that the other was attracted to and never experienced before. It was heady and dark and it pulled us in before we really knew what had happened.

  “It started with your mother, James. I saw inside his mind and I know that she was his soulmate. What they had was what we shared. It was love. But his arrogance and pride got in the way. He couldn’t get beyond himself to be what she needed and because of that he lost her. But know this James, you were created in one of the strongest bonds I’ve ever felt. I think that I reminded him of her in a way. He never forgot her. He tried to but he couldn’t. And then I came along. I wasn’t scared of him when I knew that I should have been. I fought him and challenged him. That’s how and where it all started for him. It was a physical and mental connection. For me, I had just lost you. I know that I may not have known that but my heart knew that it was broken without you. The darkness in him appealed to me in a way that scared me. The ruthlessness that was part of who he was, should have turned me off, but god help anyone when that ruthless gaze is turned on you. He wanted me and he was willing to do anything it took to have me. That is a hard thing to resist. I should have walked away from the temptation, memories or not, but I didn’t. And somewhere that passion turned to love.

  “You’ve been alive for over three hundred years. You have lived. I hadn’t. I’d always done what I was supposed to. Never did anything reckless or followed my heart and my passion. When my parents died, my heart turned to ice. My blood ran cold in my veins. I wasn’t living. Then you walked into my life and you chipped away at my heart until the ice cracked and I wasn’t scared anymore. But I was still doing what I knew was the right thing. With him, It felt good, but I knew deep down somewhere that it was wrong. And that made me want it all the more in the end.

  “What I felt for him was real though, and with him I lived. I was reckless. I gave in to temptation. I felt alive. But he was like a drug. I only felt alive when I was with him.

  “I could have turned my back on everyone and chosen him. That was my choice. But I didn’t. I’ve hurt you since I came back and I am so sorry. But I had to be sure about the choice that I was making. So now I know a few things. And these are the things that I know:

  “The world we live in is not black and white. Our moral compass won’t always swing to true north and that’s okay too. Without the temptation of something else, how can we know what path we really want to follow. None of us are all that is good and none of us are all that is bad. We are both. The hero can be a villain and the villain can become a hero. But what really matters is what we do after. That’s what really counts and that is what shows us who we really are.”

  James watched her intently the whole time she spoke, not interrupting, just listening until she hesitated and he caught the worry in her eyes. “Go on, Ally. Please.”

  She took a deep breath and nodded before continuing. “He changed me, James. I’m not the same girl you met when I was sixteen. I’m not the same woman that you met five years later when my life was upended. I’m not even the same woman that I was before my memories were stolen. But throughout that, no matter how I change, one thing will always be true and unbreakable. My love for you. James, I chose you freely.” She sat down and took her hands in his. “It’s always been you, James.”

  James pulled her into his arms and kissed her. “It’s always been you too, Ally.” He pulled her engagement ring out of his pocket and held it up for her to see. She gasped. “I thought I’d lost it! Where did you find it?”

  “Arabella took it off your hand and brought it to us. I’ve been keeping it safe for you.” He took her hand and slipped the ring onto her finger. “Do you still want to marry me, Ally?”

  “With all my heart, James.”

  Epilogue

  The view from her room never failed to take her breath away. Even on a day as incredible as this one, it melted away any remaining tension or sadness that she had felt the last few months since Vincent’s death and her kidnapping. All that was left over was incredible joy and an unparalleled sense of peace. She’d survived. Fulfilled the prophecy and learnt things about herself from the most unlikely source that had changed her ways that she’d never thought possible. But she’d always be grateful to Vincent and for her stolen moment.

  The snow fell in a whisper and covered the mountains in a white fluffy blanket. It reminded her of the day she had arrived in Glencoe with James and Adele. They had put her on a plane unconscious to get her out of Melbourne and away from the clutches of Vincent. She’d been utterly furious at the time, but now she could look back on it with a smile.

  Had she been them, she could now acknowledge that she would have done the exact same thing. She was a difficult girl and a chuckle escaped her lips as she realised it was the only way they could have gotten her to leave.

  The relationship she shared with James had gotten off to a very rocky start and if it wasn’t for his persistence and then his undying loyalty, love and understanding she didn’t know if they’d even be where they were today, soulmates or not.

  He’d given her the choice about him and he’d been there by her side providing whatever it was that she had needed, and proving his life by making the ultimate sacrifice. He loved her enough, that he would’ve let her go had she chosen Vincent. Their relationship had been put to the ultimate test and they’d survived. Been stronger for it.

  Her thoughts turned to the night she’d read his mother’s diary. The courage and heartbreak she had endured shone through the diary entries that she had read. James was incredibly lucky to have a mother like that, even if he never had the chance to meet her.

  But Ally had a surprise for James after the wedding. She hoped that it would heal some of the hurt and soothe his soul in a small way.

  A wave of excitement stole through her at the thought. There were so many things to be grateful for.

  A knock on the door broke into her thoughts.

  “It’s just me,” Damian called out through the door.

  “Come in Gramps,” she replied.

  He opened the door and started to walk in. His eyes landed on Ally and the sight stopped him in his tracks. “You look beautiful,” he said as his eyes misted with unshed tears.

  “It’s the dress,” she said and turned to the mirror beside her to examine it again. She ran her hand down the length of the delicate silver embroidered lace that overlay the ivory satin underneath. It clung to her curves and fell down to cover her white satin heels, with a long train flowing behind. Her hand moved up to touch her hair, confirming it was all still in place. The gentle curls fell over her shoulders and down her back. Half of them secured up with a diamond encrusted clip that had belonged to her mother. “No it’s you, my brave and beautiful granddaughter.” He walked closer and drew her into his arms, careful not to crush the dress. “Your parents would have been so proud of you.”

  Tears filled her eyes. “Thank you,” she replied. “I wish they were here.”

  “Me too,” he whispered solemnly. “Me too.”

  He let go and took a step back. “Are you ready to marry that little brother of mine?”

  Her face lit up with happiness and she nodded. “Yeah I am.”

  Damian held his arm out and she took it gratefully. “Then let’s go.”

  They walked out the room, through t
he house out the back door onto the terrace where a white carpet of flowers awaited them. She lowered her head, took a deep breath and then took the first step towards the rest of eternity with the man she loved.

  Hushed whispers, murmurs and gasps filled her ears. Her eyes scanned the large crowd of people, but she couldn’t see the alter or anyone she knew until the turned around the corner.

  “Who are all these people?” She asked Damian.

  “The immortals,” he replied with pride and a wink.

  Ally frowned. “You mean the immortals that were in hiding?”

  He nodded and patted her hand gently. “You brought them back, Ally.”

  The astonishment shone on her face and she shook her head slightly in disbelief. In that moment, they turned the corner and there he was…

  James.

  The entire crowd of immortals melted away. She didn’t hear anything or see anyone from that point on. Every part of her being was focused on her soulmate waiting for her.

  His face glowed with absolute joy and his trademark half smile made her melt as always.

  She reached him, and Damian handed her over with a kiss on her cheek and placing her hand in James.

  “So beautiful,” James whispered to her reverently.

  She beamed and felt the warm rush of love spread throughout her body.

  Ally barely heard what the minister said, but at the crucial moment she remembered to repeat the vows that she spoke with clarity and with love.

  “I Alessandra, take you, James to be my husband, my partner in life and my one true love. I will cherish our union and love you more each day than I did the day before. I will trust you and respect you, laugh with you and cry with you, loving you faithfully through good times and bad, regardless of the obstacles we may face together. I give you my hand, my heart, and my love, forever.”