Prophecy: Caelestis & Aurorea Read Online Free Page B

me. The Chosen Daughter of our house is far away in America. We have not heard from her in some time.” He leaned back, running his eyes over her while she busied herself with smoothing a patch of her trousers. She looked as though she was having as much trouble speaking as he was. It was strange to find himself working with the one who had killed his sire, but at the same time it seemed right, as though his place was at her side.
    “I’m the Chosen Daughter of my bloodline. I’m um … a Caelestis … I didn’t know if you knew.”
    “I knew.”
    “Oh. It’s strange. I can’t keep track of who knows what about me any more. There was a time when I knew nothing, possibly less than you did before you met me. Arkalus, the man who was the Chosen Son of my family, planted false memories in my mind to stop me from realising that I’m aging.”
    He sat up and frowned at her. This was news.
    “Aging? But you’re a vampire,” he said and looked her over again before taking a deep breath. Her scent told him she was without question a vampire, but then she did have the ability to control magic.
    “My mother was a witch. She was turned when pregnant with me and when I was born, she sacrificed herself and passed all her powers to me. As a result, I’m part human. Valentine believes that I’m mostly vampire and that’s what I believe too. He says that my aging and magic are my only human qualities.” She smiled briefly. “I said it was complicated.”
    “I hadn’t been told the full extent of matters regarding you. We were told what we needed to know and then asked to swear our allegiance to you or leave. Some of us left, but most have sworn to help you. I will occasionally contact the guards I left at the castle. When the time arises to go to war, they will join us.” He could see the gratitude in her eyes even if she couldn’t voice it.
    There was a hint of relief in them. He knew that she had taken the loss of the werewolves badly and that she carried the weight of all those deaths, werewolf and Tenebrae alike, on her conscience. If there was a way to relieve her of that burden, he would have done it, but all he could do was bide his time and let her come to live with it.
    “You said this Arkalus was the Chosen Son of your house. What happened to him?” he asked.
    Her expression turned dark.
    “He decided that he could no longer wait for the passing of our master, Iona, and killed her. Although he wanted to rule the house, there was something deeper behind his reason for murdering her and taking her place. He wanted to rule my heart, too.” A flicker of hurt and anger shone in her eyes before she turned her head away from him and stared out of the window.
    It seemed to him that wherever she went, she captured men’s hearts. First, her family’s Chosen Son, and then the Aurorea she was now searching for. He had tested her during their journey and judging by the way she reacted to his treatment of Valentine’s name, she was in love with him.
    Or at least she thought she was.
    He wondered if he could change that.
    Her anger and the way she’d wrapped her arms about herself told him that she hadn’t wanted the attentions of Arkalus and the very idea of it repulsed her. He would bide his time and see what could be done about changing her mind about her feelings for Valentine.
    He cocked his head to one side when she sighed and toyed with her amulet.
    She was thinking about him again.
    “I do not condone in-house killing unless it is absolutely necessary. To do it for power alone should be forbidden,” he said and she raised her head.
    “There are too many forbidden things these days,” she said with a spark of fire in her eyes.
    He looked her over. “Like dissolution of the bloodlines?”
    She didn’t say anything. Her eyes narrowed into dark slits and she held his gaze for a moment before looking away.
    There was something familiar about her.
    He grinned when it clicked into place inside his head like