Immortal Destiny (The Immortal Prophecy Saga) (8 page)

James picked Ally up and ran with immortal speed to the bedroom. He gently placed her on the bed and began to pack all their things. He moved so fast, he was simply a blur so Ally stopped trying to watch him and lay back on the bed and closed her eyes.

She heard his phone ringing and a muttered curse slipped from James mouth.

“Who is it?” she asked.

“Chase.”

“Well, answer it.”

James scowled as he answered. “Chase.”

“James, I’ve got a lead on one of the elder council members.”

His drew his eyebrows together. “Where and how?”

“London. He bears the mark, and get this— he’s actually known as ‘The Warrior’ around here.”

James wanted to believe that fate had just handed them a twist of good luck, but he was hesitant to believe it. “How did you find him?”

“Long story,” Chase said. “But look, you’ve gotta come and talk to him now!”

They did need to get out of here and maybe taking a detour on the way back wasn’t such a bad idea. “Where are you staying?”

“The Savoy.”

“Alright, we’ll be there tomorrow,” James said and put the phone down.

“Be where?” Ally asked.

“It seems Chase has found our Warrior, so we’re going to London on the way home.”

Ally sucked in a deep breath. “Really? How does he know it’s him?”

James sat down on the bed beside her and filled her in on the details he knew.

“Wow,” she said. “Maybe things are looking up?”

“I hope so,” he replied with a weary sigh. “Are you ready to go?”

Ally nodded. He stood up and held out his hand to help her up. She wrapped her arms around him and held him. “Thank you, James.”

“For what?” he asked puzzled.

“Keeping me safe and taking care of me. I know finding another flower wasn’t in the plan and things have taken a turn for the worse, but you didn’t even hesitate. The danger found us and you’re taking me out of here.”

“Of course I am, little one.” He kissed her forehead. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

He picked up the bags and led the way to the beach, where they would drive the boat back to the mainland and catch a plane from there. Two hours later, Ally sat in her seat on the private plane and snuggled into the man beside her.

“Get some sleep,” he whispered.

She nodded and complied with the request. She had a feeling she was going to need it.

Chapter Ten

The black cab pulled up in front of The Savoy, and Ally and James stepped out. Ally looked at the grand building in front of her. “Very nice,” she said over her shoulder to James.

He smiled as he escorted her inside. “You call Chase, and I’ll book us a room.”

“Alright,” she said distractedly, looking around the stunning lobby. James handed her his phone breaking the trance. She took it and dialled.

“We’re here,” she said into the phone.

“What’s your room number?”

“Uh, dunno. James is booking the room. Hold on.” Ally walked over to James and brushed his arm with her hand. “What’s our room number?”

“Top floor,” he replied.

Ally looked confused. “Okay…”

“Top floor apparently, Chase.”

“I’ll meet you there in ten minutes,” he said and ended the call.

She turned and saw James coming toward her and she sighed in appreciation.

“What did he say?”

“He’s going to meet us at the room.”

“Well, we better find it then,” he said with a smile and put his arm around her. “This way I believe.”

James led her over to the waiting elevator and walked inside. He pressed the button, and it began its steady climb to the top.

Ally looked at the panel and her eyes widened at the sight of the button that was lit up. “The penthouse, James?”

James glanced at her mischievously. “Only the best for you, my darling.”

“Yeah, but the
penthouse
…” She glanced around excitedly. “I could get used to this.”

The elevator stopped with a ping and the doors opened to a short cream hallway with a purple velvet antique bench seat on the side of the wall. She grabbed the key card and raced ahead to open the white and gold double doors. James watched her running off excitedly and felt his mouth stretch into a grin.

Ally opened the doors and exhaled as she took in the huge room. “This is amazing !”

James followed her inside, put their luggage in the bedroom, then walked back out and sat on the white chesterfield lounge. “Come here,” he called and patted the seat beside him.

She went over and sat down next to him.

“I love seeing you so happy, Ally. Before Chase gets here and reality hits us again, I want to enjoy this moment. Take time to feel the joy in being with you, my love.”

She curled into his body in response to his words, but he saw the sadness begin to creep back into her eyes. “I know James, I feel the same. I want to forget reality for a while, too.”

He tilted her chin up. “I can think of a very good way to distract you from our troubles and reality.”

“And what might that be?”

He leant down and kissed her. The breath left Ally’s lungs in a whoosh and her skin started to prickle with heat. James growled and her stomach did a flip.

“I like this distraction,” she muttered between kisses.

He kissed her harder and she lost herself completely in the moment.

A knock at the door interrupted them, bringing reality crashing down around them.

“That’ll be Chase,” Ally said. “Perfect timing as always!”

“We really need to find a way to stop people from interrupting us,” James all but growled.

Ally laughed and got up to let Chase in.

“Ally,” he said and gave her a warm hug that spoke volumes as she opened the door.

“Chase, it’s so nice to see you again,” she said as she hugged him back. “We’ve missed you at the manor.”

“Speak for yourself,” James said with a cheeky grin as he came up behind them.

Chase smirked back. “You’ve missed me James, just admit it.”

They shook hands then James gestured for everyone to go sit down. “So you think you’ve found the warrior,” James said, as he took a seat next to Ally.

“I know I’ve found him, James. He bears the mark and his skills are unmatched.”

“Well, that’s a good start,” Ally said hopefully. “How did you find him?”

“I’d been in town for a while, and I’d heard rumours of a guy that was killing vampires all over the place and that his skill was unbelievable, so I wanted to check him out for myself. I asked around with a couple of the local immortals that I’d met, but they didn’t know who he was.

“Normally I would’ve just given up, but something told me I had to keep searching and digging until I found him. It’d been a week and I just kept going around in circles. The humans thought he was a serial killer preying on bad guys and the immortals were beginning to think he was just a myth since no one could find anything out about him.

“And then I saw him! I actually bloody saw him in action. He was incredible, James. Even you would’ve been impressed. So anyway, he finished them off and I just walked up and introduced myself. He’s pretty nice, but definitely lacking in people skills. I mean he tried to take me down just because I spoke to him.” He looked to James with a smirk. “Actually, you two should get along famously with your lack of people skills.”

“Ha ha,” James said and Ally sniggered. “Get back to the story.”

“Right, so I was talking to him, well actually he was in a headlock at the time, and I noticed the birthmark on his arm. I asked about it and he said he’d been born with it. His mother said that it singled him out as special and that he had a great honour to fulfil, that he was a warrior and one day a girl would come for him.”

“At least it won’t be a complete shock to him then,” Ally said.

“Exactly. So I told him that I knew the girl that was looking for him and that his mother was right. He said that he would be willing to meet with you and decide what he wanted to do from there.”

“Ergh,” Ally grumbled. “Why does everyone else around here seem to get a choice about their destiny but I don’t”

James squeezed her hand. “He doesn’t have a choice, little one. But it does no harm to let him think he does at this point.”

“Agreed,” Chase said. “So I said that we could meet up tonight, but I want you to see him fight the vampires. When you see him in action, you’ll know he’s the one.”

“Ok,” Ally said. “That works for me.”

“It sounds promising Chase, but I can’t be certain just yet.”

Ally rolled her eyes. “Where and when?”

“11 pm at the docks. He’s got a lead on a nest of vampires he’s been trying to catch for a while.”

“A nest of vampires? Really Chase…this guy is starting to sound like he has a death wish.”

Chase shook his head. “No, James. He really is that good!”

“We shall see,” James said hesitantly. “A nest of vampires at 11 it is then.”

“How is everyone back home?” Chase asked, changing the subject.

“We’re all still trying to adapt to the changes, but I think they’re alright.”

“And Mackenzie?”

Ally smiled knowingly. “She misses you.”

Chase smiled. “I miss her too…I miss all of them.”

“Then come home!” Ally urged.

“I will, lass,” he said. “Just not yet.”

James joined the conversation. “Why don’t you meet us here for a late dinner and then you can take us to…What is his name?”

“Caleb.”

“You can take us to Caleb after that.”

Chase nodded and stood up. “I’ll see you tonight then.” He walked towards the door and turned back as he opened it. “It really is nice to see you both.”

Ally wanted to hug him again as she watched his eyes fill with a haunted torment that she understood more than he ever could. She watched him leave and a wave of sadness washed over her.

James turned to her with concern. “Little one, what’s the matter?”

“Chase…” she replied. “He’s so lost and sad. It breaks my heart.”

“You care a lot about him, don’t you?”

Ally nodded. “I do, but not just him. I care about all of them, and I worry about Mackenzie. She’s so sweet and sensitive, and you know she’s in love with Chase don’t you?”

“Yeah, I do.” He shrugged. “But it may never be returned.”

“I think it is,” she argued. “He just doesn’t know it yet or he won’t admit it cause of the guilt he feels about Kat.”

“You can’t save everyone. Sometimes people just need to work things out on their own.”

“I know that, but a push in the right direction doesn’t hurt.”

“No pushing,” James said sternly.

Ally gave him a small glare and changed the topic. “So what do you think about Caleb?”

James shook his head and lay down on the couch, pulling her with him. “I dunno. I’d love to believe that he is the warrior we’re looking for, but it just seems too easy.”

Ally snuggled into him. “Yeah, I know what you mean. But we still have five others to find so maybe the powers that be are giving us a head start?”

“We can only hope,” he said with a sigh. “Only hope…”

Chapter Eleven

“We don’t want to alert the vampires to our presence,” James said as they got out of the black cab near the docks. “So jump on my back, and I’ll carry you to our meeting place. Otherwise, the vampires will hear your footsteps.”

Ally nodded and climbed onto James’ back holding on tightly once the cab had disappeared around the corner.

“Ready?” he asked her.

“Sort of.”

“You’re safe with us,” Chase said confidently.

Ally looked at him dubiously. “You say that now…”

Chase and James took off at immortal speed while Ally clung on tightly. They were at the meeting place within a minute and without a single sound made. A slight breeze was the only indication that someone had ventured in. Ally climbed down and they all poked their heads around the corner of the red brick wall that was concealing them.

“I don’t see anything except a lot of boats and a lot of grey,” Ally whispered.

“What did you expect? We’re at the London docks,” Chase said with a smirk. “Just be patient, you won’t see him until the last second.”

“Chase, I’m still not sure this is a great idea,” James said as he looked around cautiously. “We can defend ourselves, but Ally can’t if something goes wrong.”

Chase sighed quietly. “Just trust me this once James. Caleb knows what he’s doing.”

“If he even shows up, that is.” James continued looking around. But he couldn’t see anything except the light fog that had settled like a blanket around the docks.

A large shipping boat tooted its horn in the distance, making Ally jump. The tension in the group was reaching breaking point when the hairs on the back of Ally’s neck began to rise and a sick feeling settled in her stomach. She tried to see through the coils of fog, but apart from making out a boat or two, she saw nothing to cause alarm. She tapped James lightly on the shoulder.

“Yes, little one?”

“I don’t feel right, James. Something about this place is off…”

“What makes you think that?” he asked, genuinely interested. “Apart from the obvious.”

“My hairs are standing on end and I feel sick…almost nauseated.”

James gave her a curious look. “Really?”

Ally nodded.

“You’re senses are developing, my love. It’s how all immortals feel when a large gathering of vampires is nearby.”

“That’s a good thing then I guess…I wonder why they are getting stronger all of a sudden?”

“I don’t know but I’m happy about it.”

Chase rolled his eyes. “For someone worried who is about giving away our location, you’re doing an awful lot of talking!”

“Sorry,” Ally said while James shot him a death glare.

The wind began to whip around them and the air thickened with a vibration that was subtle but intense. She could feel the power and control in the energy and something about it was strangely comforting. Ally was certain it marked the arrival of Caleb. Only one other immortal that she knew vibrated with an energy like that, and it was James.

Her body tensed in anticipation and nervous excitement. If Caleb was here, they were about to witness not only a warrior in action, but a whole lot of vampires running around.