Free Prophecy: Dark Moon Rising by Felicity Heaton Page A

towards war was one of calm unconcern, as though apocalyptic battles were something commonplace and unthreatening, something he almost looked forwards to. During the fight against Kalinor, she’d seen the intense pleasure Venturi took from killing, even when it was his own species he was butchering. The Tenebrae were darkness. They relished the chance of war and bloodshed. They gave no thought to their own deaths or the death of their friends. Or did they?
    Her eyes found his again and she searched them briefly, hoping to see the answer to her unspoken question. Would Venturi care if she died? On some hidden level, was he worried that she would get hurt in this war? Were the Tenebrae really as dark and heartless as they appeared?
    He looked away from her, lowering his head and shifting the papers of the journal around. She got her answer when he surreptitiously looked at her out of the corner of his eye and there was a weight of sadness filling them.
    “Mia and Dmitri have heard nothing,” Valentine said, drawing her attention away from Venturi.
    She was welcome of the distraction and, in her heart, she was sure that Venturi was too. She’d never seen him let his guard down like that in public before. He’d done it a few times when they’d been alone together, letting her see his feelings for her, but never when Valentine was close by.
    “I hate this,” she said. “I hate this waiting around.”
    “I know,” Valentine said.
    “We’re vulnerable. If the two families can’t work together then Elena will easily pick us off. We have to be a unified army, or at least willing to fight as one even if we can’t work together any other way.” She paused and looked at Tiberius and Xavier. “How? How the hell are we supposed to defeat Elena when the two families can’t even stand being within a mile of each other?”
    There was silence.
    She could almost hear the clock ticking again, telling her that time was fast running out. Elena would make a move soon and they were sitting here twiddling their thumbs and dealing with something as trivial as a feud.
    “I see no option but to go the route of Lord Aurorea and Lady Caelestis.” Valentine’s commanding voice broke the silence and everyone including herself looked at him.
    The silence seemed heavier this time and more foreboding. A glance at the two guards was all she needed to see that they were both shocked by what Valentine had said. She knew what he was saying and why they looked so concerned.
    Lord Aurorea hadn’t killed half his family straight away. First he’d sent them a message by making an example of someone. That someone had been the head guard.
    Lady Caelestis had followed suit.
    She swallowed hard, telling herself that this was a scare tactic and Valentine didn’t really mean to kill his head guard and he certainly didn’t expect her to kill Tiberius. It was just something that the two guards needed to hear so they could then tell the other guards what was said. From there, it would filter down the ranks that Valentine and herself intended to massacre half of their bloodlines in order to achieve command of them.
    Her stomach twisted and turned over.
    She silently hoped that they didn’t have to go through with it.
    “Maybe we should get the families together … informally … or formally.” Serenity looked as nervous as she sounded.
    Prophecy gave her a look that was meant to convey that she wasn’t about to kill anyone. Her friend relaxed a little, giving her a hesitant smile.
    The hairs on the back of Prophecy’s neck prickled and she turned to see Valentine staring at her clothes.
    “What?” she said.
    His frown intensified. “Formally.”
    “Huh?” It was her turn to frown.
    He caught hold of her shoulders and turned her to face him. His eyes raked down the length of her body, scrutinising her.
    “A ball,” he announced.
    Her jaw dropped. “A ball?”
    “Why not?” Serenity said, coming forwards. “There’s no better way to get