Free Prophecy: Caelestis & Aurorea by Felicity Heaton Page B

your whereabouts. He is very much like myself. He has no interest in the matters of his bloodline.”
    “Just out of curiosity, what bloodline is he?”
    When Mathias had first mentioned his contact, she’d presumed he would be an Aurorea, but something about the way Mathias had spoken just now made her wonder if he was.
    “He is not of a pure bloodline.”
    “A weakling?” Venturi said exactly what she had been thinking.
    “The lower bloodline has no interest in what is happening within the seven pure bloodlines.” Mathias removed his glasses, folded them neatly and placed them down on the table. “It isn’t a problem is it?”
    “No, not at all.” She smiled in an attempt to reassure him. “I’ve just never met one before.”
    Venturi didn’t look as pleased. She could see in his heavy brow and dark eyes that he would rather not be present when Mathias’ contact showed up. Walking across to him, she placed her hand on his arm and looked up into his eyes. His frown melted away, his blue eyes lightened and his lips twitched into a half-smile.
    “Will you do something for me?” she said and tried to stop her voice from trembling. There was a chance he could take her request the wrong way, but there was an equal chance that he would appreciate her giving him a reason to be out when the man arrived.
    He nodded and placed his hand over hers. She swallowed.
    “Anything,” he whispered. “I am yours to command.”
    She kept the frown from her face on hearing those words and the way he’d spoken them with so much emotion. A thrill had run up her spine, making her regret touching his arm because it had clearly brought her request onto an intimate level.
    “You haven’t fed in a few days and I’ll be leaving soon for Paris. I won’t have time to feed. Could you…?”
    “As you wish.” He released her hand only to capture it again and bring it to his lips. Staring into her eyes, he pressed a kiss to it.
    Watching him leave, she realised that her mouth was hanging open and her eyes were wide with shock over how he’d acted. She really had to start thinking about what she was doing before acting. She had grown sorely used to being with Valentine and had forgotten how easily people could mistake kindness for something else. Her and Valentine had been on such close terms that she’d never stood on ceremony around him and her attraction to him had meant she’d always been subconsciously trying to find a way to drop their conversations and touches to an intimate level.
    She had to remember that she couldn’t act like that with Venturi. He was already getting the wrong idea about her feelings. If she continued this way, he was going to prove a problem when Valentine came back, and she needed all the warriors she could get.
    Especially now that Dmitri had withdrawn his army.
    When she rescued Valentine, they were going to need to find a new army.
    One they could command together.

    Prophecy stared at the little picture of herself. She really looked like that? She ran her fingers through her hair, watching the dark locks shimmering in the low light and remembering how hard it had been for her to keep still while Mathias’ contact had been taking her picture. The flash had been so bright that the first few times she’d instinctively switched into vampire guise, her eyes protecting themselves by changing into their opaque state. The man had laughed each time, making her feel incredibly self-conscious. She’d done her best to not react and after thirty minutes of attempting to get a picture good enough for the passport, they had succeeded.
    She was smiling in it and she tried to recall what she’d been thinking about. It had probably been thoughts of Valentine. He was the only thing that could distract her enough to make her forget the world around her.
    Venturi had come back while the man had been making up the passport, but he’d gone straight into the kitchen with the canisters and hadn’t come