Free Vampires Realm Prophecy 01 - Child of Light by F E Heaton

was now certain that no one had followed them. He’d stared out of the window in the train door for as long as it took to make sure of that.
    Prophecy had insisted on remaining close to him the whole time. He had the feeling that it was more out of a need to restrain herself from killing than a need for reassurance. She hadn’t eaten in over twenty-four hours now. The Hunger would be pushing her into feeding and she obviously didn’t trust herself. He frowned. But she trusted him to stop her? Why? Was it because he was the only person there to stop her, or had he given her reason to believe that he cared about what she did? He’d stopped her a few times on the plane but that was out of common sense. If she killed one person, she’d have to kill them all and he didn’t think he could contain that kind of a situation. He wondered if she wanted to be given leave to feed or if she was waiting for him to guide her somehow. He tried to remember how it had been all those years ago when he’d been a victim of the Hunger.
    Lucya had been there for him. His precious sire had guided his hand and helped him to get through the pain of the Hunger. She had taken him out to hunt, showing him how to successfully kill and feed.
    Was that what Prophecy needed?
    He didn’t have time to teach her such things.
    He looked at her where she walking beside him and silently cursed her when a part of him wanted to.
    Something about her made him want to teach her, made him want to look after her and reassure her that everything was going to be all right. He cursed himself this time. Wasn’t it enough that he’d risked everything in order to save her from death?
    Death.
    He reminded himself that there was a chance that he had condemned his entire species by helping her. He had no way of knowing for certain that she wouldn’t destroy them all. At least if she did, there would be no one around to point the finger at him. He smiled slightly, amused at his thoughts, but it quickly faded. What did he do if Mathias told him that what he had seen in her blood was wrong and she really was going to kill everyone? Would he find the strength to murder her then?
    He realised she’d stopped walking and turned to look at her. She was rubbing her feet. Something glinted in the light and his head inclined while he stared at it, trying to make out what it was. When she walked towards him, it became clearer.
    It was a silver star dangling from a chain around her neck. He couldn’t believe that he hadn’t noticed it before. He looked closer. It was intricately designed. The star was made up of five diamond shapes, all locked together, and was at least an inch across. It looked old.
    “Where did you get that?” he said.
    She lifted it up and frowned at it. “I’ve always had it.”
    “Where did it come from?”
    “I don’t know.” She let it drop again and shrugged. “I just remember having it and I never take it off. It feels wrong if I do, like I’m naked without it. Why all the questions?”
    “No reason. It just caught my eye. I had not noticed it before,” he said and looked at it a moment longer before continuing along the road, heading towards the centre of the city.
    It had been a long time since he’d been back to England and seen Mathias, but he was sure that he could trust him. His friend had never been one to worry about the laws that governed their species. He’d never been one to report to their lord. Mathias had always kept to himself and rarely left his home and his books.
    He wondered if he would still be there after all these years. If he were, there would be questions about the things that had happened in their time apart. Sometimes he got the feeling that although Mathias was happy remaining with his books and his research, he liked to live adventures vicariously through himself. The old scribe always asked too many questions about the hunts he’d been on and whether he’d had any narrow escapes. He’d probably be thrilled