Isabella touched the anchor necklace that James had bought for Ally the night of the Glencoe fair. She sighed wistfully. If only they’d been able to outsmart that creature Vincent…but she knew that no matter what they did, they would have failed.
She picked up and cradled it in her hands. This was how she’d gotten a reading on Ally the first time they’d met all those years at the fair. The reading she’d given that day had scared her. She’d felt powerless to help the girl. The sorrow that had stayed with her for weeks after that had made her decide it was time she put her gifts to good use. She’d practised and her gifts had grown stronger over the years. She no longer needed to hold an object to do a reading for someone, laying eyes on them was all it took now. When she’d seen Ally’s future, she’d also seen her own and she knew that she was one of the chosen few who would join the elder council. It had shocked her. Everyone knew of the prophecy and the girl, but never once had she thought that she’d be the seer. But when she’d learned this, she did what had to be done and that included keeping an eye on Ally from a distance whenever she could. The girl was stubborn and had gone into a deep denial. Unfortunately for her, the very next day part of Isabella’s prediction had come to pass and Ally couldn’t deny the truth of what she had been told…but over the years she’d brushed it off as just coincidental. The death of her parents had changed her. It had ripped a hole in her heart that James had only just begun to fill. She thanked every god and goddess she knew of that he was her soulmate. No-one else would have been able to handle Ally the way James could. And through Ally, she’d found her lost half-brother. For that fact alone she would always be grateful.
Due to the spell that had bound Ally’s mind, she hoped that by holding something personal of hers that meant a great deal she would be able to manufacture a connection strong enough. She sat on the floor crossed her legs and closed her eyes. Blocking out everything around her and breathing deeply, she held the necklace between both her hands and threw everything she had into seeing her future once more.
Nothing.
She tried again. Fog. Tendrils of grey fog everywhere she looked. Then the coils began to clear. A picture slowly came into focus and she was pulled in and lost to the visions in her mind.
Hidden in the shadows Ally watched the hundred vampires gather before the enemy. She waited for her moment to come. The moment for revenge against the Carlisles. The ones that had stolen her from the place that she was supposed to be…By Vincent’s side for all of eternity as his Queen.
She listened to the words he was speaking.
“My dear, dear Carlisles,” he said menacingly. “This ends tonight.”
“Where is she?” A voice she recognized from her dreams called back from the opposite side. A tremor of fear and doubt snaked up her spine, but she held it in check. Her moment was coming. He was about to speak the words.
“Alessandra?”
“Who else?” The voice spat full of disgust.
“Alessandra, my love. Come out here darling.” He said as he turned to look at her hiding place in the shadows. Their eyes locked. He nodded encouragingly. She straightened to her full height and ran her hands nervously down her black leather skirt. Never taking her eyes off Vincent, she walked down to stand by his side and into his embrace.
She ignored the shocked gasps that she heard coming from behind her. She wouldn’t look at them yet. Couldn’t.
Vincent kissed the top of her head. She smiled into his shoulder.
“Ally,” a voice full of pain called out. “What have you done to her?”
Her heart was breaking but she didn’t know why…Part of her didn’t want to know why. But that voice. It called to her. She wanted to answer.
Vincent ignored the question and slipped the poison tipped dagger into her hand. “My love,” he lifted her chin up and kissed her sweetly. “You know what I want you to do?”
“Yes,” she replied. “Kill James Carlisle.”
Again, the gasps tried to pull her attention. But she had to focus. She wasn’t a killer but she needed to do this.
“He’s the one in front,” Vincent whispered into her ear.
She gave a short nod and turned out of his embrace to face the crowd…and stopped dead.
Those eyes…
Her breath left her in a rush as the memories of her life and the truth came rushing to the surface. An eternity seemed to pass, but it was only a mere few seconds.
She knew the truth of who she was and what she was…
A voice screamed in her mind, making it past the chaos. “Ally!”
Her eyes blurry with unshed tears looked back into his again. “Oh god. What have I done?”
“It’s alright Ally. Please little one, come to me.”
A tear rolled down her cheek at the endearment she’d come to love so much.
“Alessandra?” Vincent spoke from behind her breaking the moment. “Are you alright?”
She squeezed her eyes together. Blocked out the heart wrenching pain that she felt and turned to the man she thought she loved. He looked at her with such concern and devotion. She knew that in his way, the emotions were true and heartfelt, but it wasn’t true love. She knew the difference now…as had Vincent once.
She steeled herself once and sent a final thought to James. “I’m sorry, James. Please don’t watch this.”
“What?”
Ally closed the connection and felt the bottom of her world fall out. “Of course I am.” She said with a wicked grin.
His eyes heated and he growled in satisfaction. She blanked her mind and pulled his lips to hers to give him the last passionate kiss she ever would. Her body heated with unfulfilled desire and her heart broke all over again. It broke for the love that was never real and it broke for the torture she knew she was inflicting on James right now as she heard his broken yelling in the background.
Ally savoured the last moment and then broke the kiss. She knew what she had to do…
She winked at Vincent and turned back to face the immortals. Their faces showed the pain, disgust and shock that she was feeling.
James stepped forward and moved to grab her, but her eyes held him in check. He didn’t know what she was doing and she couldn’t tell him just yet. Vincent would see every emotion running across his face and the game would be up.
She halted right in front of him, but she still didn’t speak. Her eyes overflowing with tears once more, she spoke to him in his mind.
“I’m so sorry James…I didn’t know you were real. I thought you were a dream.”
“It doesn’t matter. All I want is to have you back.”
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry…”
She lifted the dagger. James stared at the weapon and sighed in defeat. His heart and soul had been destroyed. “Do what you must…”
“I don’t deserve you, James.”
“Vincent,” she called over her shoulder.
“Yes Alessandra?”
“I’m sorry,” she said as she grabbed the dagger tighter.
“For what?”
“This,” she whispered, then pivoted on her heel and threw the dagger directly into his heart.
“NO!” he screamed in agony.
Ally watched him go down and began to sob uncontrollably as James grabbed her and pulled her into his embrace. “I love you James,” she said quietly as she gently moved out of his arms and ran to Vincent’s side.
She kneeled beside him and held his hand tightly. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered as she stroked his face.
“Why, Alessandra?” he croaked out. “I loved you! You were going to be my queen.”
She nodded as the tears fell. “I loved you too. But we both know that it wasn’t real love, Vincent. What you had with Olivia was real love. True love. Not this. And now we’ve both lost our soulmates.”
Vincent had turned deathly white as the poison ran though his blood. Nothing was going to stop his death. The poison they’d made was lethal to any immortal or vampire.
“There’s something you need to know. James’ is Olivia’s son…your son.”
His eyes widened in shock. “I never knew…”
She leaned down and kissed him one last time. “Find peace in death and with Olivia.”
The last drops of blood flowed out of him and he turned to ash before her eyes. Ally stood up and began to walk away.
What have I done? I’ve fulfilled the prophecy. Destroyed my soulmate and our relationship and hooked up with the guy destined to kill me…Great Job Ally.
Two strong arms grabbed her from behind. “James please…I don’t deserve you after everything that I have done. I mean the torture of tonight alone. I’m so sorry.”
“Did you love him?”
“Vincent?”
“Yes Vincent.”
“I don’t think we should talk about this right now James.”
“Answer me!” he screamed.
She sighed and forced herself to look into his beautiful eyes. “Yes, but it was never like the love I felt for you. It was a drop in the ocean compared to that.”
He gave a short nod. “I forgive you, little one.”
Ally looked deeper into his eyes and saw there was no hate or repulsion in his eyes…just love. “How can you forgive me?”
“Because love is stronger than hate and forever is a long time to be perfect. Everyone deserves a second chance, and Ally…you lost your memories. You had no idea that I even existed.”
“I dreamt of you every night,” she wiping a tear away. “But I thought you were just some beautiful, and perfect man I’d made up. I didn’t think it was possible that you existed.”
“I do,” he whispered. “Now let me take you home.”
She shook her head. “I can’t face everyone yet…but I would like to go somewhere else…just the two of us.”
James gave her a half smile and she felt her heart skip a beat. James may have forgiven her, but she never forgive herself for the torture that she had inflicted upon him and for being untrue to him…even if she hadn’t known that he’d actually existed.
The vision abruptly ended. Isabella was slammed back into reality. Tears streamed down her face. “Oh god. She’ll torture herself for ever if that happens. What do I do? We can’t let this happen!”
She felt something tugging at her mind and she knew that another vision was trying to make itself known. Closing her eyes and trying to focus, she gave herself over again.
She saw Ally and Vincent sitting on a couch in a house she’d never seen before. They appeared to be communicating without words. Something happened to make Vincent break the connection. Ally’s eyes flew open and in the next second Vincent kissed her…Ally kissed him back willingly…very willingly.
“On god, it’s already started,” Isabella whispered. “It’s happening as I’m watching it.”
The vision continued. She watched horrified. The fiend was kissing her neck now…getting closer to the base of her throat. He was going to bite her!
Isabella gasped and dragged every ounce of power she had running through her veins and called on the ancestors to assist her and yelled at Ally.
“Ally…you have to stop this NOW!”
Isabella saw both of them freeze in her vision. A wave of triumph crashed through her. Vincent and Ally were still joined. She needed more power, more strength.
“Ancestors,” she willed them to listen to her. To heed her call for help against the darkness. She screamed with all her telepathic might. “NOW!”
Her nerves were raw and she felt herself grow weak as something powerful flowed out of her. Her body swayed but she held tight to the vision. She had to know if she’d stopped them.
Vincent and Ally were almost instantaneously jerked apart by the sheer force of her screaming. The ancestors had come through for her. Vincent had been hit too as he’d been lurking around in Ally’s mind.
She felt him recover quickly and then he started to trace the connection. She had to break it now or he would know exactly who was behind it.
Her eyes flew open as she broke the contact. She’d done it just in time. Another second and he would’ve found her.
Her body swayed beneath her as she stood. She needed to speak to Adele then her body could fall to pieces.
“Adele,” she called out with what telepathic strength she had left. “James’ bedroom now. Alone.”
A bare minute later, Adele came through the door. She’d moved with considerable speed but knew something was going on that needed to be kept quiet.
“Isabella,” Adele said as she grabbed her shoulders and helped her to the couch in front of the fire. “What happened? Are you alright?”
Isabella nodded and smiled gratefully. “Thank you. I was trying to see Ally’s future and... well it’s a long story but it took all my energy to intercept.”
“Tell me,” Adele said firmly.
Isabella took a deep breath and related both visions in full.
Adele listened intently in silence. Her face changing from horror to fury. “So he’s trying to turn her against us? That black hearted devil!”
“Yes he is. That was his plan from the start…but there’s more to it now.”
“What?” Adele demanded.
“I felt what they were both feeling…and it’s strong, Adele,” she spoke quietly. “What started out as a game to Vincent has changed. He’s got real feelings for her. And…I’m afraid to say it but she has feelings for him too.”
“Oh my god,” Adele cried on a gasp. “But how? He’s the most evil, vile and disgusting vampire walking the face of the earth! How could she feel anything for that monster? And how on earth is he even capable of feeling?”
“He’s different with her. Something completely different.” Isabella was horrified but inexplicably fascinated too. “He’s still dangerous and ruthless. Ally knows that, she can sense it in him, but she is drawn to him. The electricity that I felt between them…And she’s making him feel things that he hasn’t felt since my mother. His plans are changing. He wants her by his side forever. Not as part of a game or to kill her off so that she doesn’t kill him. In his mind the prophecy has become irrelevant. She’s lost any memory of who she is and what she was meant to do. He just wants her.”
Adele was shocked speechless for a moment. “Are you telling me that Vincent is falling in love with my granddaughter?”
Isabella gave her a grave look. “That’s exactly what I’m telling you.”
“It’s Olivia all over again…”
“Not exactly. I think that Olivia was his true soulmate, but something went wrong. It’s just a feeling that I have from reading her diary. Ally might be awakening feelings in him, but what they have isn’t as strong as what they shared or what Ally and James share.”
Adele let out a sigh of relief. “It’s still a dangerous situation. Ally will never forgive herself if things go too far with Vincent.”
“Who just happens to be James’ father,” Isabella interrupted.
“Could this get any more complicated?” Adele cried.
“I hope not,” She muttered in return. “So do we contact James and tell him or do we keep this to ourselves and see if we can find some way to sort it out without him ever knowing?”
Adele contemplated. “If he gets Ally back he’ll find out then, but for now…no I don’t think we should tell him. He’s already desperate to get her back. If he finds out about this, he’ll become erratic and a danger to himself. We need him to be able to think clearly.”
Isabella nodded in agreement. “I think you’re right. There has got to be something that we can do. If I can get into her mind again, maybe I can work out where she is.”
“What about Madison?”
“Nothing, and Vincent wouldn’t exactly tell her.”
“Is Ally safe where she is?”
“Yeah she is. He won’t hurt her Adele. Not now.”
“That should give me some comfort but it doesn’t now that I know that fiend has designs on my granddaughter.” Adele stood up. “Now you need to get your energy back and then we’ll talk about this more and come up with some kind of plan.”
She stood as well. “Yeah okay. Should we tell Damian?”
“I’ll go tell him while you rest.”