She pushed a few stray curls from her forehead, turning so that her back was to me. ‘If you choose to ignore the Prophecy, Violet, your two worlds will destroy each other, taking most of this dimension with them.’ She shook her head, as though clearing her mind. ‘Your father’s sin is surfacing and if you do not betray him as the prophecy states and pledge your allegiance to the vampires, then your family will die at the hands of the man you care for.’
‘I’ll hunt him down, kill his love first … suck his children dry … rape his daughters, make the f**king heartless bastard suffer.’
The black box rattled, its seal tearing at the edges.
‘I have no choice,’ I whispered, feeling my legs begin to buckle beneath me.
‘I-if I could give you time, Violet, I would. But I can’t and I’m so sorry …’
As she spoke she looked past me, beyond the rock and the trees of Varnley. She looked into the distance, her eyes focused on a flickering orange dot on a far away hillside. Another appeared to the left, larger, closer.
‘They’re lighting the beacons,’ she murmured, hesitantly taking a few steps around the rock. Her eyes were fixed on the dots, as though she were completely mesmerized. ‘I have to go. They know I’m here.’
She backed away a few paces, before her expression softened and she hurried forward again and grabbed my hand, clutching it with an unnaturally tight grasp.
‘Do not tell them what you are until I send word. But I can only buy you a few hours of normality, no more than that.’
‘A few hours of normality to do what?’
She glanced over her shoulder frantically before turning back to me and grasping both my hands.
‘To follow your heart.’
‘What if it was someone you knew?’
‘Then may fate have mercy upon her heart.’
With that she swung around and marched towards the trees, her eyes fixed on Fallon. Kaspar followed close behind, his gaze sliding from the one Sage to the other before he swung around, staring across the treetops to where a third beacon had sprung into flames.
Is that all she was going to leave me with?
As she grew nearer the group she threw her cloak about her shoulders and I backpedalled, grabbing my coat. Something fell from the inner pocket and looking down, I realized it was the magazine she had given me the night before. Staring at it for a moment, I snatched it from the ground and stuffed it back into the pocket.
Meeting in the middle, Autumn and Fallon exchanged a few words before the Sagean Prince turned to Kaspar, waving off his wide-eyed protest. Before anyone could say another thing, Autumn curtsied – her final curtsy – and throwing up their hoods, they disappeared in a whirling mass of black cloth.
Nobody spoke. An identical picture was painted on every face as eyes slid from one to the other. It was one of complete disbelief – a feeling I shared, but for different reasons.
Dark Heroine? But I didn’t have time to wallow in doubt. Already, the adrenaline was kicking in and I felt a strange sort of determination. I am not going to let fate destroy anyone I care for.
Kaspar’s eyes moved quickly between the beacon and the spot where the Sage had just stood. Behind his eyes, fast falling through to white, I could see his mind turning things over. His lips mouthed the word ‘beacon’ over and over; his eyes searched the sparse heath for answers. After a minute, his expression became perfectly placid. Realization was dawning and it almost hurt to watch his hand running through his hair, clutching at strands as he spun around and mouthed the word ‘beacons’ one final time.
‘She was right here,’ Kaspar choked, utter disbelief in his voice. ‘They duped us.
And the council will know by now. But why would she come now?’
‘Second Heroine,’ Alex answered, his words clipped and impatient. He glared at the other man, his brow creasing when, to my surprise, his gaze moved to me. ‘She has a duty, just like you do, Kaspar.’
Kaspar didn’t seem to be listening because he motioned for Alex to follow him and instructed the others to return to the mansion. He glanced at me.
‘Cain, with Violet. You won’t be slowed down as much. And look after her.’
I was about to protest that I didn’t need ‘looking after’ but Cain beat me to it. ‘We’re going back? But the sun’s barely risen. What’s the rush? It’s not as though we can do anything. Father will deal with it.’
Kaspar sighed, his irises a cloudy white – a shade worse than red, or black. It was a shade that robbed his eyes of humanity. ‘You’re not old enough to remember the last time the beacons were lit, Cain. That’s because they’re only ever lit when things get bad. They’re a call to court. In just hours, the entire Kingdom will be flocking to Varnley and expecting answers about the Prophecy. Answers we don’t have.’
Cain’s eyes flickered to the orange flames on the horizon and he shut his mouth, subdued into nodding.
Kaspar, on the other hand, opened his mouth as though to say something and my heart seemed to constrict in the middle, partly in dread, partly in anticipation. But he closed it again and turned his attention away from me to Cain.
‘Look after her,’ he repeated. With that he and Alex shot off into the forest.
My heart deflated. I could have stood there, staring after them for hours, trying desperately to piece together everything that had happened in the past fifteen minutes, but that wasn’t an option. The others were dissipating and Cain glanced at me, adjusting the strap of the guitar case on his shoulder.
‘Do you mind if we run? It’s only a mile downhill and I’ve got a feeling we don’t want to be missing this.’
I shrugged my shoulders, buttoning up my coat, feeling the magazine press against my side in the inner pocket. Taking a few steps, Cain broke out into a jog, gradually speeding up as we slipped in-between the trees. It occurred to me suddenly that I would probably regret this half way down, but I did not have the capacity or the time to care.
My brain was working overtime. I was a Dark Heroine and however much I wanted to not believe it, I knew that there was too much at risk to just ignore it.
Hours. I had hours. I didn’t even know what I had to do in those hours. I was completely at the mercy of the Sage and Autumn Rose. I knew nothing of this world; of the dimensions; of Vamperic politics. All I know is that I can’t let my worlds destroy each other.
Moreover, in mere hours the Vamperic Kingdom would descend upon Varnley as the beacons flamed, news of the first Heroine spread and thoughts turned to the second Heroine.