Davy Harwood (The Immortal Prophecy 1)

There was no wind. The night was still, eerily so, but I felt the frenzy of activity from Roane’s Family behind me. I felt it from the oncoming army too. Roane stood between the two armies and I wondered why he stood where he did.

As I got into the back seat, Gregory shut the door. As he slid beside me from the other side, I grasped his hand and shot inside before I realized what I had intended.

He wanted revenge. It was what he thirsted for, almost more than anything, but he’d been given an order. He intended to fulfill that order and I choked back tears as I heard Roane ordering him to protect me, keep me safe, and fulfill that duty above anything else. It cost Gregory, but he intended to see it through.

I almost shot back out of him, but I gritted my teeth and remembered my mistake with Kates. I looked further and saw the reason he wanted revenge. Raitscliff.

I remembered Roane’s words. ‘Raitscliff has vowed your death since Hartsdale.’

Now I understood.

Raitscliff had turned Gregory’s daughter. He sought revenge by murdering Raitscliff’s second in command. Both vampires wanted the other’s throat now.

I shuddered from the rage inside of Gregory, but I went further and got a rush of memories, emotions, and even worse, I heard his little girl. She laughed softly, delicately when he crooned as a proud father for her to sleep. They were both human in this memory. Then there was another memory where he held his arms out for her as she took her first steps.

She had golden curls and the warm brown eyes like her father. Then I saw when she’d been changed into a vampire for an enemy Family. As I started to pull out of him, I brushed against another thread of emotions. It was one of his beliefs. He believed in Roane. He believed so fully, it brought tears to my eyes.

I gasped again and this time, I was inside of Roane. I saw through his eyes and felt inside his body. I felt his strength and fierce resolve. I didn’t stop to wonder how I was inside of him, but I was. I stood on that hill, cloaked in darkness. I felt freed as an animal of the world, possibly the best.

Roane didn’t relish his darkness. I felt a surge of sadness, but I didn’t search through that. I couldn’t, not yet. I looked out through his eyes. Unlike the dark reddish tint that I’d seen through Kates’ eyes, his were crystal clear. His vision was magnified to make out a single droplet on a blade of grass. He saw everything.

He was chillingly patient as an army of vampires approached with the symbol of a lion painted on their bodies. They were on foot, silent and lethal. Their bodies weaved in and out of the shadows that were overcast from the woods surrounding Roane’s home. They hoped for a surprise attack.

They failed.

He sniffed the air—Raitscliff. Roane took another long shuddering sniff and something pricked inside of him. There was no Lucan in the approaching army. Sixty beasts led by Raitscliff. He had forty behind him. The odds were favorable for the Roane Family.

“Get out of me, Davina!” Roane snarled and then shoved me out.

The car had pulled away, but I hadn’t noticed. Gregory watched out the windows.

“What does Lucas intend to do?” My voice was scratchy.

Each muscle in his thick neck shifted until Gregory peered at me squarely. He had no idea that I’d been in there and that I knew what made him tick. “Lucas has a plan. He always has a plan. It should not matter to a human such as yourself.”

I straightened in my seat. “I mig

ht be human, but I’m the reason all of this is happening. I don’t care what you think of me. I care about what happens tonight. I want to know what Lucas is planning.”

Gregory stared at me. “We both know what he plans.”

Lucan’s death.

“Lucan isn’t back there. He’s not going to Lucas’ house. It’s just Raitscliff—”

Gregory didn’t move. He did nothing and yet, I felt his attention snap. It was now solely directed on

me.

I continued with a dry mouth, “I… you know what I am.” It wasn’t the time to waste words. “You know what I can do. I was inside of you. I know what he did and I know what you did doesn’t measure against what he did. It was wrong. I’m not a vampire. I don’t understand you … people. To be honest, I don’t care to ever understand, but I have a proposition….” Here we go—

“It’s the luck of the Irish. Don’t do it, yee lads.”

I clasped my eyes closed and cried out, “I’m not dreaming. There are rules. You can’t invade my head now.”

The Immortal laughed gaily. “I don’t have to be lucky to be Irish. I’m the Immortal. I’m you, Davy. You’ve got the luck of a lass.”

“Go away!”