Palace Of Flames (Book One of the Damnata Series)

Chapter Twenty-Three: A Single Moment Of Sincerity

Diurna Territory, London

[Alex]

"What the fuck?!" Jake growls, pacing back and forth, like he's being doing repeatedly and continuously for the past half hour or so. And all courtesy of the Militia of the Damned.

"I said, we can't get onto Damnatan Territory without being detected." Oliver informs us. Jake turns on him quickly.

"I know what you said, dumb arse. I don't need to hear it again." His voice is a threatening, aggravated snarl of menace and malice. The white-blond haired member of the Militia just blinks in surprise at his threatening tone.

The Militia of the Damned came onto Diurna Territory little under an hour ago, telling us that the Damnata have Kristy. And that they plan to kill Laurence.

My gaze darts quickly from my agitated twin brother towards the young female Vampiire in the corner who still hasn't returned to her home Plane of Damnatalia.

"Did you know this was going to happen?" Rosetta, the only female in the Militia, asks. Ennaleazer shakes her head slowly.

"Not...not to this extent, no. I tend to ignore any plans of my siblings'. I'm just assigned to hunt down and deliver anything that they ask for. Anything that they take interest in, I guess."

"And in this case, Laurence and Kristy-"

"No, actually, Jake. Not Laurence and Kristy, but Aryx, actually." I cut my twin brother off, suddenly wanting nothing more than to defend the beautiful young Vampirie. Everyone looks suddenly confused, and they all turn quickly to look at me. Even Ennaleazer looks suddenly startled, and flushes a deep shade of scarlet, staring down at the ground. "Yeah, that's right," I continue," they came looking for the Alpha. But Jake and I witnessed Aryx killing Damon, which made Aryx the rightful Alpha by Werrwulfen conduct. And so Mitsuru took him back to Damnatalia. Ennaleazer was with Mitsuru at the time, but decided to stay here, simply because she didn't want to be involved in anything her siblings were."

Okay, so maybe a little white lie mixed in there, but it's for a good cause, right?

"So, the Damnata will be back in their own part of Damnatalia, with Kristy and Laurence?" Oliver asks; Ennaleazer simply nods slightly and silently. "Okay. Then we need to protect the Oracle. We need to go back to Damnatalia-"

"And get killed? We can't." Ennaleazer interrupts.

"Whyever not?" David, the leader of the Militia of the Damned, asks suspiciously.

"Because. Two reasons. One, the Damnata are ruthless killers, with no room in their twisted minds for mercy and pity. They will kill us all without a second thought. Secondly, she's the Oracle. She'll be under extreme stress. And don't you know that it's dangerous to be in the presence of the Oracle when she's under stress? Especially when she is near blossoming."

"Why?" I ask; she meets my gaze briefly, before looking quickly away again, her eyes returning to stare down at the ground.

"She seems to possess a...uh, fire affinity."

I raise my eyebrows slightly and whistle softly under my breath.

"And a...uh, water affinity."

Oliver furrows his eyebrows in a 'how-did-I-notice-this?' sort of way.

"And, well, air. And earth, too. And more than just possibly spirit."

"How come you've picked up on all this and we haven't?" Jake narrows his eyes. Ennaleazer just frowns even deeper down at the ground.

"My sister, Venus, possesses the rare affinity of spirit. She can pick up on rare soul wavelengths and spiritual energies, and can bring new abilities to the surface. She has picked up on many of her abilities, and it seems that the new Oracle will be very powerful, indeed." Her voice is small, sweet and shy.

I feel like punching everyone in their faces for putting the poor girl on the spot.

"Oh. Because she's the final Oracle...?" Rosetta muses.

"So, we're just being forced to sit around here and wait until Kristy and Laurence decide to crawl back to the surface?" Jake snorts rudely. I shoot him a look, but he just sticks his tongue out at me, childishly and immaturely.

"Enough of the animosity, Jake. Grow up." I snarl, and then turn to Ennaleazer, resisting the urge to smirk at the way his smug grin is wiped straight from his face with my short, snide retort.

"Are you okay?" I mouth; she nods slowly, eyes wide and innocent. "Good." I smile and nod slightly in response, and then Jake nudges me roughly in the ribs.

"Quite marvelling over the Vampiire and listen up!"

I snap back into reality quickly, only to look at Jake, who is now scowling darkly at me. We've never really fought before, so I'm not used to this at all. I wince internally at the loathing in his eyes.

"I can feel a stronger soul wavelength coming through." Rosetta informs me. "I think Kristy and Laurence are returning to the Mortal Plane."

And, sure enough, I see the brief flash of white that signifies a cross between Planes, and then I see the fallen, crumpled and bloodied heap on the ground that is Laurence Helyer, and Kristy leaning over him, desperately trying to wake him up.

* * *

[Video: A Single Moment Of Sincerity by Asking Alexandria.]

[Picture: Alex, played by Alex Gaskarth.]