Testimony of Children (Alice Gray Book 2)

5

I couldn't stay there. Thomas, Evan and the coven; all of them were casualties of my power.

Pulling the garnet pendant from my neck, breaking the chain, I shoved it into the back pocket of my jeans.

What use was this thing anyway?

A gift from my mother, the pendant dimmed the attraction that my silver life-force aroused in others. It was supposed to allow me to live unmolested by those who craved my power: it subdued me, but it kept me safe.

That was the theory anyway.

But since returning from my father's prison the pendant had faltered. My meeting with Evan had underlined just how little control I had. Thomas's reaction had proven that even the most resilient beings could buckle.

Cold creeping despair filled my veins, pumping through my system, chilling me from the inside out. I was destined for a life of isolation and madness just like my father.

Walking quickly, head down, not paying much attention to where my feet carried me, I only realised I was outside the priory when I reached the door.

The priory was the location of my original apartment. I'd resided there for a sum of three days, before my world came crashing down and a new reality of witches and vampires dawned.

The memory of my first day here swam in my mind. The contrast between the cheerful, easy-going man that had answered the door that day and the damaged shell I'd seen at Hazel's sunk my mood even further.

I hardly noticed the door open.

Looking up, my eyes met a pair of baby blues that were so familiar it took a moment to remember that the man they belonged to, no longer belonged to me. That he never really had.

Stephen had been the love of my life for four years. I'd no reason to suspect our relationship wasn't real. I mean, who would even consider something like that, when we did everything together that other couples did. We laughed, argued, made up, made love. It all seemed so real.

He'd left with nothing but a hackneyed 'it's not you, it's me,' and a terse 'it's over'. It was seven months after the break up before I saw Stephen again, in his true role as part of a security team that had been assigned to protect me.

Fair to say, I was devastated.

My mouth twisted into a smirk at the look of surprise and then unease that shone out of his striking blue eyes. Let him flounder for once, he deserved it.

"Are you going to let me in?"

He shook himself out of his astonishment and made room for me to pass him through the doorway. Not too much room, his familiar minty scent hit me as our bodies brushed. I swallowed hard.

"Emily, are you up there?" I called, trying to keep the upper hand, the squeak in my voice telling both of us that my advantage was slipping. 

Emily was my daytime shadow when Thomas was asleep. A diminutive but deadly blond security expert, I suspected that Emily and Stephen had been hired by my father to keep tabs on me as I came into my power. She'd left the cottage when her shift as my protection detail ended two hours ago. She had to be relaxing in her apartment by now.

When no reply drifted down the stairs, I turned to find Stephen leaning against the closed door of the priory, arms crossed over his chest, one leg propped up against the door.

A navy blue shirt made his striking blue eyes pop with brightness against pale skin. Dark hair fell in clumps over his forehead, his usual artful style, misplaced when he'd run his hands through it.

I gulped again, trying not to remember what it was like to run my own hands through that soft hair.

The blue of Stephen's eyes deepened.

"Where's your pendant, Alice?"

Disappointment dropped like a bowling ball into my stomach. I don't know what I'd expected, but it wasn't that.

Raising my eyebrow in fake bravado, I pulled the pendant out of my pocket and held it up by the broken chain, swinging it back and forth like a hypnotist's pendulum.

"You need to wear that. To keep you safe."

Stephen pushed off the door and prowled towards me. His tall, sleek frame moved with a grace that made me want to feel it on top of me. My bottom lip caught between my teeth as I remembered exactly what that was like.

"I think it's defective. That's why I'm here," I spat out, before I betrayed myself.

Stephen stopped in his tracks. "Did he hurt you?"

Barely contained anger seethed behind Stephen's too calm exterior. I didn't blame him for suspecting Thomas. He was a vampire, after all. But out of the two of them only Stephen had hurt me, so I didn't share his misgivings.

"I'm not helpless anymore, Stephen. Where's Emily?"

"She's not here."

"I can see that, where is she?"

"Researching."

Stephen was baiting me. Trying to make me lose my temper. He needed to learn that I was not the same woman that I had been during our four year long 'relationship'.

I wouldn't fall back into that role. I didn't need him anymore.

Turning, I made my way up the staircase to the apartment that had been mine during my very short stay in the priory.

I paused in surprise. My furniture was still there. Everything was as I'd arranged it, even down to the bookcases. I wandered over and ran my hand along the spines.

Cracking the door of the bedroom, I saw that it had been used recently. The bed was still made up with my sheets and blankets. Backing out of the room feeling guilty for snooping, I came to an abrupt halt when my back hit an obstacle. Turning, I found myself face-to-face with Stephen.

"Make yourself at home," he said in an odd tone, his mouth lifting slightly into a tight smile.

That's when it dawned on me, "I see you have."

Stephen shifted back onto the balls of his feet, his eyes darting to the side. We may have shared a bed for years, but even he knew that keeping all my stuff like this was creepy.

I'd been putting off getting this stuff into storage, it seemed like too final a step. Like an admission that all my intentions for the move to Sheffield had well and truly fallen through.

Now that Stephen was living here, I realised that we all needed to move on.

Looks like Alice has decided enough is enough. But will she be able to move on?

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