As if suddenly realizing that I had gone over a day without food my stomach suddenly started growling. Jonathon laughed and pulled out a bag of chips. “I thought you might be hungry when you woke up.”
I opened the bag and inhaled the delicious tangy scent of salt and vinegar. My favorite. “Thanks,” I said munching on a chip.
I ate all the chips in the small bag and began to look out the window as the familiar sights of Rome began to pass by the window. We were almost home. Jonathon grabbed my hand and held it tightly in his. He brought it up to his lips and kissed it. I leaned back against him and he held me close.
“I won’t let her hurt you, principessa. I won’t let her win,” he whispered into my hair.
“I know you won’t,” I said.
He kissed my head and then was quiet. No one else said anything.
Gabriel turned down a narrow side road that I was amazed the car was able to fit down. He took a sharp turn and went down a hill and turned a corner. Looming, large and majestic, into the sky was the Pulmer Mansion. Home at last. It had been months since I we had been here. I saw that there were already a great deal of cars in the driveway.
“It’ll happen tonight,” I said in that funny voice again startling not only myself but the three vampires in the car with me. “Prepare yourselves. The end is near,” the strange voice that was my own spoke again. I was shocked.
I saw Gabriel and Jonathon exchange glances. I clutched my throat and said in my normal voice, “Why does this keep happening?”
“I don’t know, principessa. I don’t know,” but the way he said it I knew he knew something. But once again he wasn’t going to tell me. Gabriel parked in the driveway and we all got out and headed inside. The rest of the Pulmers were there and so was Aleksei with several older Coven members. I saw one man that looked so much like Isaac I had to assume he was his father. He had the same dark hair only cut close to his head. His eyes were the same piercing blue. I could also see the shape of Isobel’s mouth and nose in his features. I held on tightly to Jonathon’s hand as we went in. Amelia gave me a small smile and Patrick and Aleksei were engrossed in a serious discussion. It was as if they were preparing for war and I guessed in a way they were. Diana waved to me and I waved back. Her face was sad and I felt so sorry for her. Diana was no warrior. She was no fighter. Her only strength would be her power. Danny and Mason had the furniture pushed against the wall and were practicing some kind of mixed martial arts. Surprisingly, I saw that Danny appeared to have the upper hand. Gabriel and Joseph joined Danny and Mason. Jonathon pulled me towards the steps and led me up the stairs.
He turned the corner and opened the door to his attic room. He pulled me gently up the stairs. I ran my hand across the peacock stain glass window as I passed. Jonathon opened the door to his room and pulled me in closing the door behind him.
“We have some things we have to talk about,” he said, “But first I want to prepare you for what’s about to come.”
Chapter Twenty-One: Question
Jonathon stood against the far wall and I stood against the bed. “Alright, now put your fists up like this. Yeah, just like that. Now, balance on the balls of your feet to make you lighter and more mobile. Alright, I want you to move your body to left and throw a punch and a kick with all of your weight.”
I did as he said. We had been practicing for the last hour and my muscles were just beginning to protest. “Jonathon, I really don’t see how this is going to protect me against a vampire. Isaac already worked with me,” I huffed.
“Well, it won’t do much but if she gets a hold of you it might give you the edge you need to get away because she won’t expect you to fight back and Isaac doesn’t know everything,” he said rolling his silver eyes.
I sighed and wiped a dribble of sweat from my brow. “A vampire’s weakest point is right here,” he said indicating his sides, “If you can hit her here, or any other vampire that might grab you, then you have a very good chance of getting away. Now, I’m going to grab you and I want you to try and hit me in my side as hard as you can. Don’t worry about hurting me. This is about your survival. That’s what matters here.”
Before I could say anything his arms wrapped around me. One arm hugged me to his chest pinning me to him and the other held my neck. Without thinking I elbowed him as hard as I could. He grunted and let go while I cried out in pain. I grabbed my elbow as tears leaked involuntarily from my eyes and I saw stars.
“Ow, oh my God, that hurts,” I said holding my elbow delicately to my chest.
“Sorry,” he said but grabbed me again. This time from the front. The pain in my elbow was making me see red. I lashed out and kicked with as much force as I could muster. He released me and cried out in joy. “Who would’ve thought. My little Kylie, a fighter.”
“You’re so funny,” I said sarcastically as I bent over at the knees trying to catch my breath. He became beside me and stuck a curl behind my ear.
“You’re are so sexy when you’re mad,” he said with a laugh in his voice.
“Oh, I’m sure I just look so appealing covered in sweat with my hair frizzing in every direction. This has to be every guys dream,” I said sarcastically.
“Yeah, it is,” he said laughing.
“You’re a real comedian aren’t you?”
In all seriousness he said, “No, I just want to protect you. I want to make sure you’re safe and can protect yourself if for whatever reason I can’t do it.”
“Stop it Jonathon, just stop it, okay? Why do I feel like you think you’re going to get killed?” I asked.
He looked away and I knew I was right. He ran his hand through his hair before looking back at me with those piercing silver eyes. “Because, I’ll die before I let anything happen to you.”
“And I’ll die without you. So do you know what that means or do I have to spell it out for you. I-can’t-live-without-you. I love you,” I cried throwing myself into his arms. He pulled me to him putting his head on top of mine.
“I will do everything in my power to keep you safe and I promise to do the same for myself. Okay? I’ll do everything in my power so we can stay together. I love you with all my being and I promise to be here for you,” he sat me down on the bed while he knelt on the floor, “but you have to understand the reality. There will be deaths out there. Not all of us will come back. I could just as easily be one of them. I will do everything I can for that not to happen, for none of us to die, but we, you, have to face the reality that people and vampires might die out there. I know Selena is only one vampire whereas we have many, but with a leak and then all the extra power she’s wielding because of her vendetta she will fight long and hard and try to take out as many as she can before she dies. I hope than none of those we love die and I hope that none of the Coven members die no matter how much of a pain in the ass they are, particularly Isaac,” he said with a smile trying to lighten the somber conversation.