A Shade of Vampire

New & Lengthened 2015 Edition (Over 10,000 new words added to the story!)

Bella Forrest

Contents

Also by Bella Forrest

About A Shade of Vampire (New & Lengthened 2015 Edition - Over 10,000 new words added to the story!)

Copyright

1.
Prologue: Sofia

2.
Chapter 1: Sofia

3.
Chapter 2: Sofia

4.
Chapter 3: Sofia

5.
Chapter 4: Sofia

6.
Chapter 5: Sofia

7.
Chapter 6: Sofia

8.
Chapter 7: Derek

9.
Chapter 8: Sofia

10.
Chapter 9: Derek

11.
Chapter 10: Sofia

12.
Chapter 11: Derek

13.
Chapter 12: Sofia

14.
Chapter 13: Derek

15.
Chapter 14: Sofia

16.
Chapter 15: Derek

17.
Chapter 16: Sofia

18.
Chapter 17: Derek

19.
Chapter 18: Sofia

20.
Chapter 19: Sofia

21.
Chapter 20: Derek

22.
Chapter 21: Sofia

23.
Chapter 22: Sofia

24.
Chapter 23: Derek

25.
Chapter 24: Sofia

26.
Chapter 25: Derek

27.
Chapter 26: Sofia

28.
Chapter 27: Derek

29.
Chapter 28: Sofia

30.
Chapter 29: Derek

31.
Chapter 30: Sofia

32.
Chapter 31: Sofia

33.
Chapter 32: Derek

34.
Chapter 33: Derek

35.
Chapter 34: Sofia

36.
Chapter 35: Derek

37.
Chapter 36: Sofia

38.
Chapter 37: Derek

39.
Chapter 38: Sofia

40.
Chapter 39: Vivienne

Also by Bella Forrest

A SHADE OF VAMPIRE SERIES

A Shade of Vampire (Book 1)

A Shade of Blood (Book 2)

A Castle of Sand (Book 3)

A Shadow of Light (Book 4)

A Blaze of Sun (Book 5)

A Gate of Night (Book 6)

A Break of Day (Book 7)

Note: Derek and Sofia's story completes in Book 7 of the series: A Break of Day, and the characters embark on entirely new adventures from Book 8 (A Shade of Novak).

For an updated list of my books, please visit my website: www.bellaforrest.net

Join my VIP email list and I’ll personally send you an email reminder as soon as my next book is out! Click here to sign up: www.forrestbooks.com

About A Shade of Vampire (New & Lengthened 2015 Edition - Over 10,000 new words added to the story!)

On the evening of Sofia Claremont's seventeenth birthday, she is sucked into a nightmare from which she cannot wake. A quiet evening walk along a beach brings her face to face with a dangerous pale creature that craves much more than her blood.

She is kidnapped to The Shade, an island where the sun is eternally forbidden to shine. An island uncharted by any map and ruled by the most powerful vampire coven on the planet. She wakes here as a slave, a captive in chains.

Sofia's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn when she is selected out of hundreds of girls to take up residence in the tree-top harem of Derek Novak, the dark royal prince.

Despite his addiction to power and obsessive thirst for her blood, Sofia soon realizes that the safest place on the island is within his quarters, and she must do all within her power to win him over if she is to survive even one more night.

Will she succeed? Or is she destined to the same fate that all other girls have met at the hands of the Novaks?

Copyright © 2012 by Bella Forrest

Cover design © Sarah Hansen

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Prologue: Sofia

I always feared the nights my father got called out of town. It meant being left alone with Camilla.

My friends never understood why I was afraid of her. I couldn’t have expected them to. They only ever saw the side of Camilla that my father saw. A dutiful housewife, devoted to her only daughter.

They didn’t know that when the house became silent but for her and my breathing, a different woman emerged.

The earliest memory I had of her was a green eye, peering at me through a keyhole. The ends of her auburn bangs touched her eyelashes as she stared at me, unblinking. She’d remained silent, when the only thing I’d wanted was to hear her talk. Reassure me that she would unlock the closet before midnight, when she’d said the monsters would come for me.

While the monsters never came, neither did she.

I still remembered the darkness of that night, how never-ending it had seemed. I remembered the cold, and the stab of pain in my fingers as I stuck them through the lock, trying to pry it open with my small fingers. But the lock was old, the metal inside sharp. I ended up cutting myself. Deep. When Camilla found me in the morning, there were bloodstains all over the cream walls. She’d pulled me out of the closet, chastised me, and repainted it before my father returned.

She’d made sure to replace the lock with a softer metal after that.

When I started school, I began to see less of her. More and more, I noticed my father encouraging me to spend time with the Hudsons, old family friends.

Then when I was nine, he finally sent Camilla away. I don’t even remember saying goodbye to her, and I never visited her. My father thought it best that I didn’t. She’d cracked and lost her mind, he’d said. But he’d reassured me that the doctors at her psychiatric hospital were some of the best in the world. Truth be told, I didn’t ever feel the urge to track her down.

After she moved out, I thought I might have a shot at normalcy. I hoped that, with her out of the picture, my father might spend more time at home and our relationship might improve.

But as Camilla left, so did he.

His business trips started becoming longer and longer until, eventually, the Hudsons’ townhouse became my permanent home. After that, the only time I heard from my father was when a check arrived in the mail. Even then, it was always addressed to Lyle Hudson.

I wondered sometimes whether he’d abandoned me because I reminded him too much of Camilla. I never got the chance to ask him.

As the years passed and I entered high school, I often thought about the last words I remembered Camilla speaking to me. She’d said that I should expect life to dish out my fair share of surprises.

By the time I turned seventeen, it felt like I’d been dished out far more than my fair share—more than any person should have to undergo in a lifetime.

But then I met Derek Novak. And suddenly, it felt like I’d lived the most predictable life in the world.

He, certainly, was a surprise that was far from fair…

Chapter 1: Sofia

Not now. Please, not now.

I looked up at the clock. The football game was minutes from starting. Cheering erupted around the bleachers. It was the game Ben and his team had been anticipating for months. I couldn’t become a distraction.

I tried to steady my breathing even as my heartbeat quickened. Blood rushed to my cheeks.

I thought I’d be able to handle the crowd. I’d been to several games this year already and coped. But now that I sat here, I wanted nothing more than to run.

The noises surrounding me were deafening—the cheers, the music, the stomping. It all echoed in my head at once. The sickly sweet smell of Abigail Hudson’s caramel corn filled my nostrils, mixing with the sour odor of Amelia Hudson’s vinegar chips. The feel of their shoulders rubbing against mine made me feel claustrophobic. And since we sat in the front row, the lights were twice as glaring.

My palms were sweating as I clasped them together.

“Are you all right, Sofia?”

Amelia, Ben’s mother, looked at me with concern. She knew I experienced anxiety with crowds. I forced a smile and nodded.

“I’m okay.”

I looked out at the field and when my eyes found Ben, I forced myself to stare at him. I tried to shut out the stimuli threatening to overwhelm me and focus on him. My handsome best friend. His tall, muscular physique, strong jawline, light blue eyes… Normally it was all I could do to find excuses to steal glances at him, whether in school or at home, but now I found myself barely seeing him as a niggling doubt dug its way into my mind. A doubt I’d hoped I’d overcome by now.

Nobody else in this stadium is having problems. It’s not normal to feel like this.

Maybe I’m going mad like my mother.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” This time it was Ben’s father, Lyle, peering over at me from his seat a few feet away.

I bit my lip and gave him another curt nod, wishing they’d just let it go. They still didn’t understand that asking me if I was all right never helped the situation. At all.

When the shriek of a whistle pierced through the maelstrom of sensations I was already drowning under, my resolve to not cave in disintegrated.

Ducking my head down between my knees, it was all I could do to stop myself from shaking.

It was thinking about my mother that brought on my panic attacks, for the other aspects of my mental condition I had learned to cope with. It was thinking of those green eyes, and the last time I remembered seeing her. Thinking that I might be doomed to end up like her. The inevitability of the idea sent me into a downward spiral. All rational thought shut down and the nightmarish doubt replayed itself again and again in my mind.

I felt hands touching my shoulders.

“Sofia.” It was Amelia’s voice.

Yet more stimuli to cope with—her voice and the touch of her hands.

She was trying to sit me upright, but I refused. I slipped off the chair and kneeled on the ground. Feeling the humiliation of it all, I wanted to disappear.

“Sofia,” a different voice called out this time.

A deep, male voice.

Benjamin Hudson’s voice.

Only his voice amidst the onslaught of other noises could have caught my attention in the state I was in. I looked up to see him jogging toward me, the ball under one arm, concern lining his face. Guilt tore at me.

“No, Ben,” I breathed. “Go back to the game.”

He closed the final distance between us and, gripping my shoulders, afforded me a close view of his face. Despite my anxiety, I couldn’t help but feel tingles run down my spine at his touch.

Over his shoulder, I could see that all the players had stopped and were staring at Ben, looks of frustration and surprise on their faces that a captain would just walk off with the ball. Jeers and impatient mutterings exploded around the bleachers.

Despite my guilt, my body was still quivering, a veil of panic still upon me. He reached for my chin and forced me to face him again.

“Sit up.” His voice was firm as he kneeled down, placing the ball between his knees.

I felt like I didn’t even have control over my own limbs. “I can’t,” I whispered.

He frowned at me, a look of deep disapproval marring his handsome features. His face now only a few inches from my own, his blue eyes bored into me. “I know an excuse when I hear one. Don’t you dare deceive yourself into believing that you’re the victim, Sofia Claremont.”

Almost as soon as Ben spoke those words—words he had spoken to me many times before—a wave of relief rushed over me. His strong hands gripped my elbows as he pulled me up and sat me back down in my chair.

“You’re going to be all right,” he said, his voice still firm.

I nodded, letting out a deep sigh and feeling my shoulders already beginning to loosen, my muscles becoming less tense, my chest lighter.

The jeers ricocheting around the stadium were becoming louder by the second. Ben’s teammates were yelling for him and several had started running toward him.

“Go, now,” I said, pushing him away.

A smile lit up his face as he squeezed my hand and placed a kiss on my forehead. A kiss that let loose a dozen butterflies in my stomach.

He took one last look at me before turning and walking back to the field.

He cast his eyes around the jeering bleachers as he walked into the center and raised his right hand, pumping his fist in the air like a rock star.

“Friends before football,” he roared.

The jeers turned to wolf whistles. I felt the heat rise in my cheeks as hundreds of eyes fixed on me.

I chuckled. Ben. Always knows how to turn a crowd around. Or anyone for that matter…

“Are you okay now, Sofia?” I turned to see five-year-old Abigail standing next to me, her baby blue eyes wide with concern.

I smiled and kissed her cheek. “I’m fine, Abby,” I whispered, not wanting to draw any more attention to myself than I had already.

“D’you want a piece of my popcorn?” Her blonde ponytail bobbed on one side as she held out a sticky palm containing a single piece of popcorn.

“No, thank you. Go sit back down next to your mom.” Lyle and Amelia had already returned to their seats—both now looking back at the game as if nothing had happened.

Once Abby was seated safely back next to her mother, I leaned back in my chair, breathing out slowly. As the whistle blew a second time, I fixed my eyes on the field and watched the game take off. My eyes followed Ben around the field, his muscular physique easily outpacing the two guys who were chasing after him. It helped that he was also one of the tallest players down there.

Football was never my favorite of games. I watched it for Ben’s sake since he was part of our school’s team. After about five minutes of attempting to concentrate and follow what was going on, I found myself drifting off into my own thoughts. What had just happened replayed in my mind.

Two problems had plagued me throughout my elementary and high school years. Excruciating awareness of external stimuli and anxiety attacks. I’d seen countless doctors and psychiatrists. While none had agreed on what the former problem actually was—each had a different theory, ranging from Asperger’s to OCD—all of them had concluded that the two problems were related.

It had been Ben, in all his twelve years of wisdom, who’d figured out that they were not.

I smiled as I remembered the day it had happened. It had been at a game, much like the one we were at today. Only, Ben had been in the bleachers with us. The crowds had triggered off my negative thought process, as they had done today. When I descended into a fit, Amelia and Lyle had said that we would have to leave to take me to a hospital. Sorely disappointed at leaving before his favorite team’s game had even begun, Ben had gripped me by the shoulders in frustration and shaken me. And he’d spoken the same words he did today:

“I know an excuse when I hear one. Don’t you dare deceive yourself into believing that you’re the victim, Sofia Claremont.”

I wasn’t sure where he’d gotten them from—perhaps a movie or a book. But they’d stung. I wasn’t playing the victim, I’d thought. My concerns were genuine. After all that had happened with my mother, I deserved to feel this way. But the fact was, his words had worked. They’d cut through me and snapped me out of my fit. He’d just figured out the key to solving my anxiety issues.

His frustrated, twelve-year-old self couldn’t have imagined how much those words would impact my life.

As for my sensory issues, to this day we still hadn’t figured out what they were. Amelia and Lyle had given up on taking me to see doctors and psychiatrists since they all contradicted one another.

But the truth was, I could handle the condition—whatever it was. It was hard, and overwhelming sometimes, but I could fight through it. It was only when I allowed myself to descend into self-pity by thinking about my mother that I completely lost it.

I felt disappointed that I’d once again allowed myself to succumb to anxiety. In my moment of panic, I’d forgotten how I’d always dealt with this. I’d been trying to teach myself to prevent these fits on my own because I couldn’t count on Ben always being around. And it scared me how dependent I was on him already. Ben Hudson. My best friend. I liked to think of myself as independent, but if I was honest with myself, sometimes I couldn’t imagine a life without Ben in it.

A tap on my shoulder broke through my thoughts. A long-legged girl with curly black hair loomed over me.

“So are you Ben’s new girlfriend?”

My cheeks flushed at the thought. “No,” I said, shaking my head. “We really are just friends.”

“Good.” She gave me a stiff smile and walked back to her seat in the row behind us. Her eyes focused back on the field, most likely narrowing in on Ben, as if I didn’t exist.

I looked back at Ben on the field. Screams and yells had just erupted in waves on our side of the bleachers. His team had just scored. Two guys hoisted Ben up as he raised his arms in the air. His eyes fixed on mine and I felt shivers again. I smiled, feeling guilty that I had missed the score.

I looked back at the girl behind me, ogling Ben as she jumped up and down and screamed his name.

Excitement and apprehension coursed through me as I imagined what my answer to her question might have been if she’d asked me in a few days’ time. The Hudsons and I were leaving tomorrow for a two-week vacation in Cancún. I’d already planned that the first day we arrived, I’d take a walk with him along the beach. And I’d finally tell him what I’d been bottling up all this time… if I could just maintain the courage to do it.

Chapter 2: Sofia

I was glad that I got to sit next to Ben on the plane. The aircraft was filled to the max, so Amelia, Lyle and Abby had to sit several rows behind us. I took the window seat, while Ben sat in the chair next to me.

His eyes were closed, his head lolling to one side. We were an hour into the flight.

His team had won the game yesterday and he’d stayed out later than he should have celebrating. I doubted he’d gotten more than three hours sleep before we had to get up and leave for the airport this morning. He didn’t wake up until a flight attendant came round offering us drinks.

“A bottle of water, please.” He sat up straight, rubbing his eyes and looking at me. “What are you most looking forward to?” he asked after a pause.

Two uninterrupted weeks with you.

“The beaches, I guess. You?”

“I don’t know… it’ll just be good to have a break. A change of scenery.”

He pulled out a book from his bag and began reading, while I picked up my own book. But I couldn’t focus on the words. My mind was too distracted.

I never thought the day would come when I’d actually even consider telling Ben what I felt for him. It had always seemed such a risky thing to do. What if he didn’t share the same feelings as me? We lived together in the same house. It would make things so awkward if he realized I wanted more from him than just friendship and he didn’t feel the same way. I was afraid that he might never look at me the same away again and ruin what we currently had.

I threw a glance at him as he turned a page. Ben… he saw me the way nobody else did. I doubted that I would be as strong as I was today if it hadn’t been for him. He gave me the time of day when no one else – not even my own father – would. It was with Ben that I never felt invisible… except when his latest girlfriend was around.

So yes, I was a coward. I was afraid of shattering what we had by telling him I wanted more. By telling him how much I wanted to kiss his lips last prom when he led me to a dance. How much pain it put me through when I saw him making out with another girl in the schoolyard. How much I wanted his friendly pats on the shoulder to turn into full-on, passionate embraces.

But something had changed in me this last year. I didn’t know what it was exactly, but each new girlfriend I saw him with tore at my heart more and more, until it reached a point where I felt like I would burst if I didn’t finally reveal the truth.

As the plane started descending and I tightened my seat belt, putting my book back into my bag, I tried to reassure myself that it would be all right. That, even if he turned me down, we’d still be able to continue as we were.

But I knew that was a lie.

If I pulled the trigger on this, it would be all or nothing.

My pulse was racing as we arrived at the resort—the same resort we’d stayed at the year before. Ben’s parents liked it because it was all-inclusive and in a central location. Lyle and Amelia shared a bedroom, Ben had his own room, and Abby and I shared a room together.

As we entered our room, Abby jumped up and down on one of the beds, grinning from ear to ear. By the time I’d unpacked her and my things, it was already time for dinner.

We descended the stairs with Lyle, Amelia and Ben and found a table in our favorite restaurant a few yards outside the entrance of the resort. We picked up the menus and began ordering. I ordered the smallest thing I could find on the menu—a caesar salad—and even that I doubted I’d have enough appetite for.

Once the food had arrived, Ben raised a brow at me while tucking into a plate of tacos. “Dieting?”

“I’m just… excited to be here. Not really feeling hungry.”

If I really was going to go through with this, this first night would be the best time to do it. If he agreed, we’d have the whole vacation together as girlfriend and boyfriend. If he didn’t agree… I put thoughts of that possibility out of my mind for now.

I didn’t join in much of the conversation. It was mostly Amelia talking, going on about how much she loved this place, and reading through a brochure of all the things we could do while we were there.

Once Amelia and Lyle called for the bill, I looked up at Ben.

“Do you feel like taking a walk?” I asked.

He looked tired, but his face lit up. “Sure.”

He turned to his mother. “Sofia and I are going to the beach.”

“Can I come?” Abby asked, jumping up from her seat.

I was relieved when Amelia held her back. “No, Abby. It’s your bedtime.” She looked from me to Ben. “Okay, but don’t stay out long and don’t venture too far. Stay where other tourists are.”

We parted ways and walked out onto the beach. Removing our shoes, we held them in our hands as we walked along. We headed toward the ocean, enjoying the feel of the waves lapping over our feet.

I wish Ben was already my boyfriend. Everything about the scene was so romantic. The moon, the stars, the sugary beaches… I wished that by magic we’d already gone past the stage of getting together and he would just take me in his arms and kiss me now.

After ten minutes, even though I was afraid that my voice might break, I couldn’t handle waiting any longer. Passing my flip flops along to my other hand, I caught Ben’s hand in mine, twining my fingers with his.

He looked down at me and smiled, squeezing my hand.

“Thank you for leaving the game for me yesterday,” I said.

He rolled his eyes. “Don’t thank me for that.”

I bit my lip, looking back down at the sand. The way his hand held mine sent chills down my spine. I stopped walking, pulling him to a stop too.

I cleared my throat. “Ben, I wanted to tell you something.”

He raised a brow, smiling at me curiously. “What?”

I felt the tension in my body rising as his eyes fixed on me.

I don’t know how to say this.

I dug my feet into the sand in frustration.

Just spit it out.

I took a deep breath.

“I hope you won’t take this the wrong way. I’ve debated a lot recently whether I should even be telling you this… but I realize if I want my peace back, I have to.” I paused, steeling myself for what I was about to say. “Ben, I—”

“Ben!” A shout cut through my sentence.

Ben and I whirled around to see who was approaching. My heart sank to my stomach. Tanya Wilson. One of his gorgeous blonde exes. She was running toward us in a thin bikini, her long blonde hair swept back behind her. She was dripping wet as she arrived.

“Hi, Ben,” she said, gasping for breath. She didn’t look at me once. It was as though I was invisible to her.

“Tanya? How come you’re here?” Ben asked, his eyes widening.

“I came here with my family for a short break. We left a few days before school broke off to save money… Where are you staying?”

Ben pointed toward our resort, which was clearly visible even at the distance we were standing.

“I’m staying there too! Which room are you in?”

“Fifty-four,” he replied.

She gripped his hands, stretching her long legs to reach up against him and place a kiss on his cheek. “I’m not far away from you. Seventy-eight.”

Tanya’s eyes finally fell on me. The disdain in her gaze was almost tactile. She looked back at Ben. “Could I have a word in private?”

Ben looked down at me, hesitating.

Tanya squeezed his arm harder. “I’m actually leaving in three days. It really would mean the world to me if we could talk… I promise I won’t keep you long.”

Ben sighed and nodded. “Okay.” He looked down at me apologetically. “I’m sorry, Sofia. Do you mind if we have a word?”

“Oh, sure. I’ll… I’ll just head back to the hotel, I guess.”

“I’ll catch you later.”

“Yeah…”

My throat dry, my chest aching at leaving Ben standing there alone with Tanya looking like that, I turned to face the hotel and walked away from them.

Friends before football.

But not friends before lovers.

Chapter 3: Sofia

I supposed that the moment I saw Tanya running toward us in that skimpy gold bikini, I already knew that I’d lost my chance with Ben. At least for this vacation. When Ben sought me out later that evening, it was to inform me that he’d made up with Tanya and they’d be hooking up for the next three days, after which she’d be heading back to California. She’d invited him to go on a scuba diving trip with her off the coast of Mexico for three days, leaving early the next morning, and returning late on the last day.

As he was telling me, it was all I could do to keep my voice from breaking, my lips from trembling with disappointment. I acted as cool as I could.

Three days. It meant that he’d be gone for my birthday. In his eagerness to hook up with the blonde again, he’d obviously totally forgotten. And I didn’t remind him. He’d already made his choice clear—Tanya was more important to him than me. I doubted that he would have ever forgotten her birthday. And could I really blame him? After all, I’d always be here in his shadow. He was stuck with me all the time. Whereas Tanya, she was a precious gem he might not have tomorrow. Thanks to my father, it wasn’t like I had anywhere to go. I supposed that deep down Ben knew this, and even if he didn’t intend it to, it played in his subconscious and affected his decisions and behavior toward me.

The next three days passed slowly. On the third day, I supposed I should have been grateful that at least Lyle and Amelia hadn’t forgotten my birthday. They took me out to a restaurant of my choice for lunch and ordered a cake. I felt bad that I was too depressed to eat much of anything. I spent the rest of the day with Abby on the beach. Lyle and Amelia lay on the sand nearby reading, and joining us to build the occasional sandcastle.

I excused myself early that evening, wanting nothing more than the solitude of my room. I’d managed to hold it in all day, but as I climbed into bed that night, I couldn’t stop the tears from streaming down my face. I tried to not imagine what Ben might have been doing all this time with Tanya. While I’d been here stuck with five-year-old Abby for company.

As I lay there, I tried to reason with myself that dates were harder to keep track of on vacation, since there was no routine to adhere to. Days seemed to merge into each other.

But this was my birthday. I was his best friend. He shouldn’t have forgotten.

I tossed and turned that night, unable to sleep. I always slept with earplugs in to help soften the noises that I was so overly attuned to, but that night even with my thickest pair of earplugs in, I found myself restless and showing no signs of falling asleep any time soon, even though my eyes were heavy from crying.

I just wanted sleep to take me, to wash away the memories of today and hopefully bring in a brighter tomorrow.

But I couldn’t. I kept thinking of Ben. And his blonde, bikini-clad ex.

It was close to midnight when I felt a gentle hand touch my shoulder. I guessed that it was Ben, so I kept deathly still, my eyes sealed shut pretending that I was sleeping.

I felt warm fingers brush the hair away from my face.

“I’m sorry, Sofia,” he whispered.

I didn’t know if he’d guessed that I was awake, or he just felt so guilty that he needed to apologize now whether I was asleep or awake.

I opened my eyes and looked up at him. And I wished I hadn’t. His dreamy blue eyes looking down at me with concern just made me yearn for him even more. I pushed away the sheets, and without saying a word, walked out onto the balcony.

Leaning over the railing and looking down at the ground below, I felt him approach behind me.

“I don’t know how I forgot.”

“It’s okay,” I said quietly, afraid if I spoke louder my voice might crack.

“No, it’s not. And I can see that it’s not. I need to make it up to you somehow.”

His hands reached for my shoulders and turned me to face him.

My voice caught in my throat. I wanted so much to tell him then and there what torture he was putting me through with Tanya. I felt my lips almost itching to finally just spit it out. And then he could do with my proposal as he may.

But I was still a coward. I kept thinking of how beautiful and perfect Tanya looked with Ben. I felt that I just wasn’t in his league.

So I ran.

Feeling tears brim in my eyes again, I darted back into the bedroom before he could notice. I was still wearing my bikini—dried out hours ago in the afternoon sun. Although the night breeze was chilly, I didn’t want to stop for longer in case Ben caught hold of me and tried to pull me back.

Grabbing a cover up and throwing it over my shoulders, I left the room, ran along the corridor, down the stairs, and out of the building.

As I reached the beach, I sped up and raced forward, the sand whipping my heels as I ran. I tried to numb my thoughts and let the night take me. The crashing of heavy waves soothed my ears. My skin tingled with every blow of the gentle summer breeze, the scent of ocean salt filling my nostrils. I lost track of how much time I spent running. Once my legs got tired, I slowed to a walk.

I waded into the ocean until the water came up to my waist. Lying on my back, I floated and gazed up at the stars. The water seemed to help in calming my nerves, even if it didn’t ease the burning in my chest. I closed my eyes, letting the sea carry me a little further adrift. I wished I could let that moment last forever. I felt so weightless, light, numb…

I sat up abruptly as a cold wind swept over me—uncharacteristic for Cancún. It brought me to my senses.

I shouldn’t be out this late alone.

I guessed that Ben was probably out looking for me on the beach by now. I climbed out of the water and placed the cover-up back over me.

I looked up and down the beach. My eyes fixed on the warm glowing lights of the resort in the distance. As much as I wanted to stay out longer, I started walking back. Hopefully this walk and dip in the sea would allow me to fall asleep quickly now, and I’d feel better in the morning. Perhaps I’d even feel that I’d overreacted.

Picking up my sandals, I sped up to a jog.

I jumped when a deep voice spoke behind me. My sandals slipped from my hand.

“Good evening.”

It was alarmingly close. I’d just scanned the beach a few moments ago and seen nobody.

Whirling around, my eyes widened as I looked the stranger over. Words couldn’t do justice to how striking a man he was. He was almost beautiful. His eyes, they were brighter than any I’d seen before, a brilliant blue—a stark contrast to his pale skin and dark hair. His height, broad shoulders, and lean build reminded me of Ben, but he had a presence far more imposing than my best friend’s.

My eyes settled on the stranger’s face. He was inspecting me just as closely as I was him. Unsettled, I stepped back.

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said, a smile playing across his lips.

“That’s all right,” I murmured, averting my eyes away from him. Picking up my sandals, I walked around him and continued on my way back to the resort. Focusing my eyes on the roof of the building in the distance, I quickened my pace as soon as he was five feet behind me. I cast my eyes along the beach again. I’d walked too far from the main area for there to be many people around, and now I severely regretted it.

“What’s your name?”

His voice was too close again. Close enough to know that he was following me. I didn’t stop to turn around and face him this time. There was something off about this man, and I wasn’t about to stick around to find out what it was.

But it seemed that I was about to stick around whether I liked it or not.

A cold hand gripped my arm, twisting my body to face him. Holding me in place, his blue eyes seared into mine.

“I asked you a question.”

“Get off me,” I breathed.

My right hand still free and holding my sandals, I swung them up toward his face. He dodged with speed and agility I’d never seen in a man before. He caught hold of my right hand, knocking my shoes away.

I glared at him. It was only out of hope that he might let go of me that I replied, “Sofia.”

His eyes lit up. Reaching for my face, he traced his thumb over my jaw.

“Sofia. A pleasure to meet you.”

He gripped the badge Abby had given me earlier, still attached to my cover-up. “Happy 17th”, it read. His smile only seemed to broaden.

I was about to shout for help, but I was suddenly overcome by the sensations surrounding me. I heard the waves, felt the sand, smelled the ocean salt, tasted the flavor of cherry ChapStick on my lips, and took in the stranger’s manic appearance as he stuck a needle into my neck.

The effect was instant. I was barely able to gasp, much less scream. I went from sensing everything to sensing absolutely nothing.

My last thought was that I might never see Ben again.

Chapter 4: Sofia

I blinked several times, hoping to see more clearly. No chance. I was enveloped by darkness.

My claustrophobia threatened to kick in. I was afraid that I might be in some sort of enclosed space, but when I reached out my hands, the cold, airy feel of the room soon assured me that I was not.

As I stood up, I quickly realized that the lack of lighting was the least of my concerns. Metal restraints held me by my wrists and ankles. I tried to pull against the chains. They were fastened to a wall.

I ran my hands over my body. My cover-up and bikini were still damp. I shivered, drawing my knees up against my chest, trying to preserve whatever warmth I had left in me. The chill was beginning to seep into my throat and make it ache. I would get sick if I remained in these clothes much longer.

Despite the cold, beads of sweat formed on my forehead.

Where am I?

“Hello?” My voice echoed around the room.

My call was met with silence. The only sounds that filled my ears were the occasional dripping and my own uneven breathing.

I thought my eyes would adjust to the darkness. But I saw no more clearly now than when I’d first opened them.

Crouching on my hands and knees, I spread out my palms over the strange substance I was sitting on. At first I’d thought it was a rough carpet, but now that I felt it beneath my fingers, I realized that it was straw. Why straw? My mind started conjuring up images of a medieval dungeon.

I was about to call out again but my voice froze in my throat. Footsteps sounded outside the room. Seconds later, a door swung open. Incandescent lighting flickered on, blinding me.

Barely had my eyes adjusted to the change of lighting, when I felt a hand grip my throat and pull me up into a standing position. It was the stranger from the beach.

“What do you want from me?” I shouted. I asked the question not so much to hear the answer. I just needed to break the silence in hopes of hiding my erratic heartbeat.

His grip on me only tightened as I struggled. He raised his hand and brushed a strand of hair away from my face. I flinched at his touch. He pushed me against the wall and pinned me to it. I gasped as his weight crushed me.

“Welcome to The Shade, Sofia.” He leaned closer, his breath cool against my ear. “You are quite a beauty, aren’t you?”

From his lips, it sounded more like an insult than a compliment.

Fear was fast being replaced with anger. I gathered all the strength I could to attempt to push him away again. As I struggled, the concrete wall behind me pierced through the sheerness of my cover-up and grated against my skin.

He smiled when I failed to budge him even slightly.

“Get off me.”

He grabbed my hair with one hand and my jaw with the other. He leaned his face even closer to mine, the tips of our noses almost touching.

“You are not in a place to make impetuous demands.” His hands eased out of my hair and away from my jaw before he began to grope my body in places no person other than myself had ever touched before. His eyes never left mine even as I tried to wither away from his touch.

“There’s no escape. If you want to survive, you must realize that in this kingdom, you exist to obey. Do as you’re told, and we just might allow you to live.”

Kingdom? What?

I spat in his face. It was the only act of defiance I could manage with his weight against me.

My feeling of victory lasted for about a second. He wiped his face with the back of his hand and gripped my neck.

“You asked me what I wanted from you. There really is only one thing you can give me, Sofia.”

I glared at him, determined to at least go out with dignity and self-respect. “What?”

His answer sent chills down my spine.

“You.”

Fangs protruded from his mouth. He pushed my head to the side, exposing my neck. It felt like a dream but, as much as I tried to pinch myself awake, there was no escaping it.

I was convinced I’d either been drugged with a hallucinogen, or my mother’s sickness had finally claimed me, because, at that moment, I believed that I was about to be eaten alive by a vampire.

Chapter 5: Sofia

Before I could lose myself to another fit, a shrill female voice blasted through the chamber.

“Lucas!”

The sharp edge of his fangs had just begun piercing my skin. He growled in frustration and pushed me away. My head jerked back against the concrete wall.

I cursed him beneath my breath. So your name is Lucas.

“What are you doing?” the female voice demanded.

I strained to see who my savior was, but Lucas was blocking my view.

“What do you think I’m doing, Vivienne?” His chest heaving, he looked ready to rip the head off of this Vivienne woman. “So sorry about this, Sofia dear,” he said, turning back to me. He looked at me as though I was his ally. “It seems my sister can’t just let things be.”

Sister. My heart sank.

“I told you to put her in The Cells with the others,” Vivienne said. “She isn’t yours to feast on.”

“I found her,” he growled.

“You found her for Derek.”

Lucas’ fists clenched. “I always keep the girls I find on these hunts.”

“You already have plenty in your quarters. You need not keep this one. Corrine made it clear that the young women found tonight are to be reserved for when Derek wakes up.”

Lucas eyed me. His Adam’s apple moved as he gulped, deprived of the morsel he was so desperate to have.

He once again took my face in his hands and traced his thumb over my lips. “This fragile little twig couldn’t possibly be the one,” he muttered, his eyes darkening. “I don’t understand why everyone seems to worship the ground Corrine walks on. No matter what that witch says, Sleeping Beauty has shown no signs of waking up any time soon.”

“Derek will wake shortly. The sooner you accept that, the better off we’ll all be.”

Lucas paused, his jaw tensing. “Why do you constantly choose him over me?”

“Now’s not the time for this—”

“What makes you so loyal to him?” Lucas’ shoulders heaved.

Silence fell between the siblings. Vivienne sighed. “Despite what you think, it has nothing to do with the fact that he’s my twin. It has everything to do with who you are and who he is. I love you, Lucas, but you must accept that you weren’t meant to rule.” Her words were firm, but not without a hint of affection.

Pain flickered in Lucas’ eyes. Then anger, which he took out on me. He clamped one hand over my neck, constricting my breathing. A claw protruded from the thumb. I groaned as he ran it over my lower lip, etching a cut.

“Lucas. Stop,” Vivienne shouted.

He let go of me, allowing me to gasp for breath. Backing away, he stared down at me like I was the most disgusting thing he’d ever seen in his life.

“I’m just trying to help you wake your beloved Derek, Vivienne. Take this little minx to him and make her kiss the Sleeping Beauty. The taste of her blood just might wake the prince up.” Lucas began to head for the door but stopped to glare at his sister. “Isn’t that how you think all this is going to play out when Derek wakes up? Just like a fairytale?”

Relief washed over me as he finally stalked out, slamming the door behind him. I gazed across the room at Vivienne for the first time.

If I thought Lucas could be beautiful, Vivienne was far more stunning to behold. She was a couple of inches shorter than her brother, but had the same dark hair and pale complexion. Her eyes, however, were different. Against the light in the room, they almost looked violet.

She eyed me warily, as if I was a heavy burden she had to bear.

“Thank you,” I breathed. Momentarily casting aside thoughts of what horrors she might have in store for me, I genuinely meant it.

“Understand, girl, that you are nothing here. You’re nothing but a pawn, a piece used to make the board move. Your best chance at survival is to win Derek’s affections. Considering everything I know about my brother, I’m not sure that’s even possible.”

Pawn? Piece? Win affections? A few hours ago, I was a tourist walking along a beach. Although I didn’t understand what she was talking about, her words dealt my hope a final crushing blow.

Wherever this place called “The Shade” was, I had no allies. No friends. I had only myself to rely on. And that, I realized, was the most frightening aspect of my predicament. After all, how could I rely on someone I couldn’t trust?

Chapter 6: Sofia

The woman left me alone in the dungeon before I had a chance to ask her a single question. Pulling against my chains, I yelled after her, begging her to let me go. As footsteps sounded outside the door five minutes later, I thought she might have returned for me. But as the door swung open, my eyes fell on a tall blond man with strange amber-gold eyes. He wore a black cloak, attached to which was a red broach. His complexion was pale, like Lucas and Vivienne.

He swept across the room with impossible speed, keys clanking in his hands as he loosened me. I bolted for the door, but strong, ice-cold hands caught my wrists before I even got two feet away.

“What are you doing?” I panted, struggling against his grip.

He answered by handcuffing me. He attached the cuffs to his belt and began walking forward, pulling me along like a dog on a leash. I had to try to keep up with his speed or I risked falling and being dragged along behind him.

Exiting the chamber, we found ourselves in a long dark passageway. The walls were made of rough granite. It was more like a tunnel. Our footsteps echoed off the walls.

“What are you?”

He shot down a glare at me, his lips still sealed.

As we turned a corner, I gripped the wall with both hands, forcing my hands into a crack and pulling myself away from him. I thought the motion would at least halt him temporarily, but it didn’t. He kept moving at the same pace, as though nothing was holding him back. The rough stone grazed my palms as I was jerked backward. Only once I stumbled and hit the floor did he stop. He hadn’t even noticed that I’d attempted to latch onto a wall.

What are these people?

Gripping my shoulders, he pulled me up and set me on my feet again. Eyeing my bruised knees, he scowled at me. His hands snaked around my waist and the next thing I knew, I’d been flung over his shoulder, my head upside down.

I kicked but his hold on me only tightened, crushing my stomach against his sharp shoulder and making it hard to breathe. I had no choice but to relent.

It was hard to see where we were going now, being held in this awkward position. But soon the man started descending a winding staircase. My stomach flipped as he turned corners. There were no barriers lining the staircase, and on more than one occasion I caught glimpses of a black abyss beyond it, extending for…I didn’t know how many hundreds of feet. The temperature seemed to drop with each step he took.

Finally, he parted from the staircase and after walking several feet along another passageway, I heard the creak of a door pushing open.

The man stepped inside, and it was only once the door shut again that he set me back down on my feet. The blood rushing back down from my head, I felt dizzy and gripped the wall, trying to steady myself. We were in another dim chamber of sorts.

When things came into focus, my eyes fell on a familiar face. Vivienne. She stood next to two other tall, pale men—both wearing identical clothing to the man I was chained to—black cloaks with blood-red broaches.

Vivienne glanced over me briefly, before turning to face my escort.

“Good,” she said. “Now you can help us gather the others.”

My escort pulled me forward after them. Vivienne opened a door and we entered through it. A wave of stale air washed over me as we found ourselves at the end of a long, wide corridor—no lighter than the room we’d just exited. Iron bars lined either side of it. Screams and whimpers echoed off the stone walls. As my escort pulled me forward and I was able to look through the first set of bars, my eyes fell on a cell containing a dozen men and women—young and old alike. They were huddling as far away from the cell’s gate as physically possible. Their clothes were dirty and ripped. Beneath their eyes were thick black circles and they were all so thin, I wondered how long it had been since they’d last eaten.

There was an audible sigh of relief as we passed them, only to be replaced by another burst of cries as we approached the next cell. Vivienne still leading the way, we moved from cell to cell until we reached the fifth, at which point she stopped. She pointed through the bars toward a girl with long blonde hair cowering in a corner.

“That one.”

One of the men standing next to Vivienne opened up the gate and walked inside. As he pulled her up, I realized that she looked about the same age as me. She fought and scratched as the man forced her out and placed handcuffs on her. He fastened her to his belt as my escort had done to me.

I locked eyes with the girl. She looked as terrified as I felt. Our eye contact was broken as her escort yanked on her chain, forcing her to face forward.

Vivienne stopped again in the next cell along and pointed at another young woman with dark hair and gray eyes. Her face was stained with dirt and her frame was more waifish than the blonde. Perhaps she’d been trapped here longer. The third man, currently having nobody chained to him, took her out.

Our next stop was a cell at the end of the corridor. Another blonde-haired girl. Pulling me inside the cell with him, my guard pulled her to a standing position and chained her to the other side of him. I wished that she was on my side I would have liked to feel her warmth, to have another person next to me even though we were both just as helpless as the other.

As the man drew us both back toward the gate, an older woman shrieked and latched onto the girl, attempting to tug her back. The girl screamed as the guard raised a hand and struck the woman down. She fell to the floor with a thud as her skull made contact with the ground.

“Why are you doing this?” I choked.

It wasn’t my guard who answered, but Vivienne herself. She turned on me. “Don’t ask questions. You’ll be given information if and when required.”

She twisted back around and continued leading us forward.

By the time we stopped again—outside the last cell on the opposite side of the prison—we’d come full circle. After one of the guards pulled out yet another young woman, Vivienne laid eyes on each of us. I shuddered as I felt the men ogling us too.

“Five will be enough,” Vivienne said. “At least, for now.”

The guards’ arms wrapped around each of our waists and hurled us over their shoulders—my guard carrying both me and the thin blonde. We exited the prison and began racing forward at a speed that once again left me struggling to breathe. I tried to catch glimpses of my surroundings, but it was all just a blur. I didn’t know where we were going or even whether the others were traveling forward with us.

When the man finally stopped and lowered me to the ground, I sank to my knees, clutching my head and trying to steady it.

That’s when I realized I was sitting on soft grass. A cool breeze touched my face. My vision coming into focus, I cast my eyes about. Vivienne, along with all the girls and guards, stood a few feet away. The girls looked in similar states of disarray as they were pulled to their feet by their escorts. We were in a dark, grassy clearing. I stared at a giant oak doorway behind us, still slightly ajar. It was fixed into a gray stone wall. My eyes shot upward. That’s when I realized that this was no ordinary wall. We were standing at the foot of a mountain, its sharp peaks towering over us. I gaped as realization dawned on me. The network of tunnels we’d just exited from was carved into a sprawling mountain range.

My guard forced me to my feet and faced me forward. Trees bordered the edges of the clearing. Trees that were so tall, I could barely make out their tips. I gasped. These were giant redwoods, the likes of which I’d never even seen in books.

“Let’s keep moving,” Vivienne said.

The guard yanked on his chains, forcing me and the girl next to me to keep moving forward. As we crossed the clearing and entered into the woods, I fell behind a step and reached out to grab the arm of the girl walking along on the other side of the guard. Her terrified face shot toward me. I slowed her down a little to my pace. I was about to talk to her, but the guard had already noticed my attempt. He grabbed our arms and split us up again.

The men picked us up again and began racing forward through the forest, though at a slightly slower pace than they’d travelled back in the prison network. I was able to better make out our surroundings. The woods were so thick at this point, the canopy of leaves above so dense, it was pitch black but for a few shafts of moonlight that escaped between them. Save for the crunching of the guards’ feet in the undergrowth, the night was eerily quiet. My ears were filled with the gentle rustling of trees in the wind, the occasional grunting of some strange forest animal, and the heavy breathing of the men as they hurtled forward.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

I was ignored, again. But the girl next to me shot me another glance, as we were both held upside down over our burly escort’s shoulders.

“I’m Gwen,” she whispered.

“Sofia.”

She seemed too scared of the guard chastising us if we continued speaking, so she remained tight-lipped after that. We couldn’t have had much of a conversation anyway hanging up from that angle, being shaken around like hunks of meat.

The man slowed to a stop and I found myself being dumped on the ground again. Gripping the chain attaching me to him in my sweaty palms, I stared at an opening through the tree trunks, which had just come into view. Warm lights shone through it, and as we emerged on a dirt path, I was met with the first sign of real civilization I’d seen since I’d left Cancún.

“This, girls,” one of the guards spoke up, without bothering to hide the way he was still leering at us, “is The Vale.”

The dirt path led to a cobblestone street, lit with burning lanterns fixed to the exterior of buildings. My eyes widened as I tried to make sense of the scene around me. The buildings lining the street were like townhouses that one might find in any modern city. Yet, as we walked deeper into the town, passing down different roads, other buildings looked as if they remained from the medieval era. They sported rough stone walls and thatched roofs. It was as if this place melded the past with the present. I couldn’t help but wonder how long it had been since this place first came into existence.

Crowds of pale skinned men and women milled about—as if it were the most normal thing in the world to be walking around at this unholy hour of the night.

We took a half-dozen turns through the maze of streets until we reached a square. Vivienne brought us all to a stop outside a two-story building with tall tinted glass windows and a blue pastel exterior.

I caught a glimpse of Gwen’s reaction, but she was too transfixed on the building we were about to enter to be looking at me. We were ushered through glass doors into a small room with a rounded ceiling. A gem-studded fountain flowed in the center. I almost slipped on the floor. It was made of shining marble. A heady scent of essential oils hung in the air.

A middle-aged woman with bushy brown hair bustled into the room. Her eyes fell on each of us, before she nodded to Vivienne and the guards.

“I’m leaving now,” Vivienne said, gripping the arm of the man who was holding me. “You know where to bring them. Don’t be late.”

My stomach flipped as I watched Vivienne rush away. After the guards removed our chains, the brunette took charge of us. Gathering us all together, she ushered us down a flight of stairs. We found ourselves in an underground chamber. It looked like… a Roman spa. Sculpted pillars propped up the ceiling. There was a swimming pool, several steaming jacuzzis, padded massage tables, pedicure and manicure equipment, tubs of wax, and countless bottles of oils lining the shelves on the walls.

My mouth felt so dry I could hardly swallow without it hurting.

“You can leave us now,” the woman said, eyeing the men.

The guards threw us each a last glance before they climbed back up the stairs. A resounding thud echoed around the large chamber as the door slammed shut.

All our eyes fell on the woman, but she’d turned her back on us and was walking toward the tip of one of the baths.

“Katya, Marie,” she called, her voice piercing through the silence of the cavernous chamber. “They’re here.”

Two young women hurried into the room, carrying black bags. They set them down by the massage tables and began unpacking towels.

The brunette handed each of us thick bathrobes and pointed to the jacuzzis. “Time for you all to get in now.”

None of us did anything. I stepped forward, gripping the woman’s forearm. She was warm, unlike the creatures who’d just left. I experienced the first real spark of hope since arriving in this insane place. But barely had I opened my mouth to speak when she held up a finger to her lips and shushed me. “I’m not here to say anything. I just do my duty, you understand?”

“Please, let us go.” The blond-haired girl stepped forward, beads of sweat lining her forehead.

“I can’t. And I suggest you stop pressing me. The guards are waiting upstairs. I only let them go to give you some privacy, but I can call them back down again and, believe me, they will happily come.”

She ushered us into the baths. The two younger women, Katya and Marie, stepped in with us and scrubbed us down with sponges. Wrapping robes around ourselves, we stepped out. At least, it felt like we were safe down here. The longer we stayed in this spa, the better.

After drying ourselves, the brunette, Katya and Marie guided us through a series of beauty regimens— a massage, manicure, pedicure, and facial. After being sprayed with heady perfume, we entered a dressing room where another woman handed us packages of clothes.

My gut clenched as I touched the lacy lingerie and pearl-white gown I’d found in my package. My heart pounded against my chest.

Whoever this Derek person was, they were preparing us for him.

I trembled as I slipped on the garments, the gown hugging my curves at just the right places. I couldn’t remember ever feeling more beautiful than I did at that moment, yet I felt nothing but dread.

“You look gorgeous,” Marie said as she helped zip up my dress from the back.

“What’s all this for?” I whispered, my voice hoarse. Marie seemed to be more talkative than the older lady, so I tried my luck.

“You are to be part of the prince’s harem,” she said. “All of The Shade’s Elite have harems of their own. You girls are lucky enough to be chosen to serve the legendary Derek Novak himself.”

“Wh-Who is Derek Novak?”

“I’m sorry. I can’t reveal more to you… but a word of advice: you can’t afford to displease him.” She ran her fingers through my hair. “But don’t look so worried. You look stunning. I doubt it will be difficult for you to please him.”

With that, she walked away.

Please him.

Shivers ran through me. My mind alight with panic, I hurried after her. “Wait,” I called, catching up with her and grabbing her arm. “Please—”

“It’s time to leave,” a harsh male voice spoke from behind me.

I whirled around to see the guards entering the dressing room. The amber-eyed man pried me away from the woman and chained me to him once again. He dragged me out of the room along with the other girls. I struggled against him as we exited the spa, but he only gripped me harder. He looked down at me as we traveled back along The Vale’s cobblestone streets.

“The prince is one lucky bastard,” he muttered under his breath.

We hurried back into the woods and walked in silence until we reached another clearing. In the center of a courtyard was a magnificent marble building—it looked like a temple of sorts, with a pristine white exterior and a gem-studded roof. Under the moonlight, it shone amidst the black of night.

Removing our handcuffs, they made us walk through the front door. My throat tightened as we entered a lantern-lit corridor. Standing before us were Vivienne and Lucas. When Lucas fixed his eyes on me, my insides squirmed. He smirked and said:

“Welcome to The Sanctuary.”

Chapter 7: Derek

The moment my eyes opened, I could hear everything, smell everything, and feel everything within a quarter-mile radius. I was sure that the sensation alone would send my body into shock, until my vision settled on a familiar face. A buxom beauty with light brown skin and cascading locks of chestnut hair. The woman I had trusted enough to provide my escape from everything.

“Cora?”

The last thing I remembered was Cora’s face as I’d faded into slumber. It felt like I had only slept for a few moments before being jolted awake. I wondered if something had gone wrong with the spell.

It struck me that the witch looked younger. She shook her head.

“I’m not Cora. I’m Corrine.”

I lifted myself up from the slab of stone that had served as my resting place, for how long, I could only muse. I was in a candlelit hall with marble floors and giant pillars. The first word that came to mind when I surveyed the place was sanctuary.

I eyed the young woman, wary of her intentions. It took a moment for her strange clothes to register. Perhaps more time had passed than I had thought. But at that point, it didn’t matter.

I wasn’t supposed to wake up. Ever.

Contemptuous that I should wake when I’d so explicitly asked for an eternal escape, I shouted a command as prince of The Shade.

“I want to see Cora. Bring her to me.”

I hated the authoritative tone my voice naturally took on. Who was I to issue commands? I was no prince—much less the savior Vivienne painted me to be.

The prophecy she’d spoken soon after we’d been turned into vampires haunted me.

The younger will rule above father and brother and his reign alone can provide his kind true sanctuary.

I still remembered the look on Vivienne’s face when she’d uttered those words. And the resentful expressions of my father and brother.

I snapped myself out of the bout of nostalgia and raised a brow at the woman before me. Why isn’t she moving?

Despite my misgivings about ruling, I wasn’t used to others not obeying me. After a hundred years of fighting for survival and leading my coven to The Shade, I’d grown accustomed to being revered and followed. I wasn’t sure I liked that about myself, but it was what it was.

“Would you like us to dig up her grave, Your Highness? I doubt her corpse will be of much use to you.”

I grimaced. Your Highness. A reminder of the day my father took to heart the coven’s foolish notion to establish himself as King of The Shade. But the title didn’t bother me as much as the news of Cora’s demise. I swallowed hard, gripping the edges of my stone bed.

The pounding in my veins made it clear exactly what my body was now screaming out for. Blood. I was famished. Another bitter reminder of the past I’d meant to escape when I’d given the witch permission to put a sleeping curse on me. “Who are you?”

“I’m the witch of The Shade, descendant of the great witch, Cora.”

I paused, keeping my eyes on her. That information alone commanded my respect. If she was Cora’s descendant, it was better to keep her as an ally rather than foe.

I heaved a sigh, not sure I wanted to hear the answer to my next question. “What century is it?”

“The twenty-first.”

I averted my eyes to the ground as her words sunk in. Four hundred years. I escaped for four hundred years.

Corrine began circling me. I could sense her distrust. She was scrutinizing me, perhaps wondering what my awakening meant for The Shade. I wanted to tell her that it meant nothing, because I fully intended to escape from it all over again.

But there were so many questions running through my mind.

“Why am I awake?”

“It’s time.”

I clenched my fists. “Time for what?”

“For Derek Novak to stop acting like a coward and face what he was meant to do. Rule.”

My jaw tightened. “I didn’t ask for this.”

“Neither did any of us, but if His Highness is entertaining any notions of going back to his dreamy reprieve, then I suggest you forget them now, Prince. Until you’ve played your part, there’s no escape. Cora made certain of that.”

“What do you—?”

Before I could finish my question, the acacia doors swung open. My older brother and twin sister strode into the chamber.

Lucas gave me a curt nod. I nodded back. That was the closest we ever came to showing brotherly affection. Vivienne, on the other hand, threw her arms around my neck.

“I’m so glad you’re awake,” she whispered.

“That makes one of us.” I couldn’t keep myself from telling her exactly what I felt.

And then it happened.

My gut clenched. The smell was overwhelming, intoxicating. I cursed the person whose idea it was to bring about this kind of cruelty.

As my sister stepped aside, I remembered everything. I remembered why it was so important for me to stay asleep.

Five beautiful young women—innocents, no older than I was when I became a vampire—stood before me. I sensed their fear, but the predator within me was desperate for release.

I hated myself for it, but I wanted nothing more than to drain every last drop of blood from each of them.

Chapter 8: Sofia

My eyes were glued to the young man Vivienne embraced. There was no question in my mind that it was him. He was the one I was here for.

He was Derek Novak.

He shared the handsome features of his brother—a strong jawline, bright blue eyes, dark-brown, almost black, hair—but there was something more refined about him. I could instantly tell that he was younger than Lucas. There was a hint of boyishness in his face. I entertained the thought that perhaps I was indeed better off at his mercy than Lucas’. However, the words Vivienne had spoken to me earlier that night still haunted me.

“Your best chance at survival is to win Derek’s affections… I’m not sure that’s even possible.”

“What is the meaning of this? Why would you bring them to me?” Derek spoke up. His voice was deep and powerful. “Take them away from me.”

“We can’t do that.” Vivienne shook her head. “You’ll need to learn to control yourself. We will give you blood to feed on soon enough but, right now, you need to keep yourself in check when you’re around them.”

“If you don’t want them to die, why bring them to me now?” His voice rumbled through the cavernous hall like the beginnings of an earthquake.

Everything about his demeanor—the way his chest heaved, the way his fists clenched—made it clear that he was doing everything within his power to keep himself from attacking us.

I shuddered at the display of temper from this young man. Vivienne didn’t seem fazed at all.

“You and I both know that if you are to face what lies ahead of you, you need to be able to control your hunger. These women were handpicked to become part of your harem. They’re the loveliest among a recent hunt.”

Lucas chuckled. “This is cruel and unusual punishment, Vivienne. Derek hasn’t had blood for the past four hundred years. He can’t be expected to not want to rip these girls’ heads off. Hell, I’ve been feeding for the last four hundred years and I still want to have my way with them.”

Derek gave him a sideways glare before his eyes roamed over us one by one.

“A harem? A hunt? Since when do we have these? Who are these girls and where exactly did you ‘hunt’ them?”

Lucas, Vivienne, and another woman present in the hall exchanged uncomfortable glances. It was Vivienne who answered.

“They’re humans abducted from the outside world. We hunt humans to become slaves here, to work. Those who prove useless are fed on. The choicest and most beautiful among the captives are kept by the Elite as part of what we began calling a harem. Some of the favored lodgers also have one or two beauties of their own. The humans who form the harems are kept alive for a year and whomever owns them gets to decide their ultimate fate after that.”

“It’s really just an excuse to have them at their prime,” Lucas added with a smirk.

From the look on Derek’s face, he didn’t seem pleased. He eyed us—the distance between us was only a few strides.

“I know what you’re thinking and, no, you can’t let them go.” Lucas spoke as if he was talking to a five year old. “They’ve seen The Shade. They stay or they die.”

Derek’s expression turned to disgust. “They can’t be any older than we were when we were turned.”

“I know.” Lucas grinned. “They’re all seventeen.”

“The knights and guards take them at that age because their blood tastes richer once they reach eighteen,” Vivienne explained.

Lucas scoffed. “Please. It’s all the same. But really, Derek, enjoy them. Just looking at them is a feast. After the year ends, imagine all the wicked things you can do with them.”

Derek straightened to his full height—a couple of inches taller than his older brother—and began walking toward us. I held my breath, sure that my knees were about to give way. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other and my hand brushed the hand of the blonde girl standing beside me. She was shaking. I grabbed her hand and squeezed it, hoping to both give comfort to and draw it from her.

The motion attracted Derek’s attention. I’d never felt more vulnerable than I did the moment Derek Novak’s electric-blue eyes settled on me.

I was a lamb—a lamb ready for slaughter.

Chapter 9: Derek

I couldn’t pry my eyes away from her. I wanted to stop, but I found myself inching closer.

She was the most beautiful to behold—not because her appearance drew me in above and beyond the others. No. She was beautiful because, at a time when she had every right to be terrified, she managed to show comfort to another person who needed it.

The moment she’d grabbed the hand of the girl beside her, all the others had paled in comparison.

She showed me a humanity I longed to return to.

But I was the predator. She was my prey. And even as I admired her for that simple gesture, I was battling to prevent myself from relishing the sweet delicacy she was to my kind.

I cursed beneath my breath. Vivienne knew my struggle to maintain control when it came to satisfying my hunger.

The young woman’s emerald-green eyes settled boldly on me. Dark auburn locks cascaded down her shoulders and framed her delicate face. There was an innocence to the slight blush of her freckled cheeks that made me ache inside. Her eyes—fixed on me, unflinching—made me want to shrink away from her.

I knew she was studying me and I would have given anything to find out what was going through her head as she looked me over.

A familiar pain filled my chest with every step I took closer to her. She was everything I no longer was. She represented everything I’d lost when my father had turned me into this monster.

I approached within two feet of her and immediately regretted it. The sight and fragrance of the slightest bit of blood on her lower lip became my complete undoing.

With lightning speed and strength I’d forgotten I possessed, I slammed her back against a marble pillar. Guilt filled me for causing her pain, but I was giving in to my nature, desperate to taste her blood.

I swallowed hard as my eyes centered on the cut on her lip. The moment I tasted it, I wouldn’t be able to control myself. There would be no going back.

“Derek, no…”

My uneven breathing and erratic heartbeat drowned out my sister’s protests. As far as I was concerned, there was no one else there with us. It was just me and this innocent—this innocent I was about to destroy.

I wrapped an arm around her small waist and lifted her up the pillar, supporting her weight with my hips. She tried to push me away, free herself from my grip, but it didn’t take long for her to realize that there was no escape. I was too strong for her and she was at my mercy. She knew it. I knew it. And I hated myself because, at that moment, there wasn’t a single bit of mercy running through my blood-deprived veins. There was nothing in me but a primal need that was begging to be satisfied—hunger.

Chapter 10: Sofia

Pain seared through my spine as Derek Novak pinned me against a pillar, raising me so that my face was directly in front of his. My back was suffering from the abuse it had been receiving—first from Lucas and now from his brother.

Lucas was right when he’d referred to me as a “fragile little twig”. It was exactly how I felt, with Derek holding me there, all my attempts to break free failing miserably. I wasn’t sure if he was aware of how strong he was, but he exuded a power that I didn’t sense even with Lucas. I felt like a china doll, ready to shatter at any moment.

Everything about Derek Novak overwhelmed my senses. The feel of his muscular body pressed against mine, the chill of his breath against my skin, the sound of his harsh breathing, the light scent of his musk mixing with the myrrh on my neck.

He stared at me and I stared back. I could almost see the wheels in his head turning, and every bit of his demeanor showed how conflicted he was about what he wanted to do. And yet there was also a determination in his blue eyes that left me grasping for any bit of hope.

When his free hand grabbed my head and pushed it to the side, exposing my neck while he bared his fangs, all I could think to do was beg.

“Please… don’t.”

“Derek, you don’t want to do this. You have control,” Vivienne shouted.

Derek pushed against me as he leaned forward, his fangs beginning to press against my neck.

Even as all five of my senses were assailed, I managed to recall Ben’s words. The words he’d spoken to me at the football game on his twelfth birthday. The words he’d saved me with so many times since. Words I needed to save me from descending into another fit now.

“I know an excuse when I hear one. Don’t you dare deceive yourself into believing that you’re the victim, Sofia Claremont.”

I tried to push Derek away once again, but surrendered to the idea that it was no use. Instead, I pressed my cheek against his, the warmth of my skin fading into the coldness of his.

“You can control yourself. Don’t do this to me,” I whispered into his ear.

To my shock, just as his fangs were about to draw blood, he stopped. The fangs retracted until it was just his lips pressing against my neck.

“I can’t,” he said, his voice hoarse. “Your blood is too enticing, too sweet.”

Tears began to stream down my face. Everything that had been happening came crashing down on me. I ached for Ben as I repeated his words out loud.

“I know an excuse when I hear one. Don’t you dare deceive yourself into believing that you’re the victim, Derek Novak.”

A faint gasp escaped Derek’s lips as I spoke the words. His grip loosened around my waist. His lips remained pressed on my skin as he eased me down so I could stand on my feet again. The moment I touched the floor, my knees buckled and, to my horror, I found myself leaning against him for support. He slipped his arm around me and propped me up.

“Tell me your name,” he whispered, loud enough for only me to hear. His face was still mere inches from my own.

I flinched, wanting to refuse, but I had no energy left in me to put up a fight. “Sofia… Sofia Claremont.”

A silence descended on the chamber as he continued staring at me. His gaze was so intense it was exhausting to hold. I averted my eyes to the ground.

He finally spoke again—louder this time as he addressed everyone else in the room.

“Sofia is to be my personal slave.”

His siblings exchanged glances.

“And the others?” Vivienne asked.

Derek didn’t even look at them.

“You decide.”

Other words were exchanged, but I didn’t hear them. Dread welled in the pit of my stomach.

What does he mean by “personal slave”?

Chapter 11: Derek

Four hundred years. Gone. Just like that.

As Lucas and Vivienne led me out of The Sanctuary, now Corrine’s dwelling place, I couldn’t help but marvel over what they’d turned The Shade into over the past four centuries. Before the sleeping spell, the island we’d called The Shade had been nothing but a fortress surrounded by towering sequoias. We’d made a clearing in the forest and called it The Vale. That was where we’d begun making plans for what The Shade would become. I’d never thought it possible for those plans to actually materialize, but here it was, right before my very eyes—more amazing than it had been in my imagination.

As we left The Sanctuary and entered what was now The Vale, I asked question after question to satisfy my curiosity and make me forget my hunger. Sofia and the other slaves were walking behind us, escorted by the guards. I was still so conscious of Sofia’s proximity, still lured by the fragrance of her blood.

“What happened to the wild animals?” I asked. We’d made plans to keep our residences atop the redwoods, because of what a nuisance the wildlife had turned out to be.

“They’re around,” Vivienne said. “Cora helped section off most of them. Though some of the fiercer ones are kept in The Cells.”

“The Cells?”

“The prisons,” Lucas butted in. “They’re located in the Black Heights—you know, the mountain ranges. The dungeons and slave quarters are there.”

I raised a brow. “Sofia?”

Vivienne’s eyes shot toward me. I knew she was intrigued by the concern I was showing for the girl. I didn’t know how to explain to her what I saw in Sofia, even if I’d wanted to. The truth was, I didn’t fully understand myself.

“Harems stay at The Residences with their keepers,” Vivienne said.

I nodded. “And what exactly are The Residences?”

“You’ll find out soon enough,” Lucas said. There was a certain smugness to my brother’s tone. I imagined he was pleased that he had four hundred years’ worth of experience and knowledge over me.

I stared back and forth from my sister to my brother, wondering about the knowledge and wisdom they’d accumulated over all that time. My brother and I had never been close—our father had always pitted us against each other—but Lucas didn’t seem to be any wiser than he had been when I’d first gone under Cora’s spell. Vivienne, on the other hand, had a sager aura about her and I couldn’t help but feel some sort of reverence toward her.

I began to wonder where my father was. The fact that I had no pressing desire to see him said a lot about my feelings toward him. I assumed that he’d be in The Crimson Fortress, within the massive walls I’d made sure would be built to protect The Shade before I’d sought escape. I found myself asking if the fortress was still standing strong and if Xavier, always the fierce warrior, was there.

“The fortress is stronger than ever. We have knights, guards, and scouts stationed at its walls,” Vivienne assured me.

“Knights? Scouts?”

“Knights are members of the Elite who also serve as warriors,” Lucas explained. “Scouts are those we send to the outside world for supplies or new blood.”

I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. I’d always pondered whether there was a way for our kind to survive without preying on humans. Just saying those thoughts out loud would be labeled as sacrilege by my father.

“And Father?”

“He’s meeting with leaders from the other covens to discuss how to stop the damned hunters once and for all,” Vivienne said.

My jaw tightened at the mention of the hunters. Humans dedicated to ending our kind. I remembered a time when I had been one of them. That was long ago.

“They’re still a threat?” I asked.

“More than ever before,” Lucas said. “We’re the strongest coven remaining. A lot of the citizens of The Shade—lodgers, we call them—escaped from covens that the hunters found and annihilated.”

Vivienne seemed to sense my agitation. “The hunters are a topic for a later date.”

We had just reached the outskirts of The Vale and were now entering a different part of the redwood forest. I admired how much The Shade had changed. Before the sleeping spell, it could barely be called a community. It was our escape from the hunters who were threatening to expel every single one of our kind from the earth.

If I hadn’t had my father, brother, and sister, I would’ve surrendered myself to the hunters, ending my life at their cruel hands. But I couldn’t bear to do it to my family, especially not to Vivienne. The coven needed me, but once I had fulfilled my part of the bargain and brought them to this safe haven, winning Cora over to our side for protection, I’d known I couldn’t live another second with the blood on my hands. I had to end it.

But I’d been a coward. I’d dreaded to think of what would happen once I died. What happens to the living dead once they pass away? I shuddered. It was strange that the undead could be so afraid of death, and yet it was true.

I’d been afraid to die, so I’d gone to sleep instead.

As we walked through the dense woods, I spoke my thoughts. “You must hate me for what I did. Abandoning you all.”

Lucas’ jaw twitched, a flicker of resentment showing in his eyes. I didn’t need a response from him to know what was going through his mind. He hated me.

Vivienne was far more gracious. “No, Derek. You did what had to be done to protect us all without even knowing it. Your rested state has caused you to gain energy over the hundreds of years that you were under Cora’s spell. Because of this, you’re most likely the strongest and most powerful vampire in existence today.”

Vivienne’s words echoed through my head. Strongest and most powerful vampire. Recollections of how I’d thrown Sofia up against that pillar entered my mind.

My gut clenched. She had looked delicate in my grasp, and yet so fearless. I was death, and I’d been looking her right in the eye. She’d looked right back, barely flinching.

Now she was walking behind me. I could hear her footsteps and the clanging of the shackles on her wrists. I could still smell and practically taste the blood on her lips. I wondered if this was the same effect women had on me before. I couldn’t remember.

I stopped in my tracks and called to her. “Sofia.” Everyone else stopped walking the moment I spoke.

Her youth showed in the way she responded to me. “What?”

Without even looking back, I knew that she was about to suffer for her insolence. The guard behind us was raising his hand to hit her.

“Don’t touch her,” I said. “Sofia, walk beside me.”

Everyone held their breath at the silence that followed. I could sense her thinking, weighing the pros and cons of what could happen should she defy me. Then the shackles began clinking as she stepped forward to fill the empty spot by my side.

I didn’t dare look at her. Having her so close was already taking its toll on my self-control. The sight of the blush on her cheeks would remind me of her blood and my longing to partake of it.

“Get rid of these restraints. She has nowhere to run to.”

“Brother,” Vivienne began to protest. “If she uses the freedom you’re giving her to raise a hand against you, you might not be able to control yourself…”

“I won’t feed on her,” I said with more conviction than I felt. “Do as I say and remove the chains.”

My command was obeyed immediately. It was yet another reminder of who I was before, of how much they all feared me. I waited until the restraints were removed before I took a first step forward, the group following my pace.

Lucas and Vivienne tried to make conversation as we trekked through the dark woods, but I was no longer paying attention. I was too distracted by Sofia, aware of all her actions. She rubbed her wrists as she observed her surroundings, taking in every detail, her bright eyes showing fear mixed with fascination. Before I could stop myself, I grabbed her hand, my fingers twining with hers.

She flinched at my touch. I had no right to take that sort of liberty with her, but I gave myself the indulgence. I wanted to feel her warmth.

I could only guess what was going through her mind because, at some point, she squeezed my hand as she had done to that other girl back in The Sanctuary.

She couldn’t have known how much that meant to me.

Chapter 12: Sofia

His hand was so cold. A chill climbed from my hand up to my elbow. I couldn’t understand why he would do that—hold my hand. But strangely, the gesture brought me comfort when I had none.

As we took that walk to wherever the prince’s quarters were situated, I kept my eyes open for a means of escape. We’d just left The Vale and were now being ushered into another murky wood, though I was sure that some other clearing would come into view, showing us another aspect of The Shade that would astound my imagination.

At this point, however, there was nothing to be seen but the same dark forest, lit only by the torches the guards were carrying: tall trees, rocks lining the dirt pathway, thorny thickets scattered here and there.

My thoughts roamed back to the people I’d seen in The Vale. It was easy to tell the difference between the vampires and humans. I had always imagined vampires wearing black tight-fitting leather or dark trench coats, but they wore designer outfits straight out of the pages of Vogue. Humans, on the other hand, had a uniform—gray cotton overalls for the men, white cotton smocks for the women.

It was clear that most of the work was being done by the humans, while the vampires strolled around the place or spent time with one another, a human or two trailing behind them, ready to cater to their slightest whim. I was fairly certain that we humans were the workforce that was keeping The Shade going. We were The Shade’s blood and sweat.

While we were being dragged past The Vale, I’d seen a vampire hit a young man across the face, causing the boy to crash to the ground. I’d wanted to do something. But I could only watch. I’d been chained behind the vampires, guarded like an animal.

Now I found myself squeezing Derek’s hand. It was instinct, a reaction to the memory, but when I realized what I’d done and looked at Derek for a reaction, I could have sworn that I saw gratefulness in his eyes.

“We’re here,” Vivienne announced, stopping in the middle of the forest. “Welcome to The Pavilion, Derek.”

I frowned and looked around. I could see only tree trunks.

Derek looked just as confused as I felt.

“I don’t understand…”

Lucas smirked. “Was it not your suggestion to build The Residences on top of trees?”

Before his comment could even register in my mind, Lucas leaped upward. I looked up toward the sky. My mouth dropped open.

Glowing atop the giant redwoods were networks of treehouses. Although, from what I could see from the ground, to call them treehouses would have been a grave injustice. They were modern, high-end villas connected by glass-covered walkways and hanging bridges. How it was possible to have built those things up there was beyond my comprehension, but there they were—luxurious villas built in trees. The very thought of going up there made my heart race.

My amazement was interrupted when I saw Derek’s face. His eyes had softened as he gazed up at The Residences with awe. In a broken voice, he said, “You remembered.”

Vivienne smiled. “How could I forget?”

I stood there, witnessing this trace of affection and humanity between them. For a moment, I actually felt jealous of what Derek and Vivienne had. I could see how much they doted on each other.

No further words were exchanged, because no words were necessary. They understood and, in a strange way, so did I.

Vivienne leaped into the air just as Lucas had done moments before. That was when I realized that there were no stairs. Not even a ladder in sight. I opened my mouth, wondering how on earth I was going to get up there, but before words could come out, a glint of amusement sparked in Derek’s eyes.

He didn’t bother to ask my permission. He simply wrapped his strong arms around my waist and pulled me against him. Before I could prepare myself for what was about to happen, he took a leap that left me gasping for breath, clinging to him for dear life.

When he settled my feet on what felt like hardwood flooring, I dared open my eyes.

I walked toward the edge of a wide terrace and found myself looking out on one of the most magnificent scenes I’d ever laid eyes on. Thousands of glittering stars peppered the pitch-black canvas that was the sky. These stars and the full moon’s beams were the only light to grace the landscape. I dared not look directly downward. But I could tell that this was one of the tallest trees on the whole island. A sea of black treetops sprawled out beneath me for miles. And far in the distance loomed mountains, so high the tops were capped with white. I could only imagine how stunning this place would be at sunrise.

A gust of wind whipped across my face. Despite how high up I was standing, I could not see any end to the forest. No sign of the shore. Not the faintest clue in which direction I would run even if I managed to get free from Derek’s grasp. My breath hitched.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Derek’s voice was husky. He must have thought I’d gasped with pleasure.

I just nodded as I leaned my weight over the wooden rail, trying to distract my mind from the writhing in my stomach.

Derek grabbed my hand and pulled me along as Vivienne and Lucas led us both to his quarters.

“This is one of four penthouses that comprise The Pavilion, built especially for the Novaks,” Vivienne explained as she unlocked the oak door of a lavish penthouse. “There’s one for each of us—you, Father, Lucas, and I.”

As we moved toward the treehouse, I stared at the giant windows in wonder. If what I knew about vampires was correct, wouldn’t they object to all the sunlight that would stream in?

Inside, the penthouse looked even larger. We were ushered into what I assumed was the living room. A flat screen TV, a fireplace, abstract art on the cream walls, black leather couches… it wasn’t exactly how I would have imagined Castle Dracula.

I gave the vampires surrounding me wary glances. No matter how awed I was by The Shade’s beauty, I had to remember that I was there against my will. I couldn’t trust any of them—not Lucas, not Vivienne, and especially not Derek.

Three entryways surrounded us—aside from the one we’d entered. Each had a glass door that led to more glass-covered walkways leading to other rooms of the penthouse.

“And the Elites live where?” Derek asked.

“The other Elites live in treehouses similar to the ones we have, but ours, of course,”—Lucas smirked—“are more luxurious, because let’s face it: a Novak deserves only the best.”

Lucas eyed me. I tried to back up a step, but Derek’s grip held me in place, anchoring me to him.

“The Pavilion’s penthouses have more rooms than I can keep track of,” Vivienne said. “There’s the living room, the dining room, the kitchen, a library, several baths, an indoor pool, an entertainment room, a theater, a master bedroom, several guest rooms, and your harem’s quarters. There are several rooms that we left untouched, just in case you think of something you wish to do with them.”

“A music room,” Derek said.

My eyes widened. I never would have expected him to be musically inclined.

Vivienne smiled. “Of course. I’ll see to it that the scouts get everything you need. Do you want me to show you to your bedroom?”

Derek shook his head. “I’ll manage.”

My heart sank. The thought of being alone with him in that place was unnerving. I tried to pull my hand from his grasp, but he held on tight.

Vivienne seemed to notice this but paid it no heed. Instead, she walked toward her brother and gave him a hug. He let go of my hand only in order to reciprocate.

I stepped backward. That was when I noticed Lucas staring at the hand Derek just let go of. He looked like he wanted to crush it.

I balled my fists and hid them behind the silky fabric of the dress I was wearing. Lucas’ eyes traveled along every curve of my body. I wanted to bolt.

“It’s only a few hours until morning. We’d best get going,” Vivienne said. “I’ll instruct the guards to have the girls brought to their quarters… unless you have other plans.”

Derek shook his head. “Take them there. Except for Sofia. She stays in the bedroom nearest mine.”

Vivienne gave me a pointed look, as if she was wondering what was so special about me. That made two of us.

She nodded. “Very well. See you tomorrow, Derek.”

The moment they closed the door behind them, I wanted to back away from Derek, but found myself rooted to the spot. He turned around, studying his surroundings until his gaze fell on me.

“You’re just standing there.”

I glared at him. “What do you expect me to do?”

“Why are you not afraid of me?” He began to draw closer.

I wanted to run—the same way I should have when Lucas had first approached me on the beach. “What on earth makes you think I’m not afraid of you?”

“I thought maybe you’re one of those girls.”

“Which girls?”

“Girls who are fascinated by our kind.” Derek stopped a few steps away from me, almost as if he were afraid to draw closer. “Girls who want to be like us.”

“I could describe your kind with many words,” I spat. “Fascinating isn’t one of them. Is that really what you think you are?”

He paused, eyeing me closely. He shook his head, a bitter smile forming on his lips. “No. Far from it.”

“Why am I here? What are you going to do with me?”

“You should get some rest.”

“You’re not going to let me go.”

He shook his head. “I can’t let you go. You’ve seen too much.”

I gritted my teeth. You can’t keep me here forever.

I had every intention of trying to escape, and I figured the morning would be the best time to do it. As we both found our way to our bedrooms, one thought circled my mind—I had to escape by daybreak.

But I’d underestimated The Shade and its penchant for surprises. I drifted off to sleep in a round comfortable bed covered with furs, expecting to see sunlight breaking through the bedroom windows the next morning.

To my horror, I woke up to a deep, dark night.

Chapter 13: Derek

The moment I lay down on the four-poster bed in the bedroom I’d chosen for myself, the first thought that came to mind was: What on earth am I doing? I’d just woken up from four centuries of sleep. There was no more sleeping to be done.

Instead, I spent the night in the library, reading books, hoping to catch up with what I’d missed over the past few centuries. I found a wealth of information there, but I’d barely scratched the surface. I realized how valuable Sofia would be to me in becoming acquainted with the world as it was now.

I picked up the fourth glass of blood, brought to me by one of the harem girls. A gift from Vivienne.

When the girl, Gwen, had stepped in with the first glass, I hadn’t asked whose blood it was. I’d just swallowed it. My hunger had to be satisfied if I were to keep myself from murdering the girls living in my home.

I told the girl to fetch more. She nodded, her lips trembling as she backed away from me.

I wondered why I wasn’t as drawn to her as I was to Sofia. She was as pleasant to look at as the redhead sleeping in the chamber next to mine, and yet that gesture of Sofia’s back in The Sanctuary—grabbing Gwen’s hand to comfort her—somehow solidified Sofia, in my eyes, as more valuable than all the other girls combined.

As I finished my fourth glass, I found myself longing to check on my beautiful captive. I stood up and made my way through a glass-covered walkway, which displayed the starlit sky above. I smiled. It was a nice touch by Cora to have banished the sun from The Shade.

As I reached Sofia’s bedroom, I drew a sharp breath. I couldn’t understand why I was so nervous. She was just a girl. I’d had my fill of blood. There was no reason to be so anxious.

I knocked on the door and waited. Nothing. I knocked again.

“Sofia?”

Something was wrong. I opened the door. It wasn’t locked. For some reason, that bothered me. Is she so foolishly trusting of a stranger like me—a vampire at that—that she wouldn’t even lock her door? I pushed the door open and surveyed the room. She was nowhere in sight.

“Sofia?” I stepped in, the truth beginning to dawn on me.

I’d been the fool to trust her. I hadn’t even bothered to station guards outside her bedroom. Of course she’d attempted to escape. She’d be a fool if she hadn’t.

Chapter 14: Sofia

I pulled open the drawers in my room, rummaging around for anything I could wear other than this long silk dress. If anything, the outfits in here were worse. Short cocktail dresses and more lacy lingerie. The only casual thing I found was a hoodie, which looked oddly out of place. My blood pounding in my ears, I grabbed it and rushed to the bathroom. I scanned the marble counter and opened up a closet fixed above the sink. Anything remotely sharp would do. My eyes fell on a toothbrush, a tube of toothpaste and a small pair of nail scissors.

Grabbing the scissors, I sat down on the edge of the bath and dug them into the fabric of my dress to make a hole. It was quite sheer, so it wasn’t much of an effort to remove the entire hem of it. I dumped the torn off fabric into the bath and looked in the mirror.

I pulled up my hair above my head and fastened it into a bun with a hair tie I found in the cabinet. My skin looked paler than I’d ever seen it, and my lips were parched. I found some lip balm in a drawer filled with make-up and dabbed it over my lips, hoping to soothe some of the painful cracks. Now, there was no more time to be spent here. Each second I remained in this bedroom was another second I had less to escape before Derek decided to check on me.

It was disconcerting how perfectly equipped this room was for a woman. Everything I needed seemed to be here… Even sanitary napkins. I wondered how many rooms in total there were like this in Derek’s quarters. And how many girls had stayed in this room before me.

Slipping on the pair of plastic slippers I found in the corner next to the sink, I padded across the floor as quietly as I could. One hand over my mouth to quiet my harsh breathing, I reached out the other to grip the door knob. Twisting it, I was relieved to find that he hadn’t locked me in.

As I stepped out, I had half a mind to leave it open—in case it made a noise while shutting it. But I decided it would likely benefit me more in the long run if I closed it—in case he passed down this corridor on his way to another part of the apartment and it drew his attention unnecessarily.

As I pressed the door shut, I crept forward. I stopped as I reached a clearing, which split into four different walkways. My mouth dried out as I realized I couldn’t remember which one I’d come down.

I hurried along the walkway furthest to my left, praying I’d made the right choice. I didn’t have time to get lost in this sprawling treehouse. I’d almost made it halfway across the walkway, when I froze and dropped to the floor. One of the girls was walking along the passage parallel to mine, carrying a glass of blood. It seemed that she hadn’t noticed me. I felt a momentary urge to beckon to her, perhaps have her try to escape with me. But it would have been a case of the blind leading the blind.

As I reached the entrance hall, I dropped to the floor again and crawled to the door, looking around me as I did. My hands shaking, I clutched the door handle and pulled downward. It was stuck fast. Locked.

I scoured the room. The key. I need the key.

My heart sank as I thought that the only key might be with Derek. I padded over to the windows in the hallway and tried to pry them open. They were also locked. I hurried into the kitchen, and began sifting through drawers. The Hudsons always kept keys in kitchen drawers… Then I noticed the window above the sink. It was open.

I pulled myself onto the counter, careful to make no sound in doing so, and pushed the window open wider. I fought to suppress a sneeze as the strong fragrance of the redwood leaves filled my nostrils. My heart hammered in my chest as I looked down at the steep drop. I looked to my left—where the veranda began, about three feet away. There was a narrow ledge lining the penthouse, barely half the size of my foot. But there was no time for fear nor thought. Climbing through the window, I lowered myself down. My legs shook as my feet fought to get a grip on the ledge. I moved as far left as I could while still being able to maintain a grip on the kitchen windowsill. But soon I reached the point where I had to let go.

I had to risk jumping now, or it might be never.

So I leapt.

Aiming for the railing, my hands brushed against it, then lost their grip. Were it not for the branch beneath the balcony and the fact that I’d fallen onto it at just the right angle—I would have fallen to my death.

Gripping the branch for dear life, I managed to swing my legs onto it and throw myself at the railing. My legs feeling like jelly, my whole body was a trembling wreck, but I had to keep urging myself forward.

I hauled myself up over the railing and lowered myself onto the floorboards.

Gathering myself together, I found myself looking at something across the balcony that I hadn’t noticed before. It looked like an elevator. I hurried over to it and stepped inside. There were only two buttons—up and down. I wondered why they even bothered keeping elevators when they could effortlessly leap such heights. I supposed it was for the benefit of the human slaves.

Descending in that elevator was no less tense than swinging from that branch. I had no idea what I would meet once I got to the bottom of it. The door opened. I stepped out, trying to see through the darkness. When I didn’t notice anyone in sight, I started running. I couldn’t travel along the dirt path in case I bumped into someone, so I was forced to run through the undergrowth.

It wasn’t long before my feet began to blister in the rubber slippers, sharp leaves and brambles cutting into my legs. I clenched my jaw. I had to bear the pain. I couldn’t stop.

I had no idea how much time passed—two hours, for all I knew. It certainly felt like it. My heart was starting to feel close to giving up from exhaustion.

Finally, an opening came into view. Pale moonlight spilled through it into the forest. I stumbled out into a grassy clearing. Then I staggered back, my heart sinking to my stomach. A few yards away was a towering wall.

I cast my eyes back toward the forest. Then looked again at the wall.

I can’t go backward, and I can’t go forward.

Although my legs were screaming for rest, I forced myself to walk to the edge of the wall.

Where there’s a way in, there must be a way out.

I repeated the words over and over in my head like a prayer.

Then a twig snapped behind me.

“Jonas!” spoke a voice that was a tad too high-pitched for a man.

A deeper, huskier voice replied, “Looks like dinner to me, Evan.”

No.

Two figures stepped out from the shadows of the trees. I was suddenly aware of the blood oozing from my scrapes. I’d turned myself into bait for these creatures. Based on the clothes the men were wearing—the same black garb with red crests worn by the guards escorting us the night before—I assumed both of them were guards.

“What are you doing way out here during a night so dark?” Evan asked.

“Taking a walk,” I bluffed. “My master said I could.” I felt my face turning red.

“Really now?” This time it was Jonas speaking. “Did he also ask you to get yourself all bloody and ready to become his breakfast while you were at it?”

“Who’s your master, sugar?” Evan was right beside me now. He reached out and grabbed my hair, inhaling deeply. I was about to tell them that Derek Novak owned me and harming me would be a big mistake, when Jonas spoke.

“Who cares? Anyone who walks past the forest and reaches the fortress is at our mercy. I’m sure her master will thank us for teaching his insolent slave a lesson.” His finger traced one of the scratches on my legs, drawing more blood with a protruding claw. I groaned in pain. He sniffed the blood and smiled before tasting it. “Sweet.”

Evan’s breath hitched. He seemed suddenly apprehensive. “Perhaps we shouldn’t touch her.” Still, his eyes were on me, his free hand running the length of my arm.

Adrenaline taking over, I recalled a fuzzy memory of a self-defense lesson I’d once attended with Ben. Dropping to the ground, I swung a leg beneath Jonas, making him lose balance. Taking advantage of Evan’s surprise, I backed away and sprinted toward the forest.

I had barely run a few yards before both caught up with me. Jonas grabbed hold of my waist and wrestled me to the ground. Evan pinned down my arms, while Jonas held my feet.

“That was a big mistake, darling.” Jonas grinned.

Their fangs came out and I closed my eyes, steeling myself. I was expecting to scream in pain upon feeling their fangs digging into me.

But, instead, their grip loosened.

I opened my eyes to see a towering silhouette looming a few feet away, gripping the two guards by their necks.

Derek Novak.

“Has either one of you tasted her blood?” Derek demanded, his voice menacing. The way his shoulders rose with every breath and the way his muscles bulged told me that he was desperately trying to maintain a grip over his temper.

“Your Highness, I-I didn’t mean to…” Jonas was shaking so badly I could barely make out his words. “I didn’t know…”

What happened next was unlike anything I’d witnessed even in the most ghastly nightmare. Derek let go of Jonas’ neck and, without a single moment’s hesitation, dug his claws into his chest. Flesh tore as Derek ripped out Jonas’ still-beating heart.

My knees weakened and I finally fell to the ground. Derek then turned on Evan, who was shrieking out hysterical apologies.

“Be silent,” Derek ordered.

Evan lost no time in shutting his mouth.

“Never touch what’s mine,” Derek growled. “Sofia Claremont is mine. Whoever harms her answers to me. Understood?”

Evan nodded. “Of course, Y-Your M-Majesty.”

Derek let go of Evan’s throat and the guard scampered away from the prince. He tossed the heart to the ground, then wiped Jonas’ blood off his hands using the dead guard’s shirt. He stood up, his eyes finally settling on me. I considered backing away from him, but saw its futility. Fear gripped me.

“Get up, Sofia.”

I staggered to my feet. I was expecting to experience some form of pain. Instead, I found him looking at my legs, his eyes filled with concern. He brought out a dagger he had hidden up his sleeve. I stared at it, wondering if he was going to use it to teach me a lesson of sorts. But no. He cut his own palm with it.

“What are you doing?” My eyes were glued to the blood spilling from his palm.

“You shouldn’t have tried to escape.” He lifted his palm, directing it toward my mouth. “Drink.”

My eyes grew wide as I stared at his dirty, bloody palm. “I can’t.”

“You will. It will heal your scrapes,” he insisted. “Marching you back to The Residences with all those scratches will only make you a walking target for every vampire we pass by.”

I gave him an incredulous look, wondering if he too wanted to drink my blood.

“Drink, Sofia,” he repeated—more sternly this time. “My palm will heal in just a couple of seconds. Don’t make me cut myself again.”

I looked at his palm, unable to believe what I was about to do. I held his wrist with one hand, his fingers with the other. His jaw twitched the moment I touched him. I gulped before doing the unthinkable—I began sucking the blood off his palm until his self-inflicted gash closed. I stepped back, the coppery taste of his blood overwhelming my taste buds. I had to fight the urge to puke.

“Good,” he said, as he wiped off the red liquid dripping from the corners of my mouth with his sleeve.

I checked the gashes on my legs. Just as he had said, all of them were gone. I still couldn’t wrap my mind around the fact that I’d just drunk blood, a vampire’s blood. I hadn’t even known they had any.

Derek inched closer to me and brushed his thumb against my cheekbone. “Are you all right?”

I stood still, my eyes drawn to the guard’s corpse on the ground. “You killed him,” I said.

Derek heaved a deep sigh, a stoic expression taking over his face. “I had to make an example of him. The other guard will make it known to the entire coven that you are not to be harmed. You’re safer that way. Besides, this one had tasted your blood. He had to die.”

I still looked at him, stunned.

“He was going to kill you. He’d tasted your blood, Sofia. I doubt he would have had enough self-control to keep himself from devouring you completely.” Derek raised an eyebrow. “From the expression on your face as they were both about to sink their teeth into you, I’m certain you knew that you wouldn’t be able to talk them out of supping on you as you did with me.”

Recollections of the previous night flowed through my mind. I remembered how conflicted Derek had seemed as he’d raised me up against that pillar. There was no conflict of that sort evident in the vampire he just killed.

I found myself suddenly intrigued by Derek. He was a paradox, a walking contradiction. How he could perform such a violent act without hesitation in one moment and be gentle with me in the next left me unnerved.

I sensed his eyes traveling the length of my body.

“You’ve been running for hours, haven’t you?”

I nodded, biting my lip.

“Even if you get past the wall, you’re on an island. Unless you can swim for miles, past the sharks, back to the mainland, there’s no way out of here.”

Before I could respond, he scooped me up in his arms and, in a matter of minutes, we were back at his penthouse. He carried me to my bedroom and laid me on the bed.

“We’ll have breakfast in half an hour. Have a bath and get dressed in something other than that.” He looked at my ripped outfit pointedly.

Before he turned toward the door, he asked, “Is there anything you need?”

I need to get out of here.

Grimacing, I shook my head.

He gave me a curt nod and headed for the door. Stopping just as he was about to open it, he locked eyes with me and gave one final warning.

“You will only risk your life trying to escape, Sofia. So let’s make this simple. Don’t ever try again.”

Chapter 15: Derek

Despite my efforts, I kept staring. I was seated at the table, watching Sofia as she made her way around the kitchen in a light yellow dress that perfectly complemented her figure. She was making her breakfast—two pieces of bread that she stuck in a contraption she called a toaster. She retrieved a bottle of berry paste and a slab of butter from the “two-door refrigerator,” which was apparently a cooling closet for food.

As she began dabbing butter over one piece of bread, her green eyes rose to meet mine. She stopped what she was doing and stared.

I found it rather unsettling to have her look at me that way. I couldn’t understand why. She’s just a girl, Novak. When have you ever been so riled up over one girl?

“What?” I said.

“You told the guard that I was yours. I’m not.”

I admired her boldness. She was talking to me like she was an equal, never holding back from speaking her mind, and yet with a feminine grace I found charming. I debated with myself whether I should address her statement. She was mine. It was the simple truth and no matter how much she might like to believe otherwise, it remained so. I sighed and let it go. Let her believe what she will.

“It’s never morning here. Why is that?” She changed the subject, perhaps realizing that she wasn’t going to get a response from me.

“A witch’s spell keeps the sunlight away.” I looked out of the window. “Here in The Shade, it’s forever night. I haven’t seen the sun in five hundred years.”

When I looked up at her, I was taken aback by the expression in her eyes. It felt like she was trying to see through me, studying me.

“You’re five hundred years old?” she asked after a pause.

I shook my head. “I’m eighteen. I will forever be eighteen.”

“That’s how old you were when you… turned?”

I nodded.

“Who turned you?”

Unnerved by the barrage of questions, I stood up. “Let’s have breakfast now.”

I was relieved that she didn’t pry further. She picked up her plate and headed off with me to the dining area. I smiled when I found a glass of blood already waiting at the table for me.

She stared at it as she took her seat. I found myself amused by the expression on her face as I sat across the table from her, taking a sip from the glass. She watched, her eyes wide with a mix of fascination and horror.

“I will never get used to this,” she muttered.

“Get used to what?” a deep voice asked from one corner of the room.

Her eyes shot toward the direction of the voice, but I didn’t need to look to know who it was.

“Lucas,” I said flatly.

“You killed a vampire—a guard at that.” Lucas eyed Sofia curiously. “For her.”

“You’ve heard.”

“Evan has been squeaking about it all morning.” Lucas took a seat beside Sofia.

It didn’t take a lot of perception to see that she was uncomfortable around him. Knowing my brother, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had tried to pull something with her.

Lucas set his eyes on her as he laid an arm over the back of her seat. “So what makes Sofia—stunning as she is—worth the life of one of our own, Derek?”

“She’s mine,” I repeated, giving Sofia a pointed look. “The guard assaulted her, tasted her blood. He had it coming.”

My brother’s face twitched. Does he want Sofia?

“I see how that could have been a problem. This one has something about her that just makes us vamps crave her.” Lucas’ gaze traveled from her face to her neck. “The man wouldn’t have been able to resist.”

The lust was unmistakable. He was practically undressing her with those eyes and I could tell that Sofia felt it based on how she sat there tense and unmoving. I wanted to tackle my brother to the ground, but it would only earn Sofia his ire.

“Why are you here, Lucas?”

That snapped his attention back to me.

“As much as I would like to say that I missed having you around, little brother, I really didn’t.” He sighed. “Vivienne asked that I invite you on a tour of the island next Friday, specifically to discuss details of what you’ve missed during your sleep. Now that you’re awake, you need to know what you’re up against.”

I nodded, even as my stomach writhed. I appreciated my sister giving me at least a short while to compose myself before plunging back into the affairs of the island.

Lucas fished for something in his pocket and threw it my way. I caught it and stared at it. It looked like a metal slate of sorts. What it was for, I had no idea.

“What is this?”

“It’s a cell phone. You use it to call people, text them. A communication device. I’m sure your teenage lovely here can teach you how to use it.”

He brushed the back of his hand against Sofia’s cheek. She flinched at his touch. Of course, that only amused Lucas. Fury boiled up within me. I gripped the edge of the table.

“I’d appreciate if you didn’t touch her. As I already made clear this morning, I do not like others to mess with what is mine.” There was an edge to my voice—one that my brother was very familiar with. The amused expression on Lucas’ face disappeared and the atmosphere became tense.

“And if I continue to take liberties with her, what will you do, Derek? Would you go against your own brother for her sake?”

I knew he was testing my loyalties, but I also knew how to play this game. I wanted to believe that we were still gentlemen, after all.

“Give me this courtesy, Lucas. I do not know why, but I’m drawn to her. Consider her your gift to me.”

Lucas backed down.

“It’s only appropriate, I suppose,” he managed after a pause. “After all, it was I who found her.”

He took one last look at Sofia and removed his arm from her seat. He set his focus on me.

“And what do you plan to do with my gift?”

From the way Sofia was gazing at me, she too wanted to know the answer to that question.

“I don’t know yet.”

Chapter 16: Sofia

The moment Lucas stepped into the room, I lost whatever small appetite I might have had for breakfast. And now that he’d gone, after Derek’s last words, it was hardly showing any signs of improving. I pushed the plate aside, raising my eyes to the young man. His gaze was still on me, as it had been from the moment I’d stepped into the room.

It was unnerving, the way he was staring. I didn’t understand what he found so interesting about me.

He eyed the plate I’d pushed aside. “You’re not eating.”

“What do you want with me?”

He looked at me thoughtfully, but didn’t answer.

I pushed the chair back, and backed out of the room. I ran away from the dining area, along the sprawling hallways and locked myself in my room.

Breathing heavily, I tried to calm myself down.

As much as he unnerved me, I couldn’t deny that, compared to his brother, there was something different about Derek Novak. Even when he’d had me pressed up against the pillar, I hadn’t felt as violated as I did just by Lucas’ mere gaze.

But I couldn’t erase what the women had said to me in the spa. They’d told me that we were to join Derek’s harem. Derek’s siblings had confirmed it too. That was the purpose of this room… Otherwise, why such a big room for a slave? Why all the lingerie? I didn't know where the other girls were being kept in this huge apartment, but I suspected that their rooms were like mine. Ready and waiting for when this young man wanted us. For some reason, he’d requested that I stay in the room nearest his. Perhaps he wanted to start with me first.

I shuddered.

How could he not know yet what he wanted with me? He was lying, I was sure of it. It wasn't a question of what he wanted from me. It was a question of when he wanted it.

I didn’t know why he would bother to hide it, and not just tell me outright. He had complete control over us, after all. It wasn’t like there was anything any of us could do to stop him if he suddenly launched himself at us.

I walked over to the window and looked out at the dark island. The treetops swayed gently in the wind, as if in a dance.

There was one thing I knew for sure: I couldn’t risk trying to escape again until I had an actual plan. It was clear that, at least for now, I was safer under Derek’s wing than outside. For how long this would remain the case, I had no idea.

I hated feeling so helpless. He might overpower me even with a gun or a knife, but the idea of possessing something to defend myself with would at least make me feel less weak.

I scanned the room once again. I’d already searched through the closets when I was looking for clothes before my attempted escape.

I walked into the bathroom. The contents of the drawers were mostly make-up, soap bars, shampoo, perfume… my eyes fell on the small pair of nail scissors. I picked them up, opening and closing them. I grimaced at how pathetic they were.

After five more minutes of rummaging through the bathroom cabinets, it was clear that there was nothing in my quarters that could be used against a vampire.

I had to get to the kitchen. There were knives in there.

I hurried over to the door and peered through the keyhole. Two vampire guards were walking along the corridor outside, heading toward the main entrance. I drew in a breath and leaned my head back against the door, sliding to the floor as I replayed in my head everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours.

It still felt like a nightmare. I kept expecting myself to wake up suddenly, back in the resort with Ben sitting by my side and apologizing for being absent for my birthday. I closed my eyes, trying to make the memory more real.

But that was the only delusional thing about the situation—hoping I wasn’t here.

Vampires. If such beings existed, I never would have thought that they could be killed or injured. According to the stories I’d read and movies I’d watched about them, they were undead and couldn’t be killed.

But I’d seen Derek murder that guard, and I’d seen him shed blood. Hell, I’d even tasted Derek’s blood.

It was reassuring that they could be killed, but also strangely terrifying. As much as I was desperate to find some way to defend myself, I couldn’t help but wonder: do I really have what it takes to murder someone?

Chapter 17: Derek

I’d told Vivienne that I wanted the redhead to be my slave. But what exactly I wanted her for, I was still unsure of.

As Sofia left the table, I stood up myself and made my way toward the study. I sat down at the desk, pushing aside the books I’d stayed up late into the night poring over.

What is it about her?

I didn’t know myself, so it was impossible to explain to my siblings what I saw in her.

All I knew was, on waking from Cora’s spell, I’d expected to descend back into the same darkness I’d sought to escape all those centuries ago.

I’d expected to wake up to a pitch-black night… Instead I woke up to her.

With her quiet beauty and warm auburn hair, I supposed that the best way I could think to describe Sofia was: a ray of light.

I was drawn to her instantly. Like a moth to a flame. But I hadn’t stopped to consider what I actually wanted to do with her.

I knew what Lucas and Vivienne had intended her for. She’d been labeled a member of my harem before I’d even woken up. But was that really what I wanted her to become? My mistress?

I didn’t know. I was surprised to realize that the thought hadn’t crossed my mind until now. I’d been so consumed with her blood on waking, and then her warmth, her light…

I wasn’t sure that I could treat her the way I had the countless women before her, even if I wanted to. She seemed almost too precious for that. I was worried that touching her in that way might ruin the very thing that drew me to her.

I didn’t want to risk breaking her.

For now, my siblings would think what they would as to what I was doing with her. But after an hour of sitting alone in my study, I realized the truth: I didn’t care much what she did with her time.

I just wanted her with me.

Chapter 18: Sofia

It was only after a few hours of silence outside my room that I plucked up the courage to open the door. Looking up and down the corridor, I breathed out in relief to see that it was empty.

I knew the apartment a little better now and managed to not get lost on my way to the kitchen. Though it took me longer than I’d expected. I kept stopping and starting, every time my ears detected the slightest of noises.

Once the kitchen came into view, I got down on my knees and crawled the rest of the way. I stood up again once I reached the counter. I headed straight for the cutlery drawer and opened it, sifting through as silently as I could for the sharpest knife I could find.

There was only one that was sheathed, and it was rather on the large side, but it would have to do. Hiking up my dress, I did my best to attach the knife to my underwear.

It dawned on me that it would be a feat getting it out fast enough even if I was attacked. I would have to figure something out once I returned to my bedroom. I took one last look around the kitchen for anything else that could possibly help in protecting me. I was about to leave when a deep voice spoke behind me.

“You asked what I wanted from you.”

I felt the blood drain from my face as I turned around to find myself face-to-face with Derek Novak. He stood in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest.

I wasn’t used to people sneaking up on me. I was used to being aware of even the slightest sounds. Apparently vampires possessed great stealth.

I had no idea how long he might have been watching me. I prayed that he hadn’t seen the knife. If he had, he wasn’t reacting to it…yet. I stared at him, trying to read his expression.

“What?” I stammered, although I wasn’t sure I was prepared to hear the answer.

He strode into the room and slapped his palm down on the table, leaving behind a cell phone. The same one I’d seen Lucas give him earlier.

“Teach me how to use this.”

Oh.

My heart still hammering in my chest, I supposed that I should have been grateful for his answer. I lowered my eyes to the cell phone and his large hand resting on the table a few inches away from it.

I looked back up into his blazing blue eyes, hesitating. I wondered what might happen if I refused to comply with his request. But I thought it wise not to. It was in my best interest to stay in his good graces for as long as possible.

Swallowing hard, I reached for the phone, trying to hide the shaking in my hands as I picked it up and examined it. Derek pulled up a stool and sat in front of me, watching me closely.

It was hard to concentrate on anything with those eyes on me. I had to figure out how to use the thing myself before I could show him. I wasn’t even sure which brand of phone this was. There was no logo. I had an iPhone back home and wasn’t used to using many other types. It turned out to be a smart phone though, and not difficult for me to figure out.

I walked over to the table next to him, my fingers quivering as I pointed to the on/off button.

“Press this button to switch it on and off.” I demonstrated as I went along. As the home screen appeared, I pointed to the phone icon in the bottom right of the screen. “It’s a telecommunication device, so if you press…”

My voice trailed off as I realized what an idiot I was for it to not hit me sooner.

A phone.

I’m holding a damn phone.

Derek has no idea how to use this thing. He’s from the seventeenth century, for Christ’s sake. I might be able to get through to someone and perhaps they could trace my location if I can just speak to someone…

“Just a moment,” I said, “I haven’t used this type before…”

My fingers hovered over the keys. I had no idea where this island even was. I didn’t know what area code would apply. I had no choice but to try something. I would likely only get one shot at this before Derek realized what I was doing. I needed to pick which number I dialed wisely.

I could call Ben’s number and hope he picked up. If he knows it’s me and that I’m missing, he can go to the police and they might have the technology to be able to trace where the number came from…

I sat back in my chair, so that he couldn’t see the screen and pretended to study it. I keyed in the number, and pressed dial. Holding it to my ear, a monotonous beeping immediately hit my eardrums. The line was dead. I tried my own number. Also dead.

I cursed beneath my breath. Perhaps the “spell” Derek spoke of also prevents communication with the outside world.

I felt so crushed. The glimmer of hope that had surged through me had been so real, so tactile, I’d already imagined myself escaping… Police helicopters descending on The Shade and lifting me and the girls out of here, back home to safety.

It seemed that Derek noticed the disappointment in my face. He raised a brow.

Forcing myself to regain composure even though I wanted nothing more than to break down and cry, I continued showing him the phone.

I focused my eyes on the screen again, so he wouldn’t see the tears behind them. I continued showing him how to make calls—there were already a few contacts pre-entered in the phone. “Lucas”. “Vivienne”. “Xavier”… I showed him the text function. I showed him how to access voicemail.

He was being so quiet throughout my demonstration, I eventually looked up because I wondered if he was even listening to me.

I breathed out in frustration to see that he wasn’t paying the slightest bit of attention to what I was showing him. His eyes were still fixed on my face, just as they’d been when I’d first looked down at the phone. I wasn’t sure even a word of what I’d said had registered with him.

“Are you even paying attention?”

“Yes, Sofia. I am.”

I shoved the phone toward him. “Well then, show me what I just showed you.”

I shivered as his cold fingers brushed against mine as he took the phone from me.

He switched the phone on as I’d shown him, then flitted in between the dial, text and voicemail function.

He was a fast learner.

I wasn’t sure that there was anything else to teach him on that phone. I couldn’t imagine he’d find any use for photos or games.

“There’s not much else I can show you,” I said. Still keenly aware of the knife beneath my dress, I motioned to stand up.

“Do you read?” he asked suddenly.

I frowned. “Yes… Why?”

He reached for my hand, enveloping it in his and pulled me out of the room. I had to jog to keep up with him as he led me from room to room. As we reached the end of a glass walkway, he stopped outside a door. Pushing it open, he nodded inside and stepped back, gesturing that I enter.

Eyeing him cautiously, I stepped inside. I gasped. I found myself standing in a beautifully furnished library. There wasn’t an inch of free space on the walls. They were covered with bookshelves. I stood in the center of the room, speechless as I took in the room’s beauty.

“Take what you want.” His voice was close behind me. I turned around to see he had entered, and was watching my reaction.

I looked at him tentatively, then back at the bookshelves. I walked up to them, running my fingers along the dusty spines. There were mostly classics here. As for non-fiction, there were a number of books on technology. I supposed Vivienne had put them here to help Derek get up to date with the modern age.

I wasn’t sure my mind was in any state to concentrate enough to read a book, but I was grateful for them all the same. If I could manage to focus on the words on the page, they would help me to pass time. I wouldn’t feel so alone in that big bedroom.

Once I’d chosen the books I wanted, I backed out of the room and since Derek didn’t protest, I hurried back to my own room.

After locking the door, I piled the books onto my bed. I removed the knife from my underwear and placed it on the mattress. I took off the sheath, examining its sharpness. As I searched my closets once again, this time looking for a belt, I couldn’t help but wonder if I would need this blade for Derek after all.

Chapter 19: Sofia

I found a belt and, using some of the hair ties in the bathroom, I was able to fix the knife to my thigh in a way that made it more easily accessible. After that, I was relieved that I managed to bury myself in books that night. It was hard at first, but once I’d forced myself past the first three pages of Arabian Nights, I managed to lose myself in the story. It was one of my all-time favorites.

I lost track of time, but hours must have passed and soon I found my eyelids growing heavy. It was becoming a struggle to keep them open. I put the book on my dressing table, and, closing my eyes, was about to drift off when I heard a distant crying.

I sat bolt upright, my hand reaching instinctively for the knife I’d fixed to my inner thigh. Goosebumps ran along my skin as the crying continued. It was one of the girls, I was sure of it.

I climbed out of bed and crept to the door. Opening it, I looked up and down the corridor. It was empty. As the crying continued, I hurried toward the sound. It was leading me toward a part of the treehouse I’d never entered before. As I reached the door standing outside of which the noise was loudest, I knocked.

“Hello?” I whispered.

I suspected that every vampire in this treehouse would have heard the crying, if I was able to hear. Yet, there was no sign of anyone around.

I gripped the handle and pushed against the door.

It was locked.

The crying subsided as I continued to twist the door knob.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Wh-who’s there?” a trembling voice called.

“Sofia. Who are you?”

“Gwen.”

“Gwen…What’s wrong?”

“I’m so afraid, Sofia. I had a nightmare. I hate being locked in here, all alone.”

I looked up and down the corridor. Still no vampires in sight.

I doubted my own sanity as I called through the door, “Okay. Gwen, just wait here. I’m going to try to let you out.”

“O-Okay. Thank you!”

Drawing a breath, I walked back along the corridor toward my side of the apartment and stopped outside Derek’s door.

What am I doing?

Am I really going to knock on his door and disturb him?

Although I felt terrified, I couldn’t just ignore Gwen’s suffering. Even though I was just as helpless as her, I felt I had to try to do something about it.

I reached out and knocked.

Footsteps sounded moments later and the door creaked open.

Derek stood towering above me, naked from the waist up, his eyes hooded and hair mussed. It took a moment to force my eyes away from his impossibly chiseled torso to look up at his face and remember why I’d knocked in the first place.

“I-I’m sorry to disturb you,” I stammered. “It’s Gwen. She’s had a nightmare. Can you open her door so I can comfort her?”

He’d looked irritated when he’d first come to the door. But his eyes seemed to soften as he looked me over.

He stepped behind his door and reappeared a moment later wearing a black robe wrapped around his waist.

“Wait here,” he ordered.

He walked down the dark corridor. I shivered, listening to the sounds of his footsteps rapidly disappearing. I took a step back hoping to catch a peek of his room but he’d closed his door behind him.

I didn’t have to wait long. Derek appeared, walking down the corridor a moment later, carrying Gwen in his arms. She looked pale as a phantom as he set her down on her feet. Her eyes bloodshot, her hair clung to her sweaty face. She flung her arms around me. I was about to head straight for my room but before Derek retreated into his own room, I reached out and touched his arm.

He flinched and looked up so fast, it was as if I’d just given him an electric shock.

“Thank you,” I said, withdrawing my hand quickly.

As I backed away with Gwen, I felt his eyes follow me. I threw him one last glance before I shut my door.

I wasn’t sure what I’d seen in those eyes of his. At first I’d thought I’d seen longing—but not the type that scared me, or made me feel at risk. It was the type that made me feel almost… sorry for him. As though he were in some kind of pain.

The look in his eyes had made me want to reach out and touch him. Reassure him, somehow… It took a moment for the insanity of that to sink in.

I still couldn’t be certain that I was doing Gwen any favors by bringing her to sleep with me in a room closer to Derek Novak, but truth be told, I was glad for her company. I tucked her into bed next to me and put my arm around her, stroking her hair and planting a kiss on her forehead.

“It’s okay,” I whispered, even as I tried to find conviction in my own words. “We’re going to be okay.”

Chapter 20: Derek

Sofia Claremont. She was a marvel.

I couldn’t stop staring at her as she walked with Gwen into her bedroom, her arm around the girl’s waist, whispering words of comfort into her ear, even though she had just as much—if not more—right to be terrified.

As she disappeared into the room, I shook my head, trying to break myself out of the trance that simple gesture had put me under.

It had been a shock to see her knocking at my door. I couldn’t understand why she’d do it, at first. But I should have suspected it would have been because Gwen’s crying had disturbed her.

I wondered what she’d been thinking before she shut the door. I wasn’t sure what I’d seen in those eyes of hers. There was something different about the way she looked at me compared to the other girls. With uncertainty, yes. But not quite fear. More like morbid curiosity.

I wondered why that was.

I climbed back into bed, though I had no desire to sleep. I stared up at the ceiling.

Tomorrow Vivienne would come for me and I would be plunged back into the affairs of the island. Back into the life I’d tried to escape.

I found myself feeling anxious at the thought of leaving Sofia alone in the treehouse for hours. I doubted any of the guards would harm her, not now that I’d made an example out of Jonas. But the idea that something bad might happen taunted me. I still wasn’t convinced that she might not try to escape again.

My guards might be loyal, but what if there was another vampire who decided to venture in… one who was not so much under my control? I thought back to my own brother, anger boiling within me again at the way he’d ogled Sofia. He’d agreed that she was his gift to me. But I didn’t put it past him to try something with her regardless.

She was so fragile. One vampire was all it would take and she would be struck down, lost to me forever.

It suddenly felt like she was the most valuable possession I owned—perhaps had ever owned. And yet, I had no choice but to go about my business around the island. I couldn’t put it off any longer.

A solution formed in my mind during the early hours of the morning. And as it did, I wondered why it hadn’t occurred to me before. It certainly wasn’t a foolproof plan, but at least it would help her somewhat. She wouldn’t be such a vulnerable target. At least I would be able to breathe a little easier when she was out of my sight.

I grimaced to think what my father and siblings would think of me for allowing the idea to even enter my mind. But I didn’t care what they thought. She was mine to protect.

Chapter 21: Sofia

I slept far better than I could have expected that night. I could only assume that it was due to having Gwen for company. She hadn’t stopped holding me throughout the night. Her arms were still wrapped tightly around me when I woke up the next morning. I had to pry her off.

She also seemed to be in a better mood. There was a slight blush to her cheeks. We took turns using the bathroom and shower before dressing and heading to the kitchen. I felt her begin to tremble beside me as we neared the living room. I squeezed her arm. “It’s okay.”

We made it to the kitchen without meeting anyone. I rummaged through the fridge and cupboards for ingredients.

“How about pancakes?” I asked.

She nodded. “Pancakes remind me of home.”

She helped me put the ingredients together. I fried them up while Gwen fixed us some fruit salad. For vampires who didn’t seem to consume anything other than blood, the fridge was surprisingly thoughtfully stocked for a human’s needs.

“When was the last time you’ve eaten properly?” I asked her through a mouthful.

She shook her head. “I’ve been in such a daze since I got here. I actually don’t remember.”

“Where did they steal you from?” I asked.

“I was on vacation in Florida with my parents,” she said in a small voice, tears beginning to well in her eyes at the memory. “What about you?”

“Cancún.” I sighed.

Although I was curious to ask Gwen more about her life before The Shade, I didn’t want to upset her and bring both of our moods down. So I didn’t. I tried to find lighter topics to talk about as we finished breakfast.

I leaned back in the chair, finally feeling fully satisfied since the first time I’d arrived on the island. We tidied up and I was about to head back to our room with Gwen when Derek Novak appeared in the doorway, blocking our exit.

He wore a long black cloak over jeans and a shirt. He looked like he was about to head off somewhere.

Gwen cowered behind me. But she needn’t have. His eyes were fixed on me, and me alone.

“Come with me, Sofia.”

“Why?”

He paused, a look of impatience in his eyes, as if debating whether or not to even bother giving me an answer. He strode up to me and took my hand in his.

“I need to show you something,” he said.

He began pulling me out of the room.

“Wait…Gwen. I need to take her back to our room first. She’s scared to walk alone.”

He breathed out in impatience. Then, scooping Gwen up, he flung her over his shoulder and delivered her to our room himself. I guessed that would send Gwen into another fit of terror. But at least she was back in the room now. I hoped that she could distract herself with the books Derek had given me while I was gone to… wherever this vampire wanted to take me.

His cold hand enveloped mine again as he pulled me out of the apartment. Once we were out on the veranda, he picked me up in his arms and, leaping on to the thin railing lining the terrace, took a dive. My stomach lurched. It was a hundred times worse than the cruelest roller coaster ride. All the breath got knocked out of me and it was a wonder that I didn’t upchuck all the food I’d just eaten.

He landed on the ground as softly as a cat. My knees were shaking as he set me down on my feet while he readjusted his cloak.

“Thanks for the warning,” I muttered.

He ignored my comment and picked me up again, one of his arms around my waist, the other beneath my knees.

“Where are we going?”

He didn’t answer. His eyes were fixed forward as he began speeding through the forest. Our surroundings were a blur, and it was all I could do to hold on to him and not feel like I was about to be swept away by the wind rushing past us, but it seemed like we were traveling through a dark wood.

He slowed suddenly, and chattering filled my ears. I strained to see a group of four young female vampires walking toward us in the forest. They were staring at Derek in awe.

“Derek Novak.” One of them stepped forward and bowed. They all followed suit.

Derek held me closer against his chest as they approached. I didn’t like the way one of them was eyeing me. As though I irritated her enough to scratch my eyes out.

“Do you remember me, Prince?” A beautiful dark-haired vampire stepped forward. “I’m Heidi.”

Derek looked at her as though she was nothing but a bother. “Not now.”

She looked sour as he bulldozed through them. I shuddered as they all set their glares on me.

I’d already earned Lucas’ ire, and perhaps Vivienne’s too, judging by the way she always looked at me so warily. But I had a feeling that I was yet to make many more enemies as long as I was the Prince’s muse.

Other than for his physical prowess, I still wondered why they all held such reverence for him.

I tightened my grip around his neck as he sped up again.

We soon exited the forest and arrived in an open dirt field, with numerous white markings on it. Derek began striding toward a windowless stone building at the edge of the field. He drew out a set of keys from beneath his cloak and unlocking the heavy oak doors, pushed them open.

I found myself stepping into a hall. It was much larger on the inside than it had looked on the outside. Its walls were lined with dim lanterns, casting shadows on wall upon wall of weapons. Swords, daggers, even some guns. But more than anything, I saw wooden stakes.

“Welcome to The Shade’s armory,” Derek said as he walked toward the wall closest to us and pulled off a particularly sharp looking stake.

He held it out to me. I took it cautiously, eyeing its nasty looking tip.

“The knife you’re carrying beneath your dress is useless against vampires. You might as well discard it.”

I felt blood rise to my cheeks as he looked at me steadily.

How does he know? I could only assume he’d seen me that day in the kitchen.

I gulped, nodding. Reaching a hand beneath my dress, I detached the knife from my inner thigh and placed it down on a wooden table.

“Cutting a vampire will only earn you their wrath,” he continued, reaching up for another stake. “Much like poking a stick at an angry dog.” He took my knife off the table and began to sharpen his stake with it. “Unless you have claws and strength to rip through a vampire’s chest, the fastest way to kill a vampire is a stake through the heart.”

He walked behind me. I felt his chest against my back as he reached out his arms either side of me. Closing his wide palms around the backs of my hands, he positioned the stake so that it pointed at a thirty-degree angle.

I took a step forward, away from him and stared at him. “Why would you teach me this?”

“Because I’m not always going to be around. I will feel better about leaving you alone if I know at least you have some knowledge of how to defend yourself against my kind. As I’ve already made clear,”—he looked at me pointedly—“I don’t like people touching what’s mine.”

His last words prickled me. I was about to correct him again that I was not his, but he cut me off.

“Come,” he said, gripping my hand again and pulling me out of the hall. He walked with me to the field and stopped. Putting one stake in my hands again, he dropped the other to the ground.

“Position it in your hands the way I just showed you.”

I stared down at the wooden instrument in my hands, then tried to obey him.

“More of an angle,” he said, jerking it upward. “Like this.”

He approached closer to me. My jaw dropped as he discarded his cloak, then tore off his shirt. His arm and stomach muscles rippled as he approached within two feet from me.

I motioned to lower the stake as he approached, but he held up his hand.

“What are you doing?” he asked, his voice rising with impatience. “I just showed you the correct position. Keep it there.”

My breathing unsteady, I repositioned the weapon.

He continued to approach until the sharp edge of the stake was denting his skin. He held the tip and moved the stake upward still. He pointed to the area of his chest—directly above his heart—that I was pricking.

“One sharp stab, and even you could end me with a stake like this, if you use enough pressure. The trick is getting the right angle so you puncture the right place.”

My throat tightening, I nodded.

I was trying to focus on the area he was pointing at, but to my own embarrassment I found my eyes kept wandering along the contours of his ripped torso.

“Okay,” I breathed. I motioned to loosen my hold on the stake again, but he gripped my arms, keeping the stake in place against his chest.

His electric blue eyes blazed fearlessly into mine. It was almost as though he was daring me to push.

“Why don’t you think to kill me now?” he whispered. “This stake is sharp. It would be much easier than you’d think.”

It was a valid question, I supposed. But it was one I wasn’t sure had an easy answer. At least, not a complete one. It hadn’t even crossed my mind to try to kill him since I’d been standing there. Not even once.

He gripped my arms tighter, making an even deeper dent in his skin with the tip of the stake.

“Why do you think I should?” I asked.

“Have I not given you enough reason already to despise me?”

My mouth opened, but no words came out. Despise? Perhaps I should despise him. But for reasons I couldn’t understand, somehow it felt too strong a word to describe what I felt toward him.

Before I could answer, he knocked the stake from my arms and the next thing I knew, my back had hit the ground. Crawling over me, his rock hard chest pressed me into the soil. His hands gripped my wrists and pinned them above my head as his lips roamed my neck and settled over the most sensitive part of it, just beneath my ear. My breath hitched as I felt the tip of his cool tongue, and then his fangs, grazing my skin. The feel of his body flush against mine, the light scent of his musk and the sound of his heavy breathing once again overwhelmed my senses.

At first I was too shocked to scream, much less struggle.

I tried to free my hands and push him off me, but after a few seconds when his fangs didn’t break my skin, I dared whisper, “Derek?”

His chest heaved as though it was all he could do to refrain from devouring me.

Slowly, he raised his head from my neck, and lifted himself off me.

“Never hesitate,” he said, his voice husky. His eyes were hooded and still fixed on my neck, as though he almost regretted not taking a sip of me while he was on top of me. “Strike the split second you get the chance. Because there will be no second chance.”

He reached out a hand, and I took it, as he pulled me to my feet. My hands still trembling, I picked up the stake again.

“Okay,” I said.

“Position yourself again,” he ordered, forcing his gaze away from my neck and looking sternly into my eyes.

I did as he’d requested.

“Spread out your legs more. No… more than that.”

He reached a hand down to my right thigh and tapped it until I’d spread it the way he wanted it. Now that I had, I couldn’t deny that it was much easier to hold a stake.

I pressed the tip of the stake against his chest until I’d found the mark again. Once I was confident finding it whilst he was standing still, he placed a plastic cap over the tip and began to teach me how to meet the mark as he moved. He moved with such lightning speed, I was beginning to think the task impossible. Each time he managed to approach me too quickly and too close for me to meet my mark, and he managed to knock the stake from me.

But after the second hour, I began to get a little more used to it. I even hit the mark twice—which was an improvement to my previous record of zero, at least.

Derek didn’t seem content yet with my progress, but since after two hours I was showing signs of exhaustion, he didn’t insist that we continue.

Panting, I sat down on the ground with the capped stake.

I looked up at him as he pulled his shirt back on and fastened the cloak back over him.

“You’ve still much to learn,” he said.

“You should let the other girls have lessons too,” I said, lifting the stake up to hand to him.

He did nothing to acknowledge the comment I’d just made. “Keep this stake,” he said, pushing it back into my hands. “And I will equip your room with two more. Keep one by your bedside, one in the bathroom, one by the door.”

I was about to repeat my statement about the girls when a female voice called out from across the field.

“Derek.”

Derek whirled around toward the direction of the noise. It was Vivienne. Lucas was beside her. Both were walking toward us swiftly, closing the distance between us.

As soon as I felt Lucas’ eyes on me, I instinctively got up and moved behind Derek. He seemed to sense my discomfort. His arm slid around me and rested on the small of my back, holding me closer against him. Clutching his strong arm, I felt more protected than I ever had when standing before Lucas.

I supposed that was one advantage of not correcting Derek whenever he called me his. Being his at least meant that I was safe… at least, for now.

“What are you doing?” Vivienne asked, her eyes widening as she stared at the stake in my hand.

“Teaching my girl how to defend herself.” Derek looked steadily back at his siblings.

My girl.

Despite my discomfort in him speaking of me like a possession, I felt a strange tingling in my chest as he said the words. That a man like Derek Novak saw such worth in me… I still had no idea why.

“What?” both siblings blurted out.

“Why would you train her to fight?” Vivienne said. “She’s a slave. That makes no sense.”

“I intend to keep her for a long time,” Derek replied calmly. “She needs to know how to defend herself.”

“How can you trust her not to use that against you?” Lucas shot at him.

“She won’t. I can trust her.” Derek stared down at me. “Can’t I, Sofia?”

It was more of a statement than a question. I stared back at him.

He’d trusted me enough to bare himself to me, to believe that I wouldn’t ram that stake right through his heart as he’d practically goaded me to do.

If he trusted me enough to not take his life just then, perhaps I should trust him enough to believe that he won’t take mine.

I paused, wondering if I might live to regret the words I was about to speak.

“Yes. You can."

Chapter 22: Sofia

The time had arrived for Derek’s tour of the island. He whisked me back to his penthouse along with three stakes, and set me down in the living room. Vivienne and Lucas, who had followed us back, still looked stunned that he should trust me so.

“We have many things to discuss now,” Vivienne said, eyeing me pointedly.

Derek’s eyes lingered on me for a couple of seconds before he said, “You may leave, Sofia.”

“And do what?” I couldn’t keep myself from asking.

“Do whatever you wish, but stay in the penthouse. You can have the other girls at your disposal. Find something to do.”

I raised my eyebrows, still surprised that he would trust me after I’d tried to escape. I was about to leave the room, when a thought struck me.

“Vivienne said that there are still rooms we can… decorate? May I have one room?”

He looked at me curiously, but apparently saw no harm in my request.

“Of course. I’m sure Vivienne will see to it. Won’t you, Vivienne?”

Vivienne nodded after giving me a quick, irritated look.

“Of course.”

Even Lucas and Vivienne obeyed Derek’s command. I wondered again what made everyone on this island fear and honor him so much.

I took my leave, eager to get away from my captors and see how Gwen was doing. I weaved my way through the walkways until I reached my room. I knocked twice.

There was a scuffling sound, and then a faint voice called, “Who is it?”

“Sofia.”

The door unlocked instantly. Gwen stood in the doorway, one book in her hand—A Little Princess, I noted—while the other wrapped around my neck. She kissed my cheek.

“I’m so glad you’re back,” she said breathlessly. “Are you all right? What happened?”

“I’m fine. He… He taught me how to use a stake.”

Gwen frowned as I began placing the stakes around our quarters—one in the bathroom, one by my bedside, and one by the door, as Derek had instructed.

“Why would he do that?”

“He said he will feel easier about leaving the apartment if I know how to defend myself… Gwen, I need to take a shower.”

I felt so sticky after the workout Derek had put me through. Grabbing a clean nightgown from the closet, I locked myself in the bathroom and washed my hair. When I emerged, Gwen was lying on her stomach on the bed reading her book.

Wrapping my wet hair in a turban with my towel, I said, “I think we should go and find the other girls. I want to see how they’re doing.”

Gwen’s face lit up. “I do too.”

“Do you know where they’re being kept?”

“Yes. A few doors down from the room I was locked in.”

We left our room and, taking my hand, Gwen led me along the corridor, past the closed door to Derek’s chambers, until we reached a corridor with two guards pacing up and down.

They walked up as soon as they noticed us and blocked our way. Gwen clutched my arm and hid behind me.

“I have permission from the prince to do what I like in this apartment,” I said confidently.

They exchanged glances. One nodded to the other and the guard made his way to Derek—or so I assumed. I had no choice but to wait. I eyed the guard left there with me.

“May I ask you a question?”

He looked surprised that I would even speak with him. “Go ahead.”

“Who is Derek Novak exactly?”

“I would think that after you did the impossible and won his favor so quickly, you’d know more about him than anyone else. You must’ve pleased him greatly if he would kill a guard for you.”

I stared at him. “What do you mean pleased him?”

“What else would you have done since you got here?”

I could feel the heat rise to my cheeks. I shook my head. Here I was, a virgin, being rumored to have given the newly awakened prince a pleasurable night in bed.

“You mean you didn’t…”

“No!”

The guard chuckled. He still looked at me as though he didn’t believe me, but I was relieved when he dropped the subject. “I’m Samuel.”

The blond man with a lean build and short stubble was only a couple of inches taller than me, though I figured that he had been somewhere in his twenties when he’d been turned.

“Sofia,” I replied.

“Like I don’t know that.” He winked. “The prince is picky with women. The fact that he’s giving you this attention almost makes you a celebrity here.”

I wasn’t sure how to react to that. I was used to being invisible.

“To finally answer your question,” he continued, “you’re owned by a legend. Derek Novak made The Shade possible. Many vampires survived the hunters because of his leadership. He found this island, built The Crimson Fortress and won Cora, the most powerful witch of their time, over to our side. He is possibly the most powerful vampire on the planet.”

There were so many things about his short statement that sent my head reeling. But most of all, I was taken aback by Derek. I’d known that he was important to the island, but I hadn’t expected all this history. “Wow.”

“Wow is right.” Samuel nodded.

I was about to ask what exactly he meant by “hunters” and inquire further about this “witch”, but before I could, the second guard returned. He shrugged. “The prince instructs us that as long as they don’t leave the penthouse, we are to do whatever she says.”

Samuel grinned at me. “Looks like we have a new princess.”

“Sam,” the other guard said, “I don’t think making friends with the prince’s muse is good for your health.”

“Relax, Kyle. She’s all right.”

Gwen’s grip on my arm had loosened by now. I gave the men a funny look. I had an odd feeling that I was going to like those two.

They led us further down the corridor and stopped outside a door. Sam pushed it open to reveal the other girls. Gwen and I stepped inside the room, not quite knowing what to expect. Three pairs of eyes fell on us as we entered. Relief washed over their pale faces as they spotted Gwen and me. Even though we were still strangers to each other, all three girls threw their arms around us.

“Are you okay?”

“What did he do to you?”

“He didn’t… force you, did he?”

“Do you know what they’re going to do to us?”

“Will we ever get home?”

“Have you seen what’s outside? Is there any way to escape?”

Question after question came at us before we could come up with a single answer. I tried to settle them down so I could speak.

“We’re okay. He didn’t force us, hurt us or feed on us. And I…I don’t think he will. I have a feeling that while we’re on this island, our best chance of survival is to stay in Derek Novak’s good graces.”

Chapter 23: Derek

After giving Kyle permission to obey Sofia’s command, I left the penthouse with my siblings. We headed first to The Crimson Fortress. Vivienne was keen to show me how they’d fortified it over the past centuries. What used to be merely a wall surrounding the island was now home to over three hundred vampire guards and scouts who had sought refuge in The Shade and sworn to defend it.

In a number of strategic areas of the fortress, stone houses with pointed turrets lined the wall. I was told that several of the men and women belonging to the Elite trained for battle and were called knights. The homes were theirs for times when they were called to duty at the wall.

The Elite consisted of the twenty original clans who had sworn allegiance to our family. They had fought and bled with us, tracked down by the hunters until we finally found sanctuary in The Shade. Everyone else—guards, scouts, and lodgers—came only after the wall was built and Cora’s spell provided permanent protection for The Shade.

“Where do the humans stay?”

“Aside from the beauties we keep in our homes for entertainment, all the humans stay in The Black Heights.” Lucas had always had a penchant for young women.

“The mountains?” I asked.

“We divided the network of caves we found there into The Cells and the slave quarters. Prisoners and newfound human captives—before they are assigned—are sent to The Cells. Humans live in the slave quarters, which they call The Catacombs,” Vivienne explained.

“The Catacombs?”

“I see irony is lost on you.” Lucas rolled his eyes. “In The Shade, it is the living who reside within The Catacombs.”

I eyed the height of the wall protecting us. “Everything seems in order. I don’t understand why it was necessary that I wake from my sleep.”

“The hunters are more powerful than ever,” Vivienne said. “They’re technologically advanced and have the support of wealthy and influential people. The Shade is no longer a secret in vampire communities and other covens have threatened to attack us or expose us unless we take them in.”

I grimaced. These were the same covens that had shunned us and left us to die when we needed their help against the hunters. Now they were threatening to spill our blood if we didn’t save them?

“What have we been doing about this?”

“Father is meeting with the heads of other covens. Last we heard, all covens will be dispatching their leaders or at least an ambassador here so we can talk about a compromise.”

“And I need to be awake for these talks because…?”

“My thoughts exactly,” Lucas mumbled.

I gave him a wary glance, wondering how it was possible that he hadn’t matured even the slightest after all this time. In his head, we were still obviously competing… for what, I had no idea.

“You command respect from all the other covens in a way none of us could. They know what you did. They will listen to you,” Vivienne said. “And it’s not just that. I really don’t think that we can keep The Shade a secret from the hunters for long. Not even with Corrine maintaining Cora’s spell. The hunters have been wondering where all these vampires have been disappearing to. And with us needing the humans and having to abduct them just to stay alive… that won’t just go away. Investigations are being done by security agencies about all these missing people. We can’t keep this up for long.”

I clenched my fists. “What makes you think that I would know how to fix this, Vivienne? I did my part. I brought you to sanctuary just like your prophecy said. Why can’t someone else take this on? Why not Father?”

“The prophecy was that your reign alone can provide our kind true sanctuary. The Shade has been a sanctuary for a limited number of our kind, but it isn’t yet a true sanctuary until we either find a way to survive without need of humans, or…”

“Or what?” I cast a stern look at my sister.

“We have to end the hunters once and for all.”

I scoffed. “You’re talking about war and bloodshed that we can’t even imagine. How long has it been since The Shade’s guards have been in actual battle?”

All I got from my sister was silence.

We continued our trek through the island, leaving the issue hanging in the air. It weighed heavily on me for the rest of the time I spent with them. I didn’t understand why I had to stand as the leader. I was younger than a lot of the men there.

I was ready to go home and retreat to solitude, not willing to be around the human slaves. Not even Sofia. She was so human—a reminder of who I had been before I’d been transformed.

I was already intent on going back to my quarters when Vivienne pulled me toward her. She led me through the walkways until we reached a spare room. She pushed the door open and revealed an unconscious woman lying in the center of the bed. “She used to be a hunter—one of the newer, weaker ones.”

“Why are you telling me this?” I asked, unable to deny that the woman splayed out on the bed in front of me was attractive.

“I thought you might be tired of drinking blood from a glass and would enjoy a fresh meal.” Vivienne smiled, looking pleased with herself.

She knew the fact that this one was a hunter made the prospect even more appealing. I licked my lips and stepped forward. Vivienne took that as approval and stepped out of the room.

“Enjoy,” she said just before she closed the door.

There was no hesitation on my part. The darkness within me took over. I moved beside the woman, pulled her against me and sank my teeth into her neck. The taste of hot blood, pumped through her veins by a living heart, was invigorating. I drank, determined to bleed her dry. For all these years I’d hated being a vampire, but it was who I was and there was no escaping it.

Just as I was swallowing the last mouthful, the one that would cause her heart to stop beating, a moment of clarity came to me. For reasons I could not understand—and I wasn’t sure I even wanted to—the whole time I held this beautiful stranger in my arms, feeding on her, it felt like I was betraying Sofia.

Chapter 24: Sofia

The girls—Gwen, Ashley, Paige, and Rosa—and I were in the kitchen making dinner. We were actually having a good time. I’d already told them that there was no way of escaping, at least not until we had a solid plan, so we did as Derek had suggested—entertained ourselves. We watched a movie, read books, and made plans for the extra room Derek had allowed me to have. Even the guards, Sam and Kyle, seemed to be enjoying our company.

When Derek barged into the penthouse, shouting my name, I had no idea what I’d done wrong. I felt nothing but shock as I approached him.

He was standing in the middle of the living room, muscles tensed, blood dripping from the corners of his lips, looking more menacing than I’d ever seen him before. His muscular physique bulged with his every breath as he strode toward me.

“What happened?” I asked.

He grabbed my shoulders and lifted me off the ground. I inwardly groaned, expecting my back to once again hit a wall. Instead, I found myself being pushed onto a couch while he paced the floor in front of me. I gripped the armrests of the couch, bracing myself for whatever outburst this vampire was about to throw my way.

Watching Derek, I wondered if all vampires were like him. Brooding. Intense. Incapable of laughter. Sam and Kyle had seemed to be in such a light mood when dealing with us girls that afternoon. I wondered how they could be relaxed while the Novaks were so uptight.

Derek stopped pacing and stood right in front of me. He sat on the edge of the coffee table and rested his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped together and eyes downcast.

“What you told me that night… in The Sanctuary, when you first saw me… why did you say it?”

I struggled to recall what I’d told him. His presence was so overpowering, so consuming, it felt like he was filling up the entire room.

“I don’t remember.”

“I was about to feed on you,” he said, impatiently. “I told you that I couldn’t help myself. You said…”

“… that I know an excuse when I hear one and that you shouldn’t make yourself out to be a victim.”

“Am I a victim?”

I stared at him for a couple of seconds, wondering if he realized how insane that question sounded. He wasn’t the one who’d been captured and imprisoned—in an admittedly breathtaking penthouse, but imprisoned nonetheless. He was lord of the vampires—feared, revered, and admired. How on earth could he be a victim?

I studied him, wondering what was going through his mind.

“You fed on someone.”

His fists clenched again.

“She wasn’t much older than you. Eighteen or nineteen. She was a hunter. She was the enemy. I found pleasure sucking out every drop of her blood.” He raised his blue eyes to meet mine and the faintest smirk formed on his lips. “I enjoyed it the same way I would’ve enjoyed you.”

My stomach writhed. “Why are you telling me this?”

Pain twisted his handsome features. “Because I don’t want to enjoy it. I actually miss being the victim, but that night… you saw me as someone playing the part of a victim. Why?”

I gave it some thought. Why did I say that? Despite the vampire’s imposing presence, I couldn’t help but smile as the memory of twelve-year-old Ben flashed through my mind.

I dared place my hand over his before answering.

“Because…I guess I don’t believe that you are a slave to what you’ve become. I don’t believe that you can’t control yourself.”

He looked at me with so much intensity I began to wonder if I’d said something wrong. My breath hitched as he lifted a cold hand and brushed it against my cheek. I wasn’t sure what he was doing at first, but then he tucked a stray stand of hair behind my ear and lowered his arm again.

“You are a marvel.”

I frowned at him. I’d been called lots of things in my life. Marvel had certainly never been one of them.

“Not compared to you,” was all I could think to say.

“What do you mean?”

“The guards told us that you’re a legend, savior of the vampires… It all sounded rather impressive.”

He looked away, as if he was disturbed by my words. “Savior of the vampires,” he scoffed. “I’m supposed to rule over our kind. They say my reign will bring the vampires true sanctuary. I’m not sure we even deserve to be saved. After everything we’ve done… after everything we’re still doing now…” He shot to his feet. “Look at what we’re doing to you.”

I didn’t know how to respond. I missed Ben so much. There hadn’t been a waking moment since my arrival when he hadn’t been at the back of my mind, when I hadn’t wondered how he was dealing with my disappearance. I wondered how many of the humans they brought here were separated from their loved ones.

“How… How did you get like this?” I asked.

His eyes darkened. I wasn’t sure if he was going to respond. But then he sat back down next to me and cleared his throat.

“My father was a farmer,” he said. “That’s what we did before we became this. We farmed wheat and vegetables. It was a humble existence, but we were happy.” He paused, swallowing hard. “Then one night, my father and Lucas were out in the city to trade our goods. Vivienne and I went out for wood. When we returned, our mother was dead, sucked dry. Vivienne swore it was a wild beast. They ridiculed me, but I knew it was a vampire. I was just thirteen at the time, but I was so sure that a vampire had murdered my mother, I found a way to join the hunters.”

“What exactly are hunters?” I couldn’t help but interrupt.

“Humans who know of our existence and work to end our kind. They are mostly bereaved family members. For five years, I was one myself.”

My eyes widened.

“I killed many, many vampires.” A bitter smile formed on his lips. “So imagine my surprise when, on my eighteenth birthday, my father came home as a vampire. I should have killed him. But I couldn’t. He was my father. He turned Lucas, Vivienne, and me that night. I became the very creature that I hunted. The creature that I hated.”

I frowned. “If you hate vampires so much, why fight to save them? Why establish The Shade?”

He threw me a glance. “It was never about saving vampires, Sofia. The hundred years after I was turned were all about saving my family. It just so happened that I couldn’t save them without also saving the others who helped us survive. I never thought that The Shade would become what it is now.”

I couldn’t even begin to imagine what those years had been like for him, how tormented he must have felt, but if he wanted me to acknowledge that he was a victim to his own existence, I wasn’t about to give him that. He was too strong, too powerful, and too influential to play the part of a victim.

“I’m sorry for what you had to go through, and I… I suppose I’m honored that you would tell me these things, but you’re strong and you’re a leader—whether you like it or not. You seem to be the only one here who has the power to change things for the better.”

He scowled and shook his head. Then a silence fell between us.

I wasn’t sure what he was expecting me to say next, if anything.

I caught sight of the four girls peeking at us through the doorway. They all had anxious expressions on their faces as they eyed us. They must have thought that he was going to finally pounce on me when they’d heard him enter the treehouse and shout my name.

I looked back at Derek who sat with his head resting against a hand as he rubbed his temples. The corners of his lips were still tinged with blood.

The atmosphere felt so heavy—with the girls standing by the door, expecting him to jump on me at any moment, and Derek still oozing intensity.

Hoping to relieve some of the tension, I reached for a tissue and stood up. Cautiously, I placed a hand on his broad shoulder. He looked up at me and took the tissue, wiping his mouth. There was a small area that he missed, so I pulled out another tissue. Surprise registered in his eyes as I dabbed it for him.

I averted my glance away from him and looked around the room. My focus fell on the flat screen TV. Other than the cell phone, I hadn’t seen Derek interact with any of the technology in the treehouse. I wondered if he even knew what the TV was.

I picked up the remote and switched it on, then looked back at his face to catch his reaction. I couldn’t hold back a smile as fascination sparked in his eyes.

“What is that?” he asked, standing up and moving closer to it.

“A magic mirror,” I teased, before doing my best to explain to him what a television set was. I taught him how to use the remote and soon, he was operating it himself. I walked over to a cupboard in the corner of the room that contained a fairly extensive movie collection. The girls and I had discovered it earlier that night.

“Derek,” I said.

He tore his eyes away from the TV to look at me. I beckoned him over and pointed to the shelves of DVDs. I pulled one off the shelf randomly—amused to see that it was Night of the Living Dead—and placed it in his hands.

“What is this?” he asked, furrowing his brows as he examined the pictures on the cover.

“It’s a movie. If you insert it into the player, the TV will show moving pictures and you’ll hear sound. It will tell you a story. I suppose it will be a bit like the theaters of your time.”

He motioned to walk over to the TV, but I held his arm and pulled him back. “Wait, that’s a horror movie. I think you’ll agree there’s enough horror surrounding us already…”

I took it back from him and replaced in on the shelf before scanning the cupboard shelves more closely. There were some recent movies, but most were classics. I figured that a classic would be a good first for Derek. But I had no idea what to choose. A thriller? A romance? A mystery?

As it turned out, I didn’t need to choose for him. He bent down and began examining all the covers and reading the descriptions himself. After ten minutes, he’d narrowed his choice down to two options. Chicago and The Godfather. I realized that they were a reflection of who he was as a person—a musician and a killer whose loyalty to family stood above all else. Tormented, with darkness looming over him.

I’d already seen both, so I didn’t mind either way. He ended up going with The Godfather. He caught my hand and pulled me toward the TV. I watched as he inserted the DVD upside down. Before he closed the tray, I gripped his hand.

“This way,” I said, correcting it and pushing the tray in.

Then we both stood up and I supervised him working the remote until the film flickered up on the screen.

Now that we’d set it up, the weirdness of the situation fully sank in.

I’m about to have a movie date with a vampire… A vampire. I still felt insane just thinking of the word.

I didn’t have much time to ponder over it, however. Derek was impatient to start—apparently too impatient even to wait for me to walk over to the sofa on my own two feet. He scooped me up in his arms and carried me there. Setting me down among the cushions, he leaned back next to me.

As he clicked play on the remote, I looked back at the doorway. It was empty. I guessed the girls had been satisfied that the danger had passed and wandered off to entertain themselves without me, leaving Derek and me all alone.

I kept glancing at the vampire throughout the movie. He caught my eye once or twice and held it for a few moments before being glued back to the screen. The truth was, I was far more interested in watching Derek than the movie. It still blew my mind to think that he was from such a distant time period.

Once the film finished, Derek reached for the second one he’d picked out.

“Wait,” I said.

He looked at me questioningly.

“I have a better idea.” I stood up, caught his hand, and walked with him across the room toward the door. “I think Vivienne’s finished working on your music room.” I led him along the corridor and stopped outside the music room. The delight in his eyes when he saw the room was almost endearing—like a boy being shown a room full of his favorite toys.

“She did it so quickly,” he said softly as he entered and looked around at the instruments.

“Your sister really loves you.” There was a slight bitterness in the way I said the words. He had a family who worshipped the ground he walked on, while all I had was a family who’d abandoned me and left me to another’s care.

He sat in front of the black grand piano and tapped the bench next to him. “Sit.”

With him, there were never requests, just commands. I rolled my eyes, still not used to being told what to do. Amelia and Lyle Hudson never paid much attention to what I did as long as I didn’t get myself or their kids into trouble. Ben wasn’t authoritative either. This was something about Derek I thought I’d never get used to, but still, I found myself sitting next to him as he played a tune that took my breath away.

In the middle of his performance, it dawned on me that this was exactly the effect Derek Novak had on me; one way or another, he always took my breath away.

Chapter 25: Derek

She looked so peaceful, so innocent, as she slept. I couldn’t remember a woman ever having the effect on me that Sofia Claremont had. She was fragile and vulnerable, yet there was also a strength and resilience to her. She’d only recently entered my life, yet somehow it felt like I’d known her for much longer.

I was grateful for the way she’d listened to me and tried to ease my mind after my tempestuous outburst. But, at the same time, I was frustrated. Inside the music room, she’d listened to me give in to my passion for music. She’d listened until exhaustion and sleep stole her attention away from me. Lying on the cushioned wooden bench, she’d been a feast to behold, with her dress hiking up those long, milky white legs of hers, her dark auburn hair flowing down the edge of the bench, and her pink lips slightly parting as she breathed. My stomach had clenched just looking at her, wondering why she would allow herself to be so vulnerable around a creature like me—one who could lose control at any moment and ruin her.

But somehow, deep inside, I knew… I knew that I could never harm her because I would never be able to forgive myself. I might not have enough self-control to keep myself from feeding on others, but with Sofia, I couldn’t afford to. She had become my one link to humanity and it was clear to me that her ruin would be my ruin.

I carefully picked her up, keenly aware of how much of the skin on her neck and shoulders was exposed to me. Of how much her scent was luring me in. But this time it was easier for me to hold myself back. She had made herself too precious to me.

I left her on the round bed covered with pink linens and white furs, next to Gwen. There was a smile on my face as I walked out of her room. With Sofia, it felt like I’d finally found my compass. As long as I had her, I had someone to keep me grounded, someone to direct my way.

If only for Sofia, I had a reason to stay awake.

Having absolutely no desire—or need—to lose myself in sleep, I returned to the living room and decided to view the second “movie” she’d introduced me to. I was amazed by the contraptions society had managed to create over the years. I never would have dreamed them possible in my day.

After Chicago finished, I picked another movie out of the cupboard. Hours passed as I viewed one after another, moved by the stories and lives portrayed. I had to remind myself several times what Sofia had told me—it wasn’t real, just actors playing a part, like the theaters of my time.

When morning came, I was eager to check on Sofia. When I knocked on her door, I wasn’t expecting to be met with silence. I knocked again. Nothing. My heart sank as I assumed the worst. I was certain that despite my warning, she’d once again attempted to escape.

I swung the door open and looked around the room. The smell of blood entered my nostrils and I was stunned to find that my first instinct wasn’t hunger, but instead an overwhelming urge to make sure Sofia was unharmed.

A strange mixture of alarm, concern, and protectiveness engulfed me when I saw her. She was sitting in one corner of the room, trembling as she held her legs tightly against her chest. Her green eyes betrayed terror.

I knew something was wrong, but I couldn’t even begin to imagine what could have caused such a reaction.

“Sofia?” I knelt in front of her and tried to brush her hair away from her face. She flinched at my touch—a stark contrast to the night before when she’d sat so close to me on the couch and while I was playing the piano.

A sick feeling churned in the pit of my stomach as one possibility after another flooded through my mind. “What happened, Sofia?”

Her lips were trembling so hard I was certain that I wouldn’t understand even if she answered my question. That was when I noticed something she was clutching with her fist. Ignoring her flinch, I pried her hands open.

It was a lock of blonde hair.

I cast my eyes around the spacious bedroom again. It was empty, but for Sofia.

My jaw clenched as I guessed what had happened. I made my way toward Sofia’s bathroom. The door had been left ajar. I pushed it open.

Rage I hadn’t felt for centuries began to consume me. In a bloody pool of water, Gwen’s lifeless body lay in the bath. On her wrists were bite marks. Someone had bled her dry.

It was a deliberate affront to me and a threat toward Sofia.

I shouted for a guard. Kyle came rushing moments later, gasping as he caught sight of Gwen.

“You are supposed to be keeping watch in my home! How did this happen?” I growled, trying to reel in my temper.

“Sir, I… I don’t know… I…”

I moved fast and pinned him to the wall. I looked into his eyes and saw dignity there. Unlike Jonas, this one wasn’t about to beg for his life. He knew he was innocent and I knew it too.

I backed down and loosened my grip on him.

“Whoever did this dies. Find out who has insulted me in this way.”

I walked toward Sofia and, ignoring her struggles, gathered her in my arms and carried her out of the room. I didn’t know where to take her, but I couldn’t just leave her there.

Once she realized that I wasn’t about to loosen my hold on her, she eased into my arms and buried her face against my chest before letting go of the pent-up emotions. Tears began to stream down her lovely face and I wanted nothing more than to rip the heart out of the person who’d put her through this.

However, there was a truth I kept denying to myself: there was only one person in The Shade who would dare pull a stunt like this.

My own brother, Lucas.

Chapter 26: Sofia

Everything happened in a blur. I felt Derek’s strong arms grab me. I heard his conversation with Vivienne before they both decided to take me to see Corrine, the witch at The Sanctuary. I saw the agitation in Derek’s face, his intoxicating scent surrounding me as I snuggled against him.

I was conscious of it all, yet at the same time I was stuck in a memory, still reliving every sickening sensation.

I’d been lulled to sleep by an enchanting melody and awakened from it by a horrific nightmare.

Lucas’ hand was clamped over my mouth and his full weight rested on top of me, constricting my breathing. I had no chance of even reaching the stake at the side of my bed. His free hand hiked up my thigh and when I flinched, he chuckled.

“I will have you someday, Sofia,” he whispered against my ear. “You will bring me so much pleasure… and once I’m done with you, I will have a taste of your sweet, sweet blood.”

His hand reached around my waist and slipped beneath my back. Pain unlike any I’d ever experienced before assaulted me when his claws came out. My screams were muffled by his palm over my mouth as he scratched through my flesh with his nails. My back was on fire. Tears spilled from my eyes.

His mouth pressed against my chest, neck, jaw, and cheek. Each word hissed from his lips.

“But don’t worry, my fragile little twig. I’ve had my fill for the night. I just wanted to warn you what’s ahead of you. You know, remind you who found you… and who really owns you.”

Still keeping his hand over my mouth, Lucas lifted himself up on the bed so that he was kneeling over me, straddling my hips as he looked down at me, a manic smile on his face.

“Don’t get too comfortable with my brother, Sofia, because no matter what he may think, you’re mine. And should you get any bright ideas about telling Derek about this little rendezvous of ours, consider this a warning.”

He retrieved something from his jacket pocket. It was a lock of blonde hair. My eyes grew wide with horror. He began tracing the ends of the strands of hair over my jaw.

“I have a gift waiting for you in the bathroom. Before you scream for help, I suggest you check it out… unless, of course, you want more of my gifts…”

With that, he exited the room, leaving the lock of hair behind. Trembling, I grabbed the item and got off the bed. I slowly walked toward the bathroom, dreading what “gift” he could possibly give me.

When I opened the bathroom door and found Gwen’s body there, my throat felt so dry I couldn’t even scream. I retreated to a corner, frozen with terror.

I realized that no matter how beautiful The Shade was on the outside, it was only a mask to hide its darkness.

I’d fooled myself into believing that I was safe, but that was the biggest lie I’d told myself in years.

Chapter 27: Derek

“She’s wounded,” was the first thing Corrine said when I barged through the doors of The Sanctuary, Sofia still shaking in my arms.

I wondered what the witch was talking about as I followed her to one of The Sanctuary’s chambers. I walked toward the bed in the middle of the room and laid Sofia there. My stomach turned when I saw how bloody one of my hands was. Her blood. My craving for her should have consumed me—it was in my nature to want to taste her—but my desire to make things right with her overpowered every other craving.

“What happened to her?” Corrine asked.

I ignored the witch and flipped Sofia’s motionless body over so that she was lying face down on the bed. She made no attempt to stop me when I ripped the back of her dress open. Claws had run the length of her back, etching deep cuts in her flesh. I wondered how someone as fragile as her could sustain such wounds without passing out.

“Who did this to you, Sofia? Who killed Gwen?”

Sofia just buried her face in the pillow. I drew the dagger out of my sleeve and, without a moment’s hesitation, made a deep cut in my palm. I grabbed Sofia’s arm and yanked her to a sitting position. She gasped in pain.

“Derek…” Vivienne spoke from behind me. “She’s already in enough pain.”

I hadn’t even been aware that my sister had followed us all the way there.

“There’s no time,” I said. “She needs to heal fast. We don’t know how much blood she’s already lost.”

I was inwardly chastising myself for not having noticed her wounds while still back in the bedroom. I pressed my palm over Sofia’s mouth, my other hand positioned at the back of her neck.

“Drink,” I ordered.

I was relieved that she didn’t put up a fight and relented. Perhaps she just wanted the pain to stop and knew well enough that my blood in her system would speed up the healing process. I didn’t care. As long as I felt her soft mouth sucking on the blood from my palm, I was satisfied. It did little to ease the fury I felt inside, but it did wonders for the worry I felt over her predicament.

Relief washed over me when the cuts on her back began to heal. She must’ve felt it, because she stopped drinking from my palm. I was so distraught over what happened to her that I wanted her to keep drinking, as if my blood could fix everything for her. The gash on my palm closed, however, and she wiped the blood from her face with her arm. I wanted to see the light in her eyes flicker back to life, any indication that the fire within her hadn’t died out, but her blank stare told me otherwise as she laid her head back on the pillow.

“What did you do to her?” Corrine eyed me suspiciously, making it clear that she didn’t trust me the way her ancestor Cora had.

“I didn’t do anything to her. I found her this way when I checked on her this morning.”

“One of the other girls in his harem was found murdered—bled dry—inside her bathroom,” Vivienne added.

Corrine kept up her perusal of me. “And you didn’t do this?”

I glared at her. “Did you not hear me the first time, witch?”

“Can you blame me for asking? You took one look at her when you woke up and threw her up against a pillar, ready to devour her. Who knows what sick things you have in mind to do to her…”

“Corrine, he didn’t do this.” Vivienne spoke up knowing that if she didn’t, I might not be able to keep myself from maiming the witch for her insolence.

“Well then, who did?” Corrine raised an eyebrow. “You creatures sicken me.”

I wasn’t so sure she was wrong, but the witch’s hypocrisy was getting on my nerves. “If you hate us so much, why do you serve us? Why protect us?”

“Your kind took me captive much like you did this girl. I had no choice in the matter.”

This was news to me. “Is this true, Vivienne?”

“We needed a witch to keep the spell going…” Vivienne tried to explain.

I must have been losing my mind, because in all seriousness, I said, “You’re free to go any time you please, witch. No one will stop you. You have my word.”

“Derek,” Vivienne gasped. “We can’t…”

“Be quiet, Vivienne.” I lifted a hand to silence my sister. I stared at Corrine’s shocked face. “You’re no longer a prisoner of The Shade, Corrine. You may leave today if you wish. I’ll even see you to the port myself.”

I was calling her bluff. She was Cora’s descendant and, if she was anything like her ancestor, no one would have been able to keep her in one place against her will. She was here for a reason and it certainly wasn’t because we kept her locked up.

Corrine eyed me for a couple of seconds, her lips sealed tight. Then a small smile formed on her face.

“I see now what Cora saw in you.”

Vivienne stepped forward, looking utterly confused. “Corrine… you’re not leaving? You’ve been harping on about being held against your will since you got here.”

“You really are quite a lovely thing, aren’t you, Vivienne? I’ve inherited hundreds of years’ worth of power and knowledge from Cora and every descendant she had. Do you really think you can hold me captive with four walls or a cage?” Corrine sighed. “Now let’s get back to the matter at hand. If I’m to find out what happened, I can’t have either of you lurking around threatening her.”

“I would never threaten her,” I spat out.

“Don’t kid yourself, Derek. Your presence alone is a threat to her. Now, go on, shoo.”

I cast a lingering glance at Sofia, feeling like I was being ripped apart from the inside. “Do everything you can to make things right for her. Just… fix her.”

There was a spark of confusion in Corrine’s large brown eyes. Perhaps she was wondering why I cared so much, but she didn’t address the matter, and instead, simply herded Vivienne and myself out of the room.

“You can see yourselves out. I will have a guard alert you once she is ready to return to The Pavilion.”

I stood outside as Corrine slammed the door in our faces. I didn’t budge from my spot, determined to stay there and wait until Sofia was cured.

Vivienne grabbed my hand and squeezed.

“Sofia’s going to be fine. Corrine was in her senior year of psychology when we dragged her down here. She’ll know how to help Sofia.”

“I’m not leaving until I know Sofia is cured.”

My sister knew me well enough to know that once I put my mind to something, I was as stubborn as a mule. Nothing she could say would convince me to leave that place.

“If you need me, I’ll be at The Residences seeing to the investigations. We’ll find out who did this, Derek.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. Guilt and shame came over me as Vivienne left me there to brood alone. I couldn’t think of anyone who could be capable of doing this other than Lucas. But I had no proof and, even if I did, I wasn’t sure that I could do anything about it. Lucas was my brother and no matter how important Sofia had become to me, blood ran thicker than water.

Chapter 28: Sofia

Corrine took her time with me. She gave me a drink of water, which I appreciated, given that the taste of Derek’s blood was still fresh in my mouth. She took great care in never pushing or ordering or commanding, which was exactly what Derek would have done had I been left under his care.

She gave me a fresh set of clothes to wear. I was so relieved to be handed jeans and a blouse. It was nice to see something I would wear in normal life. The dresses and skirts afforded to me in Derek’s treehouse were pretty and feminine, but it felt like the sole reason I had to wear them was so that the vampires could have easy access to my body—that was certainly what Lucas had gotten.

I put on the jeans knowing how irrational my line of thinking was. It wasn’t like I would’ve worn jeans to sleep in the first place. Still, the snug fit of the denim on my legs provided me a thread of comfort. At least I won’t have to feel Lucas’ hands on my bare legs. I shuddered, recalling the way he’d touched me. I knew that it wasn’t going to be the last time. What terrified me most was how helpless I’d felt at the time. I never wanted to feel that way again.

“Would you like to talk about what happened?” Corrine asked.

I sat on the edge of her bed as she pulled up an ottoman so she could sit right across me. She pointed to a bowl of fruit on her bedside table. “If you’re hungry…”

I shook my head. “No, thank you.”

I truly appreciated the way she was treating me. She was behaving like the caring older sister I’d never had.

“What happened, Sofia? I promise that whatever you say, it won’t leak out of this room unless you want it to.”

“I don’t remember,” I lied. I remembered every single detail. “I woke up and I had the cuts on my back and the lock of Gwen’s hair in my hand. I walked to the bathroom and…” I choked, recalling Gwen’s fate. “She didn’t deserve to die.”

I knew I had to protect the other girls from what had happened to Gwen. Lucas’ threat still rang in my ears. He wouldn’t hesitate to destroy me and the girls the first chance he got.

“You’re right. She didn’t.” Corrine’s brown eyes bored into mine. “Sofia, I can’t help you unless you’re honest with me. Was it Derek who did this to you?”

“He already told you that he didn’t.”

“Yes, but I want to hear it from you.”

I was surprised by the protectiveness I felt toward Derek. I almost felt insulted that anyone would imply that he could do this.

“If Derek did this, there wouldn’t be any fuss, would there? We’re his slaves, after all. Is he not allowed to do as he pleases with us? The only reason that this is such a big deal is because someone else did it, and it’s a huge insult to Derek.”

Corrine smiled, almost as if she were proud that I’d come up with that answer myself. It felt as if she was playing mind games with me.

“The prince seems to care a lot about you. He seemed distraught to see you in this state.”

I remained silent. I was scared of what was to come. I wanted to believe so badly that Derek cared enough about me to choose me over his brother, but if he had endured being a creature he hated for hundreds of years just to save his family, why would he choose me over Lucas?

Corrine most likely saw that she wasn’t going to get anywhere with her line of questioning, so she tried a different approach.

“Is it all right if you tell me what your time in The Shade has been like for you? I’m rather curious to know.”

That I saw no harm in doing and I found myself opening up to her. I spilled out every sensation still fresh in my memory, every fear, every apprehension, and even stolen moments of delight and wonder. I told her how much I missed my best friend and how worried I was about him. I didn’t know why I did it. Perhaps it was just the need for a friend, an ally. The only thing I kept from her was what Lucas had done to me and the threat he had given me should I tell a soul about it.

I did, however, make myself a promise as I was having that conversation with Corrine. I promised myself that Lucas wasn’t going to get away with what he did to Gwen. Sooner or later, he will pay.

Chapter 29: Derek

I rose to my feet the moment the door swung open. I breathed out a sigh of relief when Sofia stepped out of the room, a tentative smile spreading across her lips at the sight of me. If only out of sheer relief, I wanted to pull her into my arms and kiss her right then and there, but I fought the urge for fear of scaring her. So I held back and allowed her to set the pace. I doubted she was aware of the effect she had on me when she walked toward me and grabbed my hand, her dainty fingers intertwining with mine before she lifted my hand and placed a soft kiss on the back of it.

I didn’t fully understand why she did it, but I took it as assurance that she still felt safe around me, that she was choosing to trust me. I was both humbled and pressured by the gesture. I stared at her for a moment, feasting on the delicateness of her features, adoring every bit of her as I squeezed her hands, treasuring the warmth she exuded.

My perusal of my beautiful captive was interrupted when Corrine cleared her throat.

“May I speak with you in private… Prince?” She tacked on the title as if it were a taunt.

I grimaced, hating that I had to let go of Sofia’s hand, but was overcome with curiosity over what the witch would have to say. I motioned to a guard to stand near Sofia.

“You’ll be all right?” I asked Sofia in a choked whisper.

Sofia nodded. “Go.”

I entered Corrine’s chambers and Corrine closed the door behind us.

“I must admit I didn’t see what you saw in her at first. I couldn’t understand what was so special about Sofia Claremont, but I get it now.”

I leaned forward, interested.

“I’m not certain, but I believe she has a condition that I would like to look into further. I’d like to have her come to me daily. It won’t take long. All I require is an hour or two each day.”

I didn’t fully trust the witch, but was intrigued by her sudden interest in Sofia.

“What condition?”

“It’s nothing to be concerned about. It’s nothing deadly. If I’m right about her, however, then you’ve found yourself quite a catch in the young woman. There aren’t many like her.”

She was telling me what I already knew. I doubted that there was anyone quite like Sofia. As much as I wanted to hear more about this “condition” Sofia supposedly had, I was more concerned by the immediate matter at hand.

“Did she tell you who did it?”

“She claims not to remember.”

“Do you believe her?”

Corrine shook her head. “No. I think she’s protecting something… someone.”

“Why would she protect whoever did this?”

“Maybe it’s not her assailant she’s protecting.” Corrine shrugged and stood up. “I suggest that you make sure she’s protected at all times. I also suggest that you not bombard her with questions about what happened. When she’s ready to tell you, she will. Stop forcing her to do things just because you’re the ruler of this damn kingdom and your word is law. Respect her by making her feel like she has a choice.”

I wanted to defend myself, tell Corrine that I’d never forced Sofia to do anything against her will, but I knew what Corrine was saying. I spoke to Sofia in orders and commands, taking advantage of her obvious fear of me to make her cooperate. I kept convincing myself that I saw humans as equal, if not superior, to vampires, yet I didn’t treat Sofia as an equal. I treated her just like everyone else in The Shade did—as a captive, a slave.

I gave Corrine a long look before nodding. “Thank you. She’ll come back tomorrow…” I headed for the door and paused just before twisting the knob. “That is, if she wants to.”

The witch smiled.

“Have a good day, Derek.”

Chapter 30: Sofia

The moment our eyes met, he looked away, almost as if he were embarrassed about something. It was actually… cute—a word I’d never thought I’d use to describe Derek Novak. As we walked back toward his treehouse, he remained silent, deep in thought, never even looking my way.

“You’d said that you wanted to give me more self-defense lessons,” I eventually said, breaking the silence between us.

“Yes.” He paused. “But if you don’t want me to…”

I frowned. Since when does he care what I want?

“I want you to.”

The heaviness in our conversation was weighing on me. I wanted to go back to how comfortable our interactions had started to become before Lucas. I was still shaken, still afraid of what Lucas was capable of, but thanks to Ben, dwelling on woes wasn’t one of my strong suits. I slipped my hands into Derek’s.

“I’d like it if you let the other girls join in too,” I said, giving his hands a gentle squeeze.

The gesture seemed to lighten his mood a bit. His shoulders relaxed and his eyes softened. “Of course.” He stopped walking and held both my hands closer to him. He weighed every word carefully as he spoke. “I’m thinking that you should start sleeping in my chambers from now on.”

I was taken aback. I studied him closely, trying to read his intent. Then a teasing smile crept over my lips.

“Don’t you think we’re moving a little too fast?” I said, narrowing my eyes on him. I was making fun of his proposal, but the truth was that I had a number of reservations about sharing a bedroom—much less a bed—with a blood-sucking vampire.

He gave me a funny look, perhaps wondering if he should take me seriously or not.

“I mean it, Sofia. I understand you’re uncertain, but I promise I won’t try anything with you. I just want to make sure you’re safe.”

I made a conscious effort to keep my jaw from dropping. Was he actually asking for my consent? He wasn’t just ordering me to sleep in his bed? Have we gone past the ‘no questions asked because his oh-so-royal word is the be-all and end-all of my entire existence’? I gave it some thought. The idea of returning to my bedroom in the penthouse sickened me. I wasn’t sure if I trusted Derek not to jump on me, but then having Lucas climb into my bed in the middle of the night was a far less attractive option.

I nodded and looked up into his blue eyes. “I can trust you, can’t I, Derek?”

The expression on his face was enough to tell me that he wasn’t taking the situation lightly.

He nodded. “Yes, Sofia. You can.”

Chapter 31: Sofia

In the days that followed, Derek proved his words true. He never did anything or even said anything to violate my trust. He took extra care in making sure that I wanted to do what he was asking of me, and that really was the difference. He actually began to ask. It seemed so unlike him at first, but as time passed, we became a lot more used to having each other around. At least, I did.

Days—or in The Shade’s case, nights—fell into a routine. We started with breakfast before Derek brought the girls and me to the armory to train to defend ourselves against vampires. Much to his siblings’ horror, he gave the girl’s their own stakes too. He warned us all sternly that they were for self-defense and nothing else. Should we use them for any other purpose, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill us himself. It was a reminder that the fierce part of him was still in there—no matter how gentle he could be around me.

After training sessions, Sam and Kyle brought the girls back to the penthouse to prepare lunch while Derek brought me to Corrine. I had no idea what he did while I spent a full two hours with Corrine, but it didn’t bother me all that much. I began to treasure time I spent with the witch. She was definitely far better than the other psychologists I’d been forced to meet with. It didn’t take long for her to diagnose my mental condition.

“I don’t believe that you have any of the disorders those doctors diagnosed you with, Sofia,” she said. “What you have is often confused with other disorders, because it’s hard to detect. I honestly think that you have low latent inhibition, also known as LLI. Latent inhibition is what allows people to shut down some stimuli so that they can focus on other stimuli. After all, the brain can only take so much. You, however, don’t have a lot of latent inhibition. That’s why you’re constantly aware of everything going on around you. It can get overwhelming.” Corrine paused.

I bit my lip, thinking of my mother. “Could I end up going mad?”

“Most people who have LLI do end up with mental issues… unless they have a high enough IQ to handle it. You’re one of those lucky few. Most people who are able to handle LLI have high levels of empathy and are often very perceptive of others. They’re creative geniuses.”

At that, I scoffed. I doubted I was a creative genius. Yet, a lot of what Corrine said about LLI made sense to me. It certainly accounted for why I was so attuned to all my senses. For a long time, I’d just assumed that it was normal. As Corrine expanded on her assessment, I found myself trusting her more than any of the various doctors the Hudsons had taken me to over the years.

After sessions with Corrine, I usually spent the rest of the day with Ashley, Paige, and Rosa. We were often watched by several alternating guards assigned to us, but we liked Sam and Kyle best. Those afternoons were mostly spent with them helping me finish my project in that extra room Derek had given me in the penthouse. We still talked about escaping, but we had no clue how to pull it off. It always ended up being a downer, so we eventually avoided talking about it.

The girls asked me a lot about that night with Lucas and what happened. I tried to avoid answering them as best I could. I didn’t want to scare them. I managed to convince Derek to allow us to hold a memorial service in honor of Gwen. It was The Shade’s first ever memorial held in honor of a human.

I spent most dinnertimes alone with Derek. Sometimes, he talked to me about what had happened during his day after he’d left me with Corrine. Most of the time, I just listened. He kept me up to date on investigations regarding my attack and Gwen’s murder. I believed that he suspected Lucas; he just couldn’t admit it to himself. It only served to strengthen my resolve not to test his loyalties by telling him.

If not for Lucas, I could have honestly said that I was beginning to enjoy living in The Shade. It was harder for Lucas to get to me with all the security measures Derek had now built up around me at night, but there were still moments when he caught me alone and off guard. Lucas never failed to remind me that a time would come when I’d be his. I never did have an encounter with him that didn’t leave me feeling shaken and violated. I hated Lucas with every fiber of my being. It seemed he sensed that and this knowledge only made the whole thing more amusing to him.

Ultimately, it was Derek who made life in The Shade worth living. I began to treasure the nights I sat with him. Most of the time was spent with me trying to introduce a new piece of technology to him, one at a time. Introducing him to the camera was fun. We spent the night snapping pictures of each other and goofing around. It was one of the first times I could remember hearing him laugh.

Life on the island took on a lethargic pace and the life I’d had before being kidnapped began to feel like a different lifetime. I worried about the girls and how they were coping, but they seemed to have accepted that this was their fate for now. Occasionally, we were allowed to leave the penthouse to see other parts of The Shade, where we witnessed how other vampires treated their human slaves. It became all the more evident that being under Derek’s care was to our advantage.

There were still nights when Derek would come back home after feeding on another gift from Vivienne or from some other vampire paying him homage. I tried not to talk about it. I figured the less I knew, the better—for both him and me.

The time came when we finally finished what I christened the “Sun Room”. It had taken longer than I’d expected, but I was more than excited to show it to Derek.

I could never forget the look on his face when I pulled him into the room and flicked the lights on.

“You told me you haven’t seen sunlight in five hundred years,” I explained. “I could tell you missed it.”

“So you did this?” He looked around the room, which had a mural of a sandy beach painted on one wall and mirrors on the other walls to make the room brighter. At the center of the ceiling was a sunroof, composed of LED lights fixed over a glass window, creating the illusion of sunlight streaming through the room. We’d chosen outdoor furniture that would create the feel of being out in the open.

I smiled. “It wasn’t just me. Vivienne was more than happy to get us everything we needed. The girls and Sam and Kyle helped too. I guess it’s not just you who misses sunlight, so thanks for giving me the idea.”

To my surprise, he slid his arms around my waist and pulled me against him. He took my arms and draped them over his shoulders, around his neck. He held me and led me in a slow dance.

“There’s no music,” I reminded him in a whisper.

“In my head, Sofia, there’s always music.”

I found the thought amusing. “That must be interesting. It’s like you come with your own background music.”

He nodded, smiling down at me. “Exactly.” He pulled me closer and placed a kiss on my forehead. His kiss then fell on my cheek, then to the corner of my lips. I knew he was going to kiss me and if I were to be honest with myself, I wanted it to happen. But I pulled away.

“I’m sorry. I… I can’t.”

I was half expecting him to ask why, or assert himself and insist.

Instead, he just nodded and looked away from me. “I understand.”

For some reason, that irritated me. How could he understand when I myself didn’t? I realized then how much it irked me that he could see me as so soft and fragile. It made me feel weak, but it didn’t change the fact that I wasn’t ready for that kiss.

That night, just before I drifted off, I realized why. It was because I was certain that if I ever gave in to him in that way, if I surrendered to that kiss, I wouldn’t be able to keep myself from falling for him.

And if I ever allowed myself to fall in love with Derek Novak, I was certain that I would forever be a captive of The Shade.

Chapter 32: Derek

That moment in the Sun Room haunted me that night as I watched her sleep beside me. She’d backed away when I’d tried to kiss her. Had it been any other woman, I wouldn’t have hesitated to force that kiss anyway. But it was Sofia.

I wanted her to want me, but after all she’d seen, after everything she’d been through, I couldn’t blame her for shying away from me. I understood, but it didn’t change how painful it felt.

She shifted on the bed, her blanket pushed aside, showing a generous amount of her soft legs. I swallowed hard. Nights with Sofia were torturous. To have her there, beautiful and so close, always reminded me of how much I wanted her. Her nightwear would get displaced and show her neck and shoulders, practically begging me to take a bite.

I rose from the bed, unsure of myself and what I was feeling for her. It made me sick to think about the danger she was facing. Gwen’s murderer still hadn’t been found, though in my gut, I knew who it was. I just couldn’t bear to admit it. The familiar sick feeling settled inside my stomach as I walked toward the windows leading to the balcony that overlooked The Pavilion’s magnificent view. The night was black, with no trace of the moon’s rays anywhere.

I felt as dark as that night.

I remembered seeing Lucas earlier that day whispering something in Sofia’s ear. I’d noticed how her entire body had tensed and how she was obviously attempting to hold back her anger. I hadn’t done anything about it. I’d pretended I hadn’t seen anything.

When Sofia had approached me, she’d acted the same way I did. Like nothing just happened. She’d smiled and held my hand. She’d told me she had a surprise for me. Her warm auburn hair and her radiant smile had reminded me of sunshine more than the Sun Room ever could.

“Derek,” Sofia whispered behind me. “Do you ever sleep?”

I shook my head as I turned around. “Not as much as you do.” I caught my breath at how stunning she looked, her deep green eyes gazing up at me. I felt like a boy talking to his first infatuation. Sofia always managed to make me feel unhinged.

As I approached her, a pensive expression replaced the smile on her face. I sat over the edge of the bed and rubbed a hand over her hip.

“Is something wrong?”

She placed her hand over mine, brushing her fingers over my skin. The motion sent chills running through my body. Our eyes met and for a moment, nothing else mattered other than having her there with me. I realized at that moment that I couldn’t even think of a life without her. I felt selfish for keeping her there even when her life was in danger, but I reasoned to myself that there was no other way.

“What’s on your mind, Derek?” she breathed.

“You.” I saw no reason to lie. “I can’t imagine life without you.”

She sat up on the bed and reached to touch my cheek. There was almost no tension or apprehension between either of us anymore. We remained guarded when around others, but once alone, there was a familiarity, a rhythm, almost a dance between us. It was one of the reasons she made me feel so… known.

“I don’t know if this means anything to you,” she began to say, and then hesitated.

I inwardly scoffed at her statement. It was rare for any word coming from those sweet lips of hers not to mean something to me.

“What?” I coaxed her.

I doubted she could’ve possibly known how moved I was by what she said next.

“From the moment I got here, all I’ve wanted to do is escape and go back home, but Derek…” She leaned toward me and placed a gentle kiss on my cheek. “You’ve begun to feel like home.”

Chapter 33: Derek

Home.

The word was still circling in my mind the next morning.

I sat on the living room couch, my eyes glued to one of the members of the Elite—Claudia, a capricious and vain vampire who had managed to convince my father and brother that she had our family’s best interests at heart.

I still wasn’t sure about her true motives. Before my sleep, she had made more than one attempt to foster a relationship with me. I found her very presence, beautiful as she was, repugnant. Still, she had requested an audience, and I had no reason to deny her that request.

But I could barely hear what she was saying—pleasantries that meant nothing to me because my mind was still so wrapped up in what Sofia had implied last night.

Did she mean that I am the reason she would want to remain here in The Shade?

Claudia finished her babbling and waited for some sort of response. I looked her over from head to foot and discarded everything she’d just been jabbering about.

“I see you’ve done well for yourself, Claudia,” I commented, noting her extravagant outfit.

“It’s all thanks to you, isn’t it, my prince?” She smiled.

I cleared my throat. “Let’s not lose ourselves in small talk. Why did you want to see me?”

I eyed the young man standing behind her by the door, waiting on her. Blond, well-built—very much the type Claudia enjoyed. I remembered why I detested being around this vampire who was at least thirty years older than me, though she had been turned at the tender age of seventeen.

Claudia’s long lashes fluttered as she straightened in her seat. “Other than to pay my beloved prince homage, of course, I’m just curious.”

“Curious about what?”

“Curious about whom, you mean. Well, I’ve been hearing so much about your beautiful, redheaded pet. I was curious to find out what kind of girl was able to get Derek Novak all tied up in a knot.”

I grimaced. Claudia’s interest in Sofia was something I needed to dispel at all costs. But before I could even open my mouth, Sofia’s laughter came from outside. She and the girls had gone out for a stroll, escorted by Sam and Kyle.

It was now too late. Sofia walked through the front door with a smile on her face, her green eyes twinkling.

Claudia stood up, turned, and eyed Sofia from head to toe.

“So this is her,” she said.

As if that wasn’t already bad enough, a look of pure shock dawned on Sofia’s face the moment she laid eyes on Claudia’s slave.

“Ben,” she gasped.

The same shock was evident on the boy’s face. His face paled. Sofia rushed forward and threw her arms around him, and he returned her embrace with just as much passion. As he leaned his chin on the top of her head, he looked my way. I could almost hear the accusations and the threats he was hurling at me. It was obvious that he feared for Sofia, that he was worrying about what I could have already done to her.

A smirk formed on Claudia’s face as she stared at the reunion between her slave and mine.

“Interesting. Very interesting indeed.”

I stood there, not knowing what to do. Or what to think. But I was sure that what I was seeing right there in front of me was Sofia embracing her reason to leave The Shade forever.

Chapter 34: Sofia

Chills ran down my spine as I eased into Ben’s strong arms, which wrapped tightly around me. There were so many questions going through my mind. I didn’t know whether to be happy or horrified that I would see him in a place like The Shade.

“With all due respect, my beloved prince,” Derek’s guest purred, “I don’t like other girls touching what’s mine, and from the look on your face, I don’t think you’re enjoying this sight either.”

Ben’s whole body tensed the moment she spoke. It was sickening to think of the possibilities surrounding his presence in The Shade. I wanted to speak, to say something to him, ask him at least one of the questions swimming around in my head, but I knew that the moment I tried, I wouldn’t be able to hold back the sobs. I wanted to hold on to him, but we both knew that we had to let go. Holding on was nothing but trouble… for both of us, so we reluctantly distanced ourselves and stood still in front of the man and woman keeping us captive.

“Who is he, Sofia?” Derek asked.

I didn’t miss the tension in his voice.

“A friend.”

His blonde guest wrinkled her nose.

“Just a friend?”

“The best I ever had,” I replied, my voice breaking as tears spilled down my cheeks.

“Grant me a request, will you, Claudia?” Derek spoke up, his eyes fixed on me.

I couldn’t make out the expression on his face. I wasn’t sure if my affection for Ben had annoyed him. For some reason, my heart went out to him. I felt like I wanted to assure him that Ben being there changed nothing between us, but that was a lie.

It changed everything.

I remembered what I’d told Derek the night before—that he’d begun to feel like home. I could never forget the way he’d looked at me afterward—like I meant the world to him. I was so moved by how this strong and powerful man could look at me that way. It was strange, because at that moment, I’d felt like I had the power and he was the one at my mercy.

As I stood beside Ben, fearing for him, I took another look at the master I’d grown to deeply care for, and began to wonder.

Is it possible for me to break Derek Novak?

I snapped out of my internal monologue when I realized how disgustedly Claudia was looking at me.

“Yes, Your Majesty? What can I do for you?”

Derek made his way to her, his hand snaking along her waist from behind as he pulled her back against his body. She didn’t hide the delight in her face as she eyed me as if she’d somehow won something over me. My gut clenched. I had the strangest reaction to seeing Derek touch another woman. It was similar to the way I’d felt when I’d seen Ben with Tanya, but this was different—more intense, more painful. I hated to admit it, but I was jealous. I wanted to slap Claudia across the face, but since that was not an option, I looked away.

What Derek said next crushed all my resolve to ignore him for the rest of the day.

“As you already know, Claudia, the lovely Sofia has become very precious to me, and she seems to have quite a liking for your slave here. You’ve come to pay me homage, have you not?”

Claudia’s face tensed. “I have.”

“It will please me greatly if you give me the boy. My slave, Gwen, was murdered, as you may have heard. I need a new one.”

“Surely there are others,” Claudia tried to protest. “I know you well enough to know that you don’t have a thing for young men.”

Derek’s grip tightened on her waist as he spoke directly into her ear. “As I said, Sofia has obviously taken a liking to him. I don’t want anyone else, because it’s this one Sofia wants. What pleases her pleases me. Do you deny me this request, Claudia?”

Claudia pulled away from him and straightened to her full height, as if trying to regain an air of dignity. We all knew that to deny Derek his request would be fatal on her part. He was her prince, and he was asking for but one slave. There was no reason for her to refuse. She frowned and shot me a glare before eyeing Ben.

“I rather liked this one, but I have more than I know what to do with.” She approached Ben and caressed his cheek with the back of her hand. Her eyes didn’t leave mine as she stood on her tiptoes to kiss Ben’s lips.

I looked at Ben, and it was clear that he felt toward her the same way I felt toward Lucas. The sick feeling that settled in my stomach wouldn’t go away. I refused to even start imagining what Ben had endured while in The Shade.

Claudia took one last look at Derek.

“I could never deny you anything, dear prince. I shall visit again soon.” She scowled and walked away.

With her gone, I grabbed Ben’s hand and pulled him against my body again. I eyed Derek and mouthed a sincere thank you. He nodded and forced a smile.

While I was ecstatic to see my best friend, what I felt most at that moment was how much I adored Derek for what he did. I held on tightly to Ben, almost in hopes of regaining my attraction to him.

“I hate her,” Ben hissed in my ear. “I hate them all.”

I hugged him tighter.

“Don’t worry, Ben. You’re okay now. Derek will keep us both safe.”

“Don’t be a fool, Sofia. We need to get out of this place before he decides that he’s tired of you and kills us both.”

The idea made me sick to my stomach. What will happen if Derek ever realizes that I’m no one special… and decides he’s had enough of me? I wanted to believe that such a thing couldn’t ever happen, but Ben always had a way of swaying me with his words. I gave Derek a worried glance. It felt as though I’d just lost him.

Chapter 35: Derek

I hated the tension. Since she moved into my bedroom, Sofia and I had naturally developed a familiarity. It was like we just knew how to adjust to each other. Of course, there had been times when I was greatly tempted to take a sip of her blood, but it wasn’t anything a glass of blood from Vivienne couldn’t fix.

The night Ben arrived, however, it was like we’d become strangers again. The room suddenly felt too small for the two of us. She was slipping away from me by the minute.

Finally, she was lying down on her side of the bed while I sat on the edge of mine, fully intending to lose myself in a book. She was the one who eventually broke the silence.

“Thank you, Derek. For what you did.”

I had no desire to talk about the boy. “Lucas approached you earlier. What did he tell you?”

“Nothing,” she responded too quickly. “You know your brother says a lot of meaningless things.”

“From the way you reacted, what he said looked far from meaningless.” I recalled Corrine’s suspicion that Sofia remembered everything about the night she was attacked. “Has he been hurting you, Sofia?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“What do you mean it doesn’t matter?” I gripped the sheets of the bed, wondering why I was asking questions whose answers I wouldn’t even know how to act on. “Has he?”

Sofia sat up on the bed and held my wrist.

“Why are you acting like this? You’ve seen Lucas and I interact countless times.”

“Interact? Is that what you do with Lucas?”

I knew I was being irrational, but the image of Sofia with Ben was burning away all reason.

“Has something been going on between you and my brother, Sofia?”

“Me and Lucas?” She looked angry as she spoke through gritted teeth. “That’s madness, Derek. I would never…”

I moved fast, pushing her down against the bed. I pinned her wrists with one hand over her head and knelt on the bed, straddling her hips.

Her eyes grew wide in question.

“What are you doing?” she asked in a small, broken voice. “Wait! Don’t…”

I grabbed her jaw none too gently. I felt like I was losing her and that it was beyond my control. I wanted to regain some form of control and, unreasonable as it was, I was taking my agitation out on her.

“You’re mine, Sofia. Many things have changed between us, but that hasn’t changed.”

She didn’t respond. Instead, she just looked at me in a way she hadn’t in a long time. She looked at me with fear.

That woke me up from my momentary burst of insanity. I let go of her and got up, feeling like the biggest fool to ever walk the earth. I couldn’t look at her. I couldn’t even bear being in the same room as her. I didn’t deserve her.

I’d been lying when I’d reminded her that the fact that she was mine hadn’t changed. No matter what alpha-male act I might pull off in trying to intimidate her, I knew the truth.

She was no longer mine.

At some point during all those nights I’d spent with her, I’d become hers.

Chapter 36: Sofia

No words could explain how shaken I was. It was so unlike the Derek I’d come to know and I couldn’t understand why he would do something like that. Doubts assailed my mind.

Was Ben right? Is Derek getting tired of me?

I remained motionless on the bed long after he stormed out of the room. I was trembling, unsure of what to make of what just happened. All sense of security I felt whenever I was in that bedroom began to wash away and I found myself terrified.

Yet, after a bout of self-introspection, I realized that though I resented him for treating me the way he did, I also felt worried for Derek. It wasn’t like him to act the way he had. Something was wrong. He thinks there’s something going on between me and Lucas. I wanted to explain to him that couldn’t be further from the truth, but how was I to do that?

I climbed out of bed and pulled on a silk robe over my nightwear. Still plagued by worrisome thoughts, I retreated to the room that contained memories of Derek’s smile, of a dance with music that only played in Derek’s head, of a kiss that I’d wanted so much, but couldn’t allow to happen.

I opened the door to the Sun Room and was surprised to find Ben standing there with a look of pure bliss on his face. After Derek had “acquired” Ben, we’d spent the rest of the day together—up until the point when I’d had to go to Derek’s room to get some sleep. Ben had suggested that I stay the night with him, but, much to his dismay, I’d declined. Should Lucas attack that night, I would only put Ben in danger if I was found with him.

The time spent with Ben felt awkward. The Shade had changed him in ways I knew I wouldn’t be able to understand. Not many words were spoken between us. We just satisfied ourselves with being around each other.

I knew he had his own questions for me, and I had mine for him, but both of us were afraid to hear the answers. I wouldn’t know how to handle it if Ben started telling me something awful about his experience in The Shade. I didn’t even know if I could handle telling him about what Lucas had been putting me through and why I couldn’t tell Derek.

So that joyous expression on his face as he viewed the Sun Room was a precious sight to behold.

“We call it the Sun Room,” I said, surprising him. “I designed the room myself. Do you like it?”

I stepped inside, putting a smile on my face. I couldn’t deny the sense of pride I had upon seeing Ben’s face and how enamored he seemed by the illusion of the sun streaming through the room.

But it reminded me so much of Derek’s reaction when I first brought him to the room that it almost felt like I was cheating on Derek just by being there with Ben.

“You did this?” Ben asked. “Sofia, this is incredible.” He sighed as he approached the mural of the beach on the wall. “What I wouldn’t give to see the sun. This place and its darkness…” He shuddered. “This room is a refuge. What made you think of this?”

I bit my lip as I stared at him.

“Derek told me that he hadn’t seen sunlight in five hundred years. I could swear he missed it, so that’s where I got the idea, and…”

Ben withdrew his hand from the mural as if it had suddenly burnt him. “You did this for him?”

“Well, yeah,” I said. “That, and I also missed the sun.” I didn’t like where the conversation was going.

“How could you do anything for him? For any of their kind?” Ben’s tone was accusing. “You’re his slave, Sofia. How could you live with that?”

What could I possibly say to him? That Derek was different? That Derek wasn’t like the others? All I knew was that over the time I’d been there, Derek had begun to mean a lot to me. Even after what he’d done earlier, and no matter how hurt and confused I was by it, I still had trouble seeing Derek in a negative light. How could I even begin to explain this to Ben? I wrapped my arms around Ben’s waist from behind, hoping to take his thoughts away from the vampires.

“Can we just forget about them for now? I’ve missed you so much.”

“I can’t just forget, Sofia,” Ben spat. “You have no idea what that bitch put me through.”

There was an edge to his voice. Jaded. Broken. Cynical. There was no sorrow left. Just pure hatred. Completely unlike the happy-go-lucky Ben I used to know. He turned around to face me, his eyes blazing.

“I never could have imagined that it would be you—the girl Claudia’s been harping on about, the human who stole the vampire prince’s heart. It crushes me that you were taken captive too, that their kind can ruin you any way they please. And after everything, it almost seems like you’ve fallen in love with him.”

I swallowed hard. Fallen in love? With Derek? I couldn’t lie to myself. I knew I was in danger of falling for him, but whether that had happened already—whether I’d actually fallen for Derek—I still wasn’t sure of. I didn’t need to defend whatever it was I had with Derek to Ben, nor did I want to, so I focused on Ben instead. I knew that there was no escaping where this conversation was going. I geared myself up for the worst.

“What happened to you, Ben? How did you get here? What has Claudia been doing to you?”

There was a long pause before Ben heaved a sigh and began to explain. “You didn’t return to the villa the night of your birthday. I was worried sick. I waited for hours but you didn’t show up, so I started looking for you. That’s when she found me. She took me to her penthouse and I’ve been there since. This was the first time she allowed me out after I tried to escape.”

“You… you tried to escape? What happened?”

He smiled bitterly. “See for yourself.”

He pulled off his white woolen shirt.

I gasped at the sight, tears spilling from my eyes, as I clamped a palm over my mouth. His upper torso was covered in scars. Cut after cut marred his body. I trembled as I ran a finger over one of them.

“How were you able to survive this, Ben?”

“That’s the last round of torture you see there. She used a dagger to cut me, deep enough to scar. The first two rounds, she beat me to a pulp and then made me drink her blood so I could heal, so she could torture me again.”

It took everything I had to keep myself from vomiting.

“These creatures are evil savages, Sofia. All of them. They don’t have a conscience just as much as they don’t have a life. You might think this prince of theirs has a heart in him somewhere, but he doesn’t, Sofia. No matter how he’s taken care of you, he’s still a vampire. And whenever he lays his eyes on you, all he sees is a beautiful young woman he can sink his teeth into.”

And yet he hasn’t. No matter how tempted he was, he never gave in. I looked up at my best friend, wanting to agree with him, but still standing in defense of Derek. It made me feel guilty, because after all Ben had been through, he deserved to have me on his side, but all I could think of was the smile on Derek’s face and the way he’d looked at me when he motioned to kiss me. No matter how much I tried to recall the negative behavior of my captor, I found that I didn’t have it in me to see Derek as a savage… simply because he wasn’t one.

“I can’t blame you for thinking that. Claudia certainly is evil,” was all I could come up with to appease Ben.

“But you think your prince isn’t?”

“Derek has his flaws, but he’s far from being a savage.”

Ben responded by cupping my face with his large hands and planting a kiss on my forehead.

“You’re so wrong, Sofia, and for your sake, I hope we can find a way out of here before his true colors come out.”

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?”

As if Ben wasn’t laying enough of a burden on me, I now had to hear the terrifying sound of Lucas’ voice.

“You’re one naughty girl, Sofia. I hate it enough when I see Derek touch you, but now this?”

Before I could even start formulating a response, Lucas had both Ben and I backed up against a wall by our throats. Lucas’ glare settled on Ben.

“If it isn’t Claudia’s slave… Weren’t you the one serving us during those pleasurable rendezvous I spent with your mistress?”

Ben struggled against Lucas’ grasp. However, he was weaponless and we both knew there wasn’t much he could do to harm Lucas.

“Welcome to The Pavilion, boy,” Lucas grinned. “First lesson you ought to learn is that you never touch what’s mine.”

Ben spat on his face and snarled, “Sofia is neither yours nor your brother’s! She belongs with me.”

Infuriated by Ben’s insolence, Lucas growled and hurled Ben to the other side of the room. Ben’s head hit the wall and he fell to the ground unconscious. I let out a scream and tried to rush toward him, but Lucas’ cold grip held me back.

“I think it’s time I got what I want from you. It’s been long enough. Don’t you agree, my little twig?”

Chapter 37: Derek

What have I done? After the way I behaved, I might as well have just delivered her to that boy on a silver platter.

From the moment I’d left Sofia trembling in my bed, I’d done nothing but chastise myself for my behavior. I couldn’t believe myself. I’d actually accused her of being with Lucas, whom I was certain had been tormenting her over the past weeks, all out of my jealousy over this friend of hers.

I walked through the woods hoping to clear my mind, but not succeeding at all. If anything, I was more confused than ever. My walk only made me paranoid as I started to wonder what scene I might walk into upon my return. I was gearing myself up to stop myself from ripping someone’s head off in case I found Sofia in bed with this friend.

Get a grip, Derek, I kept telling myself. I was being irrational. Sofia said the boy was her best friend. Believe her.

Then I remembered how she’d looked at him—how I was certain she’d never looked at me that way—and my paranoia once again kicked in.

There’s no way that boy is just a friend.

I only returned to The Pavilion after I felt I was ready for the worst possible scenario upon reaching the penthouse, but nothing could have prepared me for what I found.

The first thing I noticed was Sam and Kyle waking up from unconsciousness on the living room floor.

“Sun… Room,” was all Sam managed to say. “Ben’s… there… too.”

My gut clenched. I felt betrayed that Sofia would be with any other person in the Sun Room who wasn’t me. I forced my jealousy aside. Something was terribly wrong and I had to get my head on straight.

When I reached the room, I froze in shock. Ben lay unconscious on the ground and Sofia whimpered as she tried in vain to push my brother away from her.

Lucas had her up against a wall, naked from the waist up. His teeth sank into her neck as his hands freely groped her body. He was quivering as he enjoyed her bare skin and greedily drank her blood.

I lost control and attacked my brother, making a huge crack in the wall as I smashed him into it.

Lucas actually had the gall to laugh. I punched his face with such force, I half expected his neck to crack from the way his head swung to the side.

I was sure that he had gone mad. But I was wrong. He knew exactly what he was doing.

“I can’t let you have her, brother,” he spat at me. “I will lose everything the moment she becomes completely yours.”

I didn’t understand what he was saying. I didn’t want to. I just wanted to end him, end this bitter rivalry we’d had for so many years. I was far more powerful than him and his struggles to get away from me didn’t do him any good. I retrieved the wooden stake I kept on my person all the time.

“Is that the wooden stake? The same one you used all those years as a hunter?” Lucas showed no fear. He knew me well enough to realize how important family was to me, but he grossly underestimated how valuable Sofia had become. After all that time I’d spent weighing who mattered more to me—my brother or Sofia—at that moment, the choice was crystal clear: I was going to drive that stake through his heart to protect the woman I loved.

I tensed at the realization. The woman I loved. That was how I saw Sofia. Now that Lucas had tasted her blood, he would become even more of a threat to her.

I raised the stake and aimed it at my brother’s heart.

The smirk on his face disappeared when he realized I had every intention of killing him. He had gone too far. He cowered in fear when I motioned to stab him. Relief washed over his face when someone stood to his defense.

“Derek, no,” Sofia called.

“You’re not safe with him,” I said through gritted teeth.

“I never was,” she panted.

I could tell from the way she spoke that she was conflicted, most likely debating whether to keep me from driving the stake into Lucas’ heart.

“Then why should he live? He has to die.”

Sofia’s answer reminded me why I adored her so much.

“If you kill your own brother, Derek, you might never be able to forgive me. Or worse than that, you might never be able to forgive yourself.”

She knew me—all sides of me—but she never treated me like a creature of the dark. When she looked at me, she still saw someone capable of light.

I dropped the stake and loosened my hold on my brother. He lost no time in taking advantage of what he most likely perceived as a momentary lapse of sanity and rushed out of the room. He hasn’t changed at all. Lucas was a coward and a bully. He never stood up to those who were more powerful than him, but he found enjoyment in preying on the weak.

That was why I was certain that as long as she was in The Shade, Sofia would never be safe.

Lucas would stalk her and hunt her like he would an animal. He wouldn’t relent until he’d had his fill of her. Unless I killed him.

I flinched when her soft hand brushed my arm. I turned around and forced myself to look at her. She tossed the pieces left of her nightgown over herself, trying to cover up. I ripped off my shirt immediately and pulled it over her head. I once again made a cut on my palm and made her drink my blood. It was at that moment that I realized her friend was already awake, watching us—specifically me—with untrusting eyes.

I ignored him, and waited for Sofia’s wounds to heal, my eyes fixed particularly on Lucas’ bite marks on her neck.

“I’m so sorry, Sofia. I failed you again.”

She looked pale and weak from the attack.

“Sofia, did he…” My voice trailed off. I couldn’t speak the words out loud, or look her in the eye.

She shook her head.

“No. He didn’t,” she assured me.

However, I could tell that he had done everything but. It sickened me that I could be related to such a monster.

“You have to go, Sofia.”

At first, there was shock in her eyes, and then confusion.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll let you leave The Shade.”

I’ll let you leave me was what I wanted to say.

I wanted her to tell me that she’d rather stay, that she trusted me to protect her.

Instead she embraced me and said, “Thank you.”

Chapter 38: Sofia

I wanted to take the girls with me. Derek wouldn’t hear of it. In fact, he wouldn’t even look at me. But he looked at Ben and said, “Protect her.”

Ben just looked at him incredulously, as if to say that he didn’t need to be told to do that. Ben hated Derek and saw no reason to be grateful for what Derek was doing.

I saw it differently. I knew how much Derek was risking by helping us escape. He was compromising the safety of everyone in The Shade. He was giving his kind a reason to question his rule. I feared for him—so much that I found myself debating if I even wanted to leave.

What he told Ben next tore me apart.

“Make sure she gets home safe.”

Home.

I’d told him that he’d begun to feel like home and, at that moment, I knew I was deceiving myself if I was trying to convince myself that by leaving The Shade, I’d be going back home. At that point, I wasn’t sure where home was anymore, but it didn’t change the fact that both my and Ben’s lives were in severe danger here. Mine because of Lucas’ determination to have me, Ben’s because of his connection to me… and Claudia.

So the escape went on.

Derek knew The Shade well. He knew where to go and what to do in order to remain hidden. Considering that Corrine had already told him about my LLI, that too was a risk—I would remember every single detail of my escape. It meant that should I ever return to The Shade, I would be well acquainted with the road to freedom, even in the dark.

With every step I took nearer to the port where Derek had already secured a ride for us to return to the beach from which we had first been stolen, I realized how much I didn’t want to go. Not because I’d found a special spot in my heart for The Shade, but because I didn’t want to be anywhere Derek wasn’t.

I hated that he wouldn’t even look at me. When the port came into sight, I’d had enough. Ben was holding my hand, and Derek was trailing behind us, making sure no one was following. I stopped walking, hoping that Derek would bump into me. He didn’t. As always, he was aware of my every move.

Ben pulled on my hand. His face fell when I wriggled my hand away from his grasp.

“I need to talk to Derek,” was all the explanation I gave him.

Ben didn’t look happy, but he nodded, glaring at Derek before moving forward—a safe distance away from us.

I turned around to face Derek. I wanted him to look at me. But he looked away.

“Don’t be this way, Derek.”

“What way?”

“Distant.”

“Why not? That’s what you’ll be once you leave The Shade.”

It was the first time I realized that once I left, it was goodbye forever. It wasn’t like I could just go online and video-chat with him.

“That’s exactly why I can’t bear this, Derek.” I held back a sob. “We’ve been through too much. I’d like to think that we’ve grown to mean a lot to each other.”

This was a painful understatement. And I hated how I sounded so formal. At that moment, it felt like he meant everything to me and, with all my heart, I wished that he felt the same. I tried hard to hold back the tears as I continued my attempt to speak out loud what was eating me away inside.

“To part this way… barely even talking, barely even looking at each other… I don’t know how to handle it. I can’t bear it.”

I choked before I could say the words that would forever haunt me.

I love you too much to leave everything hanging like this.

My spine tingled when he reached for me, his fingers caressing my cheek and brushing through my hair. Before I could even make sense of what was happening, his lips pressed against mine—hungry, passionate, demanding. His tongue pushed between my lips. Claiming, exploring, tasting. I found myself tensing against his touch, and then easing into it. I wanted it. I was just as hungry as he was, just as passionate. It shook me to realize how much I wanted this, how much I wanted him. Every second that kiss lasted was another second for the truth to sink in.

I’ve already stopped even thinking about a life that doesn’t have Derek Novak in it.

When our lips parted, I found myself gasping for breath, but desperate for more. He held me tight. I sensed his need, his desire for me to stay, when he whispered into my ear:

“You don’t want to leave.”

At that, I broke down into tears. He was right. Whether I liked it or not, home had become wherever Derek Novak was.

Chapter 39: Vivienne

I was jolted from my sleep the moment their lips touched. I grabbed the sheets of my bed as chills ran through my body. I saw glimpses of it in a vision. Derek and his beloved Sofia sharing that kiss… It was the kiss that set our destiny in stone. The game had just begun. My mind’s eye began to fill with flood upon flood of conflicting premonitions of what was to come. All of it confusing. All of it disturbing.

Neither Derek nor Sofia had any clue about what they were up against. Truth be told, I didn’t fully understand either.

Dread of what was to come formed deep within me. I sensed Lucas’ resentment and my father’s conflict over his love for Derek and his love for power. I sensed the growing strength of the hunters. But more than anything, I sensed the intensity of emotion Derek held for Sofia.

My brother had unknowingly chosen his mate. All that was left now was for her to prove herself worthy of such a place.

I’d never felt more unsure of what the future held than I did at that moment. But there was one thing I knew for certain:

Blood would be shed.

Ready for the next part of Derek and Sofia’s story?

A Shade of Vampire 2: A Shade of Blood is available now!

A Shade of Blood is a full-length novel (almost twice as long as this first book).

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