A Castle of Sand

by Bella Forrest

That’s when I accepted that my mother was completely gone. Camilla Claremont wasn’t just insane. She was dead and her body had been replaced by Ingrid Maslen.

  Chapter 51: Sofia

  The silence and solitude was driving me crazy. It’d been more hours than I could count since Ingrid left me. I had no way to track time, nothing to take my mind off of Derek and Ben and what torment they were most likely going through. I couldn’t stop crying. At some point, I just crumpled myself up on the bed, knowing that there was no way I could escape that bedroom, hoping that sleep could provide me with an escape from the tormenting thoughts and emotions coursing through my mind and soul.

  I could still feel the stabbing ache of the bite marks on my neck. My lips felt swollen from the cuts caused by Borys’ sickening kisses. The heaviness in my chest made it difficult to breathe.

  I’d never felt more helpless and distraught than I did at that moment. I lay there for hours, sleep eluding me. My stomach was already grumbling. No one had bothered to bring me food since Ingrid had left. I wondered if it was some sort of punishment.

  When my eyelids began to get heavy and sleepiness began to overtake me, I gladly gave in, hoping that when I woke up, I would find that The Oasis was my nightmare and The Shade was my reality. The Shade had its own horrors, but though firelight flooded the tombs of The Oasis, to me, it would always be darker than the island Derek spent a hundred years establishing and fighting for.

  I had no clue how long I’d been asleep, but disappointment washed over me when I woke up to find that The Oasis was still the reality I was being forced to inhabit. I couldn’t help but sob when I realized that maids were milling around my chamber. A dress that was far too revealing for my taste was laid out on the bed beside me.

  “You’re awake!” an elderly woman exclaimed. “The wedding is in a few hours.”

  The mention of the wedding once again turned on the waterworks. “Please…help me out of here…”

  She sighed and smiled. “There’s no way out of here, beautiful.” She paused as if to give me time to let the words sink in before clapping her hands together. “Now, get up and let’s take you to the shower. You look awful and we can’t have that, because the king wants his bride to be stunning. Right now, you’re an absolute mess. Did you not get any sleep at all?”

  I ignored her question. “What’s in level seven?”

  She gave me a sorry look. “Darkness…things a bride shouldn’t be thinking of on her wedding day.”

  “The man I love, the man I want to marry…he’s in level seven.”

  “Then you best forget him and love the king instead.” She heaved another sigh—now more exasperating and impatient than kind. “Come, come…hurry.”

  I was pulled out of the bed and from that point on it felt like my body wasn’t my own. I went where they led me, did what they told me to do. I sat when they told me to sit and stood when I was instructed to stand. They stripped my clothes off and dressed me. They adorned my hair with pearls. They dabbed makeup on my face. They tried to chat with me and lighten my mood as they went about the process, but they knew that I was an unwilling bride and sometimes, I would catch them giving me sorry looks. They knew that my plight was not one any woman would envy.

  The whole time, it felt like everything was happening to someone else. By the time they were done, the elderly maid pushed me in front of a full-length mirror.

  “I would’ve chosen another dress, but the king picked this himself,” she explained apologetically.

  When I saw my appearance in the mirror, I fought back tears. Derek would’ve been horrified. The neckline was too low, stooping down almost to my navel. The back of the dress also showed a lot of skin. The dress clung to my curves like a glove. I wondered what the dress was intended for—whether it was meant to reveal or conceal. I clenched my fists. I knew the maids had done their best to make me look as decent as possible. They chose to keep my hair down instead of pull it up in order to have my long locks cover at least some skin. Still, I thought I looked more like a whore than a bride. The heart-shaped ruby red necklace adorning my neck only added insult to injury.

  I was about to break down into tears when the door creaked open and Borys stepped in. I didn’t even dare look at him. I didn’t want to see the grin on his face.

  I asked him the one question on my mind. “Where’s Derek? I want to see him.”

  The atmosphere immediately tensed. The maids began to exchange nervous whispers as Borys slowly approached me. My entire body tensed when he stood right beside me. He didn’t seem to mind how rigid I was against his touch, because he took all the liberties he had as both his hands and eyes roamed my anxious form.

  “You still dare mention him to me?” he said in a low voice, his breath cold against my ear, his lips so close they were almost touching me.

  “Where is he? What have you done to him?”

  I could feel his anger. He didn’t like my defiance. He didn’t like that I was holding my head up. He wanted me to whimper and beg. He wanted me to cry. I’d already done that and I was determined to no longer give him this satisfaction.

  “Do you still love Derek Novak, Sofia?”

  This time, I turned my face toward him, looking him straight in the eye. I smiled. “I will always love him.”

  Fire burned in his muddy brown eyes as the muscles in his face tensed. I realized at that point that Borys could’ve been a very handsome man if his features weren’t so marred by his brutality and blatant wickedness. When he grinned, I braced myself for what was to come. A smile coming from Borys Maslen was never a good thing. “Very well then. I will show him to you.”

  He wrapped his arms around me and pulled my body against his as he sped out of the room and along the corridors. We went up several flights of stairs—I could barely keep track of the places we passed. He was going too fast. I was out of breath and slightly dizzy when we stopped in front of a wooden door. He twisted me around so that my back was pressing against his chest, his arms clamped around my waist, keeping me in place. The corner of his lips pressed against my cheek as he said, “When you see him, I’m sure you’ll beg me to kill him. If only to end his misery…”

  My heart broke at his words. I’m so sorry, Derek. This never would’ve happened to you if it weren’t for me. I steeled myself for what I was about to see, but nothing could’ve prepared me for it.

  We entered the dungeon—and all my resolve not to cry was gone at the sight of Derek. He was hanging by his wrists, held by thick metal chains. He was unrecognizable. He was just a mass of blood and flesh hanging from the ceiling.

  Borys chuckled when I began to struggle against his embrace. “Is this what you wanted to see, Sofia?”

  “Sofia?”

  My heart leapt at the sound of Derek’s voice. It was weak and broken, but it was his. He’s alive. My Derek is alive. Still, as I tried to break free from Borys’ grasp, I wondered if it would be better if Derek really did die…if only to escape this.

  Finally, still chuckling, Borys let me go. I hurried toward Derek, tears still streaming down my face. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” I wanted to touch him, but I was afraid it would only add to his pain, so I just looked up at him, hoping that I could do something to ease his pain. “Who did this to you?”

  “I did,” Borys answered, sounding very much proud of himself. “Although I can’t take all the credit. Lucas helped a lot too.”

  Derek forced his swollen, bloodshot eyes open in order to look at me. “I love you,” he mouthed.

  I wanted to respond, but I was too overcome by sobs to form coherent words. The thought that Derek’s own brother would do this to him shattered my heart. I knew that despite everything that had happened between them, Derek truly did hold affection for Lucas. He never would’ve done anything like this to his own brother.

  “So you’ve seen him.” Borys began to approach after closing the door behind him. “Are you satisfied now, Sofia?” He stopped behind me and stared up at Derek with
delight, as if admiring his handiwork. “Is this what you wanted to see?”

  I stepped away when Borys began to run his hand down my shoulder. Borys responded by using one strong arm to grab my waist and pull my back against him, holding me in position so that he could touch me any way he pleased right in front of Derek.

  I kept my eyes on Derek’s, wondering if things would really end this way. I was grasping for any thread of hope. I wanted to be strong for Derek, but I had no idea how to do it. We were both too weak, too broken.

  When a soft knock interrupted Borys’ shameless display, I could hear Derek sigh with relief. “What?!” Borys screamed. A guard entered. He looked terrified.

  “Your highness…” His voice trembled. “The boy…Ben…he escaped with the blonde vampire. They both left The Oasis…they haven’t yet returned.”

  I could feel Borys’ breathing suddenly get heavy. His arms clamped around me so tightly, I thought he wanted to snap me in two. Instead, he pushed me to the ground and marched toward the guard. He grabbed the guard’s neck. “How long have they been gone?”

  The guard stuttered as he replied, “More than fifteen hours, sir…”

  Borys growled and ripped his heart out. The guard’s body dropped to the ground and Borys sped out of the dungeon, shutting the door behind him and locking it from the outside.

  My jaw dropped open. What just happened? He’s leaving just like that? Did Borys really just lose it? I snapped to attention. Who cares? Do something. I rushed toward Derek, doing the only thing I could think of. I offered him my wrist.

  Upon seeing it, he gave me a weak smile. All he said in response was: “No.”

  Chapter 52: Derek

  “I’m not going to drink your blood, Sofia.” I shook my head—or at least tried to. I wondered if she could even understand what I had just said. To me, it all just sounded like a raspy mumble of words. Every part of my body was in agony, but it was nothing compared to what I felt inside, knowing that if I didn’t survive, it would be the end of both of us.

  Suddenly, the ground began to shake and for a moment, Sofia stood in panic looking around the room as she tried to steady herself. She ducked her head and coughed as dust and small rocks began to fall from the ceiling. However, a few moments later, the earthquake stopped and the dust settled.

  She looked up at me. “Derek, please…” She shoved her wrist right against my lips. “We don’t have any time…we both know you have to…”

  “If I drink your blood, Sofia, I’d have to turn you into one of us for me to stop craving you…”

  She paused, but within a split-second, she immediately nodded. “Do what you have to…Derek, I can’t lose you…”

  When I turned my head away from her wrist, she quickly pulled my head back and kissed me, crushing her lips against mine. I could only groan at the gesture, because even the gentlest of kisses was painful. I was honestly relieved when she pulled her lips away from mine, but I found myself gulping when she bit into her lower lip, easily drawing blood.

  My blood boiled at the thought of why she was so easily able to cut her lip. I noticed that they were slightly swollen. He must’ve already drawn blood from her lips. The thought of what Borys had been putting her through over the past twenty-four hours made me sick. Not once did Sofia leave my mind through all the torture Lucas and Borys put me through.

  So pre-occupied was I over the anger I felt at how Borys treated Sofia that I didn’t realize why Sofia was drawing her own blood until she once again kissed me, giving me the slightest taste of her blood through the cut on her lips.

  “Sofia…” I gasped, pulling my lips away from her.

  “I won’t lose you,” she said determinedly. She rose to her feet and took a dagger from the guard’s corpse. She then cut her wrist open and steadied my head with one hand before letting her own blood drip over my mouth. I tried to turn away, but found myself unable to.

  Having already tasted her blood, I lost the battle I was trying to fight. I bit into her already open wrist and began to drink deep. The moment her blood entered my system, it was pure ecstasy. I could immediately feel my entire body coming back to life, the agony easing into a dull ache and finally into what felt like complete restoration. It was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. Her blood wasn’t only the sweetest I’d ever tasted…it also seemed to have healing qualities the likes of which I’d never thought possible. I could feel my strength returning and the wounds on my body healing, but I knew that I had to keep my senses intact. I couldn’t lose myself in the bliss the taste of her blood was giving me. I knew I had to be aware of when I had to stop. Her body could only give me a certain amount of blood after all. I had to be careful not to drain her.

  When I pulled my mouth away from her, she looked deathly pale. I swallowed hard, panic overtaking me. “Sofia, are you alright? Did I…”

  She nodded weakly. “I’m alright. Don’t worry about me.” She looked far from alright, however, and I knew it.

  Adrenaline rushed through my entire body, giving me the strength I needed to pull away from my restraints. Sofia looked with shock as the chains broke. She knew I was strong, but she’d never actually seen me in full combat. She’d never seen me do anything beyond ripping out a heart or two. I looked beyond her surprise, however, and proceeded to check on her. Have I gone too far?

  She gripped my arm, which was healing pretty quickly, and looked me in the eye. “I told you, I’m okay, Derek. Get me out of here.”

  I knew that we had to take advantage of Borys’ absent-minded stupidity. I rose to my feet and checked the guard for anything I could use. He didn’t have much on him, except the clothes on his back. Considering how I was stripped down to my underwear before Borys and Lucas had their way with me, I needed the clothes. I pulled his trousers off and to my relief, they were roughly my size. I put them on and looked at his shirt. I wrinkled my nose at the blood that stained it and decided that it was better off left on the guard. At this point, Sofia was sitting on the ground, her back leaned against the wall, still looking pale and slightly nauseous.

  I frowned at the outfit she was wearing.

  When Borys brought her in and I first laid eyes on her, the first thing I noticed was how beautiful her face looked. After that, I noticed the pendant on her neck and remembered my nightmare. I quickly tore my eyes away from the necklace, refusing to accept that she could be gone forever. That’s when I noticed the dress. It had Borys written all over it. It was very similar to the outfit I found Vivienne in when I took her away from Borys. I hated the humiliation both Sofia and my sister had gone through in Borys’ hands.

  Sofia noticed that I was staring at her dress in disdain and wrapped her arms around herself to cover her cleavage. “I had no choice.” I hated that he put her in a position like this—where she felt she had to explain to me why she was wearing a dress so revealing. I found myself wishing that I had a shirt to pull off my body and hand over to her.

  She shifted her focus to my bare torso. “How could you have healed so fast? When you were whipped at The Shade, it took you…”

  “It’s a mystery to me. Maybe there really is something about your blood.” The fact that I’d just tasted her blood hit me once again and I had to change the subject before I could mull over the consequences that came with that.

  “Can you stand?” I asked her.

  She answered my question with a nod before reaching a hand out toward me so that I could help. I pulled her to a standing position, checking if she really was strong enough to support herself. When I was sure that she was steady, I gently pecked her on the lips before assuring her, “We’ll get you something to cover up with as soon as we can. Right now, we have to get out of here.”

  “Do I look that awful?” she asked.

  “No, Sofia. It’s the exact opposite. You look absolutely enticing. Any vampire who lays eyes on you in that outfit is bound to want you.” I then heaved a sigh in an attempt to divert my thoughts. “How on earth do we get pa
st all seven levels?”

  “Maybe Ben got us some help…” she said hopefully, looking at the dust on the floor caused by the small quake we had just experienced.

  I swallowed hard. If he did, he most likely called the hunters. That won’t go well for me. I shifted my focus to the door. I walked toward it and used my whole weight to push it open. I broke through it more easily than I expected. I then walked out to check the hall for any guards. I frowned when I realized that it was empty. Something’s not right.

  We went through the corridors without encountering a single guard. We finally reached the center of level seven where a control room was located. Surveillance monitors showed what was going on in other levels. Ben had indeed called the hunters. The monitors showed that The Oasis—specifically levels one to four were under full-blown attack. The sun was shining right through level one, vampires burning at the glare. It was clear what the hunters did in order to get in. They simply blew the top level of The Oasis away. I wondered if it was safer for us to just stay at level seven and wait for all the killing to be over, but Sofia stepped up and brushed her fingers over one of the monitors, her eyes wide with surprise.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  She just stared at the monitor for a couple of seconds before responding. “It’s my father.” Her eyes moistened. She looked at me even as I looked at the image she was referring to. She then stated her next words more to herself than to me. “My father’s a hunter.”

  Chapter 53: Sofia

  The moment the circular glass elevator stopped at level four, I saw my father rising up to his feet as he pulled a wooden stake from a vampire’s chest. At the sight of me, his eyes widened.

  More questions than I could make sense of flashed through my mind at the sight of him. My mother was a vampire and my father was a hunter. It felt like my entire life had been a lie. However, I knew that I wasn’t about to get any answers, because this was no time for teary-eyed reunions. War was breaking out all around us.