“Your sister really loves you…” There was bitterness to the way I said the words, jealous that he had a family that worshiped the ground he walked on while I had a family that had abandoned me and left me to another family’s care.
He sat in front of the black grand piano and tapped on the space next to him. “Sit.”
I noted how he never said please to me. With him, there were never requests, just commands. I rolled my eyes, not used to being told what to do. The Hudsons never really paid much attention to what I did or didn’t do as long as I didn’t get myself or their kids into trouble. Ben wasn’t very authoritative when it came to me either. It was something about Derek I thought I’d never get used to, but still, I found myself sitting next to him as he played an enthralling tune that simply took my breath away.
In the middle of his performance, it dawned on me that it was exactly the effect Derek Novak had on me: he always managed – in one way or another – to take my breath away.
Chapter 16: Derek
She looked so peaceful, so serene, so innocent as I carried her to her bedroom and laid her on her bed. No other woman – and believe me when I say that I’d been with many – had the same effect that Sofia Claremont had on me. She was fragile and vulnerable, and yet strong and resilient at the same time. She’d only recently entered my life, yet it felt like I’d known her for ages.
It was strange the way I felt about how she listened to me and tried to ease my mind after my tempestuous outburst. I was grateful, but at the same time, I was mad at her. Inside the music room, she listened to me give in to my passion for music. She listened until exhaustion and sleep stole her attention away from me. Lying on the cushioned wooden bench inside the music room, she was a feast to behold, with her dress hiking up those long, milky white legs of hers, her locks of red hair cascading down the edge of the bench and her pink lips slightly parting as she breathed. My stomach clenched just looking at her, wondering what she was thinking that she would allow herself to be so vulnerable around a creature like me – one who could lose control at any moment and completely ruin her.
But somehow, deep inside, I knew… I knew that I could never harm her that way, simply because I would never be able to forgive myself for it. I may not have enough self-control to keep myself from feeding on others, but with Sofia, I couldn’t afford to lose control. She had become my one remaining link to humanity and it was clear to me that her ruin would be my ruin.
Thus, I carefully picked her up in my arms, fully aware of how much of the skin on her neck and shoulders were exposed to me and how much I wanted to have a taste of her. However, it was easier for me to hold myself back. She had managed to make herself too precious for me to even think of destroying.
I left her on the round bed covered with pink linens and white furs. There was a smile on my face as I walked out of her room. With Sofia, it felt like I’d found my compass. I knew that 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 figured out how to view the “movies” she introduced to me. I was amazed by the contraptions humanity managed to create over the years. I never would’ve dreamed them possible in my day.
I mostly spent the rest of the time viewing one movie after another, moved by the stories and lives portrayed. I had to remind myself several times what Sofia said – it wasn’t real, just actors playing a part – like that of our time’s theaters.
I was in quite a good mood when morning came and was eager to check on Sofia. Thus, when I knocked on her door, I wasn’t expecting to be met with silence. I knocked again. Nothing. My heart sank, certain that despite my warning, she once again attempted to escape. I swung the door open and looked around the room. The smell of blood immediately invaded my senses and I was stunned to find that my first instinct wasn’t hunger but instead, an overwhelming urge to see to it that Sofia was okay.
An emotion I wasn’t quite accustomed to gripped at me when I saw her. It was a strange mixture of alarm, concern and protectiveness. She was sitting in one corner of the room, trembling as she held her legs tightly against her chest. Her green eyes betrayed complete and utter terror.
I knew something was horribly wrong, but I couldn’t even begin to imagine what could’ve happened to cause such a reaction from her.
“Sofia?” I asked, concerned.
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 how comfortable and secure she was with me the night before when she voluntarily snuggled against me at the living room couch and while I was playing the grand piano.
A sick feeling formed at the pit of my stomach as one possibility after another came to mind. I couldn’t understand what was causing her to be this way.
“What happened, Sofia?!” I urged.
Her lips were trembling so profusely, I was certain that I wouldn’t understand a thing that would come out of her mouth even if she chose to answer my question. That’s when I noticed something she was clutching with her shaking, right fist. I didn’t want to have to, but no matter how she flinched, I pried her hands open, desperate to know what was going on. It was a lock of blonde hair. My brows furrowed. Right about then, one of the guards came through the open door.
“Sir?” he spoke up.
“What?” I asked, not bothering to look at him.
“One of the girls – Gwen. She’s missing.”
My jaw tightened and my gut clenched as I realized what could’ve happened. Instinctively, I made my way toward Sofia’s bathroom, noticing how it was already open. I pushed the door to check inside. Rage I hadn’t felt in a very long time began to consume me at what I saw. In a bloody pool of water, Gwen’s lifeless body laid in the bath tub. On her wrists were bite marks. Someone bled her dry.
It was a deliberate affront to me and a blatant threat toward Sofia. The guard, who was right behind me, audibly gasped at the sight.
“You were supposed to be keeping watch of the girls. How did this happen?” I asked, desperately reeling in my temper.
“Sir, I… I don’t know… I…”
I moved fast and had him pinned to the wall, angered by his failure of responsibility. I looked into his eyes and saw an air of dignity there. Unlike the guard, Husky, I’d killed not long ago, 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. Get all the resources necessary to find out who could’ve insulted me this way.”
I walked toward Sofia and, ignoring her struggles to push me away, I picked her up in my arms and carried her out of the room. I didn’t know where to take her but I was damned certain that I couldn’t just leave her there. Once she realized that I wasn’t about to let her go, she eased into my arms and buried her face against my chest before letting go of the emotions she had pent up inside. Tears began to mar her lovely face and I wanted nothing more than to kill the person that put her through this.
However, there was a truth I kept on denying to myself: there was only one person in the Blood Shade who would dare to stand up to me by pulling a stunt like this. Lucas.
Chapter 17: Sofia
Everything happened in a blur. I was aware of it all, and yet, I wasn’t. It was almost like everything was happening to another person, and yet it was me. I felt Derek’s strong arms beneath me, carrying 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 on Derek’s face, the intoxicating scent of his natural musk filling my nostrils as I snuggled against him. I was conscious of it all, and yet at the same time, I was stuck in a memory, still reliving every sickening sensation it induced.
I was lured to sleep by an enchanting melody and awakened from it by a horrific nightmare.
“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 hiked up my waist and slipped beneath my back. Blinding pain unlike anything I’d ever experienced before assaulted me when his claws came out, digging against the skin on my back. My screams were muffled by his palm over my mouth when he scratched through my flesh with his nails. My back was on fire with searing agony as tears began to stream down my face.
His lips pressed against my neck, my jaw, my cheek, each blood-curdling word coming out of his lips dripping with spite and the intent to make me feel that he had power over me.
“But don’t worry, my fragile little twig. I’ve had my fill for the night. I just wanted to warn you about what’s ahead of you, 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 stern warning.”
He used his free hand to retrieve something from his jacket’s pocket. It was a lock of blonde hair. My eyes grew wide with horror imagining what the object implied. He began tracing the ends of the strands of hair over my jaw line.
“I have a gift waiting for you at the bathroom. Before you scream for help, I suggest you check it out… unless of course you want more of my gifts waiting for you.”
With that, he left, leaving the lock of hair behind. Trembling, I grabbed the item and got off the bed. I slowly walked toward the bathroom, dreading to find out what gift he could possibly think of giving me. There were no words to describe what I felt when I opened the bathroom door and found Gwen’s lifeless body there. The sensations and emotions that rushed through me at that moment were more than I could handle. My throat felt so dry, I couldn’t even scream. I just retreated to a corner, terrified, realizing that no matter how beautiful the Blood 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 18: Derek
“She’s wounded,” was the first thing Corrine said when I barged inside the doors of the Sanctuary, Sofia still in my arms.
I wondered what she was talking about as I followed Corrine 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 were. Her blood. My craving for her should’ve consumed me – it was in my nature to want to taste her – but my desire to make things right with her overpowered every other lustful 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 attempts to stop me when I began ripping the back of her dress open. The sight of her back was revolting to look at. Vampire claws ran the length of her back with deep cuts. I wondered to myself how someone as fragile as her could sustain such a wound without complaining about the pain.
“Who did this to you, Sofia? Who killed Gwen?!”
She didn’t respond. She just buried her face in the pillow, sobbing frantically. I drew the dagger out of my sleeve and without a moment’s hesitation made a deep, long cut over my palm. I grabbed Sofia’s arm and with my agitation and the sense of urgency I felt, I yanked her to an upright, sitting position. She gasped in pain at the sudden motion.
“Derek…” Vivienne spoke from behind me. “She’s already in enough pain.”
I wasn’t even aware that my sister had followed us all the way there.
“There’s no time. 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 while still back in her bedroom that she was hurt. 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 simply relented. Perhaps she just wanted the pain to stop and knew well enough that my blood in her system would exceedingly speed up the healing process. I didn’t care. As long as I felt her 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 under my watch that I wanted her to keep drinking as if my blood could fix everything for her. The gash on my palm closed however, and I watched her wipe the blood from her face with her arm. I wanted to see the light in her eyes flicker back on, any indication that the fire within her hadn’t died out, but the blank stare of her green eyes told me otherwise as she listlessly laid her head back on the pillow.
“What’s going on? What did you do to her?” Corrine eyed me suspiciously, making it rather clear that she didn’t trust me the way her ancestor, Cora, did.
“I didn’t do anything to her,” I replied indignantly, saying the words through gritted teeth. “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 suspicious perusal of me. “And you didn’t do this?”
I glared at her, trying to maintain my patience. “Did you not hear me the first time, witch?”
“Can you blame me for thinking that you had something to do with this? You took one look at her when you woke up and threw her up a pillar, more than 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 a brow. “You creatures sicken me.”
She wrinkled her nose and looked at Vivienne and me as if we were the most despicable things she’d ever laid eyes on.
I wasn’t so sure she was wrong. That morning wasn’t exactly our kind’s most shining moment, but the witch’s hypocrisy was getting to my nerves.
“If you hate us so much, why do you serve us? Why help protect us?”
“Your kind took me captive much like you did this girl. I had no choice in the matter.”
My brow rose at this news. “Is this true, Vivienne?”
“We needed a witch to keep the spell going…” my sister tried to explain.
I was perhaps losing half my mind because I looked at Corrine and without a hint of a joke on my face, I said, “You’re free to go anytime 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 the shocked expression on Corrine’s face. “You’re no longer a prisoner of the Blood 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. Afterwards, a small sideward smile formed on her face.
“I see now what Cora saw in you.”
&n
bsp; Vivienne stepped forward, looking absolutely confused. “Corrine… you mean you’re not leaving? You’ve been harping 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 down to every descendant she’d had. Do you really think that you can hold me captive with four walls or a cage?” Corrine then gave Sofia a glance. She heaved a sigh. “Now let’s get back to the matter at hand. If I’m to find out what really 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,” Corrine smirked. “Your presence alone is a threat to her. Now, go on… leave.”
I cast a lingering gaze at Sofia, feeling like I was being ripped apart on the inside. My fists clenched as I gave the arrogant young witch a heartfelt plea. “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 me 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 on our faces. I didn’t budge from my spot, determined to stay there and wait until Sofia was okay.
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 here until I know Sofia is okay.” I announced.
My sister knew me well enough to know that once I put my mind to something, I could be as stubborn as a mule about it. She nodded, knowing that nothing she could say would convince me to leave that place.
“If you need me, I’ll be at the Pavilion seeing to the investigations. We’ll find out who did this, Derek.”
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