I was exhausted. I could hardly even remember the last time I had slept. And so was Sofia. Even though she had returned to The Shade before the rest of us to help Corrine with the babies, she had obviously not been able to get a wink of sleep either.
With so much ahead of us, now still wasn’t the time for sleep. But we could take a little break to recharge ourselves before our next marathon began.
After shedding our clothes, Sofia and I took a shower together to unwind. We stood beneath the soothing hot water beating down on us, each lost in thought.
Although I ought to be relaxing my mind, I couldn’t help but contemplate our next move. We had discovered the antidote and it had been proven to work. I had ensured that Xavier recorded the entire process so that we had solid evidence if and when the time was required.
Not only did we need to expose the IBSI to the world in such a way that nobody could doubt their disqualification to remain in any position of leadership—and cast them out—we also needed to find a way to spread this antidote en masse. I had no idea how we would do that. We had a huge number of the orange-leaved trees—a massive cargo ship of them—but we only had five vampire-Hawks. Plus, there were three other plant-based ingredients we needed to source, which were apparently found in Aviary. What if the IBSI had gassed those, just as they had the trees?
Sofia nuzzled her head against my chest, coming out of her own stillness. She stood on her tiptoes and pulled me down for a kiss.
I breathed in deeply and closed my eyes, allowing myself to get lost in her. My hands trailed through her damp hair as I pulled her closer to me.
Sofia knew how to distract me.
“What happened to the infants, by the way?” I asked, as our lips parted. “The ogre babies and those other… weird things.”
“Shayla took them in,” Sofia replied. “She, along with a few jinn, are looking after them in one of the hospital wards.”
“Do you have any idea what those grayish babies are?”
“I’m not sure,” she replied. “Maybe the jinn have some idea. I’ve been so focused on Grace I haven’t been down to see them since we left them with Shayla.”
“Hm.” We would have to discuss those babies at some point and figure out what we were going to do with them. At least in regards to the ogres, perhaps Brett and Bella would decide to adopt them, even though they were still not officially a couple.
Sofia turned off the taps. Taking my hand, she led me out of the shower. We dried ourselves before slipping into our nightclothes, then headed to our bedroom.
As we slid between the sheets, I gathered Sofia to me, her head resting against my chest. I inhaled the scent of her hair and listened as her breathing deepened until she fell asleep. The steady heave and sigh of her chest slowly coaxed me into a comfortable semi-slumber.
Today, we had reached an undeniable milestone. There would still be hard work ahead of us, no doubt… but something told me that the next chapter of our journey would be far more relishable.
There was little I enjoyed more than watching pride fall.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Dearest Shaddict,
I have two exciting new releases for you to mark in your calendar!
1st Announcement:
My non-Shade (and longest ever) novel
I can finally announce a secret novel I’ve been working on for months! (Check out the amazing cinematic trailer for it on Youtube by clicking here.)
The title is The Gender Game, and it releases September 24, 2016.
If you have enjoyed the Shade books, here are 3 REASONS why you will love this book as well:
1) The Gender Game has everything you've loved about the Shade: the mystery, the unexpected twists and turns, the intense romance... you will experience my signature writing style on every page.
2) It's the longest book I've ever written.
3) I can honestly say I believe this is also the best book I've ever written. I've never had a storyline possess me like this one has -- the characters won't leave my head even when I sleep -- and I've never been as excited to share a book with you.
This story is really something special and I hope you will give it a chance. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised :)
If you pre-order now, you'll lock in the lower launch price (price is planned to rise for the ebook after release):
Tap here to pre-order your copy now!
Here’s what early readers are saying:
"Bella takes this genre to a new level. Imagine the intrigue of Divergent, the suspense of The Maze Runner and the heart-pounding excitement of The Hunger Games. That is the magic Bella is working with her new novel The Gender Game."
"The chemistry between the characters is INTENSE. Forbidden romance at its best!"
"You can never predict where Bella Forrest will take a story!"
"Intrigue, danger and mystery at every corner."
And here’s a preview of the spectacular cover:
Tap here to pre-order your copy now!
2nd Announcement:
Ready for the FINAL book of “Season 4” of the Novak clan’s story?
The next book, A Shade of Vampire 32: A Day of Glory is the GRAND FINALE of what has been “Season 4” of the A Shade of Vampire series.
A Day of Glory releases August 26th, 2016.
Pre-order your copy now and have it delivered automatically on release day:
If you’re in the USA: Tap here
UK: Tap here
Any other country: Tap here
Here’s a preview of the awesome cover (you may need to turn to the next page for it to be visible):
Thank you for reading.
I will see you again very soon!
Love,
Bella xxx
P.S. Join my VIP email list and I’ll send you a personal reminder as soon as I have a new book out. Visit here to sign up: www.forrestbooks.com
(You’ll also be the first to receive news about movies/TV show as well as other exciting projects that may be coming up!)
P.P.S. Follow The Shade on Instagram and check out some of the beautiful graphics: @ashadeofvampire
You can also come say hi on Facebook: www.facebook.com/AShadeOfVampire
And Twitter: @ashadeofvampire
Read More by Bella Forrest!
THE GENDER GAME
The Gender Game
A SHADE OF VAMPIRE SERIES
Series 1: Derek & Sofia’s story
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)
Series 2: Rose & Caleb’s story
A Shade of Novak (Book 8)
A Bond of Blood (Book 9)
A Spell of Time (Book 10)
A Chase of Prey (Book 11)
A Shade of Doubt (Book 12)
A Turn of Tides (Book 13)
A Dawn of Strength (Book 14)
A Fall of Secrets (Book 15)
An End of Night (Book 16)
Series 3: Ben & River’s story
A Wind of Change (Book 17)
A Trail of Echoes (Book 18)
A Soldier of Shadows (Book 19)
A Hero of Realms (Book 20)
A Vial of Life (Book 21)
A Fork of Paths (Book 22)
A Flight of Souls (Book 23)
A Bridge of Stars (Book 24)
Series 4: A Clan of Novaks
A Clan of Novaks (Book 25)
A World of New (Book 26)
A Web of Lies (Book 27)
A Touch of Truth (Book 28)
An Hour of Need (Book 29)
A Game of Risk (Book 30)
A Twist of Fates (Book 31)
A Day of Glory (Book 32)
A SHADE OF DRAGON TRILOGY
A Shade of Dragon 1
A Shade of Dragon 2
A
Shade of Dragon 3
A SHADE OF KIEV TRILOGY
A Shade of Kiev 1
A Shade of Kiev 2
A Shade of Kiev 3
BEAUTIFUL MONSTER DUOLOGY
Beautiful Monster 1
Beautiful Monster 2
For an updated list of Bella’s books, please visit her website: www.bellaforrest.net
Join Bella’s VIP email list and she’ll personally send you an email reminder as soon as her next book is out! Tap here to sign up: www.forrestbooks.com
A Shade of Vampire 31: A Twist of Fates Page 18