“They probably have a tracker on you.”
“Okay…how do I get rid of the tracker?”
“For one thing, do you have anything on you that came from the hunters’ headquarters?”
“I have credit cards, wallets, drivers’ licenses, an SUV…”
I could practically see Natalie roll her eyes. “Get rid of all of those. You don’t know which one of those is bugged, so you might as well just get rid of everything. I’m going to give you an address. That’s my safe house. Don’t bring anything that the hunters have been in contact with. Did you get all of that?”
I nodded before remembering that she couldn’t actually see me. “Yes. Thank you.”
“Get here safe, Derek. I’m worried about you.”
“I will. Thanks.” I heaved a deep sigh before looking at the SUV. I said goodbye to it, inwardly groaning at all the running I was about to do.
Natalie plopped on the empty space on the couch beside me as she handed me another glass of blood. “I’m glad you made it. You sure the hunters aren’t still on your back?”
“I completely lost them about a day ago. Had to take several detours though…”
“What’s going on, Derek? Where were you? The people at The Shade have been going mad when they heard news of the fall of The Oasis. Rumors are that you’re now siding with the hunters.”
I almost choked on my drink. “Siding with the hunters? Did you not hear me when I said that they’ve been hunting me down for days?”
“Well, the rumor is that they caught you and that you, Ingrid, Claudia and Sofia were taken to hunter territory. We all thought you were a goner, and yet, here you are. How could you have possibly escaped the hunters? Hunter territory is to vampires as The Shade is to humans. Once you get in, you can’t get out.”
I didn’t like where the conversation was going. I quickly finished the drink and laid the glass on top of the coffee table. “I can’t believe that anyone would think that I would work with the hunters.”
“Well, you were once one of the most feared hunters alive and you have to admit that you coming out of hunter territory unscathed is more than just a bit suspicious.”
“Natalie, you believe me when I say that the only reason they kept me alive and let me out of there was because of Sofia, right?”
“I’m a rogue, Derek. What does it matter what I believe? My job is to remain a diplomat and bring messages across covens. Since when does my opinion count?”
“It counts to me.”
“Of course I believe you, but come on… It’s not like the other covens will buy that story. For crying out loud, Derek, do you really expect them to believe that you just walked out of hunter territory thanks to true love?”
“I expect them to believe that there is an exception to every rule. You said it yourself, Natalie… Hunter territory is to vampires as The Shade is to humans. Sofia and Ben were the exceptions. They got out of The Shade, did they not? Isn’t it high time that a vampire got out of hunter territory unscathed?”
“Sure.” Natalie shrugged. “I know you well enough to buy that, but just to play devil’s advocate here, I have to remind you that you are Derek Novak and you are in love with Sofia Claremont, who is the daughter of the notorious Ingrid Maslen. Not only that, but she’s also the daughter of Aiden Claremont, or as we know him in our world, the infamous hunter, Reuben.”
“What are you trying to tell me, Natalie?” I asked, growing weary of the conversation.
“Gregor and Borys are alive and no one knows where they are. Other covens are beginning to suspect the Novaks’ loyalties, because of the fact that you appeared at The Oasis on the exact same day the hunters attacked. Some don’t think that’s a coincidence.”
“What do you expect me to do about that?” I could practically feel the darkness coming and all I could think about was how much I wanted to hold Sofia in my arms. I inwardly groaned because just the thought of her made my heart pound and crave for her blood. It was this blood thirst that reminded me why it was necessary for me to leave her.
Natalie must’ve sensed my tension, because uncharacteristically of her, she brushed a hand over my shoulder. “All I’m saying, Novak, is that The Shade won’t be safe for long. I think you should expect that the coven leaders will eventually attack the island.”
At this statement, I could only scoff in response. “Tell me something I don’t already know.”
At that moment, I could almost envision the future and all the bloodshed ahead. I wanted to laugh at the prophecy once spoken about me: The younger will rule above father and brother and his reign alone can provide his kind true sanctuary.
Considering what was up ahead, the prophecy sounded to me like one big cosmic joke. How could all this darkness be true sanctuary?
Chapter 4: Aiden
I stared at the lifeless corpse of the hunter whose life Derek Novak claimed. The hunter had a wooden stake grotesquely buried into his skull. I wondered to myself if I ought to tell Sofia about what had happened. Perhaps I should explain to her how the love of her life, or so she claimed, had fought against the hunters, killed one of them, took one of them hostage before taking their belongings and leaving them in the middle of nowhere.
We’d been following his tracks ever since. I gave strict instructions that Derek Novak was to be kept under surveillance until he returned to The Shade. I was desperate to know the location of the island and I wanted Derek’s every movement tracked, but now, they were giving me news that they’d lost him.
Incompetent fools! Of course, I kept my calm in front of my men. I learned long ago that my cool silence scared them far more than an angry outburst.
“Surely your daughter knows where the island is,” Ivan, the hunter whom Derek took hostage, suggested. “Can’t we pry information out of her?”
“I believe she’s been brainwashed by the vampires. She is far too in love with Derek Novak to ever give the location of the island.”
“Then maybe we can reverse the effects of the brainwashing…” Ivan pressed. “Surely there’s a way…”
“I’m not going to subject my daughter to any more damage. Know your place and stay in it. Do not discuss Sofia anymore.”
He backed down just as I had expected, forcing me to turn my thoughts toward my daughter and how she seemed to hate the very sight of me. Since our confrontation, I placed her under lock and key. She wasn’t allowed to go anywhere nor do anything without my express approval.
I kept her under a routine of training at the atrium as a new recruit, being taught how to defend herself against vampires and how to fight against them. I kept an eye on her, expecting her to keep to herself, to distance herself from the other recruits and the more trained hunters—young men and women devoted to the eradication of her beloved vampires. Thus, I was surprised to find how easy it was for her to strike a friendship with everyone she came across with. It didn’t take long for her to build a rapport with her trainers and the other recruits.
I realized what was so attractive about my daughter. She was a ray of sunshine, always accommodating and with a ready smile to those who approached her. She was beautiful and she was definitely catching the eye of several young men.
Pathetic saps. As if they could ever be deserving of my daughter… I was surprised by my own sense of overprotectiveness for her.
I found it ironic that I was thinking of her in that way, considering how the only person she seemed to loathe and avoid was me. In fact, when I first visited her at the atrium, she wouldn’t even look at me. She treated me like I was invisible.
All I could do was watch her interact with the other people around her while the head director of training, Julian, updated me about her progress.
“She’s learning fast,” he said. “She says that Derek Novak already gave her some basic training on how to defend herself against vampires before.”
“Why on earth would he do that?”
“She told me that he wanted her safe. I asked her w
hy she never used it against the vampires who attacked her and she just shrugged and told me that they were all stronger than she was, and that she’s a pacifist at heart and kept forgetting to bring her wooden stake with her.” There was no mistaking the hint of amusement in Julian’s voice. Clearly, he was fond of my daughter. “Were you aware that she’s been stabbed with one before?”
I found it hard to process this information. “Stabbed? By a wooden stake?”
Julian nodded. “The stake was meant for Derek Novak. She pushed him away and was stabbed instead. He fed her his blood to heal her.”
I found the thought that she would risk her life on his behalf sickening—the fact that she’d been drinking his blood was even worse. I hated even thinking about the things she’d been through during the period he had kept her captive at The Shade.
“What do you plan to do about that?” Julian asked with hesitation.
“About what?”
“The fact that your daughter is in love with a vampire—and not just any ordinary vampire… She’s in love with Derek Novak.”
“I don’t know.” I groaned. This reality was haunting me. If I were to be honest with myself, I highly doubted that she was brainwashed. She wasn’t exhibiting any signs of having been brainwashed. She didn’t have the twitches, the paranoia, the confusion… She never spaced out into blank gazes. It was hard for me to accept, but it seemed her love for Derek Novak was genuine. It seems that I would have to brainwash her in order to get rid of her love for that vampire. The idea turned my stomach, and I wondered if I could really do that to my own daughter.
“She could make a great hunter.”
“Trust me when I say that she is never going to be one of us.” I’m afraid she loves him too much. I stood to my full height, squaring my shoulders as I let my gaze linger over Sofia, overcome by the force of emotions that coursed through me whenever I looked at her. I made a mistake abandoning her, but how could I have kept her with me? She reminds me so much of how beautiful and vibrant Camilla was.
“Are you alright, Reuben?”
“Of course.” I nodded. “Give me a regular report on her progress. Tell her that from now on, she is to keep a stake on her person at all times. Also, make sure that she learns how to use the guns. I won’t have her defenseless against those creatures again.”
After the conversation with Julian, I found myself aimlessly wandering the corridors of the headquarters, the inescapable ache caused by all the time I had lost with Sofia at the forefront of my thoughts. Somehow, my meandering brought me to the last place I thought I wanted to be: Ingrid’s cell.
I came just in time to see her finishing up a packet of animal blood. She grinned when she saw me enter the room.
“Wow. Aiden Claremont finally pays me a visit.” She tilted her head to the side, her beautiful eyes set on me, her long auburn hair falling to one side. “What did I do to deserve such an honor?”
“What happened at The Oasis? Why was Sofia there?” I pulled up a chair and sat down, gearing myself up for a conversation I wasn’t even sure I wanted to have.
“Why don’t you ask your little princess?” she pouted.
“She refuses to talk about it.” I drew a breath and revealed the thought weighing on my mind. “Do you not feel even a thread of affection for her? For me?”
Ingrid’s eyes softened for but a moment before the familiar manic look returned. “I’m sure Camilla adored her and on her good days, I’m sure she also had some love for Sofia.”
It hurt her being referred to as Camilla, like her former self was completely gone. “Camilla was the love of my life.”
I was surprised when Ingrid scoffed at this. “Sure she was.”
I frowned. “You don’t believe me?”
“You were the love of Camilla’s life, but I doubt she was yours.”
I gave her a confused look. Did I fail to show Camilla how much I adored her? I doted on her. I practically worshipped the ground she walked on.
Ingrid rolled her eyes. “It’s obvious that you have no idea what to do with that little princess of yours. It’s not like I can help you with that. If you ask me, what you should do with her is place a white gown on her and offer her up to the man she belongs to.”
The image her words painted in my mind was sickening. I found myself seething with anger. “And that would be who?”
“Borys Maslen. Borys owns her. I gave her to him.”
She was a stranger, not a trace of the woman I had loved left in her. “What have you done with my wife? Is there any trace of Camilla left in you?”
A bitter smile formed on Ingrid’s face. “Camilla is dead. She died the day Sofia was born. That spoiled little brat stole your heart from me. Every time she had to share you with Sofia, Camilla died a little. Hers was a slow and painful death. There was no way for her to survive.” She paused and gave me a penetrating gaze that would haunt me for days after. “You were simply too blind to realize, Aiden, that your love for Sofia killed Camilla.”
Chapter 5: Sofia
The moment Zinnia swung the door of my suite open, I dragged myself inside and sank onto my bed. I was exhausted. Every day at headquarters was mind-numbingly routine. There wasn’t a minute that wasn’t scheduled. My time was no longer my own. Perhaps Aiden thought that if he kept me busy every second of every day, I would somehow forget Derek. The idea was ridiculous.
The thought of getting back to Derek was the fuel that kept me going. I knew that I had to find my way back to him and that was the only thing that kept me from sinking into despair. My every waking moment was filled with thoughts of how I was going to escape the hunters and return to The Shade. I went through the trainings and did everything I was told; I was willing to play the part of a hunter if only to gain their trust and betray it afterwards.
Perhaps it was rebellion against my father. I hated that he was acting like a father to me now, assuming that he knew what was best for me, after abandoning me for all those years. I resented Aiden Claremont for keeping me prisoner and preventing me from finding Derek.
“You look horrible,” Zinnia told me as she rummaged through the kitchen for something to eat—right after she had made sure that the door was locked, so I couldn’t escape.
“Tell me something I don’t know,” I said, watching her move around the small kitchen. We could’ve eaten at the mess hall along with the other recruits, but I begged her to let me return to the suite. I was in no mood to socialize and I really just wanted to get back to the room that I used to share with Derek before he had mysteriously disappeared. The suite was my sanctuary, the one place in hunter territory where it felt as if Derek’s presence still lingered.
“Are you going to eat?” Zinnia asked as she put a pizza in the microwave.
I shook my head.
“Ben always ate up a storm after training… Do you ever think of him at all?”
“Sounds like him…” I smiled bitterly, recalling glimpses of Ben’s handsome face. I ached whenever I thought of him. “Ben was my best friend, Zinnia. At one point, I thought I was in love with him. Of course I think about him.”
Zinnia raised a brow. “But not as much as you think about the Novak…”
I furrowed my brows at her, wondering what she was trying to get at. She’d been acting strangely the entire day, and at that point, I really wasn’t in the mood to try and figure out her erratic changes of attitude toward me. At times, it felt as if we could be friends, then she suddenly switched and began treating me as if she thought I was the most annoying creature on earth—a burden she had to carry at all times.
“What’s your point, Zinnia?”
“Nothing. No point. Just an observation.”
I inwardly groaned, deciding to ignore her, but it seemed she wasn’t done.
“You know what I don’t get?” she suddenly said after a moment’s silence. “Why is Claudia still alive? After what she put him through, I find it hard to believe that Ben would ever request that she be kept al
ive unless she did something to make him do it.”
Claudia put him through hell during the time he was under her wing. Even I was confused when I was told that Ben pleaded for Claudia’s life. However, I really didn’t give it much thought after having gone through the motions of Ben’s burial and trying to adjust to all the changes going on around me. When I found out that Derek had left, I completely forgot about Claudia.
“Hasn’t anyone asked her yet?” I asked.
“As if we can trust anything she says…”
I suddenly felt overcome by curiosity about my last encounter with Claudia. I knew the thought was crazy, because Claudia had given me absolutely no reason to trust her, but I wondered if I could make an ally out of her in order to return to The Shade. I scoffed at the thought. I’m actually desperate enough to work with Claudia.
I looked at Zinnia. “Could you ask Aiden if I could talk to her? I have questions.”
Zinnia gave me a long look. I doubted that she had any trust in me at all, so I was surprised when she shrugged and said, “All right. I’ll ask.”
The next day, I was escorted to Claudia’s cell. I barely recognized her, not necessarily because of any drastic change in appearance, but more because of the change in attitude. I knew it was going to be an extremely strange encounter when for the first time since I had met her, she actually seemed genuinely happy to see me.
She was crumpled up in a corner, her back leaned against the wall, seated on the ground, her arms pulling her knees to her chest.
“Claudia?” I tentatively said, half-expecting her to attack me and once again try to turn me into a vampire.
Instead, the moment she laid eyes on me, her eyes lit up, twinkling with delight. A bright smile formed on her face as if she’d just laid eyes on a long-lost friend. “Sofia!” she exclaimed as she stood to her feet and embraced me.
My arms hung limply at my sides as I tried to figure out what was going on. I found myself stiff against her tight hug.
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