I narrowed my eyes at Felix, who was still standing in my way. “Step aside, Felix. I want a council meeting immediately at the great dome.”
“Not until we get our answers.” Felix stood his ground.
My vision darkened and it was taking all my self-control not to maim him. “Step out of my way unless you want me to rip your heart out, something you know I’m perfectly capable of doing.”
“Did you hear that?!” he screamed, throwing his arms in the air. “Our beloved king wants to kill his own subject—one who has fought and bled with him many times before.”
“Yes, you heard correctly. I have no idea what is going on here, but I will get to the bottom of this and I will make sure that whoever is responsible will answer to me. I am Derek Novak and no matter what lies you have brewing in your minds, I am still ruler of this kingdom, so unless you want blood shed right here and right now, every single one of you who isn’t part of the Elite council will return to your homes! Now!”
No matter what they believed about me, I knew how intimidating I could be. The citizens of The Shade had seen me in my darkest moments. They knew what I was capable of, that when darkness took over me, I could destroy a whole battalion of our best warriors. What they didn’t know was that I was fighting with every fiber of my being not to let the darkness take over. I can’t afford that.
Even as I spoke and watched the crowd scatter, I was trying to imagine Sofia standing right beside me, trying to consider what she would think and what she would say about my actions. I could practically sense her hand on my arm, keeping my temper in check.
I drew a breath. I miss you so much, Sofia. I could only hope she felt the same way. I wouldn’t be able to stand the idea of you hating me. I quickly thought back to all those times when she had promised me that she would always be mine. I knew I had her heart. I hope she knew that she had mine.
Xavier stepped out of the port and watched as the crowd slowly disappeared. Felix was shifting his weight from one foot to the other, obviously not knowing what to do once he lost the power of the crowd. I didn’t give him the satisfaction of throwing him a glare. As far as I was concerned, he was too small in the grand scheme of things to ever be worth my time or my anger.
Xavier blew out a whistle. “You always did have a way with crowds, Novak… It’s amazing how easy it is for you to both attract and repel them.”
Despite the tension of the situation, I looked his way and grinned. “I can’t believe you would doubt me, my friend.”
“I’m sorry that we did.” Xavier shrugged. “But it’s been crazy in here since the news of the fall of The Oasis broke out.”
“Let’s discuss it at the dome. It seems we have a lot of issues to take into consideration.” I looked Cameron and Liana’s way. “Could you make sure that Corrine and the human leaders are informed that I have returned? I want them present at the council meeting.”
I mentally tapped myself on the shoulder for keeping up a good act of leadership and control even though I was fighting my own battles inside. I scoped my surroundings, heaving a deep sigh. This is just the calm before the storm, Derek. Don’t fool yourself into believing that things are about to get better.
At that moment, the only refuge that calmed the storm inside of me was the image of my beautiful Sofia—her smile, her eyes, the sight of her laughing. I knew then that there was no way I could survive what was to come without her.
What have you done, Derek? What made you think you could get through all of this without her? What are you going to do now?
Hopelessness and despair began to overtake me as I saw the island I fought for—my kingdom—for what it was—a place absolutely devoid of light.
Chapter 9: Ingrid
The hunters were resentful about how I was ordering them around. I could hear them murmuring amongst themselves, because not only did Aiden allow me to have a shower and a companion, he actually moved not only me, but also the impetuous blonde vampire to our very own quarters.
The bedroom reminded me of my dorm room in college. Two beds, closets, a shared bathroom… It wasn’t the kind of room or space I was used to having, but it certainly was better than the cell. The moment I was brought to the room, I first noticed the sealed windows. Definitely no sunlight coming in through those… The next thing I noticed was the surveillance cameras. They were going to watch our every move. I was certain that the room was bugged so they could hear our every conversation too.
I didn’t really care. I grabbed a towel from a closet and stripped to my underwear, looking up at one of the cameras before striking a pose and winking at whoever was watching me.
I then stepped into the bathroom and took a long bath. By the time I stepped out, Claudia was already seated on one of the beds, a blank expression on her face.
I wasn’t pleased about spending time with the little twerp, but I guess she had to do. I fought the urge to roll my eyes at the petty conversations I was certain I’d have to endure with her.
I got dressed, not really caring who saw me naked before taking a seat on the bed across from hers. I perused her form as I towel dried my hair. I could tell that just like me, she wasn’t given any favors when it came to personal hygiene either.
“Aren’t you going to have a bath?” I asked.
She sighed haplessly. “Maybe later.” She then stared at me in a way that really irritated me.
“What?” I snapped at her.
“You’re Ingrid Maslen. Sofia’s mother.”
I frowned. “What if I am?”
“I hope Sofia really does get to escape this place. She really wants to, I think. She and Derek are so in love with each other.” Her gaze left me as she bowed her head. “I really hope she takes me with her. I want to go back to The Shade. Yuri is back there.”
The news about Sofia’s escape was something I found delightful, but I knew that asking further about the escape would draw suspicion. Claudia went on with her own soliloquy, spouting question after question, musing after musing. “Have you ever felt like you’re unworthy of the love of a man?”
Yes.
“He’s done everything for you and yet none of it seems to be enough…”
My life’s story.
“I’ve always felt that way about Yuri. He always came through for me. Always. And all I did was hurt him, betray him, and make a fool out of him for holding any affection toward a broken creature like me.”
Broken creature. The words struck such a chord with me, so much so that I couldn’t pry my eyes away from Claudia. She was echoing my very soul, verbalizing what I could never speak out. Suddenly, the little blonde vampire became fascinating.
“Then suddenly, you lose him,” Claudia continued, her gaze distant, her eyes moistening. “And you mess up so bad, you feel as if nothing you do could ever get him back. You start to wonder if he could ever forgive you, if he could ever love you again, but all the while, you know that you don’t deserve that love…”
She paused and I could practically feel exactly what she was going through, and I found myself finishing her sentence. “You don’t deserve it, but it doesn’t mean you don’t want it.”
Claudia nodded in agreement, her eyes shifting toward me in surprise. “Exactly. How did you know?”
“I feel the same way about someone.” The truth hurt. I found that truth always did hurt. I’m in love with Aiden. I will always be in love with him. There’s no escaping it, but it doesn’t mean that I have to be prisoner to that love. “Claudia, if you had the chance, would you try to go back to him and make up for everything? If he welcomed you with open arms…”
Her face lit up, hope sparking in her eyes. “Yes! I would do anything. I’ve been such a fool…”
I immediately saw the difference between me and Claudia. She wanted love more than she wanted power. I, on the other hand, chose power over love a long time ago. I stared at Claudia—someone I perceived to be strong, independent and capable, yet turned into a pathetic weakling by love. I ref
use to be like her. I can’t be the way Camilla was—a whimpering housewife, lovesick over her husband. I don’t want to be the needy weakling she was when she was with Aiden. Not anymore. I’m Ingrid Maslen now. Camilla Claremont is long gone.
I looked at the room I was in, a favor I didn’t deserve—faint proof that Aiden still held affection for me. Should I choose Claudia’s path, I knew I could somehow get him back, but I also shuddered at the thought. Camilla was in love with Aiden. Not Ingrid.
If I’m to be Ingrid Maslen in all her glory and beauty, then Aiden is my greatest weakness. I swallowed hard at the next thought that gripped my convictions. That only means one thing… He must be destroyed.
Chapter 10: Sofia
No matter how tired I was, there were nights when sleep completely eluded me. Moments spent with Derek haunted me. Is he safe at The Shade? If he is, why hasn’t he tried to get me back? Is he even thinking about me?
Sometimes, I’d get so overwhelmed with the questions, I could barely breathe. I would then hold the diamond pendant he gave me for my birthday, thumbing along its fine edges, drawing comfort from the promise that came with it: “I want you to have it. Wear it always. It will remind you of me. Take it as a promise from me—a promise that I will find a way to be with you.”
I didn’t know where he was or if he was in danger. I couldn’t understand why he thought it best to leave without even saying goodbye, but I was sure of one thing… I could never doubt his love for me. That was the hope that carried me to the next day.
Aside from Derek, one more thing bothered my every waking moment: I am the immune. It was one thing I didn’t know how to find the answers to. Telling the hunters about it didn’t seem like the best idea, considering how I had no clue how they would possibly react to me revealing that I should’ve been turned into a vampire many times, but here I am—so completely human still.
Only one other person at hunter headquarters knew that I was immune: Ingrid. The thought of speaking to her, however, made me shudder. I came to the point of desperation, however, and found myself asking my father to let me speak to her.
“Why on earth would you want to talk to that insane woman? The same woman who gave you as a gift to Borys Maslen, and still very much wants to, even now…”
“I want to speak with her. In private. No bugs.” I’d been at headquarters long enough to know that it was difficult to have any conversation in private.
“You can’t trust a word that comes out of her mouth, Sofia.”
At that, I couldn’t help but scoff. “You mean the same way I can’t trust a word that comes out of yours?”
He seemed genuinely offended by the comment. “Why is it so hard for you to believe that I’m on your side? I’m keeping you here for your own safety. I’m your father.”
“You say that like it means something. You’re my father by blood. So what? You abandoned me with the Hudsons for nine years, Aiden! And you said so yourself… Camilla practically offered me up as a sacrifice to Borys Maslen and she’s my mother!”
Aiden’s face reddened, his lips twitching as he obviously tried to reel in his temper. He stood up, his hands gripping the edge of his desk so tightly, his knuckles turned white. “I am nothing like Ingrid. Do not compare me to her. What I did for you, I did because I thought it was the best thing to do. I didn’t want you involved in all this. I wanted you to have a normal, happy life… Something I was deprived of because of the double life I had to live as both a hunter and a businessman.”
I wasn’t in the mood to discuss his shortcomings as a father. “It doesn’t matter. The past is the past. We can’t change it. For now, do you really want to gain my trust?”
He looked relieved and sat back in his seat. “I would do anything to gain your trust, Sofia.”
I raised a brow. “Anything? How about you take me to Derek.”
“I can’t do that and you know it. Even if I could, I wouldn’t know how to find him. I don’t know where the Novak is. He might be at The Shade, but I doubt you’d trust me with that information.”
“So much for anything. Well, if you can’t take me to Derek, then take me to Ingrid. Let me talk to her.”
Aiden gave me a deep look of concern as if he was afraid of what Ingrid could say to me. I realized then that he was trying to protect me from getting hurt by her words. For the first time, I found myself appreciating what it felt like to have a father looking after me. I thought it sad that he could make me feel that way only after a decade. I missed him so much, but it felt like any affection he showed me came too late. At this point, I really just detested how he was butting into my life. Still, I truly hoped that he had my best interest in heart—now and in the past.
“I was never able to control Camilla,” Aiden revealed wistfully. “She had a mind of her own and she was given to a lot of erratic mood swings when we were together. I guess I won’t be able to control you either, will I?”
“You can try, but I think that question is rhetorical.”
“Very well then… I’ll take you to your mother.”
Suddenly I remembered all that I had gone through at The Oasis. Borys’s claws sinking into my thighs, his teeth biting my neck, his hands groping my body… All the while my mother sat back, doing nothing, I swallowed hard. Suddenly, any sense of anticipation I felt about meeting Ingrid faded away and was replaced with pure dread. What exactly am I getting myself into?
Chapter 11: Derek
The Great Dome was the center of all our governmental, judicial and military gatherings. It never failed to remind me of my twin sister, Vivienne, to whom I gave the task of modernizing the dome. She did a brilliant job at it; thus, the place never failed to remind me of her.
At that moment, however, the wave of nostalgia and grief that came with my sister’s passing away at the hands of the hunters wasn’t the only reason I was hesitant to go to the dome. I knew the Elite Council was already waiting there—as I instructed them to. I instinctively knew what I was going to face on arrival: opposition. Truth be told, I was used to that. They weren’t what I was afraid of. Instead, I was afraid of myself, of what I could possibly be capable of doing in case I lost control of my temper.
Neither Sofia nor Vivienne were there to reel me in. Neither of them would be there to remind me that I was capable of goodness. Still, I knew that the council meeting that I had called wasn’t something I could escape from, so when Ashley and Sam, two of Sofia’s closest friends at The Shade, showed up at my penthouse to let me know that Liana instructed them to escort me to the dome, I had no choice but to go.
Thus, I found myself walking along the torch-lit corridors of the Crimson Fortress, climbing up the west tower, standing as high as one hundred and fifty feet. Roofed with pointed cross-arches, the tower was one of the first installments built in the fortress and had already witnessed many battles in defense of the island. The Crimson Fortress, on the other hand, lined the entire island with thick walls and fortified towers.
“What happened, Derek? Where’s Sofia?” Ashley was the youngest vampire at The Shade. She was one of the human teenagers brought for my harem—a sick tradition that somehow developed at The Shade during my four-hundred-year sleep. It involved the abduction of teenagers outside the island to be brought to the Elite as slaves. Among the girls who were brought with Ashley were Sofia and Rosa. Ashley was the only one who willingly chose to be turned into one of us. Still, despite the fact that she was one of my subjects, her sense of familiarity with me never quite left. She never acknowledged me as royalty, but always spoke to me as she would a friend—something I liked about her.
“You’ll find out soon enough,” I answered as I caught sight of the entrance to the dome right ahead of us. I gave Ashley a look before diverting my attention to Sam. “What’s been going on here?”
The two exchanged glances and I could immediately conclude that they were no longer just friends. At least there’s still some good news here. I was aware of Ashley’s affections toward Sam a
fter she blurted out the whole thing to me back at Sofia’s quarters at The Catacombs.
I grinned at both of them as I gave them a knowing nod. Whatever joy I felt for my friends was quickly swept away, however, as I stepped in front of the giant double oak doors of the dome.
A commotion had obviously been happening right before my arrival, but the moment I stepped in, a chilly silence filled the hall. I sped my way toward my seat at the front of the hall.
Eli Lazaroff, usually the presider of all of our council meetings, took his place at the stand, in the middle of the dome. He cleared his throat as he faced me. “Your highness…” He bowed his head in reverence and uncomfortably shuffled on his feet. I could tell that he was unsure how to bring up all the issues that had been brewing at The Shade since I had left to rescue Sofia.
“Oh, for crying out loud…” Felix stood to his feet and began walking toward the stand. “May I please take the stand?”
I inwardly groaned as I gave him a go signal with one nod toward Eli, who promptly left the stand to give Felix the platform he was demanding.
“With all due respect, Derek, I need to be straight with you,” he began. “You may be savior of The Shade—none of us can take that away from you. We owe you this kingdom and its establishment. We bled with you and fought alongside you, but how can we continue to serve under your rule when we are uncertain of your loyalties toward not only this kingdom, but to all vampires in general?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “You’re questioning my loyalty to The Shade and to our kind? Do you not remember the prophecy and how I am to bring our kind true sanctuary? How could I turn my back on vampires when my life’s purpose is to save us?”
“It’s hard for us to believe that you will remain true to this prophecy. Not after you were instrumental in the ruin of The Oasis and the Maslens. Not after you stepped into hunter territory and came out unscathed—just walked away from them without as much as a scratch. Did you or did you not work with the hunters to destroy The Oasis in order to rescue the woman you love?”
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