Derek was still on my mind when I saw Claudia waiting for me at the entrance of The Catacombs. The blonde smiled when she saw me coming. My heart began to race. There was a time when a smile coming from her was a reason to get worried, because it usually meant she was up to no good, but I had to remind myself that this was a new Claudia I was facing now.
She raised a brow at me, but there was a twinkle in her eyes. “I was told that I was to be your bodyguard.” Her face deadpanned. “Why me of all people? Even Yuri was surprised.”
“Well, you’re the only vampire here who’s actually spent some time with Ingrid. I was thinking you knew what made her tick, so I requested that you come with me. You’re not going to do anything crazy, are you?”
She grinned and shrugged. “Well…” she drawled. “We never really know when the dark Claudia might decide to resurrect, but for now, you’re good.”
“The dark Claudia?” I chuckled.
She smiled and nodded as we began to head for the corridors that would lead to Ingrid’s cell. “Yes… the one who was stupid enough to think that she valued power more than she valued love.”
At that, I had to return her smile. I couldn’t help but notice how she had that certain glow about her whenever she smiled – it was one that could only be found in a person in love. Since I first met her, I never thought I’d ever see Claudia gush, and yet that was exactly what she was doing right then.
I was about to tease her about Yuri, but then her eyes lit up and I quickly realized why. Yuri had just caught up with us.
Everyone in The Shade knew that Yuri was in love with Claudia – even Claudia herself – but for some reason, they never actually got together. They kept fighting and bickering and making each other miserable, but whenever the other was in trouble, they were always there for each other. They were always the first to get worried about the other. It wasn’t until Claudia betrayed Derek by helping to abduct me and take me to Borys Maslen’s territory that she realized how in love she actually was with Yuri. When she got back to The Shade, it didn’t take long before the two of them got together.
“What are you doing here?” Claudia slapped Yuri’s shoulder.
“I wanted to trust you… really, Claudia, I did, but I also wanted to make sure you don’t end up killing Sofia. We all know how crazy you are.”
Claudia rolled her eyes. “That’s actually his way of saying that he wants to spend more time with me.”
“Stop flattering yourself, Claudia,” Yuri scowled. “Why on earth would I want to spend time with you?”
“Because no one else can do this to you…” Claudia reached up and kissed him forcefully.
The public display of affection turned Yuri’s pale vampire skin into a bright pink. Even I blushed as I averted my gaze.
Claudia pulled away and gave Yuri a self-satisfied smile. “No one can do that to you and make your head start reeling.”
It was obvious as Yuri bit his lip that he liked what had just happened, but he quickly recovered and shot me an embarrassed look. “Aren’t you ashamed of what Sofia would think?”
“Ashamed of what she would think?” Claudia’s eyes widened. “Weren’t you there all those times she and Derek publicly professed their love for each other? They’re the king and queen of public displays of affection.”
Yuri chuckled as he shot me a look. I was fighting the urge to blush.
“You got to admit, Sofia,” he teased. “She has a point.”
To my sheer relief, I found I didn’t need to come up with a response or an explanation, because Ingrid’s cell was already in sight. I drew a breath, not quite knowing what to expect. Encounters I shared with my mother weren’t always pleasant and I couldn’t find a reason that this particular one would be any different.
As if the day didn’t have enough surprises, Claudia gently held me by the elbow. “She’s just broken, Sofia. Like I was… She’ll come around.”
Her words tugged at my heart – both moving me and giving me hope. At the same time, an unwelcome emotion also took over me. I found myself detesting the idea that Claudia probably knew my mother more than I did.
Still, I expressed my gratefulness to Claudia before heading to the cell.
When I entered the cell, Ingrid’s eyes actually lit up when she looked at us. I was quickly disappointed to realize that it wasn’t me who caused her delight. It was Claudia.
I found myself standing by the cell door as I watched Ingrid and Claudia embrace and begin chatting with each other. They were a picture of the mother-daughter connection that I never got the chance to have. I knew that they were able to spend time together, but I couldn’t understand how they could’ve gotten so close so quickly.
“Claudia’s been visiting Ingrid,” Yuri, who was standing right behind me, explained in a low voice loud enough just for me to hear. “She says that they’re two of a kind. They have this strange connection between them.”
“I can see that,” I responded, hoping that my voice won’t break. I just can’t help but be jealous. I’ve never seen Ingrid look at me the way she looks at Claudia.
“It’s funny…” Yuri chuckled. “Claudia says that Ingrid is like the mother she never had. It’s ironic considering that Claudia is centuries older than Ingrid.”
The mother she never had. The mother I never had. I swallowed hard and tried not to think about it by diverting my attention to Yuri and Claudia’s relationship instead. “You really do love Claudia, don’t you?”
“From the first moment I ever laid eyes on her… It was a darn long wait, but it was worth every second. Thanks for bringing her back to me.”
I was about to respond, but both Ingrid’s and Claudia’s eyes settled on me. I was unsure what to do.
“I’m sorry.” Claudia smiled sheepishly. “This is your time with Camilla, not mine.”
My brow rose. She’s calling her Camilla?
It seemed Ingrid was reading my mind. “I asked her to call me Camilla. I would prefer to be called that from now on.”
I just stood there, staring at her, not quite sure how to handle her change of character. I didn’t want to accuse her of playing mind games with me, but I didn’t want to be fooled by her again either.
“I know I haven’t given you reason to trust or like me, Sofia, but I want to make amends. I’m thinking it would be harder for me to get into your good graces once again, so I was requesting to be brought to Aiden instead. At least with him I have a history I can bank on.”
“You broke his heart.” I said bluntly.
She nodded. “I know. He didn’t deserve that…” She paused. “I want another chance, Sofia. I have no one left in this world but you and Aiden. Maybe I could still get Camilla back if I tried hard enough.”
It felt like she was messing with my mind. My emotions were in turmoil. I didn’t know how to handle what she was throwing my way. I wanted so much for it to be true. It would’ve been a dream-come-true for me if both my parents came to my wedding, but this was Ingrid Maslen – the same woman who allowed the monster that was Borys Maslen to try and turn me into a vampire when I was nine years old. She was the same woman who stood by and watched as he sank his claws into my thighs and fed on me. She was the same woman obsessed with making me his bride.
“I’ll ask Aiden. If he wants to see you, then so be it.” I nodded, confident that this was the way to go. “If he doesn’t, then I guess you’ll just have to find another way to convince us that you want to change.”
Ingrid gave me a heartbroken smile. “I understand.”
Claudia took a step forward and began to speak on behalf of my mother, but I lifted a hand to stop her. “I know you understand my mother more than I ever will, Claudia, but she’s not the only one who’s broken.”
Claudia closed her mouth and eased herself into Yuri’s arms. There was an electric sense of sadness as we left Ingrid’s cell and began making our way out of The Catacombs.
“I do believe that she’s sorry, Sofia,” Claudia
spoke up.
“I know,” I responded. As much as I wanted to believe Claudia, memories of the hatred in Ingrid’s eyes while we were back in hunter territory made it difficult for me to just believe that Ingrid had changed. “If she truly is sorry, Aiden will be able to tell. He knows her more than any of us do.”
“I think he still loves her.” Yuri nodded with assurance.
My eyes shot toward the vampire. “How would you know that, Yuri?”
“I’ve been having some talks with Aiden. Whenever Claudia visited Ingrid, I went to see Aiden.”
My face contorted with bewilderment. “Why?” The idea of my father hanging out with a vampire seemed absurd.
“Well, aside from your father being a very smart man capable of a good conversation, he used to love Ingrid. I figured he’d be the best person to ask for advice on how I’m supposed to keep loving this crazy girl right here.” He began messing with Claudia’s hair and got a loud slap on the shoulder from the petite vampire.
“You really shouldn’t annoy me too much, Yuri,” Claudia warned.
“Oh?” Yuri smirked. “Why’s that?”
“I’m a vampire, you know. I could switch off the love I feel for you any time I want.”
Yuri began laughing. “No, you can’t. If there’s one emotion we vampires can’t switch off, it’s love. Look at Ingrid, no matter how much she tries, she still can’t stop loving Aiden. You said so yourself.”
“Is that true?” I asked. “You can’t switch off love?”
Yuri cast a fond gaze at Claudia. “Believe me, Sofia. I tried for hundreds of years. I never stopped loving Claudia…” Their eyes met and within a few seconds, Yuri made a face. “But I think it’s just because Claudia is part witch... a witchpire. I’m pretty sure she cast a spell on me, or something. Otherwise, why on earth would I love her?”
Something told me that they were going to bicker and banter the whole time they were together, so I bade them goodbye.
Before I was about to leave, Yuri grabbed my arm and looked straight into my eyes, his face filled with brotherly concern. “Sofia, I know your story. We all watched it unfold. You know The Shade for what it is – all its secrets, all its darkness, all its light, all that’s bad and all that’s good. I’m sure that your experience in this island is of a completely different vein than mine, but I’m hoping you see, just the way that I do, that The Shade is a place of second chances. You gave Derek a lot of chances to redeem himself.” Yuri shrugged. “Maybe your parents deserve the same thing.”
“I’m working on giving them that chance,” I assured him. I was just about to open my mouth to thank him when Xavier arrived, out of breath.
His eyes focused on me. “I think you’ll want to see this.”
I gulped. The expression on his face was telling me the exact opposite. Whatever it was, I was sure it wasn’t something that I wanted to see. What on earth just happened?
Chapter 16: Derek
I couldn’t believe my eyes. Emilia was lying face down on the shore in the exact same spot I had found Cora, centuries ago. Xavier, Ashley and I were headed for the Lighthouse, so we could prepare a surprise date with Sofia that night, when we happened to pass by the young woman.
“Who is she?” Ashley asked, as she approached the motionless body tentatively.
Xavier knelt in front of the girl and brushed her hair away from her face. He lifted his eyes toward me to let me know what I already knew. “It’s the original vampire’s daughter.”
I approached Emilia and found myself gasping at her appearance.
Xavier’s jaw tightened. “She’s not looking well.”
He was right. Emilia’s wet, brown hair was a tangled mess and blood was flowing from her scalp. She was bruised and unconscious, and for some strange reason, I was blaming myself.
Did she not warn you that she would be in trouble if you made her go back to her father? My stomach churned at the idea that her own father could do this to her. What kind of a creature is the Elder? If he was our foe, then we were up against a more powerful creature than we knew how to handle. How on earth could anyone do this to their own daughter?
“They must’ve used one of those serums that keep vampires from healing,” Xavier began thinking out loud. “Who would do this to her? Aren’t they afraid of her father?”
I scoffed at the question. “Odds are that it’s her father who did this to her.”
Xavier and Ashley exchanged glances, grimacing at the notion.
“What are you going to do with her?” Ashley finally asked.
I stared at Emilia… I didn’t want to touch her. I didn’t want anything to do with her, but I knew I couldn’t just leave her there. Don’t make the same mistake you did the last time. Don’t keep Sofia out of it.
I decided right then that Sofia and I were a team and that I should stop making decisions without her – especially when the decisions involved young women I was extremely attracted to. I directed my glare at Xavier and gave him an express command. “Go get Sofia. I can’t decide what to do with Emilia unless Sofia is involved.”
Xavier nodded and sped off.
Ashley seemed intrigued by my desire to get Sofia in on deciding Emilia’s fate. “Since when do you factor Sofia in when it comes to decisions like this?”
“Since I decided to marry her…” I shrugged a shoulder before looking her directly in the eye. “You do realize that once I marry Sofia, she’s going to be your queen.”
I was sure Ashley wasn’t really seeing the gravity of the situation at hand because she just laughed at my statement. “I actually have to remind myself that you’re king of The Shade, Derek. Most of the time, I look at you and Sofia and just think of a regular high school couple. Only instead of the two of you being prom king and queen, you’re both running an entire kingdom.”
I stared at her, wondering how she could possibly live life like it was a continuous game. I actually breathed an audible sigh of relief when Xavier and Sofia arrived. My gut clenched when I saw how Sofia’s face paled at the sight of Emilia.
“She’s back,” Sofia croaked.
I was about to approach her and pull her into my arms, but I wasn’t able to, because compassion immediately filled her green eyes at the sight of Emilia.
“What happened to her?” Sofia sounded alarmed as she rushed to Emilia’s side. “Dear heavens, who would do this to her? I think she needs blood… It will help her heal…”
My eyes widened with shock when Sofia raised her wrist in the air as if she were trying to decide if she should feed Emilia her own blood. Has she gone mad? “You are not going to feed her your blood, Sofia!” I shot my eyes toward Ashley, eager to rid myself of her peskiness. “Go get some blood for Emilia before Sofia gets any ideas.”
Ashley tilted her head to the side. “Animal or human?”
I glared at her and realized that Xavier and Sofia were doing the exact same thing.
“What?” Ashley shrugged. “We’ve all been skimping on our reserves of human blood. Now, we have to feed it to our enemy’s daughter?”
Ever since several rebels in The Shade blew up the Chilling Chambers, where we stored our reserves of human blood, we’d been living mostly on animal blood – taken from the wildlife of The Shade. We also had reserves of human blood – mostly taken from blood donations by the Naturals, but we made sure to use them sparingly.
“Could you just leave?” I snapped at Ashley.
She ran off and I found Sofia checking on Emilia. “I think she has a lot of broken bones…” Sofia frowned. “Her body doesn’t look right.” She gazed up at me and Xavier. “Can’t we get her somewhere comfortable?”
“You’re seriously considering bringing her onto the island?” I asked Sofia, wondering what she thought about Emilia being back after everything I told her.
“All I know right now is that she obviously needs help and that we’re the only ones capable of giving it to her,” Sofia responded.
I couldn’t help but admi
re her. At that moment, I knew that I’d just fallen more deeply in love with her. You really are something, Sofia. When she saw Emilia, Sofia didn’t see a threat. She just saw someone broken and in need of mending.
“Okay then,” I finally agreed.
“Where are we going to take her?” Xavier asked.
We all exchanged glances and though my first instinct was to take Emilia to The Cells, I knew that Sofia would object. Someone as wounded as Emilia didn’t belong in a prison cell. She needed to be in a hospital. In The Shade, the closest thing we had to a hospital was either The Catacombs – where Emilia definitely did not belong – or The Sanctuary.
I made a decision right there. With Corrine at The Sanctuary, it’s much safer. At least Corrine can control Emilia in case she tries to do something to harm The Shade.
“Let’s take her to The Sanctuary.”
Chapter 17: Aiden
A pack of cigarettes tied to a lighter with a rubber band landed on my bed in front of me. I looked toward the direction of the prison cell’s bars and found Yuri there. He was smoking a cigarette. I was grateful for the favor and still bothered by the friendship I was forming with a vampire. I couldn’t help it though. I liked Yuri. He was like the son I never had.
“I told you last time that I’d bring you some, didn’t I?” Yuri said smugly, before taking another puff from his cigarette.
“Where did you get these?” I asked him, unable to hide my gratefulness. I was infamous in The Shade for my taste for tobacco.
“Claudia has a bunch of them stacked up in her penthouse,” Yuri told me.
“Have you talked to Sofia about getting me out of here?”
Yuri winced. “Sorry, man. I forgot. It’s been crazy around here. I have been putting a good word or two on your behalf.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “Don’t make me regret it, Claremont. I don’t ever want Derek or Sofia to have a reason not to trust me.”
“Thank you.”
“Ingrid is asking to be brought to you…” He paused. “Actually, make that Camilla. She no longer wants to be called Ingrid.”
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