It felt like I was being tried for a crime I did not commit—by a subordinate of mine at that. I straightened in my seat, swallowing back my rising temper, shutting my eyes for a moment in order to remember who I was when I was with Sofia. My hands were gripping my seat’s armrests even as I struggled to push away the darkness overtaking me.
“I did not work with the hunters to take down The Oasis. At the time of their attack, I was being held prisoner by Borys Maslen. I was in chains, being tortured. If it weren’t for Sofia, I never would’ve made it out of there.” I deliberately kept out the fact that my very own brother, Lucas, was also there inflicting pain on me. He died during the hunter attack on The Oasis, and despite his hatred toward me, part of me grieved his loss. “Use your common sense please. Why on earth would the hunters ever trust me enough to work with me?”
“Why else would they treat you as a guest in their territory and let you prance out of there alive?” Felix shrugged. “Isn’t it because your beloved Sofia is the daughter of one of the head hunters? She’s the daughter of the notorious leader of the hunters, Reuben, is she not?”
I wet my lips as I grasped for a proper response. “How exactly do you even know of all of this, Felix?”
A tense hush filled the dome when the doors swung open and a prominent figure at The Shade stepped inside.
I’d always known my father as having a flair for the dramatic, but I never could’ve predicted that he’d be back in The Shade before me, and from the reactions of my allies, it seemed they weren’t aware either. Gregor Novak entered the dome, cued by my question, to take his place beside Felix at the stand. “I told him everything, son. It’s your word against mine now.”
“You know that I never worked with the hunters.”
My father shook his head. “I’m not so sure about that. In fact, I haven’t been very sure of your actions as of late. None of us are. You’ve elevated the standing of every human of The Shade. You left the island to save one human girl from the Maslens. You stayed with the hunters for weeks. I think we deserve answers.”
Just like that, reality sank in—not only to me, but to everyone present there. The king of The Shade was now on trial.
Chapter 12: Sofia
Upon my request, Aiden agreed to have Ingrid brought to my suite rather than to have me brought to wherever they were keeping her. I felt safer in my own turf than in hers, and it seemed Aiden felt better with that arrangement too.
“You summoned me?”
Wanting to end the conversation as soon as I possibly could, I got straight to the point. “Why am I immune? What does being ‘the immune’ mean for me?”
She sighed and smiled at me, her eyes looking at me with what almost seemed like affection. She then shrugged her right shoulder. “I don’t know, Sofia. You should be a Maslen, a beautiful nine-year-old vampire, but you’re not and I will never understand why. All I know was that the moment he tasted your blood, Borys has been absolutely obsessed with you.”
“Why? What’s in my blood?”
“I’m curious myself,” she admitted before looking hungrily at my neck. “Perhaps you should let me have a taste so that I could find out for myself?…I’m sorry. Bad joke.” A moment of silence then ensued as she eyed me with what almost looked like longing. “You must have so many questions. How have you been, Sofia? I’ve been overhearing whispers about Derek disappearing…”
A lump formed in my throat at the mention of Derek. I wasn’t sure I wanted to talk to Ingrid—or anyone else for that matter—about him. I ached with longing at the very mention of his name.
“You miss him, don’t you?” Ingrid continued, perhaps realizing that she hit a note with what she had just said. “I understand how you feel.”
“Why?” I asked, unable to hide the resentment in my voice. “Because it’s the same way you feel about your beloved Borys right now?”
The question sparked anger in her eyes, but she quickly recovered and shook her head. “No. It’s what I felt about your father during my first years at The Oasis. It felt like I was missing a part of me.”
“Yet you turned your back on him in spite of that. We’re not the same. I didn’t leave Derek. I’m fighting to get back to him.”
“Forget Derek, Sofia.”
That’s impossible. I knew how obsessed my own mother was about giving me to Borys and was well aware that harping on about Derek wasn’t going to help my situation. “Is that what you did with Aiden? You forgot him?”
“It can be done, you know.” She paused before looking directly into my eyes. “Is it true that you’re married to Derek? Or were you bluffing?”
I had no idea what possessed me to tell her the truth, but I shook my head and responded, “I’m engaged to him, but no…we’re not married.”
Relief washed over her face. “Claudia told me that you wanted to escape in order to get back to Derek. Is this true?”
I pursed my lips, fighting the urge to roll my eyes. What has happened to Claudia? She’d been completely useless in my trying to find a way out of headquarters. The only thing that sparked any worthwhile reaction from her was how much she wanted to get back to The Shade and whether or not Yuri would even care that she was there. It’s like all common sense left her the moment she left The Shade. I couldn’t help but smile a bit at the next thought that came to me, realizing how many times I did things that didn’t really make sense to others out of my love for Derek. I guess that’s what love can do to a person.
I tried to re-focus my attention on Ingrid, responding to her question with a question. “If it is?”
“I want to help you.”
I raised a brow, taken by surprise. “Why?”
“I want you out of here. As long as you’re here, Borys can’t get to you.”
“So what you’re saying is that you want me out of headquarters so that Borys can once again abduct me and make my life hell?”
“It sounds so wicked when you put it that way.”
“That’s because it is, Ingrid. You’re my mother. Does that not mean anything to you?”
I couldn’t decipher the look in her eyes when she responded. “It means everything to me that you’re my daughter, Sofia. Trust me when I say that if it weren’t for you, Ingrid Maslen would probably not exist.”
I had no idea what she was talking about. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. “How do you propose to help me anyway?”
“Easy. All I have to do is pretend to be Camilla Claremont again.”
She sounded like a lunatic. Sitting there, I couldn’t keep myself from wondering how on earth I got to have such demented parents. The thought of ever becoming like them was absolutely horrifying to me. Still staring at her in disbelief, I was slightly taken aback when she suddenly stood up as if snapping into attention.
“If you’re agreeing to let me help you, get up and embrace me. Now,” she instructed.
I don’t know what came over me, but I complied with her instructions, hugging my mother for the first time in a decade.
“The only reason I want you to be with Borys is because I want what’s best for you,” she whispered into my ear. “If you’re with him, you won’t become like Camilla was. With Derek, you’ll be a weakling. With Borys, you’ll become powerful and strong.”
I was trembling against her embrace and I began fighting back the tears when she kissed me on the cheek. When we broke our embrace, I realized why she had asked for it in the first place.
Aiden had just walked in the room—in time to see what appeared to be a poignant, affectionate moment between mother and daughter.
Feeling used, I looked from Aiden to Ingrid and was surprised to find her wiping away tears as she gave me a fond look, taking my hand in hers and squeezing tight. “I know how hard it is for you to believe, but I love you, Sofia.”
I smiled at her, knowing that no matter how much I wanted to believe her declaration, it was what it was: a bold-faced lie.
Chapter 13: Aiden
“W
hat game are you playing, Ingrid?”
She stopped her steady paces on the way back to her room and twisted around to face me. “What game? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t play coy with me, Ingrid. The last time we spoke, you made it perfectly clear that you hold no affection for our daughter. Now, I step into her suite and you’re all hugs and kisses with her? What’s your game?”
“I just had a heart-to-heart talk with my daughter, Aiden. Is it so impossible that I could have a change of heart toward her?”
“A change of heart? After you fed her to Borys Maslen? Did you see it happen? Did you watch as he bit into her? Did you like seeing him hurt her? Did you not feel any guilt at the sight?” I began stepping toward her, backing her up until her back hit one of the walls. “What is wrong with you? Sofia is your daughter. How could that not mean anything to you?”
She raised a brow and scoffed at my statement. “It meant nothing to my mother that I was her daughter.”
There it was again—another vague clue about a dark, mysterious past she refused to talk about. During the first several years of our marriage, I encouraged her to seek professional help to get the ghosts of her past out of her system. She never did appreciate nor even entertain my suggestion. I had to watch the woman I loved remain broken, with no hope of ever getting fixed.
I was so keenly aware of her closeness. Soon the longing I’d had for her—one I denied even existed—came rushing through me like a flood. No matter how much I hated to admit it, whether she was Ingrid or Camilla, she still had the same effect on me now as she had done when I had first laid eyes on her. She always managed to leave me breathless. She drew me in like no other woman had ever done before. With her standing so close, looking the exact same way she did ten years ago, no matter how much I hated to admit it, I knew that I would always love Camilla.
Before I could keep myself from doing it, I grabbed her by the shoulders and pressed my lips against hers. Warning signals immediately began flaring up inside me. She’s not Camilla. She’s Ingrid. She’s a vampire, a monster, a creature you’re sworn to rid this planet of. You’re in hawk headquarters. Think of what you stand to lose should you be seen doing this. None of it mattered. I pushed against her with all the strength in me, claiming for myself what I’d been deprived of since she left me—her touch, her kiss, her form uniquely contoured to fit mine.
She responded with abandon, making it easy for me to tell that she wanted this too. It wasn’t until her fangs cut my lower lip that I found myself jerking away from her. We were both stunned as I wiped the trace of blood from my lip.
“You still love me, don’t you?” she asked. She said it in a way that was devoid of any hint of triumph. She spoke wistfully.
“I think I always will,” I admitted, hating myself for the affection I still held toward her, for the sense of overprotectiveness I always felt for her. However, I knew who meant more to me than her. Sofia. “Don’t think for one moment, Ingrid, that my love for Camilla erases the fact that I think you’re using my daughter for whatever sick things you’ve got planned. If you ever hurt Sofia again, make no mistake about it, I will kill you myself.”
Her eyes began to brim with tears as she nodded. “I understand. I just…” she hesitated. “I don’t know how to be a good mother, Aiden. I want to be that for her, but I don’t know how. I want to change. I truly want to make amends with her if only to get back in your good graces, because I love you, Aiden. I will always love you.”
I couldn’t tell if it was genuine or if she was just putting on an amazing act. At that point, however, I really couldn’t think straight enough to care if it was true.
I was fully aware of the consequences when I took her to my suite and made love to her, but I really didn’t care. I held her in my arms and gave in to my desperate need for the woman I had loved, to fill the emptiness that she had left inside me when she had abandoned me and our daughter.
That night, like so many others before her disappearance, I found that I was once again putty in the hands of Camilla Claremont.
It wasn’t until the morning after, waking up with her lovely form cradled in my arms that it sank into me that Camilla was long gone and that it was Ingrid Maslen instead who now held my deepest affections in the palm of her hand.
Aiden, what have you done?
Chapter 14: Gregor
Upon my return to The Shade, only one word could describe me: haunted. Every part of me wished that I had never left the island. I wished that I never went along with Lucas’ plan to take Sofia to The Oasis. I knew that I had made a mistake the moment I had stepped into the Maslens’ infamous Egyptian tombs. The Shade was my kingdom and I never should’ve left it. Now, after the destruction of The Oasis and the fall of the Maslens, I realized that things would never again be the same.
I shuddered whenever I thought about everything that had happened since my son, Derek, woke up from his four-hundred-year state of sleep. I never thought that I could ever feel as much hatred and resentment toward my own flesh and blood as I had felt for Derek when he had taken over The Shade and dethroned me as king of the island. Now, being back at the island, I had no choice but to ruin him.
I wanted my throne back. No matter what those fools belonging to the Elite thought, I was the rightful ruler of The Shade. Derek never should’ve taken that place from me.
Standing in the middle of the dome, I could feel my blood boiling as I stared at my son, sitting where I should’ve been seated. I would go as far as declaring war on him if it meant regaining my rightful place.
“Ever since that little vixen of yours arrived at The Shade, you’ve turned this kingdom upside down on her behalf.” I asked, relishing how Derek’s face tensed at the statement. Clearly, he was in turmoil. Never before had something like this happened at The Shade. When I was king, my subjects never had reason to doubt my loyalty. Now that the slightest bit of doubt was being cast on Derek, I had every intention of capitalizing on it.
“Sofia has nothing to do with the choices I made regarding The Shade,” he defended, the hint of affection that showed in his voice when he mentioned her name was easily detectable.
“Isn’t she the reason you stopped the culling and asked Eli to organize a way to tap into the blood banks? This move puts The Shade in danger of being discovered, does it not?”
“The same way you put The Shade in danger when you started abducting teenagers to turn into your slaves. Only with this measure, we don’t have to destroy any lives.” Derek was losing patience and it was obvious.
I smiled inwardly. I wanted his temper to blow up. I wanted to see him crumble and make a fool of himself. However, like I always found myself in danger of doing, I had once again underestimated my own son. Before I could think of another accusation to throw at him, he stood up and scoped the round hall.
“I tire of this. I am still ruler of this kingdom and will not be subjected to this mock trial. I am loyal to The Shade and will remain loyal to it. I am prophesied to find our kind true sanctuary and I will do that until I am robbed of my immortality. My love for Sofia Claremont is no secret to any of you. She is prophesied to be instrumental in helping me fulfill the prophecy. I am not working with the hunters. Yes. I stayed in hunter territory during the period between the fall of The Oasis and my return here. Sofia Claremont is the daughter of one of the highest ranking hunters in the world and he let me go because he knows I love her. He has forbidden me to ever see her again. In exchange for my agreement to that condition, he let me go.”
At that final bit of information, many of those present who were close to my son’s so-called fiancée or had formed some sort of attachment with her began to react.
“Does this mean that Sofia’s not going to return to the island?”
“Are you really going to stay away from her?”
“What about the prophecy? If you’re apart from Sofia that means you may never be able to bring our kind true sanctuary?”
&n
bsp; “How did you ever get Sofia to agree to let you leave?”
“Does Sofia know that her father struck that bargain with you?”
“How could you have ever agreed to that bargain?”
I was furious by the questions being thrown at Derek. As far as I was concerned, all of them were irrelevant. Angry that I could be sidelined so easily, I surged forward letting out a loud scream. I then motioned to attack Derek, managing to claw a finger through his cheek before he could dodge me.
I watched as his blue eyes shifted from the ground to me as the wound on his cheek healed.
“You have no idea what you’re up against,” I warned him, even as I shut out from my memory the events that occurred between the time Borys Maslen and I escaped The Oasis up to the time I was released to return to The Shade. I could feel the darkness taking its power over me.
“What exactly am I up against, Father?” he asked before giving me an arrogant smirk. “You?”
Fury took over. “You never should’ve come against me.”
“Empty threats, Father. We both know you have no power here.”
At that point, I couldn’t help but smile inside. Derek was underestimating me and that would work to his disadvantage. After all, I wasn’t the same man who left The Shade for The Oasis. No, not anymore.
“This is war, Derek.”
He stood to his full height and squared his shoulders. “Then so be it, Father. If it’s war you want, it’s war you’re going to get.”
We stared each other down, ignoring the commotion the people surrounding us were causing. At that moment, without having to speak out, Derek and I had an understanding. As long as the war went on, I was no longer his father and he was no longer my son.
You have no idea what you’ve just gotten yourself into, I thought as I walked away from the dome. I’ve changed the same way Borys has changed. I shudder to think of what kind of a force Borys is now. Derek doesn’t stand a chance against us. He picked the wrong side when he chose light over darkness.
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