A Castle of Sand

by Bella Forrest

  Cameron straightened in his seat, clearly bothered as he finished his wife’s sentence, “Then finding Sofia is the least of our worries. There’s nothing stopping Ben from betraying us to the hunters and having The Shade blown up.”

  “Sofia did not leave out of her own choice. I’m certain of it.” I tried to push back any doubts. I hated the feeling of not trusting her.

  “Well then, we’re going round in circles. Truth of the matter is that I think they’re at The Oasis.” Xavier shrugged. “Where else would Lucas run off to? I think they sought sanctuary there.”

  I thought about what Lucas could possibly be putting Sofia through and I found myself fighting the urge to break someone’s neck. I fought back tears, sickened by the idea of my beloved being in any kind of pain. The additional thought that she could be within Borys Maslen’s territory was even worse.

  A knock at the dome’s large oak doors momentarily interrupted any responses anybody present could’ve given to Xavier’s statement.

  The doors swung open and I could make out Sam standing outside the dome. “Sir, Miss Natalie Borgia is here,” he announced.

  I straightened up in my seat. “Let her in.”

  The beautiful diplomat strode inside with grace and dignity. “Natalie,” I acknowledged as she took the stand.

  She swallowed hard as she nodded her head toward me in response. She didn’t seem comfortable with the message she was about to give me. “I have a message for Derek Novak from Borys Maslen and Sofia Claremont.”

  Murmurs were exchanged throughout the dome. I gulped as Natalie left the stand and climbed up toward the balcony in order to hand me the letter.

  “I’m sorry,” she said quietly before turning and once again taking her place at the stand.

  I stared at the envelope, dreading what it could possibly contain. I swallowed hard as I opened it. No words could explain what I felt upon seeing the wedding invitation. I let out a deep growl.

  “Derek…” Natalie knew me well enough to know when something was tearing me apart. We’d had our fair share of memories together. She heaved a deep sigh. “I was told to let you know that you are to go alone. Any vampire from this coven seen stepping anywhere near the desert will be shot down. Only you are to go there if you want to see her.”

  “What is it?” Xavier rose to his feet, taking a place at the stand. “What’s going on?”

  “See for yourself.” I threw the invitation his way.

  He caught it with both hands. His eyes widened. “Oh my…”

  “What? What is it?” Gavin asked as everyone looked curiously at the message.

  Xavier looked up at me. “It’s an invitation for one to Sofia and Borys’ wedding.”

  “Derek,” Liana spoke up. “You realize this is a trap, don’t you?”

  “It doesn’t matter.” I shook my head. “If Sofia is in the Maslens’ hands, I have to go to her. There’s no other way.”

  “But what about The Shade?” With all the noisy murmurs and mild commotion going on, I didn’t even recognize who was asking questions anymore.

  “Cameron, Liana, Xavier and Eli are more than capable of working together to run the island while I’m away.”

  “Derek, you’re seriously considering this?” Xavier seemed apprehensive.

  “You of all people are aware of what Borys is capable of,” I told him. “You know what he did to Vivienne. Borys will break and ruin Sofia.”

  “Sofia is stronger than we’ve given her credit for,” Cameron spoke up and I knew immediately that what he was saying was true. “Maybe she will find her way out of there by herself and back here.”

  I smirked. “Yeah…maybe…maybe she can, but I’m not going to hang the fate of the woman I love on maybes, Cameron. I’m not going to just sit here and allow that shameless brute to have his way with Sofia.”

  “So you’re actually going to The Oasis?” Liana verified.

  I nodded. “I wouldn’t miss Sofia’s wedding for the world.”

  Chapter 47: Sofia

  It felt like days since I was brought to The Oasis. I hadn’t seen Borys since our first meeting—something I was immensely grateful for. The only vampires from The Oasis I’d seen then were the two guards they sent to keep watch over me and the women who came to take my measurements and do the fittings for my wedding gown.

  To my relief, they kept Ben inside my room, but he wasn’t supposed to talk to me much, and the guards strictly warned us that he was not to touch me. Apparently, Borys made it some sort of law that no man would be allowed to lay a hand on me until the day of our wedding.

  “He wants you pure,” the guard explained.

  I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of a demented lunatic Borys Maslen really was.

  “Doesn’t the idea of marrying him just make you sick?” Ben wrinkled his nose, as he sat on the edge of the bed next to me. He said the question in a low voice so that the guards wouldn’t hear.

  “All I can think about is escaping. I haven’t even really let the possibility of being his wife sink in. It’s too horrible a thought to be with anyone other than Derek.” I bit my lip, wondering for a moment if I was being insensitive toward Ben, knowing how he felt toward me.

  I was relieved to find him nodding as he eyed the guards warily. “Yeah…I’ve stopped thinking of you ending up with anybody else other than Derek, but…I can’t see how we’ll escape this place alone. We’re hundreds of feet below ground, and these two nuts are always around.”

  I blew out a sigh as I eyed the two guards standing nearby. During the time we’d spent there, we’d gotten more information—mostly from the women dolling and dressing me up—about what exactly The Oasis was. I tried chatting the two guards up, but I quickly found out that they were thoroughly lacking in personality—completely unlike Sam and Kyle, who’d always been more than willing to exchange witty banter.

  Their presence made both Ben and I uncomfortable because of the way we would catch them staring and licking their lips whenever they laid eyes on me. They weren’t subtle in showing how much they were craving me, and based on the way I saw Derek black out and attack Gavin, I knew that if these vampires suddenly flipped out, neither Ben nor I had any defense against them.

  I suddenly heard a knock at the door. My stomach fluttered when I realized who it was. Ingrid. I still couldn’t wrap my mind around her being my mother. Questions whirled within my mind, questions I wasn’t even sure I wanted to hear the answers to.

  The guards quickly made way for her and she walked into the room with grace and elegance. She stopped near the end of my bed and gave Ben a pointed look.

  “So it’s you that my daughter has been hiding with all these years.”

  Ben sneered at her. “So it’s you who abandoned Sofia all these years. For what? So you could become Borys Maslen’s baby…”

  “You’re going to regret saying that, boy.” She tilted her head to the side. “You obviously mean something to my daughter, so I’ll let that go for now.” She walked toward us—toward me and stopped right in front of me. She used a finger to lift my chin so she could take a good look at me. I turned my eyes away from her. I found myself recoiling from her touch.

  “I did not abandon you, Sofia. Your father kept you away from me. I’ve been looking for you all these years.”

  “And why exactly were you looking for me? So you could give me to Borys as a bride?” I realized that I didn’t even know how to address her or what to call her. Do I refer to her as Ingrid or as Camilla? Calling her Mother didn’t feel right.

  She brushed her thumb against my cheek. “You have your father’s eyes, but you don’t have his build, I’m glad to see…fragile, weak, breakable…”

  I glared up at her. Was she insulting me?

  She withdrew her hand from me and raised a brow at Ben. She addressed the guards, “I want time alone with my daughter. Have the young man brought to the little blonde vampire from The Shade. She could use some company.”

  My blood
began to pound as alarm rose from the pit of my stomach to the top of my head. “No…” I immediately saw the fright in Ben’s eyes. “Please…no…not her…not Claudia…Mother, please.”

  Surprise sparked in Ingrid’s eyes the moment I called her Mother. She raised a hand toward the guards who were already approaching to take Ben. “Wait. What did you just call me?” she asked me.

  “Mother…” My lips trembled as I spoke. I grabbed Ben’s hand, not knowing whether I was trying to comfort him or draw strength from him. “Isn’t that what you are? My mother?”

  “Yes. That’s right, Sofia.” She smiled, but I saw only insanity in her eyes. “I’m your mother. That means you do what I say, right?”

  Terrified on Ben’s behalf, I nodded in attempt to humor Ingrid. “Of course.”

  “So you’re not going to cause any trouble tomorrow, yes?”

  “Tomorrow?” My grip on Ben’s hand tightened.

  “Yes. Tomorrow. Did you not know? You’re to be wed to Borys tomorrow.”

  “Why? Why would you do this? Why would you force your own daughter to marry that brute?”

  She began brushing strands of my hair away from my face. “You just don’t know him, Sofia. Borys deserves the best and you, Sofia, are the best. Why wouldn’t you be? You’re my blood, my beautiful, perfect little girl. You belong to Borys.”

  Chills ran down my spine as she straightened to her full height. “I’ve changed my mind,” she announced. “Leave the boy here. The Shade’s little blonde vampire can have him after the wedding. Right now Borys is requesting the presence of his blooming bride. Have my daughter brought to his chambers.”

  It was as if everything stood still. I could make out Ben trying to put up a fight as the guards took me away. I knew what was happening, but I couldn’t understand it. I couldn’t comprehend how such a vile creature like Ingrid Maslen could ever be the mother I remembered that I had.

  By the time I reached Borys’ chambers, I was in tears. I was pushed inside, with Ingrid following shortly after me. Borys was pouring alcohol into a bronze chalice. He turned and frowned at the sight of me. “Why is she crying?”

  My stomach turned when I realized that he was wearing nothing but a loincloth to cover his bulking frame. His gaze quickly went from my face to my body. I wasn’t even sure if he heard Ingrid’s explanation that I was just nervous to be presented to my bridegroom.

  “Leave us,” he ordered, his eyes traveling the length of my body. Ingrid gave him a nod. I grabbed her hand before she could move. “Please…don’t leave me…”

  “You’ll be fine, my love. He won’t take you to his bed until after the wedding. He’s a gentleman that way.”

  A gentleman. I almost laughed at the thought. How could she call him that after what she had witnessed him do to me?

  Ingrid shook my hand away and quickly strode out of the room. “Enjoy getting to know each other, children!” she chirped before closing the door behind her.

  Standing in the middle of the room, I couldn’t control the way my body quivered as Borys slowly approached. He began circling me like a vulture, his eyes taking in my form, violating me with mere looks.

  I shut my eyes and tried to remember Derek. His eyes. His smile. Of all the times that Derek had overstepped his boundaries, threatened to hurt me, threatened to take me, he never made me feel the way Borys did at that time. Derek had many times over made me feel vulnerable and fragile under his touch, but he never made me feel like he would enjoy breaking me and hurting me.

  Even on the first night I met him, with him throwing me up a post and threatening to suck at my neck and drain me of my blood, I could sense goodness and light in Derek. I feared him, but he was never without hope.

  The way I felt around Borys was different. He made my blood run cold in a way even Lucas and Gregor were never able to accomplish. Whenever he looked at me, it felt as if he was finding delight in all the cruel things he planned to do with me.

  He reached for me and I flinched. He laughed at my reaction, but reached forward anyway. He began to thumb the necklace I was wearing—the one Derek gave me for my birthday. “Beautiful,” Borys complimented. “Who gave it to you?”

  “Someone I love dearly.”

  He scowled. “I don’t like it. Remove it. I never want to see you wear it in my presence again.”

  I stood still, not knowing what to do.

  “Remove it!” Borys growled right into my ear and then reached behind my neck and unclasped the necklace and threw it on the ground. He then grabbed a clump of my hair and said, “The next time I tell you to do something, you obey immediately. Do you understand that, Sofia?”

  I nodded, knowing that defiance toward him would only lead to more pain. He brushed his lips over mine and I felt as though I was about to throw up. I found everything about him absolutely revolting.

  “You’re shaking,” he sneered. “I like that. Vivienne shook the same way when she first came to me.”

  The fact that he would brag about what he had put Vivienne through made my blood boil and it was taking all my self-control not to attack him. “What did you do to her? She was a broken spirit by the time Derek took her away from you.”

  He let go of me and turned away. “I had fun with her. That’s all. Of course, that husband of yours always was a party pooper. I still hate that he’s soiled you already.” He began rummaging for something inside a desk drawer. “But you’re the immune, Sofia. I can’t help but want you.” He took out a velvet pouch.

  My heart almost stopped beating at the sight of it. I knew what it contained. Vivienne’s memories and my recurring nightmares were enough to let me know that the item he was retrieving from the pouch was a necklace—a heart-shaped, ruby-red pendant.

  He approached me, the necklace dangling in his hand. “I want you to wear this every time you’re in my presence, Sofia. Do you understand?”

  Was this what the nightmares were warning me about? Does this mean that I will really lose Derek forever and be Borys’ toy instead? He put the necklace on me, taking liberties by tracing his fingers down my neck and shoulders as he did so. “It looks beautiful on you, does it not?”

  “Why do you want me? What do you mean, I’m ‘the immune?’”

  He chuckled. “Don’t you remember?” He forcefully twisted me around and threw me on the bed. I would’ve screamed but the surprise knocked the breath out of me.

  “What are you doing?” I gasped.

  He approached the bed and quickly climbed on top of me. “Your blood, Sofia…it’s like a siren call. I wonder how any vampire could ever resist it. Especially after having tasted you already...” His fangs came out and he forcefully yanked my head to the side.

  The sight of his fangs etched itself in my mind. And it triggered a memory—an image of him, wearing a different outfit, standing over me, fangs bared. I found myself confused—not sure whether the memory was mine or Vivienne’s, but at that point, it didn’t matter. Borys Maslen was about to feed on me.

  I screamed when his fangs sank into my neck. His hand clamped over my mouth to silence me as he fed on me. Tears were streaming down my face as my mind begged for him to stop, his weight crushing my much smaller frame beneath him and making it difficult for me to even breathe. When I heard the door swing open and a voice I recognized as Ingrid’s called out his name, relief washed over me.

  “Really, Borys?” Ingrid groaned. “I thought you said you’d only feed on her after your marriage?”

  Borys continued to suck on me for a couple more seconds before pulling his fangs away from my neck, sneering down at me as my blood dripped from his lips. “I couldn’t help it. She’s too sweet and enticing.” He turned toward Ingrid. “What do you want now?” he asked through gritted teeth.

  Ingrid seemed annoyed and even slightly concerned for me, but she soon seemed to brush away the fact that her king was draining the blood from her own daughter. “Our special guest has just arrived.”

  A fearsome grin formed
on Borys’ face as he shifted his gaze back to me. “Did you hear that, my lovely Sofia? Derek Novak has come for you.” The hand he had clamped over my mouth tightened as his other hand gently brushed over my hair. “Maybe he really does love you, huh? Do you want to go see him?”

  I nodded furiously, wanting nothing other than to once again be in Derek’s arms, and find comfort in his strength.

  Borys leaned over and whispered into my ear, “I will enjoy watching the reaction on your face when you see him die.”

  Chapter 48: Ben

  Soon after Ingrid had left with Sofia, the guards dragged me out of the room. I wasn’t entirely sure if they were going against Ingrid’s orders to keep me there for Sofia’s sake or if she just allowed me to stay in order to appease Sofia into being compliant about the idea of being brought to Borys. Either way, it didn’t matter. My best friend—still very much the love of my life—was in the arms of a monster and there was nothing I could do about it. Without my hunting weapons, I was useless against the vampires. I was just another weak human being they could prey on.

  “Where are you taking me?” I demanded.

  One of the guards smirked. “To the little blonde vampire.”

  Terror filled me. “But Ingrid just said…”

  The guard hit me on the face, making my surroundings dim and blur. “You are not to call her by name. She is your superior in every way.”

  I gritted my teeth as I fought to stay conscious. One guard had already grabbed me by the arm. That’s when an adrenaline rush took over. I wasn’t going to be handed to Claudia on a silver platter. No. Not again. Not without a fight. Summoning all my strength, I managed to tackle him to the ground. He fell with a loud thud. The only way I knew how to kill one without a stake or a UV gun was to rip their hearts out, but I doubted I had enough strength to do it.

  Thus, with one vampire down and the other still in shock that a human would dare fight back, I made a run for it. Of course, I was no match for the vampires’ speed and agility, so I didn’t get far before they hit me on the back of my head and forced me unconscious.