A Shade of Vampire 9

by Bella Forrest

  The last thing I wanted right now was to see anyone. Even my closest friends. So I headed through the woods, staying in the shadows, and walked toward our penthouse.

  As I walked, I thought of all that had happened in the past forty-eight hours. I thought of the man my sister had returned with. The traitor we had all welcomed as a guest. I remembered shaking hands with him, thanking him. And I thought of how distressed my sister had appeared when my parents had told her that he was responsible for Anna’s disappearance. The way she’d tried to argue against the only possible explanation. The way she still seemed to hold on to a shred of hope that it wasn’t him.

  At first, I’d understood her shock. Caleb had seemed to genuinely want to save us. But my father and mother’s words were undeniable: there was nobody else who could have done it.

  It made me worry that Rose might have held deeper feelings for him than I had imagined. I found myself thinking about her account of the time she was away. She’d said she was mostly locked up in a room in the castle, with some time spent in Caleb’s quarters. Now I shuddered to think of her being in such close proximity to that man.

  It was past midnight by the time I arrived back in our penthouse. I poured myself a glass of water in the kitchen, then headed straight to my bedroom. When I pushed open my door, I almost dropped the glass.

  Sleeping in my bed was a girl. Yasmine.

  A girl I’d stopped dating almost nine months ago.

  I groaned, placed my water on the bedside table and sat down on the edge of the bed. I reached for her shoulder and nudged her. She came to a few seconds later, sitting bolt upright.

  Her light brown hair hung messily around her face, her blue eyes blinking at me. Her face broke out into a shy smile. “Hi, Ben,” she said.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked, frowning at her.

  “I’ve missed you. Corrine didn’t want anyone but family visiting you, so I figured I’d just wait here in your room.”

  I rubbed my face with my hands. Yasmine was the last person on this island I wanted to be seeing right now. I wasn’t even the mood to be with my sister.

  “How are you?” Yasmine asked, reaching for my shoulder.

  I sighed and looked at the wall opposite me. “I’m all right,” I muttered. “But I still need time to myself.”

  I was hoping she’d take the hint, but she didn’t move. I stood up and stared down at her hogging my bed. She had a deliberately blank expression on her face.

  “Yasmine,” I said, trying to behave like a gentleman even though I was feeling less like one each second that passed. “As much as I appreciate your well wishes, we broke things off almost a year ago. What are you doing in my bed?”

  “You broke things off.” She finally sat up and swung her legs off the edge of the bed, a hurt expression in her eyes.

  I ran a hand through my hair. I really don’t need this right now. “Okay, I broke things off.”

  It wasn’t like there had been much to break off. We hadn’t been dating long—a few weeks at the most—and it had never gone any further than a few kisses.

  Still glaring at me, Yasmine stood up and crossed my room toward the exit.

  “Why did you break up with me? I never did understand.”

  I thought back to the day I’d ended things with her. Yasmine was gorgeous, but after our first kiss she’d gotten so clingy, I could barely go to the bathroom without her asking where I was going. I’d felt suffocated around her and found myself finding excuses to avoid her.

  “You’re great, Yasmine. And I’m just an immature jerk who’s not ready for a relationship yet. Least of all with you. I don’t deserve you. So stop pining after me and find a guy who does. There are plenty of them on this island.”

  She smiled slightly, seemingly satisfied with my flattery. “Thanks, Ben,” she said, and floated out of the room.

  I lay back and breathed out as the front door to our apartment slammed shut. I stretched out, staring up at the ceiling.

  I thought again of Kristal. It wasn’t like I’d had much time to get to know her. So it was hard to say if anything could have worked out between us.

  I closed my eyes.

  To my surprise, there was a loud knock.

  I groaned and got up, heading toward the front door. Please don’t let this be Yasmine back for more drama…

  But it wasn’t. On opening the door I found myself standing face to face with a pretty blonde vampire with baby blue eyes: eighteen-year-old Abigail Hudson. Or Abby, as we called her.

  I’d never been that close with Abby—we knew each other, of course, but Abby was the reclusive type. When she wasn’t working in the school, she kept to herself. And when she did come to visit she’d speak mostly to my sister or my mother. Which was only natural, I supposed. I often blamed it on my name. It must have been strange for her looking at a young man named after her dead brother.

  “Ben,” she said. “Has Rose returned yet?”

  “Hm?” It was late. I had assumed that Rose would already be in her bed. “Come in, Abby,” I said, swinging the door open. “I’ll check now.”

  I jogged to my sister’s bedroom and knocked.

  There was no answer.

  I knocked again.

  When there was still no answer I opened the door. Rose’s bed was empty. I returned to the living room where Abby stood waiting. “She’s not there.”

  “Okay,” Abby said. “Because Corrine checked here about half an hour ago and Rose hadn’t returned yet, so she’s becoming worried.”

  I reached for my cloak near the door and pulled it on, fastening it around me. I rushed downstairs with Abby and we began hurrying through the woods.

  “Where do you think she is?” Abby asked.

  “She’ll be on the island somewhere,” I said confidently. In fact, I knew exactly where to look.

  “I’m glad you’re back, Ben,” Abby said, casting me a sideways glance. “We were all worried about you.”

  “I’m glad too,” I said.

  We didn’t talk again until we had exited the woods and arrived at the clearing by the Port.

  Abby was about to walk down to the Port’s control room to check for her there, but I shook my head.

  “She won’t be down there,” I said.

  We walked along the beach together until the soft sand ended and we reached the foot of a cliff. We both looked up at the lighthouse perched among the rocks.

  Our parents asked everyone to stay away from it, but I knew Rose still snuck up there when she was upset about something. That was precisely why it made a good hiding place—people stayed away from it out of respect for our parents.

  “Aha.” Abby smiled as I pointed up to the top of the lighthouse where candlelight flickered in the windows. “I should have thought to check here.”

  Abby and I climbed over the rocks until we reached the entrance at the base of the lighthouse. We hurried up the steps toward the top. I placed my ear against the door and heard soft breathing. I pushed the door and it creaked open.

  A few candles had been lit in the corner of the room and Rose lay curled up on the bed, her knees resting against her chest, sleeping in a fetal position.

  I bent down over her and touched her shoulder. I was immediately struck by how wet her dress was. She’s going to catch a cold if she stays in these clothes for much longer. She might have even caught one already.

  I brushed her hair away from her face and frowned. Although she appeared peaceful, something was wrong for her to fall asleep in this state. Rose wasn’t normally careless like this.

  I leant down and kissed her forehead. “Rose,” I whispered, shaking her.

  Her eyelids flickered open and she looked up at me, rubbing her eyes.

  “Huh, where am I? What are you—” She sat up and looked around her, then sighed and buried her face in her hands.

  “Corrine was worried about you,” I said. I reached down and scooped her up in my arms. “Come on, let’s go home.”

>   She reached her arms around my neck and buried her head against my chest, closing her eyes again. We made our way back down the lighthouse, over the rocks, and returned to the Port. Rose didn’t say anything throughout our walk, she just remained silent, her eyes closed. Once we reached the port, Abby parted ways with us.

  “Well, I’ll tell Corrine she can stop worrying.”

  “Thanks, Abby,” I said, glancing at her.

  “Good night,” she said. Then she hurried off into the shadows of the trees.

  Still holding Rose in my arms, I ascended in the elevator and entered the apartment. I carried her to her bedroom and then stopped in the middle of it. I attempted to stand her on her feet but her legs folded beneath her.

  “Oh, come on, Rose,” I said impatiently, tugging at her to stand up. I remembered she used to do this as a game when we were children: insist that I gave her piggy-backs, and then when I set her down, she would pretend her legs had turned to jelly and I had to continue carrying her.

  Only now, I was sure that she wasn’t playing any game.

  She gripped hold of my arm and stood up. Her face was pale, her eyes bloodshot as though she’d been crying.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  She shook her head, opening a drawer and retrieving some woolen pajamas. “I’m just feeling… restless.”

  “We all are,” I said. “But they’ll return safely with Anna. I know they will. I don’t know what is holding them up… but remember they’re with Ibrahim and lots of other witches. Dad has brought with him the best fighters he has. For all we know, they’ll come back while we’re sleeping and we’ll find them here in the morning when we wake up.”

  She gulped and nodded. “Yeah, I know.”

  “Now just change into something dry and go to sleep,” I said, sighing and closing the door.

  She walked to the door and caught it just before I closed it. She looked at me through the crack, offering me a weak smile. “Thanks, Ben,” she whispered. “I’m glad you’re up and about again.”

  “Yeah,” I said, looking at her with mock disdain. “So you can use me as your manservant again. I bet you missed that.”

  She chuckled and closed her door.

  I returned to my room, shaking my head. We were all on the edge of our seats waiting for them to return. Rose wasn’t the only one.

  We just need to sit tight and wait for them to return with Anna. And once they do, the island will be able to breathe again.

  Chapter 12: Rose

  My head was groggy when I woke the next morning, and my throat felt sore from the stupidity of falling asleep in the chilly lighthouse in damp clothes.

  Brushing away the thoughts that had been muddling my brain about Griffin and Caleb, I jumped out of bed and rushed to my parents’ bedroom. I swung the door wide open. My heart sank on seeing that it was still empty.

  What on earth could be taking them so long? If they don’t return by the end of today that will be two full days of their absence. Surely retrieving Anna would only take a few hours with all the forces they brought with them. Unless Anna wasn’t at either of the islands and they’re still looking for her…

  Ben had woken up uncharacteristically early too and he shared my worried look when I told him they still hadn’t returned. He too ran through the same rationalizations I had, but still looked disconcerted. I downed some milk from the fridge while he grabbed a piece of toast before we both ran off to see what Corrine made of this situation. She would be just as anxious about her husband.

  We entered the Sanctuary and found the witch in her potion room with Eli. They were both sitting round her wooden table, deep in discussion. The witch was holding a large black book between them. She shut it as soon as she saw us enter and they both looked at us.

  Corrine already knew what was on our minds just from our expressions. “I can’t pretend that I’m not surprised they’re not back yet,” she said. “Ibrahim had predicted six hours to a couple of days—depending on whether Anna was still on one of the islands.” Her voice trembled slightly as she said her husband’s name.

  “What do you think has happened?” I asked, even though I was scared to hear the answer.

  “I don’t know. The only thing I can think of is that Anna was missing from the islands and they’ve gone off on some other trail looking for her. But they would have sent one of the witches back with a message.”

  A silence fell as we looked at each other.

  “We can’t just keep sitting here and doing nothing,” Ben said.

  “No, we can’t,” Eli said, clearing his throat. “If they’re still not back by tomorrow… we’re going to have to do something.”

  “But we have no subs left to even travel there. They took all of them.”

  “We have a couple of spare submarines they left in case of an emergency. But they shouldn’t be needed because we have a few witches we might be able to spare for a day or so to see what happened.”

  “I want to go,” I butted in.

  Corrine scoffed. “You are going nowhere, young lady.”

  I stared from Corrine to Eli. It was clear that there would be no budging either of them on this.

  “Look, there’s no point arguing about this now,” she continued. “They could return in a few hours. Let’s just hope they return before tomorrow. All right?”

  I nodded, though my stomach continued to twist itself into knots. All sorts of dark possibilities began to play on my mind. What if they’re trapped there? What if they were too late to save Anna and all their work and sacrifice has gone in vain?

  We left Corrine and Eli in the Sanctuary.

  I decided it was time for me to pay a visit to Kyle. I’d been avoiding going near them since I returned because I knew what a shock this was for him, Ariana and Jason. I didn’t want to poke my nose in too soon, but now that it had been a few days, I felt compelled to visit them to see how they were managing.

  Ben and I parted ways while I continued through the forest until I reached the town center, the Vale. There weren’t many people bustling around at this time in the morning. I crossed the stone streets and headed straight for the school in the town center. Kyle and Anna’s house was just a few doors along to the right, a pretty stone townhouse with a flower garden out front.

  I approached the front door and pressed my ear against it. Hearing nothing, I knocked.

  It opened after a couple of minutes and Kyle appeared in the doorway. His face was pale and unshaven, his dark hair unbrushed. Even though only a few days had passed, he was already looking thinner. He had dark circles beneath his eyes and I could have sworn that I noticed a few grey hairs that had never been there before. He forced a smile on seeing me. “Rose,” he said. “Come in.”

  I nodded and stepped inside, removing my shoes at the door. I followed him through their cozy townhouse, along the corridor and through to the spacious kitchen and dining area. My eyes settled on the kitchen table where Ariana and Jason sat, twirling their spoons in bowls of cereal.

  My heart ached at how dejected they both looked. They too looked like they hadn’t eaten or slept properly for days.

  Ariana’s eyes welled with tears as she saw me. She stood up from the table and walked over to me, throwing herself in my arms. She began to cry.

  I brushed her hair with my hand, holding her tightly, though I was unsure what words of comfort I could give her since I myself was riddled with doubts right now.

  The more she cried, the harder she squeezed me. Kyle stood staring at his daughter. There was nothing that he could say that would make her feel better. Jason’s face was ashen as he glanced back at me.

  I was afraid to say anything at all. It felt like they were already suffering so much that anything I said might make them feel worse. So I kept quiet and continued to allow Ariana to hug me.

  It was Kyle who broke the silence. “Rose, can I talk to you upstairs?”

  “Of course,” I said.

  “Guys,” he said, looking at
his two children, “at least try to finish your breakfast while I’m gone.”

  Ariana slunk back over to the table and sat back down next to her brother. I felt their eyes follow us as we left the room.

  I followed Kyle upstairs. We entered his and Anna’s bedroom, where he closed the door behind us. I followed him out onto the balcony, and we both stood holding onto the banister looking out at the star-speckled sky.

  “I’m so sorry.” Breaking down, I sank to the floor, my head in my hands. “If Ben and I hadn’t escaped, none of this would have happened.”

  Kyle stared down at me, frowning. “I suspected that you were blaming yourself for this,” he said, his voice hoarse. “But you mustn’t, Rose. Anna wouldn’t want you to, and neither do I. If we each thought about all the possible consequences of our actions, we’d never do anything in life. Sometimes things happen that we could never predict.”

  “I’m sorry all the same,” I said.

  He walked over to me and held out a hand. I took it and he pulled me to my feet. Even though I still felt a weight on my chest, hearing this from Kyle, Anna’s husband, made it a little easier to bear.

  “Nobody can blame you for acting your age. For wanting a taste of life outside what your parents have chalked out for you. And certainly, nobody can blame you for not suspecting that Caleb was a fraud. Hell, he even fooled your father.”

  I gulped, nodding. Again pain tore through my chest at mention of the vampire’s name.

  “Yes,” I murmured. “I suppose I couldn’t have suspected that.”

  Chapter 13: Rose

  When our parents still didn’t return the following day, Eli and Corrine dispatched a group of half a dozen witches to check both Stellan and Caleb’s islands. Other than Corrine and Adelle, they were some of the most powerful witches we had left on the island. Many of them were teachers, so substitutes had to be found among the human population. Abby and Adelle were left managing the school along with some of the humans. It was important that we maintained a sense of normalcy for the children as much as we could.