It felt like a heavy weight had just been lifted off my chest. I could see how powerful Mona was now. And although I didn’t know what had been happening to our parents all this time, it felt like, finally, we were in safe hands.
Even though Corrine looked nervous that they should be leaving us now, just at the dawn of an attack from Annora, I also saw behind the fear that she too had faith in Mona.
Corrine glanced at us as Mona and Kiev gathered together a group of uninjured vampires and werewolves to form a large circle in the clearing.
“Don’t even think about it,” Corrine snapped, hurrying over and snatching both Ben’s and my wrists. She gripped us so tightly it felt like she was cutting of the blood flow to our hands. We stood by her side as Mona stepped into the center of the circle they had formed and vanished them all into thin air.
Although it still felt insane to admit, knowing Mona and Kiev were leading the way, I didn’t feel as restless as I had before. If they couldn’t bring our parents, grandfather, Ibrahim and Zinnia back, nobody could. Ben too looked calmer.
Kiev, whoever he was now… I had faith in his eyes.
I imagined I would have looked into those eyes as an infant when he came to the scene of Ben and my birth. And I imagined then that I would have been looking into the eyes of a monster.
But now when I looked at him, I saw a man starving to reconnect with humanity. A man in desperate need of redemption.
Chapter 29: Rose
Corrine vanished Ben and I to the Catacombs. Our feet hit solid ground and we found ourselves in a rectangular chamber. Sacks of grain were piled in each corner. There were many storage rooms like this in the bowels of the Black Heights, but I recognized this one as the largest of all our mountain chambers. Several dozen humans were already sitting around in here, their irises reflecting the flickering lanterns. It had been almost two decades since humans set foot in these Catacombs for anything more than collecting food grains or piling up the storage rooms with more stock.
They looked up anxiously on noticing us.
“Stay here,” Corrine said to us. “And don’t leave until I come to tell you that it’s safe. Don’t forget that you’re humans too, and while vampires are allowed to remain outside, you’re not.”
Corrine vanished, leaving Ben and I to look for a seat somewhere.
“Rose.”
I turned around. Griffin had stood up and was waving at me. Groaning internally, I left Ben and made my way over to him.
It saddened me. Before, I always looked forward to seeing Griffin. Now it was everything I could do to avoid him. Of course, I’d barely had time to think of him recently with everything that had happened, but now that he stood in front of me, his face pale with concern, my discomfort came flooding back.
Is this is what our relationship will be like from now on?
I walked up to him and we both sat down on a sack of rice.
I was steeling myself for an awkward encounter, but when I looked up at him, he just continued looking concerned. “My father told me everything,” he said. “I’m sorry, Rose.” He gripped my hand.
I swallowed hard, and nodded. My heart ached for Griffin. His mother was trapped with Annora too.
I wasn’t sure how much he’d heard about the situation with Kiev and Mona, so I began updating him on everything that had happened. As expected, he responded with shock, and then relief.
After I’d finished telling him everything, we both fell into silence. I looked around the room. The other humans were talking in hushed voices, worry written on their faces.
So much had come to pass since my confrontation with Caleb in his apartment back on his island, it was only now that I was sitting silent that the full weight of the encounter came crushing down on me again.
I should have pulled that trigger.
Now that I’d heard it from the vampire’s own mouth, there was no more room for doubt. Caleb had deceived me from day one. And there I was feeling sorry for him. I felt embarrassed and angry with myself that I’d allowed him to fool me.
I thought of Mona and Kiev. Corrine had explained that the plan was to wait until Mona sensed Annora’s presence leave the island and then break in during the time she was trying to storm The Shade. That way, they would be attacking Caleb’s island at its weakest.
I was expecting to feel a sense of vengeance or satisfaction on thinking about Caleb getting his comeuppance. But instead I just felt… sadness. A sense of loss. Even though it didn’t make sense, now that I knew that there was nothing between us to lose in the first place.
Again, embarrassment took hold of me. That I’d returned his fake behavior with genuine emotion set my cheeks ablaze and made my heartbeat quicken.
I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the rough stone wall. Griffin reached for my hand and squeezed it. I looked up at him, afraid of what I might see in his eyes.
But I just saw Griff. He wasn’t trying to be romantic. He was just trying to be there for me in the way that I needed him most at that moment: as my friend. I couldn’t have adored him more for being himself again. For not making me feel awkward around him.
As we sat in the cave for hours, he didn’t give off any sign that he was waiting on my reply to his request for a date. And for that I couldn’t have been more grateful.
Good ol’ Griff.
I wondered then, even if Caleb never had been in the picture, whether I might have still preferred Griffin as a friend. It definitely felt more natural.
I think I love Griff more as a friend than I could a lover.
I just had to hope that telling him this wouldn’t shatter his heart.
But before anything else, I had to get over that stupid vampire.
I had to pull myself together and see him for what he really was: a lie.
Chapter 30: Sofia
I’d fallen unconscious by the time the witch had finished torturing us. When I woke again, we were back in a dungeon. I opened my eyes and found myself lying in Derek’s lap.
I sat up and held his head in my hands. I could still see traces of the agony we’d just experienced in his eyes. I’d thought the witch was going to kill us. I was surprised to find myself awake again. I hadn’t thought that even a vampire could survive such agony.
Derek reached up to touch my own face, brushing the hair away from my forehead. “Are you all right?” he asked.
I scowled. “As all right as I can be after that.”
My whole body felt weak—my limbs, muscles… hell, my very bones felt shattered. It hurt just sitting up.
I looked across the dungeon to see Ibrahim, Aiden and Zinnia staring at us from their cell. “Sofia,” my father called, reaching a hand through the bars. “How are you feeling?”
Being a vampire, he would have already been able to hear the answer I’d given Derek. I guessed he was just asking the question again for his own comfort.
“Not well,” I said honestly, rubbing the base of my spine. I looked back at Derek. “What now?”
Derek shook his head.
I didn’t understand why Annora was still keeping us alive. Surely, she should have killed us for our audacity in attempting escape.
I pressed my lips against Derek’s as he held me closer. He seemed to be in a worse state than me. Perhaps because he’d put up more of a fight. He had dark bruises all over his body, and a deep gash in his cheek that wasn’t showing signs of healing.
Remembrance of our failed mission crashed over me. Tears spilled from my eyes. I was mourning for Anna now. Anna and her unborn child. Thinking about Kyle and their two other children choked me up even more.
Despite the grief consuming me, I realized that I had to put thoughts of Anna aside. Mourning for her now would only make me weaker. I had to think of my own family. Of our twins. Of my vow to keep them safe and not let them grow up parentless. Taking deep breaths and biting back the pain, I brushed away the tears from my eyes with the back of my sleeve.
“Annora could be at
tacking The Shade by now,” Zinnia said, her face ashen.
The thought chilled me to the bone. Zinnia was right. Annora was clearly capable of it. And since we had so many humans there was no logical reason for her to not do it.
“We still don’t even know what they use these humans for,” my father muttered.
“Well, whatever they use them for, they—”
A deafening crash shook the dungeon. Particles fell from the ceiling. I coughed, dust filling the air.
“What the hell?” Derek breathed.
We all stared at each other as there was another loud crash. Then screams and shouts. The sounds of battle breaking out overhead.
The commotion continued, only increasing in intensity. I jumped as a crack of wood echoed through our dungeon. Everyone scrambled toward the gates, peering through toward the direction of the entrance. Except Derek and I. It was though our limbs were still paralyzed from the torture the witch had put us through.
“What’s going on?” I hissed.
Their faces were too stunned by whatever had just entered for them to answer.
“What is it?” Derek urged.
As heavy footsteps approached, their mouths hung open.
Heavy leather boots stopped in front of our cell. I raised my eyes up the body of a tall man covered in a black cloak, and when my eyes reached his face, I almost choked on my tongue.
Chapter 31: Derek
Kiev Novalic.
The green-eyed vampire ripped open our cell door. With slow footsteps he approached within a couple of feet of where Sofia and I were slumped. The dim lighting of the dungeon cast shadows across his face. His eyes traveled from Sofia to me, then back to Sofia again.
No matter how much his features changed, there was no way I wouldn’t have recognized this vampire after the amount of misery he had caused my family. Kiev Novalic was burned into my memory for all eternity. He could grow a beard, get a goddamn tattoo across his face, and I’d recognize him in an instant.
An uncontrollable rage erupted in the pit of my stomach.
I’d never had the chance to pay him back for what he’d done to my family. To Natalie Borgia. Memories of all the pain he’d inflicted on us came flooding back. Adrenaline rushed through me. I was shocked to find that I was able to push myself up and stand on my feet.
Now that I was level with him, we were standing barely a foot apart. A growl escaped my lips. I didn’t know why or how he was here. But none of it mattered. Weak or not, I was going to finally make him feel my wrath.
“Derek Novak.” His face was expressionless as he spoke my name.
The sound of his voice threw me over the edge. I launched myself at him. Gripping his neck between my hands, I pushed him back into the corridor and smashed his head against the wall.
Extending his claws, he lashed out at my stomach. I jumped back before he could cause serious damage, though he managed to graze my skin. Staggering slightly, but commanding every bit of willpower I had to remain steady, I extended my own claws and attacked him again. Ducking, I threw myself at his midriff. We both crashed to the floor.
Pinning him against the stone, I dealt him blow after blow. He caught hold of one of my wrists, blocking a punch. Digging his claws into the flesh of my forearms, he weakened my grip on him. Rolling over on the floor, he escaped my grasp.
“You dare show your face before me?” I hurled myself against him again, crushing him against the iron gate of a cell. He gripped my head and jerked it forward, smashing it against metal. Pain seared through my already aching skull. I looked daggers at him, preparing myself to lash out again.
Breathing heavily, he backed away from me. “Derek. Enough.”
Truth be told, I was surprised that he hadn’t been fighting more aggressively. I was expecting him to try to inflict as much pain on me as he could. But all he’d been doing so far was defending.
“Kiev.” Sofia’s weak voice came from behind me. I turned around to see Sofia hauling herself up against the broken gate. She gazed up at Kiev, her face a mixture of confusion and fear. “What are you doing here?”
He averted his eyes away from me and looked down at Sofia. His face softened slightly as he looked at my wife.
I didn’t care what he was doing here. All that mattered was that he was here, within a few inches of my claws. It infuriated me that I’d still barely scratched him.
My body was beginning to feel the strain when all it wanted was to crumple to the floor. I forced myself toward him again. This time, hands gripped me from behind.
I whirled around to see a young female vampire and another tall male standing behind me.
“Derek,” the girl said. “Stop it. We’re here to help you.”
I stared at her, dumbfounded. “Who are you?”
She reached out her hand and said, “Your family.”
Speechless, I looked from her to the other vampire, and then back to Kiev. It sank in that they were siblings. The resemblance was unmistakeable.
But my family?
The adrenaline subsiding, my knees were weakening fast. I gripped hold of a gate. “What?”
“My name is Helina,” she said. “This is Erik.” She pointed to the brown-eyed male vampire. “We are Kiev’s siblings. And your distant cousins.”
My heart hammered in my chest faster than when Annora had tortured me.
No.
No.
That bastard is not related to me.
“Prove it,” I spat.
Erik and Helina exchanged glances. Running a hand through his hair, Erik spoke. “It’s far too long of a story to explain now, but we know it from the Elders themselves. Think about it, Derek. It’s no coincidence that so many family members end up as vampires. Once they find a bloodline they like, they come back for more.”
Still convinced that he was lying, but unable to counter him, I changed the subject. “Why would Kiev help us?”
This time Kiev responded, though he was looking at Sofia as he answered. “Come with us, or stay here in this dungeon,” he said calmly. “We don’t have time for more talk.”
I stared at Sofia. She raised her eyebrows, her lips parted, breathing heavily as she looked up at the man who’d caused her more grief than any mother should have to go through.
He held out his hand to her, though it seemed to me to be more of a challenge than an offer of help.
But I was shocked when something flickered in her eyes. She reached out and took his hand.
“Sofia,” I breathed. “What are you doing?”
She looked back at me weakly as he wrapped an arm around her waist and helped her to her feet.
“I have no idea,” she said. “But I’d rather take this risk than stay trapped in this dungeon a second longer.”
Helina took over steadying Sofia as Kiev turned back to me. To my horror, he reached out his hand to me. I was about to mock his gesture, but caught sight of Sofia’s pleading expression.
I shut my eyes, drawing in a breath.
I can’t believe I’m about to do this.
God knew, it was for Sofia alone that I gripped Kiev Novalic’s hand.
An infuriating smirk crossed his lips as he hauled me to my feet. Then his arm was around my own waist as he began helping me out of the dungeon. My chest constricted, I looked anywhere but in Kiev’s direction. I caught sight of Ibrahim, Aiden and Zinnia up ahead. They’d already been freed by some other vampires I didn’t recognize.
Although my mind burned with a hundred questions, I was glad that Kiev remained silent. We reached the top of the stairs and a young woman with long blonde hair hurried toward us. She eyed me briefly, then looked at Kiev.
Reaching for his face, she planted a passionate kiss on his lips.
“I was worried,” she said. “I didn’t know you’d gone to get them already.” She looked back at me again. “This is Derek Novak?”
Kiev grunted, letting go of me unceremoniously and leaving me to stand on my own two feet. I gripped hold of a c
olumn for support. The blonde approached me and, before I could object, placed both hands either side of my head. She muttered something beneath her breath and a warm sensation rushed through my body. I was able to stand without gripping the pillar as all the strength my body had lost returned to me.
So this is a witch.
An odd couple. I wondered how she and Kiev had ever gotten together. And more to the point, how any woman could stand the man for more than a few hours.
The witch walked toward Sofia, who was still standing with Helina’s arm wrapped around her. The witch placed her hands on Sofia as she had done with me. A few moments later, a look of relief spread across Sofia’s face and she stood up straight. Kiev’s sister let go of her. Sofia hurried over to me. She slid her arms around my neck and pressed her lips against mine, tears of relief in her eyes.
I didn’t understand why she was experiencing such relief. We still had no idea what these Novalics’ intentions were.
“Anna,” she murmured. “Helina told me they returned Anna to The Shade.”
“What?”
“Anna has given birth already. She’s back in The Shade with her baby.”
“Well, I wouldn’t get too excited yet,” I said darkly. “They could be lying.”
“Hurry,” the witch called out, looking around the chamber.
Sofia held my hand, entwining her fingers with mine, and pulled me forward as we joined Aiden, Ibrahim, Zinnia and the other vampires who’d come to help us escape the dungeon. We exited the chamber and entered the main entrance hall.
It was a battleground. A blur of vampire clashing against vampire, and… wolves. Giant black and brown werewolves. I wasn’t sure now which of these creatures were on Annora’s side, and which on Kiev’s.
As for Annora, where was she? And how could they have entered so easily?
I glanced at the blonde witch and could only assume that she must have been more powerful than The Shade’s witches.
“Retreat!” Kiev bellowed through the chaos.
Kiev stood behind Sofia and I now. He pushed us forward as vampires and werewolves hurried together to form one tight-knit bundle. I was loath to find myself standing next to Kiev, his shoulder brushing against mine.
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