At that, Emilia seemed to have had enough of our melodrama. “This is boring,” she spat out. “Do I get my demands or not? The way I see it, I think you’re getting the better end of the deal. You get The Shade back and all I get is one week with the man I love. Hardly seems fair…”
Something about what she said rubbed me the wrong way and I had no idea where I got the confidence but I managed to stare right at her and say, “You are not to harm Derek in any way.”
“I love him,” she hissed at me. “How could I ever harm him?”
“Sofia isn’t to be harmed either,” Derek spoke up.
At this, Emilia grimaced. “Really? More demands? Are you really in the position to make more demands?”
“Do you want that week or not?” Derek responded confidently.
We were about to find out just how desperate she was to have time alone with Derek.
“You’re pushing me.” She glared at him so intensely I wondered how she could possibly love him. Her glare quickly darted toward me and I was almost sure she was going to attack me or put a spell on me.
Derek, however, was unmoving in his resolve. He took a step forward, pushing me behind him in a protective gesture. “Sofia is not to be harmed. Corrine gets her powers back. Vivienne wakes up from the spell. Not only are you going to put the original protective spell back on the island, you’re also going to secure it with the same force field you’re using to protect The Sanctuary right now – and I get to control who gets to go in and who gets to go out.”
Emilia was clearly not happy with the new set of demands Derek was making. She began to stretch her neck and her arms as she slowly approached. She fixed her gaze on me, eyeing me from head to foot.
I felt so young and so unattractive when compared to her. She had this classy sophistication about her. Elegant. Gorgeous. Confident. Self-assured. Things I wasn’t. It wasn’t difficult to understand why Derek was so taken by her.
She smirked at me, perhaps noticing my admiration of her appearance. “Very well then. I agree to all those terms.”
My stomach turned. I was hoping she wouldn’t agree. I was hoping that Derek wouldn’t have to spend a week or even a single second with her. Who knows what they could do to him there? One week suddenly felt like an eternity. I was gripping Derek’s arm so tightly I didn’t even realize it until Derek gave me a look that mirrored my own desperation.
I couldn’t even fathom the reason behind why Emilia would want an entire week with Derek, but I knew that there was a strong possibility that I could lose him. Is our love strong enough? Afraid of what was to come, I stood to my tiptoes, threw my arms around his neck and kissed him, not caring how it would affect Emilia.
It seemed Derek couldn’t give a damn about what Emilia felt too, because he picked me up in his strong arms and returned the kiss with equal if not more passion.
By the time our lips parted, Emilia was glaring daggers at us. She was red with fury and any beauty she possessed was faded away by the darkness oozing out of her. I could sense the threats that came with the way she was looking at me. I could tell that it would give her great pleasure to see me harmed.
An echo from the past began to circle my mind as I realized what was hanging in the balance. Derek and I were strongest together and we were weakest apart. I squeezed Derek’s hand. I was reminded of how hard he had to fight in order to keep our relationship intact, what with his attraction to Emilia. How much harder would he have to fight now that we have to be apart?
I began to tremble and he felt it. He looked my way and whispered into my ear, “Our love is strong enough, Sofia.”
I wanted to believe him with all my heart, but looking at the veiled triumph behind Emilia’s eyes, I wasn’t so certain our love could survive what she was about to put us both through. Still, I mustered up all the conviction and faith I had in me to nod at Derek and say, “Of course it is, Derek. Of course it is.”
Chapter 23: Kyle
The Shade was in ruins. The Vale was a pile of ashes and most of the Residences were wiped out. The only structures in The Shade that remained intact were the Black Heights and The Sanctuary. Half of the Crimson Fortress was just a pile of rubble.
We’d been fighting for what felt like hours and the enemy vampires were coming in droves and just when I thought we had no more fight left in us, someone screamed, “Retreat!” And they all began to return to their choppers flying off and leaving us to pick up the pieces left by their attack.
I didn’t know what caused their retreat, but I was relieved when they began backing off. I had never been more exhausted in my life. I couldn’t even count the number of times a stake was almost driven into my heart. In fact, I still had three stakes buried into several parts of my body – one at my back, the other on my shoulder, the other on my leg. I was battling one vampire, and another one was about to come right at me when they called for the retreat.
When they retreated, I just fell to the ground, unwilling to look at the casualties surrounding me. I heard one of the attackers chuckle as he passed by me. “This is what happens to anybody who crosses the Elder,” he said.
I wondered what we could’ve possibly done to cross the original vampire, when we weren’t really even sure that the first vampire existed.
I pulled the stake out of my leg, gritting my teeth at the pain. I had just tossed it aside when a familiar voice called out my name.
“Kyle!”
She hadn’t even reached me yet, but I already knew her well enough to know that it was her. Anna. I could sense her presence, smell her sweet scent, practically see in my mind’s eye her beauty. She came to me from behind, hugging my neck as she whispered into my ear.
“Are you alright?”
All I could do was groan in response. As alright as I could be I guess.
“You look like crap, man.” Another familiar voice. Ian’s.
Before I could respond, he pulled out the wooden stake from behind me. I screamed in agony. I could practically see the smirk on his face. I turned around to glare at him and was surprised to find him with an ugly gash right through his upper torso – his shirt torn from the claw marks.
“What?” He grinned. “You’re not the only one who wants to fight for The Shade. I mean, I’m not crazy about being a slave to you vamps, but I’m assuming that Derek is a better king to serve than whoever just attacked us.”
“Everything is ruined…” Tears were brimming Anna’s eyes as she looked me over with such affection.
I ached, upon seeing the look in her eyes. Since she’d been seeing Corrine, it’d been difficult to figure her moods out.
Anna was a pendulum, going from me to Ian, then from Ian back to me again. Over the past few days she’d been seeing Corrine, she always seemed to prefer being around either me or him. During the days when she preferred me, it was heaven. She was her old, fun, smart, bubbly self – just like she was during our nights at the lake. Of course, the times she spent with Ian were complete hell. It drove me completely nuts trying to avoid thinking about what they were doing or talking about.
Does she smile at him like she does me? Do they talk about the same things?
After the battle, I looked at her wondering whom it was she was gearing more toward. It was hard to tell, considering how it seemed she was a bit more of herself – compassionate, wanting to help and comfort and heal wherever it was needed.
“What just happened?” Ian asked the question that was most likely going through all of the warriors’ minds.
“I have no clue.” I shook my head at Ian before pulling out the stake on my shoulder, noticing how Anna winced on my behalf, knowing how painful it was. “I’m fine, Anna,” I assured her before looking around.
My breath hitched when I saw Ashley walking towards us. She was the only member of my clan, the only vampire I’d ever sired and that gave us a connection that made my heart go out to her. She looked so tired and distraught even as the wounds in her body were beginning to heal.
“Have you seen Sam?” she asked me the moment she was within earshot.
I shook my head. I was about to ask her if she was alright, but based on the tears streaming down her face, it was clear that she was not.
“Hey…” I tried to soothe her, reaching out both hands. She immediately fell to my embrace and sobbed on my chest as I brushed my fingers through her blonde hair.
“Everything’s destroyed…” she choked.
I gulped, knowing that the task of rebuilding The Shade was immense. I wanted to reassure her, but I couldn’t find the words to do so. I didn’t even know how to assure myself. So how was I going to offer it?
Question after question were running through my mind. What happened? What’s going to happen? What are we going to do now? I quickly scoped our surroundings and found familiar faces sorting through the rubble. Xavier took one look around, tightened his jaw, and clenched his fists, before rushing off to the direction of the Pavilion – most likely to check on Vivienne. Yuri was kissing Claudia and whispering words of reassurance into her ear. Cameron and Liana were staring at each other from a distance as they both just went through the lifeless bodies of vampires – from the enemy’s side and ours – and humans. On the far horizon, coming from the direction of The Sanctuary, I caught a glimpse of Sam rushing towards us.
“Hey, Ash…” I whispered to the girl who was the closest thing I had to family in The Shade, “It’s Sam. He’s coming.”
Ashley pulled away from me and turned her eyes to the direction I pointed to. Within minutes, she was in Sam’s arms. I then turned back to find Ian and Anna still standing behind me, looking at the chaos surrounding us.
“I wonder where Sofia is,” Ian muttered. “She would have an idea about what just went on.”
“She’s at The Sanctuary with Derek and Emilia,” Sam told us, before filling us in on what he knew. “Corrine doesn’t have her powers,” he finally concluded. “She can’t even get into The Sanctuary. Emilia has put some sort of force field around it. Vivienne is still asleep and Aiden has lost ground with the hunters. They’re gearing up for an attack.”
I swallowed hard, letting the implication of everything he just said sink in. The horrors of the first years I lived as a vampire before finally finding The Shade began to come back to me. Always running, always seeking out a shadow or a dark place that would keep out the sun… always at the threat of getting murdered or caught by hunters…
“What do you mean Corrine doesn’t have her powers?” Ashley voiced out. “What about the spell protecting the island?”
Sam shook his head. “Gone.”
“That means that the sun is going to rise…” I asked.
Sam shrugged. “Not unless Sofia and Derek find a way to talk Emilia into stopping all this chaos. Perhaps the retreat of the attackers has something to do with…”
Sofia emerged from the woods – coming from the direction of The Sanctuary. It was clear from the glistening in her eyes that she’d been crying. I feared the worst for her and Derek.
All eyes of those present began to turn toward her. We began to gather around her and patiently waited for her to speak up.
Sofia’s eyes were downcast as she spoke. She was clearly shaken based on the way her shoulders were trembling. “The protective spell upon The Shade is back up,” she announced. Murmurs echoed through the crowd gathering around her, especially amongst those who didn’t know that it was gone to begin with. “We are safe from further attack for the next week or so. Emilia has placed a force field around The Shade in order to keep us safe.”
“Why would she do that?” Yuri couldn’t keep himself from asking.
Sofia just gave him a weak smile before looking back down and reciting her speech. “Corrine is back in control of The Sanctuary. She has regained her powers.”
“Why are you the one telling us this?” a random voice among the crowd asked. “Where is Derek? Where is our king?”
At this, Sofia tried to hold back her tears, but she managed to compose herself like the queen we always believed she would eventually be. “Derek will not be on the island for a week. Emilia stopped the war, restored the spell, put up the force field, gave Corrine back her powers and once again awakened Vivienne in exchange for one week with Derek. He has to spend one week at the original vampire’s castle.”
“Why?” Cameron and Liana asked in unison, concern on their faces.
Sofia shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Before anyone else could ask a question, a scream came from the back of the crowd. “The sun! It’s rising!”
I spun around and sure enough, the sun was rising for the first time in hundreds of years in The Shade.
“I thought you said the protective spell was back up?!” someone cried out at Sofia, who was looking at the horizon with pure shock. She clearly had no idea what was going on.
Panic ensued before Cameron finally got a lead on everything and instructed us all to go to The Catacombs. I rushed toward Anna and Ian who both just coaxed me to rush off to The Catacombs before the rays of the sun could reach me.
I was about to do just that when I turned to find Sofia collapsing to the ground. I couldn’t understand what was happening, but I knew that the battle was far from over. Whoever Emilia was, she still seemed to have control over The Shade.
Chapter 24: Derek
The moment our deal was struck, all it took was a snap of Emilia’s fingers before I was no longer in The Shade and we were both inside what I assumed was her chambers.
She sighed with relief the moment she saw her familiar surroundings. “Finally. I’m home,” she purred even as she fell back into the middle of her four-poster bed.
She then curled up over the large, soft covers and stared at me, propping her head up with her hand, her elbow rested on the bed. “And you’re here with me.”
I grimaced. I looked at her and all I could see was a woman who was as attractive on the outside as she was unattractive on the inside.
She rose from her bed and made her way toward me, exaggerating her every movement, obviously made to seduce. “You’re going to fall in love with me, Derek Novak.”
Despite the tension I was feeling, I actually began laughing at that statement. Full-on, uncontrollable laughter… I couldn’t hold it back. I found it hilarious that she could even think that I would fall in love with her.
She seemed annoyed by my reaction. I didn’t care though.
She must’ve eventually gotten tired of my making a jest out of her, because she threw her arms in my direction and to my shock, I was flung back into the air until my back hit the wall, pinned about two feet above the ground. “What the hell are you laughing at?!” she screamed at me, anger burning in her eyes.
I narrowed my eyes at her and wondered to myself how I could’ve ever seen her as beautiful. Is she really so naïve? I still couldn’t hide the amusement in my voice when I responded to her, “Is that why you brought me here, Emilia? You thought that I could fall in love with you in the span of one week?”
She wrinkled her nose at me, disgusted that I was finding her profession of love entertaining.
I didn’t know what it was about this place, but something about it seemed to bring out the darkness in her. I noted how she never acted this way in The Shade. She always seemed so cool and collected, but in her father’s castle, the Blood Keep, as she referred to it, she was like a volcano waiting to explode.
“I’m glad you’re entertained by my words, Derek, but not for long… You’ll see. All I really have to do is get you to remember, Derek. You’ll remember what we had. You’ll realize that we’ve had far more than just one week. You’ll realize that you’ve been falling in love with me for years.”
“You’re delusional,” I practically spat the words out, finding myself disgusted by her.
She smirked and shook her head before pointing one finger at my head. Suddenly, images began to flood into my mind. Dreams buried in my subconscious. Dreams of her and me enveloped in
some sort of mist. Then the scenes changed. The dreams turned into memories – that of me and various hallmarks of my life in The Shade before I went to sleep – each and every one of them a memory I shared with one person alone: Cora.
By the time Emilia was done with me, I couldn’t look her in the eye. She slowly lowered me into the ground. “I know you, Derek. I saw you slowly give in to the darkness. I saw you for exactly who you were back then when you were at your worst and I loved you. I’ve always loved you.”
I stared at her, still trying to make sense of the visions I saw. I steadied myself on the ground and stood to my full height, aware that the woman before me could easily break me in half should she wish it. I flexed my jaw before looking her in the eye and voiced out my question. “You’re Cora?”
She didn’t answer my question. She just smiled and said, “I’m the girl prophesied to help you find true sanctuary. Not Sofia.”
At that, I smirked, my heart swelling with pride as I recalled the woman I loved. Sofia. Her beautiful face, her green eyes, her smile, her touch… I shook my head. “It makes no difference. She has my heart.”
Emilia snapped her fingers, and all of a sudden, I couldn’t remember what Sofia looked like. Panic took hold of me as my eyes shot toward Emilia.
It was her turn to smirk. “Trust me, Derek. I can take every memory you have of Sofia and replace her presence with mine. You’re in my territory now. Sofia Claremont may have your heart today, but believe me when I say that the week won’t end without me taking it from her.”
Emilia’s words hadn’t completely registered in my mind yet when a chilling cold began to sweep throughout the room. I knew Emilia felt it too by the way that she shuddered, her eyes betraying her fear. It was the strangest sensation I’d ever felt - one that I hated to admit wasn’t completely foreign to me. The cold penetrated through my skin to the very core of my bones. I was aware of a presence, dark and foreboding, I could not see. Fear began to envelop me and suddenly I couldn’t see anything but pitch black darkness. I wasn’t even sure if Emilia was still there, because the presence that arrived began to overwhelm my senses and I began to find it hard to breathe.
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