I gazed up at his beautiful brown eyes, the smile fading from my lips.
Crazy for you…
But are you crazy for me?
The truth was, I still didn’t understand Caleb’s feelings toward me. I thought I’d understood them the night he’d kissed me like he was drowning. But that seemed so long ago now. And what with his mourning over Annora, I didn’t know where his heart truly lay. Truth be told, Caleb was still as much a mystery to me as the day I’d first met him. It felt like I’d come to know part of him more since we’d reunited, but most of him, the larger part, still felt closed off from me. Unreachable.
“You’re a free man now, Caleb,” I said softly. “All that’s left is for you to start living like one.”
He lowered himself to the ground next to me and lay on his side, his body parallel with mine.
“Maybe you’re right,” he said.
Our eyes locked again, but then his gaze fell to my lips. He swallowed hard, closing his eyes.
“What?” I whispered.
There was a long pause before he spoke again.
“I want to kiss you, Rose.”
Butterflies erupted in my stomach. A chill ran down my spine.
“Then why don’t you?” I whispered, barely breathing.
He bit his lower lip, staring at me with hunger. “I might drain your warmth and leave you cold.”
I stared at him. “Just because things went bad with Annora doesn’t mean it will happen again. Remember, part of what happened was her own doing. You said so yourself. Even if you dug your fangs into my throat and turned me into a vampire now—which, by the way, wouldn’t be the end of the world since I’m planning to turn once I’m eighteen anyway—it doesn’t mean that you would ruin me. It would be my choice whether or not to go down her path. Remember, there are lots of vampires in The Shade who aren’t nutcases like her.”
I hoped that calling his fiancée a nutcase wouldn’t offend him, but that was certainly one of the kinder words I could find for her in my vocabulary. She didn’t deserve Caleb, the way she’d shunned him and used his love for her to torture him all these years. In my view, she deserved the fate that befell her.
A small smile curled his lips. I hoped that my words had given him the assurance he needed to let go of the doubts that were binding him and just kiss me. My eyes fell to his firm lips, my whole body trembling with anticipation.
“I suppose you’re right,” he whispered.
He reached out a hand and stroked my face, caressing my forehead and brushing my cheek with his thumb.
“Close your eyes.”
I smiled and obeyed. My breath hitched as he crawled over me, his legs either side of my hips. I felt his cold, uneven breathing inches above my face. My closed eyelids fluttered as his lips pressed gently against them, one after the other.
“Keep them closed.”
His kisses trailed down the arch of my nose, then across my cheeks. They grazed the sides of my mouth, teasing me. I moaned as his lips finally closed against mine. His tongue parted my lips, tasting me. Devouring me. My blood pounding, I reached up and draped my arms over his neck. He pulled me closer.
I shivered.
In his hurry to draw me in, his hand had parted my bath robe and slipped beneath it, resting on my lower back. As the evening breeze touched my skin, I realized that half of my body was bare to him. It was clear that it had been unintentional because he froze, staring at me, gauging my reaction.
I pushed against him and he rolled onto his back, allowing me to sit up. I brushed aside the rest of the robe, revealing the other half of me. My cheeks grew hot as his eyes roamed me. I averted my eyes to my lap, feeling shy and self-conscious. But after five seconds of silence, I could no longer ignore the fire his touch had ignited. I leaned over him, my palms flat against his chest, the tips of my hair brushing against his skin as I dipped down to taste his lips again.
I was like a moth to a flame.
“Rose,” he gasped, as I raised my head for a breath, “I thought we said a kiss.”
“So did I,” I said.
I didn’t know what I was doing. My brain had shut down long ago.
His eyes lit up, as though there was nothing he wanted more in that moment than to accept my surrender. I thought he was about to draw me closer again, but then he sat up, sliding his legs out from beneath me, and looked away.
“I’m sorry—” His voice broke.
“It-it’s okay,” I said, trying to conceal my disappointment. “We don’t have to.”
“You don’t know how much I…”
“I know. I…I can see.” I gulped. “But we don’t have to do this now. We can wait.” I hurriedly pulled the robe back over me. I guessed it didn’t help that I even looked similar to Annora, both of us sharing the same long dark hair. “It’s my fault,” I said. “It’s too soon.” I motioned to stand up.
“Wait.” Caleb slid one arm beneath my knees and the other around my back as he lifted me up and walked back inside. He stopped outside the door to the master bedroom and pushed it open. He laid me down on the king-sized bed, situated directly beneath the center of the glass ceiling. Tugging on my robe, he unwrapped me, baring me to him again.
“Just… lie with me here.” His eyes were hooded as he looked down on me, his voice husky.
I slipped my legs beneath the silk sheets and held them against my chest while he removed his clothes. My heart raced as he walked around the bed toward me. When I saw him fully for the first time, it was all I could do to keep my mouth from hanging open. He climbed onto the mattress and slid beneath the sheets next to me.
He reached for my waist and flipped me beneath him on the mattress. He lowered his mouth to the base of my throat, his kisses soft and lingering. His breathing became more uneven as he reached the most sensitive part of my neck, just beneath my ear. Drawing away, he rested his head on the pillow next to me. I brushed my hands through his hair and down his back, feeling the bumps of his bullet wounds beneath my fingers. He dipped down to kiss my lips again, while his hand found my hip and ran along it.
We kissed and caressed throughout the night. Sometimes he woke me, showering my face with kisses or exploring the curves of my body with his rough palms. Other times I’d wake him, burying my head closer against his chest so I could better hear his heartbeat.
As the early-morning hours approached, I got out of bed and drew the blinds so the sun wouldn’t come beating down on us once day broke. He smiled as I climbed into bed and nestled back against him. His body spooned around mine and kept me cool like he had done back in the truck. We decided to finally sleep through the next few hours until dawn.
As I drifted off, I chastised myself for springing myself on him the way I did. I didn’t know what I’d been thinking. It wasn’t in my nature to behave the way I had. I’d always considered myself shy, introverted, even kind of dorky.
I supposed that Caleb was a man who made me do things I wouldn’t normally do.
I recalled the look in Caleb’s eyes as he’d drawn away from me. Even if on the surface he seemed to accept certain things, like not blaming himself fully for Annora’s demise, he was still deeply scarred. I realized that what he’d revealed to me about his past so far was only a glimpse into the darkness he’d endured for decades, perhaps even centuries.
One thing became clear to me that night. Caleb Achilles was a broken man. More broken than I’d thought.
But I didn’t care how long it might take him to find himself again. I didn’t care how many layers he had to peel back. I’d stay by his side and do everything I could to help him heal.
Because I loved him.
Chapter 21: Sofia
Days passed and Ibrahim and Corrine still hadn’t returned.
None of us were any closer to answering the questions that surrounded us either. The more we tried to decipher the black witches’ reasoning, the more confused we became. I could only hope that Corrine and Ibrahim would return soon with my daught
er, and hopefully with them bring back an understanding of what was really going on and what these black witches’ motivations truly were.
The thought had occurred to me more than once that perhaps it was too late to save Rose. That they could have already taken from her what they wanted. Vivienne’s surge of dark visions hardly served to make us feel any better.
But Derek and I had to hold out hope. We’d been through enough desperate situations in our lives to know that we couldn’t allow ourselves to fold to grief or desperation. We had to stay strong, for Ben if nobody else.
Since Rose’s absence, I’d been thinking a lot about our son. I guessed that Derek had too, but it wasn’t until after a week of Rose’s absence that I voiced what had been playing on my mind ever since our discussion with Mona.
I waited until night, when Ben had retired to his room, and I lay in bed with Derek. I snuggled closer against him, looking deep into his blue eyes.
“Derek,” I whispered, for I was afraid that if I spoke, my voice would crack. “I don’t think Ben should wait any longer before turning into a vampire.”
The way my husband looked back at me, I could immediately see that he’d already had this thought himself. If we turned Ben into a vampire, his blood would lose its special quality.
Derek drew me closer and planted a kiss on my forehead.
“I agree,” he whispered back.
“But we need to think how to break this to Ben. I don’t want him to ever think that we pressured him into this decision. I want it to come from him and know that it’s what he really wants.”
“Darling, the twins have wanted to become vampires since they were children. We were the ones who told them to wait until eighteen.”
“I know. I… I’m just nervous.”
“We’ll talk to him about this first thing tomorrow morning. I think he’ll be happy we’re giving our blessing for him to turn earlier.”
I paused, closing my eyes. “Now I just wish that we’d turned Rose sooner…” My voice choked up and I had to fight not to break down again.
Derek gripped me tighter. “So do I. But there’s no point lamenting the past.” He held my face in his hands and kissed me. “When we get Rose back—and I do say when—we’ll turn her immediately. And I know she’ll be just as eager to turn as Ben will be. Then the two of them will no longer be such walking targets.”
I thought of Anna’s children. They were still young. It seemed unfair to turn even Ariana and Jason at such a young age, not to speak of Kiev, who was still an infant. We’d already been to visit Anna to discuss the potential danger her children were in as soon as we’d spoken to Mona about it. I suspected that Anna and Kyle might have already had the same conversation Derek and I were having.
“What do you think Anna and Kyle will do? I mean, Ariana is at least in her teens now. But Jason isn’t. And young Kiev? I’ve never even heard of a vampire baby. It just wouldn’t be humane to subject an infant to that kind of trauma.”
“Then they will have to take the risk that they will be able to keep him safe until all this danger has passed.”
I paused, biting my lip. “What if it doesn’t pass? What if Kiev was right when he said that we may just have to learn to survive alongside these witches, rather than hope to ever get rid of them completely?”
Derek swallowed hard. He had been trying to reassure me that things would work out—after all, we were no strangers to storms—but even he couldn’t find a single word of comfort. He rolled over onto his back and stared up at the ceiling.
“Sofia, let’s just get some sleep now. We’ll talk to Ben, Anna and Kyle in the morning.”
Chapter 22: Sofia
We caught Ben in the kitchen before he left for school. Derek sat down at the kitchen table while I walked up to my son and held his shoulders. “We need to talk.”
He looked from me to his father, shrugging his bag off his shoulder and placing it down on the counter. “About what?”
Ben pulled up a seat at the table opposite Derek, while I sat between them. I looked at Derek, raising my eyebrows to see if he’d prefer to broach the subject.
“Ben,” he said, looking seriously at our son, “I’m guessing that you’ve had this thought already, but your mother and I have been talking and… we don’t think you should wait any longer to turn into a vampire.”
Ben’s lips parted, his eyes widening.
“Understand that we’re not forcing you into this. But you know the risks now that come with remaining a human. You know you’ll be hunted down as long as your blood remains as it is. This is your choice, so if you decide you would prefer to remain a human, that’s fine. But you need to understand the risks. As for your father’s and my preference, we just want you to be safe.”
Ben leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling.
I felt worried that he didn’t answer immediately. I’d hoped that he would be able to give me an answer without even thinking because at least that would indicate there was no doubt in his mind. Previously I’d been afraid of my twins’ ardent desire to turn into bloodsuckers, and now I was worried about the possible lack of it at the time when he most needed it.
Derek and I exchanged glances.
“I suppose I’d grown used to the idea of turning at eighteen,” Ben said slowly. “Having these last few months as a human… But I agree. I should turn. Rose should have turned too.” He looked down at the table, his face ashen.
“Rose can turn as soon as she returns,” I said, trying to put confidence into my voice I didn’t possess. “We were thinking you could turn at the end of the week. That way, if Rose returns in the meantime, you can both turn together.”
He nodded, still staring at the table. “Okay.”
I reached out and squeezed his hand. “You don’t have to go to school for the rest of this week if you don’t want to. You can do whatever you want this week, while you’re still human. Spend more time on the beach in the sun… anything that doesn’t involve leaving the island.”
He heaved a sigh. “I’d rather just go to school. At least it helps keep my mind off things.”
I swallowed back the lump in my throat. “Okay, honey. If that’s what you want.”
“Then we’ll have to decide who will turn you,” Derek said.
Ben looked from me to his father. “Do I have a choice?”
“Why? Who would you choose?”
“Well, it’s not so much me choosing as someone already volunteering. I was talking with Abby the other day and she said she’d like to turn me when it comes time. Of course, she was thinking about when I turn eighteen.”
Abby. While it thrilled me that the two of them were striking up a friendship, I wasn’t comfortable about letting her turn Ben. She’d never turned anyone before and I wanted someone experienced to turn my son. When I looked at Derek, I could see by his expression that he felt the same.
“Actually, Ben, I’d rather turn you myself,” he said. “I’ve turned my fair share of vampires before. I turned your mother. I don’t feel comfortable letting Abby turn you. I don’t want to risk anything going wrong.”
Ben didn’t seem too concerned either way. “All right,” he said. “I guess that’s best.”
I squeezed his hand. “You’ll be in safe hands with Dad.”
Ben gulped, nodding. He motioned to stand up. “Well, if that’s all, I need to go or I’ll be late for first period.”
He stood up, reached over the kitchen table and slung his bag back over his shoulder. I watched as he exited the penthouse. Derek and I remained silent as we listened to his footsteps fade outside on the balcony, the creaking of the elevator as it carried him downward.
“I told you it wouldn’t be a big deal. He’s already prepared himself for it,” Derek said.
I nodded. Ben would make it through. He was a fighter, a survivor, just like his father. “And I guess, when he finds a girl and wants to start a family, he’ll just have to turn back, like we did. Hopefully, things
won’t be as dire as they are now… We ought to visit Kyle and Anna now.”
We left immediately, jogging through the forest toward their home in The Vale’s town center. Kyle answered after three knocks. He looked like he hadn’t slept for days, dark circles beneath his eyes, but he didn’t look surprised to see us.
“Come in,” he said, ushering us through to the living room. Anna sat on the couch, cradling her sleeping baby.
We took a seat opposite them. Once Kyle had sat down next to his wife, I began, “We just spoke to Ben. He’s agreed to turn at the end of the week.”
Kyle and Anna exchanged glances. “We talked too,” Anna said. She looked just as run down as her husband. “We were up all night with Jason and Ariana, trying to make them understand what vampirism involves. How they will change. What they will gain. What they will be giving up. Both agreed to turn… We’d like to turn them as soon as possible, rather than give them time to worry. So we agreed to do it in two days’ time.”
Kyle cleared his throat, wrapping an arm around Anna and looking down at his baby. “As for our little one, we’ll have to do the best we can to protect him as he is.”
I nodded. “There’s no other choice,” I said. “Who would you like to turn Jason and Ariana tomorrow? Derek is going to turn Ben at the end of the week.”
Anna looked at me. “I was hoping you would turn Ariana, and if Derek wouldn’t mind turning Jason…”
I felt uncomfortable about turning their daughter. I looked at Derek, and he understood. “I can turn Jason,” he said, “but I think Vivienne should turn Ariana. Sofia doesn’t have as much experience.”
Kyle and Anna looked happy with Vivienne as an alternative. We exchanged a few more words, then got up to leave. I cast one more glance at Kiev before heading out completely. My heart broke to see him sleeping there in Anna’s arms, so calm, so serene, oblivious to the danger surrounding him.
I just prayed that nothing bad would happen to that baby.
Chapter 23: Vivienne
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