A Castle of Sand (21 page)

“These things take time, Ben…you can’t just up and quit so soon. Give it time.”

“It’s not just that…” I clutched the armrests of the first class leather recliner I was seated on as I began to shake my head. “I can’t do this anymore.”

“Do
what
?”

“Kill…devote my life to just killing vampires…it’s not like I thought it would be.”

Zinnia stared at me. I knew she was trying to understand what I was saying, but I doubted she ever would. “Have you talked to Reuben about this?”

“Of course not.”

“You’re too much of an asset to the hunters, Ben. I don’t think he’s going to be thrilled about you leaving…are you sure this is what you want?”

I want to turn back time. That’s what I want. I want to go back to the time when there never was a Derek Novak in our lives and Sofia only had eyes for me. I want to go back to her seventeenth birthday and treat her the way I should’ve—like she was the most beautiful girl I’d ever laid eyes on, because that’s exactly what she was.

“I don’t know what I want,” I lied to Zinnia, because I was fully aware that what I really wanted could never be.

“Think this through before you do anything you regret.”

Regret
. That was all I really felt and I had no idea how to make things right again. For the first time, I actually felt like I truly saw Sofia for what she truly was: a treasure—one that I misused and abused and discarded like it was nothing but trash.

I wondered how she was doing.
Is he treating you right? Is he treating you the way I should’ve when you were still mine?

For the rest of the plane ride, Zinnia steered clear of me—something I was grateful for. I lost myself in thoughts of what should’ve been and what could’ve been, in
what-ifs
and
maybes
. By the time we landed on the headquarters’ runway, I was in a world of my own. When my feet hit the tarmac, all I could think about was my desire to go home, because being back in California could perhaps make me feel like I was closer to Sofia.

When I reached my suite at the headquarters, I took out my phone and dialed my mother’s number. I knew that they would be asleep at this time of night, but I called anyway. I was answered by my mother, Amelia.

“Hello?” she drowsily greeted.

“Mom?”

“Ben?!” I could immediately hear the mixture of worry, elation and heartbreak in her voice. It was the same tone she had whenever I called to check on them.

“Yeah…how are you doing?”

“We’re doing fine. Abby’s joined the girl scouts and your father got promoted, but we’re missing you, Ben…don’t you have any plans to visit? Are you staying well?” As far as my parents were concerned, I’d taken up military training.

Due to Reuben’s long-term friendship with my father, Lyle, it was easy for him to convince him that I was in some sort of special training program for the government.

“I’m fine, Mom. It’s been fun, but I’ve been missing you guys too. I’m hoping my superiors will allow me to leave so I can visit you soon.”

“I would love that, Ben. I’m sure Abby would love to see you too.”

I grinned. My little sister could be quite a brat, but I loved her dearly. “Mess up the midget’s hair for me, will you, Mom?”

“I’ll do no such thing.”

I laughed at the sound of reprimand coming from her tone of voice. When my laughter died down, all I could think about was asking a question that I already knew the answer to. “Have you heard from Sofia, Mom?”

“No.”

I could hear the resentment in my mother’s voice. She’d never liked Sofia much, and she was often outspoken about it, but I appreciated that she didn’t express her negative opinion of my best friend at that point. Perhaps she could sense how much I missed Sofia.

“A friend of yours has been calling though.”

I creased my brows in surprise. “Who?”

“A Natalie Borgia. Familiar?”

Strangely, the name
did
sound familiar, but I couldn’t quite place who the person was and where I’d heard the name. “What did she say?”

“Well, she just left a number and asked me to tell you to call her.”

“Okay. Could you give me the number, Mom?”

My mother dictated the number and I took note. We exchanged a couple of stories before finally calling it a night and hanging up. I stared at the number, still trying to remember who Natalie Borgia was, wondering why she would want to get in touch with me.

Overcome by curiosity, I dialed the number. The phone kept ringing and I was just about to give up waiting when a sultry voice with an Italian accent greeted me, “Hello?”

“Hi. Is this Natalie Borgia?”

“Perhaps. Who’s calling?”

“Ben Hudson. You were calling my home, trying to get in touch with me?”

“Finally,” she said. “I have a message for you.”

“A message?”

“Yes. From Lucas Novak. Does the name ring a bell?”

That’s when the name finally clicked.
Natalie Borgia.
She was mentioned in one of our training lectures. She was one of the oldest known vampires existing. She was a rogue, not belonging to any covens. Catching her would make for a king’s ransom. Every vampire coven would be clamoring for her.
What on earth did she or Lucas Novak want with me?

“Hello?” she cleared her throat. “You still there?”

“Yes. Lucas Novak? What does the prince of The Shade want?”

“He wants to help you get to The Shade.”

“Why on earth would he do that?”

“He wants to separate Sofia Claremont from his brother. He wants her out of The Shade and he believes only you can help him do that. He will arrange transport for you. Of course, you won’t know how to reach the island. Its location must remain protected.”

“What kind of fool would I be to trust Lucas Novak? Or
you
for that matter?”

“Lucas says that he knows where your family lives...”

My jaw tensed at this blatant threat. “Look, whoever you are…If Lucas…”

“Hey, Ben…” she interrupted me calmly. “I don’t care about whatever it is that Lucas Novak is up to. I’m just a messenger. Don’t shoot me. What message do you want me to relay to him?”

I gave it a moment’s thought. Before I could completely think things through, I went with my impulse. “Fine. I’ll do what he says, but I have my terms.”

“And those terms would be?”

“I keep Sofia.”

“Interesting. I’ll let him know. I’ll be in touch with you, Ben Hudson.” Natalie chuckled, and then hung up.

The only thought on my mind was whether or not to kill Lucas Novak while I had the chance. And for some reason, I realized that I didn’t want to. I wondered why. After the things he’d put Sofia through, I knew he deserved to die. As I mulled over it late into the night, I realized the reason behind my willingness to spare his life.

Lucas Novak was the only chance I had to get to Sofia.

What we were doing was suicide and I knew it, and I think every other human insane enough to join in on our “stand” knew that they could die for what they were doing, but we did it nonetheless.

On the day of the culling, the whispers of our stand passed on through word-of-mouth like wildfire across every single one of the thousands of cells within The Catacombs. The message was simple:
Tomorrow, there will be a culling. Make a stand against this and guard the entrance to the Black Heights.

Gavin visited my quarters earlier. We exchanged glances and gave each other a weak smile.

“You sure you’re up for this?” he asked.

“I’ve never been more certain of anything in my entire life,” I told him.

“What’s the prince going to think?”

“I think he will love me still.”

After I returned to my quarters from the meeting with the rebels the night before, I found Ashley waiting there for me. We shared an embrace and a couple of tears. She apologized for not having visited sooner. She was afraid of her own cravings and what she could possibly do to me and the girls. She wished now that she’d come earlier. Rosa arrived with Gavin. She remained silent, visibly shaken. She and Paige had been very close. I found myself at a loss for words when it came to trying to console Rosa. It seemed Ashley felt the same way.

I eventually asked how Derek was and Ashley assured me that he was recovering, though he was still mostly unconscious. I wondered what he would think if he found out what I was up to. I asked Ashley to let him know that I loved him.

“Do you want me to let him know what exactly you’re getting yourself into?”

I gave it a moment’s thought and nodded. “I think he knows where I stand. I think he knew that, by telling me about the culling, something like this would happen. We love each other, but I guess this is just us fighting our own battles.”

“You really are a piece of work, Sofia Claremont.”

The next morning, as Gavin and I made our way to the opening of the Black Heights, I wasn’t exactly feeling like “a piece of work.”

“What if nobody shows up?” I asked Gavin.

“Ian will.” He shrugged as we descended one of the ladders.

I had to chuckle. “So that makes three of us?”

“Nah…” Gavin assured. “People will show up, Sofia. Don’t worry your pretty little head over nobody showing up. Give the Naturals more credit than that.”

I wanted to ask him how he was so sure, but I figured it might just be him trying to reassure himself. When we reached the entrance to the Black Heights, it seemed our fears were unfounded, because thousands of Naturals already stood at the cave entrance, in silent protest against the culling.

We didn’t have any weapons, no means whatsoever to fight against the vampires—who were in every way more powerful than us, but winning wasn’t our objective. We didn’t have any delusions about actually being able to stop the culling. It was just the Naturals coming together to make a stand against a blatant massacre of their own loved ones.

We saw Ian approaching us. “I can’t believe this many people showed up…” I confessed, still stunned by the sheer number of people standing there, protesting the culling.

“Did you really think you’re the only one crazy enough to stand for the lives of people you love?” Ian teased before his eyes fell and lingered on a lone figure coming out of the Black Heights—Anna.

From the way he was looking at her, I knew immediately that they had an untold story—most likely too tragic and heartbreaking to hear. I gently brushed a hand over his shoulder.

“She was beautiful,” Ian said breathlessly. “She still is, but it wasn’t just physically. She was one of those rare beauties who are just as beautiful inside as they are outside. She was a gentle soul who loved people and who loved life. She was vibrant, smart and kind…”

“Many have been destroyed by The Shade,” I muttered, my own thoughts on Ben, Gwen, Paige and the many innocents ruined by the island.

From just one look at the young men I was with, one could already easily surmise that the embers burning within them were now a full-on fire, ready to set ablaze anything that came in their way. They’d had enough and it seemed thousands of others shared their sentiments.

A sense of tension and excitement filled the atmosphere, but more than that, it was an overwhelming sense of unity that overtook us all. Still, whatever elation we felt was short-lived because we were well-aware that we had a great battle ahead of us—one we had no chance of winning.

When the vampires arrived, it was clear to see that we outnumbered them, but we knew that meant nothing. We would be lucky to even take down a handful of the vampires who arrived under Gregor’s command.

Gavin, Ian and I were still standing at the back of the crowd, by the cave entrance. The collective hush that swept over the crowd was enough to tell us that trouble was brewing. Gavin and Ian began to push through the crowd in order to make way for me. I was surprised to find that every time someone saw that it was me they were making way for, they quickly stepped aside—almost as if in reverence. At some point, they were already making way of their own accord, and all Gavin and Ian had to do was stand on either side of me as some sort of protective gesture.

“Why are they looking at me like that?” I muttered under my breath at Gavin when I finally had enough of the way people would look at me and nod their heads in a show of respect.

“You’re a legend, Sofia. What happened at the square last night was unheard of…the prince of The Shade thought of you highly enough to take fifty lashes for you—even knowing that he’d just been administered a suppression serum. That’s a big deal. The fact that other vampires took on the same punishment for the rest of us, it gives a lot of us something that we thought we could never have.”

“Oh, and what’s that?” I asked as we finally broke to the crowd and reached the frontlines.

“Hope,” Gavin responded before we both took a deep breath in order to peruse what we were up against.

“We definitely need that now…”

About a hundred fully-armed vampires were standing before us. We might’ve outnumbered them ten to one—perhaps even more, but I was no fool to believe that we could possibly stand a chance against them.