A Shade Of Vampire 5: A Blaze Of Sun (9 page)

“She says that
she only feels safe with you out of all the vampires here in The Shade.”

Her laughter echoed in my head. Sofia was standing in the middle of what looked like a school playground, sitting on one of the swings rocking gently as she began blowing bubbles. I hungrily took the sight of her in, finding myself enamored by her like I usually was. She looked my way and flashed me that amazing smile of hers.

She nodded her head toward me, motioning for me to go to her. I found myself eager to be with her so I ran. I kept running, but I never seemed to be able to reach her. I could feel the sunlight on my skin, the same light shining on her, almost shining
from
her. I ran faster, but it felt like I was running in place and every time I kept my eyes off her, the sun began to burn.

Worry began to crease her face when she realized that I was having trouble reaching her. She stood from the swing and began to run too, reaching out toward me. She was about to reach me, our fingers about to touch,
then just like that, she was gone.

I then found myself in a very familiar place, standing on a shore just as the dawn was about to break. I was familiar with that scene, but I couldn’t remember why. I could see the
Lighthouse – my refuge. Right then, I heard a whimper followed by a loud, chilling growl.

With the s
un about to rise, I knew I had to immediately find shelter before the sun could rob me of all my defenses, but I couldn’t ignore the urge to follow the sound, especially because I knew that this had happened to me before and that everything was going to be alright.

The name of a woman from my past began to flash through my mind.

I know this scene. I have this memory. This was the morning I met Cora.

I ran toward the whimpers and just as I expected, behind a large rock, I found an unconscious woman about to come to her senses. Something was missing from the scene, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

I called out her name. “Cora?”

She rose to her feet and when I saw who it was, I froze. It was Emilia. She was trembling and she ran right into my arms, clinging tightly. I could feel the heat of her tears hitting my skin.

I shuddered at what she said.

“It’s me you belong to, Derek. Not her.”

As if I was being controlled by a will not my own, I nodded. I couldn’t believe the words that then came out of my mouth. “I know, Emilia. I know. I’m over Sofia. My heart belongs to you now.”

The moment the words were said, a piercing scream filled the atmosphere.

I jolted up on my bed, my heart racing, my blood pounding. I was desperately trying to catch my breath. I could still hear the scream echoing in my ear. The one thought circling my mind was,
Sofia’s dead. I killed her. It’s my fault she’s dead.

Guilt and panic overwhelmed me as I began to look around the room. I was relieved to find Sofia’s still form on the bed beside me, but I wasn’t satisfied with that. I had to know if she was still alive. I began shaking her. “Sofia?”

She blinked and began to mumble incoherently.

I heaved out a
sigh of relief. “You’re alright.” I scooped her sleepy form up in my arms and held tight.

That seemed to
be enough to get her to her full senses. “What’s going on?” she drowsily asked.

“I thought I lost you,” I said in what sounded like a string of gasps.

She pulled away from me. This time, alert and worried. “What’s wrong, Derek? What happened?”

“I had a nightmare,” I found myself admitting to Sofia.
The sensations I felt then was strange. My heart was pounding against my chest. I was breaking into a cold sweat, but I couldn’t remember a thing about the dream I just had. Not even a single detail. All I knew was that I had this alarming fear inside of me – a fear of Sofia getting hurt. I also had a nagging feeling that Emilia was
a lot
of trouble for Sofia and me. I swallowed hard as I faced Sofia.

“Tell me about it,” she coaxed.

I scratched the back of my neck as I searched for the right words. “I don’t really remember the dream, but I have to tell you something…” The confession came out like a flood I could not contain. I began telling her about the dreams I had about Emilia and not being able to remember the details after. I was just aware that the dreams had both Sofia and Emilia in them. I knew Sofia deserved to know what was going on, so despite my fears of how she would take it, I found myself revealing everything.

Sofia listened, taking every word in silently, asking questions where she needed more information.

“I can’t deny that I’m attracted to her and that I feel some sort of connection with her, but you have to believe me when I say that she doesn’t stand a chance against you. That’s why I arranged that she be taken out of the island immediately. I don’t want anything or anyone to get between us.”

Sofia gave me a half smile. “Does she have anything to do with why you want to get married all of a sudden?”

I was surprised at how straightforward she was, but then I never knew Sofia as someone who would hold back on speaking the truth. I found myself nodding. “I can’t deny that the dreams had a hand in it. I guess it was my way of saying that it’s
you
I want to be with. It’s
you
that I love. You know that, right?”

Her
eyes began to moisten. “Of course I do,” she nodded before saying, “I adore you, Derek Novak.” She then cupped my face with her soft hands and pressed her lips against mine. “For the record, I can’t wait to become Sofia Novak.”

Spending the night at Derek’s penthouse, waking up in his bed, and eating breakfast with him reminded me of the way we used to be during our first few months together, when I was still known as his slave and he was still the prince of the island. For the span of a few hours, we were in our own cocoon, away from all the troubles surrounding us.

As I dabbed butter and jam over my piece of toast, I smile
d, recalling the time I popped a piece of my breakfast into Derek’s mouth. I looked at him as he drank a gulp of animal blood from his glass on the table.
I wonder when I’ll actually be able to share a meal with him.

He noticed my eyes on him and a
smile formed on his face. “Can’t get enough of me, can you?”

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t turn the tables on me, Derek. You’re the one who’s craving me all the time.”

His eyes dropped with shame.

I winced.
Bad joke. Too close to the trouble our relationship is facing.

He opened his mouth to say something but then he quickly shut it. I wanted to say something to somehow make us forget the elephant in the room – the question we couldn’t ignore.
What kind of married life are we going to live out if he’s craving my blood all the time?

“It’s not right and I know it,” he began to say. “I don’t have any excuse for it. I don’t want to give you some lame excuse when it comes to this. You don’t deserve that. I’m sorry.” He began rubbing the back of his neck.

I was sure that he was recalling what happened the night before – something that’d been going on a lot more frequently lately. It was almost as if he would momentarily snap and just give in to the craving. Without really thinking it through, he just takes what he wants and bites.

I didn’t want to talk about it simply because I didn’t know how. I didn’t want to dwell on the heaviness of the issue. “Let’s talk about something else.” I pulled a piece from my toast and threw it at him. “
Anything
other than that.”

He seemed a bit more hesitant to move on than I did, but he eventually breathed out the tension and threw the piece of toast right back at me. “You’re wasting food.”

“It’s not a waste if I get a smile out of you because of it.” I grinned.

A smile eventually appeared on his chiseled face and despite my familiarity to him, I still found myself blushing.

He seemed pleased, but then he shifted on his seat and I could tell that we weren’t about to escape discussing serious matters. To my relief, he didn’t talk further about our wedding or the cure or his craving for my blood. To my dismay, however, he began talking about my mother.

“Ingrid is acting strange. She asked to see Aiden and when I told her that I couldn’t risk that in fear of what she might do to him, she told me to ask you.”

I shook my head. “It’s too dangerous. We can’t trust her.” I remembered all the times I dared to put my trust in her and sorely regretted it after.

“That’s what I said, but she was asking for another chance. She even asked not to call her Ingrid and call her Camilla instead.”

At that, I couldn’t help but crease my brows in surprise. It was unlike her to ever want to be called Camilla again. “I wonder what game she’s playing.”

“Whatever it is, it’s bothering me,” Derek admitted.

“Could you come with me?” I requested. “When I go see her?”

Derek frowned. “I want to, Sofia, but I did leave a lot of my responsibilities to the council yesterday when I hung out with you. I do need to get back to running
The Shade. I can’t bail on them again. I can, however, get one of the Elite to escort you. Ingrid won’t be powerful enough to go against one of the Elite.”

I was disappointed, but I understood. “I think Claudia would be great if that’s alright. She’s been able to spend time with Ingrid. She knows Ingrid.”

Derek wasn’t able to hide his surprise. “You trust Claudia enough?”

I nodded. “
Her relationship with Yuri has been good for her I think.”

“Your ability to forgive and forget amazes me.”

I was saddened by the statement. Claudia was probably one of the most demented vampires The Shade had ever known. It took months of me living in The Shade before I found out that Ben, my childhood best friend, a guy I was deeply infatuated with, had also been abducted and brought to The Shade. He was taken by Claudia, who had proven to be a cruel and sadistic mistress. Claudia was the reason Ben hated vampires so much.

Somewhere along the line, however, Claudia managed to get Ben to forgive her, enough that he request
ed the hunters to spare her life.

“Ben forgave her
.” I shrugged. “How could I not?”

“Must I remind you that she tried to turn you into a vampire without your consent?”

“She thought she was doing the right thing. She thought it was the only way we could be together.”

Our eyes met and the tension – as if it ever really left – came right back as we were once again faced by the fact that Derek was immortal and I was not. I was getting tired of the issue, but the urge to find the cure was even more adamant than it was before. I
had no idea how to figure out what the cure was.

Troubled, I shook the thoughts away and finished my breakfast. I then turned toward Derek and said, “I think we better go. Long day ahead.”

Derek groaned and blew out a sigh. I was expecting him to just shrug, bid me goodbye, and run off. Instead, he reminded me why I was so in love with him when he took my hands and coaxed me to stand up. He held my waist and pulled me close before kissing me on the forehead.

“We’re going to find a way to be together, Sofia. I know it.” He said it with so much conviction, I found myself wondering if he didn’t have any doubts about that statement at all. Still, he gave me the
hope I needed to get by.

“We’re together
now
,” I whispered. “That’s what matters.”

Derek was still on my mind when I saw Claudia waiting for me at the entrance of
The Catacombs. The blonde smiled when she saw me coming. My heart began to race. There was a time when a smile coming from her was a reason to get worried, because it usually meant she was up to no good, but I had to remind myself that this was a new Claudia I was facing now.

She raised a brow at me, but there was a twinkle in her eyes. “I was told that I was to be your bodyguard.” Her face deadpanned. “Why me of all people? Even Yuri was surprised.”

“Well, you’re the only vampire here who’s actually spent some time with Ingrid. I was thinking you knew what made her tick, so I requested that you come with me. You’re not going to do anything crazy, are you?”

She grinned and shrugged. “Well…” she drawled. “We never really know when the dark Claudia might decide to resurrect, but for now, you’re good.”

“The dark Claudia?” I chuckled.

She smiled and nodded as we began to head for the corridors that would lead to Ingrid’s cell. “Yes… the one who was stupid enough to think that she valued power more than she valued love.”

At that, I had to return her smile. I couldn’t help but notice how she had that certain glow about her whenever she smiled – it was one that could only be found in a person in love. Since I first met her, I never thought I’d ever see Claudia gush, and yet that was exactly what she was doing right then.

I was about to tease h
er about Yuri, but then her eyes lit up and I quickly realized why. Yuri had just caught up with us.

Everyone in
The Shade knew that Yuri was in love with Claudia – even Claudia herself – but for some reason, they never actually got together. They kept fighting and bickering and making each other miserable, but whenever the other was in trouble, they were always there for each other. They were always the first to get worried about the other. It wasn’t until Claudia betrayed Derek by helping to abduct me and take me to Borys Maslen’s territory that she realized how in love she actually was with Yuri. When she got back to The Shade, it didn’t take long before the two of them got together.

“What are you do
ing here?” Claudia slapped Yuri’s shoulder.

“I wanted to trust you…
really, Claudia, I did, but I also wanted to make sure you don’t end up killing Sofia. We all know how crazy you are.”

Claudia rolled her eyes. “That’s actually his way of saying that he wants to spend more time with me.”

“Stop flattering yourself, Claudia,” Yuri scowled. “Why on earth would I want to spend time with you?”

“Because no one else can do this to you…” C
laudia reached up and kissed him forcefully.

The public display of affection turned Yuri’s pale vampire skin into a bright pink. Even I blushed as I averted my gaze.

Claudia pulled away and gave Yuri a self-satisfied smile. “No one can do that to you and make your head start reeling.”

It was obvious as Yuri bit his lip that he liked what
had just happened, but he quickly recovered and shot me an embarrassed look. “Aren’t you ashamed of what Sofia would think?”

“Ashamed of what
she
would think?” Claudia’s eyes widened. “Weren’t you there all those times she and Derek publicly professed their love for each other? They’re the king and queen of public displays of affection.”

Yuri chuckled as he shot me a look. I was fighting the urge to blush.

“You got to admit, Sofia,” he teased. “She has a point.”

To my sheer relief, I found I didn’t need to come up with a response or an explanation, because Ingrid’s cell was already in sight.
I drew a breath, not quite knowing what to expect. Encounters I shared with my mother weren’t always pleasant and I couldn’t find a reason that this particular one would be any different.

As if the day didn’t have enough surprises, Claudia gently held me by the elbow. “She’s just broken, Sofia. Like I was… She’ll come around.”

Her words tugged at my heart – both moving me and giving me hope. At the same time, an unwelcome emotion also took over me. I found myself detesting the idea that Claudia probably knew my mother more than I did.

Still, I expressed my gratefulness to Claudia before heading
to the cell.

When I entered the cell, Ingrid’s eyes actually lit up
when she looked at us. I was quickly disappointed to realize that it wasn’t me who caused her delight. It was Claudia.

I found myself standing
by the cell door as I watched Ingrid and Claudia embrace and begin chatting with each other. They were a picture of the mother-daughter connection that I never got the chance to have. I knew that they were able to spend time together, but I couldn’t understand how they could’ve gotten so close so quickly.

“Claudia’s been visiting Ingrid,” Yuri, who was standing right behind me, explained in a low voice loud enough just for me to hear. “She says that they’re two of a kind. They have this strange connection between them.”

“I can see that,” I responded, hoping that my voice won’t break.
I just can’t help but be jealous. I’ve never seen Ingrid look at me the way she looks at Claudia.

“It’s funny…” Yuri chuckled. “Claudia says that Ingrid is like the mother she never had. It’s ironic considering that Claudia is centuries older than Ingrid.”

The mother she never had. The mother
I
never had.
I swallowed hard and tried not to think about it by diverting my attention to Yuri and Claudia’s relationship instead. “You really do love Claudia, don’t you?”

“From the first moment I ever laid eyes on her… It was a darn long wait, but it was worth every second. Thanks for bringing her back to me.”

I was about to respond, but both Ingrid’s and Claudia’s eyes settled on me. I was unsure what to do.

“I’m sorry
.” Claudia smiled sheepishly. “This is your time with Camilla, not mine.”

My brow rose.
She’s calling her Camilla?

It seemed Ingrid was reading my mind. “I asked her to call me Camilla. I would prefer to be called that from now on.”

I just stood there, staring at her, not quite sure how to handle her change of character. I didn’t want to accuse her of playing mind games with me, but I didn’t want to be fooled by her again either.

“I know I haven’t given you reason to trust or like me, Sofia, but I want to make amends. I’m thinking it would be harder for me to get into your good graces once again, so I was requesting to be brought to Aiden instead. At least with him I have a history I can bank on.”

“You broke his heart.” I said bluntly.

She nodded. “I know. He didn’
t deserve that…” She paused. “I want another chance, Sofia. I have no one left in this world but you and Aiden. Maybe I could still get Camilla back if I tried hard enough.”

It felt like she was messing with my mind. My emotions were in turmoil. I didn’t know how to handle what she was throwing my way. I wanted so much for it to be true. It would’ve been a dream-come-true for me if both my parents
came to my wedding, but this was Ingrid Maslen – the same woman who allowed the monster that was Borys Maslen to try and turn me into a vampire when I was nine years old. She was the same woman who stood by and watched as he sank his claws into my thighs and fed on me. She was the same woman obsessed with making me his bride.