A Trail of Echoes (10 page)

A
fter passing
the Philippines and finally entering the Pacific Ocean, I was relieved when Ben said we’d reached the final leg of the journey.

The merfolk remained in the cabin we had allotted for them, and we went to check on them every now and then—more out of curiosity than anything else. They were still alive, though they hardly budged an inch. I wasn’t sure what we intended to do with them when we arrived in The Shade, but for now, we didn’t have a choice but to keep them with us.

As we entered deeper into the Pacific Ocean, I just prayed that we wouldn’t meet with any more obstacles before arriving in The Shade. My prayers weren’t entirely answered.

After the fifth day in the ocean, we found ourselves caught up in a hurricane. We’d been forced to surface for fresh air due to a malfunction in the carbon dioxide scrubber, and now Ben struggled to navigate the submarine against the strengthening current. We had to stop for a while and try to weather the storm.

The night when the hurricane was at its strongest, I’d just finished having a shower. The submarine started rocking more than ever. I was terrified that we’d find ourselves stranded in the middle of the ocean.

Ben had already left the control room and by now he had retired to his cabin. Though I was sure that he wasn’t sleeping. I didn’t know how anyone could sleep through this turbulence.

I turned the corner of his doorless cabin. Sure enough, he was sitting upright in bed with a bunch of maps. He raised his gaze to me as I approached. He gathered up the maps and moved them onto a table, making space for me to sit next to him.

Though I didn’t sit. I stretched out my legs and lay on my side, indicating that he do the same.

He looked down at me curiously, then got into the same position. He reached out to touch my face, then ran his hand through my hair.

“You okay?” he asked.

I brushed a thumb over his lips, then moved in to kiss him. It felt like home as his strong body enveloped me and the storm faded into the background.

Despite his coldness, a warmth spread through me as his right hand traveled slowly up and down my back, stroking me, reassuring me.

I shut my eyes tight, listening to the beating of his heart.

Benjamin Novak.

I’d been hoping against hope that we would reach The Shade, but now that we were nearing it, a part of me was dreading it. The Shade marked the end of our journey, possibly the end of us… whatever
us
was. A brief friendship. A sweet romance. Two straws being drawn together in a current and then being pulled apart.

I wasn’t sure that I would ever meet another guy like Benjamin Novak. I wasn’t sure there
was
another guy like him.

He’d told me that we could still stay in touch, but of course it wouldn’t be the same. Being so far apart… we would drift apart eventually. No doubt he would find someone else. Maybe I would too.

I just wished somehow we could stay together, even though I knew that it was impossible if I wanted to see my family again. My family who so desperately needed me.

Still, I found myself voicing my impossible fantasy. “I wish we didn’t have to part,” I whispered.

He reached for my face and tilted it upward, so that he could look me in the eyes. His green gaze fixed on me. He ran his tongue over his lips, which parted slightly, as if he were about to answer. Then he dipped his head and claimed my lips in a slow, passionate kiss.

“I don’t know what the future holds for either of us, River,” he said softly. Lifting his face, he looked down on me like I was the most precious thing in the world. “I’m just grateful that, tonight, I have you.”

T
hankfully
, we got through the hurricane without too much damage to the submarine. After that, the rest of the journey flew by. I kept expecting another obstacle to derail us, but no. We passed the rest of the way smoothly. So smoothly that I was almost suspicious.

I began to feel more and more nervous as we neared the boundary of The Shade. As we reached within several dozen miles, my throat was tight. The night I had murdered Yasmine replayed in my mind, every horrifying detail. I tried to shove the memory out of my mind.

Nothing like that is going to happen this time. I will have River’s blood, and I’ll stay by the boundary.

As we were closing the distance, I noticed something strange. Five huge gray vessels, evenly spaced around the island.

What are they?

They certainly didn’t belong to The Shade. And if they weren’t The Shade’s ships, whom else could they belong to other than… the hunters?

How would they know The Shade’s location?

I sped up the submarine, pushing aside thoughts of the ships as I focused on reaching the boundary.

I raised the top half of the submarine from the water just as we were about to pass through. River stared as what had previously been an expanse of ocean turned into a view of a magnificent dark island as the first half of the submarine entered within the boundary. Part of me was grateful that we had even managed to enter inside. I was worried that something might’ve caused the spell to wear off and I wouldn’t be allowed to enter.

Even the merfolk in the back seemed to sense that we were entering someplace new, since I felt and heard movement near the back of the submarine as the rest of the vessel passed through the boundary.

Now fully inside, I scanned the length of the shoreline anxiously. Although a part of me was yearning to see my friends and family again, I just was not ready for it yet. I was glad that I couldn’t spot anyone on the beach, nor by the Port.

River picked up the container of her blood that she had prepared for me earlier and slipped it into the compartment next to my seat.

“Are you sure that’s enough for you?” she asked, eyeing the container nervously.

I looked down at it. “This’ll be okay. I won’t be hanging around long here anyway.”

I was actually surprised by how much blood she’d managed to draw in a short time. Clearly she didn’t want a repeat of what had happened in the Egyptian guesthouse.

My heart was pounding by the time we reached the jetty. Taking River’s hand, as well as the container of blood, I stopped by the ladder beneath the hatch. I gathered her in my arms and pressed my lips against her neck, drawing in her scent and then kissing her deeply.

Her eyes were glassy as she looked up at me. “I can’t believe we’re here,” she said. “Thank you so much.”

She pulled my neck further down and pressed her mouth against mine again.

I held her head in my hands. “I’ll see you once more before I leave. Just come to the Port and wave to me—I’ll be watching for you. But until then, do you know exactly what to do?” Although we’d already discussed it, I wanted to be sure that she was comfortable.

“Yes,” she said. “I need to ask the first person I come across to take me to your parents—Derek and Sofia Novak. I need to say that I’m your friend, and you have sent me here. I need to tell them that you’re okay, and ask them to take me to see the witches to help me find a cure.”

She looked nervous, even though I had assured her everyone on the island would treat her well. Of course, having told her that this island was packed full of strange supernatural creatures she hadn’t come across before—like werewolves and ogres—I couldn’t expect her to feel anything but nervous.

She climbed up through the hatch, and closed it behind her. I headed back to the control room and watched as she made her way along the jetty. She entered the clearing, then disappeared into the woods.

I just hoped that, for the sake of her nerves, Brett wouldn’t be the first person she came across.

I
stared
around at the dark island in wonder. I could still hardly believe that I was here. The Shade. A mystical island filled with supernaturals, an island I hadn’t known even existed until a short while ago.

I walked slowly as I crossed the clearing beyond the Port. All my senses were overwhelmed by the beauty of the place. The fragrance of exotic flowers mixed with the scent of the giant sequoia trees. The ocean breeze against my skin. The whispering of leaves and the chirping of birds. The moon amid a sea of stars, casting down a sheen of pale light.

I’d only set foot on this island for a few minutes, but I already sensed that The Shade was a place of magic. A place of mystery. A place where anything could happen.

Always night. I can’t believe it’s always night here.

Leaving the clearing and entering the forest, I found myself walking along a path that was clearly well trodden. I looked around wide-eyed, listening for any sounds of someone near me. So far, the noisiest thing was the snapping of twigs beneath my feet.

It felt like I’d been walking for perhaps a mile through the forest when voices drifted toward me from the trees to my right. I squinted, looking toward the source of the noise. Seeing nothing but thick trunks, I left the path and began making my way through the undergrowth.

Peering through the last line of trees, I found myself staring down at a magnificent lake. Standing in an old boathouse were a man and a woman—a pretty woman with long red hair, and a tall dark-haired man wearing glasses.

Going by Ben’s description of his mother, I thought for a moment that this might be her, but I soon realized that she wasn’t as the man spoke.

“I can’t go on like this, Adelle.”

Adelle’s face was ashen as she looked down at her feet.

“You’re bottling something up,” the man continued. “I’ve sensed you have been for the past few months. And I… I can’t be with someone who doesn’t trust me enough to speak their mind.”

The redhead heaved a sigh. “I’m so sorry. I know. It’s not fair. I-I’ve just been so scared to tell you.” She reached out and touched his arm. “I don’t want to hurt you, Eli. I really don’t.”

“Just tell me what’s on your mind. As long as it’s the truth, it doesn’t matter if it hurts.”

“I… I’m in love with Aiden.”

Eli’s jaw twitched as he took a step back from her. He swallowed hard, then nodded slightly.

“I guessed as much.”

“I thought I could forget about him. I really did. I just… I simply can’t.”

Eli cleared his throat. “So you’ve loved him all this time. At least… now we know where we stand. We were living a lie before.”

The woman wrapped her arms around Eli and hugged him. “I still care about you so much. I do.”

He hugged her back stiffly.

“I hope you won’t hold any grudge against Aiden. He’s been nothing but honorable. He urged me to come back to you when I left you.”

Eli nodded.

Adelle sounded close to tears. “I think I’m going to leave The Shade.”

Eli raised a brow. “Leave?”

“Yes. Not forever, but for a while. I need to take some time out… reorient myself.”

“Where will you go?”

She bit her lip. “I’m not sure where I’ll end up exactly. I’d like to travel a bit.”

Eli paused, then said, “I think that’s a good idea.”

“I’ll move my stuff out of your apartment tonight. And I think I’ll leave the island tomorrow morning. One of the other witches will have to step in as headmistress while I’m gone.”

“Okay… You go ahead and do what you have to do. The front door is open. I need some time alone.”

Adelle drew Eli in for another hug, and then—to my shock—she vanished from the spot.

Wow. Could she be… a witch?

Recovering from the surprise, I felt bad for listening in on such a personal conversation, but I needed to speak to someone, and didn’t want to interrupt.

Now that this Eli was on his own, I crept out of the trees and approached him.

“Um, excuse me,” I said tentatively.

He spun around, and his eyes widened as he looked me over.

He frowned. “Who are you?”

“My name is River. River Giovanni. I’m a friend of Benjamin Novak. He sent me here and I need to speak to his parents, Derek and Sofia. Can you please take me to them?”

His expression turned from surprise to shock. “Y-Yes, of course. But, how on earth did you get here?”

“Ben brought me,” I said.

“Ben? He’s in The Shade?”

“He’s waiting in a submarine just outside the island.”

“Follow me,” Eli said at once.

Clearly this person was a vampire. He began speeding away too fast for my half-blood legs to keep up.

He stopped when he saw that I was lagging behind, and hung back for me to catch up. “What are you exactly? Your skin is pale like a vampire’s, but you’re clearly not one.”

“I’m a half-blood.”

“Half-blood?” he said, peering down at me all the more curiously though his glasses.

“Please, I can explain everything, but I need to speak to Derek and Sofia urgently.”—I kept thinking about Ben with my container of blood. I was still having doubts how long that would last him before the human blood of The Shade began calling to him.

“Of course I’ll take you there,” Eli said. “You might want to climb onto my back though since it will be faster.”

I climbed onto the vampire’s lean frame and he began racing off into the darkness of the woods. He was so fast it was hard for me to see where we were going, but when he stopped, it was at the foot of a towering redwood tree. But I was confused. This part of the woods seemed just as bereft of vampires as the one that I had left.

“Where—?”

He pointed upward.

I gasped. “Oh, my.”

Benjamin had described something of The Shade to me, but he hadn’t described these. Stunning penthouses built atop the giant redwood trees.

Wow.

Eli took me to the thick trunk of the tree, and led me toward an elevator shaft that had been hidden round the back. He stepped inside with me, and we ascended the towering tree. It took my breath away to look down and I began to feel dizzy as we arrived at the top. Stepping out of the elevator, we emerged on a gorgeous veranda lined with pretty plant and flower plots. And the view from this height… it was unearthly. A sea of treetops spread out for miles. In the distance was the sparkling ocean and to my right was a sprawling mountain range.

Once I tore my eyes away from the heart-stopping view, we stopped outside a large wooden door.

Eli knocked.

“Sofia! Derek!” he called. “Open up!”

I heard the sound of a door opening inside, and then footsteps. The front door swung open a few seconds later.

Standing before me in the doorway, over six feet tall and wearing blue pajamas, was the spitting image of Benjamin Novak. Except for his eyes, the similarities were stunning.

Although there was something that struck me as odd about this man who could only be King Derek Novak… His skin had a light tan glow to it. He was clearly not the vampire Ben had described him as.

I felt shivers run down my spine as the king’s piercing blue gaze settled on me. He looked me over curiously, then back at Eli.

“What is all this? At this time of night?”

Eli looked at me, indicating that I do the talking.

I cleared my throat. “My name is River Giovanni and I’m a friend of your son. I need to speak with you and your wife urgently.”

“My son?”

“Yes.”

“Where is he?”

“He’s, uh, waiting near the island.”

Derek spun around, looking over his shoulder and called back into the apartment. “Sofia!”

A pretty redhead in her early to mid-twenties raced to the doorway. This was Ben’s mom. She was clearly a vampire.

Her green eyes—so similar to Ben’s—widened as she stared at me.

“This is River, a friend of Ben,” Derek said. “He’s near The Shade.”

“Where?” she gasped.

“By the boundary near the Port,” I said. “I can—”

Before I could finish my sentence, Sofia reached for my hand and pulled me toward the elevator. Derek followed a few feet after, and so did Eli. We all descended in the elevator, and as we reached the bottom, we began running forward, Sofia still holding my hand. I slowed her down considerably compared to the two men who were speeding ahead, but finally we all arrived at the Port.

They stared out over the waves toward the boundary, squinting. I stood at the end of the jetty, looking in the direction I had last seen Ben. At first I thought that he might have left already, and my heart sank, but then I noticed the submarine’s shiny roof above the water and the small bump of the hatch.

“Over there.” I pointed.

“Ben!” Sofia began to shout.

Derek was already in one of the boats that surrounded the jetty, and we all bundled in after him. We began speeding toward Ben’s submarine, which was rising higher above the water.

I knew that Ben would’ve preferred to leave quietly, but there really wasn’t a way around it. Of course they would want to see him. From what Ben was telling me, it had been a long time since they had last seen each other.

I looked nervously at Derek as we neared Ben’s submarine.

“Um, I’m not sure that it will be safe for you to go near him,” I said. “He still has a problem controlling himself around human blood.”

Derek didn’t slow down in the slightest, but he looked at me and nodded.

As we reached the submarine, the four of us climbed onto the roof. The hatch lifted and Ben climbed out of it.

“Ben!” his parents called.

The expression on Ben’s face was a mixture of tension and confusion. As Derek and Sofia moved toward him, he said, “Dad? You’re a… a human? Don’t come near me!”

Sofia had already reached him by now, and she embraced him.

I hurried up to Ben and stood right by him, hoping that my blood would help to diffuse the scent of his father.

Derek looked pained as he stared at his son, as though there was nothing more that he wanted to do than pull him in for a hug, but he seemed to know better than to draw too close.

He remained standing at a distance, watching his son.

Sofia had tears dripping down her cheeks as she finally stepped back from Ben. Tears of happiness. Tears of relief.

Ben reached for me, and pulled me closer. His body felt so tense—the effect that his father’s blood was having on him. Ben lowered his face to my neck, and breathed me in.

I had a suspicion that he might have already finished the container of my blood while he’d been waiting, perhaps more out of nerves than necessity.

Derek and Sofia looked from Ben to me, then back to Ben.

Then they both asked:

“What happened to you?”