Chapter 12: Sofia
Upon my request, Aiden agreed to have Ingrid brought to my suite rather than to have me brought to wherever they were keeping her. I felt safer in my own turf than in hers, and it seemed Aiden felt better with that arrangement too.
“You summoned me?”
Wanting to end the conversation as soon as I possibly could, I got straight to the point. “Why am I immune? What does being ‘the immune’ mean for me?”
She sighed and smiled at me, her eyes looking at me with what almost seemed like affection. She then shrugged her right shoulder. “I don’t know, Sofia. You should be a Maslen, a beautiful nine-year-old vampire, but you’re not and I will never understand why. All I know was that the moment he tasted your blood, Borys has been absolutely obsessed with you.”
“Why? What’s in my blood?”
“I’m curious myself,” she admitted before looking hungrily at my neck. “Perhaps you should let me have a taste so that I could find out for myself?…I’m sorry. Bad joke.” A moment of silence then ensued as she eyed me with what almost looked like longing. “You must have so many questions. How have you been, Sofia? I’ve been overhearing whispers about Derek disappearing…”
A lump formed in my throat at the mention of Derek. I wasn’t sure I wanted to talk to Ingrid—or anyone else for that matter—about him. I ached with longing at the very mention of his name.
“You miss him, don’t you?” Ingrid continued, perhaps realizing that she hit a note with what she had just said. “I understand how you feel.”
“Why?” I asked, unable to hide the resentment in my voice. “Because it’s the same way you feel about your beloved Borys right now?”
The question sparked anger in her eyes, but she quickly recovered and shook her head. “No. It’s what I felt about your father during my first years at The Oasis. It felt like I was missing a part of me.”
“Yet you turned your back on him in spite of that. We’re not the same. I didn’t leave Derek. I’m fighting to get back to him.”
“Forget Derek, Sofia.”
That’s impossible. I knew how obsessed my own mother was about giving me to Borys and was well aware that harping on about Derek wasn’t going to help my situation. “Is that what you did with Aiden? You forgot him?”
“It can be done, you know.” She paused before looking directly into my eyes. “Is it true that you’re married to Derek? Or were you bluffing?”
I had no idea what possessed me to tell her the truth, but I shook my head and responded, “I’m engaged to him, but no…we’re not married.”
Relief washed over her face. “Claudia told me that you wanted to escape in order to get back to Derek. Is this true?”
I pursed my lips, fighting the urge to roll my eyes. What has happened to Claudia? She’d been completely useless in my trying to find a way out of headquarters. The only thing that sparked any worthwhile reaction from her was how much she wanted to get back to The Shade and whether or not Yuri would even care that she was there. It’s like all common sense left her the moment she left The Shade. I couldn’t help but smile a bit at the next thought that came to me, realizing how many times I did things that didn’t really make sense to others out of my love for Derek. I guess that’s what love can do to a person.
I tried to re-focus my attention on Ingrid, responding to her question with a question. “If it is?”
“I want to help you.”
I raised a brow, taken by surprise. “Why?”
“I want you out of here. As long as you’re here, Borys can’t get to you.”
“So what you’re saying is that you want me out of headquarters so that Borys can once again abduct me and make my life hell?”
“It sounds so wicked when you put it that way.”
“That’s because it is, Ingrid. You’re my mother. Does that not mean anything to you?”
I couldn’t decipher the look in her eyes when she responded. “It means everything to me that you’re my daughter, Sofia. Trust me when I say that if it weren’t for you, Ingrid Maslen would probably not exist.”
I had no idea what she was talking about. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. “How do you propose to help me anyway?”
“Easy. All I have to do is pretend to be Camilla Claremont again.”
She sounded like a lunatic. Sitting there, I couldn’t keep myself from wondering how on earth I got to have such demented parents. The thought of ever becoming like them was absolutely horrifying to me. Still staring at her in disbelief, I was slightly taken aback when she suddenly stood up as if snapping into attention.
“If you’re agreeing to let me help you, get up and embrace me. Now,” she instructed.
I don’t know what came over me, but I complied with her instructions, hugging my mother for the first time in a decade.
“The only reason I want you to be with Borys is because I want what’s best for you,” she whispered into my ear. “If you’re with him, you won’t become like Camilla was. With Derek, you’ll be a weakling. With Borys, you’ll become powerful and strong.”
I was trembling against her embrace and I began fighting back the tears when she kissed me on the cheek. When we broke our embrace, I realized why she had asked for it in the first place.
Aiden had just walked in the room—in time to see what appeared to be a poignant, affectionate moment between mother and daughter.
Feeling used, I looked from Aiden to Ingrid and was surprised to find her wiping away tears as she gave me a fond look, taking my hand in hers and squeezing tight. “I know how hard it is for you to believe, but I love you, Sofia.”
I smiled at her, knowing that no matter how much I wanted to believe her declaration, it was what it was: a bold-faced lie.