Chapter 38: Aiden
What the hell is wrong with you, Claremont? You just let your daughter run loose with the most powerful vampire alive—the same vampire you know is craving her blood, the same vampire you just saw attack her.
I glared at the guards standing by the doorway to the caves they brought me to—apparently my daughter’s quarters.
It’s not like I have any choice.
I leaned against the backrest of the recliner situated in her living room. I could hear the clinking of utensils as the girl named Rosa kept herself busy preparing food in the kitchen. She was accompanied by Lily, a widow with two children—who all seemed to have lived at The Shade their whole lives. They’d already prepared a meal earlier that day, one I barely ate due to my anxiety over what was happening to Sofia. I kept pacing the floor, tormented by worst case scenarios regarding what the vampire could possibly be doing to my daughter. At some point, I took a nap, only to wake up and find the place still as dim as night, with Rosa and Lily cooking another meal—dinner she said.
One of Lily’s children approached me. She was introduced to me as Madeline, five years old. She had red hair that reminded me of Sofia’s when she was just about the same age.
Madeline sat on the couch across from mine and stared at me. She was making me highly uncomfortable. “Does the sun ever rise here?” I asked her in a serious tone, hoping to scare her away.
She tilted her head to the side. “What’s the sun?” she asked.
“You know… That big, shining light up in the sky…”
“You mean the moon?” She tilted her head to the side in thought. “Well, Mama rarely ever lets Rob and me out of The Catacombs, but when she does, I get to see the moon and the stars. I love it when the moon smiles.” She gave me one big grin, showing me how she was missing one of her front teeth. “I’ve only seen the moon. No one ever told me about the sun—not even Gavin and he’s out of The Catacombs a lot. The vampires like him.”
“And they don’t like you?” I raised a brow.
“Well, I don’t know. Mama tells me to stay away from them. Ashley seems to like me though and so do Kyle and Sam, but Mama scolds me whenever I play with them. Gavin’s my older brother and he gets to hang out with the vampires all the time—especially after he became friends with Sofia.”
“Madeline, don’t bother our visitor…” Lily reprimanded, trying to pull the little girl away from me. She eyed me warily and smiled. “I’m so sorry, sir. She’s normally not so comfortable around strangers, but she seems to like you a lot.”
“He’s Sofia’s father, Mama. And he’s human…he won’t bite me.”
My heart went out to the five year old and the young mother trying to keep her in check. “How long have you been here, Lily?”
The dark-haired beauty bowed my way. “All my life, sir. I’m a Natural. We were born here. So were my parents and their parents before them.”
“You have a lovely daughter.”
Sadness traced her eyes. “Aye. It’s why I fear for her so much. Loveliness is a dangerous thing to have here, especially for a young girl like her.”
My heart broke. I wanted to offer the young woman consolation, but I knew that I couldn’t offer her salvation even if I had wanted to. Those captured by vampires as slaves were considered dead to us. We annihilated them right along with the coven. If a hunter wanted to bother saving loved ones taken by vampires, they had to find a way to do it on their own accord, at their own risk.
“It’s been a lot better since Sofia came. We never thought she would survive after being caught up in the rebellion, but she did…” Lily smiled at me. “Your daughter saved a lot of lives. That day at the town square when Derek’s father—he used to be our king…”
“Gregor Novak.” I recalled.
Lily nodded. “Yes. Him. He wanted Sofia flogged—right along with my son and several of the other young Naturals who started the revolt. We all thought it would be end of her. Her fragile body couldn’t have taken all those blows. My heart leaped when Derek took the lashes for her. His back was unrecognizable after—could barely tell which part was skin and which part bones… It was an awful sight, but we all knew then that he loved her and that as long as they were together, life here at The Shade would never be the same again. I never thought I’d hear myself saying that I love a vampire, but any vampire who is good in Sofia’s book is good in mine.”
“We like Sofia,” Madeline piped up. “Even my brother, Rob, likes Sofia and he doesn’t like many girls at all. He’s seven, you see. Andrea tried to kiss him and he was mighty angry about that.”
I listened to the two talk on and on about my daughter and her heroic feats on the island. I hung on to their every word, not knowing what to make of what they were telling me. I wasn’t sure I liked hearing how beloved Sofia was at The Shade. Their stories forced me to realize what I was taking from Sofia by forcing her away from the island and away from Derek.
I hated to admit it, but I saw then why she loved The Shade and its inhabitants so much.
Truth be told, I was impressed by The Shade. It didn’t take a genius to see why it was so powerful. Unlike all the other covens, the island was self-sustaining. It had as little contact to the outside world as was required. It had a thriving human population seemingly loyal to the vampires—something my mind could not completely comprehend.
Of course, Lily made her fears clear. I knew she felt the same protectiveness for Madeline that I had for Sofia. At that moment, I found in her a kindred spirit fearful for her child as I was for mine.
“You really need not fear, sir.” Lily nodded. “Derek would never intentionally harm Sofia. He loses himself sometimes when he blacks out, but there’s only one person who can reel him back to his senses, and that’s your daughter. No one else is capable of doing that to him.”
“King Derek needs Queen Sofia.” Madeline had a sweet smile on her face as she spoke the words. She nodded as she said them, her eyes twinkling.
My stomach turned at the idea of my daughter having some sort of fairy tale romance with the king of the vampires. Right about then, Sofia and Derek stepped past the guards and into the room, their hands clasped together, smiles on their faces.
The first thing I noticed was the bite marks on my daughter’s neck. Despite whatever things Lily and Madeline had told me about Derek and how good he was to Sofia, he still managed to eradicate any hopes I had that their love could be real. I was livid at the thought of him once again feeding on my daughter.
“How dare you…” I hissed as I began charging toward him. “You said you wouldn’t harm her…” I caught a glimpse of her wrist and saw bite marks there too. I grabbed Sofia’s wrist and raised it up to him. “Is this your idea of not harming my daughter?”
Derek was unable to look me in the eye. His display of shame only served to anger me further.
“Dad…” Sofia spoke before I could once again start a tirade. “It was my idea. I offered my neck to him. Don’t take your anger out on him.”
I stared at her with disbelief. “Sofia… I don’t understand. How could you just let him treat you this way?”
“If your cure works, then he won’t have to drink from me ever again. It works, does it not?” she challenged me.
I gritted my teeth. “I need you to trust me enough to let the hunters’ scientists come here. I cannot administer the cure on my own.”
Sofia’s face contorted with shock as she shook her head, letting go of Derek’s hand and stepping forward. “You never said anything about needing them here. Why wouldn’t you…”
“Would you have agreed to bring me here if I had said that I needed to bring a team of hunters with me? You saw that there was an entire team of people needed to prep Ingrid for the cure. I just gave her the final shot. I don’t have enough expertise to do it myself. What if something goes wrong?”
This time, Derek stepped forward, standing right beside Sofia. He looked me straight in the eye and I couldn’t help but shudder at the power and authority oozing from him. “How do we know this isn’t all a trap?”
I shrugged. “If you’re that desperate for the cure, then you’ll just have to trust me.”
Derek shifted his eyes from me to Sofia. “I don’t trust him.”
I was half-hoping that my daughter would take my side, but she eyed me warily and said. “Neither do I.”
I was surprised by the effect her disapproval had on me. From Lily and Madeline’s stories, I realized that Derek had many times proven that he was worthy of Sofia’s trust. He had turned his back on his own father, saved her many times—risked his own life to face Borys Maslen in his own turf just to rescue Sofia. She had reason to believe that he loved her.
What have I done for her other than order her around and exert authority over her just because my blood runs through her?
Sofia wasn’t giving Derek her blind trust like I thought she was. She wasn’t somehow brainwashed or blinded by love. He had done what he had to do to earn her loyalty.
I, on the other hand, had done nothing. My daughter had become a beautiful, strong young woman throughout her stay at The Shade. I certainly wasn’t the person to thank for what she’d become.
But then, who was?
I eyed Derek from head to foot and grimaced. No matter what he had done for my daughter, I couldn’t swallow down the thought of ever owing him anything.
If there’s someone I need to thank for the beauty and strength of spirit I see in Sofia, it’s certainly not him.