“What?” He grinned. “You’re not the only one who wants to fight for The Shade. I mean, I’m not crazy about being a slave to you vamps, but I’m assuming that Derek is a better king to serve than whoever just attacked us.”

“Everything is ruined…” Tears were brimming Anna’s eyes as she looked me over with such affection.

I ached, upon seeing the look in her eyes. Since she’d been seeing Corrine, it’d been difficult to figure her moods out.

Anna was a pendulum, going from me to Ian, then from Ian back to me again. Over the past few days she’d been seeing Corrine, she always seemed to prefer being around either me or him. During the days when she preferred me, it was heaven. She was her old, fun, smart, bubbly self – just like she was during our nights at the lake. Of course, the times she spent with Ian were complete hell. It drove me completely nuts trying to avoid thinking about what they were doing or talking about.

Does she smile at him like she does me? Do they talk about the same things?

After the battle, I looked at her wondering whom it was she was gearing more toward. It was hard to tell, considering how it seemed she was a bit more of herself – compassionate, wanting to help and comfort and heal wherever it was needed.

“What just happened?” Ian asked the question that was most likely going through all of the warriors’ minds.

“I have no clue.” I shook my head at Ian before pulling out the stake on my shoulder, noticing how Anna winced on my behalf, knowing how painful it was. “I’m fine, Anna,” I assured her before looking around.

My breath hitched when I saw Ashley walking towards us. She was the only member of my clan, the only vampire I’d ever sired and that gave us a connection that made my heart go out to her. She looked so tired and distraught even as the wounds in her body were beginning to heal.

“Have you seen Sam?” she asked me the moment she was within earshot.

I shook my head. I was about to ask her if she was alright, but based on the tears streaming down her face, it was clear that she was not.

“Hey…” I tried to soothe her, reaching out both hands. She immediately fell to my embrace and sobbed on my chest as I brushed my fingers through her blonde hair.

“Everything’s destroyed…” she choked.

I gulped, knowing that the task of rebuilding The Shade was immense. I wanted to reassure her, but I couldn’t find the words to do so. I didn’t even know how to assure myself. So how was I going to offer it?

Question after question were running through my mind. What happened? What’s going to happen? What are we going to do now? I quickly scoped our surroundings and found familiar faces sorting through the rubble. Xavier took one look around, tightened his jaw, and clenched his fists, before rushing off to the direction of the Pavilion – most likely to check on Vivienne. Yuri was kissing Claudia and whispering words of reassurance into her ear. Cameron and Liana were staring at each other from a distance as they both just went through the lifeless bodies of vampires – from the enemy’s side and ours – and humans. On the far horizon, coming from the direction of The Sanctuary, I caught a glimpse of Sam rushing towards us.

“Hey, Ash…” I whispered to the girl who was the closest thing I had to family in The Shade, “It’s Sam. He’s coming.”

Ashley pulled away from me and turned her eyes to the direction I pointed to. Within minutes, she was in Sam’s arms. I then turned back to find Ian and Anna still standing behind me, looking at the chaos surrounding us.

“I wonder where Sofia is,” Ian muttered. “She would have an idea about what just went on.”

“She’s at The Sanctuary with Derek and Emilia,” Sam told us, before filling us in on what he knew. “Corrine doesn’t have her powers,” he finally concluded. “She can’t even get into The Sanctuary. Emilia has put some sort of force field around it. Vivienne is still asleep and Aiden has lost ground with the hunters. They’re gearing up for an attack.”

I swallowed hard, letting the implication of everything he just said sink in. The horrors of the first years I lived as a vampire before finally finding The Shade began to come back to me. Always running, always seeking out a shadow or a dark place that would keep out the sun… always at the threat of getting murdered or caught by hunters…

“What do you mean Corrine doesn’t have her powers?” Ashley voiced out. “What about the spell protecting the island?”

Sam shook his head. “Gone.”

“That means that the sun is going to rise…” I asked.

Sam shrugged. “Not unless Sofia and Derek find a way to talk Emilia into stopping all this chaos. Perhaps the retreat of the attackers has something to do with…”

Sofia emerged from the woods – coming from the direction of The Sanctuary. It was clear from the glistening in her eyes that she’d been crying. I feared the worst for her and Derek.

All eyes of those present began to turn toward her. We began to gather around her and patiently waited for her to speak up.

Sofia’s eyes were downcast as she spoke. She was clearly shaken based on the way her shoulders were trembling. “The protective spell upon The Shade is back up,” she announced. Murmurs echoed through the crowd gathering around her, especially amongst those who didn’t know that it was gone to begin with. “We are safe from further attack for the next week or so. Emilia has placed a force field around The Shade in order to keep us safe.”

“Why would she do that?” Yuri couldn’t keep himself from asking.

Sofia just gave him a weak smile before looking back down and reciting her speech. “Corrine is back in control of The Sanctuary. She has regained her powers.”

“Why are you the one telling us this?” a random voice among the crowd asked. “Where is Derek? Where is our king?”

At this, Sofia tried to hold back her tears, but she managed to compose herself like the queen we always believed she would eventually be. “Derek will not be on the island for a week. Emilia stopped the war, restored the spell, put up the force field, gave Corrine back her powers and once again awakened Vivienne in exchange for one week with Derek. He has to spend one week at the original vampire’s castle.”

“Why?” Cameron and Liana asked in unison, concern on their faces.

Sofia shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Before anyone else could ask a question, a scream came from the back of the crowd. “The sun! It’s rising!”

I spun around and sure enough, the sun was rising for the first time in hundreds of years in The Shade.

“I thought you said the protective spell was back up?!” someone cried out at Sofia, who was looking at the horizon with pure shock. She clearly had no idea what was going on.

Panic ensued before Cameron finally got a lead on everything and instructed us all to go to The Catacombs. I rushed toward Anna and Ian who both just coaxed me to rush off to The Catacombs before the rays of the sun could reach me.

I was about to do just that when I turned to find Sofia collapsing to the ground. I couldn’t understand what was happening, but I knew that the battle was far from over. Whoever Emilia was, she still seemed to have control over The Shade.

Chapter 24: Derek

The moment our deal was struck, all it took was a snap of Emilia’s fingers before I was no longer in The Shade and we were both inside what I assumed was her chambers.

She sighed with relief the moment she saw her familiar surroundings. “Finally. I’m home,” she purred even as she fell back into the middle of her four-poster bed.

She then curled up over the large, soft covers and stared at me, propping her head up with her hand, her elbow rested on the bed. “And you’re here with me.”

I grimaced. I looked at her and all I could see was a woman who was as attractive on the outside as she was unattractive on the inside.

She rose from her bed and made her way toward me, exaggerating her every movement, obviously made to seduce. “You’re going to fall in love with me, Derek Novak.”

Despite the tension I was feeling, I actually began laughing at that statement. Full-on, uncontrollable laughter… I couldn’t hold it back. I found it hilarious that she could even think that I would fall in love with her.

She seemed annoyed by my reaction. I didn’t care though.

She must’ve eventually gotten tired of my making a jest out of her, because she threw her arms in my direction and to my shock, I was flung back into the air until my back hit the wall, pinned about two feet above the ground. “What the hell are you laughing at?!” she screamed at me, anger burning in her eyes.

I narrowed my eyes at her and wondered to myself how I could’ve ever seen her as beautiful. Is she really so naïve? I still couldn’t hide the amusement in my voice when I responded to her, “Is that why you brought me here, Emilia? You thought that I could fall in love with you in the span of one week?”

She wrinkled her nose at me, disgusted that I was finding her profession of love entertaining.

I didn’t know what it was about this place, but something about it seemed to bring out the darkness in her. I noted how she never acted this way in The Shade. She always seemed so cool and collected, but in her father’s castle, the Blood Keep, as she referred to it, she was like a volcano waiting to explode.

“I’m glad you’re entertained by my words, Derek, but not for long… You’ll see. All I really have to do is get you to remember, Derek. You’ll remember what we had. You’ll realize that we’ve had far more than just one week. You’ll realize that you’ve been falling in love with me for years.”

“You’re delusional,” I practically spat the words out, finding myself disgusted by her.

She smirked and shook her head before pointing one finger at my head. Suddenly, images began to flood into my mind. Dreams buried in my subconscious. Dreams of her and me enveloped in some sort of mist. Then the scenes changed. The dreams turned into memories – that of me and various hallmarks of my life in The Shade before I went to sleep – each and every one of them a memory I shared with one person alone: Cora.