She coughed before looking up at me. A faint smile crossed her face. “She went back, didn’t she? She returned to him?”

It felt like she was taunting me. My fists clenched and I was about to hit her, but then I saw it – a tear running down her eye. No matter what justification I had for causing her harm, no matter what torments Claudia put me through, Vivienne was a helpless, broken woman, and I was beating her up for crimes that she didn’t commit.

“Please…” Tears were streaming down Vivienne’s face as she tried to lift herself up from the floor. “Enough.”

I sat in front of her and once again gripped her jaw.

She moaned at the sudden action. I realized then that she’d probably been undergoing torture since they brought her here. Any move I made on her caused her pain.

“Only you can end this, Vivienne. Just tell us what we want to know. Tell us where The Shade is. Then all this will be over.”

“Tell me, Ben. If you knew that a group of thugs were intent on murdering your family and destroying your home, what could they possibly do to you that would make you give them your family’s address?”

My mouth twitched.

“Exactly. I could never give up my family, Ben.” Her sobs began subsiding.

I eased my grip on her jaw, unable to accept that a vampire could care for anyone other than themselves. Claudia painted a picture of their kind that made it hard for me to believe that the concept of family could mean anything to them.

“Sofia is my family, Vivienne. You took her away from me. If you had hold of someone who brainwashed your family into agreeing to slavery, what would you do to that person to get your family back?”

“Sofia returned to The Shade out of her own free will and we both know it.”

The truth of her words stung. I reluctantly let go of her jaw. I couldn’t even look at her, but I felt her eyes on me, searching me.

“You loved her, didn’t you?”

“She was supposed to be mine. She wasn’t supposed to choose him.”

She lifted a trembling hand and brushed the tips of her fingers over the fine ends of my hair. “I’m sorry, Ben. For everything The Shade cost you. But we were only doing what we needed to do in order to survive.”

“Don’t tell me that. What Claudia put me through had nothing to do with survival…”

“You’re right. It had everything to do with revenge. You reminded her of the man who once abused her.”

“I was not that man.”

She nodded. “And I am not Claudia.”

The point was a blow in the gut, but it was well taken. I finally looked her in the eye. To my surprise, after a couple of seconds, the violets of her irises had swirled into a bright blue. When her irises returned to their original blue-violet color, she stared at me as if I’d been made brand new. “Ben…”

I flinched when her thumb gently caressed the line of my jaw. I grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand away from me. “What is it? What did you see?”

A lone tear fell from the corner of her eye to the tip of her chin before falling to the ground.

“You have no idea how much you mean to her. One day, Ben, you’re going to look beyond yourself and you’re going to see Sofia as she is. Once you see the world through her eyes, you will understand. You could be great, Ben. And for all it’s worth, I thank you.”

“What? What are you say-…”

The door to the room slammed open and Reuben stepped in. “Enough,” he bellowed. “It’s clear we’re not going to get anything from her. We’re going to make arrangements for an execution as soon as possible.”

Relief washed over Vivienne’s countenance. Guilt washed over mine. Her last words haunted me for the rest of the day. What was she thanking me for?

I mentioned it to Zinnia later that day.

“She was probably just deranged, Ben. Forget what she said.”

I shook my head. “You can’t just forget when someone says something like that to you – especially when that someone is the Seer of The Shade.”

CHAPTER 43: SOFIA

The Black Heights was a huge mountain range that spread out, north of the island. Within it was an intricate network of caves. The caves contained the Cells and the Catacombs. The Cells were located in the western portion of the caves. The Catacombs, home to the humans living at The Shade and not under the care of a vampire, occupied the eastern portion.

As I made my way from west to east of the Black Heights, the encounter I had with Ashley and the dilemma it posed weighed heavily on me. I felt weak and helpless over everything going on around me, but I knew that I could no longer turn a blind eye to what was happening at The Shade. I was blinded by my affection for Derek, but it could not remain so.

I passed by the entrance of the cave network and headed for the cave opening that led to the Catacombs. I was surprised to find Derek leaning against a solid rock wall, waiting for me.

“I told you I’d send a guard, but I figured I’d send myself instead. Xavier can take care of the training. After all, he’s better with guns than I am.”

I narrowed my eyes at him, and then forced a smile. “Of course.”

“Did it go well with Ashley?”

“She agreed to your terms. You’ll release her immediately?”

He called after a nearby guard. “See to it that one of the human prisoners is released and sent to my home. Her name is Ashley. Make sure that she is properly guarded. I want her under close watch.”