“But don’t worry, my fragile little twig. I’ve had my fill for the night. I just wanted to warn you about what’s ahead of you, remind you who found you…and who really owns you.”

Still keeping his hand over my mouth, Lucas lifted himself up on the bed, so that he was kneeling over me, straddling my hips as he looked down at me, a manic smile on his face.

“Don’t get too comfortable with my brother, Sofia, because no matter what he may think, you’re mine. And should you get any bright ideas about telling Derek about this little rendezvous of ours, consider this a stern warning.”

He used his free hand to retrieve something from his jacket’s pocket. It was a lock of brown hair. My eyes grew wide with horror imagining what the object implied. He began tracing the ends of the strands of hair over my jaw line.

“I have a gift waiting for you at the bathroom. Before you scream for help, I suggest you check it out… unless of course you want more of my gifts waiting for you.”

With that, he left, leaving the lock of hair behind. Trembling, I grabbed the item and got off the bed. I slowly walked toward the bathroom, dreading to find out what gift he could possibly think of giving me. There were no words to describe what I felt when I opened the bathroom door and found Gwen’s lifeless body there. The sensations and emotions that rushed through me at that moment were more than I could handle. My throat felt so dry, I couldn’t even scream. I just retreated to a corner, terrified, realizing that no matter how beautiful the Blood Shade was on the outside, it was only a mask to hide its darkness. I’d fooled myself into believing that I was safe, but that was the biggest lie I’d told myself in years.

CHAPTER 18: DEREK

“She’s wounded,” was the first thing Corrine said when I barged inside the doors of the Sanctuary, Sofia still in my arms.

I wondered what she was talking about as I followed Corrine to one of the Sanctuary’s chambers. I walked toward the bed in the middle of the room and laid Sofia there. My stomach turned when I saw how bloody one of my hands were. Her blood. My craving for her should’ve consumed me – it was in my nature to want to taste her – but my desire to make things right with her overpowered every other lustful craving.

“What happened to her?” Corrine asked.

I ignored the witch and flipped Sofia’s motionless body over so that she was lying face down on the bed. She made no attempts to stop me when I began ripping the back of her dress open. The sight of her back was revolting to look at. Vampire claws ran the length of her back with deep cuts. I wondered to myself how someone as fragile as her could sustain such a wound without complaining about the pain.

“Who did this to you, Sofia? Who killed Gwen?!”

She didn’t respond. She just buried her face in the pillow, sobbing frantically. I drew the dagger out of my sleeve and without a moment’s hesitation made a deep, long cut over my palm. I grabbed Sofia’s arm and with my agitation and the sense of urgency I felt, I yanked her to an upright, sitting position. She gasped in pain at the sudden motion.

“Derek…” Vivienne spoke from behind me. “She’s already in enough pain.”

I wasn’t even aware that my sister had followed us all the way there.

“There’s no time. She needs to heal fast. We don’t know how much blood she’s already lost.”

I was inwardly chastising myself for not having noticed while still back in her bedroom that she was hurt. I pressed my palm over Sofia’s mouth, my other hand positioned at the back of her neck.

“Drink,” I ordered.

I was relieved that she didn’t put up a fight and simply relented. Perhaps she just wanted the pain to stop and knew well enough that my blood in her system would exceedingly speed up the healing process. I didn’t care. As long as I felt her sucking on the blood from my palm, I was satisfied. It did little to ease the fury I felt inside, but it did wonders for the worry I felt over her predicament.

Relief washed over me when the cuts on her back began to heal. She must’ve felt it, because she stopped drinking from my palm. I was so distraught over what happened to her under my watch that I wanted her to keep drinking as if my blood could fix everything for her. The gash on my palm closed however, and I watched her wipe the blood from her face with her arm. I wanted to see the light in her eyes flicker back on, any indication that the fire within her hadn’t died out, but the blank stare of her green eyes told me otherwise as she listlessly laid her head back on the pillow.

“What’s going on? What did you do to her?” Corrine eyed me suspiciously, making it rather clear that she didn’t trust me the way her ancestor, Cora, did.

“I didn’t do anything to her,” I replied indignantly, saying the words through gritted teeth. “I found her this way when I checked on her this morning.”

“One of the other girls in his harem was found murdered – bled dry – inside her bathroom,” Vivienne added.

Corrine kept up her suspicious perusal of me. “And you didn’t do this?”

I glared at her, trying to maintain my patience. “Did you not hear me the first time, witch?”

“Can you blame me for thinking that you had something to do with this? You took one look at her when you woke up and threw her up a pillar, more than ready to devour her. Who knows what sick things you have in mind to do to her?”

“Corrine, he didn’t do this,” Vivienne spoke up knowing that if she didn’t, I might not be able to keep myself from maiming the witch for her insolence.

“Well then, who did?” Corrine raised a brow. “You creatures sicken me.”

She wrinkled her nose and looked at Vivienne and me as if we were the most despicable things she’d ever laid eyes on.

I wasn’t so sure she was wrong. That morning wasn’t exactly our kind’s most shining moment, but the witch’s hypocrisy was getting to my nerves.

“If you hate us so much, why do you serve us? Why help protect us?”

“Your kind took me captive much like you did this girl. I had no choice in the matter.”

My brow rose at this news. “Is this true, Vivienne?”

“We needed a witch to keep the spell going…” my sister tried to explain.

I was perhaps losing half my mind because I looked at Corrine and without a hint of a joke on my face, I said, “You’re free to go anytime you please, witch. No one will stop you. You have my word.”

“Derek…” Vivienne gasped. “We can’t…”

“Be quiet, Vivienne.” I lifted a hand to silence my sister. I stared at the shocked expression on Corrine’s face. “You’re no longer a prisoner of the Blood Shade, Corrine. You may leave today if you wish. I’ll even see you to the port myself.” I was calling her bluff. She was Cora’s descendant and if she was anything like her ancestor, no one would have been able to keep her in one place against her will. She was here for a reason and it certainly wasn’t because we kept her locked up.

Corrine eyed me for a couple of seconds, her lips sealed tight. Afterwards, a small sideward smile formed on her face.

“I see now what Cora saw in you.”

Vivienne stepped forward, looking absolutely confused. “Corrine… you mean you’re not leaving? You’ve been harping about being held against your will since you got here.”

“You really are quite a lovely thing, aren’t you, Vivienne? I’ve inherited hundreds of years’ worth of power and knowledge from Cora down to every descendant she’d had. Do you really think that you can hold me captive with four walls or a cage?” Corrine then gave Sofia a glance. She heaved a sigh. “Now let’s get back to the matter at hand. If I’m to find out what really happened, I can’t have either of you lurking around, threatening her.”

“I would never threaten her,” I spat out.

“Don’t kid yourself, Derek,” Corrine smirked. “Your presence alone is a threat to her. Now, go on… leave.”

I cast a lingering gaze at Sofia, feeling like I was being ripped apart on the inside. My fists clenched as I gave the arrogant young witch a heartfelt plea. “Do everything you can to make things right for her…just…fix her.”

There was a spark of confusion in Corrine’s large brown eyes. Perhaps she was wondering why I cared so much, but she didn’t address the matter and instead, simply herded Vivienne and me out of the room. “You can see yourselves out. I will have a guard alert you once she is ready to return to the Pavilion.”

I stood outside as Corrine slammed the door on our faces. I didn’t budge from my spot, determined to stay there and wait until Sofia was okay.

Vivienne grabbed my hand and squeezed. “Sofia’s going to be fine. Corrine was in her senior year of psychology when we dragged her down here. She’ll know how to help Sofia.”

“I’m not leaving here until I know Sofia is okay.” I announced.

My sister knew me well enough to know that once I put my mind to something, I could be as stubborn as a mule about it. She nodded, knowing that nothing she could say would convince me to leave that place.