“Sofia has nothing to do with the choices I made regarding The Shade,” he defended, the hint of affection that showed in his voice when he mentioned her name was easily detectable.

“Isn’t she the reason you stopped the culling and asked Eli to organize a way to tap into the blood banks? This move puts The Shade in danger of being discovered, does it not?”

“The same way you put The Shade in danger when you started abducting teenagers to turn into your slaves. Only with this measure, we don’t have to destroy any lives.” Derek was losing patience and it was obvious.

I smiled inwardly. I wanted his temper to blow up. I wanted to see him crumble and make a fool of himself. However, like I always found myself in danger of doing, I had once again underestimated my own son. Before I could think of another accusation to throw at him, he stood up and scoped the round hall.

“I tire of this. I am still ruler of this kingdom and will not be subjected to this mock trial. I am loyal to The Shade and will remain loyal to it. I am prophesied to find our kind true sanctuary and I will do that until I am robbed of my immortality. My love for Sofia Claremont is no secret to any of you. She is prophesied to be instrumental in helping me fulfill the prophecy. I am not working with the hunters. Yes. I stayed in hunter territory during the period between the fall of The Oasis and my return here. Sofia Claremont is the daughter of one of the highest ranking hunters in the world and he let me go because he knows I love her. He has forbidden me to ever see her again. In exchange for my agreement to that condition, he let me go.”

At that final bit of information, many of those present who were close to my son’s so-called fiancée or had formed some sort of attachment with her began to react.

“Does this mean that Sofia’s not going to return to the island?”

“Are you really going to stay away from her?”

“What about the prophecy? If you’re apart from Sofia that means you may never be able to bring our kind true sanctuary?”

“How did you ever get Sofia to agree to let you leave?”

“Does Sofia know that her father struck that bargain with you?”

“How could you have ever agreed to that bargain?”

I was furious by the questions being thrown at Derek. As far as I was concerned, all of them were irrelevant. Angry that I could be sidelined so easily, I surged forward letting out a loud scream. I then motioned to attack Derek, managing to claw a finger through his cheek before he could dodge me.

I watched as his blue eyes shifted from the ground to me as the wound on his cheek healed.

“You have no idea what you’re up against,” I warned him, even as I shut out from my memory the events that occurred between the time Borys Maslen and I escaped The Oasis up to the time I was released to return to The Shade. I could feel the darkness taking its power over me.

“What exactly am I up against, Father?” he asked before giving me an arrogant smirk. “You?”

Fury took over. “You never should’ve come against me.”

“Empty threats, Father. We both know you have no power here.”

At that point, I couldn’t help but smile inside. Derek was underestimating me and that would work to his disadvantage. After all, I wasn’t the same man who left The Shade for The Oasis. No, not anymore.

“This is war, Derek.”

He stood to his full height and squared his shoulders. “Then so be it, Father. If it’s war you want, it’s war you’re going to get.”

We stared each other down, ignoring the commotion the people surrounding us were causing. At that moment, without having to speak out, Derek and I had an understanding. As long as the war went on, I was no longer his father and he was no longer my son.

You have no idea what you’ve just gotten yourself into, I thought as I walked away from the dome. I’ve changed the same way Borys has changed. I shudder to think of what kind of a force Borys is now. Derek doesn’t stand a chance against us. He picked the wrong side when he chose light over darkness.

As I left the Crimson Fortress, the smile faded from my face when a quick mental image of Sofia Claremont flashed through my mind along with the clear-spoken command: She must be destroyed if Derek is to come back as a child of the darkness. I realized then why I loathed the lovely redhead so much.

She was Derek’s choice. She was the light that he chose over the darkness.

CHAPTER 15: DEREK

“What is going on here?” I demanded the moment I saw Corrine at The Catacombs.

After finally escaping the confrontation at the dome, I immediately sought out the witch who was crucial to the ongoing survival of The Shade. I found that of all the human leaders established by Sofia to represent the human population of The Shade, only Gavin and Ian showed up. They explained to me that Corrine was still at The Catacombs; thus, I was forced to visit the network of caves located in a vast mountain range at the northernmost part of the island known as the Black Heights.

Corrine was seated at the living room of the quarters that I had prepared for Sofia when she had moved to live with the other humans at The Catacombs. The witch barely even batted an eyelash at the sight of me. “You’re here,” she said flatly.

“This island is going to fall apart unless we all do the work necessary for its survival,” I spat out, immediately cutting to the chase after losing most of my patience back at the dome. “Why are you supporting this lockout?”

“I’m not supporting it.” She shook her head. “I’m just here to make sure these people don’t end up killing each other. Do you have any idea how chaotic it’s been in your kingdom since you disappeared?”

My jaw tightened. “I’ve been told.”

“Where is Sofia?” It seemed the witch wasn’t one to beat around the bush either.

“I left her with the hunters.”

“You’re up against more than you can handle here, Derek. Apparently, you just declared civil war within The Shade. The Naturals are at one another’s throats… Never before has The Catacombs experienced such a high crime rate. And if I’m not mistaken, there are also rumors of a threat of an attack from covens outside The Shade. It’s anarchy and war all at the same time.”

I had no idea how to respond other than with sarcasm. “Well, thank you for giving me such a wonderful recap.”

“I’m serious, Derek.”

“Don’t you think I know all of that, Corrine?!” I was thankful for the privacy given us by the humans and vampires who accompanied me to The Catacombs, because if there was anybody at The Shade I felt safe losing my temper with, it was Corrine. I knew that she could easily placate me with a single spell.

“You never should’ve left Sofia. You are weakest when you are apart from her.”

“I didn’t have a choice,” I explained. “Keeping her with me would’ve destroyed her. Even now, whenever I think of her—just the image of her in my mind—it makes me crave her blood so much. All I can think about is how good it felt to drink her blood.”

Corrine’s eyes grew wide with shock. “You’ve had a taste of Sofia’s blood? How? Why?”

The recollection made me swallow hard. “She fed me her blood to save me. Borys had been torturing me. We needed to escape The Oasis. I tried to object, but Sofia insisted. She cut her wrist and let the blood drip into my mouth… I healed quicker than I ever had before.”

Corrine sat up straight and moved forward so that she was practically sitting on the edge of the couch. “That’s it? Never again did you…”

I shook my head. “I craved her so much after… She willingly let me drink from her neck when we were in hunter territory.”

“Derek, how could you…”

“Don’t.” I shook my head. “I do enough of beating myself up over that. I don’t need you to add to my guilt.”

She remained pensive for a couple of seconds before finally asking. “What did it make you feel to have her blood running inside of you?”

It was exhilarating just to think of Sofia’s blood coursing through me. I smiled at the thought, almost feeling guilty over the reality that there was nothing like it. “Honestly? It made me feel powerful beyond measure.”

Corrine stared at me, the expression on her face impossible to decipher. She opened her mouth to say something, but then Rosa entered the room. Her eyes widened with surprise at the sight of me.

“Derek! I had no idea you were back…”

Rosa’s face reddened, almost as if she’d been caught guilty doing something she ought not to do.

I squinted my eyes at her and frowned. “You don’t seem very happy to see me, Rosa. Is something wrong?”

With everything going on, I was actually pleased to see Rosa. Always antsy and careful with what she said around me, she reminded me of the days back at my penthouse when she, Ashley and Sofia had still lived with me. I felt a sense of responsibility toward her and I found myself eager to know how she’d been doing since I had left. Knowing how much she mattered to Sofia, I couldn’t help but give her a moment’s attention in spite of the deluge of problems flooding my way.

Rosa stood still for a couple of seconds as she tried to figure out if I was upset with her. She then shook her head and looked to Corrine for help. Corrine rolled her eyes. “You’re scaring her, Derek.”

I chuckled and the young girl sighed with relief. “How have you been, Rosa?”

She blushed and nodded. “I’m fine.”

“Rosa’s been taking care of Sofia’s quarters,” Corrine explained. “We didn’t know what to expect, but it’s been over-crowded here at The Catacombs lately, so I recommended that they move here.”

My brow quirked up. “Who are they exactly?”

“Well, Rosa’s been here all along, but now, so is Gavin and his family—Lily and the children. Ian and Anna have moved in too.”

Gavin and Ian were both Naturals—born and raised at The Shade. When Sofia moved to The Catacombs, it was Gavin who took her under his wing and introduced her to life within the caves. Lily was his mother and he had two younger siblings, Rob and Madeline. At some point, Gavin introduced Sofia to Ian, who was at the time, one of the rebel leaders at The Shade. Together, the three of them spearheaded a protest against a culling of all humans deemed to be useless.