He handed the phone over to me. I was just about to ask Sam to take me to Derek as quickly as possible, but I found myself hesitating, knowing that my father deserved more than what I was giving him. I stopped to kiss him on the cheek and whisper a thank you to him before Sam and I headed off, leaving them at The Cells.

When we arrived at The Sanctuary, we came to find Corrine standing alone outside the temple-like structure that’d been Corrine’s home since she arrived at the island.

“What’s going on?” I asked the witch.

Corrine shrugged. “I don’t know. Emilia demanded time alone with Derek and he’s been there with her for about a half an hour. I don’t know what’s going on inside.”

“You don’t have your powers?”

“I’m not sure. I still have them I believe, but Emilia’s using some sort of suppression spell on me. I’ve been trying to fight it, but she’s too powerful.”

“We’re going inside,” Sam decided, and to that, I nodded in agreement.

Corrine shook her head. “She has the building protected by a force field. No one can get in unless she allows them to...”

The witch hadn’t yet finished her sentence when Derek emerged from the doors, anger evident on his chiseled face. His face softened when he saw me waiting there.

“The hunters?” he asked with so much hope, it broke my heart to break the news to him.

I shook my head. “They’re coming. It seems his connection with me lost Aiden his position with the hunters.”

Derek heaved a sigh before he did the last thing I was expecting him to do. He grabbed my waist, pulled me against him and kissed me full on the mouth. I returned the kiss – passionate but hesitant at the same time, confused by why he was kissing me while everything around us was falling apart. When our lips parted, I couldn’t help but look at him questioningly.

“You know I love you, right?” he asked, desperation evident in his bright blue eyes.

I held my breath. This can’t be good.

He gripped my hands tightly and nodded toward The Sanctuary. “Come. We have a lot to discuss.” He began leading me toward the building before turning toward Corrine and Sam, who were about to follow us there. “Just us.”

Corrine didn’t seem happy about being kept out of her own home, but there wasn’t much she could do about it. Sam, on the other hand, just nodded before another explosion wracked The Shade.

Worry flashed through Sam’s eyes – the same look of anxiousness I’d been seeing every time we heard an explosion.

Derek nodded toward him. “Go,” he instructed. “You’re of better use there than here.”

Sam didn’t need to be told twice. He was out of there in a breath. I gave Corrine a faint smile before Derek led me to the building where Emilia was waiting.

I didn’t miss the spite in Emilia’s eyes the moment we entered her chambers, but I knew she couldn’t touch me – not in front of Derek. When they told me what Emilia was asking for in exchange for the safety of The Shade, I didn’t know how to respond other than to turn my eyes toward Derek. “What do you want to do?”

Derek shrugged and shook his head. “I think I don’t have a choice, Sofia, but I need to know that you’re okay with this.”

At that, Emilia rolled her eyes and scowled, but she didn’t say anything.

“I don’t know what to say, Derek,” I admitted. “It feels like I don’t have a choice either.”

“You know the dreams, Sofia. I told you everything. If you’re not up for this...”

“I’m scared of losing you,” I admitted, my shoulders trembling.

Derek cupped my face with his large hands and shook his head before kissing me on the forehead. “That’s impossible. You will always have me.”

At that, Emilia seemed to have had enough of our melodrama. “This is boring,” she spat out. “Do I get my demands or not? The way I see it, I think you’re getting the better end of the deal. You get The Shade back and all I get is one week with the man I love. Hardly seems fair…”

Something about what she said rubbed me the wrong way and I had no idea where I got the confidence but I managed to stare right at her and say, “You are not to harm Derek in any way.”

“I love him,” she hissed at me. “How could I ever harm him?”

“Sofia isn’t to be harmed either,” Derek spoke up.

At this, Emilia grimaced. “Really? More demands? Are you really in the position to make more demands?”

“Do you want that week or not?” Derek responded confidently.

We were about to find out just how desperate she was to have time alone with Derek.

“You’re pushing me.” She glared at him so intensely I wondered how she could possibly love him. Her glare quickly darted toward me and I was almost sure she was going to attack me or put a spell on me.

Derek, however, was unmoving in his resolve. He took a step forward, pushing me behind him in a protective gesture. “Sofia is not to be harmed. Corrine gets her powers back. Vivienne wakes up from the spell. Not only are you going to put the original protective spell back on the island, you’re also going to secure it with the same force field you’re using to protect The Sanctuary right now – and I get to control who gets to go in and who gets to go out.”

Emilia was clearly not happy with the new set of demands Derek was making. She began to stretch her neck and her arms as she slowly approached. She fixed her gaze on me, eyeing me from head to foot.

I felt so young and so unattractive when compared to her. She had this classy sophistication about her. Elegant. Gorgeous. Confident. Self-assured. Things I wasn’t. It wasn’t difficult to understand why Derek was so taken by her.

She smirked at me, perhaps noticing my admiration of her appearance. “Very well then. I agree to all those terms.”

My stomach turned. I was hoping she wouldn’t agree. I was hoping that Derek wouldn’t have to spend a week or even a single second with her. Who knows what they could do to him there? One week suddenly felt like an eternity. I was gripping Derek’s arm so tightly I didn’t even realize it until Derek gave me a look that mirrored my own desperation.

I couldn’t even fathom the reason behind why Emilia would want an entire week with Derek, but I knew that there was a strong possibility that I could lose him. Is our love strong enough? Afraid of what was to come, I stood to my tiptoes, threw my arms around his neck and kissed him, not caring how it would affect Emilia.

It seemed Derek couldn’t give a damn about what Emilia felt too, because he picked me up in his strong arms and returned the kiss with equal if not more passion.

By the time our lips parted, Emilia was glaring daggers at us. She was red with fury and any beauty she possessed was faded away by the darkness oozing out of her. I could sense the threats that came with the way she was looking at me. I could tell that it would give her great pleasure to see me harmed.

An echo from the past began to circle my mind as I realized what was hanging in the balance. Derek and I were strongest together and we were weakest apart. I squeezed Derek’s hand. I was reminded of how hard he had to fight in order to keep our relationship intact, what with his attraction to Emilia. How much harder would he have to fight now that we have to be apart?

I began to tremble and he felt it. He looked my way and whispered into my ear, “Our love is strong enough, Sofia.”

I wanted to believe him with all my heart, but looking at the veiled triumph behind Emilia’s eyes, I wasn’t so certain our love could survive what she was about to put us both through. Still, I mustered up all the conviction and faith I had in me to nod at Derek and say, “Of course it is, Derek. Of course it is.”

Chapter 23: Kyle

The Shade was in ruins. The Vale was a pile of ashes and most of the Residences were wiped out. The only structures in The Shade that remained intact were the Black Heights and The Sanctuary. Half of the Crimson Fortress was just a pile of rubble.

We’d been fighting for what felt like hours and the enemy vampires were coming in droves and just when I thought we had no more fight left in us, someone screamed, “Retreat!” And they all began to return to their choppers flying off and leaving us to pick up the pieces left by their attack.

I didn’t know what caused their retreat, but I was relieved when they began backing off. I had never been more exhausted in my life. I couldn’t even count the number of times a stake was almost driven into my heart. In fact, I still had three stakes buried into several parts of my body – one at my back, the other on my shoulder, the other on my leg. I was battling one vampire, and another one was about to come right at me when they called for the retreat.

When they retreated, I just fell to the ground, unwilling to look at the casualties surrounding me. I heard one of the attackers chuckle as he passed by me. “This is what happens to anybody who crosses the Elder,” he said.

I wondered what we could’ve possibly done to cross the original vampire, when we weren’t really even sure that the first vampire existed.

I pulled the stake out of my leg, gritting my teeth at the pain. I had just tossed it aside when a familiar voice called out my name.

“Kyle!”

She hadn’t even reached me yet, but I already knew her well enough to know that it was her. Anna. I could sense her presence, smell her sweet scent, practically see in my mind’s eye her beauty. She came to me from behind, hugging my neck as she whispered into my ear.

“Are you alright?”

All I could do was groan in response. As alright as I could be I guess.

“You look like crap, man.” Another familiar voice. Ian’s.

Before I could respond, he pulled out the wooden stake from behind me. I screamed in agony. I could practically see the smirk on his face. I turned around to glare at him and was surprised to find him with an ugly gash right through his upper torso – his shirt torn from the claw marks.