“You two love each other so much,” Sofia remarked as she pulled me toward the car. “Come on, Derek. Get behind the wheel.” She got in the passenger’s seat right after the others got out of the car. I stepped forward and ran a hand over the hood of the car. A smirk formed on my lips as I gave Sofia a questioning glance.

“Are you really sure you want to do this, Sofia?” I started loving the idea of learning to drive a car the moment I saw her nervously gulp. “Oh yeah…” I nodded. “This is going to be fun.”

CHAPTER 3: SOFIA

“Derek!” I screeched. “You’re driving the car right into the woods! Derek!”

He waited until the very last minute before turning the car to the right. He seemed to be having the time of his life.

“You’re getting a kick out of this, aren’t you?” I frowned.

“You know I am!”

He hit the brakes and I found myself thanking the heavens for the invention of the seatbelt, because had it not been created, I would’ve been thrown right out of that convertible.

The car’s motor died down as Derek pulled the keys from the ignition. We were right in the middle of the field, the vehicle’s headlights providing more than sufficient lighting. I felt Derek’s gaze taking my shaking form in.

“You’re right. You are overdressed for this.” He chuckled.

Annoyed, I hit him on the shoulder. “At one point during that crazy ride, I swear I saw my entire life flash before my eyes. Whose stupid idea was this?”

“Yours, I’m sure.” He leaned back on his seat, a satisfied smile on his face. “How did this car even get onto the island?”

I winced. I knew the answer to his question and it was one that I was certain wouldn’t please him, so I shrugged and said, “That is something you ought to ask Sam or Kyle.” I checked our surroundings and ascertained that the others had left us alone. I smiled. Perfect. However, upon seeing the determined, questioning look on Derek’s face, I realized that I wasn’t yet off the hook.

“Tell me, Sofia. I’d rather hear it from you. How did the car get onto the island?”

“Your father had a couple of cars brought in several years ago. Before you woke up. Sam and Kyle know the details…they just told me about it, so…”

“No. Tell me what you know. How were the cars brought in?”

I heaved a sigh. “They had to use a special freighter ship to get the cars here. Your father and Lucas wanted to try them out. They have a collection stashed somewhere here. Apparently, Vivienne objected to it, but they wouldn’t hear of it.”

“Another one of their insane luxuries…” He grimaced.

“Now your mood’s all ruined.” I pressed the play button on the car’s stereo and music added a calming, tropical feel to our surroundings. I then got out of the car and headed for the trunk. Just as I’d requested, a picnic basket was inside.

“I’m starving,” I confessed as I returned to the passenger’s seat beside him, picnic basket in hand.

I began taking out the contents of the basket. Two bottles—one containing champagne, the other containing blood—two glasses, a sandwich, strawberries and a container containing some melted white chocolate.

“So are you going to answer my original question or not?” he asked. I could hear the impatience in his tone.

I smiled at him as I recalled the night that gave me this idea. We were at the lighthouse, the only man-made structure located outside the thick walls surrounding the island. We had been playing a game of chess. I couldn’t forget the sadness in his eyes when I asked him about his birthday and he explained, “We vampires tend to stop measuring our age in years. We progress from measuring it in decades and then later, in centuries.” I wondered why so much hopelessness seemed to cover his countenance whenever his immortality was mentioned.

“I asked you once when your birthday was and you told me you’d forgotten…”

“Sofia…” His voice was choked with emotion, already knowing what I was trying to imply.

I poured blood into one glass and handed it to him before pouring champagne into my own. “You deserve a birthday, Derek.” I couldn’t keep a grin from my face as I shrugged. “So I decided to just make one up for you.”

I was relieved to find a smile form on his face. “A toast to the day you came into my life.”

“It’s your day, Derek, but hey…” I chuckled. “I’ll drink to that.” The edges of our glasses clinked as we shared a toast. We spent the next couple of hours, seated on the hood of the car, watching the stars and goofing around with the small meal that came with the basket. Of course, he couldn’t really partake of anything but the blood, but that didn’t stop him from amusing himself by shoving strawberries coated in sticky white chocolate into my mouth.

“So how old are you now?” I asked in an attempt to distract him so I could wipe off the chocolate he’d just smeared on my face.

“Too old.”

His blue eyes were burning with intensity and hopefulness as he looked at me. I didn’t have to ask what was going through his mind. I knew that the same thing was going through mine. We’d talked about it before. His immortality made it possible for us to have what we had. If he hadn’t become a vampire, our timelines never would’ve crossed.

He pulled me into his arms and began humming a tune as we stared up at the starlit sky.

“I wish we could be like this forever,” I whispered.

He nodded.

But I knew the truth. Things weren’t always going to be this way, because Ben was right.

Sandcastles always fall.

CHAPTER 4: DEREK

Upon our return to the penthouse, I was surprised to find Cameron and Liana Hendry waiting for us in my living room. The expression on their faces was enough to tell me that something was wrong. Instinct took over and I removed the arm I had over Sofia’s shoulder and gently nudged her behind me.

Cameron and Liana rose from their seats upon seeing us. Both their eyes settled on Sofia in a sad gaze.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, not quite sure if I was ready to hear the answer to my question.

“We have to talk,” Liana responded solemnly. “About Sofia and the girls.”

Had it only been Cameron paying me a visit, I wouldn’t have been as anxious, but Liana was there, and her presence rarely ever brought good news. I nodded at Liana to talk as we all took a seat. She took a deep breath before obliging.

“A week from now, Sofia and the girls will have been here at The Shade for a year.”

My hand quickly found Sofia’s knee and I squeezed tight. I remembered what Vivienne told me the night the girls were brought to me. “The humans who form the harems are kept alive for a year and whomever owns them gets to decide their ultimate fate after that.”

I swallowed hard. “So?” I asked Liana.

“Your father sent me to tell you that he wants to know your decision regarding the girls so that it can be executed at the appointed time.”

I grimaced. “He couldn’t have just come here to tell me that himself?”

“He told me that he wanted to, but that he would prefer not to see Sofia.”

My father’s disdain toward her was no secret. Gregor Novak blamed her for Lucas turning against us and for Vivienne getting caught by the hunters. In my father’s eyes, Sofia was turning me against him.

“It’s for the best. The farther away my father is from Sofia, the better off we all are.” I straightened up in my seat and nodded. “Fine. My decision is easy. The girls stay with me.”

Cameron and Lucas exchanged worried glances.

“That would mean you’d have to turn them all into vampires and make them a part of your clan, Derek,” Cameron explained.

“What?!” I spat out. “Who came up with these rules?”

Everyone knew that I thought the concept of a harem was ridiculous. That was one reason I put a stop to human abductions while my father was away.

“Your father,” Liana patiently responded.

With Lucas’ influence no doubt. I scowled. “What are my other choices?”

“Most harems don’t really last a year and when they do, the owners usually just turn their slaves into vampires. A year means that they’d grown quite fond of their slaves and…”

I licked my lips impatiently and turned my head toward Sofia. “Do you want to become a vampire, Sofia?”

Her emerald gaze was moist with tears as she shook her head. She was clearly terrified by the idea. The truth was that though I couldn’t blame her for not wanting to turn into my kind, the thought that she didn’t want to be what I was hurt.

“If the other three girls want to become vampires, then so be it,” I announced. “However, Sofia has indicated that she isn’t willing to become one, so what are the alternatives?”

Liana’s response was blunt and straightforward. “She is either drained of all blood or sent to live at The Catacombs, where she will be assigned work she’s skilled at; therefore, making her useful to the island.”

The Catacombs were located at the Black Heights, a vast mountain range north of the island. It contained a complex network of interconnected caves. These caves were divided into two areas—The Cells and The Catacombs. The Cells were our prison system. The Catacombs, on the other hand, were home to The Shade’s growing human population—the Naturals. The Naturals were humans born and raised at The Shade—they did the bulk of the labor required to keep The Shade in its self-sustaining state. On the other hand, Sofia and the rest of the humans belonging to the harems were known as Migrates. They were taken from outside the island. Just as Liana implied, most Migrates—if not all—died in the island. Only few were turned into vampires or sent to The Catacombs to become Naturals.

I’d only been to The Catacombs once when Sofia asked to visit. The thought of her living there made me sick to my stomach. She belongs by my side.