Lucas pushed the door open and led me into a large courtroom. A lone figure could be seen in the middle of it. He was seated on a tall black throne, made up of what looked like human skulls. At the sight of me, he stood on his feet, his dark eyes lighting up as he licked his lips.

I immediately assumed that he was Borys Maslen. He didn’t look like I thought he would. I’d expected him to look like the Novaks. He had muddy brown hair, and a stocky, wide, muscular physique. He looked like he could crush me with his bare hands if he wanted to.

“So this is my Sofia.” He smiled as Lucas pushed me forward, forcing me to approach the throne. “It’s about time you came to me, my dear betrothed.”

“I’m not your betrothed,” I spat out. The notion was sickening.

“Actually, Sofia,” a feminine voice came out through the deep burgundy curtains behind Borys’ throne, “you are his betrothed.” A beautiful woman emerged from behind the curtains and it was clear to see who she was. Ingrid Maslen.

Tears began to flow down my eyes at the sight of her. Gregor was telling the truth. It’s my mother.

“She looks so happy to see you, Ingrid.” Borys tilted his head to the side.

I couldn’t even bear looking at him. My eyes were glued on my mother as questions began to flood my mind. “Mom?”

“Yes, Sofia.” She smiled at me. “It’s me. Your mother. I gave you to Borys a long time ago. You are rightfully his.”

I had no idea how to cope with all the information being thrown my way, but two things I was still certain about: my mother was indeed crazy and there was no way that I belonged to Borys.

I managed to pry my eyes away from Ingrid, or whatever she called herself nowadays, and look at the man who was claiming me as his. I felt nothing but disgust toward him. I gathered all the courage I could muster and smirked at him. “You’re too late.” I raised my hand and showed them the ring Derek had given me. “I’m already married to Derek Novak.”

It wasn’t a difficult lie to tell, because it was almost true. Derek was already my fiancé and it was him whom I belonged with.

Borys’ face colored into a deep, beet red. He lunged forward, until he was standing right in front of me, grabbing my jaw. “You lie!” he accused.

I kept the smirk on my face. “You can check if you want. He’s already taken me to his bed. Many times.” At least that part was true. I could almost sense the surprise coming from Lucas. I wondered why he thought Derek would never take me to his bed and realized that Lucas knew that I was different from the beginning, knew that Derek never touched me while I was initially at The Shade.

To my surprise, Borys took out his frustration on Lucas. He let go of my jaw and threw Lucas against a wall. “How dare your brother touch what is mine! First, he takes Vivienne away from me, now he has soiled my betrothed!”

I winced when he grabbed a clump of Lucas’ hair and hit him right across the face.

“Borys, my dear, that’s enough.” Ingrid sounded almost bored. “You’re scaring my daughter.”

Borys hit Lucas one more time before turning his attention toward me once again. He grabbed my waist and pulled my body against his, yanking me like a rag doll. His free hand began groping me roughly as he pressed his lips against my cheek. I screamed with pain and terror when his claws came out of the hand that was touching my thigh, sinking into my skin as he scratched my thigh upward and drew blood.

Once satisfied that he had drawn enough blood, he used both his arms to wrap around me so tightly it felt as if he wanted to crush my ribs. He whispered into my ear, “Derek might’ve already had you before I could, but I still want you, Sofia Claremont. Don’t worry. I’m going to make him pay for what he did to you, for taking you away from me. Once I make a widow out of you, you’re going to be mine, Sofia—just as you were always meant to be.”

He then let go of me and pushed me to the ground. Delight sparked in his eyes when he saw the blood trickling down my thighs. I knew then that I was facing one sadistic man, and I could only shudder to think of all the horrors that Vivienne had to go through under his rule.

“Heal your daughter,” he instructed Ingrid. “I’ll see to it that everyone prepares for my wedding.” A spark of glee showed in his eyes. “We have to make sure that Derek Novak gets an invitation.”

CHAPTER 45: BEN

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I felt was a sharp pain in the right side of my head. I tried to remember what had just happened, and could recall Gregor Novak hitting me on the head with a hard object. After that, everything was a daze. I sat up, feeling slightly dizzy, and noticed that I was lying on a couch, my wrists cuffed behind my back.

I looked around the room and immediately saw Sofia, sitting over the edge of a large bed, her hand cuffed to the bed’s railings. It was clear to see from the tear stains on her cheeks and her swollen eyes that she’d been crying.

“Sofia? What happened? Where are we?”

She shook her head. “I’m not sure. Lucas says that we’re in Egypt, a place called The Oasis.”

I drew a breath. The Oasis was the stuff of legends. It’d been one of the hunters’ main quests to find it, because it was rumored to be the Maslen coven’s hideout. I wondered then why on earth Gregor and Claudia would bring us to the Maslens. That’s when what Sofia had said fully registered in my mind. That would mean they’d been working with Lucas all along, and Lucas had been working with the Maslens?

“Why would they bring us here?” I asked Sofia. “The Novaks and the Maslens are known enemies…”

“I don’t know why Lucas would work with the Maslens after what Borys did to his sister, but he’s a twisted, sick man… so I can’t pretend to try and understand the way his mind works.”

I studied Sofia and noticed the blood stains on her dress. Panic gripped me. “What did they do to you? Sofia…”

“It was Borys Maslen. He clawed through my thighs. He has this notion that I’m meant to be his, that I’m his betrothed…” her voice hitched. “They’re going to force me to marry that sick, sadistic bastard, Ben. They’re sending Derek a wedding invitation.”

“Derek Novak isn’t a fool. He knows that you love him. He’s not going to believe that you’re in this wedding out of your own will.”

“I know that,” she assured me. “They’re using the wedding—using me—to trap him. I think the Maslens want to take over The Shade.” She began to sob uncontrollably.

I wanted to run to her and pull her into my arms, assure her that everything was going to be okay and that all would work out fine, but I couldn’t do that. I wasn’t sure about what was happening or what was going to happen.

“Ben, I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to Derek,” she managed to say in between sobs. “I wouldn’t know how to live with myself. I’m terrified.”

I stared at her, my heart breaking on her behalf. I wondered if she’d ever cried for me the way that she did for him. I remembered all the times that I’d caught him looking at her and the way she’d looked at him. As I sat there watching my best friend break down over the man that she loved, I couldn’t help but be amazed over the amount of sacrifice Derek and Sofia were willing to make for each other.

It was the first time I truly began to accept that Derek and Sofia were meant for each other, and I knew then that nothing in the world could keep Derek Novak from storming The Oasis to get Sofia back.

“Derek is known to be the most powerful vampire alive, Sofia. If he comes, he’s going to put up a good fight and considering that it’s you who’s involved, I think it’s the Maslens who have reason to tremble. Don’t underestimate the man you love, Rose Red.”

She looked at me with hopeful eyes. It seemed the words were enough to console her.

“Everything’s going to be okay, Sofia. I know it.” As I said the words, I realized that I now meant every word. It gave me a sense of resignation, but also a sense of fulfillment, to know that she was in good hands, that my best friend really had found her true love in the person of Derek Novak.

Though I was still filled with dread over what she might possibly go through at The Oasis, a part of me was happy for her, knowing that unlike me, she would live her life knowing that she loved and that she was loved in return.

CHAPTER 46: DEREK

Since Sofia’s disappearance, I’d been turning The Shade upside down trying to find her. It helped that she was so loved by the citizens of The Shade, because their full cooperation was immediately given to me the moment news that she was no longer on the island came out.

During a council meeting called specifically to discuss what to do in order to find Sofia, I found myself losing hope.

“She most likely eloped with the boy.” Felix leaned back on his seat, not bothering to hide how bored he was by the entire thing.

At that, Gavin scoffed, earning himself Felix’s ire.

I shook my head. “No. She wouldn’t do that to me.”

“Then maybe your father was right. She’s in league with the Maslens and she’s probably now at The Oasis cavorting with her mother and their king. We all know she has a taste for royalty.” Felix eyed me pointedly.

“For crying out loud, Felix,” Cameron interrupted in his distinct Scottish accent. “Will you shut up for a moment? Do you not think before you speak?”

I was trying to reel my temper in, and was thankful that Cameron butted in on behalf of me. “It is true that Ingrid Maslen is Sofia’s mother. Eli’s background checks have already proven this as true, but I know Sofia. I know for a fact that she had no idea that Camilla Claremont became a vampire. I believe her father tried to protect her from the knowledge.”

“We know Claudia has something to do with their disappearance, obviously, since she’s the one who tranquilized Derek,” Liana spoke up. “And I suspect Gregor is involved too. It’s too much of a coincidence that they would both disappear the same time Ben and Sofia did.”