Yuri took the stand, glaring at Claudia before addressing me. “It’s no secret to this kingdom how much this wench and I detest each other. I find it sickening just to stand here alongside her. However, it’s also no secret to this kingdom that if there’s one citizen on this island who was ever able to stand being around her, it was your highness’ older brother, Lucas.” He paused for a breath and gave Claudia a pointed look.

It was a strange thing to see how Claudia’s eyes moistened with tears. I found myself all the more intrigued by the story behind Claudia and Yuri’s strange relationship.

“We cannot excuse her blatant defiance of your majesty, the prince, but I stand here appealing to mercy rather than to justice. We became the Elite, because we bled together in battle. We stood as brothers and sisters, as a family during the worst of times. Lucas was such to Claudia – a friend perhaps, a lover maybe, family at best. Must we really punish her for trying to protect the one person at The Shade she can consider her ally?”

My response to Yuri’s plea would cause wild commotion and I knew it. “I find your words moving,” I addressed him, “however, defiance is defiance and I will not stand for it. Unless someone can give me a more substantial reason to give her reprieve, she will serve as a warning to everyone in the kingdom.” I stood to my full height to give my words further emphasis. “I will no longer be defied by anyone.”

I saw fear in Claudia’s eyes. It was a rare thing to see her tremble and I relished every second of it.

“I sentence her to thirty lashes and six months in the Cells effective immediately.”

The result was chaos, but I was able to accomplish what I set out to do. The message was sent loud and clear. The Shade was no longer a lawless kingdom. I was the law.

CHAPTER 24: SOFIA

I was running through The Shade’s dark, misty woods. I was cut up and bruised. I could taste blood on my lips. Tears were streaming down my cheeks. A dark presence was after me. Hope surged within me when I saw the clearing that would lead to my escape. I was going to make it. I sped up, desperate to find safety. Any hope I had was replaced by terror when I fell over the edge of a large, dark pit and right into the bowels of it. My gag reflex was immediately triggered by the stench, the sight, the silence and the sense of being surrounded by death. I was surrounded by countless corpses, some of which were familiar, dearly beloved faces. Ashley. Paige. Rosa. Sam. Kyle. Ben. Me.

My entire body was tense. I couldn’t move a single muscle, but I was keenly aware of the uncontrollable tremble of my body.

“Sofia?”

I felt Ben’s arms wrap around me from behind, his breath hot and erratic against the back of my neck. I thought for a moment that he was seeking to give me comfort and I found myself leaning my back against him. I was wrong. I realized that he too was shaking… more profusely than I was.

I slowly regained control of my own body and after a few minutes, lying there, the tremors of our forms molding against each other, I was able to roll over on the bed so that I was facing him. I still couldn’t shake the aftershock of my dreadful dream, so instead of attempting to soothe him, I drew close, leaning my cheek against his broad shoulder.

It took what felt like hours before our bodies stopped shaking. I felt his heartbeat against my face. It slowed down from its quick, erratic beats to its normal steady pace. I gasped. His hand was over my thigh, hiking up my hips, my nightshift rising along with his palm. He lifted me higher over the bed so that our faces were parallel to each other’s. His lips were then on me. First, the corner of my lips, my jaw, my neck, my shoulder… I was froze as his hands traveled my body… the way Lucas’ hands did.

“Ben…” I croaked.

He didn’t respond with words. Instead, his mouth found mine and I could no longer speak, no longer object. Eventually, I pushed him away.

“No… Ben, we can’t do this.”

His eyes met mine and I was stunned to find anger blazing in them. “Do you have any idea how many times she used me?”

Claudia. She was a dark cloud always hanging over him.

“How many times did he use you?”

“Never.” I recalled all the nights I spent in Derek’s bed. “He never even laid a hand on me.” I was taken aback by that realization. I couldn’t remember a single time that Derek ever touched me while I was in his bed… at least never in a sensual manner. There was always this safe distance between us.

But then came the memory of lying on his bed, with my hands pinned above my head, Derek holding me down by the wrists. It was the first time he ever did something like that to me since the incident at the Sanctuary upon his waking. I had to admit that Derek wasn’t as blemish-free as my infatuation wanted to paint him.

“We can’t keep doing this.” I shook my head and got off the bed.

“Can’t keep doing what?”

“Sleeping in the same bed. Not if we want to pursue a relationship… We’re treading dangerous waters.”

“You never had a problem sleeping in one bed with him…”

“Where is this coming from?” My hands rose in the air in utter frustration. I shook my head empathically. “You know what? Forget it. I’m going to do you a favor and forget this happened. I’m going back to my room.”

From outside Ben’s window, I could see faint hues of violets and reds, signaling the break of dawn. It was the morning of our first date. We set our date on the weekend after we decided to give our relationship a shot a couple of days ago. This certainly wasn’t a great way to kick start our first date. I snuck out of my room and returned to mine. Sleep escaped me and I spent what was left of the dark staring outside my window, watching the sun rise.

During breakfast, it was clear from the bags under his eyes that Ben didn’t get much sleep either. True to my word, I was determined to forget what happened earlier that morning, blaming it on some adverse reaction he had to whatever nightmares still managed to plague him. So I smiled at him and playfully punched him on the shoulder before placing a plate of French toast in front of him. He gave me a surprised look, but it seemed he was relieved that there wasn’t a weird tension between us as a result of what happened.

“You two are up early…” Lyle commented as he took a sip of his coffee, his eyes set on the news article he was reading on his tablet. “It’s a Saturday. You’re teenagers. Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping in?”

Amelia and Abby were still in bed. They always slept in during weekends.

I just smiled as I dabbed butter and strawberry jam over my French toast. “Maybe we’re not your ordinary teenagers, Lyle.”

He gave me a lingering stare… enough to bother me. It was as if he knew something about me that even I didn’t know.

I lifted the fork I was holding mid-air. “What?”

He shook his head. “It’s nothing, Sofia.”

“Actually…” Ben drawled as he poured a generous dollop of maple syrup over his toast “…Sofia just couldn’t wait to wake up so she can spend some time with me.”

I wanted to stop my cheeks from reddening, but they did anyway. I couldn’t ignore the way Lyle shifted glances from Ben to me and back. Lyle was soft-spoken and mostly kept to himself. I rarely heard him raise his voice. Even when he was scolding his children, he did it in a calm, almost eerie, voice that made him sound actually far more threatening than Amelia’s shrill diatribes.

“You two ought to be careful.” Lyle warned, his face stoic, his voice flat. “Whatever is going on between the two of you,” he set his eyes on Ben, “I think we know that your mother isn’t yet ready to consider the idea of you being together. Tread lightly.”

“Yeah, Dad… Sure thing…” Ben had that deer-caught-in-headlights look about him.

Ben and I exchanged glances. “How does he know?” I mouthed at him the moment Lyle shifted his focus back on his daily news reading.

He shrugged as he tossed his food around on his plate. Lyle finished the rest of his coffee and replaced his tablet in its case.

“I’m off to work. Enjoy your day, and please.... Don’t do anything you’ll regret.”

Ben chuckled as he watched his father leave. “He doesn’t seem to have anything against us dating. Guess that’s a good thing.”

“Yeah. I guess.”

“That being said…” He gave me a look-over. “Get dressed, Sofia. Don’t you have a date today?”

“Psshh…” I threw a crumpled paper towel at him. “I was thinking of bailing. A wise man just told me that I should be careful and tread lightly.” I attempted to mimic the way Lyle said those last two words.

“Right…” Ben scoffed at me as he approached. He leaned on the dining table as I got up in order to put aside the dishes. “As if you can bail out on me.”

I raised a brow at him. “What makes you think I can’t?”

He shrugged, feigning self-confidence. “What makes you think you can?” He tilted my chin upward with his forefinger and was about to stoop for a kiss when Amelia walked in, her mass of blonde hair a total mess, looking like she was half-awake, half-asleep.

“Good morning, Mom.” Ben said. Never being a morning person, Amelia just grunted his way and went straight to the fridge.

“Sofia and I are going to spend the day out, okay? We’ll be home by dinner.”

“Uh-huh…” Amelia nodded, her head still stuck in the refrigerator. I was pretty sure none of what Ben said sank in. She poured herself a glass of orange juice and walked out of the room.

I motioned to pick up the dishes but Ben grabbed my arm. “Leave it. I got you.” He grinned, giving my PJs a look. “You really have to get dressed. I can’t be seen with you looking like that.”

“Is this what you do to all the girls you go out with?” I rolled my eyes.

“Nope.” He shook his head. “Only the ones who show up in their PJs.”