I sneaked into Ben’s bedroom. I had no choice but to take the keys to his truck. It was the only way I could reach the rendezvous point in time. I snuck in only to find him wide awake. He took one look at what I was wearing and knew that I’d already made my choice.

“Ben…” The words came out broken and forced.

“Are you sure this is what you want?”

“I’m sorry, Ben…”

“The key to the truck is in my jeans’ pocket.”

I was surprised that he would voluntarily help me considering how much he was against what I was doing, but I saw it for what it was. It was him letting go and supporting me in my decision even when it hurt him.

At that point, no matter how confident I was that I was making the right decision, it felt painful.

“Ben…”

“Don’t, Sofia… Just go…”

Tears moistened my eyes as I fished the key out of his pocket. “I’m going to text you where I parked it. I…”

“I guess Alyssa was right. Rose Red really does end up with the Beast…”

His words cut deep, but though they managed to scar me, they failed to deter me from what I set out to do. “Take comfort in knowing that the beast turned out to be not much of a beast after all.”

I got silence as a response. I moved toward the door. “I hope you know how much you mean to me, how much I love you. I hope you know that you will always be my best friend.”

“That’s what hurts the most, Sofia… knowing that I will always be nothing but your best friend.”

I spoke the words to soothe, but realized that they only added salt to the wound. The words basically translated to: It’s over between us, Ben. I was beginning to choke with tears so I hurried toward the door, unwilling to break down in front of him.

I still had one favor to ask, however, before going my way. I knew I didn’t have the right to ask it of him, but I felt obliged to. For Vivienne’s sake. “When you reach the hunters, Ben, do me a favor. Please find Vivienne. And try to make sure they don’t harm her.”

Ben’s response was bone-chilling. “Don’t count on it. I couldn’t care less how much they make her suffer.”

I turned my head his way, his face was enveloped by shadows. Darkness loomed in his eyes. My heart went out to him as I shuddered at what The Shade had turned him into. “You’re better than that, Ben. You have no idea who Vivienne Novak is and if you can’t believe in her, believe in me. There’s good in her, so please… if there’s anything you can do to help her…”

“Goodbye, Sofia.”

Sadness weighed heavily on me as I nodded and replied, “Goodbye, Ben.”

Finally, I left, sensing with deep sorrow that it might be the last time I would see Ben again. Over than an hour later, I had driven myself to a secluded area of LA’s Santa Monica beach. I left the truck and walked a few minutes along the beach. I soon spotted a familiar face walking toward me. Kyle.

“Sofia!” he exclaimed as he pulled me in for a friendly embrace. “I was beginning to think you weren’t going to come. Is Vivienne with you?”

I shook my head. “The hunters have taken her.”

His face fell and fear was in his eyes. “I have no idea how the prince is going to take that.”

“I guess we’ll find out.” I smiled bitterly.

He took my bag and sheepishly smiled at me as he lifted a syringe to my neck. “You know the drill…”

I rolled my eyes. “Fine.”

The truth was that Vivienne’s memories told me exactly where The Shade was, a memory of its location being circled on a map giving me one of the greatest secrets of The Shade. It was a sign of the trust Vivienne placed in me, a gesture I could not take lightly. Still, at that moment, I didn’t think Kyle needed to know.

So for the third time, a vampire stuck a syringe into my neck. As the sedative lured me to unconsciousness, I allowed myself a small smile. It felt like I was about to go home.

CHAPTER 31: DEREK

I was at the training grounds. Xavier, who had become significantly better with the sword after the daily training regimen I put him through, had just made a slice in my shoulder. My wound was in the process of healing when I was gripped by a sick feeling inside, accompanied by the urge to find out where my sister was.

“You do realize that the hunters and perhaps the other covens are now equipped with guns and not swords, right?” Xavier asked. “Why then do we have to learn to fight using these?” He raised his sword in the air as I straightened to my full height.

“Agility. Strength. The honor of looking your opponents in the eye before you wound them… Sword fights aren’t for cowards.” I explained, my mind still occupied by an urge to find Vivienne.

“Honor?” He raised one brow. “Is that what we call it now?” He positioned himself for another round. “Perhaps you mean horror.”

With my opponent poised for another fight, I backed down for the first time.

“Tired, Novak?”

I managed to scoff at his confident jibe. “Far from it… I just can’t seem to get my thoughts away from Vivienne.” Among others… My hunger for Ashley was far from being satiated and she never quite strayed far from my thoughts.

“Vivienne? Why?”

It was no secret that Xavier had many times tried to woo my twin and had just as many times found himself humiliated by her rejection.

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen her in days.”

Not since I issued the command that will most certainly pave a way to another human culling. From behind Xavier, I caught sight of Liana Hendry approaching. One look at her worried, grief-stricken amber gold eyes told me a story I knew would be painful to hear. Something’s wrong. Something’s very, very wrong…

She stopped along the boundary of the circle Xavier and I were standing within.

“Liana…” I called to my sister’s closest friend. “Is something wrong? Has something happened to Vivienne?”

Recognition showed in the expression on her face. It wasn’t a secret to those who knew us well that Vivienne and I often sensed when something amiss happened to the other. The last time I felt this way was when Borys Maslen held her captive. It took days before she was returned to us and when she arrived, she never breathed a word to anyone – save for Liana, who was the only person privy to her soft whispers, few and far in between.

Liana drew a short breath before shifting her weight on the gravel ground. “I fear she might have been taken by the hunters.”

Her words were a dagger struck right through my heart and painfully twisted. Breathing began to come in heavy pants. Fear I didn’t think I would ever once again feel enveloped me. The thought of what they were putting Vivienne through in order to discover the secrets of The Shade sent dizzying sensations coursing through my body.

“Derek, I tried to talk her out of it, but you know her… Once she sets her mind to something…”

“How did this happen?”

“She left the island to go look for Sofia.”

My head was spinning from the news I was being told. “Why would she…” I paused, knowing fully well what the answer to my question was. Vivienne sought out Sofia for me.

“She told me she would send word at a certain hour if no harm has come her way. She told me even before going that she feared getting caught by the hunters, and…”

“And yet she still went.” What caused you to have the sudden desire to die, Vivienne? “How was she to send word?”

“She procured a phone from Corrine. Its signals penetrate the shield provided by the witch’s spell.”

The protective spell keeping the island secret blocked even any communication going in and out of the island.

“Corrine knew of her plans?”

Liana shook her head. “The witch rarely meddles with our personal affairs.”

She meddled with Sofia. “When was Vivienne supposed to contact you?”

“Hours ago…”

“Hours ago? And you thought to tell me just now?”

“I was holding on to the hope that perhaps something else caused her delay…”

The back of my hand crashed against Liana’s cheek, causing her collapse to the gravel ground beneath us.

“Derek!” Xavier rushed to her side.

“It’s fine…” Liana assured him as he helped her up.

“We’re going to find my sister. We’re going to scour all the cities of all the nations of the world if we have to… I won’t rest until she’s safe back here.”

“Go against the hunters?” Xavier’s muscles stiffened. “That’s suicide and you know it. You’re going to kill us all if you go out hunting for her.”

“I fought all those years and shed that much blood for one reason alone: to save my family! Where are they?! Do you see any of them now?! None of them surround me! Losing Vivienne robs me of all purpose!”

“If the hunters truly have her, then she’s as good as dead, Derek.”

I knew Xavier spoke truth, but I was not ready to hear it. I lunged forward, throwing my full weight at him causing us both to fall to the ground.

“Derek! Stop it!” Liana cried out.

I had Xavier pinned to the ground with my knees holding down his arms, while I assaulted his face with one powerful punch after another. Liana tried to stop me from behind, but my elbow met with her abdomen, knocking her out of breath.

I had no idea how many punches I threw and how long I was punishing a comrade for a crime he had no part in committing, but sense was something that completely escaped me at that moment. By the time Cameron arrived, grabbed a fistful of my hair and hit me in the face to knock some sense into me, Xavier’s face was already a bloody mess.

“All of us care about her!” Cameron shouted. “Do not punish your own people for her loss!”

Loss. The thought that I lost Vivienne was too much to take in, too much to accept. I let out a blood-curdling scream as I rose to my feet, unbidden tears rushing down my cheeks. I couldn’t stand being around them and sought retreat in my sister’s villa. As expected, it was empty. She never really kept slaves in her home and she hated having guards around, claiming that she was perfectly capable of protecting herself. My sister was one who enjoyed her solitude. How could I have not noticed that she’s gone?