Fierce determination deepened the lines on his face as he sat back on the recliner. “We’re going to get my daughter out of there, and you’re going to tell me everything you know about The Shade.”

CHAPTER 40: DEREK

1509

A slight drizzle had begun over the thatched roofs and stone walls of our small village. The fresh air of the countryside was a welcome change to the city atmosphere I’d grown accustomed to since joining the hunters. However, even the comforting sight of our beloved and closely-knit farming community failed to ease the heavy burden I brought with me upon coming home.

Though our neighbors greeted me with nods and smiles, I could tell that they were wary of me, some even fearful of me. After our mother was murdered inside our own home two years ago, I was written off as having gone mad, because I was convinced that a vampire took my mother’s life. It didn’t take long until I couldn’t bear working our farmlands anymore. I had to get away. Rumors were circulating about an order known as “the hawk”. They were hunters, determined to rid the world of vampires. I found them and I joined them. Of the several times I went home since I joined the hunters, this homecoming proved to be the most difficult, because along with it came a mission I was afraid I didn’t have in me to accomplish.

Upon reaching the thatched roof and brick walls that made up our home, the first person I wanted to see was my twin. Vivienne joined me during my first year of becoming a hunter. She didn’t become one herself, but she assisted me in more ways than one, given her premonitions and ability to see into the future. She eventually had to go home, however, due to an illness she contracted during one of our travels. Expecting her to greet me by the door, I was surprised to find our older brother instead.

It was midday, yet it was obvious that Lucas had been drinking. He had his arm over a giggling, sparsely clothed bar wench and a cask of wine in one hand.

“Where’s Vivienne?” I asked him.

He blinked his eyes several times, unsure if he was really seeing me. “Derek?”

I brushed past him and entered the house, eager to see my sister. “Vivienne!”

“She’s not here.” Lucas swallowed hard.

I knew then that something was very wrong. “Where is she? What happened?” My pulse began to race, my heartbeat doubled. Something’s wrong.

He rubbed the back of his neck with a hand and motioned to his wench to go away. Even in his drunken stupor, guilt was evident in the way he was conducting himself.

“What have you done?”

“I haven’t done anything!” he defended himself, arms raised in the air in surrender. “Derek… you must understand… There was nothing we could do about it…”

“Do about what? Understand what? Where the hell is Vivienne?!”

“Lord Maslen asked for her. She was brought to their estate only this morning.”

Blood pounded in my veins at the information I was given. Lord Maslen was baron of the lands we were living in. His eldest son, Borys, had his eye on Vivienne for years. She told me many times that she couldn’t stand the thought of being with him. It made me sick to my stomach thinking of what they could possibly want from Vivienne.

“You know what trouble we could get into if we defy the Maslens…” Lucas continued his defense. “How were we to say no?”

“It’s easy, Lucas. You just utter the word. No.” I stared at my older brother in disbelief. It was amazing to me what kind of a spineless coward he always proved to be.

“As if that would’ve done any good! These are the Maslens we’re speaking of. They could have our heads if we just look at them the wrong way. It’s not like we can just go against them by withholding Vivienne from them.”

“Why the bloody hell not?! She’s our sister! She’s not some piece of property they can have at their whim. We’re not their slaves!”

“They have all the power.”

“Only the power that we give them, Lucas. No more than that.”

“It’s not that simple.” Lucas shifted uncomfortably on his feet. “She’s Borys’ betrothed… She’s come of age… They said it was time to give Borys what was his.”

“Betrothed?!” I spat, a subsequent slew of curses escaping my mouth.

“Without our knowledge – and even hers – father promised Vivienne to Borys Maslen in exchange for a generous dowry…”

I froze. Generous dowry… When our mother died, we were deep in debt and about to lose the farm. I tried to contribute by working as a bard at the local tavern. Vivienne too was attempting to contribute, working as an apprentice for a local merchant. Even Lucas did more than his typical bare minimum with his chores at the farm. Even with all of us pulling our own weight, we were still about to lose the farm. Then suddenly, father had come by a huge sum of money to pay off our debts. He refused to let us know where the money came from. Now I knew where he got it. He sold his own daughter to that demon.

“Derek, we had no choice…”

“To hell with that. There is always a choice.” I brushed past him and headed out, determined to find my father. I knew that there was only one place to look. Muscles flexed, fists balled and ready to make a hit, I marched through the muddy roads of our village. I wanted to strangle my father.

Fear and worry grated at me, the uncertainty of what my sister was going through in Borys Maslen’s hands was overwhelming my senses. Passersby who happened to stand in my path quickly stepped aside in order to give way to me. Even at eighteen, I’d already grown a reputation as someone no one ought to mess with and my demeanor as I charged past them toward the village tavern was far from welcoming.

I pushed the tavern’s door open and immediately laid eyes upon our father. When I found him, tipsy and laughing with some of his comrades, I saw red. I lunged for him, tackled him to the ground and began hitting him on the face.

“How dare you do that to your own daughter! How could you send Vivienne there!”

I’d already thrown several blows when my father was able to hit me back. With a few swift moves, he managed to roll me over so that he had me pinned to the ground.

“Watch who you pick fights with, boy.” He spat the blood on his lips out on the floor beside me. “Your sister belongs to Borys Maslen now. There are far worse places to be for a young woman. Being the wife of a future baron – a very wealthy one about that - isn’t such a bad thing, is it now?”

I stared up at my father, fighting back the tears, terror filling me. “You say that because you don’t know Borys Maslen. You just gave your daughter up to the devil.”

At that, my father only laughed at me. “Why so tightly wound up, son?” He lightly slapped his palm over my cheeks as he staggered upwards, letting go of me. “The lad may be a self-absorbed brat, but he’s no devil. Have a drink, Derek. It might loosen you up.”

I watched with disgust as my own father brushed off the thought of having given away his own daughter to the nobleman’s son. I gritted my teeth, knowing fully well that the Maslens were far from noble.

As I rose to my feet, I made a promise to myself that I was going to rescue Vivienne from the Maslens. I couldn’t explain to my father why the thought of Vivienne being with the likes of Borys Maslen made my stomach turn. I knew he would only laugh at me and brand me a fool just like he did the last time I tried to tell him about my theories on how our mother died.

I couldn’t tell my own father that he’d just given his daughter up to a vampire. A vampire I was assigned to kill.

I was able to rescue her from the grips of Borys Maslen five hundred years ago. And yet I wasn’t able to do anything to save her now. I was well aware of what hunters did to vampires once they were caught. No vampire had ever returned after being caught by hunters. No matter how much I wanted to believe that Vivienne was alive, I had to let go.

Nothing I could say to myself or to anyone else could rationally defend the idea of gathering our forces to get my sister back. Even Xavier and Liana, two of Vivienne’s closest friends, kept telling me that the hunters never kept a vampire alive for long. I knew they were telling the truth, that I would only risk the lives of many of our kind if I went ahead and stormed the hunters – wherever they were – in a vain attempt to rescue Vivienne.

She was gone. And I needed to accept that.

As was customary for those among us who had fallen to the hunters, we held a memorial ceremony in the town square. It’d been centuries since The Shade suffered such a loss and for that loss to be Vivienne Novak was grief felt deeply by every citizen of The Shade.

It was Liana who took care of all the preparations. I wanted no part in it. Just thinking about the loss was already too painful. I was expecting our father to return for the memorial ceremony, but he sent word that he couldn’t arrive. Other matters seemed to always get ahead of his family. I even expected Lucas to show up, but I knew that he was too much of a coward to ever show his face to me. Not even his own sister’s death – if he even knew about it – could make him risk his own life.

I couldn’t shake off the anger I felt toward myself as everyone present was given lanterns in order to release into the cold night air. I should’ve been there. I could’ve saved her. But I wasn’t there. I was too busy protecting The Shade, I was unable to protect my sister.

As I stared at the lantern I was holding in my hand, I couldn’t help but feel a pang of pain at what it represented. Vivienne had always been particularly fond of lanterns. It felt like letting go of the lantern would mean letting go of her.

Sofia was standing a few steps away from me, her eyes downcast as she held the lantern in her hands. I wondered what was going on in her mind as she began to whisper something toward the lantern. I strained to hear what she was saying:

“Wherever you are, Vivienne, I hope you’re alright.”

After we let go of the lanterns, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of Sofia. I realized then that I had no idea what I would’ve done without her. Over the past few days since she got back, she’d once again taken on the guise of my slave, even though she was anything but. She was the only person keeping me sane.