I was met with downcast stares and a tense silence.

I smirked. “Of course not.”

CHAPTER 6: DEREK

Steady footsteps echoed through the torch-lit corridors of the Crimson Fortress’ west tower. I was discussing with Cameron what had to be done over the next few weeks as we made our way to the Great Dome, where most of our military strategic planning was done. The west tower, standing as high as one hundred and fifty feet and roofed with pointed cross-arches, was one of the first buildings erected in the fortress and had already witnessed many battles in defense of the island.

“We’ll need to gather the Elite Council and the Knights to make sure that everyone is on the same page and knows what we are trying to accomplish.”

The Elite Council was composed of twenty highly esteemed individuals who represented each of the Elite’s clans. Liana, Cameron’s wife, was one of them and so was my twin sister, Vivienne. The knights, on the other hand, were members of the Elite’s clans who had enlisted as part of The Shade’s military force. They composed mostly of the high-ranking officers in our garrisons. As far as I knew, we had twenty-one knights.

Cameron met my gaze as if to check that I was being serious. “Not many of them will understand, Derek. The Shade has become a smaller version of Ancient Rome. We’ve grown complacent and drunk with power… Some of the Elite call our citizens the untouchables.”

“And you agree?”

“No.” He shook his head. “We’ve had it good for too long. The tides always turn eventually.”

“Exactly. So you understand why we must prepare our people for that time when the tides turn?”

“Of course. We fought side-by-side a long time ago. You know how I recognize it when the winds speak of battle. I’m just telling you the situation as it is. Not many will understand.”

“We’ll make them understand.” I said through gritted teeth. “There is no choice.”

Before Cameron could respond, I heard a familiar, shrill voice echoing through cavernous corridors.

“Derek! What do you think you’re doing?!”

I turned to find my twin sister, Vivienne, marching at full speed toward me. It was easy to see how furious she was. Vivienne was both feared and respected as the Seer of The Shade. Many of her visions and prophecies had saved The Shade throughout history. However, some of her prophecies had only served to place me in trouble – especially with my father and brother. One in particular burdened me whenever I recalled it: The younger will rule above father and brother and his reign alone can provide his kind true sanctuary.

As I watched my sister storm her way toward me, the words echoed through my mind. Sometimes, I would wish that she could somehow stop seeing into my future and just let me live without being pressured by what she saw lay ahead of me.

“Hello, Vivienne.”

“What’s going on, Derek?”

I looked at Cameron, who was shifting his weight from one foot to the other, always rather uncomfortable whenever found in the midst of a confrontation involving a woman. I couldn’t help but grin. Some things never change.

“Hendry. You can go ahead of me. You don’t have to be present to watch this bloodbath.”

Relief washed over his face. He bowed his head at Vivienne. “Princess,” he acknowledged, before speeding his way toward the Great Dome.

“So? What are you blazing mad about, my dear sister?”

“Come on, Derek … A draft? A census? Why?”

“You’ve been too lax with our citizens during my sleep. They’ve become weak… complacent… Father, Lucas, you… how did you let it get this way? What happens when the other covens decide we have it too good and attack us?”

“Father is doing everything necessary to take the road of diplomacy as we speak.”

“Diplomacy, Vivienne?” I scoffed, slitting my eyes in scrutiny of my sister. “Tell me… does this road of diplomacy lead somewhere toward Borys Maslen?”

Her face paled at the mention of the name. The Maslens were one of our fiercest adversaries and Borys Maslen in particular had an especially dark history with my sister. Her inability to come up with a response to my question was enough indication of the continuous threat the Maslens posed over us.

I smirked. “I thought so. I have serious trouble thinking that Borys Maslen will welcome an ambassador from us with open arms and seriously take into consideration talks of peace. Not unless you are part of the deal.”

Vivienne’s face hardened. My gut clenched at how insensitive my words were. I still couldn’t wrap my mind around what kind of hell that monster Borys once put her through. “Vivienne… I…” My apology got frozen on my tongue.

“He has a new girl you know… Maybe he wouldn’t want me as much now.”

“A new girl?”

“Ingrid Maslen. No one’s ever really laid eyes on her yet. Borys keeps her under lock and key, his biggest secret. Some say she possesses some kind of power and that’s the reason Borys turned her into a vampire. According to rumors, she’s stunningly beautiful.”

“Don’t be a fool, Vivienne. Borys has it in his mind that he owns you. Only two things will make him forget about coming after you: your death or you back in his hands.”

“We’re still protected by Cora’s spell,” she managed to say, composing herself after all the talk about her former betrothed.

“For how long, Vivienne? Corrine isn’t Cora. Her loyalties don’t lie with us as strongly. Do you really believe that a witch’s spell can protect The Shade forever? Once we’re no longer protected, what happens then? How do we protect ourselves from hunters? Bloody hell, Vivienne… how do we protect ourselves from the world once they find out how many human slaves we’ve been exploiting and murdering within our walls?”

Her silence encouraged me to go on.

“You never should’ve allowed The Shade to grow this weak.”

Her beautiful face tightened as she took a step forward to challenge me. “We refused to just survive. We thrived. What’s so wrong with that?”

“It was at too great a price. How many have died on this island, Vivienne? How many?”

“If I remember correctly, a good few of them died under your iron fist, Derek. Remember how your hands were tainted with blood while you were building this fortress?”

She stepped out of line and she knew it. She faltered and backed up a step when she saw the murderous glare I sent her way. She knew how to hurt me. I had to give her that.

But to my surprise, she wasn’t finished at all. She continued right on, pushing my boundaries. “You let her go, didn’t you? Sofia and that friend of hers… the one you forced Claudia to give to you… Ben, is it? You let them go.”

I was initially alarmed. How did she find out? I gave Sam and Kyle strict orders not to breathe a word of it to anyone. Even the girls living in my house still had no idea that I let Sofia and Ben escape. Only Corrine was informed, but only because – for reasons I didn’t fully understand - Sofia insisted on letting the witch know. I then reminded myself whom I was talking to. Vivienne had a gift of prophecy and discernment. Of course she knows. She didn’t even need me to answer her question to realize that she’d just spoken truth.

“Is this why you’re doing all of this? To keep yourself from thinking of Sofia?”

I grabbed my sister’s jaw, every single one of my muscles tensing as I stared at her. I knew from the look in her eyes that she saw in me the Derek that existed more than four hundred years ago – the one whose ruthlessness built The Shade and all its fortifications over the spilt blood of thousands of humans. I took advantage of her fear and for the first time in a long time, I saw my sister cower.

I leaned closer to her, so that my mouth was directly in front of her ear. “Don’t talk to me about Sofia, Vivienne. Her name is never to escape your lips again. Not in my presence. Not unless I give you permission. Do you understand?”

She nodded. “Never again.”

I let go of her, red marks forming on her porcelain skin where my fingers gripped her jaw. She then said one of the most unnerving things I’d heard her say in a long time:

“This, Derek, is what you’re going to turn into without her in your life. You can only get worse from here. This is why you need her.”

Gaining back her composure she stood to her full height and gently caressed my face with her long fingers. To her next words, I couldn’t bring myself to react, much less disagree.

“You never should’ve let her go.”

CHAPTER 7: SOFIA

Ben and I checked in to the same resort we stayed at with his family last summer. The moment we arrived at the hotel room, neither one of us could wait to get out. It mattered little to us how beautiful the suite was – in fact, it paled in comparison to the lavish penthouses of The Shade. What mattered more to us was the sun. We were in Cancun and we’d missed the sun for too long to spend that bright, sunny day indoors.

It became an unspoken rule between the two of us that for that morning, there would be no mention of The Shade, no mention of anything dark or heavy. For a few hours, we tried to be what we had every right to be – teenagers having fun on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.

Without us even noticing at first, we ended up avoiding any kind of shade. We wanted to feel the sunlight against our skin, so we stayed clear of umbrellas and roofs and anything that would block the sun. I was sure that by the end of the day, I’d be burnt to a crisp or end up looking like a bright red tomato, but I didn’t really care. I couldn’t even remember what sunburn felt like.

Breakfast consisted of fresh fruits and virgin piña coladas at an outdoor seaside restaurant. After that, we headed off to the ocean. At some point, I ended up building a sandcastle on my own while Ben remained in the ocean, enjoying a good, long swim. To my right was a pouch filled with seashells we managed to collect for a good half hour. Neither of us had any idea what we were going to do with the shells, but it seemed like a great idea at the time. A few feet away from me was a large, bright red towel we bought from the hotel store. Over it were a bunch of snapshots Ben and I took after squeezing into a photo booth and goofing off.