“What? What are you say-…”

The door to the room slammed open and Reuben stepped in. “Enough,” he bellowed. “It’s clear we’re not going to get anything from her. We’re going to make arrangements for an execution as soon as possible.”

Relief washed over Vivienne’s countenance. Guilt washed over mine. Her last words haunted me for the rest of the day. What was she thanking me for?

I mentioned it to Zinnia later that day.

“She was probably just deranged, Ben. Forget what she said.”

I shook my head. “You can’t just forget when someone says something like that to you – especially when that someone is the Seer of The Shade.”

CHAPTER 43: SOFIA

The Black Heights was a huge mountain range that spread out, north of the island. Within it was an intricate network of caves. The caves contained the Cells and the Catacombs. The Cells were located in the western portion of the caves. The Catacombs, home to the humans living at The Shade and not under the care of a vampire, occupied the eastern portion.

As I made my way from west to east of the Black Heights, the encounter I had with Ashley and the dilemma it posed weighed heavily on me. I felt weak and helpless over everything going on around me, but I knew that I could no longer turn a blind eye to what was happening at The Shade. I was blinded by my affection for Derek, but it could not remain so.

I passed by the entrance of the cave network and headed for the cave opening that led to the Catacombs. I was surprised to find Derek leaning against a solid rock wall, waiting for me.

“I told you I’d send a guard, but I figured I’d send myself instead. Xavier can take care of the training. After all, he’s better with guns than I am.”

I narrowed my eyes at him, and then forced a smile. “Of course.”

“Did it go well with Ashley?”

“She agreed to your terms. You’ll release her immediately?”

He called after a nearby guard. “See to it that one of the human prisoners is released and sent to my home. Her name is Ashley. Make sure that she is properly guarded. I want her under close watch.”

I waited until the guard left before I spoke my mind. “Is that really necessary? Having her watched like a hawk?”

“She is a hawk.”

I wasn’t amused. “Let’s just go.”

We passed through a long and narrow tunnel lit up with small incandescent bulbs that lined its rocky walls. I had to control my breathing in order to overcome my fear of enclosed spaces. I felt Derek’s hand on my waist.

“You seem so tense, Sofia.”

I didn’t know if it was him or the claustrophobia, but he was right. Either way, I just wanted to get past the tunnel. When I saw a clearing ahead, a sigh of relief escaped my lips. I was about to speed up my pace toward the clearing, but Derek grabbed my arm and spun me around to face him.

“You alright?”

“I just have a lot on my mind.”

He sensed the tense formality with which I was addressing him. He put a foot forward, asserting himself, reminding me of his dominance. “What’s wrong, Sofia?”

I couldn’t really make sense of the conflicting thoughts in my mind. I saw good in him and yet that really didn’t outweigh all the wicked things I’d seen done at The Shade. How could I even explain to him the struggle I had with trusting what I felt about him even in spite of what I saw around me? I knew that if I was to stick with him, if I was the girl spoken of in the prophecy, something had to change. Things could not remain as they were. Still, at that point, I was nowhere near prepared to discuss that with Derek, so I just breathed deeply. I shut out the tense sensation caused by the two stone walls on either side of me. I tried to relax and smile at him. I shook my head.

“I’m okay, Derek. I just want to get out of this tunnel. Closed spaces unnerve me.”

He narrowed his eyes before nodding. “Let’s get out of here then.” His hand comfortably rested on the small of my back, gently nudging me forward – closer and closer to the small opening that led to the Catacombs.

I didn’t exactly know what to expect upon reaching the end of that tunnel. All I knew about the Catacombs was that it was home to the humans. I was nowhere near prepared for what I saw upon stepping into the clearing. Right in front of me was a thriving community, with people milling all around a giant round pit, the bottom of which I couldn’t quite see as I leaned over the wooden banister that lined the sides of the pit.

The pit had several levels with cave entrances that led to other areas of the Catacombs. Allowing travel from one level to the other were ladders on the walls, while bridges were constructed to go from one side of the pit to the next. I looked up and estimated at least two other levels on top of us. I could barely even count the levels below us.

On the level immediately beneath us, I noticed two children – a boy and a girl. Redheads with big brown eyes. The boy looked older than the girl. He was comforting her. I assumed they were brother and sister. I realized that it was the first time I ever saw children at The Shade.

I looked at Derek, who was standing right next to me, also leaning against the banister. He fondly stared at them, fascination traced in his eyes.

“I had no idea the Catacombs looked like this,” he admitted.

“You’ve never been here before?” I asked, finding it strange that the prince of The Shade never bothered to visit such an important part of his kingdom. Does he not rule over the humans too? Doesn’t he care at all?

He shook his head. “No. I never had a reason to.”

Never had a reason to? Aren’t these people your subjects just as much as the vampires? I held off my questions. It felt like I was about to find out exactly what role humans played at The Shade.

“Sofia?” A familiar voice from a level above called to me.

I followed the sound of the voice and saw Corrine. She caught sight of Derek and seemed to be holding her breath.

“You brought him?”

I saw Derek tense up. It was no secret to me that he and Corrine weren’t exactly the best of friends and it always surprised me how vocal Corrine was about her disdain toward him.

“Wait for me. I’m going to be right down.”

Corrine disappeared and Derek looked at me. “So it was the witch who gave you the idea of coming here?”

“When I came to visit her, she told me that I should come here – to get a clear picture of how the Naturals live.”

“The Naturals and the Migrates…” He winced. He said each word with bitterness – even a hint of spite. I couldn’t help but wonder why. I caught sight once again of the children on the level below. Both had their big brown eyes on us. The little girl clung tightly to her brother. I realized that they were both looking at Derek. They were mortified. The boy whispered something into the girl’s ear and they backed away slowly before completely turning back and running into what I assumed was a tunnel that led to some other section of the pit.

“You should’ve said that his royal highness was coming. We could’ve prepared a warm welcome of sorts. The Elite rarely visit the Catacombs.”

I did a one-eighty and found Corrine standing behind us.

Derek was more reluctant to face the beautiful witch. He slowly twisted around before glaring at Corrine.

“Hello to you too.”

They dueled with glares before both directed their attention toward me.

“So you finally decided to visit the Catacombs.” Corrine slightly chastised.

“Well, there was Vivienne’s memorial… I was adjusting to being back… I…”

“Hush, Sofia. You do have the tendency to ramble when you’re trying to defend yourself.” Corrine eyed me before once again giving Derek a wary glance. “Follow me. There’s someone I’d like for you to meet.”

As Corrine led us along the round ledge we were standing on, I could sense Derek’s discomfort. I wondered if it was difficult for him to be around all those humans. I instinctively grabbed his hand and squeezed. His grip on my hand tightened. To me, the gesture was well understood. I was there for him and he was grateful for it. I looked around me at the place shrouded with darkness.

“How is everyone able to cope without sunlight?” I found myself asking. During the months I stayed with Derek before leaving The Shade, we were given doses of Vitamin D along with other nutrients – I wondered if all humans were given this treatment.

“Most of the people who live here at the Catacombs were born here,” Corrine explained. “It’s hard to miss something they never actually had. They get nourishment of Vitamin D from supplements. The lack of sunlight does weaken them however, in ways that artificial nutrients could never make up for … the average life span of the humans on this island is not long.”

I glanced at Derek, remembering the Sun Room and everything it took just to give him a glimpse of the sun. The lavishness of his penthouse seemed an excessive extravagance compared to the drab living conditions of The Shade’s human slaves.

Corrine went down a spiral wooden staircase leading to the level below. We followed. I could sense curious eyes on us as we trailed behind Corrine who didn’t even bother to check if we were still following her.

“A vampire and his migrate…” a young woman whispered to an elderly one with graying hair.

“Beautiful young woman,” the older woman responded. “Poor thing.”

I knew Derek heard too because his grip on my hand tightened just enough for me to sense his tension, but not enough for it to be painful.

We kept following Corrine as she took a turn toward a tunnel – wider than the one we entered. It was the same tunnel the children had retreated to. We passed several arched doorways. I strained my neck to see what was through them, but only saw darkness. Corrine kept walking until she stopped in front of one of these entrances. We walked in and found the two children we saw earlier bundled up with their mother – a beautiful woman with dark auburn hair and a sad smile. Sorrow filled her eyes. Inside what I assumed was their home, were three cots – very similar to the ones found in the Cells. An old table was positioned in one corner of the room, upon which a single candle flickered.