After we’d finished our tumble in bed, I nestled my head against him while he brushed his fingers through my hair.

We both sighed.

“A daughter married,” I said. “A son missing. What a year it’s been.”

“Barely an hour goes by when I don’t think of Ben,” Derek said, “but… I’m not as worried about him as I was before.”

My eyes shot up toward him. “Why?”

He paused before replying. “After seeing Rose’s growth in the face of danger while she was away from The Shade, whatever Ben is going through now, I can only think that he will pull through it stronger and braver than ever before.”

I wanted nothing more than for my son to return. But I couldn’t deny that Derek’s words had struck a chord with me. Although Rose’s gumption scared the living daylights out of me sometimes, I couldn’t have been prouder of her.

Gradually, I’d also been coming to terms with why Ben had chosen to leave. Even after hours of discussion with Derek about it, I still hadn’t accepted why our son had seen no other option.

But Ben was prince of The Shade. He’d killed Yasmine. An innocent young woman. One of his people, his citizens, who’d looked up to him as an authority. As a ruler.

Ben had done what any true leader would do—held himself accountable and taken full responsibility for his actions. He didn’t want to return until he was certain such an incident would never occur again.

As his mother, I’d lost perspective. I realized that I should be proud of him for making that decision, despite the pain it caused me. Ben was a stronger man than I’d given him credit for.

“I agree with you, Derek,” I said. “Adversity will be good for our son.”

Derek looked surprised. He’d probably been expecting me to disagree with him and try to persuade him once again that we ought to go looking for Ben.

My husband raised a brow.

I propped myself up on my elbow and looked him in the eye.

“Because that’s how heroes are made.”

Epilogue: Ben

I stared down at the mark of a black cross etched into my right bicep.

Who did this?

I got to my feet and looked around my bedroom, scanning it for any sign of someone having entered. I couldn’t spot anything out of place. I sniffed the air. I was familiar by now with Jeramiah’s scent, but I couldn’t detect it. I walked out of the bedroom and entered the dark corridor outside. I headed straight for the front door at the other end of it. No sign of forced entry, that was for sure. Of course, whoever had done this would have had a key.

I returned to the doorway of my bedroom and stood there, looking over the luxurious Egyptian furnishings. I was still coming to terms with the fact that I’d been drugged. Heavily, to not have woken up while my skin was being inked.

I glanced down at the tattoo again. It was beginning to prickle less. I wondered how long ago it had been done. For all I knew, it could’ve been just minutes before I woke up.

One thing was clear: I’d been right in my instinct to not trust these people.

Unwilling to just sit about my apartment now that I’d woken, I opened the front door and stepped out. I looked up and down the terrace outside. It was empty. I could hear deep breathing coming from the apartments surrounding me. I also couldn’t hear any noises coming from the desert above. They must have finished up their festivities by now and retreated to their rooms.

I was about to turn right and begin making my way around the atrium when I caught sight of a girl on the terrace opposite me. She was slumped on a bench, a bottle of wine in her hand. Her complexion was white, and as I looked closer, I realized that she was Jeramiah’s half-blood girlfriend. Marilyn. She was drunk out of her mind. Her head lolled back against the wall. She was muttering inaudibly to herself, and I couldn’t be sure whether she had noticed me or not. I walked swiftly forward, acting as if I hadn’t noticed her.

While most people seemed to be sleeping after a night of drinking, I wanted to take this opportunity to explore this place at my own pace, without Jeramiah’s gaze on me. I doubted it would bring me any closer to discovering who had branded me, of course. For that, I’d have to wait until people started waking.

Avoiding the elevator, I walked down a flight of stairs to the level beneath me. I circled the entire level, trying a few doors behind which I couldn’t hear snoring, but most were locked. Jeramiah had said that the apartments on these levels were the quarters of vampires and witches in any case. I imagined they’d look much the same as my and Jeramiah’s apartments. I descended level after level in the atrium until I reached the ground floor. Mixing with the sweet aroma of jasmine, the scent of human blood was strong. Strong enough to cause my mouth to water, even though I had only recently topped up on blood.

Clenching my jaw, I moved toward the room I had waited in while Jeramiah had disappeared with the human I’d half-turned, Tobias. I approached the door, clutching the handle and expecting it to be locked. It wasn’t. I was able to push it wide open and step inside the dark, bare room. My eyes fixed on the door at the opposite side of the room that Jeramiah had carried Tobias through.

I was still afraid of my inability to control myself around fresh, hot blood. But this was a part of The Oasis I hadn’t seen at all yet. I felt I needed to explore it at least once.

I breathed in deeply, trying to reel in my cravings, before reaching for the handle and twisting it.

This door was locked.