I looked around the room for a key. Never mind a key, there wasn’t anything in this small, dusty room.

Bending down on my knees, I peered through the keyhole. This seemed to be a basic lock, nothing sophisticated. I was confident that I’d be able to pick it, if I had something long and sharp. I was unsure of where to start looking for a suitable object. Then I realized that I might be already be equipped with what I needed.

Looking down at my hands, I extended my claws. If this was going to work at all, the claw in my forefinger seemed to be the best fit for the job.

I inserted two claws through the keyhole and began to pick the lock. My claws worked surprisingly well. I’d been worried that they might be too thick. After a minute, I managed to get the door to click open.

If I was quick and didn’t get caught by anyone already in the basement, nobody needed to know that I’d ventured down without permission.

The scent of blood intensified as I stepped through the door and found myself standing at the top of a narrow winding staircase. My gut clenched. I hoped that I wouldn’t regret this decision.

Reaching the basement, I was met with a much less primitive prison than I had imagined. Thanks to my foray into the territory of the black witches, I was used to dungeons being separated into cells by mere gates, with no bedding to sleep on or even clean water to drink.

This place, however, looked civilized, at least on first glance. I found myself standing at the end of a narrow corridor lined either side with doors. I peeked through the thin strip of window at the top of the first door to my left. I found myself looking into a small room with a bed, a sink, and even a door that apparently led to a toilet. It also looked relatively clean. A man who looked middle-aged was sleeping on the bed, a blanket pulled up to his neck. I kept moving, looking through window after window, hoping to find Tobias. It was clear that I was in the wrong section though. I could only smell human blood among these rooms, no half-blood.

Another thing that surprised me about this place was the fact that all of these humans seemed to have a room to themselves. One also wouldn’t know that one was in the desert down here. It felt like there was some kind of air-conditioning system.

I didn’t understand why they held such high standards for their prisoners. I wasn’t used to seeing prisoners being treated like this by supernaturals. It was odd. Especially considering—I assumed—they only ended up using these humans for blood anyway.

I finished traveling along the corridor to meet with another door. This one was not locked. I pushed it open and continued walking forward. I could detect half-bloods now.

This area was lined with similar rooms, but they seemed to be bigger and had a more comfortable feel to them. More effort had been put into making these people feel at home. I noticed bookshelves in some of them, and even the occasional mini-fridge. I continued looking from chamber to chamber, passing half-bloods of all ages and genders. Finally, at the end of the long winding corridor, I found Tobias. It was impossible to tell what state he was in because he was fast asleep. Still, he was alive.

Now I just had to hope that his life wouldn’t be worse here than if I had just let cancer claim him.

The area Tobias was in led to yet more corridors lined with rooms. I walked further for about five minutes, and still hadn’t reached the end of them. I was shocked by just how many people they kept down here.

If someone came down, it would be impossible to avoid them. The corridors were narrow and there was nowhere to hide. I decided it was time to return upstairs even though I hadn’t finished looking around.

Passing back along the various corridors, I climbed to the top of the stairs and walked back out into the small room where I had picked the lock. I closed the door behind me and, sliding my claw into the keyhole, I fiddled around with it again until it clicked shut.

Then I walked back out onto the terrace outside. Unsure of where to roam next, I found myself walking absentmindedly toward the lush gardens in the center of the atrium. I walked past the various exotic plants and flowers, barely appreciating their beauty and the effort it must have taken to grow them. My thoughts were lost elsewhere.

It was only when I passed by a pond covered with blue water lilies that something caught my eye. A stone slab, fixed into the ground at the edge of the water. It caught my eye because the grayness of it was so at odds with the lush surroundings. I strayed from the narrow path and crossed the grass to stand over it.

Even though I had perfect eyesight, I was convinced that I’d been imagining things.

But, as I bent right down close to the stone, there was no room for doubt.

Etched into the stone were the words:

“In memory of Lucas Dominic Novak.”

My jaw dropped.

Lucas Novak?

Who on earth would have installed this here?

It had to have been done since this coven had arrived here. Jeramiah had already told me that they’d rebuilt this place from scratch.

Could it be possible that one of these vampires or witches used to be a friend of his and knew that The Oasis was where he had met his demise?

Shaken by the idea that I could be in the presence of a close acquaintance of my family, I headed straight back to my apartment. Whoever had erected this wouldn’t be a well-wisher of my parents. Lucas and my father had been bitter enemies, and he had met his death at the hands of my grandfather while trying to murder my mother.

No friend of Lucas would be a friend of mine.

Locking the front door behind me, I headed back to my bedroom. I almost jumped as I laid eyes on a blonde girl sprawled out on my bed. Marilyn. She was naked but for a sheet pulled up to her chest. Still holding a bottle of wine in one hand, she looked up at me through hooded eyelids.