“No!” Reuben slammed his hand over the table. “There’s got to be a way. There’s always a way.”
“What do you even plan to do when we find the island? Attack it? The Crimson Fortress walled around the whole island will give the Wall of China a run for its money…don’t underestimate them.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” Reuben hissed. “The Novaks rule the most powerful vampire clan for a reason. Whoever ends their coven will cripple all vampires permanently.”
“You didn’t answer my question. What do you plan to do when we find the island?”
“Get my daughter out of there and then blow the whole island into smithereens.”
I shot a look at Reuben, wondering if he was serious. He clearly was. “There are thousands of innocent human slaves living on that island. If I’m not mistaken, The Shade is self-sufficient and runs on the backbone of these slaves. You’d willingly kill them?”
Reuben gave me a careless shrug. “They were as good as dead the moment they were taken captive by the vampires.”
I couldn’t help but stare at him, wondering how on earth someone as kind and as compassionate as Sofia could possibly be related to him.
For the first time since I arrived there, it felt like joining the hunters had been the biggest mistake of my life.
CHAPTER 21: DEREK
I knew it would happen, but it still hurt that it did. After our discussion about the culling and my admittance that there was nothing I could do to stop it, Sofia avoided spending time with me. I knew her well enough to know that she had the tendency to do this when she needed to think things through.
She needed space and I willingly gave it to her. I did, however, station guards to keep an eye on her and update me on what she was doing. I couldn’t risk leaving her unprotected because of the recent bout I had with my father. Despite the regular updates, however, I still found myself missing her sorely. I spent most of my time at the training grounds, focusing my energies on the military training I knew The Shade was in desperate need for.
I’d just finished a rather tough fight with one of the best fighters we had—Xavier Vaughn—when a familiar face showed up at the training grounds.
Ashley. I hadn’t dared visit her since her turning, but I’d kept up-to-date with her through Kyle and Sam. It was strange seeing her and not getting that intense craving to feed on her. She looked incredible as a vampire, her brown eyes having a far more brilliant sheen than they used to.
“Hey, baby vampire,” I greeted her, ignoring the irritated look on her face.
“New harem girls, Derek? Really?”
Xavier, while still trying to catch his breath from our fight, raised a brow at her. He usually skipped formalities and called me by name, but as far as he and the rest of the citizens of The Shade were concerned, a new vampire had no business calling me by name.
I gestured toward Xavier to tell him that it was alright. “Let’s take a walk, shall we, Ashley?”
“Why can’t we have the conversation right here?” She animatedly planted her hands on her hips, her long blonde ponytail sashaying with her every move.
Xavier’s eyes grew wide with interest as he whispered, “Feisty girl…”
Ashley squinted her eyes at him. “I heard that.”
She was causing a commotion and the other trainees were now gathering around. I chuckled dryly as I turned around to leave.
“Where are you going?!” She ran after me.
“Somewhere we can talk without you getting yourself killed.”
Her face paled, realizing how much trouble she’d gotten herself into only moments ago. “Oh shoot…I keep on forgetting that you’re some sort of legendary royalty here at the Shade.”
“You’re a vampire now. You can’t forget that.”
We began to walk through the forest, aimlessly traveling along the stony terrain, past the giant redwoods that filled the island.
“You didn’t even bother to check on me,” she said with a pout after a long silence. It was a reminder that in spite of her newfound immortality, she still was a seventeen-year-old teenager. “I mean, I can understand if you don’t, but Sofia?”
“Didn’t either Kyle or Sam tell you that I forbade her to go see you?”
“Well, yeah…they did, but since when did you forbidding Sofia to do something keep her from doing it?”
I changed the subject. “So is it what you thought it would be…being a vampire?”
“Let’s just say that I wished I had listened to you the night of my turning.”
I bowed my head, truly feeling sorry for her.
“Did you choose to be turned?” she asked.