“I don’t know.” I shook my head, still feeling the longing ache I had for Derek. “I just matter to him I guess.”
“That’s really what amazes me. Why do you matter that much? What do you have on him?”
I ask myself the same question every day. I hated the idea that I could be important to him only because of the prophecy or the fact that Vivienne lost her life in exchange for mine—thus, securing my value in Derek’s eyes. “We’re in love,” was the only answer I could think of that would satisfy my own insecurities and doubts about why Derek wanted me around.
“Yeah? Well, I hope the love lasts. We could use someone among us capable of taming the prince…”
At that, it was my turn to scoff. “Derek isn’t some beast that ought to be tamed.” I was surprised at my own indignation. The word just rubbed me the wrong way, because it reminded me of Ben calling himself my Prince Charming and me his Rose Red, only for me to end up with the Beast. “Derek is many things, but he isn’t a monster.”
“Sure. If you say so.” Gavin lightly chuckled. He crossed his arms over his chest, both of us still looking in the direction where Derek went off. “Remind me again why you’re avoiding him…”
I gave Gavin a long, thoughtful look before deciding that I could trust him with what I knew. “I think this is something we ought to talk about in private.”
We ended up meandering along the woods—not the safest place for humans at The Shade—on a long route to The Catacombs. That’s where I hesitantly told Gavin about the plan to have another culling.
Most of the walk consisted of a question asked and answered, then immediately followed by a long, tense silence, before another question could be asked. By the time we reached The Catacombs, both of us were heartbroken.
We were already on the level of The Catacombs below where my quarters were when a beautiful young woman with black hair, pale skin and stunning moss green eyes approached Gavin.
“Hi, Gavin…” she greeted shyly as she fidgeted with her fingers.
Gavin’s sharp eyes softened at the sight of her. “Hello, Anna…how’ve you been?” he asked in a manner so patronizing, it was almost as if he was talking to a child.
I then remembered what he told me before when he was talking about Migrates used and discarded by vampires who once professed love to them. I could introduce you to one. Anna—stunning beauty, but degraded to nothing but a whimpering child.
I stared at her, suddenly becoming uncomfortable. Gavin was right. She was gorgeous, but her eyes—though beautiful—were vacant of life. I wondered what the vampire could’ve done to her to make her thus. I also wondered who the vampire who did this to her was. I quickly got my answer.
“They took my doll…” Anna told Gavin. “Felix gave me that doll, and they took it. Felix will get so mad…he always gets mad when I lose things and I get in a lot of trouble for it.”
“Forget Felix, Anna. He won’t cause you any trouble anymore,” Gavin assured her. “Now tell me…who took your doll?”
“The guys…”
Fury sparked in Gavin’s eyes. “What guys? They were in your cell? Did they do anything to you?”
The thoughts that flashed through my mind at what Gavin was implying made me sick.
“The guys who visited this morning, of course,” Anna explained, a flash of fear glazing her wide-eyed and innocent countenance. “They took my doll. I want my doll back.”
“I’ll get it back, Anna…” Gavin’s lips tightened as he nodded in assurance. “I promise.”
Anna threw her arms around Gavin and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you!” she exclaimed happily before skipping off to wherever she spent her time.
Gavin’s eyes were glued on her, the expression in his eyes torn. “She shouldn’t be living alone, but she refuses to live with anyone else. She has it in her head that Felix will return and she doesn’t want him finding her with another guy. She’s still afraid he’ll hurt her.”
“The guys she was talking about…do you think they…”
Gavin shook his head. “Best not to talk about such things. This is what life in The Catacombs is like, Sofia. Get used to it.”
“If anyone’s abusing her, then something has to be done about it, Gavin.”
“She’s crazy, Sofia. She doesn’t even have a doll. You can’t really trust anything she says and to spend our energy on following her around to see if anybody’s taking advantage of her is futile. Besides, what do you intend to do if such a thing was happening?”