I stumbled aside at the force of Ben’s motion, but Derek didn’t even budge. When the prince of vampires turned to face my best friend, I was half-expecting Ben to keel over and die just from sheer fright. Derek looked nothing short of menacing.
I was impressed however that Ben stood his ground. I guess he didn’t care that Derek was perfectly capable of breaking every bone in his body. My best friend was never one to back down from a fight, and it seemed he wasn’t about to start now.
I couldn’t remember ever being around so much testosterone, but I could feel the blood drain from my face the moment Ben stepped forward – a blatant challenge toward Derek – and said, “We’re headed for nowhere, vampire.”
I was torn between forever admiring him for his braveness and slapping some sense back into him for his stupidity. What the hell are you doing, Ben? Are you intentionally trying to get yourself killed?
Derek stared him down. The presence and power he exuded reminded me of what he looked like just before he ripped the heart out of the vampire guard who tried to feed on me. I wasn’t exactly up for seeing my best friend die before my very eyes.
“Derek,” I managed to choke, “where are we going? Those are boulders straight ahead.”
Derek kept his eyes on Ben. I wasn’t even sure if he heard me. A dozen prayers were going though my head. The last thing we needed was a fight – if we could even call it that. Relief washed over me when Derek’s eyes fell on me. Completely ignoring Ben and the rather tense encounter that just occurred, Derek took hold of my hand, pulled me closer to him and replaced his hand over my waist. Apparently, he didn’t feel obliged to offer either of us an explanation.
“Stop resisting, Sofia. Just follow my lead. And make this idiot friend of yours shut up, or I swear…” He paused to reel in his anger. “You have no idea how close I am to maiming him.” His grip tightened around me.
Derek. Ever the authoritarian. I didn’t bother to look at Ben’s reaction. I knew he would be seething after being brushed aside like that.
I was practically being swept forward by Derek. Our destination? Well, as far as I could tell, we were headed directly toward a solid rock wall. Derek didn’t look like he was going to slow down any time soon. I looked at him several times to check if he had somehow gone insane, but he kept his focus ahead, not a single sign of him slowing down as we got closer and closer to walking right into a rock wall.
All I could do was gasp when we finally hit the wall … only to find myself shocked when it enveloped us, feeling a lot like Jell-O. After a split second, we emerged on the other side of it and found a staircase winding downward. We’d just moved down a few feet when Ben stepped out of the wall. He seemed fine, save for the scowl on his face. He wasn’t used to being ignored.
We eventually reached the bottom of the staircase and stepped into a cavernous hall enclosed by huge glass windows revealing that we were underwater. Had it not been dark outside, I’m sure I would have marveled at the sight of sea creatures and various types of flora and fauna. In the center of the room was some sort of control panel where Sam and Kyle stood, two of Derek’s most trusted guards.
Having managed to develop a bond with each of them over the time I stayed at The Shade, the glances – both fond and curious – they sent my way didn’t come as much of a surprise.
Derek didn’t even bother to look at Ben. He fixed his eyes on the vampire guards. “Kyle, take the boy to the submarine. Make sure all the preparations for his departure are in order. Sam, take Sofia to one of the holding cells. She apparently needs to rethink her stay here.”
I frowned. “Holding cells?”
“Wait. What submarine?” Ben asked. “I’m not gonna go anywhere without Sofia.”
Derek completely ignored him and set his eyes on me. “You said you need time to think. A cell is the safest place to do just that. Meanwhile, he will wait for you in one of the submarines. He will be sedated, just like you will be should you decide to leave. We can’t afford for you to remember anything about your journey out of the island.”
The thought of never seeing Derek again made me ache inside and I was fighting the urge to cry as I looked into his eyes. How dare you kiss me, Derek … Tonight of all nights … As if this decision isn’t already hard enough, you had to claim my first kiss from me. He must have mistaken my silence for concern over Ben, because he began doling out an assurance.
“I won’t send him off until you’ve made your decision,” Derek promised. The look he gave me was so intense, I was sure I would melt. I just nodded.