When sleep finally stole her attention away from me, I stared into her peaceful, sleeping form and allowed myself to entertain a thought of Vivienne – just enough so I could thank my dear sister for paying the ultimate price in order to give me Sofia.
Chapter 41: Sofia
I woke up to find him staring at me. Waking up next to him felt right in a way it never did waking up next to Ben. I eased myself into his arms. I’d found his chest comfortable enough to be my pillow during the night. I smiled. It was the first time I could remember that a nightmare didn’t wake me up in the middle of the night.
“I’m sorry you had to see me that way…” I never thought I’d see him look so embarrassed.
It took a moment for it to register what he was apologizing for. I shook my head and snuggled closer to him. “Don’t be, Derek. You never have to pretend around me.”
I could swear I felt his heart quicken a beat. His arms around me tightened. We lay there comfortably for a few more minutes before we fell into routine. I noted the ease we had about us as we both got dressed. I’d forgotten how natural it came to us – being around each other. We just knew how to move, how to act, when to stay out of each other’s private spaces and when to move in.
Something, however, changed in our routine. After we got dressed, I often went to the kitchen to prepare my breakfast. Often, a glass of blood would already be waiting for him on the dining table. That much didn’t change. What changed, however, was the fact that he actually started talking to me – and not just about mundane things that didn’t really matter, but about how he was going to spend the day, what his plans were for The Shade… things that I never was privy to when I was still his “personal slave”.
“I’ll be at the training grounds today,” he informed me. “The training must go on for the vampires of The Shade.”
“Corrine told me about the draft…” The topic left a bitter taste in my mouth. “She said you wanted all vampires to be battle-ready. Why?”
“We’ve grown weak. Should the hunters attack us, we won’t stand a chance. I can only imagine the technological advancements they’ve developed over the years. They’re leaps and bounds ahead of the way they were four hundred years ago.”
“Maybe so, but how on earth will the hunters even find the island, Derek?”
“It’s just a matter of time, Sofia. Our defenses grow weaker by the minute… I’m surprised we were able to keep the secret this long.”
I quietly stared at the piece of toast I just dabbed with jam and butter before finally admitting something that’d been bugging me. “Ben joined the hunters, Derek. He wanted me to go with him, but I didn’t.”
Derek stiffened at the mention of Ben. He took a drink from his glass of blood before slowly raising his eyes to meet mine. “Why didn’t you?”
Because of you. I shrugged. “It didn’t feel right.”
It seemed he wanted to ask another question, but thought better of it. Instead, he nodded. “I have to go soon… What will you be doing?”
“I want to visit Ashley at the Cells. I’m thinking of visiting the Catacombs too.”
Blue eyes widened in surprise. “The Catacombs?”
“Is that going to be a problem?”
He paused and gave it some thought. “No. I’ll find you there later. I’ll make sure a guard accompanies you.”
“When is this trial with Ashley going to happen, Derek? You can’t keep putting this off…”
His face grew grim. “She’s a hunter, Sofia.”
“What?” I frowned. “How would you…”
“The tattoo on her back. The hawk. It’s the mark of a hunter.”
“But…”
“Look. I’ll strike you a deal. If you can get her to cooperate and give us all the information she knows about the hunters, then I’ll release her.”
“That’s not fair, Derek. She was defending me after you…”
“Don’t go there, Sofia.” His tone was stern, making it clear to me that I was about to cross a line I had no business crossing. “I know what I did, and I regret it deeply, but I am prince of The Shade. She was going to kill me. She almost killed you. My offer to release her is more generous than you give me credit for.”
I was taken aback. It was the first time I could remember him pulling rank on me. My familiarity with him often made me forget who he was. Whenever anyone at The Shade treated him with deference, I found it downright weird. The idea of calling him ‘your highness’ or even ‘prince’ seemed ridiculous to me, but sitting there, it hit me full force: the vampires recognized Derek as their prince and he was no pushover.