He quickly reminded me, however, that he was my tormentor and made me completely reconsider my stand in the matter. Whatever anger or sadness he felt, he took out on me. He clamped one hand over my neck, constricting my breathing. A claw protruded from the thumb he had over my lips and he began pressing the end of it over my mouth. I couldn’t help but whimper as his sharp nail drew a small line of blood over my sensitive lower lip.
“Lucas! Stop it!” Vivienne once again raised her voice in reprimand.
He let go of me, allowing me to gasp for breath. He backed away and stared down at me like I was the most disgusting thing he’d ever seen in his life.
“I’m just trying to help you wake your beloved Derek up, Vivienne. Take this little minx to him and make her kiss the Sleeping Beauty. The taste of her blood just might wake the prince up.”
He began to head for the door, but stopped to glare at his sister before completely heading off.
“Isn’t that how you think all this is going to play out when he wakes up? Just like a fairy tale?”
I can’t express how relieved I felt when he finally left the room. The words exchanged by the siblings remained in my head, but I was too overcome by emotion to even attempt to make sense out of them. My knees were shaking so I gave in and sank to the ground before finally looking up to see what exactly Vivienne looked like.
If I thought Lucas could be beautiful, Vivienne was even more stunning to behold. She was a couple of inches shorter than her brother, but had the same dark hair and pale complexion. Her eyes, however, were different. Against the light in the room, her eyes almost looked violet, with hints of deep purple.
She was eyeing me warily, as if I was a heavy burden that she had to bear.
“Thank you,” I told her, genuinely meaning it even though I had no idea what she had in store for me.
There was a deadpan expression on her face as she looked at me.
“Understand, girl, that you are nothing here. You’re nothing but a pawn, a piece used to make the board move. Your best chance at survival and proving your significance is to win Derek’s affections. Considering everything I know about my brother, I’m not sure that’s even possible.”
Her words dealt my hope a final crushing blow. She made it perfectly clear that wherever this place called the Blood Shade was, I had no allies. No friends. I had only myself to rely on. That, I thought, was the most frightening aspect of my predicament. After all, how could I rely on someone whom I couldn’t trust?
Chapter 4: Derek
The moment my eyes shot open, I could hear everything, smell everything, feel everything within at least a quarter mile radius around me. I was sure that the sensation alone would bring my body into complete shock, until my vision settled on a familiar face. The woman I had trusted enough to provide my escape from everything.
“Cora?”
It was strange. The last thing I remembered was Cora’s face as I’d faded off into slumber. It felt like I had only slept for a few moments before being jolted awake. I wondered if something had gone wrong with the spell. Looking at the witch, I couldn’t help but wonder how it was possible that she looked younger. I found my answer when the buxom beauty with light brown skin and long, cascading locks of chestnut hair shook her head.
“I’m not Cora. I’m Corrine.”
I lifted myself up from the slab of stone that served as my resting place…for how long, I could only muse. I took in my surroundings - I was in a candlelit hall with marble floors and giant pillars. The first word that came to mind when I surveyed the place was sanctuary.
I eyed the young woman I was alone in the room with, wary of her intentions. It took a moment for her strange clothes to register. I became aware of how I was dressed and realized that perhaps more time had passed than I initially thought. At that point, it didn’t really matter.
The bottom line was that I wasn’t supposed to wake up. Ever.
Contemptuous that I would wake when I so explicitly asked to be given an escape from which I would never wake, I shouted a command as prince of the Blood Shade.
“I want to see Cora. Bring her to me.”
I hated the authoritative tone my voice naturally took on. Who was I to issue commands? I was no prince – much less the savior Vivienne painted me to be.
The prophecy she spoke soon after we were turned into vampires immediately haunted me as I recalled it.
The younger will rule above father and brother and his reign alone can provide his kind true sanctuary.
I still remember the look on Vivienne’s face when she uttered those words. More than that, I saw the expressions of my father and brother. Resentment.
I snapped myself out of the bout of nostalgia I was sinking into and raised a brow at the woman before me. Why isn’t she moving? I was surprised by my own indignation at the idea of her not immediately jumping on my order.