A Trail of Echoes(46)

And yet as my father drew closer and closer, I did not feel strong at all. I sat next to my brother and River in the far corner of the boat, trying to breathe in River’s scent so that my father’s blood would not be so alluring to me.

“Stop hogging River all to yourself,” I said to my brother, managing a grin even as my stomach tensed up in knots.

River chuckled, then lowered her arm to me and allowed me to hold it. I leaned closer to her and took a deep breath.

The fact that my brother had called her just a “friend” was amusing to me. I knew him too well to not notice the way he looked at her, how much he seemed to adore her.

As my parents reached the boat, I braced myself for the explosion.

My mother was the first to lay eyes on me. Her expression of joy at seeing me again soon turned to shock, then horror, as she realized what I had become.

“Rose! You… turned?” She clasped a hand over her mouth, then leapt onto our boat and rushed up to me. Holding my head in her hands, she examined me closely as if wanting to believe that her eyes were deceiving her.

My father’s jaw dropped as he saw me. He took a step closer and my whole body tensed up. The demon inside of me clawed for release. I could practically feel the hot blood pumping through his veins.

I imagined how bizarre this experience must have been for my father. His own son and daughter were doing everything they could to not launch at him and drain him dry.

I was used to the abnormal, having grown up on an island of supernaturals, and after everything we had recently been through there wasn’t a lot that could faze me these days. But this… This was weird.

Exhaling slowly, I remembered what Caleb had told me.

I can do this. I’m strong enough.

Thankfully, my father didn’t step forward as close as my mother did, wisely realizing what I was going through. He looked from me to Caleb, then back to me.

“This was my idea,” I said quickly, not wanting them to think that Caleb might have influenced my decision. “Caleb was completely against it.”

“Why?” was the one word that spilled from my parents’ gaping mouths.

I explained my reasoning. How I had wanted to know if I would have the same problem as Ben, so I could know how this would affect my and Caleb’s future, and also to bring us one small step closer to understanding what might be wrong with Ben.

“So you’re certain that you don’t have the same problem?” my mother asked.

“Yes, positive. I’m not showing any of the signs that Ben showed.”

“Why didn’t you discuss it with us before you left?” my father asked. “Why do it so suddenly?”

“I just… I thought it best that I just do it. And the most logical time for me to turn was while we were away. We enjoyed our honeymoon, and then we hung around near the outskirts of The Shade while I recovered for the last few days.”

“She’s all right, Derek,” Caleb said. “Give her a few weeks, and she’ll live among humans just as well as the rest of the vampires on this island.”

Caleb’s words seemed to pacify my parents.

My mother held my hands. “Well, as long as you’re happy with your decision. It will mean you and Caleb taking the cure and turning back into humans if and when you decide you want children…”

“I know,” I said. “I’ve already thought about it.”

“I just wonder why Ben has a problem and you don’t,” my father said, voicing the question that had been at the back of my mind ever since I turned into a vampire.

“I wonder if something could have happened in Aviary,” my mother said, her face tense.

I looked at Ben, who appeared just as clueless as the rest of us.

“I just don’t know…”





Chapter 28: River





After Benjamin’s parents had recovered from the shock of seeing their newly married daughter as a vampire, all of us traveled to the shore. Rose and Ben sat close to me, as far away from Derek as possible. As we reached the Port, Derek stepped off first and distanced himself from the twins, and then I stepped out with them. Ben had an arm around my waist, while Rose had linked her arm with mine. I couldn’t help but chuckle at the way both were clinging to me.

Sofia looked at Benjamin. “Are you sure you’re ready for the cure?” she asked.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Ben replied grimly.

“Then I suggest we go straight to the Pit and get this over with,” Sofia said. She looked up ahead toward her husband. “Derek, why don’t you go and fetch some witches… Ibrahim and Corrine?”

Derek nodded, and then headed off into the woods.