A Shade Of Vampire 4: A Shadow Of Light(61)

Chapter 40: Claudia


I couldn’t stand being inside my penthouse. It reminded me of how much I’d allowed darkness to take over me since I had turned into a vampire. I had become exactly like the monster that I’d hated. I became exactly like the Duke. The memories of everything that had happened inside that place haunted me. All the horrors I put Ben, and so many young men like him, through began to replay in my mind. I could almost feel their presence inside my home. I hated who I was when I was with them.

I hated Lucas, but I reminded myself that I was just like him—evil to the core—so he was one of the few people who frequented my home. The other person was Yuri.

Thus, when I heard a knock at the door, it was easy to surmise who it was, considering Lucas’ grisly demise back at The Oasis. I found myself shaking as I made my way to the door. I opened it and gulped when I saw Yuri standing on my doorstep.

I was expecting him to say something mean or give me a condescending glare. We were known around The Shade for our frequent fights and irritable banter. This time, however, he just stared at me and I stared back.

When I saw a tear run down his cheek, it was my complete undoing.

“Yuri…” I choked out.

“I can’t believe you left, Claudia.”

The dynamic between us radically changed. I began to sob, because for the first time in the past centuries I’d co-existed with Yuri, I felt completely vulnerable and exposed to him. I guess I always was. I just had trouble admitting it to myself: that he knew me even more than I knew myself. He saw right through the hard, wicked exterior I’d been putting up.

“I’m so sorry, Yuri,” I managed to say in between my sobs. “I never should’ve left. I was a fool to leave. I just…” I wiped away my tears and tried to get a hold of myself. “I know how loyal you are to Derek. I should be too. After everything he’s done for us…for The Shade…but I just…”

“Shut up, Claudia…” he said gently as he stepped into my home and closed the door behind him. “Just shut up and stop torturing yourself over the past. You’re back. That’s what matters.”

To my surprise, he grabbed me by the waist and lifted me into his arms and kissed me. Passionate at first, but he must have remembered who I was, because his kiss became gentle, tender…much like a sweet caress as his tongue softly pushed past my lips.

When our lips parted, I could feel myself blushing. He gently laid me back down on the ground and both of us were in a stunned silence for a couple of minutes.

“Have you forgiven me, Claudia?” he asked.

I looked up at him questioningly. “What do you mean?”

“For that night… That night when I…” He choked.

He didn’t have to finish. I knew what night he was referring to. I remained silent as I searched myself for an answer. I decided to tell him the absolute truth. “I couldn’t forgive you until I realized how much I’ve made both you and myself suffer for my bitterness. I forgave you the moment I realized that you are the only man I’ve ever loved, Yuri, but I also know that I could never be worthy of you.”

His face took on a grim expression as he shook his head. “Don’t say that. You are the only woman I’ve ever wanted, Claudia.”

He retrieved something from his pocket and my breath hitched when I saw what it was. The folded piece of parchment, tattered and browned throughout the years, but still the symbol of a walk in the woods, of an innocence stolen from both of us.

“This time, I won’t take it back,” he said, as he handed it to me.

Trembling, I took the paper and opened it up, looking at the image it contained. Upon seeing it, I couldn’t bear the idea of looking into his face. “How could you still want me, Yuri? I’m so broken.”

“We’re all broken, Claudia, but none of us are beyond fixing.”

His lips once again pressed against mine and when he whispered the words I longed to hear for centuries, I couldn’t respond with anything but a grateful: “Yes.”

His words were, “Let me love you.”





Chapter 41: Sofia


Dinner with Aiden was awkward to say the least. He was sitting at the head of the table and there seemed to be many things he wasn’t comfortable about—primarily the fact that Derek and I were sitting next to each other and ignoring our food as we acted like the teenagers that we were—or at least I was—fooling around and playing footsie, or Rob making a face at us, or Madeline giggling with delight at how sweet we were.

Lily seemed pleased with us. Gavin didn’t seem to care. Rosa was too busy staring at Gavin to really notice. Ian and Anna decided to opt out of the awkwardness and eat elsewhere.

Aiden, on the other hand, expressed his irritation by making a scene out of banging his spoon and fork over his plate every chance he got.

“Are you drumming, Sofia’s father?” Rob asked. “Ian sometimes makes some music with a bunch of old cans. He’s really good at it.”

Aiden dropped his utensils on his plate, which he promptly pushed away so that he could lean his elbows over the wooden table. “Soooo…” he said. “You haven’t told me whether or not you’re going to let the hunters come…”

Derek and I exchanged uncomfortable glances.