A Shade Of Vampire 4: A Shadow Of Light(62)

“Well, we haven’t discussed it properly yet. If you want an answer now, I think the answer is no…” I replied, shifting my weight on my seat, gearing myself up for a confrontation.

“The sooner the hunters come, the sooner I get to administer the cure, the sooner we get to get out of here.”

I raised a brow at my father. “We?”

“You’re not saying that you’re not coming back with me, are you, Sofia? I thought…”

“Dad…what would I do back at headquarters? Train to be a hunter? My life is here at The Shade.”

“Sofia, you can’t seriously be… You don’t even have to stay at headquarters. I want you to live your life and it’s definitely not here.”

“If the cure works, then Derek would be human too.” I glanced at Derek and smiled, hope surging within me at the possibility of us being together. “If he decides to leave The Shade, then I’m going with him. If he decides to stay, then that’s where I’ll be.”

I knew that I was tearing my father apart. I felt bad for him. I didn’t want him to be unhappy. He was my father and I loved him, but as much as I wanted to be a part of his life, I couldn’t leave behind my own life just to cater toward his hatred for the vampires.

“I’m sorry, but a life as a hunter isn’t the life for me. Ben found that hard to accept too, but it holds true.”

I felt Derek take my hand underneath the table and squeeze hard. Aiden’s shoulders sagged with disappointment. I guess he knew me well enough to know that once I set my heart and mind on something, there was no way he could dissuade me to do otherwise.

“Sofia and I will discuss the hunters’ arrival tonight and let you know by breakfast, Aiden,” Derek spoke up in an attempt to appease my sulking father.

Aiden shot a glare at him, narrowing his eyes at the vampire. “You’re not suggesting that my daughter will spend the night with you, are you?”

“Well…” Derek swallowed hard.

“What? So you can feed on her all night?” Aiden’s eyes suddenly grew wide open with horror. “You two haven’t already slept together, have you?”

I coughed out the orange juice that I’d been drinking. I never had to endure these types of conversations before. Hearing these questions from my father and the thought of answering them was—for me—beyond awkward.

“Okay…” I stood up as I continued to cough out the juice. “I think that’s enough dinner talk…” Rob and Madeline were squealing with delight.

“I think we better go…” Derek suggested and I quickly agreed.

We didn’t wait for Aiden to voice out more objections. Derek simply took my hand and whisked both of us out of The Catacombs and into the woods, where we took a long, leisurely walk back to his penthouse, where we planned to spend the night.

“Your father must be throwing quite a fit right now. I almost feel sorry for Rosa, Gavin, Lily and the kids,” Derek said.

“They’ll be fine.” We walked in silence for a while, losing ourselves in our own thoughts, enjoying each other’s company.

“Thank you for bringing Vivienne back,” Derek broke the silence. “Claudia too. I’m not a big fan of the girl, but somehow The Shade isn’t quite the same without her.”

Derek and Claudia had always been at odds with each other. I knew that they’d slept together before, knew that Claudia was attracted to him, but it was perfectly clear that they weren’t friends. I doubted they even liked each other. Still, I somehow understood what Derek was getting at. The Shade had grown to be more than just a community. Over time, it had grown to be a family. They may not get along well with one another and everyone was always at each other’s throats, but should anybody take one person away from the island, that person’s presence—no matter how unpleasant—was bound to be missed. The familiarity with one another and acceptance of each other’s flaws was what made The Shade feel like the home that it was.

Now, The Shade’s falling apart. My heart sank at the thought. War was brewing, the blood supply was running low… The island wasn’t going to be in its self-sufficient cocoon for long.

“What are you planning to do, Derek?” I asked.

He eyed me momentarily. “About what?”

I shrugged. “The Shade, the war, the blood supply…my father’s proposal to get the hunters to come…the cure…”

He didn’t reply immediately, and for a while, I thought he had no intention of replying at all. We just walked, listening to the sound of twigs snapping and leaves rustling beneath our feet.

“I don’t know what to do,” he finally admitted. “I solve one issue and another one pops up in its place. The last time something like this happened—right before I asked Cora to put the sleeping spell on me—I just gave in to the darkness so that I could control everyone through fear. I don’t want to go back there.”

I remembered what he’d shown me in his journals back at the Lighthouse—the history of The Shade, what became of him, how he’d gone over to the dark side. I swallowed hard. I knew how important it was that he never go back to that version of him again.

“This cure, Sofia… Do you really think it’s worth the risk of letting your father bring in more hunters to The Shade?”