A Shade of Vampire (A Shade of Vampire, #1)(24)

An emotion I wasn’t quite accustomed to gripped at me when I saw her. It was a strange mixture of alarm, concern and protectiveness. She was sitting in one corner of the room, trembling as she held her legs tightly against her chest. Her green eyes betrayed complete and utter terror.

I knew something was horribly wrong, but I couldn’t even begin to imagine what could’ve happened to cause such a reaction from her.

“Sofia?” I asked, concerned.

I knelt in front of her and tried to brush her hair away from her face. She flinched at my touch –a stark contrast to how comfortable and secure she was with me the night before when she voluntarily snuggled against me at the living room couch and while I was playing the grand piano.

A sick feeling formed at the pit of my stomach as one possibility after another came to mind. I couldn’t understand what was causing her to be this way.

“What happened, Sofia?!” I urged.

Her lips were trembling so profusely, I was certain that I wouldn’t understand a thing that would come out of her mouth even if she chose to answer my question. That’s when I noticed something she was clutching with her shaking, right fist. I didn’t want to have to, but no matter how she flinched, I pried her hands open, desperate to know what was going on. It was a lock of brown hair. My brows furrowed. Right about then, one of the guards came through the open door.

“Sir?” he spoke up.

“What?” I asked, not bothering to look at him.

“One of the girls – Gwen. She’s missing.”

My jaw tightened and my gut clenched as I realized what could’ve happened. Instinctively, I made my way toward Sofia’s bathroom, noticing how it was already open. I pushed the door to check inside. Rage I hadn’t felt in a very long time began to consume me at what I saw. In a bloody pool of water, Gwen’s lifeless body laid in the bath tub. On her wrists were bite marks. Someone bled her dry.

It was a deliberate affront to me and a blatant threat toward Sofia. The guard, who was right behind me, audibly gasped at the sight.

“You were supposed to be keeping watch of the girls. How did this happen?” I asked, desperately reeling in my temper.

“Sir, I… I don’t know… I…”

I moved fast and had him pinned to the wall, angered by his failure of responsibility. I looked into his eyes and saw an air of dignity there. Unlike the guard, Husky, I’d killed not long ago, this one wasn’t about to beg for his life. He knew he was innocent and I knew it too.

I backed down and loosened my grip on him.

“Whoever did this, dies. Get all the resources necessary to find out who could’ve insulted me this way.”

I walked toward Sofia and, ignoring her struggles to push me away, I picked her up in my arms and carried her out of the room. I didn’t know where to take her but I was damned certain that I couldn’t just leave her there. Once she realized that I wasn’t about to let her go, she eased into my arms and buried her face against my chest before letting go of the emotions she had pent up inside. Tears began to mar her lovely face and I wanted nothing more than to kill the person that put her through this.

However, there was a truth I kept on denying to myself: there was only one person in the Blood Shade who would dare to stand up to me by pulling a stunt like this. Lucas.





CHAPTER 17: SOFIA

Everything happened in a blur. I was aware of it all, and yet, I wasn’t. It was almost like everything was happening to another person, and yet it was me. I felt Derek’s strong arms beneath me, carrying me. I heard his conversation with Vivienne before they both decided to take me to see Corrine the witch at the Sanctuary. I saw the agitation on Derek’s face, the intoxicating scent of his natural musk filling my nostrils as I snuggled against him. I was conscious of it all, and yet at the same time, I was stuck in a memory, still reliving every sickening sensation it induced.

I was lured to sleep by an enchanting melody and awakened from it by a horrific nightmare.

His hand was clamped over my mouth and his full weight was rested on top of me, constricting my breathing. I felt his free hand hike up my thigh and when I flinched, he chuckled vehemently, amused by my weakness.

“I will have you someday, Sofia,” he whispered against my ear. “You will bring me so much pleasure and once I’m done with you, I will have a taste of your sweet, sweet blood.”

His hand hiked up my waist and slipped beneath my back. Blinding pain unlike anything I’d ever experienced before assaulted me when his claws came out, digging against the skin on my back. My screams were muffled by his palm over my mouth when he scratched through my flesh with his nails. My back was on fire with searing agony as tears began to stream down my face.

His lips pressed against my neck, my jaw, my cheek, each blood-curdling word coming out of his lips dripping with spite and the intent to make me feel that he had power over me.

“But don’t worry, my fragile little twig. I’ve had my fill for the night. I just wanted to warn you about what’s ahead of you, remind you who found you…and who really owns you.”

Still keeping his hand over my mouth, Lucas lifted himself up on the bed, so that he was kneeling over me, straddling my hips as he looked down at me, a manic smile on his face.

“Don’t get too comfortable with my brother, Sofia, because no matter what he may think, you’re mine. And should you get any bright ideas about telling Derek about this little rendezvous of ours, consider this a stern warning.”