A Blaze of Sun (A Shade of Vampire #5)(15)

My stomach clenched as I remembered the faces of those who died that night – all of them familiar, all of them close to me. I belonged to a family of hunters. Every single one of my father’s siblings were hunters and all my cousins were too. Our grandparents were hunters and their parents before them were hunters.

That night, every living member of our family was killed in a bloody massacre. Only my father and I survived. My father risked his life to save me and I owed him everything. I owed him a debt that I could repay by being the greatest and most powerful hunter that ever lived.

The memories served to strengthen my resolve to avenge my family.

“I’m going to make the vampires pay, Father. I will.”

With the vast fortune we inherited from the death of every relative we had, I became Aiden Claremont to the world. With my father’s help we built a security conglomerate trusted by the entire world. In the underground, I was known simply as Reuben, one of the most well-connected and affluent hunters of the Order. It didn’t take long before I rose through the ranks, much to my father’s pride.

My father died battling vampires and his death was another reason I felt I needed to take revenge on those vile creatures. My life revolved around my business and my desire to rid the world of vampires. That is, until I met Camilla.

I always thought that I would have a family who shared my hatred for vampires, but when I married the love of my life, I couldn’t stand the thought of dragging her into the violent world of hunters. So, she only got to know Aiden and never really got to know Reuben.

When Camilla gave birth to Sofia and I held our newborn daughter for the very first time, I took one look at her and knew that I didn’t want the cycle of blood and violence to repeat in her generation. I stared into her lovely green eyes and adored her enough to never want her to encounter a vampire in her life.

At that, I failed, because my precious Sofia ended up falling in love with a vampire, and not just any vampire – Derek Novak, whose head would be any hunter’s prized possession.

I couldn’t help but grunt with frustration as I tried to entertain the idea of giving my daughter away in marriage to Derek Novak. The thought made me sick and yet, despite my hunters’ instincts telling me that it was wrong, I had been in The Shade long enough to know that what she had with Derek wasn’t just a passing flame.

Sofia wasn’t raised to hate vampires like I was. She was raised to never know vampires and when she encountered one, he fought for her and protected her in a way I was never able to. Upon seeing firsthand how she interacted with the vampires in The Shade and how much affection they held toward her, I couldn’t help but see her through the eyes of the island’s citizens. I saw why she was loyal to the vampires, but I also realized that it’s not even really loyalty to any specific sort.

Sofia has simply chosen to take the side of good – to follow where she believes goodness lies. I grimaced. Hate the idea as much as you will, but your daughter sees good even in vampires.

I found myself speaking my thoughts out loud in frustration. “How could you be so naïve, Sofia?”

Right then, it dawned on me that I was wrong. It wasn’t just naïveté.

She has a strength in her that I’ve never seen in anyone else. She is strong enough to trust and forgive and to risk getting hurt again, no matter how much she’s been betrayed. She doesn’t put up walls to protect herself from those who could possibly hurt her. She is strong enough to allow herself to be vulnerable. How does she do it?

Right then, I couldn’t help but contrast her with her mother. The irony that came with a fierce hunter like me ending up with a wife who was a vampire, and a daughter who was madly in love with a vampire, didn’t escape me and I grimaced at the notion. Camilla and Sofia had many similarities between them, but I knew then exactly what set them apart.

No matter how powerful a creature Ingrid has become, she was always weak on the inside in a way Sofia never was.

Chapter 8: Derek

I couldn’t get her off my mind. From the moment Emilia arrived at the island, she invaded my every waking moment and my every dream. The only times I could distract myself from thinking of her was when I was with Sofia, and even then I had to consciously gather the will power to keep my focus on Sofia instead of letting my mind run off to daydreams of the lovely brunette.

What is wrong with you, Novak? It’s like you’ve never seen an attractive vampire before. I knew, however, that something was different about Emilia. When it came to physical appearances, she was my idea of a perfect woman. The fact that she kept talking about a connection between us, one that I couldn’t deny I felt too, made it even more difficult for me to forget her.

At some point, I couldn’t take it anymore, and though it was against my better judgment, I found myself walking through the door of The Cells and heading for the jail we were keeping her in.

A smile lit up her face when she saw who it was that came to visit. Obviously, she was delighted to see me there – something that I found completely unsettling.

“What have you done to me?” I asked her, before she could even mouth a greeting. “Why can’t I get you off my mind?”

She laughed before tilting her head to the side, looking at me like I was the most adorable child she’d ever laid her eyes on. “You’re actually blaming me for that?” She raised a dark brow at me. “How am I supposed to know why you’re thinking about me all of the time? I think I should be the one who ought to be worried that a man keeping me prisoner can’t get me off his mind.”