A Blaze of Sun (A Shade of Vampire #5)(21)

“To my quarters. She’ll be safer there.”

He looked at me suspiciously before turning his eyes toward the lovely young woman who was staring blankly at the space ahead of us. “Did he ever touch you, Anna?”

I gritted my teeth at what he was trying to imply, but I couldn’t exactly blame him. I would’ve suspected myself too had I been in his place.

To my relief, Anna shook her head. “No. He never did. Ian is my friend. He’s just sad. Sometimes, I wish he could be happier.”

I drew a breath at what she said. I loved her. I loved Anna. How could I not? I returned my gaze to the vampire whom we owed her rescue to.

Kyle’s eyes softened as he gazed at her. He then turned his attention toward me. He was about to say something, but it was my turn to scrutinize him. He seemed to get the implication of my glare. “I assure you… I could never do anything to harm her. At least not purposely…”

I believed him. I knew Anna wouldn’t be so comfortable around him if she didn’t feel safe with him.

Kyle shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “I think she’d be better off staying in one of the spare rooms at Sofia’s quarters.”

Sofia was still gone. The latest news we heard about her was that she and Derek were being held captive at hunter territory. I nodded. “Fine. Knowing Sofia, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.”

We brought her to the quarters, where Rosa, Lily and her kids were already staying. We both stayed to look after her that night, glaring suspiciously at each other every once in a while. It took some time before we were able to trust each other to be left alone with Anna, but we never quite got past the tension. I knew why.

We never said it out loud, but I was certain that both of us were hoping that Anna would pick one of us over the other.

I had just tucked Anna into the queen-sized bed in one of the guest rooms of Sofia’s quarters. She was already sleeping soundly when the unwelcomed visitor spoke up.

“How is she doing?”

I turned around and found Kyle leaning against the doorpost, the vampire’s eyes fixed on Anna. I never quite understood his fixation with her, but it annoyed me. I hated it even more that he was instrumental in Anna’s rescue from the men taking advantage of her. I detested the idea of Anna owing him anything.

“She’s alright.” I shrugged. “Better than before. Old sparks of who she was before have been coming back. What are you doing here? It’s my night to look after her.”

He nodded. “I know. I just wanted to see her.”

A sense of possessiveness came over me. She was my girl. What business did he have checking on her?

“Did you know that Derek and Corrine suspect she might be an immune just like Sofia?”

I was surprised by that piece of information. Especially considering that Corrine, The Shade’s witch, was involved. I couldn’t ignore the possibility that it could be true. “Why would they think that?”

“We all saw how Felix was with her. He was madly in love with her. I couldn’t understand how he could just get rid of her so suddenly. Derek is assuming that he was actually serious about turning her into a vampire. He most likely tried, but she didn’t turn.”

I looked up at Kyle, wondering why he was giving me that information. It was the first real conversation I could remember ever having with him. “So he just threw her away because she didn’t turn?”

“I guess he was faced with her mortality. She probably wasn’t able to handle the effects that the foiled attempt to turn her caused. She may have gone insane because of this.”

I swallowed hard before casting a concerned look at Anna. “What do you mean?”

“Borys Maslen tried to turn Sofia into a vampire when she was nine years old.”

I squared my shoulders in surprise. I knew Sofia was an immune – everyone did, but I had no idea he had tried to turn her at such a young age.

“Ever since then, she’s had heightened senses. She was diagnosed with several disorders because of this. Even Corrine mistook her as someone with some sort of disorder known as LLI, but now she suspects that perhaps it’s because, though she didn’t turn into a vampire, her senses got heightened. Maybe that’s why Anna went insane. Corrine told me that only people with exceptionally high IQs could handle that many sensations coming at them all at once.”

“Why are you telling me all this?”

“We’ve been looking after Anna over the past weeks. I wanted to know how you would feel if Anna saw Corrine. Perhaps the witch can help her cope with the heightened senses and hopefully get the Anna we remember back to us.”

I stared at him, wondering what he had shared with Anna that made her so dear to him. I didn’t want to ask. I didn’t want to know what I was competing with, but my view of Kyle changed that night. We could always be annoyed with the existence of each other, but aside from irritation, we also shared the same feeling toward each other: Respect.

I realized that should Anna ever choose Kyle over me, it would break my heart, but I would also be at peace knowing that he would take care of her.

Kyle was definitely another reason for me to believe that goodness still existed in The Shade.

Every day of my teenage life in The Shade had been a battle to stay alive. I lost my father and my sister to a cave-in at The Catacombs when I was nine. My dad had gone in to save my sister. He was my hero and I’d always felt a sense of pride over his bravery.