A Blaze of Sun (A Shade of Vampire #5)(31)

“I did that for a full decade and still, she left. Camilla left me. She left her daughter.”

“Well, I did it for centuries and still, Claudia left. Love doesn’t have to be returned in order for it to be true, Aiden. When she came crawling back, don’t you think I wanted to make her suffer? I wanted to see her cry upon losing me. I wanted to hurt her like she hurt me. But I chose to love her. I made the choice to forgive her and take her back. Part of me is still afraid that she’ll go back to the way she was, but at least I’ll have this moment in time, this period, when I can say that the woman I love shows me that she loves me in return. Don’t miss out on that, Aiden.”

I stared at Yuri, a man who was turned into a vampire in his early twenties, which was half my age. I wondered where all the wisdom was coming from, only to remember that Yuri might look young physically, but he was actually giving me centuries’ worth of experience.

I took a long puff from my cigarette, not knowing what to say.

“So what are you going to do?” Yuri asked after a long silence.

I scoffed at the question, “After that long-winded speech of yours, what choice do I have other than to see Camilla?”

Yuri laughed and I realized that as much as I hated to admit it, I actually considered this vampire my friend.

Chapter 18: Ingrid

I began to hold my breath the moment Aiden entered my cell. Yuri tossed him a wooden stake as he approached – a safety measure.

The vampire winked at me. “Be careful, Camilla. Word is that he’s pretty good with one of those things.”

I smirked, unable to look at Aiden in the eye. “He won’t need it unless the only reason he’s here is to attempt to kill me, Yuri.”

“I don’t think he’s here for that.” Yuri grinned. “Don’t get yourself into more trouble than you’re already in, Camilla.” Yuri nodded his head at both of us before leaving.

With Yuri gone, I forced myself to look at Aiden. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the stone wall, wooden stake secure in his grip, green eyes glaring at me. “What game are you playing now, Ingrid?” He cocked his head to the side. “Or should I start calling you Camilla like everyone else?”

As far as I was concerned, I had only one chance to get this right, and I wasn’t about to spend it playing games or beating around the bush so I asked Aiden the one question I wanted to hear the answer to. “Do you still love me, Aiden?”

A muscle on his jaw twitched. He was quiet for what felt like an eternity as he gave it thought. I was almost sure that the silence meant no. When he spoke up, I wished he’d just kept his silence. “It doesn’t really matter whether I love you or not, Ingrid, because you were right. I love our daughter more.”

He couldn’t have possibly known how much those words stung, but I reeled in my temper and kept my cool. I couldn’t afford to break down. I knew what the stakes were and I wasn’t going to spoil this one chance that I had. “I guess I deserve that.”

“I will never understand how, for nine years, you raised someone as strong-spirited and as kindhearted a person as Sofia.”

I swallowed hard, wondering how many more insults I would have to endure.

“How about you, Ingrid? Do you still love me?”

“If I said yes, would you believe me?”

To my relief, he nodded, “Yes, but you see… that’s where we’re the same. We love something else more. I love Sofia more than I love you. You love power more than you love me.”

The truth was like a splash of cold water and all I could do was hang my head in shame. I couldn’t deny it, because for the past decade, I’d been living controlled by my thirst for power.

“You found yourself powerless the moment Borys Maslen died. You must hate Sofia even more for killing him, don’t you?”

Aiden was making me feel vulnerable. I hated that he seemed to be seeing right through me. I hated knowing that I couldn’t manipulate him, because he knew me far too well.

“Sofia did the right thing. Borys Maslen does not deserve to live and with his demise, you became what you always were, Ingrid. A weakling. You have all this power as a vampire, but then you’re now held captive in an island that is not your own by a coven who has vampires centuries older and far more powerful than you. You gave up your husband and your daughter, your whole life, for nothing, Ingrid. I hope you realize that.” He scoffed. “It must kill you to think that after everything you gave up, it means nothing to be Ingrid Maslen anymore. You’re just as powerless as Ingrid as you were Camilla. Maybe you’re right… Maybe I should start calling you Camilla once again… to remind you of everything you lost.”

I was hoping that he was done, that he wasn’t going to continue this diatribe of his, simply because I couldn’t take any more of the truth, so when he opened his mouth in order to speak some more, I couldn’t help but drop my docile act and glare at him. “Enough. I don’t want to hear any more, Aiden. Shut up or I swear you’ll regret it.”

He seemed amused by my change of countenance. “There you go. That’s it, Camilla.” He said my human name as if it was a taunt he could use to jab me in the heart whenever he pleased. “Stop pretending that you want to be a wife to her husband and a mother to her daughter. That’s not you. Stop trying to fool us with this docile act you’re trying to put on. You’ve been Ingrid Maslen for too long to convince us that this is real.”