A Blaze of Sun (A Shade of Vampire #5)(55)

My father’s words came as healing balm to my afflicted soul. “It won’t matter, because it will still be you holding his heart.”

I leaned my head against his shoulder and let those words sink in. I couldn’t allow myself to be disheartened. For myself and Derek’s sake… “Thank you…” I whispered to my father before giving him a gentle kiss on the cheek.

We sat there for a while. I relished his company, enjoying that time we got to spent together. I was certain that it would be one of my most cherished moments with my father.

“I love you, Dad,” I spoke up, knowing that I meant it. “You know that, don’t you?”

He smiled and nodded before kissing me on my temple. “I love you too, Sofia.”

We walked out of the room minutes later in a much lighter mood, chuckling over who had to prepare snacks for the both of us.

“I want us to be a family,” I told him, as we began to prepare our food at the kitchen.

“I want that too. More than anything,” he responded.

I smiled. “I’ll give Ing… Camilla another chance if you want me to.”

“That means the world to me, Sofia. I’ve heard so many stories about you here in The Shade and I know they’re true. You’re someone who’s willing to forgive, forget and trust again.”

“Maybe I got that from you…” I flicked a brow at him, loving that I could feel so light and casual and trusting around him.

He gave me a bewildered look. “Got what?”

I shrugged as I sliced through a piece of cheese. “The urge to find beauty within people and to try and create it when it’s not there.”

“I’m not like that at all.” He looked perplexed.

I chuckled at how little he knew about himself. “You knew that my mother was broken, but you still chose to love her every single day.”

His face softened and his eyes began to brim with tears. I was actually eager to see what it would be like to have my father cry in front of me, but I never got the chance to, because at the very next moment, Ingrid showed up, fangs and claws out, running toward me with determination in her eyes.

I had no doubt in my mind that my mother was about to kill me.

Chapter 32: Aiden

I’d already lost count of all the times Camilla had broken my heart. I was starting to get used to it. I was even expecting it, steeling myself for when it would happen, but when I saw her with that dagger raised in the air, poised to kill our only daughter, my heart shattered into pieces. I began to see red and every ounce of love that could’ve held me back from destroying Camilla disappeared. I wasn’t about to watch my wife kill my daughter. Not in a million years.

Without any hesitation, I pulled out the one gadget I was able to hide from my captors in the Shade. It was a blow dart that would inject a serum into Camilla’s system to incapacitate her. I kept it for emergency purposes, for when I would need it to save my life. I never thought that it would be my daughter’s life I would be saving instead.

With a guttural scream expressing all the anger I felt inside, I blew the dart right into Camilla’s neck right before she was about to stab Sofia in the heart. The effect was immediate and from what I observed, extremely painful. The agony was evident when Camilla started screaming in pain. I expected to feel some sort of sympathy for her, like I always did whenever I saw her in pain, but as I watched her drop the dagger and fall to the ground, screaming and writhing in pain before finally passing out, all I felt was numbness.

I was transfixed by the sight of her motionless body on the ground and for a while, I couldn’t move a muscle. I could sense Sofia trembling and I wanted to approach her and comfort her, but I didn’t know how to give comfort when even I needed it. It took me a while to get back to my senses and approach my daughter.

She was staring at her mother’s body, frozen with shock. “Did you kill her? Is she dead?”

“No…” I shook my head “…but she will be.”

Sofia’s eyes widened at the implication. “You mean…”

I lifted my hand in the air, palm up. “I told you to always keep a wooden stake in your person, Sofia. Do you have one on you?”

“Aiden… we can just imprison her… you don’t have to do this.”

I shook my head. “I told you that I would be in charge of her. I told you to trust me. I was a fool to trust her.” My jaw tightened as I directed my focus on Camilla. “She played me. She promised she wouldn’t harm you. She said she wanted to be a family again…” My voice choked and a tear ran down my cheek.

“Dad…”

“Give me the stake, Sofia.”

“Think this through… this decision could haunt you forever…”

“Give it to me!”

I was expecting Sofia to get intimidated by the strength of my voice. I forgot, however, that she was the fiancée of a vampire much more powerful, menacing and intimidating than I was. Despite the fact that I was so consumed by my anger toward Camilla, I was soothed by my daughter’s countenance. It reminded me that she’d been through a lot in The Shade… more than I could ever possibly know.

She hiked her dress up and retrieved the stake from a holder wrapped around her thigh. She then handed it over to me. “I know you, Dad. You will regret this.”