A Blaze of Sun (A Shade of Vampire #5)(56)

Then she watched me and allowed me to make a decision for myself. I gripped the stake and was about to approach my wife to drive the stake into her heart, but I found myself hesitating. Is this what she does with Derek? I stopped and looked at my daughter. “How many times have you done something like this to Derek?”

A small smile formed on her lips. “Many, many times.”

“Did he ever push through with doing the wrong thing?”

She shook her head. “Never.”

With that, my decision was made. I handed the stake over to her before looking back at my unconscious wife. “What do you want to do with her then?”

Sofia took the stake from me and put it back in place before curiously asking, “That’s it? No dramatic struggle? No excuses?”

I shrugged. “If Derek never disappointed you in this area, I don’t ever want to either.”

She kissed me on the cheek and squeezed my arm. “I have to say though… My boyfriend is much more of a drama king than you are.”

I couldn’t help but wonder what she meant, but I just decided to read between the lines and assume that he put up a struggle a lot more than I did. I couldn’t help but wince at the thought of the price my daughter had to pay whenever he struggled, but I didn’t want to dwell on it. I trusted that she knew what was and wasn’t good for her.

I once again looked at Camilla, my breath hitching at the sight of her. I still loved her, though I hated what she had allowed herself to become. I couldn’t understand how she could do what she did, but I knew that I had to accept that there was little chance she would ever truly change.

“What are we going to do with her?” I asked once again.

Sofia heaved a deep sigh. “Bring her back to The Cells I guess… We’ll decide what to do to her after a while. For now, we need to deal with finding the cure.”

Camilla was brought back to The Cells. I didn’t want to think about her so I stayed with Sofia. I was disheartened by Camilla’s betrayal, but somehow, what she did helped form a bond between my daughter and me.

For that reason alone, I was secure that everything would be okay. Sofia and I pre-occupied ourselves by checking that everything was running well in The Shade and it seemed everything was well. It wasn’t until sunset that we received news on Rex’s ultimate fate.

Vivienne was the one who had to give us the news. “Rex is dead.”

Chapter 33: Ingrid

When I woke up at the cell I was placed in, I found Claudia hovering over me with the saddest expression in her eyes. At the sight of her and at the recollection of what I’d done, I began to sob.

“Why, Camilla?” Claudia asked. “I thought you said you wanted to change.”

To save Aiden’s life. If I don’t kill Sofia, the Elder will kill Aiden. I knew that I couldn’t divulge to her the reason behind my actions in fear of what the Elder could do to her. “I had to, Claudia. You know me well enough to know that I mean it when I say that I had to. I didn’t have a choice.”

“That’s crap, Camilla.” Claudia shook her head. “I gave myself that same excuse many times over and it led me to very bad decisions. You have a choice. There is always a choice.”

“What does it matter?” I ran my hand through my hair, feeling the despair that came with the failure to kill Sofia. “She’s alive. Aiden hates me. It’s over. What’s done is done.”

“Are you blind, Camilla?! Do you not realize how much those two love you? You failed them time and time and time again and they were willing to give you one chance after another! How can you turn your back on that kind of love?”

“They want me to become human. If the cure works, they want me to become human again.”

“Will you do it for them?”

I shook my head, then nodded, then shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m going to do.” I knew that if there was anyone to blame for my misery, it was me and me alone. I knew that what Claudia was saying was true. Aiden had given me nothing but true love and Sofia had been willing to forgive and accept despite everything that I put her through. I was to blame for the fact that darkness had such a control over me now.

I was actually expecting for it to come and take revenge on me anytime soon, but nothing came. No one came. I feared that Aiden would suffer the brunt of my failure. I feared for his sake and I feared for Sofia’s too. At that point, when I was certain that I’d already lost them, I realized how much I wanted them back. The old adage haunted me: You never know what you got until it’s gone.

I nodded at Claudia. “I will do it. If it’s what they ask of me, I would be willing to become human.”

Claudia stared at me in surprise. “You’re certain?”

“Wouldn’t you do it if Yuri asked you to?”

She swallowed hard as she began fidgeting with her blonde curls. “I guess I would… I’m not sure. It’s a scary thought. Part of me wants to. For Yuri. Part of me is terrified of the weakness that comes with being human.”

She sat on the cot beside me before heaving a deep sigh. “I guess it really doesn’t matter right now. Rex is dead. Their theory for the cure didn’t work.”

I just smirked. “They will find a way. If there’s anything I know about my daughter that I am sure of, she will never give up until she finds that cure. She loves Derek Novak too much to give up.”