A Blaze of Sun (A Shade of Vampire #5)(64)

I was expecting her to whimper, to beg for her life, to scream. Instead, as I drank her blood and threatened to end her life, all Sofia did was hum me the most haunting tune I’d ever heard. I felt her soft hands gently take hold of both of my wrists as she whispered, “Remember, Derek.”

I don’t know who you are. Even as the thought came to me, I knew immediately that it was a lie. I knew this woman. The feel of her blood inside me – the power that came with it, the pleasure that was beginning to pump through my whole system – all of it was too familiar. I was so consumed by Sofia, I lost track of everything else around me.

All that was left in my consciousness was Sofia and my determination to kill her.

Chapter 39: Sofia

I knew from the moment I saw Derek that something was wrong. He had a glazed look in his eyes. He seemed listless and out of his senses. He looked straight at me and it was as if it was the first time he’d ever seen me.

I knew Derek Novak. He was the man of my dreams and it was clear that the man Emilia returned to The Shade with was nothing but a shadow of the original.

I glared at Emilia. What have you done to him? I then returned my eyes toward Derek. I wondered what had to be done to get him back to me. The look he was giving me wasn’t something I was a stranger to. He was looking at me like I was his prey. I could sense the thirst emanating from him. He was craving a drink. At that moment, he wasn’t seeing his lover. The predator was seeing his prey.

I was surprised when Emilia told him that he wasn’t to drink my blood. I fixed my eyes on Derek. Why? Why doesn’t she want my blood coursing through you?

I was losing him and I knew it and I could tell just by the look on his face that he was about to do something he was going to regret for the rest of his life. I went by gut instinct and did what I knew would horrify my father.

I pulled my hair back and offered myself to him as I had done many times before, but this time, I was no longer expecting him to hold back. I wanted him to give in. I wanted him to break free of whatever grasp Emilia had on him.

I succeeded but I wasn’t prepared for what came next. Derek lunged for me, throwing me into the wall stronger than he ever did before. My breath got knocked out of me the moment my back hit the wall. My shock hadn’t even worn off yet, when his teeth painfully sank into my neck and he began drinking my blood.

Emilia was screaming like a mad woman for Derek to stop. I could see the horror in her eyes when she saw Derek sink his teeth into my skin. “Derek, no!” She began to move toward him, but in a moment of confusion, the Elite Council lunged toward her to stop her.

I saw a flash of delight in Emilia’s eyes and I quickly realized why when I felt the pointed end of Derek’s claws claw right over my heart. I drew a breath when I realized what he was about to do. I tried to think of words that would jolt him back to reality. He was about to kill me, the girl he professed to love, the woman he swore to marry.

No words came, so I simply hummed our song – the same one he hummed to me time and time again, the same one that I hummed to him whenever he was about to do something he would both sorely regret.

Derek Novak was about to rip my heart out and all I could do was hum, before I managed to finally breathe out two words, hoping that it was enough to bring him back to me. “Remember, Derek.”

I was beginning to get dizzy from the blood loss. He’d never drunk so much of my blood until now. I couldn’t tell anymore who was saying what around me; it was a cacophony of mixed up voices all moved by concern.

“Derek, you’re going to kill her! Stop it!”

“He’s going to kill my daughter! Do something!”

“Hold Emilia back!”

“Kill her before she ruins everything! Do it! Rip her heart out!”

Emilia threw herself behind Derek to try and keep him from drinking more of my blood, but with one motion of his arm he was able to throw her away with one growl before once again drinking my blood. I was confused. Why is she trying to help me? Not knowing how to react to Emilia, I threw my attention at Derek. The short glimpse I had of him, I noticed that his eyes were pitch black instead of their normal bright blue.

He was completely out-of-control and out of reach. The other vampires tried to stop him from totally devouring me, but none of them could pry him off of me. I knew the kind of effect my blood had on him. It made him powerful.

I didn’t know what to do, so I began to welcome death until I recalled the same thing I told him the first time I met him, when he had me in that same position, about to devour me: “You can control yourself. Don’t do this to me.” It was a bare whisper, but the moment the words came out of my lips, he stopped drinking and his claws withdrew.

Relief washed over me when he responded with the exact same words he told me that first night. His eyes – black as the darkest night – met mine, my blood dripping from the corners of his lips, his fangs bared right before me. “I can’t,” he responded. “You’re too beautiful, your blood too enticing, too sweet…”

Tears began to stream down my face – partly because everything that’d been happening came crashing down on me, overwhelming me, and partly because of how much I ached for my Derek to return to me.

“I know an excuse when I hear one. Don’t you dare deceive yourself into believing that you’re the victim, Derek Novak.”

I could hear a soft gasp escape his lips the moment I said the words. I couldn’t help but sigh with relief when his grip around my waist loosened. His lips remained pressed on my skin. He eased me down so I could stand on my feet again. I felt so small and fragile standing so close to him. The moment my feet hit the ground, my knees buckled and I found myself leaning on him for support.