A Bond of Blood (A Shade of Vampire #9)(18)

She shivered at the chilly breeze running through my room and closed my balcony doors. I stood by the bedroom doorway and stared at her from across the room.

“So?” I asked. “What happened?”

She heaved a sigh and sat down in a chair. Reaching for my bottle of whiskey, she took a swig, wincing as she swallowed. She rested her feet on my bed and looked up at me.

“The immune is no longer our concern,” she said simply.

I stared at her.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean? After all the trouble I went through to get her—”

“Caleb,” she said, clucking her tongue, “how many times do I have to tell you? The tasks we are given are ends in themselves. You did your part, now think nothing more of it.”

I didn’t push her. It wasn’t like the immune’s fate concerned me anyway. Still, I couldn’t help but be curious as to how a heavily pregnant woman could have escaped from under our noses.

Downing another mouthful of whisky, Annora said, “We’re not blamed for her disappearance. That’s all that matters.”

I grunted and walked over to the balcony doors, staring out at the night sky. It was overcast tonight, and I couldn’t see a single star.

“Our authorities, however, do have another task for us,” she said softly.

I turned around to face her again. “And what’s that?”

“I told them we have Derek and Sofia Novak trapped in our dungeons, along with their strongest vampires and witches.”

My stomach clenched.

“They don’t see the point in us scavenging around beaches while The Shade has such an ample supply of humans,” she continued. “It’s a waste of our energy and resources when humans live in such quantities in one place.”

I turned away to face the window again. I knew where this would end.

Over the years, the only thing that had stopped us tapping into The Shade’s resources had been our ignorance of its location. But now I knew exactly where it was. So did Stellan, and consequently the witch.

Now it was only a matter of time before the witch gave into the temptation she’d had ever since we first established ourselves in the human realm.

“Isolde suggested that we empty our current supply of humans first,” she said, twirling a lock of dark hair around her fingers. “And then the next top up we will get from The Shade. We won’t need to venture anywhere else again until we’ve sucked The Shade dry… and from what we know of The Shade’s population of humans, that could take a long time.”

I also knew how many humans we had left in our dungeons right now. It wasn’t many.

Our first trip to The Shade might come sooner than I’m comfortable with.

Chapter 17: Sofia

I prayed that Corrine would stop sending people. The moment they set foot in the castle, Annora seemed to have a way of detecting them and throwing them down here in the dungeon with us.

First there was a group of witches whom Annora dumped in one of the cells nearby. And later, to our horror, Adelle and Eli were brought down. Had the situation not been so dire, it would have been almost comical.

Then when Rose was brought down by Caleb, I almost had a heart attack. I couldn’t believe my eyes at first. It took a few moments for the full terror to sink in. My daughter is away from the safety of The Shade, back in this nightmarish castle. We’re not strong enough to protect her. And we have no way of breaking free.

Derek and I grabbed her as soon as she was thrown into our cell. She appeared to be unharmed. I gripped her jaw, anger consuming me. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Rose stared at me, in a state of shock herself. Her lips moved but no words came out.

Everyone in the dungeon looked equally horrified to see her.

She averted her eyes to the ground and finally managed to croak, “I hid in the back of Eli’s sub.” Her face was ashen, her lips trembling as she spoke.

Derek swore. I was so beside myself I could barely think of words strong enough to express my fury with her. I clutched her shoulders and forced her to face me. “How could you be so disobedient! After everything…You stupid, stupid girl.”

This is the problem with my twins. They have the boldness of vampires, but the strength of humans.

Her guilty face became blurred by my tears.

“Where’s your brother?” Derek demanded.

“I left him home with Corrine,” Rose said.

I was at a loss for what to say. I looked up at Derek, and recognized the same cluelessness in his eyes.

The Shade was being emptied of its leaders bit by bit because damn Corrine kept allowing people to come here. And now Eli and Adelle couldn’t even act as the messengers that they were supposed to be.

“I had no idea,” Eli choked, staring at Rose.

I breathed out heavily and placed my head in my hands.

What will become of us?

I just hoped Ben wouldn’t try to follow us too, now that his sister was gone. It was just the sort of thing he’d attempt.

Rose shuffled quietly in the corner, next to Aiden, who put an arm around her and kissed her forehead. Rose’s knees bunched against her chest, her eyes fixed on the floor.

“The boy brought you in here,” Derek said, addressing our daughter. “Did he harm you in any way?”

Rose looked up at him, her eyes moist with tears. She bit her bottom lip and shook her head.