A Break of Day (A Shade of Vampire #7)(32)

This was the first time since the night she’d given birth that I’d held her in my arms. The real Sofia. The love of my life. The person without whom all would be for nothing. My ever-burning light. My break of day.

She clutched my hair between her fingers and brushed her soft lips against my forehead. Her kisses made their way down the arch of my nose and then to my jawline. A small smile spread across her face as she said, “It’s okay, Derek. I’m back.”

Lifting my hands to her face, I pulled her toward me and tasted her lips, slowly at first, but then with more heat and passion than ever before. To have her respond in kind, unhindered by the Elder, was an ecstasy I wanted to lose myself in forever.

Chapter 26: Sofia

“Sofia… you have no idea how much I’ve craved you… how hungry I’ve been… to have you back in my arms… the real you,” he whispered inbetween lavishing me with kisses. “Please, don’t leave me again.”

He’d carried me out of the emergency room and brought me back to his bedroom where he laid me down on the double bed. Unraveling me from the blanket, he tucked me beneath his sheets.

“You didn’t find the fake one so hot, huh?” I allowed myself a small grin as he tore off his shirt so fast that it might as well have been on fire.

He climbed into bed and lay next to me. Shivers ran through me as the warmth of his bare skin pressed against the coldness of mine.

I recalled all the times during my possession that I’d wanted to reach out my hand and touch him, reassure him, apologize for my behavior, for leaving him, for causing him pain and suffering. Now that I was free from my prison, I could barely contain myself. All these repressed emotions erupted at once as my form melded with his.

I relished every slow caress, each heavy breath against my skin, each brush of his heated body against mine. Every sensation was heightened now that I could return in kind all that my heart felt for him. I quivered, this time my own pleasure manifesting.

As we both reached our climax, his electric-blue eyes never left mine. They allowed me a vision into his soul: all the hurt he’d endured at my hands, and all the love, relief, desire and hunger that now filled him up on seeing me again. I saw it all in those beautiful irises of his.

As we rolled to our sides, finally allowing ourselves to catch a breath, part of me wanted to just stay in that room, wrapped safely in his warmth, and never face reality again.

But there were too many questions burning in my mind to ignore for much longer.

Chapter 27: Derek

“Any news about our son?” Sofia broke the silence.

How do I answer that without shattering her heart into a thousand pieces?

I brushed my fingers slowly through her hair.

“The truth is, I still don’t know,” I said. “During the time that you were insisting that you stay in your room, I was working with Aiden…” My voice trailed off at the mention of her father. “Sofia, I don’t know how to tell you this but… Aiden’s been taken to Aviary.”

She clutched both of my hands and squeezed hard, her eyes widening. “What…” she stuttered. “But he’ll come back soon, right? Along with Kyle and Anna and Ian?”

I heaved a sigh. “When you were first taken to The Blood Keep all those months ago, we were desperate to bring you back. One of Arron’s conditions for helping us storm The Keep was that he wanted Aiden in Aviary… permanently.” Her breaths started coming faster and tears welled in her eyes. “Please understand, Sofia, that I tried to object. I knew that you would never approve of Aiden’s decision. But he simply wouldn’t hear of it. Bringing you back was his first priority. And then, shortly before I found you in the dungeon, Arron took him. I tried to stop Arron. But he paralyzed me and got away.”

“No… No!” She sobbed against my chest. “What is Arron going to do with him?”

“I doubt very much that he will harm Aiden. He claimed that he wanted to turn Aiden into one of them. A Hawk.”

I wanted to alleviate Sofia’s grief by suggesting that if Aiden had now been transformed into a big strong Hawk, he might be able to find his way back to Sofia. But now that the gates to the Aviary had been wiped out, I knew this was impossible and I didn’t want to give her any false hopes.

She cried for several hours, and I held her all the while, stroking her and trying to give her whatever comfort I could.

I attempted to reel in my own despair over the possibility of having lost my sister forever too. Sofia needed me to be her rock at this time, and I couldn’t melt away and leave her stranded in her own waves of grief. Vivienne, will I ever see you again?

Sofia eventually quieted down and concluded, “So there’s been no progress on our baby.”

I took a few deep breaths, trying to steady my voice. “I guess you didn’t catch what Arron said to me amidst all the chaos back in that chamber. When I had him on the floor and was about to burn off his wings, you were on the verge of evaporating the last gate. He claimed that our son is in Aviary. After you passed out, Arron returned through the gate and the witch insisted on wiping it out after him. So… so there’s no way that we could check now even if we wanted to.”

I explained about the four hours the witch had offered me and why I had rejected the opportunity.

“I understand, Derek. I could never blame you. I-I just pray that Arron was lying and that Ben is still within this realm.” She shut her eyes and breathed deeply. “What about the others? Oh God, Derek. You still don’t know what the Elder made me do to Vivienne, Cameron and Claudia…”