A Castle of Sand (A Shade of Vampire #3)(41)

“When are you going to stop avoiding me, Sofia?”

“I’m not avoiding…”

“Yes, you are.” Even Gavin breathed the words out.

I glared at my so-called friend. How dare you. Traitor.

I faced Derek, both loving and hating the longing that I saw in his eyes. “Spend time with Gavin here. You two get to know each other.” I shoved Gavin forward. “I won’t be with Corrine too long.” I gave Derek a lingering look. “I’ll spend time with you right after. I promise.”

“Let me take you there.” Derek volunteered.

“No.” I shook my head. “I’d rather go alone. I need the long walk to think things through.”

I knew I was tearing him apart. I felt the same way, but too much was going on—more than I could handle and being around him was the last thing I needed at that moment. “I’ll be back, Derek. Wait for me.”

I left the guys to bond, finding their discomfort and awkwardness around each other rather amusing. Still, the amusement couldn’t erase weightier thoughts burdening my every waking thought.

A culling. A revolt. A prophecy.

A sandcastle on the verge of collapsing.

CHAPTER 26: DEREK

I shifted my gaze from Sofia’s hurried, disappearing form to Gavin, who obviously had no idea what to do with the situation Sofia had just pushed both of us into. She definitely knows how to drive me crazy.

“Would you rather be alone waiting for her?” he asked, sounding quite hopeful that I would say yes.

“No.” I walked forward before nodding toward the direction of the dining area. “I think Sofia’s right. You’re getting quite close to her. Perhaps it’s best we have a talk.”

He visibly gulped—something I found strange considering how defiant and confident he was around me before. Does he have something to hide now?

“All right…” He nodded.

We headed to the round dark wood table and I sat on one velvet-cushioned chair while he sat on another right across the table from me.

“So what exactly does a Natural like me and a prince of The Shade like you talk about?”

I was impressed by his guts to open up the conversation himself. “The only common ground we have right now, I believe, is Sofia.”

“And you want to talk about her?”

“I want to understand her.”

“Well then, you’re asking the wrong person. Sofia is a mystery to me just as she is to everyone else. It’s like she has this thing about her that no one can really peg but you just get this unnatural urge to protect her and keep her safe. Like you’ll lose something precious if anything happens to her.”

I stared at him, knowing fully well what he was talking about. “She’s special, isn’t she?” was all I could think of to say.

“After seeing her calm you down the way she did, I’d have to say I agree.”

“Sofia was right. You are very blunt and honest. Almost guileless. I can assume you’d be very straightforward with me if I asked you to, can’t I?”

“It depends.” He shrugged. “Do you promise not to kill me in case you don’t like what you hear?”

“Maybe.”

“Considering that you were going to kill me earlier today, I think I need a better word of assurance than just a maybe.”

“Fine. I won’t kill you, but do tell me…what do the humans really think about my relationship with Sofia?” I gave my question some thought, wondering if I even wanted to hear the answer to it. “What do you think?”

“Why does it matter what I, or anyone else, think?”

“It matters to me…because I think it matters to her.”

“Okay then…honestly? Nobody here believes that what you have with Sofia will last.”

I shook my head in disgust. “I hate hearing that. I’m so tired of everyone saying that—including her! You’re wrong…all of you…what we have should last.”

“Will it? When she’s a wrinkled eighty-year-old woman and you’re still looking like that…will you still love her?”

I opened my mouth to answer with a confident “Yes” but was distracted by a guard showing up by the door. It was one of Felix’s men.

“The king summons you to the dome, your highness.”

I rose to my feet, surprised that my father would call for me. I turned my eyes toward Gavin. I felt a strange sense of dread. “If she returns before me, tell Sofia that I’ll be back.”

Gavin nodded. “Sure.”

Every fiber of my being told me not to go, but I was already in enough trouble with my father. I didn’t want to irk him any further. I really should’ve just listened to my gut feeling.

I was about to find out how grossly I had underestimated Gregor Novak.

CHAPTER 27: SOFIA

I made myself comfortable in the red loveseat that Corrine had in her study. She was looking through some books when I arrived, black-rimmed glasses over the bridge of her nose as she looked up what was likely to be some ancient spell for another one of her projects.

“To what do I owe the honor of this visit?” she asked as she shut the book she was holding and gave me her full attention.

For the next ten minutes, I poured my heart out to her—my concerns over my relationship with Derek, the culling, the revolt…I told her everything, not withholding a single detail, giving her my complete trust.