A Castle of Sand (A Shade of Vampire #3)(59)

I opened the door and smirked. Natalie.

“Seems you can’t get enough of me these days, Natalie…”

“Not my fault messages for you keep on coming.” She brushed right past me and went straight to the bar and poured herself a glass of wine. The lovely Italian vixen then retrieved an envelope from her purse. “From Claudia.”

I raised a brow. I wasn’t expecting any correspondence from Claudia. I ripped the seal off the envelope and took out a short note. An onslaught of curses flowed from my lips as I read the message: It looks like your boy, Ben, has now joined Derek and Sofia’s bandwagon. Your brother is now king of The Shade, and is about to make your pretty redhead his queen. He overthrew your father as king with a coup.

“You don’t look very happy,” Natalie commented. “News from home not that good?” She took another sip from her wine. “But wait a minute…where’s your home exactly, Lucas? Is it The Shade or is it The Oasis?”

I grimaced. I’ll have no home if I don’t get Sofia out of The Shade and into The Oasis. In fact, I won’t need a home, because Borys Maslen will have my head.

Things were definitely not going according to plan, but it was clear that I now had two allies at The Shade: Claudia and my father. I had been certain that Ben would side with me, but it seemed that wasn’t the case. I never should’ve underestimated Derek’s powers of persuasion, but then it probably wasn’t his charm that turned Ben. Sofia really is a cunning little minx.

“Do you have a message you want me to bring to Claudia?” Natalie asked, finishing off her wine. “This is awful,” she commented, wrinkling her nose. The Italian was known to have grown up in vast and lush vineyards. She definitely knew her wines.

I, on the other hand, still could not fend off the annoyance I felt toward her—especially when I found out about the fondness she had for my brother. Still, Natalie Borgia was necessary to my existence and I knew I couldn’t mess with her.

“Well?” she asked, tapping her foot on the carpeted floor impatiently.

“Give me a couple of minutes.” I took out a piece of paper and began scribbling a simple message on it. I folded the paper twice and handed it over to Natalie. “Make sure only Claudia and my father see this.”

Natalie stared at the piece of paper as if she were afraid it would morph into a viper. I knew that was exactly how she saw me: a snake. Still, it wasn’t her job to interfere or condemn. Her job was to bridge the gap between vampire covens. It was clear to see that she didn’t like the idea of helping me, but she really didn’t have a choice. Interfering would compromise her position as the rogue vampire whom everybody could trust.

I smirked as I watched Natalie take the paper, nod and leave. I was nervous about what was to come, but at the same time, I found myself full of anticipation. The thought of once again having Sofia Claremont in my grasp was all the encouragement I needed.

If everything goes according to plan, Sofia will be in Borys Maslen’s hands by the end of the week and once she’s at The Oasis, she’ll be within my reach and far from Derek’s.

CHAPTER 42: SOFIA

Pulse quickening, heart thumping, I kept on running through pitch-black darkness with no idea where I came from, where I was or where I was going. All I knew was that I had to run, because this overwhelming feeling of dread told me that if I stopped at any point, it would be the end of me. Thus, I kept running. When I saw light shining from a distance, slowly lighting my blackened surroundings, hope surged within me. I was just about to reach the light when a small voice called out to me.

“Sofia…” the voice said—small and frail, “you’re back.”

I turned around and saw a little girl standing a few feet away from me. Her green eyes and knotted red hair eerily reminded me of myself. “Hello,” I greeted her. “What are you doing here?”

She walked toward the light and I gasped when I realized that she was me.

“I’m scared,” she told me.

“Why?” I asked. “Why are you scared?”

Her lips began to quiver and her hand moved toward her neck before letting her fingers fiddle with a pendant hanging under a golden chain around her neck. I walked closer to this smaller version of myself, wondering what was bothering her.

“You don’t have to be scared…” I told her.

She shook her head. “No. I should be afraid. Very afraid.” She let go of the pendant and I realized that it was mine—the diamond one that Derek had given me for my birthday.

“Who gave you that necklace?” I asked her.

“It’s mine.” She pouted.

“Yes, but who gave it to you?”

“It doesn’t matter now.” Tears began streaming down her face as she shook her head. Suddenly, the diamond pendant changed into a large heart-shaped ruby red pendant.

I could feel the blood drain from my face as I heard a piercing scream fill the air, followed by the sound of glass shattering. I then saw a glimpse of Vivienne running from light to darkness, screaming, “How dare he! How dare he!”

I sat up in bed. I was breaking into a cold sweat and trembling uncontrollably. The alarming sense of fear was taking over all of me. The little girl in my dream—the little girl whom I was sure was a younger version of me—was still etched in my mind.