A Dawn of Strength (A Shade of Vampire #14)(17)

“Next,” I continued, “tell them we don’t know how long they will need to remain within the mountains, because we don’t know exactly when the witches will come. For all we know, it could be days, or it could be weeks. But Vivienne suspects it will be sooner rather than later. So at least for now, we have to play things safe. Food and water will be provided in ample quantity, so they need not worry about this.”

Once Caleb had finished explaining, I said, “Finally, tell them if anyone wishes to take this as an opportunity to turn into a vampire, they can. Those who wish to do this should head immediately to the Vale, and we’ll arrange for a mass turning.”

Hopefully, my parents would be all right with this. I just felt like we ought to offer them this option, given the danger we were now up against.

The crowd seemed satisfied with the answers we’d provided for now, and the next twenty minutes everyone spent discussing among themselves. I felt bad forcing them to make such life-changing decisions within minutes, but none of us knew how much time we had, and we couldn’t afford to have our humans caught out in the open if there was a sudden attack as Vivienne was fearing.

As twenty minutes came to a close, people began hurrying into the entrance. I caught sight of Anna passing by us, holding baby Kiev in her arms, while Kyle walked by her side. Ariana and Jason, although vampires, followed behind them.

“Kyle,” I said, “Would you manage the doors? You know where the keys are stored?”

“Of course, Princess,” he replied.

“You’re human too, Rose,” Anna said, looking up at me with concern. “You should also get yourself inside.”

I shook my head. “Not yet, Anna.”

She threw me a pleading gaze before entering the mountain with her family. Humans continued to pile into the entrance for the next half an hour, and by the time the crowd had completely dispersed—although I’d caught sight of a handful heading toward the Vale—I was shocked to see not a single human had remained in the clearing. Not even Yasmine’s family.

I stared at Caleb, who looked just as surprised as I felt.

I looked out at the clearing again, barely believing my eyes.

How could they all remain so loyal to this island, even in the face of such danger?

It was at that moment that I realized just how much The Shade meant, not only to vampires, but to every single one of us.

The Shade was our home.

A place we would fight for.

A place we would die for.

Chapter 11: Micah

The boat stopped moving. My back dropped down against the floor of the closet. After a minute, footsteps began to sound above deck. I hardly dared to breathe as I tried to make out the whispered conversations that had started going on upstairs. So many people were talking at once, it was hard to make out the individual dialogue. However, as the conversation died down, there was one thing I heard loud and clear.

“We all know our roles. Let’s go.”

A crash echoed down from above and the boat began to rock.

What are they doing?

I expected for a moment that the boat was going to start spinning again, but as shouts began to erupt on deck, I realized that something very different had just happened. Something, it seemed, not quite planned by the black witches.

A deafening creak rang through the frame of the vessel as it jerked downward. I pushed open the closet and climbed out. To my shock, a pool of water had already formed across the bathroom floor. Water was spilling through the cracks around the door. I hurried toward it and gripped the handle, pressing my ear against the wood. The shouts and crashes were now more muffled. That meant only one thing: the boat was sinking.

I now had no choice but to open the door and fight to escape the yacht. Either that, or wait and get dragged down to the sea bed. For the first time in a long time, the black witches weren’t the greatest of my worries.

I pulled open the door, only to be sent flying back against the far wall of the bathroom as a wall of water crashed down over me. Struggling against the force of it pulling me downward, I fought to the surface to gasp for air. This room contained no windows I could smash to break free, and it was filling up rapidly. If I didn’t make it out of the door in time, before the water reached the ceiling, I’d be trapped without oxygen.

Kicking with as much strength as my legs could muster, I struggled to reach the exit once again. Gripping hold of the doorframe, I pulled myself out and began swimming down the corridor—now also completely submerged in water.

I needed to get to a window, fast.

I had no choice but to open my eyes. The sea salt stung like needles pricking my eyeballs. Fighting to keep my lids open, I swam into the closest bedroom to me. I glimpsed a shaft of natural light spilling through the window in the far corner, though as the boat sank further beneath the waves, it was getting dimmer and dimmer by the moment.

Battling with heavy furniture blocking my way, I managed to reach the window. Balling up my fists, I smashed them against the window. The glass was tougher than I’d expected. It took several attempts before it finally cracked. My knuckles stung as the glass ripped through my skin. I closed my eyes and ducked down toward the floor of the cabin as the shards swept toward me. Pushing myself back up, I gripped hold of the window frame. I feared for a moment that it was too narrow for me. But, although it meant enduring more cuts from the jagged frame of the window as I narrowly squeezed through it, I finally managed to escape into the ocean.