A Dawn of Strength (A Shade of Vampire #14)(20)

The humans lay down on the floor before the vampires. I stood next to Caleb as he knelt down before the young man, Nolan, who’d chosen him as his turner. I’d never actually witnessed a turning close up before, so I watched with morbid fascination as Caleb took a deep breath and leant toward Nolan’s throat. Groans sounded around the room as each of the vampires sank their fangs into flesh.

When Caleb surfaced, his mouth dripping with blood, his eyes appeared darker than I was used to. I hurried into the kitchen and grabbed a roll of tissues. Ripping one off, I walked back to him and wiped down his mouth. He staggered back and leaned against the wall, staring at Nolan, who was beginning to writhe on the floor.

Griffin walked up to Nolan and, picking him up, carried him off toward one of the spare bedrooms.

I frowned at Caleb. “Are you okay?” I asked.

He nodded.

Once all the turning humans had been carried out of the living room, we had to start turning more. This time, it was a middle-aged woman named Roxanne whom Caleb ended up digging his fangs into. As he drew away, he had the same expression on his face—almost shocked at what he’d just done.

When the rest of the humans were being carried away, I caught his hand and squeezed it. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m okay, Rose. I just haven’t turned a human in a while. To infect someone with this curse… it’s a strange feeling.”

We didn’t have time to discuss it further as Griffin and the guards returned to the room. I was just glad for the reassurance that Caleb was all right.

“We’ll stay with them here,” Griffin said.

“Okay,” I said. “Caleb and I need to go. I told my father we’d meet him in the Great Dome after we finished with the humans.”

We bade farewell and hurried down to the forest ground. I climbed onto Caleb’s back and he was about to launch into a sprint when I caught sight of Xavier hurrying our way.

“Hold on, Caleb… Uncle?”

“I heard there’s a mass turning going on?” Xavier said. His face was pale, his lips dry and cracked.

“Yes, we just came from there. Up in Griff’s place. You’re going to turn?”

He nodded grimly as he looked up toward Griffin and his parents’ penthouse. “I’ll see you later then,” he said, walking toward the elevator.

As Caleb and I continued on our way toward the Dome, I couldn’t help but wonder how long it would take Xavier to return to his normal self. Since this wasn’t his first time turning into a vampire, I assumed that the transition would be easier and he wouldn’t have to wait long before he was in control of himself.

I let out a sigh. Although I couldn’t fault my parents for wanting to be cautious after what had happened to my brother, I couldn’t deny that all this turning going on around me made me feel like turning myself. I hated the idea of being forced to wait within the Black Heights—which I was sure my parents would insist on soon enough. I was a Novak. Sitting still during a time like this just felt like something I was biologically incapable of.

On arriving at the Dome, I was shocked to see it completely empty.

“Where could they have—?”

Before I could finish my question, Caleb pointed to a note on the table. I stared at it over his shoulder as he picked it up. There were only a few words, scrawled in my mother’s handwriting:

“Caleb:

The black witches have arrived.

Lock Rose in the Black Heights with the others.”

I stared disbelievingly at the note.

To my horror, Caleb’s grip around my ankles tightened as he rushed out of the Dome and into the forest, back toward the mountains.

“Wait! No, don’t…” I struggled to loosen his hold on me as I attempted to jump back down to the ground, but he was relentless.

“Rose,” Caleb said, “you’ve seen your mother’s request. You should listen to her.” He swung me off his back and, holding me against his chest instead, tightened his grip on me as he continued sprinting forward.

“No, I just want to… agh, please. Let go.”

“Just want to what exactly?” He glared down at me.

“I-I… Oh, damn it.” Exhausted from trying to fight Caleb’s heavy grip, I stopped struggling. “I just want to help,” I said, panting.

“You know what your blood means to these witches by now,” Caleb said as he raced forward full speed again. “If you want to help your kingdom, you’ll keep yourself as far away from those witches as possible.”

Although I knew he was speaking sense, those were the last words I wanted to hear right now. Still, I wasn’t sure how to argue and there was clearly no way he was letting go of me until he’d planted me firmly inside the mountain.

As we reached the end of the forest and approached the clearing in front of the Black Heights, I asked, “And what are you going to do?”

“Your parents need all the help they can get,” he said. “I’ll be fighting.”

My throat felt dryer suddenly. I tightened my grip around his neck as he knocked on the door. Footsteps sounded and Kyle appeared behind it. He didn’t look surprised to see me as he allowed us entrance and closed the door behind us. We passed charmed barrier after barrier as we moved deeper into the mountain. Finally, when we reached the main living area, Caleb set me down on my feet.