A Dawn of Strength (A Shade of Vampire #14)(44)

Mona still hadn’t come to, so for now she remained safely tucked into Corrine’s bed.

I was grateful to see that Corrine had arranged for candles for everyone. The ceremony would have felt too bare without them, considering we had no coffins to bury. We stood in silence, the firelight glimmering in our glassy eyes, just allowing ourselves to feel the grief.

After half an hour or so, Corrine cleared her throat. “Would, um, anyone like to say a few words?”

Yuri stepped forward first. His eyelids red, he moved into the center of the courtyard and stood on the ridge of the fountain. His gaze was cast downward as he began to speak in a choked voice.

“I… This, uh, will be brief.” He paused, swallowing hard. “My brother… Eli Vincent Lazaroff. No doubt most of you will remember him as the nerdy brainiac of the island.” His lips curved in a fond smile. “You’ll remember him for his logic and cool-headedness even in the most chaotic of times. For saving our backsides on too many occasions to recall.” He turned his head skyward, fixing his eyes on the stars. “But me? I’ll remember my brother for the side of him that most people didn’t have the privilege of witnessing. Behind the veil of his shyness, his seriousness, his introversion, was a sly sense of humor. A heart of laughter—” Yuri’s voice broke. His jaw tensed as he wiped tears from his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he breathed. “It’s too soon.”

“It’s okay, sweetie,” Corrine said, tears brimming in her own eyes. “Maybe we can gather round for a proper memorial service in a few days or so—”

Yuri winced. “Let me just try to… say a few words for my wife.” He fixed his eyes on the candle he was holding. “Claudia Jemima Lazaroff,” he said slowly, as though he were relishing every syllable of her name. “My beautiful, crazy, loving wife. If there was one thing I could always count on her for, it was to find some way to drive me insane. Yet with her constant banter, teasing insults, wild demands, exotic requests… God knows, I wouldn’t have changed that woman for the world. And if she was still standing before me now—” Yuri paused as his voice caught in his throat again. “Claudia, if you were standing before me now, I would get down on my knees. And I would beg you to forgive me for delaying so long. And I would tell you yes. A hundred times yes.”

At that, Yuri broke down. Falling to his knees, he dropped his head into his hands.

I guessed that most people here wouldn’t have understood what Yuri had meant by his last few sentences. But I understood. My father had told me how hard Claudia had been working to convince Yuri that she was responsible enough to have a baby of her own. I buried my head against Derek’s chest, a fresh flood of tears soaking his shirt.

Although my chest felt so constricted I could barely breathe, it was time for me to honor my father. Drying my tears, I walked unsteadily toward the fountain and stood where Yuri had been.

“Aiden Claremont,” I began, biting my lip to prevent it from trembling. “My father—”

Before I could utter another word, a rough voice boomed across the courtyard. “What are you people doing?”

I whirled around to see Brett and Bella standing at the corner of the crowds. Both had looks of confusion on their faces.

“Shh, Brett!” Rose hissed, a look of fury on her face.

“But Princess Rose—”

“You’re interrupting my grandfather’s eulogy!”

“What is it, Brett?” I called.

“I found them.”

Hundreds of jaws dropped to the floor.

“What?” a chorus of us shot back at once.

“I found them. Those missing people.”

“Where?” I stammered, barely daring to believe my ears.

“In my and Arabella’s caves. And some of the other caves nearby.”

I rushed over to him in a flash and gripped his shoulders, shaking him.

“Wha—what are you talking about? You’ve had hours and hours to search those few caves. How can you be telling us this only now?”

The two ogres exchanged guilty glances. Bella prodded a chubby finger at Brett. “Well, we were heading toward the caves when he said he was hungry. So we stopped and built a fire. Found something to roast.” She paused, biting her fat lower lip. “Then afterward, he”—she pointed again at Brett, as though he were some kind of object—“said he was tired. So we had a nap… but we really didn’t mean to sleep so long, Queen Sofia—”

I’d had enough of listening to Bella’s excuses, and so had everyone else, as we all abandoned the courtyard and raced toward the caves.

My heart fluttered as we neared them. I kept expecting that somehow this was some cruel prank on the part of the ogres. But as we climbed over the rocks and looked toward the entrances, my fears were unfounded. There, lying on the floor of the caves—still paralyzed but all clearly conscious—were our missing people.

Chapter 37: Sofia

We all piled inside and hurried first toward our loved ones. I found my father toward the back of Bella’s cave. His face was frozen, so he couldn’t reveal the emotions I knew he was feeling, but I could see it in his eyes. I wrapped my arms around him and kissed his cheeks and forehead. Derek arrived next to me a few moments later, carrying Rose on his back. She leapt off and also embraced her grandfather.