A Dawn of Strength (A Shade of Vampire #14)(48)

“Quick, come with me.” Pulling him along behind me, I sped up into a sprint. It didn’t take long for him to catch on to where I was headed and soon, he was leading the way.

Turning the final corner, we both let out sighs of relief.

Our lighthouse. Our sanctuary. Our sacred space. It stood among the rocks, as tall as it ever had.

“I’m not sure what I’d do if this was ever destroyed,” I said, twining my fingers with Derek’s. “I’m starting to think of it as the only constant thing about The Shade.” I shuddered, recalling the trauma I’d experienced only a few hours ago of believing my father to be dead.

Derek shook his head. “I disagree. We are constants.”

“But our lives, even as supernaturals… they are so fragile.”

“Yet we survive.”

I looked Derek straight in the eye. “But this isn’t the kind of survival that I want for us, Derek. Not for our people, or our family. Recently, we’ve been living on the edge of our seats, in tension and fear… hell, this isn’t a life I’d wish upon anyone.”

My husband gathered me closer to him. His gaze intensified as he said, “It won’t always be like this, Sofia. I promise.”

I didn’t know how he could promise such a thing, but my heart lightened at his words.

Derek Novak never had been one to make loose promises.

Chapter 39: Rose

Caleb and I decided to stay for a while longer greeting people in the caves before heading to meet with the dragons early. I felt nervous about testing their patience for too much longer. The last thing everyone’s wrecked nerves needed was another dragon scare.

But as we made our way toward the exit, I bumped into my aunt and uncle, who were walking hand in hand. I’d seen them at the ceremony some hours earlier, of course, but nobody had been in any state to talk much. Now, Vivienne took the opportunity to pull me aside.

“You tricked me, Rose.” She looked down at me sternly. “You do realize that if you hadn’t turned into Dragon Woman and saved the backsides of everyone on this island, I would be furious with you right now.” Slowly, her expression softened and a smile formed on her lips. “You’re like sand through my fingers, you are. Trying to keep tabs on a ghoul would be easier.”

“Well… it’s hardly my fault that I have Novak genes.”

“I suppose not,” she said. Her expression tightened again. “You really make me worry about your future niece or nephew.” She looked toward Xavier. “I’m having second thoughts about Leo.”

“Second thoughts?” I asked.

Xavier smirked. “Your aunt finally caved in to Leo as a name about half an hour ago.”

“Oh, come on, Viv,” I said. “A name’s not going to make a bit of difference. He or she is going to be a whirlwind. You’d be better off just embracing it.”

“That’s what I told Vivienne,” Xavier said.

She bit her lip. “I guess you’re right.”

“So,” I said, “speaking of whirlwinds, Caleb and I are off to meet with the dragons.”

“Just the two of you?” Xavier asked. “I’ll accompany you.”

“I think the fewer people present, the better,” I said. “But thanks for the offer.”

Neither of them looked comfortable about letting us go alone, but at least by now, they understood the way I appeared to have with the dragons—even though I still didn’t fully understand it myself.

We parted ways from them. Caleb and I dropped down from the rocks onto the sand. We’d barely made it ten feet when I caught sight of a shirtless young man with tousled blond hair. It was Micah. He was standing on the beach some distance away, his feet submerged in the water. By his side was a blonde girl… Kira.

I stopped in my tracks and looked up at Caleb. “You can hear what they’re saying?” Of course he could. We were more than close enough.

Caleb frowned at me. “I could,” he replied. “But I’m focusing on other sounds right now.”

“Well, could you focus on their conversation for just a moment and tell me what’s going on?”

Caleb looked at me in half amusement, half disapproval. “No, Rose. I will not eavesdrop on Micah’s conversation.”

I rolled my eyes, feigning disparagement. “Well, you can wait here with your dignity then.”

I left Caleb’s side, moving from boulder to boulder until there were no more I could hide behind. But I was just about close enough. I peeked round the side, straining to listen in. I felt guilty for doing this, but I knew how much—and for how long—Micah had been pining for this girl. This was a conversation that I just didn’t have the self-control to walk away from—even at the expense of making the dragons wait a few minutes longer.

By now, Micah could have heard me approach if he’d been tuned in. But I doubted that he’d have focus for anything right now other than the girl in front of him.

“Looks like we’ll all be moving into the trees,” Kira said.

“Yes,” Micah replied. “It will certainly be different.” I could detect tightness in his voice even as he tried to play it cool.

“I’m guessing that my sister is going to finally abandon me and move in with Aiden,” she said with a chuckle. “It’s about time Kailyn found herself another man.”