A Fall of Secrets (A Shade of Vampire #15)(19)

Soon after Rose left the hall, I left too. I made my way back to our apartment and headed straight to the bedroom. I changed into my most comfortable pair of pajamas before seeking out Derek. He was in his study, as I had expected he might be. He looked up as I entered, leaning back in his chair and stretching out.

“How did it go?” he asked.

“Much smoother than Rose and I could have expected.” I walked over to him and sat down on his lap. I ran a hand through his hair, placing a kiss on his cheek. “I’m so proud of our daughter.”

Derek’s face filled with melancholy—an emotion I’d grown used to seeing in him since Caleb had told him he wanted to propose to our daughter. Derek just didn’t want to let his baby go. Neither did I, but I couldn’t deny that I was thrilled. I trusted Caleb and I knew that he would rather die than see anything happen to our daughter. He was also more grounded and mature than Rose in many ways, and I saw that they complemented each other.

Derek would get used to it. I knew he would. I held his hands and stood up, pulling him up with me.

“You look tired. Come to bed with me?”

He didn’t resist as I tugged him out of his study, back toward our bedroom. I collapsed on the bed almost as soon as we entered and crawled between the sheets. Derek took a shower before settling on the mattress next to me. He lay on his back and stared up at the ceiling.

“At least Caleb seems a much safer vampire to be around than I was for you.”

“I would have to agree with you there,” I said, grinning. I squeezed his warm cheek, turning his head to face me. “Speaking of vampires, how long are you going to wait before turning back?”

“I’m not sure. I want to wait a while to see how things play out.”

We fell into silence, snuggling closer to each other and staring into each other’s eyes until exhaustion eventually claimed me and I fell asleep.

* * *

Derek and I were woken unceremoniously a few hours later by a frantic knocking on our bedroom door. Derek leapt out of bed and swung the door open.

My heart sank as soon as I saw that it was Eli.

“Eli? What is it? How did you even get in here?” Derek asked.

“You left the front door unlocked,” Eli said. “There’s something on the news you need to see.”

I shot out of bed, rushing to Derek’s side. I clutched Eli’s shoulders. “Don’t tell me this is about Ben again.”

Eli shook his head. “Definitely not Ben.”

I could breathe somewhat more easily, although his expression didn’t give me reason to feel much relief. Since Eli’s TV was the only one on the island that had been hooked up to all the news channels, Derek and I hurried directly out the front door. As we raced through the forest toward Eli’s penthouse, I couldn’t help but feel sad that I was beginning to associate Eli’s visits to us with fear and dread.

We reached Eli’s tree and hurried up the elevator. As he pushed open the front door, I was shocked at how messy the living room was. Eli wasn’t always the most tidy of people, but this level of disorder… it was worthy of a teenage boy’s room.

I shoved the thought aside as Eli switched on the television.

“I should’ve noticed this earlier,” he muttered, flicking through the channels. “I just haven’t checked on the news for couple of days. Been feeling a bit under the weather.”

My mouth fell open as he stopped changing the channels.

“More CCTV footage,” Eli said, pointing with the remote toward the scene playing out on the screen. A dozen or so hooded figures dressed in black, wielding a burning ring of fire, closing in on hundreds of young men and women.

“Rhys,” I gasped. “Who else could this be but the black witches?” I clasped a hand over my mouth, gaping at the screen. “Oh, no. No. Why are they doing this?”

“The code of secrecy has already been broken,” Derek said. “They are no longer bothering to hide themselves from humans.”

“But why do they want all these teens?” I stammered. “Why are they so bent on capturing people?”

Derek shook his head slowly. “I don’t know.” He looked at Eli. “We need to call a council meeting this instant. Wake everyone up. I want Caleb there too.”

Chapter 14: Derek

Sofia and I sat at the head of the table in the Great Dome. We watched as our council members piled in, bleary-eyed and confused, and took seats around us. I didn’t answer any questions until everyone had arrived—everyone except Yuri and Claudia, who had already left the island for their honeymoon. Xavier took a seat next to me, Vivienne next to Sofia.

Caleb was the last to enter—without Rose, I was glad to see. He took a seat at the opposite end of the table after closing the main door behind him.

“What happened, Derek?” Ashley asked, wiping sleep away from her eyes.

“The black witches have moved on to new shores.”

Mona’s mouth fell open.

“Where?” she asked.

“They closed in on a group of adolescents at a school, near the coast of California. The police are reporting just over a hundred missing. The black witches cast a spell and vanished them. It was all caught on camera. This is just the first attack of God knows how many.” I looked around at my comrades. “They must be stopped. And if we don’t do it, nobody will.”