A Shade of Blood (A Shade of Vampire #2)(33)

Part of me wanted to heed to Vivienne’s coaxing to go after her, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. My ego couldn’t possibly bear the thought of traipsing around the mainland in search of some teenager. Sofia chose to leave, knowing full well that upon leaving The Shade, she would no longer be under my protection. If Lucas went after her, that was her cross to bear. Not mine. She ceased to become my obligation the moment she chose to escape.

“So? What do we do now?” Cameron inquired.

I had to blink several times to snap out of my reverie and focus my attention back on the case at hand. “I want Claudia arrested and put on trial.”

Yuri’s eyes widened. “Sir, with all due respect, no Elite has ever been tried for a crime in all of The Shade’s history. It’s unheard of.”

“It’s either I put her on trial or I kill her for defying me. She spat on my face when she kept my brother from me when I so clearly demanded that he be delivered to my hands. I cannot stand for that if I am to rule.”

“Derek…” Cameron slightly stood to try and reason with me.

I turned away from them. “Have it done immediately. The trial starts tomorrow.” I continued playing the piano. It signaled that our conversation was over and that I no longer needed anything from them.

My next stumble down was when I removed everything that could possibly remind me of Sofia.

I paid Ashley a visit inside the room she shared with the girls not long after Cameron and Yuri left. She was still unconscious.

“Why hasn’t she healed? Hasn’t she been fed any blood?” I asked, staring at her limp form. I searched for a sense of guilt, but found none of it. Instead, I found that the urge to suck her dry was overwhelming. It was in my nature to kill and the predator in me craved for more of her.

“I fed her my blood, your majesty,” Kyle began to explain. “It takes time for it to take effect.”

I found this daunting. The several times I had to heal Sofia with my blood, she healed almost instantly. I shrugged it off. Sofia’s different. I knew that from the moment I first saw her. My gut turned at the longing I had for Sofia and the hunger I felt for Ashley.

My eyes began to focus on the area of Ashley’s neck that I sank my teeth into. The pain inside – the hunger – was almost unbearable.

“Get her out of my house.” The command came out deep and threatening.

Kyle’s eyes fell on me. “Sir?”

“You heard me. Get her out of here. Take her to your house. I don’t care. I won’t be able to keep myself from devouring her if she’s kept here.”

Kyle nodded, immediately understanding what I was trying to say. “The other girls?”

“Take them too. Have Sam take one or both under his wing. I just want them out of here.”

I motioned to leave the room, wanting to distance myself from Ashley as soon as possible before I lost all sense of self-control. With all the strength I had left, I stopped and gave Kyle one final instruction.

“Destroy the Sun Room. I want it to be bare and stripped of everything that’s in it. Make it a blank canvass once again. I don’t want anything left in this house to remind me of her.”

Vivienne was right. I’d succumbed to the darkness. As I sat in my place at the Great Dome, in preparation for Claudia’s trial, the one emotion that still connected me to my humanity was the guilt. It never left me. I knew that the moment I let go of the guilt, I’d be a lost cause. The temptation to ease my pain by switching off the emotion was strong, but I couldn’t do that to myself. I couldn’t let myself lose what little was left of my humanity – no matter how painful it was.

Claudia was brought to the stand. To say that she looked unrepentant was an understatement. She looked outright livid, with her eyes glaring golden fire at me.

Eli, who was to head the proceedings, nervously shuffled on his feet as he took his place beside Claudia. He kept stealing glances at her, as if he were afraid that she might suddenly just pounce on him. With Claudia looking like an angry lioness and Eli a nervous, shivering mouse, it seemed highly possible that Claudia would end up devouring the thin, lanky vampire.

“Let’s get this done with, shall we?” I initiated. My eyes fell on the empty seat where Vivienne was supposed to be. Where the hell, is she? I made a mental note to seek her out right after the trial.

Eli began to make the introductory remarks, announcing the purpose for the trial and what Claudia was being charged against. For the most part, it was clear that none of us were sure of what to do. It’d been centuries since a person was last tried at The Shade. This was the first time a member of the Elite had been on trial.

Eli’s jaw was twitching when he finished his introductions and turned toward the defendant. “How do you plead?”

“Not guilty.” Claudia kept her eyes straight on me.

My brow rose. “You deny keeping my brother within your home?”

“No.”

“Were you aware that I, your prince and superior, gave a command that he be surrendered to my custody by any citizen of The Shade whom he came into contact with?”

“Yes, I was aware.”

“Then how are you not guilty? Is it not clear that you defied me?”

“Let’s stop playing this charade, your royal highness,” she hissed. “All of us know that you left The Shade with no laws before you went on your drowsy four-hundred-year retreat. You cannot charge me with a crime when there are no laws to break.”