A Shade of Blood (A Shade of Vampire #2)(39)

“We cannot have another uprising.” My voice was enough to silence everyone. “We are already threatened by external forces – other vampire covens wanting what we have here at The Shade, the hunters still in relentless pursuit of us. Considering how many human abductions we’ve been doing, it won’t take long until the hunters find us out. We cannot risk a rebellion from inside our own walls.”

“What does the prince suggest we do then?” Eli leaned over the metal banisters lining the stand.

“For now, the abductions must stop. All scouts are going to be recalled and trained as guards. All human blood we require will come from the humans already on the island. We cannot risk the hunters finding us out.” Even as the words came out, I was reminded of the risk I took when I let Sofia and her friend escape. Has she blinded me so much that I’d forgotten my duty to protect The Shade at all cost?

The noise that erupted across the round hall drowned out my thoughts as objections and defenses were thrown by practically every member of the Elite present at the dome.

“How do we survive then?!” A voice cried out. “We must feed.”

An image of Ashley flashed through my mind and my gut clenched. Yes. We must, mustn’t we? I shook the thought away. “Where do the glasses of blood come from?”

Ever since I woke up, I’d been given a daily ration of blood. It wasn’t as succulent as fresh blood pumped straight from a beating heart, but it served well to satisfy a vampire’s wanton cravings. I never thought to ask where they came from until then.

Again, like clockwork, they closed their mouths to hear me speak. It was something that’d always baffled me before – how I, younger than most of them in both natural and vampire years, was able to command such respect from the Elite.

This time, however, it was different. It wasn’t just me who caused their silence. It was my question. “Well? How do we have such a supply of blood?”

I noticed how Eli’s knuckles grew paler from the way he was clutching the metal banister. The way Vivienne’s fingers more tightly gripped the armrests of her recliner caught my attention too.

“Vivienne?”

She twisted the recliner my way, the round platform her seat stood on allowing her to look upon my face. “The human population now is a lot less than it was about half a century ago. There were rumors of rebellion and the humans were growing restless and dissatisfied by their living conditions.”

I waved a hand at her, a motion for her to continue speaking.

“Father called for a culling.”

It was easy to see from the expression on Vivienne’s face that the incident didn’t bring forth any pleasant memories. I wondered what was going through her mind. My twin sister… forever an enigma…

“A culling?”

Eli came to her rescue when he, in his usual expressionless manner, laid down the rest of the facts for me. “All humans who proved to be of no worth – the weak ones, the sick ones, the ones who could not serve – were slaughtered, their blood drained and preserved in chilling chambers for future consumption.”

“Were so many killed that the blood lasts even to this day?”

“A great number were lost, yes,” Xavier chuckled. “But we never had much use for the preserved blood when we were always brought a fresh supply from the abductions.”

“Well, we have use of it now, don’t we?” I challenged him. “My decision stands. There shall be no more abductions. If you must feed, feed on the blood of the dead.”

“And when that runs out?” Xavier was never intimidated by me and was not afraid to show it. He was making it clear through the expression on his face and the tone of his voice that he wasn’t pleased with what I was doing.

Vivienne’s jaw twitched when my eyes met hers. She looked at me like she would a dying man, like she was about to lose me. I hardened myself under her disapproving glare.

“Should the blood run out, perhaps we should see to another culling.”

CHAPTER 26: BEN

I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

Sofia had me spellbound the moment she walked down the stairs, looking absolutely stunning in the dress we picked out during our date. She appeared timid and reserved as my mother and father began taking pictures of us.

My mother wasn’t exactly thrilled to hear that Sofia and I were going to prom together, but we explained that neither of us had been dating anyone lately and since we were best friends, it seemed like going together would take a lot less effort than scrambling for a date. My mom’s shoulders sagged in surrender before she kissed me on the cheek and whispered, “If that’s what makes you happy, Ben.”

And it did make me happy. Sofia made me happy.

Ever since our first date, things got a lot more fun and casual. In order to avoid arguments and just enjoy each other’s company, we took great lengths to avoid discussing the future – with me still mulling over joining the hunters and her still greatly opposed to ruining The Shade, something I still couldn’t bring myself to understand.

We spent practically every waking moment together. Due largely to the fact that Sofia and I held hands in the hallway and made out whenever we got the chance, it wasn’t long before everyone at school got wind of the new “it” couple. Sofia and I were no longer just best friends. In Connor’s words, we were “finally together”. It felt real, or at least I hoped it did.