A Shade of Doubt (A Shade of Vampire #12)(13)

I raised a brow, staring at her icily.

She looked down at her feet and clasped her pale hands together.

“I thought we ought to talk,” she said.

“About what?”

She looked toward the direction of the cabin Caleb was locked in. “May I come in?”

I was reluctant to let her into my personal space, but I did. I was sure to leave the door ajar in case I had to make a quick escape. I still didn’t trust this girl one bit.

She walked over to the end of my room and leaned against the heater, still staring down at her feet. Finally she looked up at me. “Since we’re stuck on this submarine together, we might as well be straight with each other. Firstly, I can’t blame you or Caleb for striking up a… friendship.”

Her choice of word prickled me. I walked over to her, looking her right in the eye, and stopped two feet away. I was almost as tall as her, and now that she seemed to be devoid of powers, there was nothing that intimidated me about this young woman.

“Firstly,” I said, “I place the blame entirely on you for the broken man Caleb has become. Secondly, what Caleb and I share is more than friendship. The sooner you accept that, the better off we’ll all be.”

Her jaw tensed.

I was breathing heavily as I looked at her, my lower lip trembling with anger and frustration. I wanted to wring the neck of this little wench and throw her off the submarine so Caleb and I could continue with our story. Her expression told me that she felt no different about me.

She drew in a sharp breath, obviously attempting to reel in her temper as I was mine. When she spoke again, her voice was higher pitched.

“Pray tell then, what exactly do you and Caleb share?” She was attempting to maintain a civil tone with me, but each word she uttered was dripping with jealousy.

Her question made me stumble. What do we share? Though I’d not yet said it aloud to him, I knew that I loved Caleb. All his actions up until we met Annora had indicated that he felt strongly for me too. The way he’d risked his life to protect me. His agreement to return with me to The Shade even though I knew it made him uncomfortable.

But I was suddenly struggling to articulate to Annora exactly what it was. Love somehow felt too strong of a word, since Caleb hadn’t yet professed it to me.

“We care deeply for one another,” I said, wincing even as I said the words. It felt like such an understatement.

She crossed her arms over her chest, frowning at me. “Would you like to know what Caleb and I share?”

“I already know what you shared.”

She glared at me, then shoved her right hand in my face, brandishing the ring on her finger.

“His engagement ring still sits on my finger. I don’t see one on yours.”

“An old band of metal means little against actions,” I said, trying to keep my cool. “Back in the cave, he discarded you for me.”

“I’ve changed, Rose. I’m no longer the person Caleb discarded. I’ve returned as the person Caleb swore undying love to… many, many years before he met you.”

“If you had even an ounce of love for Caleb, you’d realize you’ve done enough damage already and stay out of his life.” I narrowed my eyes on her. “You don’t deserve him.”

She looked like she was about to slap me. Taking a deep breath, she stepped back, trying to assume a calmer expression.

“Well, perhaps we should let Caleb decide for himself who deserves him.” She extended a hand. “Let’s just see who Caleb chooses now that I’m back, shall we?”

I gripped her hand, squeezing it in a firm shake.

I wasn’t going to let Caleb fall back into this bitch’s arms. Even if Caleb didn’t love me I would rather he ended up with any other woman than this wench.

“Game on,” I said through gritted teeth.

Chapter 8: Rose

Annora left my cabin and headed straight for the control cabin again. I watched with amusement as she knocked, only to be completely ignored by Caleb. Even when she called to him through the door, he didn’t answer. Throwing a scowl back at me, she walked back to her own cabin and slammed the door shut behind her.

I was fed up of sitting in my own cabin, so while I didn’t go to Caleb—I wasn’t sure that he wanted to be around me either—I went for a walk around the submarine to stretch my legs. As I was descending a flight of stairs down to the storage chambers below, the vessel shuddered suddenly, making me lose balance and fall to the floor. My stomach turned as I felt us rising. I winced as my knee whacked against a sharp metal step.

What was that?

I heard two cabin doors click open. I retraced my steps back to the front of the sub to see Caleb standing in the corridor with Annora. He looked up at me as I approached, a grim expression on his face.

“We’ve run out of fuel,” he said. “I thought we might be able to make it to land, but I miscalculated.”

He brushed past Annora and me and walked toward the ladder leading up to the hatch. When we climbed up it, there was a grinding of metal. As the hatch opened, Caleb groaned as sunlight streamed down over him. I hurried over, breathing in deeply as fresh sea air filled the chamber. Annora was about a step behind me.

Caleb’s feet disappeared through the hole. I hurried up the ladder after him, peeking through. We were in the middle of the ocean, the sun beating down on us. At first I couldn’t make out any sign of land at all. But then I saw it—a faint outline of a shore in the distance.