A Shade of Doubt (A Shade of Vampire #12)(2)

I reached for Ibrahim’s hand, gripping it tight as we traveled at furious speed. I gasped as the end of the tunnel finally came into view. Sunshine blinded me as I hurtled out and landed on a grassy lawn. Ibrahim made contact with the ground a few feet away from me. Scrambling to his feet, Ibrahim gripped my arm and pulled me up. We raced back toward the gate as soon as the two witches shot out from it. But as we attempted to leap back through, our bodies froze midair, an invisible power keeping us from falling through, resisting the suction pulling us downward.

We were sent hovering back toward the area we had landed first and dropped onto the grass. I cast my eyes around. A river flowed a few feet away from us, and a waterfall thundered about five hundred meters away. The river glistened with precious gems, the banks lined with trees. I could have recognized this river in my sleep. It was the river that surrounded the main city of The Sanctuary.

The Sanctuary.

I could barely believe that I was back here. Brisalia stood up, Csilla close behind her as they approached us.

“I’m sorry to do this to you, Ibrahim,” she said, looking at my husband with genuine apology. “You were loyal to my sister for so many years, but we just can’t have you meddling with things.”

“What?” Ibrahim spat.

No matter how much Ibrahim and I tried to break out of the spell Brisalia had us under, we couldn’t. She was of the line of the Ageless, and against her and her daughter’s powers combined, we had no hope.

Once again our surroundings disappeared, and this time when my vision came back into focus, we were standing in a large bedroom. Its walls were made of stark white marble, as were the floors. It was oval, and there was a beautifully carved four-poster bed in the center. Light satin curtains covering the open balcony doors blew in the breeze. There was a scent of flowers.

“I’m sure you will find this place comfortable enough. It used to be yours, after all.”

The two witches vanished before we could utter another word.

I stared at Ibrahim. He still looked in a state of shock as he looked around the room. We both hurried over to the open balcony and attempted to vanish ourselves once again. But as we tried to leave the balcony, we hit an invisible wall. We rushed back into the room and out through the main entrance, down a set of wide marble stairs and tried to exit out the door. While the front door opened, we couldn’t walk further than the end of the porch.

Ibrahim and I assaulted the shield with curse after curse, but nothing we could do damaged it in the slightest.

Sweat forming on my brow, I wiped it with the back of my sleeve.

Ibrahim grabbed my hand and led me back into the house. As we stood in the center of the hall, we both looked at each other, panting.

“What the hell is this?” I blurted out. It had all happened so fast, I had hardly caught up with the fact that it was real.

We were no longer on earth. We were back in The Sanctuary. The realm of the witches. My home. And Ibrahim’s.

The last time I’d spent a brief spell here had been to escape The Shade when Kiev had burnt it down with the help of the other children of the Elders.

I swallowed hard as I looked around the entrance hall. It was uncanny. I still remembered living here with Ibrahim. When we first became lovers, all those years ago.

Ibrahim caught my hand and we made our way back upstairs toward the bedroom. We walked out onto the balcony. This house was perched on one of the tallest hills in the area and afforded a magnificent view of the heavenly city sprawling out beneath us.

This balcony… it brought back so many memories. It was the spot where I’d shared my first kiss with Ibrahim.

We were old flames, Ibrahim and I. We shared a history that went far back. Much further than the short period we’d spent together looking after baby Rose.

We’d been lovers before I first came to Earth from The Sanctuary.

He’d been the reason I left. I’d fallen in love with him. Hard. And I’d thought he’d shared the same feelings for me. But his parents had forbidden him from seeing me once they’d found out.

Ibrahim came from a family closely connected to the Ageless’ line, the Adriuses themselves. Even my being a descendent of the great witch Cora wasn’t enough for them.

Ibrahim’s unwillingness to break free from his family’s hold had sent me into a spiral of depression. My mother, who at the time had been the witch of The Shade, suggested I come to Earth. I’d wanted nothing to do with my own kind for a while. I’d integrated myself into human civilization and enrolled in a college to study psychology.

And then, when it was my turn to take my place as The Shade’s witch, I’d tried to forget Ibrahim. I even performed several spells on myself to help block him from my memory.

I’d thought I’d done a good job. But when I’d seen him again, when the Ageless had taken my powers away and put him in charge of me, all those broken feelings had returned.

That period I’d spent with Ibrahim on Earth—when it was just the two of us looking after baby Rose—had been possibly the happiest weeks of my life.

He’d told me he’d regretted letting me go since the day I left, all those years ago. But I was afraid to get close to him. As much as my heart felt that it might burst with joy, I didn’t want to have it broken again. I still hadn’t been sure if what we had was temporary and whether he would return with the Ageless as soon as their business on Earth was done.