A Shade of Novak (A Shade of Vampire #8)(14)

She nodded, reassuring me.

“Over the past decade, these beach kidnappings have remained steady, while the police have remained clueless. It should be apparent by now that there is likely some greater force at work than humans.”

“May I ask what these kidnappings have to do with us?” Claudia called out.

My eyes settled on the blonde vampire.

“If our suspicions are correct that these kidnappings are not being done by humans, then we ought to know who is behind them. Especially since they are going on so close to our own turf.”

I paused to look around the room.

“Also,” Sofia said, “I say that since we have knowledge of this hidden world of supernaturals—something normal people could never have—we ought to use this knowledge to get to the bottom of this. It’s our responsibility. Nobody else will solve this mystery unless we do.”

Her words sounded strange to my ears. Although we’d stopped kidnapping humans and drinking their blood almost two decades ago, this was the first time in centuries that the vampires of The Shade were opening their minds to the possibility that our responsibilities might stretch outside of our own little world.

“So, what’s the first step?” Yuri asked.

Eli turned to look at his brother.

“There’s only one option. Reach the latest kidnapping spot as soon as possible after the disappearance. I suggest that Ibrahim or another witch vanishes us to the location, and that way we can escape quickly if an official approaches. As I said, we may find nothing… or we may find something. I suggest we bring Shadow, since he has the best senses of all of us.”

“So where was the last crime scene?” Landis asked.

“Cancún. A bunch of humans went missing along the beach all on the same evening, leaving no trace of any struggle. According to the reporters, they just vanished.”

“Cancún,” Sofia repeated, alarmed. “Mexico.”

Eli nodded.

“All right,” I said. “For now, I suggest just a handful of us go. It’ll be easier to appear and then make a hasty exit if need be. Myself, Sofia, Eli and Shadow I think will be a good idea to start with… and a witch.”

“I’ll come,” Ibrahim said.

“That’s settled then,” I said.

Eli, Sofia and Ibrahim all nodded.

I dismissed everybody. Sofia and I remained seated until the dome was empty. She was breathing deeply and I didn’t miss the slight tremble in her hand. I pulled her against my chest. Kissing the top of her head, I said, “I know what you’re feeling. But Rose and Ben will learn the truth sooner or later. They’ve got these last two months of oblivion on their little island. When they come back, we tell them.”

Sofia nodded. “I know. And we’ll make use of their time away to work on this problem. I-I just…” She stopped short, choking up. “I just don’t want anything to happen to them again.”

I brushed my thumbs against her cheeks and kissed her forehead.

I wanted to promise her that nothing would ever happen to our twins. I wanted to reassure her that they would never be put in harm’s way or threatened ever again.

But I couldn’t.

Because I didn’t know what the future held. Neither of us did.

Everyone had been expecting Ben and Rose to grow up with some kind of supernatural ability—given my fire powers and Sofia being an immune when they were conceived—but so far they’d shown no sign of it. I knew that this made Sofia more nervous for them. They were just normal, fragile humans.

“Now that they’re almost adults,” I said, “the best thing we can do for them is arm them with knowledge and train them to stay out of danger.”

“I know.” She inhaled, her voice deep with resignation. “And to do this, we first need to figure out what kind of danger is surrounding us.”

Chapter 4: Rose

The journey went smoother than either of us was expecting.

Corrine left us at the Scottish island without much fuss and we stayed the night there. The next morning, we checked out and took the ferry back to the mainland where we travelled by a combination of bus and train to Glasgow airport. Direct flights weren’t available for when we wanted them, so the journey took longer than we had expected, but finally we touched down in Honolulu.

As we passed through arrivals, I spotted Kristal and Jake waiting for us. Kristal was eighteen, while Jake was nineteen. They were both tall, like us—though Ben was still the tallest among us. Being almost six foot already, he was well on track to reach our dad’s height. Kristal and Jake both shared the same blond hair and blue eyes.

I looked at Ben for a reaction on seeing Kristal. He scowled and shoved me in the shoulder. “Stop it,” he whispered, as we approached.

I rolled my eyes.

“Hey, you guys!” Kristal squealed. She ducked beneath the barrier and wrapped her arms around me, kissing either cheek. Ben’s cheeks flushed ever so slightly as she did the same to him.

“Hi, Rose.”

I looked up to see Jake staring down at me.

“Hi, Jake,” I said.

I gave him a quick hug and kissed either cheek politely. He smelled of expensive aftershave.

They led us out of the airport toward a parking lot where we stopped in front of a shiny black limousine. I looked up at Kristal.