A Shade of Novak (A Shade of Vampire #8)(52)

“Sofia? Darling, I’ve got her. Rose. She’s here. Your daughter is back here in The Shade. No, I’m not joking. What kind of a joke would that be? You want to talk to her? Yes, of course. Hold on a second.”

He passed the phone to me.

“Mom?”

“Oh, God. Rose!” My mom began gasping. I heard her pull away from the phone and yell, “Derek! Rose is back home! We can leave now! Yes, she’s back!” She returned to speak to me. “Sweetheart, are you all right? Are you injured? How did you get back?”

“Mom, yes, it’s me. I’m fine. A handsome knight in shining armor rescued me,” I said, winking at Caleb. He smirked and rolled his eyes. I could have sworn I saw a slight blush in his pale cheeks.

“We’re coming home right now, honey. We’ll be back as fast as we can, in a few hours. Just stay where you are. Don’t go anywhere.”

“Don’t worry, Mom,” I said, half laughing. “I don’t plan on going anywhere.”

No sooner had I put the phone down than someone shouted out my name.

I turned around to see Griffin racing toward us. His face was pale, and he had dark circles under his eyes. He looked as though he hadn’t slept properly for days.

“Rose?” he gasped as he reached me.

I wrapped my arms around him and I felt him cling to me, breathing heavily against my neck.

“You have no idea how much we’ve all been worrying about you.”

“Griff, I can’t tell you how sorry I am. What we did was incredibly stupid. I—”

“How the hell did you escape?” he asked, looking down at my face.

I took a step away from him and reached for Caleb’s arm, pulling him closer to me.

“This is Caleb. He helped me escape. Caleb, this is my friend Griffin.”

I watched as Griffin stared at Caleb as though he didn’t know what to make of him. His expression was a mixture of surprise and distrust.

“Well, thank you,” he finally said, patting Caleb on the shoulder. “I’m not sure what I’d do without this girl.”

I stared at Griffin, surprised by the strength of emotion in his voice as he spoke those last words. We were close friends, but I supposed that I had never quite realized just how much I meant to him.

Griffin turned back to face me.

“Are you all right?”

“Yes, I’m not harmed. I just have a few scratches.” I squeezed his hand, hoping to reassure him. “But I really need to see my brother now.”

Chapter 38: Caleb

Rose insisted that I stay on the island until her parents returned. Although I felt uncomfortable, something made me give in to her requests. Perhaps it was just because she was so stubborn.

After greeting Aiden and her friend, we headed to see Rose’s brother in a beautiful white stone building they called the Sanctuary. Walking through the hallways, we stopped outside a circular bedroom where Ben lay in the center of a bed. His eyes were open by the time we arrived.

“Ben!” Rose yelled and ran over to him, planting a kiss on his forehead and embracing him.

“Rose,” he whispered, coughing and rubbing his throat. Compared to Rose, he certainly looked worse for wear. He had shadows beneath his eyes, his skin had a yellowish tinge to it and he looked much thinner compared to when I last saw him. I dreaded to think what Stellan had put him through.

I looked at the brown-haired witch who was attending Ben along with several other witches. Her face lit up as soon as she saw Rose enter and she wrapped her in a tight hug.

“How did you get here?” Ben asked.

Rose ran over to me and dragged me to his bed. “Caleb.” The princess beamed up at me. “He saved me.”

Ben looked up at me and smiled, nodding. “I remember you,” he wheezed. “Thanks man, for saving her… and for trying to save me.”

He reached up a hand and I shook it.

It made me uncomfortable how she was touting me as some kind of hero. Still, she was getting pleasure out of it, so I didn’t say anything to her.

Rose stayed beside Ben for a while longer, but it was clear that he wasn’t in much of a state to talk. The witches suggested we leave and allow him to sleep to speed up his recovery.

We left the Sanctuary with Aiden, emerging into the beautiful moonlit courtyard outside.

“Grandpa,” Rose said, “I’m going to show Caleb around the island for a bit, all right? I’ll check back at the port in a couple of hours or so to see if Mom and Dad have returned.”

“Okay, darling.” Aiden gave his granddaughter another hug before we parted ways.

Once we were left alone, she looked up at me. Her beautiful face broke out into a smile. “So,” she said, wrapping an arm around my waist and squeezing me against her playfully, “what do you think of The Shade so far?”

“It’s quite impressive,” I replied, looking back at the witch’s temple.

“You’ve barely seen anything yet.” She had a twinkle in her eye. “I want to take you to The Residences now, but it’s a fair walk. Could you carry me? I’ll tell you how to get there.”

I bent down as she wrapped her arms around my shoulders, her legs around my waist.

I began to speed through the forest, following her directions.

“Okay, stop here,” she said, as we approached a particularly tall redwood tree. I put her down and she pointed upward. I couldn’t help but inhale at the sight above me. Magnificent penthouses sprawled out among the treetops. They looked more stunning than rumor had made them out to be.