A Shade of Novak (A Shade of Vampire #8)(54)

“I should hope so,” Eli said, crossing his arms over his chest and looking down at me sternly. “You both are exceedingly lucky to be alive. We honestly thought that we’d lost you.”

My parents broke through the crowd and approached me. My father put his hand on my shoulder. His fierce eyes always melted me.

“You’re going to get an earful from us too later, don’t you worry,” he said. “But for now, we’re going to check on your brother.”

He bent down and placed a kiss on my head. Then they left and the others trickled out too after them, leaving Caleb and I standing alone in the music room once again. He had moved over to a corner as soon as the crowd of vampires had entered.

One look at his ashen face, and I knew what he was about to say.

Chapter 40: Rose

“I need to leave now.”

I realized that inviting him onto the island had been nothing more than an excuse to delay this moment.

Gulping back the lump in my throat, I nodded. I looped my arm through his and we walked out of the music room, through the corridors and out of the penthouse. Neither of us spoke a word as we took the elevator down to the ground and made our way back along the forest path toward the Port.

Throughout The Shade’s history, the Port always had been a place of goodbyes. But I had never hated the place as much as I did now.

I walked with him until he stopped at the edge of the jetty.

His breathing mirrored my own as he looked down into my eyes one last time. Heavy. Constricted.

“I’d rather not drag this out any longer,” he said, his voice husky as he detached my arm from his.

I nodded, biting my lip to prevent it from trembling.

“Goodbye,” he said.

“Goodbye.”

He turned and motioned to climb back through the hatch.

“Caleb,” I stammered just before he lifted himself off the ground.

He turned to look back down at me, frowning.

“What?”

“If there’s ever a way you can free yourself from that island… Please, come back here.”

He froze at my words, his chocolate-brown eyes locked on mine. Then something sparked in them that I had never witnessed in such intensity. Passion. Desire. Fire. Before I could even realize what was happening, he’d leapt back down and wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me close against him. Gripping the base of my neck with his other hand, he forced his lips against mine.

The strength of his hunger for me overpowered my ability to return it in kind. I closed my eyes and reached my hands into his hair, gripping it and pulling myself closer against his body. Breathing in his scent, I relished every second that his tongue brushed against mine.

And then just as abruptly, it was over.

Still breathing heavily, he pulled away.

“I don’t belong in your world, Rose.”

He lifted himself up against the vessel and a few seconds later, he was gone.

When the hatch clicked shut, I could no longer hold back the tears. The ache in my chest consumed me.

Damn this cruel port and its tradition of first-and-last kisses.

As the submarine disappeared beneath the waves, it felt like a piece of me was drowning with it.

Chapter 41: Aiden

My life and the lives of most other vampires on this island had been utterly taken over by the disappearance of the twins. We’d used every hour of the day worrying about them and trying to locate them.

Although Ben appeared shaken by whatever he had gone through in Stellan’s island—far more shaken than Rose—the twins were back.

Life can finally return to normalcy.

The first thing I did was seek out Adelle. She’d been worried sick just like the rest of us, but she hadn’t come with us on any of our excursions because she—along with Abby and a few other witches—had to keep up their duties looking after the children on the island.

I suspected that at this time of day she might still be in her office in the school. I raced through the corridors and knocked on the door, relieved to see that my guess had been correct.

She stood up, her eyes widening as soon as she saw me.

“What’s going on?” she asked, hurrying over to me.

“They’re back,” I panted. “Both twins are safe.”

She clapped a palm over her forehead and breathed out.

“Oh, thank heavens. It feels like this whole island has been holding its breath for their return.”

“Ben’s extremely shaken by whatever happened to him,” I continued. “He has refused to talk about details with anyone yet. But at least physically, he’s recovering under Corrine’s expert care.”

“And Rose?”

“She seems to be fine. A few scratches, but nothing to speak of.”

“I can’t tell you how relieved I am,” Adelle said, leaning against a desk and brushing hair away from her face with the back of her sleeve.

Mirroring her body language, I leaned against the chalkboard.

“Things can finally return to normal,” I said.

“You look exhausted,” she commented, eyeing me.

I nodded. “I think I’m going to go and get some rest. I just wanted to make sure you’d heard the news first.”

“Thank you. It’s much appreciated.”

“And… uh, there also was one other thing I wanted to say.”