A Shade of Vampire (A Shade of Vampire #1)(36)

I caught my own thoughts. I tensed at the realization. The woman I loved. That’s how I saw Sofia. Now that Lucas had tasted her blood, he would always be after her, though I was certain that he’d been after her since the night of the attack. I had no doubt in my mind that it was him who hurt Sofia and killed Gwen. I hated that I was too much of a coward to face him. This was my fault.

I raised the stake and targeted my brother’s heart.

The smirk on his face disappeared when he realized I had every intention of killing him. He had simply gone too far. He actually cowered in fear when I made the motion to stab him. Relief washed over his face when someone stood to his defense.

“Derek, no…”

At first, I thought it was Vivienne, but it wasn’t. I would know Sofia’s soft voice anytime I heard it.

“You’re not safe from him,” I hissed through gritted teeth.

“I never was.” She panted.

I could tell from the way she spoke that she was conflicted, most likely debating against her own reasons for keeping me from driving that stake into Lucas’ heart.

“Then why should he live?! He has to die!”

Sofia’s answer reminded me why I adored her so much.

“If you kill your own brother, Derek, you might never be able to forgive me. Or worse than that, you might never be able to forgive yourself.”

She knew me – all sides of me – but she never treated me like a creature of the dark. When she looked at me, it felt as if she still saw someone capable of light.

I dropped the stake and loosened my hold on my brother. He lost no time in taking advantage of what he most likely perceived as a momentary lapse of sanity and rushed out of the room. He hasn’t changed at all. Lucas was a coward and a bully. He never did stand up to those who were more powerful than him, but he found enjoyment in preying on the weak.

That was why I was certain that as long as she was at the Blood Shade, Sofia would never be safe.

Lucas would stalk her and hunt her like he would an animal. He wouldn’t relent until he’d had his fill of her. Unless I killed him.

I flinched when I felt her soft hand brush up my arm. I turned around and forced myself to look at her. She tossed the pieces left of her night shift over herself to try and cover up her bare upper torso. I ripped off my shirt immediately and pulled it over her head. I once again made a cut on my palm and made her drink my blood. It was at that moment that I realized that her friend was already awake, watching us – specifically me – with untrusting eyes.

I ignored him, and waited for Sofia’s wounds to heal, my eyes fixed particularly on Lucas’ bite marks on her neck. “I’m so sorry, Sofia. I failed you again.”

She looked so pale and weak from the attack, as she shook her head. “No, Derek. You saved me… again.”

“Sofia…did he rape you?” I couldn’t look into her eyes when I asked the dreaded question.

The question obviously broke her heart and I hated that I had to ask it. She shook her head.

“No. He didn’t,” she assured me.

However, I could tell somehow that he had done everything but. It sickened me that I could be related to such a monster.

“You have to go, Sofia.”

At first, there was shock in her eyes, then there was just confusion.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll let you leave the Blood Shade.” I’ll let you leave me was actually what I wanted to say.

I wanted her to tell me that she’d rather stay, that she trusted me enough to protect her. She didn’t. It crushed me when what she did instead was embrace me and say, “Thank you.”

CHAPTER 27: SOFIA

I wanted to take the girls with me and insisted on it. Derek wouldn’t hear of it. In fact, he simply ignored me. He wouldn’t even look at me. But he looked at Ben and said, “Protect her.”

Ben just looked at him incredulously as if to say that he didn’t need to be told to do that. It was easy to see that Ben didn’t really like Derek and saw no reason to be grateful for what he was doing.

I saw differently. I knew how much Derek was risking by helping us escape. He was severely compromising the safety of everyone at the Shade by letting us go. He was giving his kind a reason to question his rule. I feared for him – so much so that I found myself debating if I even wanted to leave.

What he told Ben next tore me apart inside.

“Make sure she gets home safe.”

Home. I told him that he’d begun to feel like home, and at that moment, I knew I was lying to myself if I was trying to convince myself that by leaving the Blood Shade, I’d be going back home. At that point, I wasn’t sure where home was anymore, but it didn’t change the fact that both mine and Ben’s lives were in severe danger by staying there. Mine because of Lucas’ determination to have me. Ben’s because of his connection to me…and Claudia.

So, the escape went on as planned.

It became apparent that Derek knew the Blood Shade quite well. He knew where to go and what to do in order to remain hidden. Considering how Corrine had already told him about my LLI, that too was a risk. He knew that I would remember every single detail of my escape. It meant that should I ever return to the Blood Shade, I would be well acquainted with the road to escape, even in the dark. With every step I took nearer to the port where Derek already secured a ride for us that would return us to the beach from where we were first stolen, I realized how much I didn’t want to go. Not because I suddenly found a special spot in my heart for the Blood Shade, but because I didn’t want to be anywhere where he wasn’t.