A Shadow of Light (A Shade of Vampire #4)(19)

I didn’t know where he was or if he was in danger. I couldn’t understand why he thought it best to leave without even saying goodbye, but I was sure of one thing… I could never doubt his love for me. That was the hope that carried me to the next day.

Aside from Derek, one more thing bothered my every waking moment: I am the immune. It was one thing I didn’t know how to find the answers to. Telling the hunters about it didn’t seem like the best idea, considering how I had no clue how they would possibly react to me revealing that I should’ve been turned into a vampire many times, but here I am—so completely human still.

Only one other person at hunter headquarters knew that I was immune: Ingrid. The thought of speaking to her, however, made me shudder. I came to the point of desperation, however, and found myself asking my father to let me speak to her.

“Why on earth would you want to talk to that insane woman? The same woman who gave you as a gift to Borys Maslen, and still very much wants to, even now…”

“I want to speak with her. In private. No bugs.” I’d been at headquarters long enough to know that it was difficult to have any conversation in private.

“You can’t trust a word that comes out of her mouth, Sofia.”

At that, I couldn’t help but scoff. “You mean the same way I can’t trust a word that comes out of yours?”

He seemed genuinely offended by the comment. “Why is it so hard for you to believe that I’m on your side? I’m keeping you here for your own safety. I’m your father.”

“You say that like it means something. You’re my father by blood. So what? You abandoned me with the Hudsons for nine years, Aiden! And you said so yourself… Camilla practically offered me up as a sacrifice to Borys Maslen and she’s my mother!”

Aiden’s face reddened, his lips twitching as he obviously tried to reel in his temper. He stood up, his hands gripping the edge of his desk so tightly, his knuckles turned white. “I am nothing like Ingrid. Do not compare me to her. What I did for you, I did because I thought it was the best thing to do. I didn’t want you involved in all this. I wanted you to have a normal, happy life… Something I was deprived of because of the double life I had to live as both a hunter and a businessman.”

I wasn’t in the mood to discuss his shortcomings as a father. “It doesn’t matter. The past is the past. We can’t change it. For now, do you really want to gain my trust?”

He looked relieved and sat back in his seat. “I would do anything to gain your trust, Sofia.”

I raised a brow. “Anything? How about you take me to Derek.”

“I can’t do that and you know it. Even if I could, I wouldn’t know how to find him. I don’t know where the Novak is. He might be at The Shade, but I doubt you’d trust me with that information.”

“So much for anything. Well, if you can’t take me to Derek, then take me to Ingrid. Let me talk to her.”

Aiden gave me a deep look of concern as if he was afraid of what Ingrid could say to me. I realized then that he was trying to protect me from getting hurt by her words. For the first time, I found myself appreciating what it felt like to have a father looking after me. I thought it sad that he could make me feel that way only after a decade. I missed him so much, but it felt like any affection he showed me came too late. At this point, I really just detested how he was butting into my life. Still, I truly hoped that he had my best interest in heart—now and in the past.

“I was never able to control Camilla,” Aiden revealed wistfully. “She had a mind of her own and she was given to a lot of erratic mood swings when we were together. I guess I won’t be able to control you either, will I?”

“You can try, but I think that question is rhetorical.”

“Very well then… I’ll take you to your mother.”

Suddenly I remembered all that I had gone through at The Oasis. Borys’s claws sinking into my thighs, his teeth biting my neck, his hands groping my body… All the while my mother sat back, doing nothing, I swallowed hard. Suddenly, any sense of anticipation I felt about meeting Ingrid faded away and was replaced with pure dread. What exactly am I getting myself into?

CHAPTER 11: DEREK

The Great Dome was the center of all our governmental, judicial and military gatherings. It never failed to remind me of my twin sister, Vivienne, to whom I gave the task of modernizing the dome. She did a brilliant job at it; thus, the place never failed to remind me of her.

At that moment, however, the wave of nostalgia and grief that came with my sister’s passing away at the hands of the hunters wasn’t the only reason I was hesitant to go to the dome. I knew the Elite Council was already waiting there—as I instructed them to. I instinctively knew what I was going to face on arrival: opposition. Truth be told, I was used to that. They weren’t what I was afraid of. Instead, I was afraid of myself, of what I could possibly be capable of doing in case I lost control of my temper.

Neither Sofia nor Vivienne were there to reel me in. Neither of them would be there to remind me that I was capable of goodness. Still, I knew that the council meeting that I had called wasn’t something I could escape from, so when Ashley and Sam, two of Sofia’s closest friends at The Shade, showed up at my penthouse to let me know that Liana instructed them to escort me to the dome, I had no choice but to go.