A Shadow of Light (A Shade of Vampire #4)(28)

I didn’t understand why he was doing this or what he had in store, but I knew without a doubt that I wasn’t going to like it.

Just before I was brought to the Duke’s client, the Duke put a mask on me.

“Keep it on until he’s had his way with you, do you understand? I will know if you disobey me…”

I nodded, though there was no way he could find out, I was too afraid of ever defying him. Upon seeing the man I was going to pleasure that night, I realized immediately why the Duke saw the mask as necessary. The “client” he gave me to was Yuri.

“You’re thinking about that boy again,” Ingrid said. She’d just returned from another one of her midnight rendezvous.

I wondered how she did it…how she was able to just shut off her love for Aiden. I knew I could do that, but I never dared. There were times when I had to push back any thoughts of Yuri—especially when I was with Ben, but I couldn’t do it for long. I craved Yuri’s company, his smile, his words and his presence.

I was enamored by Ingrid Maslen. There were so many things about her that appealed to my own desire for power and control, but something about her repelled me too. We were alike in so many ways—ruined by our past and feeling helpless to make good out of the ashes we rose up from. Staring at her that night, however, I realized that I didn’t want to be anything like her. I also knew that should I have continued in the direction I had been going, I’d turn up exactly like her.

I have so much to make up for.

I was determined that if I were given another chance, things would be different. I’m going to make it up to Yuri. I have to.

A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. It was the young hunter, Zinnia.

“Aiden’s little princess wishes to see you,” she said with disdain. I was then brought to the suite they kept Sofia in.

“Claudia…” she greeted with a tentative smile. “Please have a seat.”

I could tell that she still wasn’t certain if I was friend or foe. I took my seat and waited for her to speak up. I felt vulnerable and unsure of myself.

“I’m going to escape soon. I was just allowed to see Ingrid and spend some time with her and well, she showed me a way out.”

My heart leapt, but from the expression on her face, I could immediately tell that she had no intention of bringing me with her.

“It’s too much of a risk to bring you with me, Claudia. They keep me locked up at night… The only way I can really sneak out is in broad daylight… I just… I don’t know how it would be possible to take you with me.”

“Sofia, if they leave me here, they’re going to kill me. You’re the only reason I’m still alive.”

“No.” She shook her head. “Ben is the reason they’re keeping you alive.”

“I need to get back to The Shade, Sofia… You of all people should understand why, considering that you have a man you love in there too.”

“I understand that, Claudia, and I promise that I will do everything in my power to get you back home once I’m already there. I know Derek. I know I can talk him into finding a way to get you back.”

I tried to smile. I knew Sofia was sincere in her promise, but I also knew that no vampire who had entered hunter territory ever got out, with the exception of Derek. I doubted that I could ever be an exception. Still, I knew that something within me radically changed when I was able to tell Sofia, “I hope you succeed in your escape, Sofia. Don’t forget about me when you do.”

I actually meant it.

CHAPTER 18: SOFIA

She betrayed me. I knew that I was a fool to trust Ingrid, but I did… I gave her another chance and she blew it. I couldn’t understand her.

I found the garden through, the secret passageways Ingrid had told me about. I thought that I was free when I reached open air, only to find Aiden waiting for me.

“Ingrid told me you’d try to escape,” he said through gritted teeth.

I wanted to tell him that it was Ingrid who showed me the way, but I had the inkling that he might’ve already known that. Why would she give me the means to escape only to rat me out to Aiden on the night of my escape? Aiden grabbed me by the arm and practically dragged me to my room. I sat back on the couch inside my living room, watching as Aiden paced the floor in front of me, flaming mad.

“I trusted you, Sofia,” he said.

“Since when?” I practically spat the words out. “You’re keeping me prisoner here, Aiden. I want to go back to Derek.”

“Forget him, Sofia! As long as I am alive, you and him will never be together!”

Tears were brimming my eyes as I shook my head. “You don’t understand what you’re saying. You don’t know how impossible it is for me to forget Derek. We belong together. You don’t know what’s at stake as long as you keep us apart.”

“If he wanted to be with you, Sofia, why isn’t he here? Why did he leave? If he thought that it was better for you to be together than apart, why then is he not making a move to get back to you?”

He was preying on my deepest fears and doubts, but I couldn’t let him. I knew what I had with Derek was real. If he wasn’t coming to me, then there was a damned good reason why and I wasn’t about to sit there and doubt everything we had, because he wasn’t coming through for me the way I had wanted him to. I stared up at my father, not knowing what to say in answer to his questions.