A Shadow of Light (A Shade of Vampire #4)(69)

“I don’t know… Are you? If things go south, Sofia, I may need to fight your father… I just…”

“It’s fine,” she cut me off, the assurance coming too quick. “I know you have to do what you have to do.”

I knew it was tearing her up to even think of having to choose between me and her father. “You don’t have to choose you know… I understand…”

“I know, but if I had to choose, you know that I’d choose you in a heartbeat, don’t you?”

Her loyalty and love for me was always a source of astonishment. And it meant the world to me to hear her say it. I placed a kiss on her forehead. “I love you so much, Sofia.”

She smiled up at me. “I know… I want you to start believing that I love you just as much, Derek.”

Her words were like a punch in the gut as I realized that what I had done—by leaving her back at hunter territory—showed her that I didn’t believe in her love for me, in our love. I made the choice apart from her, leaving her out of the equation. I was unfair to her by doing that and I decided right then that it would never happen again.

I knew that we had a rough ride ahead of us, but somehow, that night, I realized that I didn’t need to worry about tomorrow. I was fine where I was. I just needed to take things one day at a time and let tomorrow take care of itself, because no matter what threats were coming our way, I had Sofia in my arms. Just like Sofia, I needed to live in the moment and learn to love every minute of it.

I wished I knew that earlier, because it was such a regretful thing to realize how much I’d wasted my immortality, but I guessed there was no better time to start than now.

CHAPTER 47: SOFIA

We were at the port. All of the Elite Council was present to defend Derek should there be a fight. The deal was that the cure was going to be tested at the port so that the hunters wouldn’t have access to the island the way Aiden did.

The moment the group of six hunters emerged from the submarine, they revealed their faces, except for two, who remained hidden under hooded cloaks. The secrecy made me queasy and I found myself searching for Derek’s reaction. From the way he was staring at the two hooded hunters, I could tell that he too sensed something was amiss.

Our suspicions were confirmed when, with panic laced in his voice, Aiden, who was standing beside me, shouted out, “I don’t know these people. This isn’t them. These aren’t the hunters.”

No sooner had the words come out of his lips when one of the “hunters” lunged for me. Everything happened so fast, I could barely wrap my mind around the whole thing. All I knew was that before I could make sense of what was happening, I had an arm choking my neck, a familiar voice speaking out.

“We came here for her and her alone. You either give me a way out of here or she dies.”

The chill of his breath and the distinct depth of his gravelly voice made it clear who was holding me hostage. Borys Maslen.

My gaze instinctively locked with Derek’s and I found in the blue depths of his eyes a mixture of fury and terror. I tried to make sense of where we were, panic overwhelming me at the idea of once again being taken captive by Borys Maslen. His mere touch was causing goosebumps to form all over my body.

“How…” Derek gasped out, perhaps wondering how on earth vampires—Borys Maslen at that—was even able to get into the submarines without getting recognized.

“Surprised, Novak?” Borys grinned, his breath cold against the back of my ear. “Since you helped the hunters destroy The Oasis, we’ve been getting some outside support. A beautiful witch’s spell kept us disguised as hunters until we could reveal ourselves to you. Now, let us leave with young Sofia here and no one has to get hurt. If you don’t let us go, well, I’ll just have to kill her.”

He began nudging me toward the exit that would lead to the submarine, so I was relieved to find that the way to the submarines had been blocked by several of The Shade’s guards, something that peeved Borys.

“There’s no way you’re getting out of here with Sofia…” Derek yelled.

From the look in his eyes, I had no doubt in my mind that I would see hearts ripped out of their rightful place that day.

“So you’d rather see her die than leave with me?” Borys said, tracing a claw over my bare arm, causing blood to trickle out of the cut. “And I thought you loved her.”

“What do you want from her?”

“Oh, I will always want her just because I want what is mine. She’s mine.” He kissed me on the cheek and I felt the tears trickling down my eyes as everyone around me watched helplessly. “But to be honest, I’m not the only one who wants her away from you, Novak. You’re up against much more powerful forces now.”

I swallowed hard at what he was implying. The original. The desperation in Derek’s face was tearing me apart. I knew it was killing him to see me in Borys’ grasp, even more now that the original was involved.

“She’s my daughter.” Aiden took a step forward. “Let her go. If she belongs with anyone, she belongs with me.”

The other hooded “hunter” chuckled. I didn’t need to know who it was. Ingrid.

“Did you really think your cure would work?” She grinned. “There’s no cure, and lest you forget, she’s my daughter too.”