A Trail of Echoes (A Shade of Vampire #18)(32)

I walked slowly as I crossed the clearing beyond the Port. All my senses were overwhelmed by the beauty of the place. The fragrance of exotic flowers mixed with the scent of the giant sequoia trees. The ocean breeze against my skin. The whispering of leaves and the chirping of birds. The moon amid a sea of stars, casting down a sheen of pale light.

I’d only set foot on this island for a few minutes, but I already sensed that The Shade was a place of magic. A place of mystery. A place where anything could happen.

Always night. I can’t believe it’s always night here.

Leaving the clearing and entering the forest, I found myself walking along a path that was clearly well trodden. I looked around wide-eyed, listening for any sounds of someone near me. So far, the noisiest thing was the snapping of twigs beneath my feet.

It felt like I’d been walking for perhaps a mile through the forest when voices drifted toward me from the trees to my right. I squinted, looking toward the source of the noise. Seeing nothing but thick trunks, I left the path and began making my way through the undergrowth.

Peering through the last line of trees, I found myself staring down at a magnificent lake. Standing in an old boathouse were a man and a woman—a pretty woman with long red hair, and a tall dark-haired man wearing glasses.

Going by Ben’s description of his mother, I thought for a moment that this might be her, but I soon realized that she wasn’t as the man spoke.

“I can’t go on like this, Adelle.”

Adelle’s face was ashen as she looked down at her feet.

“You’re bottling something up,” the man continued. “I’ve sensed you have been for the past few months. And I… I can’t be with someone who doesn’t trust me enough to speak their mind.”

The redhead heaved a sigh. “I’m so sorry. I know. It’s not fair. I-I’ve just been so scared to tell you.” She reached out and touched his arm. “I don’t want to hurt you, Eli. I really don’t.”

“Just tell me what’s on your mind. As long as it’s the truth, it doesn’t matter if it hurts.”

“I… I’m in love with Aiden.”

Eli’s jaw twitched as he took a step back from her. He swallowed hard, then nodded slightly.

“I guessed as much.”

“I thought I could forget about him. I really did. I just… I simply can’t.”

Eli cleared his throat. “So you’ve loved him all this time. At least… now we know where we stand. We were living a lie before.”

The woman wrapped her arms around Eli and hugged him. “I still care about you so much. I do.”

He hugged her back stiffly.

“I hope you won’t hold any grudge against Aiden. He’s been nothing but honorable. He urged me to come back to you when I left you.”

Eli nodded.

Adelle sounded close to tears. “I think I’m going to leave The Shade.”

Eli raised a brow. “Leave?”

“Yes. Not forever, but for a while. I need to take some time out… reorient myself.”

“Where will you go?”

She bit her lip. “I’m not sure where I’ll end up exactly. I’d like to travel a bit.”

Eli paused, then said, “I think that’s a good idea.”

“I’ll move my stuff out of your apartment tonight. And I think I’ll leave the island tomorrow morning. One of the other witches will have to step in as headmistress while I’m gone.”

“Okay… You go ahead and do what you have to do. The front door is open. I need some time alone.”

Adelle drew Eli in for another hug, and then—to my shock—she vanished from the spot.

Wow. Could she be… a witch?

Recovering from the surprise, I felt bad for listening in on such a personal conversation, but I needed to speak to someone, and didn’t want to interrupt.

Now that this Eli was on his own, I crept out of the trees and approached him.

“Um, excuse me,” I said tentatively.

He spun around, and his eyes widened as he looked me over.

He frowned. “Who are you?”

“My name is River. River Giovanni. I’m a friend of Benjamin Novak. He sent me here and I need to speak to his parents, Derek and Sofia. Can you please take me to them?”

His expression turned from surprise to shock. “Y-Yes, of course. But, how on earth did you get here?”

“Ben brought me,” I said.

“Ben? He’s in The Shade?”

“He’s waiting in a submarine just outside the island.”

“Follow me,” Eli said at once.

Clearly this person was a vampire. He began speeding away too fast for my half-blood legs to keep up.

He stopped when he saw that I was lagging behind, and hung back for me to catch up. “What are you exactly? Your skin is pale like a vampire’s, but you’re clearly not one.”

“I’m a half-blood.”

“Half-blood?” he said, peering down at me all the more curiously though his glasses.

“Please, I can explain everything, but I need to speak to Derek and Sofia urgently.”—I kept thinking about Ben with my container of blood. I was still having doubts how long that would last him before the human blood of The Shade began calling to him.