A Trail of Echoes (A Shade of Vampire #18)(43)

I recalled my failed attempt to turn into a human while The Shade was under attack from the witches. If I had not been saved from the Pit by my wife, I would’ve died. My body had been scorched black after just a few hours. I had not been in there nearly as long as Ben. And yet here he was—although he had clearly been in agony, his body had been hardly covered with more than a few red patches.

It was deeply unsettling that not even Corrine or Ibrahim had a single clue as to why.

Benjamin looked shell-shocked as he sat back down on the treatment bed, staring blankly at Sofia and me. Despite the fact that Sofia and I had done what we’d thought was right for him at the time, I couldn’t help but feel the guilt welling up within me again. I was the one who’d turned him. Ultimately, I was the reason he was going through this torment.

As Benjamin’s eyes fixed on me, his expression changed. It was an expression I knew too well, not just from myself, but from other vampires when bloodlust was taking hold of them.

His facial features darkened, his eyes growing dull and blackish. The failed cure had drained him, and now he was starving for blood.

Although Corrine had just fed him a vial of immune blood, that would have soothed his throat, but it would not have even begun to satisfy the craving that was now roaring in his stomach. If anything, the exquisite taste of the immune blood would have just aggravated his appetite.

“He needs more blood,” Corrine said anxiously. “But we can’t afford to keep giving him pure immune blood.”

River moved closer to Ben, pressing a wrist against his face.

“Leave it to me,” I said, clenching my jaw.

Sofia shot me a confused glance. “How are—”

“I’ll be back in an hour,” I said firmly.

It was time that I stepped out of the room anyway. It was bad enough Ben just being on this island. Me standing in such proximity to him was unnecessary torture. I left the chamber, closing the door behind me, and then left the Sanctuary completely. Emerging in the moonlit courtyard, I hurried forward, my legs speeding me toward the Port. Arriving at the jetty, I walked along it and stopped at the end.

I stared out toward the ocean, past the boundary, until my eyes rested on the five gray hunter ships.

Now that it was amply clear that Ben could not turn back into a human, we needed to satiate him. Even with River standing next to him, diffusing the smell of human blood, there was only so long he could starve himself of blood before even her scent would not be enough to stop him from going on a rampage.

I shuddered, knowing my son’s tendencies so well. I had been like him, albeit not such an extreme case. Although I despised it, even I had been able to drink animal blood if I forced myself.

As I continued to stare out at those gray ships, I knew that Sofia would not approve of what I was about to do. But right now, I couldn’t bring myself to care. I had to do what was best for our son.

Besides, these hunters’ presence was still annoying the living daylights out of me. I might’ve promised not to unleash an all-out war on them, but there was at least something I could do to take out my frustration.

But first, I needed to get help.

* * *

About ten minutes later, I found myself standing outside the mountain cabin of Shayla, a short witch with large eyes and a rounded face. She stood in her doorway, eyeing me curiously.

“What brings King Derek to my cabin?” she asked.

“I need help with something.” Normally, I would have asked Corrine or Ibrahim first, but they were too busy with other matters now. “Magic us both to the Port and I’ll explain,” I said, before she could ask further questions.

She did as I requested, and as we stood at the end of the jetty, staring out toward the hunters’ ships, I explained my plan to her. She looked doubtful, but agreed to go along with it.

After casting an invisibility spell over us, she transported us both outside of the boundary and made us hover above the water next to the ship that was furthest away from our island.

I peered through the windows near the base of the vessel as she moved us from room to room. I was looking for a kitchen, or somewhere a fire could feasibly be started…

I found what I was looking for as we reached the sixth window along. A kitchen area, filled with steel tables. One large gas hob was in the center of the room, atop which were four steaming pots. There was nobody inside.

Shayla and I couldn’t make the mistake of going on board again, lest we trigger another alarm, but having the witch here with me meant that we could do a lot from outside.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Shayla whispered.

“If you’re looking at the stove, then I think so,” I said.

“Okay…” Shayla breathed.

A moment later, Shayla had used her magic to cause the sound of an explosion. Then, manipulating the fire beneath one of the pots, she made it blaze and begin rising upward toward the ceiling. It spread rapidly throughout the room.

The fire alarm went off.

A few moments later, a man dressed in black came hurrying in with a fire extinguisher. As soon as he neared the flames, Shayla filled the room with a thick smog that would impair any surveillance cameras’ lenses.

The rest of the task was fairly simple. Shayla silenced the hunter with a spell, and then vanished him out of the burning room, making him reappear outside beside us, invisible.