“Do you really think we should go ahead and get married, Derek?” I felt guilty just asking the question, but I couldn’t keep myself from asking either.

“Don’t you?” was his response. “You said so yourself so many times… we belong together.”

At that, I couldn’t help but give in. It was hard not to with him being so loving and tender and sweet. Why resist it? Why not now? Still, I couldn’t deny to myself that I felt a cold sense of foreboding regarding the whole thing.

I tried to shake it off as we spent more time together that night, but I just couldn’t. When we ended up in his couch and he began to tug at my shirt to expose my neck, my heart sank when I realized what he was doing. He didn’t ask for my permission or consent. He just bit into my neck and began feeding on my blood.

As I sat there, feeling his body pressed against mine, his teeth sinking into my skin, I couldn’t help but wonder: If he never becomes mortal, is this how it’s going to be? Is this going to be what life is like?

For the first time in a long time, I saw him as a predator and I, his willing prey.

Chapter 12: Ian

Screams were a common thing within The Catacombs. They were as familiar to the Naturals as an ambulance’s siren would be to people outside of The Shade – or so the books say. While someone screaming with terror was a cause for alarm, a Natural never quite runs to the rescue unless they fear that the person screaming was one of their loved ones.

So, for a guy like me, who was orphaned at fourteen and didn’t have any loved ones to worry about, screams never really became a source of alarm.

One particular night, I realized that things were different, because when I heard a piercing scream, I immediately found myself sitting up on my mat, blood pounding and heart racing. One name began echoing in my head. Anna.

Ever since Sofia led the rebellion against Derek’s father, Gregor, and his idea of another culling in The Shade, things had been very different around The Catacombs. I was already leading a group of rebels – mostly teenagers like me – against the idea of a culling ever being done again. Once was enough and the horror it brought all of us was still fresh in our hearts and minds. During a culling, all the humans of The Catacombs deemed to be weak or in any way useless, were killed. Their blood was harvested and preserved for future consumption by the vampires.

Sofia, whom I wasn’t much of a fan of in the beginning, was instrumental in getting Derek Novak, then prince of The Shade, to stand with the humans against the culling. Of course, where Derek stood, a whole bunch of the vampire elite followed.

Since then, the humans had gotten more of a voice in The Shade, and thanks to Sofia, mine was one of them. For the first time in a long time, I allowed myself to hope once again that things could turn around on the island. More than all of that, I hoped once again that perhaps I could have the old, vibrant, carefree and joyful Anna back. This hope was sparked further when one night when Anna found her way to my quarters. She was carrying a rose with her. She knelt on the ground and shook me awake. At first, I was annoyed, but when I saw that it was her, I once again found myself catching a breath over her beauty.

“Anna? What is it?”

She laid the white rose in front of me and smiled. “You don’t have to cry anymore, Ian. Everything’s going to be alright. I promise.” Her tone was childlike, her eyes wide with excitement.

I wondered where she got the rose, but I thought better not to ask. I was too busy choking back the tears as I remembered her being the adored beauty of The Catacombs, back before Felix broke her.

“Thank you, Anna.”

She lay on the stone ground beside me, rolling to her side to face me. “Can I sleep here, Ian? I don’t think Felix will mind as long as we don’t touch. I’m afraid to sleep alone tonight.”

I nodded, careful not to touch her, knowing how erratic her moods were. I liked this docile version of her. “You can sleep here, Anna, but not on the ground.” I got up and retrieved another mat – the one my mother used before – and set it on the space beside me. “You can lie down here.”

She seemed grateful as she took her place on the mat. I gave her my pillow and she seemed to hesitate taking it, but I insisted. “A pillow for the rose, Anna.”

She understood, smiled, and nodded, before laying her head on the pillow and quickly drifting off to sleep. She slept in my quarters three straight nights before she stopped. I sought her out that fourth night and found her sleeping like a baby in her own quarters. After another three nights, she once again requested to sleep in mine, something I readily allowed her to do. I got used to her requesting to sleep in my quarters, but I found myself craving her presence more and more.

So, when I heard that piercing scream during that night, I found myself worried because I realized that I had once again began to care about someone other than me.

The scream was followed by another and then another and I found myself jolting out of my room and rushing towards the sound of the scream. By the time I got to her quarters, I found three men – all older than me –inside her chambers. One of them had her pinned to the wall, his hand clamped over her mouth.

There’d already been rumors that some men were taking advantage of her but I never thought the rumors could be true. We all thought that they were just the insane mutterings of a crazy woman. After all, who would ever want to hurt Anna?

That night, I found out. “Get your hands off her!”

One of the men glared at me, a grin forming on his face. “Oh, look… It’s Ian. What? You’re not willing to share? Don’t play nice, Ian. We all know she’s been sleeping in your quarters for nights in a row.”

The thought that he was accusing me of what they were about to do – or perhaps even what they’d already been doing – caused me to see red and I began attacking. While I was able to take one man down in a wild fit of fury, I didn’t stand a chance against the two other men.

One was already holding me by the arms while the other was poised to hit me when someone unexpected showed up. Kyle. A vampire guard.

I looked at him and wondered, what on earth is he doing here? Anna ran to him, seeking safety behind him.

“Everything’s going to be okay, Anna,” he assured, before casting a glare at the two men holding me back. “Let go of him,” he commanded and the two men readily obliged, lifting their hands up in the air in surrender.

Even they were smart enough to know not to mess with a vampire.

“Did you ever touch her before this night?” Kyle asked them.

The men shook their heads while one shook as he swore, “We never did. Not until tonight.”

I knew without a doubt in my mind that they were lying. I gently brushed a hand over Anna’s bare arm and was relieved when she looked my way without flinching. “Have you ever seen these men before, Anna? Did they come to hurt you before?”

She nodded. “They always come. I’m afraid Felix might find out. He won’t want me anymore if they touch me. I try to tell them, but they won’t listen.”

I wanted to kill them then and there, but it seemed Kyle already beat me to that idea. “Get her out of here,” he ordered. “I don’t want her to see this.”

The men began begging for their lives even as I gently led Anna away. I didn’t even hear the men scream, but I was sure that they met their deaths. I wondered if they had children and wives to look after. I wondered if Kyle had created widows and orphans by killing them. I wanted to feel a sense of loss, but I couldn’t. It was the way of The Shade. Life was fragile. We were all used to that knowledge.

It didn’t take long before Kyle caught up with me and Anna.

“Where are you taking her?” he asked.

“To my quarters. She’ll be safer there.”

He looked at me suspiciously before turning his eyes toward the lovely young woman who was staring blankly at the space ahead of us. “Did he ever touch you, Anna?”

I gritted my teeth at what he was trying to imply, but I couldn’t exactly blame him. I would’ve suspected myself too had I been in his place.

To my relief, Anna shook her head. “No. He never did. Ian is my friend. He’s just sad. Sometimes, I wish he could be happier.”

I drew a breath at what she said. I loved her. I loved Anna. How could I not? I returned my gaze to the vampire whom we owed her rescue to.

Kyle’s eyes softened as he gazed at her. He then turned his attention toward me. He was about to say something, but it was my turn to scrutinize him. He seemed to get the implication of my glare. “I assure you… I could never do anything to harm her. At least not purposely…”

I believed him. I knew Anna wouldn’t be so comfortable around him if she didn’t feel safe with him.

Kyle shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “I think she’d be better off staying in one of the spare rooms at Sofia’s quarters.”

Sofia was still gone. The latest news we heard about her was that she and Derek were being held captive at hunter territory. I nodded. “Fine. Knowing Sofia, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.”

We brought her to the quarters, where Rosa, Lily and her kids were already staying. We both stayed to look after her that night, glaring suspiciously at each other every once in a while. It took some time before we were able to trust each other to be left alone with Anna, but we never quite got past the tension. I knew why.

We never said it out loud, but I was certain that both of us were hoping that Anna would pick one of us over the other.

I had just tucked Anna into the queen-sized bed in one of the guest rooms of Sofia’s quarters. She was already sleeping soundly when the unwelcomed visitor spoke up.

“How is she doing?”

I turned around and found Kyle leaning against the doorpost, the vampire’s eyes fixed on Anna. I never quite understood his fixation with her, but it annoyed me. I hated it even more that he was instrumental in Anna’s rescue from the men taking advantage of her. I detested the idea of Anna owing him anything.