She nodded her head toward me, motioning for me to go to her. I found myself eager to be with her so I ran. I kept running, but I never seemed to be able to reach her. I could feel the sunlight on my skin, the same light shining on her, almost shining from her. I ran faster, but it felt like I was running in place and every time I kept my eyes off her, the sun began to burn.

Worry began to crease her face when she realized that I was having trouble reaching her. She stood from the swing and began to run too, reaching out toward me. She was about to reach me, our fingers about to touch, then just like that, she was gone.

I then found myself in a very familiar place, standing on a shore just as the dawn was about to break. I was familiar with that scene, but I couldn’t remember why. I could see the Lighthouse – my refuge. Right then, I heard a whimper followed by a loud, chilling growl.

With the sun about to rise, I knew I had to immediately find shelter before the sun could rob me of all my defenses, but I couldn’t ignore the urge to follow the sound, especially because I knew that this had happened to me before and that everything was going to be alright.

The name of a woman from my past began to flash through my mind.

I know this scene. I have this memory. This was the morning I met Cora.

I ran toward the whimpers and just as I expected, behind a large rock, I found an unconscious woman about to come to her senses. Something was missing from the scene, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

I called out her name. “Cora?”

She rose to her feet and when I saw who it was, I froze. It was Emilia. She was trembling and she ran right into my arms, clinging tightly. I could feel the heat of her tears hitting my skin.

I shuddered at what she said.

“It’s me you belong to, Derek. Not her.”

As if I was being controlled by a will not my own, I nodded. I couldn’t believe the words that then came out of my mouth. “I know, Emilia. I know. I’m over Sofia. My heart belongs to you now.”

The moment the words were said, a piercing scream filled the atmosphere.

I jolted up on my bed, my heart racing, my blood pounding. I was desperately trying to catch my breath. I could still hear the scream echoing in my ear. The one thought circling my mind was, Sofia’s dead. I killed her. It’s my fault she’s dead.

Guilt and panic overwhelmed me as I began to look around the room. I was relieved to find Sofia’s still form on the bed beside me, but I wasn’t satisfied with that. I had to know if she was still alive. I began shaking her. “Sofia?”

She blinked and began to mumble incoherently.

I heaved out a sigh of relief. “You’re alright.” I scooped her sleepy form up in my arms and held tight.

That seemed to be enough to get her to her full senses. “What’s going on?” she drowsily asked.

“I thought I lost you,” I said in what sounded like a string of gasps.

She pulled away from me. This time, alert and worried. “What’s wrong, Derek? What happened?”

“I had a nightmare,” I found myself admitting to Sofia. The sensations I felt then was strange. My heart was pounding against my chest. I was breaking into a cold sweat, but I couldn’t remember a thing about the dream I just had. Not even a single detail. All I knew was that I had this alarming fear inside of me – a fear of Sofia getting hurt. I also had a nagging feeling that Emilia was a lot of trouble for Sofia and me. I swallowed hard as I faced Sofia.

“Tell me about it,” she coaxed.

I scratched the back of my neck as I searched for the right words. “I don’t really remember the dream, but I have to tell you something…” The confession came out like a flood I could not contain. I began telling her about the dreams I had about Emilia and not being able to remember the details after. I was just aware that the dreams had both Sofia and Emilia in them. I knew Sofia deserved to know what was going on, so despite my fears of how she would take it, I found myself revealing everything.

Sofia listened, taking every word in silently, asking questions where she needed more information.

“I can’t deny that I’m attracted to her and that I feel some sort of connection with her, but you have to believe me when I say that she doesn’t stand a chance against you. That’s why I arranged that she be taken out of the island immediately. I don’t want anything or anyone to get between us.”

Sofia gave me a half smile. “Does she have anything to do with why you want to get married all of a sudden?”

I was surprised at how straightforward she was, but then I never knew Sofia as someone who would hold back on speaking the truth. I found myself nodding. “I can’t deny that the dreams had a hand in it. I guess it was my way of saying that it’s you I want to be with. It’s you that I love. You know that, right?”

Her eyes began to moisten. “Of course I do,” she nodded before saying, “I adore you, Derek Novak.” She then cupped my face with her soft hands and pressed her lips against mine. “For the record, I can’t wait to become Sofia Novak.”

Chapter 15: Sofia

Spending the night at Derek’s penthouse, waking up in his bed, and eating breakfast with him reminded me of the way we used to be during our first few months together, when I was still known as his slave and he was still the prince of the island. For the span of a few hours, we were in our own cocoon, away from all the troubles surrounding us.

As I dabbed butter and jam over my piece of toast, I smiled, recalling the time I popped a piece of my breakfast into Derek’s mouth. I looked at him as he drank a gulp of animal blood from his glass on the table. I wonder when I’ll actually be able to share a meal with him.

He noticed my eyes on him and a smile formed on his face. “Can’t get enough of me, can you?”

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t turn the tables on me, Derek. You’re the one who’s craving me all the time.”

His eyes dropped with shame.

I winced. Bad joke. Too close to the trouble our relationship is facing.

He opened his mouth to say something but then he quickly shut it. I wanted to say something to somehow make us forget the elephant in the room – the question we couldn’t ignore. What kind of married life are we going to live out if he’s craving my blood all the time?

“It’s not right and I know it,” he began to say. “I don’t have any excuse for it. I don’t want to give you some lame excuse when it comes to this. You don’t deserve that. I’m sorry.” He began rubbing the back of his neck.

I was sure that he was recalling what happened the night before – something that’d been going on a lot more frequently lately. It was almost as if he would momentarily snap and just give in to the craving. Without really thinking it through, he just takes what he wants and bites.

I didn’t want to talk about it simply because I didn’t know how. I didn’t want to dwell on the heaviness of the issue. “Let’s talk about something else.” I pulled a piece from my toast and threw it at him. “Anything other than that.”

He seemed a bit more hesitant to move on than I did, but he eventually breathed out the tension and threw the piece of toast right back at me. “You’re wasting food.”

“It’s not a waste if I get a smile out of you because of it.” I grinned.

A smile eventually appeared on his chiseled face and despite my familiarity to him, I still found myself blushing.

He seemed pleased, but then he shifted on his seat and I could tell that we weren’t about to escape discussing serious matters. To my relief, he didn’t talk further about our wedding or the cure or his craving for my blood. To my dismay, however, he began talking about my mother.

“Ingrid is acting strange. She asked to see Aiden and when I told her that I couldn’t risk that in fear of what she might do to him, she told me to ask you.”

I shook my head. “It’s too dangerous. We can’t trust her.” I remembered all the times I dared to put my trust in her and sorely regretted it after.

“That’s what I said, but she was asking for another chance. She even asked not to call her Ingrid and call her Camilla instead.”

At that, I couldn’t help but crease my brows in surprise. It was unlike her to ever want to be called Camilla again. “I wonder what game she’s playing.”

“Whatever it is, it’s bothering me,” Derek admitted.

“Could you come with me?” I requested. “When I go see her?”

Derek frowned. “I want to, Sofia, but I did leave a lot of my responsibilities to the council yesterday when I hung out with you. I do need to get back to running The Shade. I can’t bail on them again. I can, however, get one of the Elite to escort you. Ingrid won’t be powerful enough to go against one of the Elite.”

I was disappointed, but I understood. “I think Claudia would be great if that’s alright. She’s been able to spend time with Ingrid. She knows Ingrid.”

Derek wasn’t able to hide his surprise. “You trust Claudia enough?”

I nodded. “Her relationship with Yuri has been good for her I think.”

“Your ability to forgive and forget amazes me.”

I was saddened by the statement. Claudia was probably one of the most demented vampires The Shade had ever known. It took months of me living in The Shade before I found out that Ben, my childhood best friend, a guy I was deeply infatuated with, had also been abducted and brought to The Shade. He was taken by Claudia, who had proven to be a cruel and sadistic mistress. Claudia was the reason Ben hated vampires so much.

Somewhere along the line, however, Claudia managed to get Ben to forgive her, enough that he requested the hunters to spare her life.

“Ben forgave her.” I shrugged. “How could I not?”

“Must I remind you that she tried to turn you into a vampire without your consent?”

“She thought she was doing the right thing. She thought it was the only way we could be together.”