“Have the hunters come.”

CHAPTER 46: DEREK

I was dragging myself through the entire day. The heavy weight that settled on my chest the moment I realized that I had just lost my father was inescapable. I’d always been at odds with Gregor Novak but I had never wished such a death on him. I had no idea how to face Vivienne. I wasn’t even sure if she’d already been told. I sure didn’t want to be the one to break the news to her. The mere thought of seeing her tears over the passing away of our father was more emotion than I knew how to handle.

It seemed that it was the hand I’d been dealt. Fix one problem and another will pop up. You’re not even allowed time to just gather yourself together and pick the pieces up to prepare for the next tragedy.

By the end of the day, I was ready to escape into sleep—the only recourse I had that would allow me to shut all my anxieties, fears and doubts out. I momentarily entertained the idea of going to Sofia at The Catacombs, but sleep really seemed to be a more enticing escape than even my lovely redhead, who for certain was with Aiden, someone who would once again remind me about what I was already deeply guilty about. I could still feel Sofia’s blood coursing through me. I was certain that it was the wellspring I was drawing life from throughout that day. It was also my deepest source of shame.

I just want to escape. All of it. For a few hours, I want to be rid of all of this.

Xavier had gone with me to the Pavilion—most likely to check on Vivienne, who was being looked after by Liana. When he realized that I was off to my own penthouse, Xavier called me out on it. “Aren’t you even going to check on Vivienne? I think she needs you.”

I tensed at the thought. “I don’t know if I can…”

“You have to, Derek. If there’s anyone who can understand what you’re going through, it’s her. And it’s your comfort and presence that she needs most right now. She’d barely just wrapped her head around Lucas’ death at The Oasis. She needs you for this.”

I knew he was right, so despite the ache I felt inside, I begrudgingly obliged. I made my way to my sister’s penthouse and found her inside her greenhouse, amidst her beloved orchids, roses, lilies and tulips. Her blue-violet gaze was misty with tears.

“Vivienne…”

She looked up and the moment she laid eyes on me, she broke down crying. She immediately approached me and threw her arms around my neck. I wrapped my hands around her waist and pulled her against me, allowing her to sob as long and as much as she needed to. I didn’t know what to say to her. I found myself hoping that my presence was enough, because I couldn’t find the right words to comfort her.

“It’s just you and me now…” she rasped out in between sobs, her voice hoarse and choked. “We’re the last of the Novaks.”

I hung my head—almost as if I was ashamed that this was true, almost as if it was my fault Gregor was gone.

When her sobs subsided, she pulled away from me and nodded slowly, her eyes fixed on a black orchid which she was gently caressing with her thumb. “I knew it would happen…” she eventually said. “He was too far into the dark. He was fighting with every bit of his strength to stay in the light, but even you weren’t strong enough to stand against it when it began to consume you. He’d been giving into it for too long.”

“I don’t understand…”

Vivienne caught my eye in that way only she could—that way that made me feel as if she were looking into the depths of my soul. I would look into her eyes and find uncharted galaxies behind them. I knew that I could never really grasp or comprehend her depth.

“I think he chose us, Derek. That’s why he’s dead. That explains the message on his arm. He chose us over darkness.”

“He hated me,” was all I could manage to say as I fought back my own tears.

Vivienne shook her head. “He lost a lot of himself. I know he wasn’t the greatest father, but he did the best he could. He was a weak man. He was nothing like you, Derek. He never hated you. He envied you.”

I smiled bitterly. “It doesn’t matter now I guess…”

She heaved a sigh and gently brushed her hand over my face. “I guess what matters is that we still have each other and that no matter where our father is right now, I’m certain that he is much more free than he ever was as ruler of The Shade and father of the great Derek Novak.”

Overcome by emotion, I could no longer keep the tears back. I pulled Vivienne against me. “I’m so glad you’re back, Vivienne. I would have no idea how to get through this without you.”

“You’ll do just fine, Derek. You’ve always been stronger than any of us ever were. Now that you have Sofia back here, you can make it. You can go against the original.”

I pulled away from our embrace, my jaw dropping involuntarily. “You can’t mean that… Vivienne…”

She just smiled at me and turned away. I knew what that meant. She wasn’t willing to say any more and no amount of coaxing from me could make her speak again. She’d said her piece and that was it. I was dismissed.

Going against the original vampire was something that had never crossed my mind. I couldn’t understand why she would even think it. The original was almost a myth to us. None of us knew if the creature really even existed or what it was capable of. It was one thing to battle against something tangible, something you saw and understood, but it was a whole other thing to contend with a powerful unknown.

I was in a daze as I returned to my penthouse, all sense of sleep leaving me. I knew that I couldn’t escape to deep slumber even if I wanted to. Vivienne had just dropped a bomb that would make me toss and turn with anxiety all night.

Thus, I was relieved to open my bedroom door and find Sofia sitting on top of the bed. My guitar was laid on the empty space on the bed beside her. She was busy penciling a drawing on the sketch pad laid over her lap, loose strands of her red hair falling over her face. She looked up through her long lashes the moment I entered and smiled.

“Rough day, huh?”

“As rough as it could get…” I leaned against the doorpost in a show of resignation. “I haven’t yet been able to rise up from one wave crashing over me before another one comes raging toward me again.”

She tapped gently on the guitar beside her. “It’s been a while since I last heard you play.”

No matter how exhausted I felt, I realized that I wanted nothing more than to surround myself with that which I loved—music and Sofia. I sat over the edge of the bed and took the guitar. I began strumming a chord to make sure it was in tune. Satisfied that it was, I began to pluck away, losing myself in the sound of the music.

I could feel Sofia settle herself behind me, leaning her chin over my shoulder as she watched me play. As I continued to play tune after tune after tune, she began whispering encouragements in my ear. “You’re strong. Brave. Courageous. You don’t need to give in to the darkness in order to get through this. I know you. I know that we can make it through this. We’re going to fight this together.”

I had no idea how long it took before we eventually settled down on the bed, snuggling against each other, enjoying that momentary reprieve. We were each other’s refuge and in that bedroom, holding Sofia in my arms, it felt as if the world was as it should be.

“The hunters are coming tomorrow…” Sofia whispered as she brushed her fingers over my chest. I could hear the hesitation in her voice. I could tell she felt apprehensive about bringing up the subject. “You ready for that?”

“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.”