A collective gasp filled the room. I wasn’t sure if it was because of Derek’s bluntness or if it was because not everybody knew that Aiden Claremont was my father. Either way, tension sparked between the two men.

The urgency of the situation forced my attention away from Ben as it began to sink in to me that the love of my life was very much in danger of getting killed by my father.

Aiden quickly changed the topic. He gave Derek a momentary, questioning glare. “Borys Maslen?”

“He got away,” Derek responded. “Ingrid?”

“We’re holding her captive.”

An awkward silence followed until Derek broke it. “I won’t leave Sofia.”

“Then you’ll have to come with us. You sure a vampire like you would be willing to walk right into the hunters’ headquarters?”

“Why not?” Derek shrugged. “I was once a hunter.”

“Reuben…” a young woman with blue-streaked hair interrupted. “We have to go.” She couldn’t seem to bear looking at Ben. My father nodded. He gave Derek a cold and suspicious glance before shaking his head and saying, “Get Ben’s body. Let’s go.” He reached his hand toward me at the exact same time Derek did.

I tore my eyes away from Ben’s body—now being taken away by the hunters—and looked at the two men, holding their hands out to me. I didn’t hesitate. I took Derek’s hand, not missing the flash of hatred in my father’s eyes at the sight of The Shade’s monarch.

Derek pulled me against him and gently caressed my forehead with his lips. I turned to face my father to find him removing his jacket. He handed it to me. “Cover up.”

Relieved, I took the jacket and put it on, zipping it up to my neck. I then clung on to Derek’s hand as we headed for the elevator. As it rose up through the levels of The Oasis, I got a glimpse of all the bloodshed that had just occurred. I realized that it certainly wasn’t just the vampires of The Oasis that had been slaughtered.

“They killed all the human slaves too,” I whispered into Derek’s ear when I saw the elderly maid who had dressed me lying motionless on the ground.

He nodded. “In the eyes of a hunter, Naturals and any human loyally serving a vampire are just as bad as the creature itself.”

“Then they could just as easily kill me for my loyalty to you.”

“Not as long as your father holds any authority with the hunters…”

Suddenly, I understood why Ben had turned his back on the hunters. My best friend was out for revenge, but he never would’ve willingly taken the life of an innocent.

We finally reached level one and just as we surmised from what we saw through level seven’s surveillance monitors, the hunters had blown off the entire top level of The Oasis. I was relieved to find that the sun had already set by the time we reached the top level, because I dared not imagine what would happen to Derek should the sun’s rays shine on him.

The bloodbath we had passed through before reaching the hunters’ helicopters was sickening. At one point, I looked at Derek, silently admiring him for stopping something like this from happening at The Shade. I squeezed his hand and he looked my way. He smiled and that gesture alone made me feel a lot better.

“I didn’t think we were going to make it out of here,” he admitted.

“Neither did I, but we still have a prophecy to fulfil together, Derek.”

“I don’t know how I’ll be able to keep myself from craving you, Sofia…”

“I trust you,” was all I could think to say before I caught sight of my father who was waving for us to hurry up. We rushed forward until we reached one of the choppers. That was when I saw Claudia climbing into one of them. I pointed at her to get Derek’s attention.

He frowned. “That vampire!” he screamed at my father through the noise of the chopper’s propellers. “Why is she being brought with you?”

“Ben demanded it!” was Aiden’s response.

Derek and I exchanged confused glances. Why on earth would Ben ask the hunters to spare Claudia’s life?

“Let’s go!” Aiden sounded impatient and borderline angry.

Thus, Derek and I quickly climbed into the chopper. I cuddled up against him as we got seated, my father sitting across from us. As the chopper rose in the air, I once again remembered Ben and grabbed Derek’s hand as I sobbed into his shoulder.

He knew me enough to know why I was in tears, so all he did was hum our song and hold me tight. “There’ll be better days, Sofia.”

I hoped he was right. At that moment, everything was just too overwhelming, too dark, and through it all, Derek seemed to be my only ray of light.

CHAPTER 56: DEREK

It felt like I was riding to my death. I was surrounded by hunters and I was willingly heading toward the last place any vampire should be. The hunters’ headquarters.

I could feel Aiden’s glare burning through me. I knew that in his eyes, I was the enemy. In his eyes, I had brainwashed Sofia into loving me. I knew that he would do everything to take Sofia away from me. It’s the way I would’ve thought had I still been a hunter.

I clung to Sofia, driven mad by how much I was craving her blood. I swallowed hard as I pressed my lips against her cheek. I couldn’t remember ever wanting anyone as much as I wanted her. The fact that I was in love with her only added to the heavy ache that seemed to permanently settle on my chest.

No wonder Lucas couldn’t keep himself away from her…

Lucas. My jaw tightened at the recollection of seeing my brother burst into flames. I’d never liked him, but he was still my brother. Seeing him meet his end brought no satisfaction whatsoever.

I found myself wondering where my father was. Does he know that Lucas is gone? That we’re the only two Novaks left? I held back the tears. I wasn’t about to break down. Not in front of all these hunters.

Death and darkness surrounded us and it felt like there was more of it to come.

My arm tightened around Sofia, who gently whimpered at the motion as she snuggled closer to me, trying to sleep her heartbreak away. I knew she was hurting. I knew how important Ben was to her.

“So you’re Derek Novak.” The girl with blue-streaked hair, sitting next to Aiden, had been glaring daggers at me ever since she had laid eyes on me. “Ben’s dead because of you?”

I narrowed my eyes at her, trying to make sense of her twisted logic. “How is his death my fault?”

She shrugged one shoulder. “Your brother killed him.”

“I’m not my brother. Just in case you didn’t notice, he’s dead right along with every other person you murdered back there.” The discourse we were having made it brilliantly clear that I wasn’t going to get along with this particular hunter. From the way she was shooting glares from me to Sofia, it seemed she wasn’t much of a fan of the girl I loved either.

“What did you do to her?” It was Aiden who spoke up this time. “Does she really believe that she’s in love with you?”

“Why don’t you ask her that question yourself when she wakes up? If you think I’ve somehow brainwashed her, you’re wrong. I truly love your daughter.”

The face darkened. It looked as if he was debating within himself whether or not he should kill me while Sofia was asleep. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he did exactly that.

“I don’t trust you,” he eventually spoke up.

“The feeling is mutual, sir.”

“My daughter is the only reason you’re still alive, Derek. I can’t promise that I’ll be able to protect you from the other hunters once we arrive at our destination.”

I stared right at him, making it a point to look straight into his eyes. No matter how much mistrust there was between us, he was still Sofia’s father and for that reason alone, he deserved my respect. “I realize that.”

“And yet you still came with us?”

I nodded. “I can’t leave Sofia. Not after everything that happened at The Oasis. I was walking right to my death when I went there to get her. What difference does it make now?”

He eyed me warily, hatred one of the many emotions being channelled by his cold glare, but there was also one other emotion that wasn’t there before. Respect. The rest of the ride was spent in silence, with me getting rather accustomed to the nasty stares I was still receiving.

Finally, Aiden and the blue-haired huntress started fidgeting in their seats and stretching their necks. I peeked outside the window and saw a long runway strip.

“Derek?” Sofia blinked her eyes several times, before full wakefulness came upon her. “Ben?”

I shook my head sadly. Tears once again moistened her eyes, but this time, none of them spilled over. She held back the tears and nodded in acceptance even as she gulped down the pain. This was her life now. A life surrounded by warring factions of vampire covens and hunters. Ben wasn’t the first person she’d lost since getting caught up in this world I lived in, and he definitely wasn’t going to be the last.

I could see her disheartenment, and I found myself fighting against the idea that I would lose her to her own jadedness. I wanted to preserve her, keep her innocent.

“What’s on your mind, Sofia?” I found myself asking.

Her hand caught mine, gripping tightly, before looking me straight in the eye. “I wouldn’t know what to do if I ever lost you.”

CHAPTER 57: SOFIA

After the chopper landed on the runway, both Derek and I were given a set of clothes we could change into before we were ushered into the private jet, a clear indication of the kind of affluence, power and wealth the hunters had. We made ourselves comfortable inside.

I could tell that something was bothering Derek as he sat on the seat next to mine. It was easy to see from the listlessness of his blue eyes and the many times I noticed him swallow hard.

I grabbed hold of his wrist and looked questioningly. He gave me a quick glance and I could swear I saw his lips quiver. He wiggled my hand away and shook his head. “I’m fine.”