“The speed boats?” At that, I abruptly stopped playing a tune. “He didn’t take a submarine?”

“The subs are new and far slower than a speed boat. He wouldn’t have known how to run the submarines,” Yuri explained. “He hasn’t shown any interest in navigating the subs anyway.”

“So he went out of the island in broad daylight?” I turned on my bench so that I was facing them. “He’ll die for sure…”

“I wouldn’t bet all my marbles on it.” Cameron chuckled. “If there’s anything I admire about your brother, it’s his will to survive.”

Cameron was right. Knowing my brother, he had a plan up his sleeve that would help him survive even the sun. Not being able to argue with Cameron’s reasoning, I had to ask, “Why was Yuri there?”

“He was the one who tipped me off that Lucas was at Claudia’s.”

I eyed Yuri thoughtfully. I didn’t know why I was surprised. I just thought that after all those centuries, the strange thing Claudia and Yuri had going on between them was over. I never fully understood the dynamic of their relationship or Yuri’s blatant outward disdain, and yet seeming fascination, of Claudia.

“How exactly did you come about this information?”

Yuri gave me a response – a long-winded one, as he was inclined to do. His explanation escaped me however, because my mind quickly drifted off to Sofia’s welfare. To say that I didn’t care what happened to her was a lie. The thought of any danger befalling her sickened me. I knew that if Lucas survived – and he most likely would – he would pose a formidable threat to her life. If he wasn’t aware that Sofia was no longer at The Shade, he still had plenty of time and means to find out that Sofia was no longer under my protection.

Part of me wanted to heed to Vivienne’s coaxing to go after her, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. My ego couldn’t possibly bear the thought of traipsing around the mainland in search of some teenager. Sofia chose to leave, knowing full well that upon leaving The Shade, she would no longer be under my protection. If Lucas went after her, that was her cross to bear. Not mine. She ceased to become my obligation the moment she chose to escape.

“So? What do we do now?” Cameron inquired.

I had to blink several times to snap out of my reverie and focus my attention back on the case at hand. “I want Claudia arrested and put on trial.”

Yuri’s eyes widened. “Sir, with all due respect, no Elite has ever been tried for a crime in all of The Shade’s history. It’s unheard of.”

“It’s either I put her on trial or I kill her for defying me. She spat on my face when she kept my brother from me when I so clearly demanded that he be delivered to my hands. I cannot stand for that if I am to rule.”

“Derek…” Cameron slightly stood to try and reason with me.

I turned away from them. “Have it done immediately. The trial starts tomorrow.” I continued playing the piano. It signaled that our conversation was over and that I no longer needed anything from them.

My next stumble down was when I removed everything that could possibly remind me of Sofia.

I paid Ashley a visit inside the room she shared with the girls not long after Cameron and Yuri left. She was still unconscious.

“Why hasn’t she healed? Hasn’t she been fed any blood?” I asked, staring at her limp form. I searched for a sense of guilt, but found none of it. Instead, I found that the urge to suck her dry was overwhelming. It was in my nature to kill and the predator in me craved for more of her.

“I fed her my blood, your majesty,” Kyle began to explain. “It takes time for it to take effect.”

I found this daunting. The several times I had to heal Sofia with my blood, she healed almost instantly. I shrugged it off. Sofia’s different. I knew that from the moment I first saw her. My gut turned at the longing I had for Sofia and the hunger I felt for Ashley.

My eyes began to focus on the area of Ashley’s neck that I sank my teeth into. The pain inside – the hunger – was almost unbearable.

“Get her out of my house.” The command came out deep and threatening.

Kyle’s eyes fell on me. “Sir?”

“You heard me. Get her out of here. Take her to your house. I don’t care. I won’t be able to keep myself from devouring her if she’s kept here.”

Kyle nodded, immediately understanding what I was trying to say. “The other girls?”

“Take them too. Have Sam take one or both under his wing. I just want them out of here.”

I motioned to leave the room, wanting to distance myself from Ashley as soon as possible before I lost all sense of self-control. With all the strength I had left, I stopped and gave Kyle one final instruction.

“Destroy the Sun Room. I want it to be bare and stripped of everything that’s in it. Make it a blank canvass once again. I don’t want anything left in this house to remind me of her.”

Vivienne was right. I’d succumbed to the darkness. As I sat in my place at the Great Dome, in preparation for Claudia’s trial, the one emotion that still connected me to my humanity was the guilt. It never left me. I knew that the moment I let go of the guilt, I’d be a lost cause. The temptation to ease my pain by switching off the emotion was strong, but I couldn’t do that to myself. I couldn’t let myself lose what little was left of my humanity – no matter how painful it was.