I tried to explain that to Paige and Rosa. I tried to explain to them why I couldn’t give away information about The Shade after our escape, but my words were empty in light of the trauma Derek put them through while I was gone. In their eyes, I was siding with the enemy. From my perspective, I couldn’t help but wish they’d remember everything Derek did to protect us before everything went south.

Entering Ashley’s cell a second time, I realized that I didn’t have many girl friends growing up. Everything had always revolved around Ben and the Hudsons. Even as a child, I preferred to be alone and go on my crazy adventures rather than stay with girls my age. They bored me to death. That’s why I valued the girls so much, and now that they had this big grudge on me, I realized how much I missed them.

“Hi, Ashley…” I tentatively approached her. I crossed my fingers, hoping that she would cooperate.

“What are you doing here, Sofia?”

I sat beside her on the cot. She inched away from me. “How’ve you been?” I started. Suddenly, my throat felt dry and I had no idea what to tell her. “Have they been treating you well?”

She scoffed. “As well as they could a prisoner I guess. How long am I going to stay here?” Her lips quivered, her form trembling. “When is this trial even going to be? The anticipation is killing me…”

“I don’t think there’s going to be a trial…”

“What? Why?”

“Derek’s offered a deal. He’s willing to release you.”

“Oh yeah? In exchange for what?”

“Information.”

Ashley’s eyes widened. “I can’t believe you, Sofia. You come here as his lackey, trying to pry information from me? After what he did? Sofia, what ever happened to us looking after each other, huh?”

“That’s why I came here, Ashley. To look out for you. Would you prefer that he come instead? Knowing how much he craves you?”

The idea of being in his presence obviously scared her. She shook her head. “What do you want to know?”

“The tattoo on your back… it means you’re a hunter?”

Her jaw clenched. “Yeah. So what?” She began to twirl the ends of her blonde hair, something I knew she did when she was anxious about something.

“Vivienne was captured by the hunters…”

“Derek’s sister?”

I nodded. “She went out of The Shade to get me to come back…”

“Why? Why would she risk that? They’re safe in this island bubble of theirs. Why would she go through all that to get you back? Why are you so important to these people, Sofia?”

Vivienne’s words flashed through my mind. You’re not a pawn. You’re the queen. “Ash, I understand your hatred of the vampires. I saw it in Ben’s eyes. In a way, I shared that hatred too. They took away so much from us. Derek tried to kill you and whatever excuse he has isn’t reason enough for what he did, but we’re here and there’s no changing that…”

“You’re not answering my question, Sofia. Why are you here? Why would their princess risk being captured by the hunters to get you back?”

I told her what Vivienne told me back at the coffee shop. The part of the prophecy and the role she felt I played in it. This was the part of my conversation with Vivienne that I kept from Derek. Just saying it out loud to Ashley made me feel conceited. Do I really believe that I was that important? That I could make a difference here?

By the time I finished, Ashley’s face softened. “And you actually believe her?”

“At first, I didn’t, then she gave me some of her memories… random ones that told me of her story and the things she went through to protect this island. Then when I got here, Derek showed me the history of The Shade… the price they paid to have what they have… And I know for sure that Vivienne was sincere.” I inhaled and exhaled, hoping that I was somehow getting through to Ashley. “I’m not asking you to forgive him, Ashley. He put you through too much for me to ask something like that. I’m asking you to trust me, because we were friends. We are friends, and things weren’t so bad when we were here, and…”

To my surprise, Ashley cut my rambling off and pulled me in for an embrace. She then whispered into my ear. “I knew you’d come back, Sofia. I wished you’d come back to get us out of here, so it was disappointing to find out that you came back mostly for him. That still doesn’t mean that we didn’t miss you. And if I have to stay in this black hole of an island, I’d rather that you’re here than not.” She chuckled. “After all, I was a lot safer from him when you were here.”

I smiled at her, hoping that what was going on between Ashley and I was a road to reconciliation. When she stopped hugging me, I was relieved to find a smile on her face too.

“What do you want to know, Sofia? If it gets me out of here, then I’ll tell you…”

“We want to know any information you have about the hunters, Ashley... You were one of them.”

“There’s not much I can tell you, Sofia, but what I do know for sure is that if the hunters have had her for more than twenty-four hours, she’s done for. They never keep vampires alive for too long.”

“What reason would they have for keeping one alive?”

Ashley shrugged. “To get information out of her. I’d imagine that Vivienne would be a pretty huge catch, considering that she’s princess of this island… They’d probably be torturing her by now.”