I waited until the guard left before I spoke my mind. “Is that really necessary? Having her watched like a hawk?”

“She is a hawk.”

I wasn’t amused. “Let’s just go.”

We passed through a long and narrow tunnel lit up with small incandescent bulbs that lined its rocky walls. I had to control my breathing in order to overcome my fear of enclosed spaces. I felt Derek’s hand on my waist.

“You seem so tense, Sofia.”

I didn’t know if it was him or the claustrophobia, but he was right. Either way, I just wanted to get past the tunnel. When I saw a clearing ahead, a sigh of relief escaped my lips. I was about to speed up my pace toward the clearing, but Derek grabbed my arm and spun me around to face him.

“You alright?”

“I just have a lot on my mind.”

He sensed the tense formality with which I was addressing him. He put a foot forward, asserting himself, reminding me of his dominance. “What’s wrong, Sofia?”

I couldn’t really make sense of the conflicting thoughts in my mind. I saw good in him and yet that really didn’t outweigh all the wicked things I’d seen done at The Shade. How could I even explain to him the struggle I had with trusting what I felt about him even in spite of what I saw around me? I knew that if I was to stick with him, if I was the girl spoken of in the prophecy, something had to change. Things could not remain as they were. Still, at that point, I was nowhere near prepared to discuss that with Derek, so I just breathed deeply. I shut out the tense sensation caused by the two stone walls on either side of me. I tried to relax and smile at him. I shook my head.

“I’m okay, Derek. I just want to get out of this tunnel. Closed spaces unnerve me.”

He narrowed his eyes before nodding. “Let’s get out of here then.” His hand comfortably rested on the small of my back, gently nudging me forward – closer and closer to the small opening that led to the Catacombs.

I didn’t exactly know what to expect upon reaching the end of that tunnel. All I knew about the Catacombs was that it was home to the humans. I was nowhere near prepared for what I saw upon stepping into the clearing. Right in front of me was a thriving community, with people milling all around a giant round pit, the bottom of which I couldn’t quite see as I leaned over the wooden banister that lined the sides of the pit.

The pit had several levels with cave entrances that led to other areas of the Catacombs. Allowing travel from one level to the other were ladders on the walls, while bridges were constructed to go from one side of the pit to the next. I looked up and estimated at least two other levels on top of us. I could barely even count the levels below us.

On the level immediately beneath us, I noticed two children – a boy and a girl. Redheads with big brown eyes. The boy looked older than the girl. He was comforting her. I assumed they were brother and sister. I realized that it was the first time I ever saw children at The Shade.

I looked at Derek, who was standing right next to me, also leaning against the banister. He fondly stared at them, fascination traced in his eyes.

“I had no idea the Catacombs looked like this,” he admitted.

“You’ve never been here before?” I asked, finding it strange that the prince of The Shade never bothered to visit such an important part of his kingdom. Does he not rule over the humans too? Doesn’t he care at all?

He shook his head. “No. I never had a reason to.”

Never had a reason to? Aren’t these people your subjects just as much as the vampires? I held off my questions. It felt like I was about to find out exactly what role humans played at The Shade.

“Sofia?” A familiar voice from a level above called to me.

I followed the sound of the voice and saw Corrine. She caught sight of Derek and seemed to be holding her breath.

“You brought him?”

I saw Derek tense up. It was no secret to me that he and Corrine weren’t exactly the best of friends and it always surprised me how vocal Corrine was about her disdain toward him.

“Wait for me. I’m going to be right down.”

Corrine disappeared and Derek looked at me. “So it was the witch who gave you the idea of coming here?”

“When I came to visit her, she told me that I should come here – to get a clear picture of how the Naturals live.”

“The Naturals and the Migrates…” He winced. He said each word with bitterness – even a hint of spite. I couldn’t help but wonder why. I caught sight once again of the children on the level below. Both had their big brown eyes on us. The little girl clung tightly to her brother. I realized that they were both looking at Derek. They were mortified. The boy whispered something into the girl’s ear and they backed away slowly before completely turning back and running into what I assumed was a tunnel that led to some other section of the pit.

“You should’ve said that his royal highness was coming. We could’ve prepared a warm welcome of sorts. The Elite rarely visit the Catacombs.”

I did a one-eighty and found Corrine standing behind us.

Derek was more reluctant to face the beautiful witch. He slowly twisted around before glaring at Corrine.

“Hello to you too.”

They dueled with glares before both directed their attention toward me.

“So you finally decided to visit the Catacombs.” Corrine slightly chastised.

“Well, there was Vivienne’s memorial… I was adjusting to being back… I…”