She paused and I found myself holding my breath as I awaited her request. “What is it, Vivienne? What do you want from me?”
“Remind me who I am.”
CHAPTER 24: AIDEN
From the Control Center’s surveillance monitor, I watched the two women share an embrace. This isn’t working out the way I wanted it to. Vivienne is supposed to sway Sofia to our side. Instead, it seems Sofia is about to restore her to her old, stubborn self.
Zinnia stepped beside me as we watched the scene in my daughter’s bedroom.
“What was that about?” I reprimanded her.
“What?” she asked, feigning innocence.
“Why that talk to Sofia about what was done to Ingrid? Don’t ever mention Ingrid to her again, Zinnia. I can see that you’re not a big fan of my daughter, but she’s my daughter. It will do you well not to mess with her.”
Zinnia rolled her eyes. “I didn’t sign up to become a hunter just so I could babysit your daughter and bring her meals like a butler.”
“Patience, Zinnia. When this is all over, your next mission will be Derek Novak and The Shade.”
“How? Vivienne isn’t acting the way she’s supposed to. It’s like there’s something about your daughter that makes people act weird when she’s around.”
“No one has ever broken through someone who’s been brainwashed by us…” I said, crossing my arms over my chest as I watched my daughter doing exactly that to Vivienne.
“Well, Sofia seems to be doing a great job at it. Vivienne was acting erratically the moment she was presented to Sofia.”
“I think I’m going about this the wrong way.” I stared at my daughter’s appearance. I hated to admit it, but there was no sign that she was ever brainwashed by the Novaks. I was just telling myself that, because I couldn’t bring myself to accept the fact that her loyalty and affections toward Derek and The Shade were genuine.
Perhaps she really does love him. Derek and Sofia are genuinely in love with each other.
I attempted to focus on the image on the screen, trying to make sense of the words Sofia was uttering to Vivienne to remind her of the past, a past I was surprised Sofia was so well acquainted with.
There was talk of a shipwreck and first blood, of massacres and cullings and centuries of trying to preserve their own kind against us. Coming from my daughter’s own lips, and the way she was telling story after story to Vivienne, it was almost like we were the villains and the vampires were the victims.
Of course, the whole time she was talking, Vivienne was a blank slate, not really comprehending what Sofia was saying until my daughter mentioned a greenhouse.
At this, Vivienne’s eyes lit up with recognition and delight. “Is it still beautiful?” she asked in a hushed whisper, as if she was afraid that saying it too loud would somehow destroy the beauty of it.
Sofia’s face broke into a smile as she nodded and brushed Vivienne’s hair away from her face. “Yes, Viv. It’s still gorgeous. Derek took care of it after you disappeared. He made sure it would be as beautiful as it would be if you were there.”
Vivienne’s next words sealed reality for me. I’d just lost Vivienne to Sofia.
“I miss Derek so much,” Vivienne confessed, a tear running down her cheek.
“Well, that was a huge waste of time.” Zinnia smirked.
I clenched my fists.
“What are you going to do now, Reuben?”
“I think I need to take a different approach. I have to accept that Sofia really does love Derek Novak and there’s no way I can sway her from that.”
“So you’re just going to keep her locked in that room until she gets over him?”
“No. She’ll hate me forever if I do that. The best thing for me to do right now is to give her exactly what she wants.”
“You’re giving her to Derek Novak?”
I shook my head. A plan began to take form in my mind. “No. I’m going to give her a cure to vampirism.”
CHAPTER 25: DEREK
When Ashley and I arrived at The Catacombs, it was in total chaos. I’d just walked into one of the levels that lined the circular, seemingly bottomless pit in the middle of the caves when a bottle was thrown my way. I dodged it, but failed to warn Ashley, who was right behind me. Thus, when I turned to check on her, she had blood trickling from her forehead where the bottle had hit her.
She mouthed a pouty “Ow” as she brushed off any remaining pieces of broken glass from her forehead.
Despite the newfound friendship I had with Ashley, I still couldn’t help but let out a wry laugh at her misery. “Welcome to The Catacombs, Ash.”
She rolled her eyes. “Wipe that smirk off your face, Novak.” She then bent over and picked up a shard of glass from the broken bottle and pointed it at me. “I don’t care that you’re most likely a hundred times stronger than me, I can still find a way to cut you.”
I grinned. “Scary. Let’s end this riot before some other flying object breaks your neck.” I leaned over the wooden banister that overlooked the rest of The Catacombs’ levels. I realized that I still had no idea what they were even fighting over. I looked around and caught sight of Kyle, holding a frightened Anna by the arm, practically dragging her to what I assumed was Sofia’s quarters. Ian was about a hundred meters behind them, trying to keep up with Kyle’s pace. I stared for a moment, wondering how on earth this love triangle was going to pan out.
From the corner of my eye, I could make out Gavin hitting another guy who just lunged at him. Rosa, on the other hand, daintily hit a man in the back of his neck with a glass bottle. The man was about to attack Gavin, who seemed oblivious of Rosa, and seemed intent on finding his family.
I practically jumped out of my skin when I felt a tap on my back. My immediate reflex was to grab whoever just touched me by the neck.
“Hey there…” Sam raised both hands up in the air as a sign of surrender. “Relax. It’s me.”
“What’s going on?” I demanded as I pulled my hand away from his neck. “You were supposed to quell the riot.”
He pulled Ashley into his arms before shrugging. “It’s not like we have any authority here at The Catacombs or in The Shade. These people aren’t listening to us.”
“Do you even know why they’re rioting or what they’re demanding?”
Sam was about to open his mouth to answer me, but someone screamed “Fire!” and I knew there was no time for words. Action had to be taken.