“I’m so sorry, Yuri,” I managed to say in between my sobs. “I never should’ve left. I was a fool to leave. I just…” I wiped away my tears and tried to get a hold of myself. “I know how loyal you are to Derek. I should be too. After everything he’s done for us…for The Shade…but I just…”
“Shut up, Claudia…” he said gently as he stepped into my home and closed the door behind him. “Just shut up and stop torturing yourself over the past. You’re back. That’s what matters.”
To my surprise, he grabbed me by the waist and lifted me into his arms and kissed me. Passionate at first, but he must have remembered who I was, because his kiss became gentle, tender…much like a sweet caress as his tongue softly pushed past my lips.
When our lips parted, I could feel myself blushing. He gently laid me back down on the ground and both of us were in a stunned silence for a couple of minutes.
“Have you forgiven me, Claudia?” he asked.
I looked up at him questioningly. “What do you mean?”
“For that night… That night when I…” He choked.
He didn’t have to finish. I knew what night he was referring to. I remained silent as I searched myself for an answer. I decided to tell him the absolute truth. “I couldn’t forgive you until I realized how much I’ve made both you and myself suffer for my bitterness. I forgave you the moment I realized that you are the only man I’ve ever loved, Yuri, but I also know that I could never be worthy of you.”
His face took on a grim expression as he shook his head. “Don’t say that. You are the only woman I’ve ever wanted, Claudia.”
He retrieved something from his pocket and my breath hitched when I saw what it was. The folded piece of parchment, tattered and browned throughout the years, but still the symbol of a walk in the woods, of an innocence stolen from both of us.
“This time, I won’t take it back,” he said, as he handed it to me.
Trembling, I took the paper and opened it up, looking at the image it contained. Upon seeing it, I couldn’t bear the idea of looking into his face. “How could you still want me, Yuri? I’m so broken.”
“We’re all broken, Claudia, but none of us are beyond fixing.”
His lips once again pressed against mine and when he whispered the words I longed to hear for centuries, I couldn’t respond with anything but a grateful: “Yes.”
His words were, “Let me love you.”
CHAPTER 41: SOFIA
Dinner with Aiden was awkward to say the least. He was sitting at the head of the table and there seemed to be many things he wasn’t comfortable about—primarily the fact that Derek and I were sitting next to each other and ignoring our food as we acted like the teenagers that we were—or at least I was—fooling around and playing footsie, or Rob making a face at us, or Madeline giggling with delight at how sweet we were.
Lily seemed pleased with us. Gavin didn’t seem to care. Rosa was too busy staring at Gavin to really notice. Ian and Anna decided to opt out of the awkwardness and eat elsewhere.
Aiden, on the other hand, expressed his irritation by making a scene out of banging his spoon and fork over his plate every chance he got.
“Are you drumming, Sofia’s father?” Rob asked. “Ian sometimes makes some music with a bunch of old cans. He’s really good at it.”
Aiden dropped his utensils on his plate, which he promptly pushed away so that he could lean his elbows over the wooden table. “Soooo…” he said. “You haven’t told me whether or not you’re going to let the hunters come…”
Derek and I exchanged uncomfortable glances.
“Well, we haven’t discussed it properly yet. If you want an answer now, I think the answer is no…” I replied, shifting my weight on my seat, gearing myself up for a confrontation.
“The sooner the hunters come, the sooner I get to administer the cure, the sooner we get to get out of here.”
I raised a brow at my father. “We?”
“You’re not saying that you’re not coming back with me, are you, Sofia? I thought…”
“Dad…what would I do back at headquarters? Train to be a hunter? My life is here at The Shade.”
“Sofia, you can’t seriously be… You don’t even have to stay at headquarters. I want you to live your life and it’s definitely not here.”
“If the cure works, then Derek would be human too.” I glanced at Derek and smiled, hope surging within me at the possibility of us being together. “If he decides to leave The Shade, then I’m going with him. If he decides to stay, then that’s where I’ll be.”
I knew that I was tearing my father apart. I felt bad for him. I didn’t want him to be unhappy. He was my father and I loved him, but as much as I wanted to be a part of his life, I couldn’t leave behind my own life just to cater toward his hatred for the vampires.
“I’m sorry, but a life as a hunter isn’t the life for me. Ben found that hard to accept too, but it holds true.”
I felt Derek take my hand underneath the table and squeeze hard. Aiden’s shoulders sagged with disappointment. I guess he knew me well enough to know that once I set my heart and mind on something, there was no way he could dissuade me to do otherwise.
“Sofia and I will discuss the hunters’ arrival tonight and let you know by breakfast, Aiden,” Derek spoke up in an attempt to appease my sulking father.
Aiden shot a glare at him, narrowing his eyes at the vampire. “You’re not suggesting that my daughter will spend the night with you, are you?”
“Well…” Derek swallowed hard.
“What? So you can feed on her all night?” Aiden’s eyes suddenly grew wide open with horror. “You two haven’t already slept together, have you?”
I coughed out the orange juice that I’d been drinking. I never had to endure these types of conversations before. Hearing these questions from my father and the thought of answering them was—for me—beyond awkward.
“Okay…” I stood up as I continued to cough out the juice. “I think that’s enough dinner talk…” Rob and Madeline were squealing with delight.
“I think we better go…” Derek suggested and I quickly agreed.
We didn’t wait for Aiden to voice out more objections. Derek simply took my hand and whisked both of us out of The Catacombs and into the woods, where we took a long, leisurely walk back to his penthouse, where we planned to spend the night.