The moment I did, however, I knew I had a big problem. It was the height of noon and the sun was blazing right at me. The very moment its painful rays hit my skin, my suspicions once again proved true. I don’t know how it had happened, but Aiden’s cure failed. When I cut that glass into my skin and it healed, I knew that I was immortal, but when the sun began to irritate my pale skin, I knew that I was still a vampire.
Still, the dilemma before me was clear. I had to find a way out of hunter territory and out of the sun as quickly as possible or it would be the end of me. The sun’s rays weakened a vampire immensely. It would take ten minutes before it would begin to get beneath my skin and the pain would be agonizing. It would be a slow, painful death.
Trying to ignore the piercing sting of the sun, I used my agility as a vampire and scaled up the nearby wall. I knew that by that time, the hunters were already after me. I didn’t have much time to get away. I jumped from the top of the wall to the ground below and ran with lightning speed. I ran, ignoring the pain of my skin peeling away. I ran even when I felt blood coming out of the sockets of my eyes. I ran until I could no longer run, until the sun had completely worn me down. It felt like hours until I collapsed on the ground, every bit of my body writhing in pain. I knew I was miles away from hunter territory now and I looked up and discovered I was in the middle of a meadow, not quite certain where I was or how I was going to get out of there.
I looked around me and saw a log cabin on the horizon. The small house was only a couple of hundred meters away, but it felt like it was an ocean away. I dragged myself toward the home, my charred skin beginning to emit smoke, the pain of the sun digging in to my very bones. It felt like a million needles being repeatedly jabbed right through my skin to the core of my bones. Over and over and over again.
It took all of my might to drag myself toward the cabin. I wondered if it was a trap set by the hunters. I even thought that it could be some sort of optical illusion, but at that moment, whatever it was, that cabin was my only escape from the punishing rays of the sun.
I couldn’t have imagined how grotesque I looked as I crawled up the front porch. I felt like all the liquids had been drained from my body and I was dried and shriveled up. One look at my hands made my stomach turn. Both looked like rotting flesh. I pushed the door open and lost all control when I saw a young woman, who couldn’t have been any older than Sofia, descend a wooden staircase. She shrieked at the sight of me before I charged for her and devoured her, drinking down every single drop of her blood.
By the time I snapped out of my black out, I was surrounded by three dead bodies and the sun was no longer shining. I couldn’t help but smile as I rose to my feet. I’d done it. I escaped hunter territory. I sought out a mirror and was pleased to find my body restored, even though my skin was still stinging.
Gathering my wits about me, I knew that I was just lucky and that the hunters were surely after me. I found a cell phone in the pocket of one of the teenagers I had killed. I then searched the cabin for clues about its address, before dialing Natalie Borgia’s number.
My message to her was simple: “Wherever Borys is, let him know that I’m alive and that I need him to get me.”
Within a few hours, a helicopter arrived. At first, I thought that it was the hunters’ and I was beginning to panic, but when I saw Borys, I sighed with relief. I ran into his arms, tears streaming down my face.
He embraced me and pulled me against his chest as he whispered into my ear, “I thought I lost you, Ingrid.”
I once again felt the strength and security that I could only feel when I was around the vampire who sired me. I sobbed into his shoulder for a few seconds before whispering into his ear, “I think I know how you can get your hands on Sofia. Do you still want her?”
I could practically hear the spite and menace in his voice when he responded in a low voice, “I’ve never wanted anything more than to feel her lovely, trembling form in my arms again.”
I shuddered when I realized the hell Sofia was going to go through should Borys ever get a hold of her again. I swallowed hard as I remembered my daughter telling me she loved me. I dreaded the day that Borys would once again have Sofia within his grasp.
But it’s too late, Ingrid. You’ve already told him about her. You have no choice but to surrender her to him.
CHAPTER 43: GREGOR
The moment I was taken from my daughter’s chambers and brought back to The Cells, I knew that I was in trouble. An odd mixture of determination to not disappoint Vivienne and pure terror began battling for the right to rule my will.
I shivered just thinking about what I had gone through in between the time when I had left The Oasis and finally returned to The Shade. If there ever was any doubt in my mind that we vampires were creatures of the dark, it was totally eradicated when I was forced to come face to face with what a dark creature I had allowed myself to become. Darkness took hold of both Borys and me in such a way I had never thought possible. It took full control.
Perhaps this is what happened to Derek before he decided to escape to his slumber. It’s the reason he was so powerful. Darkness gripped him and made him the heartless leader that saved The Shade.
Clarity had come over me the moment I had looked upon my beautiful Vivienne’s blue-violet eyes. Her unconditional love for me as her father awakened what little shred of humanity I still had left in me. I realized that the only reason I was thinking beyond the darkness’ control was because Vivienne somehow illuminated something deep within me. One small spark was all it took to light up pitch black darkness.
However, my match was quickly running out of its flame. I knew that I was about to lose myself again. I would once again forget the love I felt for my children—especially Derek.
Alone in my cell, moonlight streaming from the small, barred window, I felt like a million voices were ringing in my ear all at the same time. I knew the kind of power I was up against. I knew the hold it had over me. I knew that this was a battle I couldn’t win, but couldn’t afford to lose either.
For the first time in the past five hundred years, I realized how I, as a creature of the dark, craved so much for light. I was desperate to keep the spark inside me burning.
Traitor, a voice whispered—coming from within me rather than from my surroundings. I shuddered. I tried to fight it. I tried to summon all the will power I had within me to keep myself in control. I couldn’t do it.
My body was no longer my own, my thoughts conflicted and out of control. Claws came out of my hand, and with my forefinger, I began scratching a message on my arm. My own claw cut through my skin and it cut deep. I bit my lip against the pain as I saw the message take form.