I couldn’t help but recall the last time I drove a car—a red convertible. Sofia was in the passenger’s seat, screaming, because she was certain that I was about to drive her to her death. She declared that day my birthday, refusing to accept the idea that I no longer needed to celebrate the day I was born.
The reality of what I had just done fully sank into me. I left Sofia. I didn’t even say goodbye. I left in the middle of the night, taking in the peaceful sight of her asleep for as long as I could, before the hunters took me away. I began to feel it immediately, the familiar forces of the darkness beginning to break down my defenses.
Sofia was my light and I was driving away from her—far away. My hands gripped the steering wheel. I can’t let the darkness take over. Not again. I must find a way to survive apart from Sofia. I kept her in my mind, recalling every precious memory I had of her. If I lose sight of her and what I had with her, it will be the end of us all.
CHAPTER 2: SOFIA
“Sofia, he’s busy! You can’t just barge into his office without being called for…” Zinnia Wolfe was clearly not happy with me.
But I couldn’t care less. “Watch me. I’m his daughter and I deserve an explanation.”
I barged inside what I knew was off limits for guests like me, knowing that of all the places in the giant estate known as Hawk Headquarters, I was most likely to find my father there.
“You can’t go in there!” Zinnia continued to run after me.
I halted only when I was already inside the control center. It was the first time I had ever entered this part of the headquarters. I was shocked by what I saw. Almost like a newsroom, the control center was decked with advanced technology, dozens upon dozens of hunters milling around the room, keeping track on what seemed like a network of at least a hundred computers tracking heaven knows what.
“Too late,” I told Zinnia, who was catching her breath beside me. I looked around and caught sight of my father, pointing at a giant flat screen monitor. He looked upset about something.
“Vampires are easier to get a hold of than you,” Zinnia hissed. She tried to grab ahold of my arm, but I was already on the move, taking steady, long paces toward my father.
The moment Aiden realized that I was storming toward him, I could no longer keep my temper in check. “Where is he?! Where is Derek?! What have you done to him?!” I yelled.
“Sorry… I couldn’t stop her,” Zinnia apologized. Aiden had assigned her to keep an eye on me from the moment I arrived with Derek at the headquarters.
Aiden looked around the control room before slightly bowing his head and glaring at me. “Sofia, don’t make a scene. We can talk about this elsewhere.”
“I don’t care where we talk or who hears us. I want to know where Derek is!”
“I don’t know where he is. He left of his own free will, Sofia.”
“You liar.” I shook my head furiously. “Derek would never leave me. Not unless you did something to make him leave. He would never!”
I was trembling. Nothing my father could ever tell me would convince me that Derek would leave me here. Yet deep inside, I was afraid that it was true. He’s forever immortal and I am infinitely mortal. Perhaps he thought that it was better for us to be apart. I shook the thought away. No. Derek wouldn’t do that to me. He wouldn’t abandon me.
My father took a deep breath. “Come with me. Let’s go to my office.”
As we both followed Aiden, I could sense Zinnia throwing curious glances my way.
“What?” I asked her, unable to reel in the foul mood I was in. I couldn’t help it. I was panicking inside.
“I just…” She quickly shook her head. “Never mind.”
“Just spit it out, Zinnia.”
She hesitated, but eventually shrugged her hesitation off and said, “What’s so special about you? They’re all enamored by you. Derek, Ben, Borys, Lucas…”
I met her gaze and smiled bitterly. “I haven’t got a clue.” That was a lie. I knew why they wanted me. Borys wanted me because he was a sick bastard who thought that he owned me and was fascinated by the idea that I’m immune to the vampire’s curse. Lucas wanted me because he found me and brought me to The Shade. He also had a taste of my blood and up to his very last breath, he craved me. Ben wanted me because he was my best friend, and there was a time when I thought I wanted him too, but we just weren’t meant to be together. I loved him though, and his death still weighed heavily on my heart. Derek, on the other hand…he wanted me because I was in love with him and he felt the same way. Yes, I know why they want me, but it doesn’t mean I’m special. I’m just who I am and who I am is somehow entangled in all this mess.
We finally reached Aiden’s office, where he motioned for me to take a seat and for Zinnia to close the door behind her.
I chose to keep standing as Aiden sat on the leather recliner behind the large glass desk, which served as the centerpiece of the spacious, beautifully decorated office.
“You’re really not going to sit down?”
I shook my head, crossing my arms over my chest.
“You remind me so much of your mother sometimes.” He said it with such brokenness, I was taken aback and I couldn’t help but soften a little at the sight of his pain. Any mention of my mother was painful. I knew Ingrid was somewhere inside the headquarters—a captive of the hunters. Just thinking of her made me ache. I wasn’t even sure if Aiden’s claim that I reminded him of her was a good thing or not, considering what an ugly motherly picture Ingrid painted for me in the short time that I’d known her.
“You really did love her, didn’t you?” I asked my father. It was the first time I could remember ever sharing such a personal moment with him.
Aiden smiled bitterly, as if he were putting back all his defenses around him. He just shut down. He pulled a cigar from a desk drawer and lit it up before eyeing me. “So why exactly are you throwing such a fit, my lovely daughter?”
The reason behind the encounter came back to me and I could once again feel my anger rise.
“Where is Derek?” I demanded.
“He’s probably on his way back to his kingdom by now.”
“He wouldn’t leave without me.”
Aiden sat straight on his seat, shoulders squared, his eyes staring straight at me. “He told me that if he stayed here, he wouldn’t be able to keep himself from drinking you dry.”