“It’s not right and I know it,” he began to say. “I don’t have any excuse for it. I don’t want to give you some lame excuse when it comes to this. You don’t deserve that. I’m sorry.” He began rubbing the back of his neck.
I was sure that he was recalling what happened the night before – something that’d been going on a lot more frequently lately. It was almost as if he would momentarily snap and just give in to the craving. Without really thinking it through, he just takes what he wants and bites.
I didn’t want to talk about it simply because I didn’t know how. I didn’t want to dwell on the heaviness of the issue. “Let’s talk about something else.” I pulled a piece from my toast and threw it at him. “Anything other than that.”
He seemed a bit more hesitant to move on than I did, but he eventually breathed out the tension and threw the piece of toast right back at me. “You’re wasting food.”
“It’s not a waste if I get a smile out of you because of it.” I grinned.
A smile eventually appeared on his chiseled face and despite my familiarity to him, I still found myself blushing.
He seemed pleased, but then he shifted on his seat and I could tell that we weren’t about to escape discussing serious matters. To my relief, he didn’t talk further about our wedding or the cure or his craving for my blood. To my dismay, however, he began talking about my mother.
“Ingrid is acting strange. She asked to see Aiden and when I told her that I couldn’t risk that in fear of what she might do to him, she told me to ask you.”
I shook my head. “It’s too dangerous. We can’t trust her.” I remembered all the times I dared to put my trust in her and sorely regretted it after.
“That’s what I said, but she was asking for another chance. She even asked not to call her Ingrid and call her Camilla instead.”
At that, I couldn’t help but crease my brows in surprise. It was unlike her to ever want to be called Camilla again. “I wonder what game she’s playing.”
“Whatever it is, it’s bothering me,” Derek admitted.
“Could you come with me?” I requested. “When I go see her?”
Derek frowned. “I want to, Sofia, but I did leave a lot of my responsibilities to the council yesterday when I hung out with you. I do need to get back to running The Shade. I can’t bail on them again. I can, however, get one of the Elite to escort you. Ingrid won’t be powerful enough to go against one of the Elite.”
I was disappointed, but I understood. “I think Claudia would be great if that’s alright. She’s been able to spend time with Ingrid. She knows Ingrid.”
Derek wasn’t able to hide his surprise. “You trust Claudia enough?”
I nodded. “Her relationship with Yuri has been good for her I think.”
“Your ability to forgive and forget amazes me.”
I was saddened by the statement. Claudia was probably one of the most demented vampires The Shade had ever known. It took months of me living in The Shade before I found out that Ben, my childhood best friend, a guy I was deeply infatuated with, had also been abducted and brought to The Shade. He was taken by Claudia, who had proven to be a cruel and sadistic mistress. Claudia was the reason Ben hated vampires so much.
Somewhere along the line, however, Claudia managed to get Ben to forgive her, enough that he requested the hunters to spare her life.
“Ben forgave her.” I shrugged. “How could I not?”
“Must I remind you that she tried to turn you into a vampire without your consent?”
“She thought she was doing the right thing. She thought it was the only way we could be together.”
Our eyes met and the tension – as if it ever really left – came right back as we were once again faced by the fact that Derek was immortal and I was not. I was getting tired of the issue, but the urge to find the cure was even more adamant than it was before. I had no idea how to figure out what the cure was.
Troubled, I shook the thoughts away and finished my breakfast. I then turned toward Derek and said, “I think we better go. Long day ahead.”
Derek groaned and blew out a sigh. I was expecting him to just shrug, bid me goodbye, and run off. Instead, he reminded me why I was so in love with him when he took my hands and coaxed me to stand up. He held my waist and pulled me close before kissing me on the forehead.
“We’re going to find a way to be together, Sofia. I know it.” He said it with so much conviction, I found myself wondering if he didn’t have any doubts about that statement at all. Still, he gave me the hope I needed to get by.
“We’re together now,” I whispered. “That’s what matters.”
Derek was still on my mind when I saw Claudia waiting for me at the entrance of The Catacombs. The blonde smiled when she saw me coming. My heart began to race. There was a time when a smile coming from her was a reason to get worried, because it usually meant she was up to no good, but I had to remind myself that this was a new Claudia I was facing now.
She raised a brow at me, but there was a twinkle in her eyes. “I was told that I was to be your bodyguard.” Her face deadpanned. “Why me of all people? Even Yuri was surprised.”
“Well, you’re the only vampire here who’s actually spent some time with Ingrid. I was thinking you knew what made her tick, so I requested that you come with me. You’re not going to do anything crazy, are you?”
She grinned and shrugged. “Well…” she drawled. “We never really know when the dark Claudia might decide to resurrect, but for now, you’re good.”
“The dark Claudia?” I chuckled.
She smiled and nodded as we began to head for the corridors that would lead to Ingrid’s cell. “Yes… the one who was stupid enough to think that she valued power more than she valued love.”
At that, I had to return her smile. I couldn’t help but notice how she had that certain glow about her whenever she smiled – it was one that could only be found in a person in love. Since I first met her, I never thought I’d ever see Claudia gush, and yet that was exactly what she was doing right then.
I was about to tease her about Yuri, but then her eyes lit up and I quickly realized why. Yuri had just caught up with us.
Everyone in The Shade knew that Yuri was in love with Claudia – even Claudia herself – but for some reason, they never actually got together. They kept fighting and bickering and making each other miserable, but whenever the other was in trouble, they were always there for each other. They were always the first to get worried about the other. It wasn’t until Claudia betrayed Derek by helping to abduct me and take me to Borys Maslen’s territory that she realized how in love she actually was with Yuri. When she got back to The Shade, it didn’t take long before the two of them got together.