“Maybe I got that from you…” I flicked a brow at him, loving that I could feel so light and casual and trusting around him.
He gave me a bewildered look. “Got what?”
I shrugged as I sliced through a piece of cheese. “The urge to find beauty within people and to try and create it when it’s not there.”
“I’m not like that at all.” He looked perplexed.
I chuckled at how little he knew about himself. “You knew that my mother was broken, but you still chose to love her every single day.”
His face softened and his eyes began to brim with tears. I was actually eager to see what it would be like to have my father cry in front of me, but I never got the chance to, because at the very next moment, Ingrid showed up, fangs and claws out, running toward me with determination in her eyes.
I had no doubt in my mind that my mother was about to kill me.
Chapter 32: Aiden
I’d already lost count of all the times Camilla had broken my heart. I was starting to get used to it. I was even expecting it, steeling myself for when it would happen, but when I saw her with that dagger raised in the air, poised to kill our only daughter, my heart shattered into pieces. I began to see red and every ounce of love that could’ve held me back from destroying Camilla disappeared. I wasn’t about to watch my wife kill my daughter. Not in a million years.
Without any hesitation, I pulled out the one gadget I was able to hide from my captors in the Shade. It was a blow dart that would inject a serum into Camilla’s system to incapacitate her. I kept it for emergency purposes, for when I would need it to save my life. I never thought that it would be my daughter’s life I would be saving instead.
With a guttural scream expressing all the anger I felt inside, I blew the dart right into Camilla’s neck right before she was about to stab Sofia in the heart. The effect was immediate and from what I observed, extremely painful. The agony was evident when Camilla started screaming in pain. I expected to feel some sort of sympathy for her, like I always did whenever I saw her in pain, but as I watched her drop the dagger and fall to the ground, screaming and writhing in pain before finally passing out, all I felt was numbness.
I was transfixed by the sight of her motionless body on the ground and for a while, I couldn’t move a muscle. I could sense Sofia trembling and I wanted to approach her and comfort her, but I didn’t know how to give comfort when even I needed it. It took me a while to get back to my senses and approach my daughter.
She was staring at her mother’s body, frozen with shock. “Did you kill her? Is she dead?”
“No…” I shook my head “…but she will be.”
Sofia’s eyes widened at the implication. “You mean…”
I lifted my hand in the air, palm up. “I told you to always keep a wooden stake in your person, Sofia. Do you have one on you?”
“Aiden… we can just imprison her… you don’t have to do this.”
I shook my head. “I told you that I would be in charge of her. I told you to trust me. I was a fool to trust her.” My jaw tightened as I directed my focus on Camilla. “She played me. She promised she wouldn’t harm you. She said she wanted to be a family again…” My voice choked and a tear ran down my cheek.
“Dad…”
“Give me the stake, Sofia.”
“Think this through… this decision could haunt you forever…”
“Give it to me!”
I was expecting Sofia to get intimidated by the strength of my voice. I forgot, however, that she was the fiancée of a vampire much more powerful, menacing and intimidating than I was. Despite the fact that I was so consumed by my anger toward Camilla, I was soothed by my daughter’s countenance. It reminded me that she’d been through a lot in The Shade… more than I could ever possibly know.
She hiked her dress up and retrieved the stake from a holder wrapped around her thigh. She then handed it over to me. “I know you, Dad. You will regret this.”
Then she watched me and allowed me to make a decision for myself. I gripped the stake and was about to approach my wife to drive the stake into her heart, but I found myself hesitating. Is this what she does with Derek? I stopped and looked at my daughter. “How many times have you done something like this to Derek?”
A small smile formed on her lips. “Many, many times.”
“Did he ever push through with doing the wrong thing?”
She shook her head. “Never.”
With that, my decision was made. I handed the stake over to her before looking back at my unconscious wife. “What do you want to do with her then?”
Sofia took the stake from me and put it back in place before curiously asking, “That’s it? No dramatic struggle? No excuses?”
I shrugged. “If Derek never disappointed you in this area, I don’t ever want to either.”
She kissed me on the cheek and squeezed my arm. “I have to say though… My boyfriend is much more of a drama king than you are.”
I couldn’t help but wonder what she meant, but I just decided to read between the lines and assume that he put up a struggle a lot more than I did. I couldn’t help but wince at the thought of the price my daughter had to pay whenever he struggled, but I didn’t want to dwell on it. I trusted that she knew what was and wasn’t good for her.
I once again looked at Camilla, my breath hitching at the sight of her. I still loved her, though I hated what she had allowed herself to become. I couldn’t understand how she could do what she did, but I knew that I had to accept that there was little chance she would ever truly change.
“What are we going to do with her?” I asked once again.
Sofia heaved a deep sigh. “Bring her back to The Cells I guess… We’ll decide what to do to her after a while. For now, we need to deal with finding the cure.”
Camilla was brought back to The Cells. I didn’t want to think about her so I stayed with Sofia. I was disheartened by Camilla’s betrayal, but somehow, what she did helped form a bond between my daughter and me.
For that reason alone, I was secure that everything would be okay. Sofia and I pre-occupied ourselves by checking that everything was running well in The Shade and it seemed everything was well. It wasn’t until sunset that we received news on Rex’s ultimate fate.
Vivienne was the one who had to give us the news. “Rex is dead.”
Chapter 33: Ingrid