“What is the Elder going to do to you if I don’t kill you myself?” I asked Emilia. I wanted to get away from her and back to Sofia as soon as I could.
Fear enveloped her countenance as she shook her head. “Please… Derek, don’t…”
“Answer my question, Emilia.”
“He’s going to turn me back to a human and give me over to my brother. I will be under his control until the day I die… Derek, you need to understand…”
I’d seen enough of her family to know that the worst fate she could possibly endure was to be amongst them. Without hesitation, I sank my claws right through her chest, looked her straight in the eye as I gripped her beating heart. “I show you this mercy as gratefulness for everything that you did in order to make The Shade safe. We owe you that much.”
“Thank you,” she mouthed to me before I ripped her heart out.
We both knew that what I did was an act of mercy.
“I’m confused,” Xavier confessed. “What just happened, Derek? Why did you attack Sofia? What happened to you?”
I stared at Emilia’s motionless body for a couple of seconds before responding to Xavier’s question. “I was in love with her. She and the Elder brainwashed me to believe that I was in love with her and that I wanted to kill Sofia.”
Without another word, I turned my back on them and rushed toward Sofia’s quarters at The Catacombs. I found her in her bedroom, with Vivienne, Aiden and Eli circling her bed. The others were right outside the room waiting to be told of her condition.
“Is she alright?” I asked.
Eli looked at me pointedly over his black-rimmed glasses. “She lost a lot of blood. We have to do a blood transfusion. Aiden’s donating his blood. It’s a good thing they’re compatible.”
Vivienne motioned for me to take a walk with her. When I refused, she insisted. “You’re not going to help anyone – least of all Sofia – by staying here and hovering over Eli as he does his work. Come with me so you can tell me what just happened.”
I knew she was right, so I obliged. It helped that I couldn’t stand looking at Sofia without the guilt eating me up. I told her everything that happened at the Blood Keep and she told me everything that happened and was happening in The Shade. When she mentioned that Kyle was human, hope surged within me.
“How is that possible? What happened? Where’s Kyle now? Have you tried it on anyone else?”
Vivienne nodded. “Rex and Ingrid.”
My eyes grew wide open. “And?”
She shook her head and my heart dropped. “They’re gone.”
I swallowed hard. The idea that Sofia lost her mother while I was gone pierced me. “I should’ve been here.”
“You couldn’t have done anything to change that. Besides, if you were here, I doubt Rex would’ve tortured Kyle.”
“You have a point.” I paused, hope still lingering inside of me. “So after Ingrid… do you still have a theory on what the cure might be?”
“We didn’t know who to test it on next,” Vivienne explained, “but the theory is that an immune’s blood must first be running through a vampire’s system before he can be immediately exposed to sunlight. That, we believe, is how Kyle turned back. Or… it was all just some sort of fluke.”
I suddenly recalled the vampire Emilia killed when he fell into the sunlight. I nodded violently. “No. I think that’s it. Let’s try that theory out.”
Vivienne’s eyes grew wide open. “On whom?”
I knew that Sofia’s blood was still pumping through mine, so the only logical thing that I could respond to my twin with was, “Take me to the Pit.”
I couldn’t think of a better person to test the cure out other than myself. Vivienne stood adamantly against it.
“You can’t be serious, Derek. You could die! Do you understand that?”
“Who better to do it than me, Vivienne? I’m the leader of The Shade. I can’t just let us test it on someone else… not while I’m around.”
“What if the cure doesn’t work? Do you really want Sofia to wake up after what you just did to her only to find out that you’re dead?”
“But what if the cure works? Why would you immediately assume that I would die?” I told her what happened in the labyrinth. I was sure then that the reason why Emilia killed the vampire guard was because she didn’t want me to see him turn back into a human. “If this is the cure, Vivienne, then Sofia and I can actually be together.”
“I know that, Derek, but if you’re going to try this cure out, you’re not going to do it without her consent.”
“I’m still King of The Shade, Vivienne. I want to do this.”
Vivienne scoffed at my bluff. “You are our king, Derek. That’s true, but I would like to think that you’re not completely foolish. I’d like to think that you are smart enough to realize that Sofia is your queen, and that to make a step as big as this without even hearing what she thinks about it, is your downfall and hers. You two are most powerful when you put your wits and strengths together. Don’t do this to her, Derek.”
I knew my sister was speaking truth. I gave her a lingering look, realizing what an ally she had become to Sofia. I had to take note of the difference in all of us ever since Sofia became a part of our lives. She changed us all… for the good. I loved Sofia. I just hoped that she wouldn’t deny me this.
I gave Vivienne a nod, determined that no matter what Sofia said, I would stand by my decision to be the next person to test the cure out. “This is the cure, Vivienne, and I feel confident about it, but you’re right. Sofia deserves to have a say in this.”
I honestly thought nothing would shake my decision to test the cure out. That was until I returned to Sofia’s bedroom to find her surrounded by her dearest friends, a huge smile on her face. My resolve crumbled the moment she laid her eyes on me.
“I’m so sorry…” I rasped out. I didn’t want to go near her in fear of somehow breaking her. I was once again so greatly aware of how fragile she was compared to me. It didn’t help that I could feel Aiden’s eyes on me, studying my every move, blaming me for what happened to Sofia. I struggled to meet Sofia’s gaze. I could never get used to the way she looked at me like I was the most worthy person she’d ever seen in the world, like I meant more to her than anything else. How could she still look at me that way?