Everyone filed out of the room to give us our privacy, Aiden more hesitant than the others. The moment we were alone, she reached out toward me, welcoming me into her arms.
I drew near, still apologizing, but she shook her head refusing to hear any of it.
“Shut up, Derek. I’m just glad you’re back. We’re both alright.”
She held me close and kissed my lips gently and I knew then that she was right. We survived. I also realized that what my sister said was true. Sofia was my queen and if I wanted to rule well, I had to accept the reality that I couldn’t do things without taking Sofia into consideration.
When I mentioned the cure and that I wanted to be the one to test it out first, she just listened to me, hearing me out before giving me a response.
“I understand why you want to do it, Derek, but you do realize that the cure might not work?”
“I’m ruler of The Shade, Sofia. I can’t have another one of my subjects die testing out a cure that I’m not willing to go through myself…”
“If it doesn’t work, I could lose you.”
“We can’t just risk some innocent, Sofia. Not after the lives that have already been lost. You know what the prophecy says. It’s me who will lead my kind to true sanctuary. That’s what I have to do now. Lead.”
A long moment of silence followed. “Fine,” Sofia finally said, slowly nodding, with tears brimming her eyes. “I do have one condition, Derek.”
“What’s that?”
“I want to marry you first.”
That took me by surprise. “Why?”
I never would’ve imagined that she would give me the response that she did.
“I loved you as a vampire. I want to marry you while you’re still one.”
I didn’t think I could love her more, but I did, because she made me feel at that moment like she accepted me for everything that I was, while still looking forward to what I would become. I was in love with Sofia Claremont and the thought of her being my wife was more than anything I could ever ask for.
“I wouldn’t want anything more than to have you become Sofia Novak.” I wrapped my arms around her and pressed my lips against hers, looking forward to the endless possibilities that came with us being husband and wife.
Chapter 41: Sofia
I could never quite wrap my mind around how we pulled it off, but with Vivienne and Ashley at the helm, listening to everything I requested, while Eli kept me under his watch to make sure I would fully recover in time, we managed to pull off a wedding in the span of three days.
Those three days felt like an eternity. I couldn’t wait to become Derek’s wife, so when the evening of our wedding came, I couldn’t keep the smile off my face.
My father watched me curiously. He was quiet about the whole thing, not once letting me know how he felt about me marrying Derek Novak, while we were still so unsure that the cure would work. Though I felt guilty about it, I didn’t want to ask him, because I was afraid of what he would say. I was afraid that he would somehow change his mind about Derek and decide that we were no good for each other. I knew that Aiden’s opinion mattered to me. I wondered if he knew it too.
When he came to my room to check on me, I was just about to put on the white dress, with Ashley and Rosa bustling around the room – already in their bridesmaid’s dresses – assisting me.
Upon seeing him, Ashley rolled her eyes, always having been more at ease with my own father than I ever was.
“Aiden, you’re the father of the bride and all… that’s wonderful, but this is a bad time for a private father-daughter session. We have to get Sofia ready.”
Aiden stared at me for a while, his mouth hanging wide open. He was making me uncomfortable.
Curious over why he was just standing there, saying nothing, Ashley began laughing at the way he was gaping at me.
“Yes, yes, I know… She’s gorgeous.” Ashley nodded. “And she isn’t even in her dress yet. Now, go away, Aiden.”
I blushed as I watched my father get himself together, stand to his full height, square his shoulders and shake his head at Ashley. “No. I’m going to have a talk with my daughter, and I’m going to have it now. Is that alright with you, Sofia?”
Ashley glared at me as if to warn me to choose my answer well.
I smiled at her, knowing that I couldn’t march down that aisle without having that talk with Aiden. I couldn’t avoid it any longer, so I nodded toward my friends, assuring them that, “We’re not going to take long.”
Ashley huffed. Rosa just giggled, but they both made their way out of the room, leaving me with my father.
We exchanged glances for a while before he gave me a wry smile. “You look lovely, Sofia.”
“Thank you,” I told him, conscious of the blush on my cheeks. I took my seat over the edge of the bed and waited for him to say something. I wanted to initiate the conversation, but just being there – with all the emotions whirling in my chest – I couldn’t. I’m about to marry Derek! I’m going to be Sofia Novak. I was utterly thrilled by the idea.
My father, on the other hand, was about to make it clear that he wasn’t as thrilled. “So you’re really going to go through with this, huh?”
I stared lovingly at the dress. “Did you ever really think that I wouldn’t?”
“Part of me hoped.” He nodded as he sat beside me on the edge of the bed. “I still can’t believe that my daughter is about to marry Derek Novak.”
“I love him.”
“I know… I know that he loves you too. I just didn’t think that this would be the kind of life that you would lead, Sofia…” His voice broke and he gave me a bittersweet smile.
I knew that his upbringing and the way he’d lived his life over the past years still made it difficult for him to just accept what was to come.
“I don’t understand how this is going to work…”
I didn’t know how to respond to him. I just felt my heart breaking over the whole matter. I realized then how much I wanted my father’s approval. The idea of not getting it was painful to me.
“I don’t want to disappoint you, Aiden, but I know that this is what I want. And it feels right. I’m at peace with this.”
He smiled as he forced back the tears threatening to spill from his eyes. He nodded reassuringly. “You can never truly disappoint me, Sofia. You’ve become far more beautiful, more wonderful than I could’ve ever hoped… and…” he heaved a deep sigh, “trust me when I say that I know you’ve thought about this and that this isn’t just some crazy teenage whim. I think I’ve seen enough of who you are to know that you wouldn’t be doing this if you didn’t think it was the right thing. I was just hoping that you would wait until the cure is discovered. What if you marry him and he tries out the cure and…” He paused.