The tune played in the back of my mind and slowly, but surely, the pain subsided. A strange black gas-like substance began to ooze out of my skin, mouth… even my nostrils.
I looked at my hand and tried to make my claws come out. Nothing. I felt my mouth and I couldn’t touch my fangs any longer. The last stings of sunlight crept through the layers of my skin right down to the marrow of my bones. The black gas-like substance was then quickly replaced by radiant light, oozing from my every pore.
I could feel life overtake me where nothing but death used to be. For the first time in five hundred years, I felt completely alive.
I rose to my feet, basking in the warmth of what I was certain was the afternoon sun. “Sofia!” I called out, my back still turned to the door as I lifted my face, eyes shut, to the sunlight. The ever-present coldness under my skin was gone. I felt warm from the inside out – a sensation I had long forgotten.
I could hear them remove the locks of the door. It swung wide open and without looking, I could sense Sofia nearby.
“Derek?” Her voice broke.
She approached me. I wasn’t sure if it was just because of the high that I was feeling due to the success of the cure, but I was just as keenly aware of my surroundings then as I was when I was a vampire.
Must be the adrenaline rush…
My senses came alive when I felt Sofia touch my arm. She circled me in order to look into my face. I opened my eyes to find a mixture of wonderment, delight and apprehension on her beautiful face.
Tears ran down her cheeks as the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard came through her lips: her laughter. There was no mistaking the glee on her face as she threw herself at me. “It worked. I was so scared… Derek… It worked.”
I held her close, breathing in her scent, running my warm fingers through her soft, red hair. A vampire’s senses were supposed to be far more heightened than that of a human, but holding my Sofia as a man – and not some beast – that sensation was far better than any I had experienced as a vampire.
I put Sofia down on her feet before leaning down to kiss her. It was the first time I was able to be around her without having to fight the urge to sink my teeth into her. I could touch her, hold her, be with her without wanting to devour her.
“As touching as this scene is, I believe we have business to take care of,” a deep, gruff voice spoke from behind us.
I turned around to find a stranger – an old man with graying hair but perhaps one of the most intimidating presences I’d ever been around. Aiden was standing beside him.
“This is Arron,” Aiden introduced. “He’s one of the hunter elders.”
My gut clenched. Hunters. In The Shade. It felt like the beginning of the end.
“So this is him? The infamous Derek Novak? The ever-elusive king of the vampires…” Arron stepped forward and retrieved a dagger from his pocket. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
He grabbed my arm and then ran the dagger through it, cutting deeply. I winced at the pain. I couldn’t remember a dagger ever cutting so painfully when I was a vampire. We watched the wound, waiting for it to heal. Nothing happened.
Delight flickered in his dark brown eyes as a manic grin formed on his face. “Wonderful.”
That was when I came upon an important conclusion. Vampire or not, I had absolutely no business putting my trust in the hunters. Sofia’s wary face told me that she thought the exact same thing.
Chapter 47: Sofia
Borrowed time. It felt like every moment I spent with Derek was just borrowed time. The hunters insisted that Derek, Kyle, Anna and I be shipped to hunter headquarters immediately. A select number of vampires were also to be taken to headquarters – mostly those who were willing to become human again. The rest were to remain on the island – under hunter surveillance. If we refused to cooperate, they would threaten to blow up The Shade.
Derek shook his head. “I’m not going to hunter headquarters to spend my honeymoon getting poked and prodded for your research.”
We were at his penthouse, Arron and Zinnia sitting on the side of the dining table across from us. Aiden was sitting on my side, while Vivienne was sitting on Derek’s.
I clasped his hand tightly, wondering what it was that he had in mind. Does he not realize the threat that the hunters are posing to all of us?
Arron’s face remained stoic as he eyed Derek. “We’re not exactly giving you a choice here, Novak. It’s either you go by our demands or we destroy The Shade.”
“Arron, they just got married. If you want people to study, Kyle and Anna are more than willing to take Derek and Sofia’s place while the couple have their honeymoon.” Aiden was speaking very carefully, as if he was weighing every word that came out of his mouth, almost as if he was afraid of making a mistake.
I noted that I’d never seen him as on edge as he was when he was around Arron. I eyed the imposing old man with a sense of intrigue. How can he make even my father tremble?
Arron shifted his beady eyes toward Aiden. “Do you really think I care whether or not someone like Derek Novak has a peaceful honeymoon? He may be human now, but that doesn’t erase the hundreds of years when he was a beast.”
Derek slammed his left hand over the wooden table while his right hand tightened its grip on mine. “Let’s cut the nonsense, Arron.”
I caught the way Vivienne was staring at her twin in horror. She was looking at him as if he had gone mad. I could practically read what was going through her mind. Does he not realize that he is no longer as powerful as he was yesterday? Does he not realize how vulnerable The Shade is?
“Now that we’ve found a cure,” Derek began to speak up, “you and I both know that to blow up as valuable an asset as The Shade – and all its citizens – would be complete nonsense. The Shade has existed autonomously for the past four hundred years. We have a strong workforce and our own technologies that have enabled us to thrive independently and without your knowledge. To destroy The Shade – after having found a cure – is stupidity.”
“Are you saying that I’m bluffing, Novak?” Arron sat up straight.
He appeared menacing to me, but a quick glance at my husband took my breath away. Derek was just as intimidating as a human as he was a vampire. At that moment, everything about him exuded power.
“Yes.” Derek nodded confidently. “I think you’re bluffing. The cure changes everything and you know it. I was a hunter once and I’ve heard the whispers of what a cure could mean. You and I both know, Arron, that any vampire who would willingly take on the cure isn’t your enemy anymore.”