I saw the delight in Derek’s eyes. He wanted this. I wanted this. I had been at The Blood Keep alone with this pregnancy for so long I had forgotten that we’d dreamed of this. Derek and I wanted to have a family.
I stared at him. Is he really here?
“Push, Sofia! Push!”
Out of instinct, I responded to Corrine’s screams. The pain had reached a peak so that I could barely feel it. I wasn’t certain if the whole thing was even real, but I did as I was told.
When I heard a second cry, I looked up at Derek again. I saw pure joy on his face.
“It’s a girl,” Corrine announced, relief in her voice.
Derek held both children in his arms, and looked at me with such delight. “Everything’s going to be all right, Sofia,” he told me, then worry immediately replaced his joy. “Sofia?” Panic came with the way he said my name. “Corrine, take the babies. I'll bring Sofia. We need to get to a hospital as soon as possible.”
The witch quickly obliged and within seconds, I was in Derek’s arms.
“Derek, where were you?” I began to sob into his chest as my head spun from everything that had just occurred.
This is too good to be true.
“Sofia, darling, I’m so sorry. I tried to get here as soon as I could and I just… I’m sorry.” I felt his kisses. I felt the strength of his embrace. I felt the heave and sigh of his chest and the beating of his heart. I felt the warmth of his breath on my skin as he showered me with apologies.
I was exactly where I had longed to be, but just as I was beginning to accept what was happening, the door swung open and the man with red eyes stepped in.
Night had fallen. The darkness had come. Perhaps it was mercy that stole me away from that moment and allowed me to fade from consciousness, because I probably wouldn’t have been able to survive what was to happen next.
Chapter 41: Derek
The state Sofia was in was tearing me apart. She needed immediate medical attention.
“She needs to go to a hospital.”
Kiev looked at her. “Yes. She does.”
“But if you think you can take her away from me…”
“Save your threats. It’s not her I want.” He paused and stared at Sofia.
I noticed the way he gulped as he eyed her blood.
He smirked. “Well, maybe I do want her, but not more than I want something else that you have.”
Before I could respond, he rushed out of the hut. Corrine screamed outside. I wanted to get up, but Sofia was cradled in my arms and I was afraid that if I let go, I’d never be able to hold her again.
Within seconds, Corrine burst into the door, holding one baby instead of two.
My eyes widened in horror. “No!”
“He took your son! It all happened so fast! I couldn’t do anything to…”
“No!” I screamed. I looked at my unconscious wife, cradled in my arms. How am I ever going to tell you? “Where’s Arron?! Where are the others?! What are they doing?!”
I knew the answer. The Guardians were back at The Blood Keep wreaking their havoc there. Aiden and Vivienne, along with the rest of our crew, were probably lost in the heat of battle.
As if we weren’t already surrounded by enough chaos, another unwelcome guest arrived in a flash of light. The silver-haired vixen herself. The Ageless.
“What do you want?” I hissed at her.
“Forgive me for what I am about to do, Derek, but our intervention at The Shade came with a price. Corrine knows that every time a witch intervenes in the manner that she did, there are always consequences. The Elders are demanding justice for their loss.”
“Justice? After all the injustices they put us through?” I hated the witch more than I’d ever thought I could. “Do you see my wife right now?”
“Sofia is strong. She always has been. Her spirit is perhaps even stronger than yours. I have no doubt in my mind that both of you will survive what is to come.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m sorry,” she repeated, “but the payment they demand for what you did is your wife.”
I clung to Sofia for dear life, afraid that I would crush her, but unwilling to let go. I pressed my lips against her even as I turned desperate eyes toward a creature more powerful than any of us. “Please. Don’t.”
Sadness showed in the Ageless’ eyes. “This must be done. I’m sorry.” The Ageless turned toward Corrine. “I know you risked everything for her, but you and I both know that this is the price that must be paid. Cruor demands her. Cruor will get her. It’s the only way to keep the balance.”
“This is unfair. And you know it,” Corrine pleaded even as she clutched my daughter in her hands. “Sofia had nothing to do with what happened.”
“And yet she is the price they demand, the price we are going to give.” The Ageless turned her eyes toward me. “I trust that she will someday be back in your arms.”
“No. Please,” I pleaded even as I sensed my body heating up. I began to fear that I would burn my own wife to ashes, but there would be no time for that. The witch was about to rip my heart away from me.
It took less than the blink of an eye—just a snap of her fingers. And both the witch and Sofia were gone.
“No!” I screamed out. As if she knew what had just happened, our daughter cried right along with me.
The fire was building up inside me and I knew there was nothing I would be able to do to control it. I was in more pain than I ever was before. I turned desperate eyes toward Corrine. “Get away. Get as far away as you possibly can.” I looked at the child she was holding. “I’m not about to lose her too.”
Corrine ran as far away from the cabin as possible. I held the fire back as long as I could, but what was to happen was inevitable. The ground shook when a loud explosion burst from inside the small hut, incinerating everything within half a mile.
To have held Sofia in my arms only to have her ripped away from me was the farthest thing from justice. As the fire came out of me, all I could think about were the few words Sofia was able to utter to me.
Derek, where were you?
Epilogue: Sofia
When I woke up, my head was pounding and my heart was thumping so hard it felt like it was about to burst out of my chest. Every tooth ached terribly. I felt cold—colder than I’d ever felt before.
I shuffled out of the bed and stood to my feet. My knees almost buckled beneath me. I held on to one of the posts of the bed for support. I looked around me. My surroundings were unfamiliar. Everything was white. The floor, the walls, the ceilings, everything.