“Clara?” My mouth hung open in shock. I’d thought it wasn’t possible to hate a woman more than I already hated Clara. “That bitch!”
“She turned us both right there and then,” Helina said. “I still remember her words. She said, ‘Welcome to the family, Novalics.’ I’d found it bizarre that she’d known our surname when Erik had never mentioned it to her.”
“But why you two? Of all the people in this world, why did she seek you out?”
Helina and Erik exchanged glasses.
“I suppose it runs in the family,” Helina said with a half smile. “The Elder decided he liked you, and he came back for more of your bloodline.”
“There’s something about our family’s blood they like,” Erik said. “Us, the Novaks—”
“The Novaks?”
“Yes, Kiev,” Helina explained. “We’re related to them. We’re distant cousins.”
I almost choked.
I’m related to Derek Novak.
Can this day get any more absurd?
“How do you know that we’re related to the Novaks?” I demanded.
“The Elder told us,” Erik replied. “He mentioned it in passing.”
My mouth hung open as I tried to let this piece of insanity sink in.
“So… you know all about the Novaks? Is that why you named this island The Shade?”
They both nodded.
“Most vampires know of the legend that is the Shade,” Helina said dreamily.
I thought back to all those times I’d felt totally alone under the Elder’s iron fist. How much easier it would have made things to know that I had siblings going through the same thing. Although it horrified me, I couldn’t deny that now I felt thankful to Clara for doing it.
“Why didn’t the Elder ever tell me that he’d turned you? How come I never found out? How come I never saw you once?”
Erik shrugged.
“I suppose that you had enough reason to resent him already,” Erik said. “And he sensed that this would damage your relationship further, thus making you more difficult to control. It was easier to just do it all quietly.”
Helina reached up to brush my cheek with the back of my hand.
“He told us that he’d turned you into a vampire too,” she said. “But he never allowed us to see you, no matter how much we begged.”
“But… I was in The Blood Keep almost the whole time. How come I never saw you?”
“We were taken back through the portal to Cruor,” Erik explained. “We didn’t spend time in The Blood Keep.”
I exhaled sharply. “How the hell did you escape that place?”
“Erik!” A female voice echoed through the forest. “Where are you, my love?”
Erik and Helina exchanged glances. Helina grabbed my hand and said, “Come, we’ll show you how we escaped.”
“Here, Julisse! I’m coming,” Erik shouted back.
We walked quickly through the forest until we reached the clearing in front of the magnificent black castle.
Erik gripped my shoulder and pointed to three women standing on the steps.
“Meet Julisse—”
Before Erik could finish his introduction, Julisse ran to Erik and wrapped her arms around his neck, planting a kiss on his lips.
“They’ll be a while.” Helina smirked. She took my hand and led me toward the remaining to women. “Meet Arielle and Celice… although you seem to have already been acquainted with the youngest of the sisters?” Helina winked.
I cleared my throat awkwardly and nodded. I dared look up at Celice only to catch her glaring daggers at me. I was relieved that she had the decency to keep her mouth shut, and that Helina didn’t press for an answer as to what I was doing carrying the witch down on the beach. I let her assume whatever she was assuming.
Arielle bowed before me, and held out her hand. I took it and planted a quick kiss on it. It was clear that all three women were sisters; they shared the same eye color, thick hair, and graceful form.
Then Arielle turned to Helina, and asked, frowning, “Where is Tristan?”
“He’s probably still on the ship,” Helina replied. “He said he had some repairs to do after our journey.”
Arielle nodded and hurried away into the forest we had just exited from.
By this time, Erik and Julisse had finished kissing. I couldn’t help but notice that Erik looked younger than the witch. Although nobody could deny her beauty, she appeared to be several years older.
“This angel,” Erik said, his arm around Julisse’s waist, “and her two sisters helped us escape with their magic. All fifty-one of us.”
“Oh?” My tone was that of mild surprise, but I was shocked. To penetrate Cruor—the turf of those evil spirits, where they were at their strongest—was a herculean feat in itself. But to tear fifty of their spawn right from their clutches was another world of strength entirely.
One thing was already clear to me: these were no ordinary witches.
We walked up the steps and entered the castle. We were about to close the grand doors when Tristan—a tall, heavily built vampire with long blond hair—and Arielle came running toward us, their hands intertwined. We all walked together across the hallway and climbed the levels of stairs until we reached my siblings’ quarters. Quarters I’d already rummaged through hours before.
We sat in a grand sitting room with a window that overlooked the island and the dark sea beyond. Helina took a jug of blood from the counter and spread out a tray of glasses. She handed one to me and Erik, and placed one on a table for herself. Then, to my utter shock, she handed a glass to each of the witches.
I almost choked on my drink when they downed a gulp. It was the first time in my centuries of living that I had witnessed a witch drinking blood. Human blood at that. I took another sip from my glass to hide the surprise that I knew had spread across my face.
“Didn’t the Elders ever try to come after you?” I asked.
“After we escaped,” Helina said, “the witches brought us all here to this island. They cast a protective spell that keeps us from harm. The Elders can’t enter so long as their spell is up.”
Yes. These are no ordinary witches. They have the ability to even keep those spirits out. No wonder Matteo wants one for himself so much.
There was a silence as they all looked at me, and I looked at them. I still couldn’t believe that I was sitting in a room with my undead siblings. I was still expecting to wake up from the dream any second.