A Shade of Vampire 23 Read online

  A Shade of Vampire 23: A Flight of Souls

  Bella Forrest

  Contents

  Also by Bella Forrest

  Copyright

  1. Ben

  2. Sofia

  3. River

  4. Sofia

  5. Jeramiah

  6. Sofia

  7. Ben

  8. Ben

  9. Ben

  10. Ben

  11. Ben

  12. Ben

  13. Ben

  14. Jeramiah

  15. Ben

  16. Derek

  17. Ben

  18. Ben

  19. Ben

  20. Ben

  21. Ben

  22. Derek

  23. Ben

  24. Ben

  25. Ben

  26. Ben

  27. Ben

  28. Ben

  29. Ben

  30. Derek

  31. Ben

  32. Derek

  33. River

  34. Epilogue: Aisha

  Read More by Bella Forrest!

  Also by Bella Forrest

  A SHADE OF VAMPIRE SERIES

  Derek & Sofia’s story:

  A Shade of Vampire (Book 1)

  A Shade of Blood (Book 2)

  A Castle of Sand (Book 3)

  A Shadow of Light (Book 4)

  A Blaze of Sun (Book 5)

  A Gate of Night (Book 6)

  A Break of Day (Book 7)

  Rose & Caleb’s story:

  A Shade of Novak (Book 8)

  A Bond of Blood (Book 9)

  A Spell of Time (Book 10)

  A Chase of Prey (Book 11)

  A Shade of Doubt (Book 12)

  A Turn of Tides (Book 13)

  A Dawn of Strength (Book 14)

  A Fall of Secrets (Book 15)

  An End of Night (Book 16)

  Ben & River’s story:

  A Wind of Change (Book 17)

  A Trail of Echoes (Book 18)

  A Soldier of Shadows (Book 19)

  A Hero of Realms (Book 20)

  A Vial of Life (Book 21)

  A Fork of Paths (Book 22)

  A SHADE OF DRAGON TRILOGY

  A Shade of Dragon 1

  A Shade of Dragon 2

  A Shade of Dragon 3

  A SHADE OF KIEV TRILOGY

  A Shade of Kiev 1

  A Shade of Kiev 2

  A Shade of Kiev 3

  BEAUTIFUL MONSTER DUOLOGY

  Beautiful Monster 1

  Beautiful Monster 2

  For an updated list of my books, please visit my website: www.bellaforrest.net

  Join my VIP email list and I’ll personally send you an email reminder as soon as my next book is out! Click here to sign up: www.forrestbooks.com

  Copyright © 2016 by Bella Forrest

  Cover design inspired by Sarah Hansen, Okay Creations LLC

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Ben

  I remained on that small islet near The Shade for several hours, until I could wait no longer. I’d been struggling to see any light at the end of this tunnel, but something about the beauty of the dawn that morning had made me reconsider conceding entirely to a lifetime of misery… at least, not just yet. I decided that the first and only thing that I should do next was find out more about myself. About ghosts. I still knew hardly anything about them, other than what I had gleaned so far from my own brief experience as one.

  This meant I needed to head back to the supernatural realm. Back to The Tavern. Back to Ernest. He was the only ghost I knew where to find. I’d met others in The Shade, but now that Jeramiah had left, they would be gone—back to their previous haunts, no doubt close to their old homes, or where they had departed from their bodies.

  I would head back to The Tavern, seek out Ernest in that old guesthouse, and if I came across some other ghosts along the way, it would be a bonus.

  Although I was feeling less pessimistic now compared to several hours ago, I still couldn’t allow myself to get my hopes up. Right now, for my own sanity, I needed to stop thinking more than a day or two ahead, and just focus on getting from point A to point B.

  Drifting upward from the rocks, I ascended toward the bright sky. I gazed around me at the endless world of glistening waves. Behind me, and invisible, was The Shade, and stretched out in front of me was the direction I needed to head in. I figured that it made the most sense to return to the same gate—situated near Mount Logan, in Canada—that I’d used to pass into the human realm with the ogres. It would be a pain locating it again, but once I did, I would have much less work to do on the other end. That mountain portal was connected to an island near The Tavern.

  There were other gates closer to where I hovered outside The Shade—like the one on the island Rose had once spent days on with Caleb and Annora, the one that led to the ogres’ realm. But I had absolutely no idea how to get from the ogres’ realm to The Tavern, or how far away the two locations were from each other. So I had no choice but to make my way to Canada.

  I squinted as I eyed the horizon, still feeling like the last thing in the world I wanted to do was leave this spot. This spot, so close to my home. So close to my old life. I’d already procrastinated for hours, because just the thought of leaving hurt. But I had to keep moving.

  I twisted around to face the invisible island. An island I wondered if I would ever return to.

  I’d thought that it would be less painful to slip away quietly, both for myself and for those I loved. I didn’t want to reveal to them that I had died and become a ghost until I discovered more about my situation. But no matter how traumatic it would be, the thought of them still passing each day with hope that I was still alive hurt even more. It was only right that I give them at least some kind of explanation to tide them over until my return.

  So, instead of heading east as I’d planned, I moved back toward The Shade.

  Their security had been increased drastically, but as a ghost—an entity who barely even existed at all—I was able to drift through without obstruction. As the darkness of the island enshrouded me, my eyes fell on the achingly familiar sight of the Port.

  Focus, Ben. Focus.

  Now, I had to think of how I was going to get my message across to my family and River. I did not want to do it via a dream. I had already made a promise to myself that I would not enter another dream unless it was a life-threatening situation.

  As I contemplated this obstacle while drifting closer to the Port, I glimpsed two figures taking a walk along the beach. It was Abby and Erik, walking hand in hand… and bounding in front of them was Shadow. I felt a swell of happiness for Abby that she had found what seemed to be a stable, loving relationship. Then my gaze fixed on the giant vampire-dog.

  I’d had success possessing a dog’s body before. I wondered if Shadow could help me in this particular situation… I approached him as he splashed about and chased his tail in the waves. If I had managed to open the griffin’s padlock with the mouth of a pitbull terrier, I was sure that Shadow could assist me in accomplishing what I had to do. I glanced back at Abby and Erik, who were about twenty feet away. If I was going to try to possess the mutt, I needed to do it now. Hovering directly above him, I murmured, “Sorry about this, old boy.” Positioning my feet over his back, I seeped into him.

  Occupying Shadow was quite a different experience than possessing the pitbull or the Great Dane. For one, his blood ran ice cold, and secondly, he was much larger. It took me by surprise how much of a strain it
was just to lift his paws upward. But I didn’t have time to get used to it. Throwing Shadow’s head toward Abby and Erik, I verified that they were still a good distance from us. Then I propelled the dog’s legs forward, out of the water, and made a beeline for the forest. Beating up a sandstorm around his feet, I reached the border of trees as Erik shouted after me, “Hey, Shadow!”

  Sorry, Erik. I’m taking over Shadow’s walk for a while…

  Not wanting Abby and Erik to catch up with me, I scampered through the undergrowth as fast as Shadow’s legs could carry me. It would have been faster to take the forest path, but then I would be more likely to bump into someone—something I didn’t want to risk until I’d completed my mission.

  I took a winding route until I reached the Residences. I gazed up at the treetops to see that my parents’ penthouse still had not been rebuilt. I guessed they would be staying in one of the treehouses nearby—the logical choice would have been my aunt and uncle’s. Arriving at the foot of Vivienne and Xavier’s tree, I looked down at the ground beneath Shadow’s paws. There had been a light rain overnight, and the soil was moist. Moldable. Extending one of Shadow’s claws, I began running it through the dirt, etching out a message. I stopped several times and erased what I’d written with a brush of Shadow’s paw until I was finally satisfied with what I’d written. I could hardly explain much by this method, but I’d communicated enough, at least for now.

  I took a step back from the sprawling message, eyeing it over. Even if my parents or even one of my family weren’t the first to see it, it was bold enough for anybody passing this way to notice it, and they’d soon be made aware of it.

  Then it was time to for me to leave a note for River.

  Again, I didn’t want to meet anybody on my way to the Vale, so I took the path least traveled through the undergrowth to the borders of the human town. The town was quite busy at this time of day, so I remained within the shelter of the trees until I found some of the more quiet streets, and from there I wound my way toward River’s road. Arriving at the end of it, I was glad to see that it was empty. Still, the windows of River’s townhouse were open and the curtains drawn, so River and her family were clearly awake and more than likely inside.

  Trying to make as little noise as possible with Shadow’s heavy feet, I reached the front doorstep and, extending one of Shadow’s claws again, I scraped a wonky message against the chalky cobblestones.

  My gaze lingered on it for several moments after I finished before I tore myself away from the spot and hurried off down the street. I didn’t want to imagine River’s or my family’s reactions to my notes. Fixing my gaze straight ahead, I tried to numb myself to the pain inside.

  Reentering the forest, I raced Shadow back in the direction of the beach. I soon caught the sounds of Abby and Erik yelling for the mutt. I hadn’t been gone long, thanks to Shadow’s supernatural speed, and Abby and Erik apparently weren’t in that much of a hurry to find him, since they were still roaming the same patch of forest I’d escaped into. They might’ve just thought that Shadow had gone exploring in the nearby bushes, or perhaps he’d wanted to relieve himself in private. Locating them by the sound of their calls, I burst through a line of trees to find them standing in a small clearing. They whirled around to face Shadow, and as soon as they did, I drifted away from the dog’s body. It caused me a twinge of guilt to watch him stagger slightly on his feet, his appearance disoriented and bewildered.

  “Where did you go, boy?” Abby asked, moving up to Shadow and scratching his large ear.

  Shadow whined a little before shaking his coat vigorously. Then, after a few moments, he buried his snout in a particularly large, damp pile of leaves and began foraging. It didn’t take him long to recover. Living on this island, that dog had witnessed a lot of strange things. I guessed this was just another to add to his list.

  Erik gripped Shadow’s collar and reattached a thick leash before the three of them wandered back toward the beach. As they disappeared into the foliage, I knew that now it really was time for me to leave.

  Sofia

  I was sitting in the bedroom Vivienne was staying in temporarily in the Sanctuary. Xavier sat near me as I rocked back and forth in a rocking chair, cradling baby Victoria, while poor Vivienne upchucked in the ensuite bathroom. She had been feeling under the weather, and she was staying here in Corrine’s quarters so that the witch could diagnose and treat her.

  I gazed down at my new niece, who was lost in a peaceful sleep. Thanks to Corrine’s expertise, there had been no unexpected complications with Victoria after her birth; she was a healthy, happy baby.

  A knock against the bedroom door disrupted the quiet.

  “Hello?” I called softly.

  The door opened and Derek stepped inside. He nodded briefly toward Xavier before setting his focus on me. There was an odd intensity to his blue eyes.

  Not bothering to remove his cloak, he moved to sit in the chair next to mine, wrapping an arm around my waist as he leaned over my shoulder, glancing down at Victoria.

  “What’s up?” I asked.

  “I need to talk to you,” he said, meeting my eyes again.

  “What about?”

  Derek’s gaze averted to the bathroom door as Vivienne stepped out, wearing a loose nightie.

  “Oh, hello, Derek,” she said, picking up a glass of water on her bedside table, before sinking back into bed.

  “I’ll take Victoria now, if you two want some time alone,” Xavier said, extending his arms for his child.

  I gently handed her to him, careful not to wake her. Then Derek took my hand, twining his fingers with mine, and pulled me out of the room.

  “Well?” I asked, as we headed down the corridor toward the exit. I wondered what he wanted to discuss with me in private.

  Wordlessly, he led me out of the Sanctuary and across the courtyard. Entering the forest, he pulled me toward a tree trunk and finally stopped. He clasped my other hand in his.

  By now my curiosity had reached its peak. “What is it, honey?” I pressed.

  His hands moved to my waist. Drawing me closer, he pressed a kiss against the base of my neck.

  What is all this about? It wasn’t like Derek needed an excuse to be affectionate with me, but I couldn’t help but sense something fishy.

  Half smiling now, I pressed my palms against his chest and separated us a little so I could look into his eyes.

  “What?” I asked, for what felt like the dozenth time.

  He caught my lips in his, silencing me. Then, finally, he raised his head and replied in a husky voice, “Turn me, Sofia.”

  I gaped at him, wondering if I had heard him right. “What? Derek, what are you talking about?”

  “I just… feel that it’s time I turn back into a vampire.” He dipped down again, his lips brushing my earlobe.

  “But why now? What’s the trigger? You do know that you may never be able to become a human again, after the scare we went through with you taking the cure last time.”

  Derek paused his kissing and heaved a sigh. “I know. But I feel I’m ready. I’ve also had an idea… about Jeramiah. And it… well, it requires that I turn back. Back into my… former self. I don’t want to talk too much about it yet,” he went on as I opened my mouth to question him. “I’d rather not go into details until I’ve done it. But, after turning, I’m also going to need to be away for a while. Not long, just a day or two. I’m not entirely sure. I’ve asked Ibrahim to come with me.”

  He paused, eyeing me closely, as if gauging my reaction.

  I wasn’t really sure what to say. I accepted his wish to not discuss his plan. I’d never wanted to be the type of wife to put her husband on a leash. I trusted and respected Derek too much for that. Of course, that didn’t stop the curiosity burning within me, but I didn’t press. I knew that the whole Jeramiah episode was a very personal issue for Derek and if he wanted to do this alone, without my interference, that was his choice.

  “Okay,” I began, still
frowning. “Well, when would you leave?”

  “Soon after turning,” he said. He cupped my face in his hands. “I won’t do anything to put myself in danger. I give you my word.”

  I looked at him doubtfully. It felt like any time Derek embarked on a mission, there was always some kind of risk involved. Derek and danger were two peas in a pod.

  “What?” he asked, picking up on my uncertainty.

  I blew out a sigh. “Nothing. Just… be careful.”

  A smile curved the corner of his lips. “Since when have I needed to be warned of that?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Since forever.”

  He growled softly, feigning indignation, before his arms slid beneath my knees and around my back. He scooped me up and began racing through the woods with me. I already knew where we were headed.

  River

  After Hero returned me to The Shade and then mysteriously disappeared, Jamil and I searched all over the island for him. But it was to no avail. He’d vanished into thin air.

  I just couldn’t understand it. It was like he’d been some kind of guardian angel, appearing in my desperate time of need and then leaving when I was safe again. I still had no idea where he’d come from in the first place. And I’d been feeling strangely depressed in his absence. I’d come to like that griffin, and I had hoped that he might stay with us.

  “River!” my mother called up the staircase as I stood in my room, dallying with making my bed.

  “What is it?” I called back.

  “Come down here. There’s a… a note for you.”

  A note?

  Dropping the duvet, I hurried out of the room and down the stairs. My mother stood by the open front door. She pointed to the ground outside the doorstep. I moved closer and found myself staring at a message, scratched onto the cobblestones.

  “River,

  This is Ben. I can’t explain how I was here, but I need you to know that I love you and I am trying to return.