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  “I don’t know,” he said. “And I don’t think Mona knows either. These powers are still new to her, remember.”

  I nodded, though his words hardly soothed my unease.

  We both drifted off into our own thoughts.

  We just have to do the best we can. And hope that Mona’s powers combined with the witches we already have will be enough to keep us safe.

  Whatever the case was, we weren’t as alone as before.

  I’d never thought the day would come when I’d draw comfort from Kiev Novalic. But now, as I sat next to him, his striking green eyes gazing at me, I did.

  The Novaks and Novalics… We were stronger combined. Strong enough? Only time would tell.

  Either way, as insane as it still seemed, we were all in this together now.

  One force. One family.

  Chapter 40: Derek

  I made a beeline for Matteo as soon as the meeting was over. Standing a few feet away from him, I was filled with melancholy. I saw so much of his sister in his warm brown eyes.

  Casting my mind back to the centuries I’d known Natalie Borgia, I couldn’t remember her mentioning that she’d had a brother. I’d certainly never met him.

  I shook hands with him. He seemed to be eyeing me just as closely as I was him.

  “This place,” he said, gesturing around the room, “I still haven’t gotten over how surreal it is to be here.”

  There was one question burning at the forefront of my mind. I hesitated, worried how he’d take it. He seemed to be the calm, level-headed type.

  “Do you know about your sister’s death?”

  His smile faded. He looked down at the floor, wetting his lower lip.

  “Yes. I know.”

  I led him toward the Dome’s exit, away from Mona and Kiev’s siblings. “Then I assume you know how she died?” I asked beneath my breath as we entered the clearing outside.

  He looked up at me resolutely, placing a hand on my shoulder.

  “I know how Natalie died.”

  I wondered if he really did.

  “It’s just—”

  “You’re wondering how I could have possibly forgiven Kiev.”

  “Yes.”

  He turned away from me and gazed out at the ocean in the distance.

  “It hasn’t been easy,” he said, his eyes glazing over. “God knows, it hasn’t...”

  “How could you even start to forgive him?”

  Matteo rubbed a palm over his face, heaving a sigh. “Because, Derek, I saw myself in him. I too was once a child of the Elders. No matter how much I tried to hate him, I saw that he wasn’t a true creature of the darkness. Like many of us were, he was trapped in a life fashioned by the Elders.”

  Natalie’s brother, a child of the Elders? I wondered how on earth that ever came to be. Although I was filled with curiosity to learn about his history, I was still too confused by how Matteo could have pardoned Kiev. I hadn’t detected any malice from him toward Kiev as they’d both sat opposite me during the meeting.

  “So, you… you’ve completely forgiven him?”

  “Ah.” He held up a hand. “Forgiveness is a strong word. I’m not sure that I will ever be able to forgive him.” His eyes darkened as he shot a glance at me. “I believe that acceptance is a better way of describing where I am right now. Although he has given me no shortage of reasons to doubt him, I’ve come to accept that he is capable of remorse. That he mourns for Natalie as I do. That he’s trying to clean up his life.”

  He looked conflicted as he spoke, as though a part of him was still fighting against accepting this.

  “What is your opinion on Erik and Helina?” I asked. “Are they like him?”

  A deep scowl lined his face. “Oh, my crew and I have ample reason to despise them too… But, as with Kiev, it’s hard to continue abhorring people when you see that they too have been lost, and are trying to find their way again.”

  “Well, you’re a better man than I,” I said darkly. Even entertaining the idea that Kiev could be innocent was painful to me. I still felt the urge to punish him the way I’d never gotten a chance to. Even after he’d saved us from the dungeon and returned Anna, I still found my hands twitching to rip out his heart whenever he was in my presence. My bias against him was so deep-seated, the physical agitation he brought out in me was involuntary.

  Matteo let out a dry laugh. “I doubt that. You just need to look harder… Beneath the monster, maybe you’ll see a man.”

  Chapter 41: Kiev

  I had trouble sleeping that night, the events of the past few days replaying in my mind.

  I’d imagined more than once what it would be like to meet Sofia again. She had plagued my mind much of the time I’d been away. I’d thought mostly of the things I should have done differently when she was pregnant and in my care.

  I looked down at Mona’s peaceful face and listened to her gentle breathing. Her smooth skin melded with mine as she lay in my arms. Stroking her forehead, I kissed her lips.

  She stirred, a smile spreading across her face. She let out a soft moan and nestled closer against me.

  Mona. Darling, how the tables have turned.

  I remembered a time when she was as weak as a human. And now, everyone was fighting to take shelter in her strength. My chest swelled with pride at how far she’d come.

  I ran my hands along her bare back, burying my face in her hair, breathing in her scent.

  I couldn’t pretend that I wasn’t still attracted to Sofia. Hell, that redhead still drew me in like a moth to a flame even after all this time. I was sure that even Mona had sensed that.

  But Sofia was my past, while Mona was my future.

  I didn’t envy Derek Novak the way I used to, for having Sofia when I couldn’t. Because I would have ruined her. Even her light wouldn’t have been strong enough to keep me from extinguishing it. I feared I almost had when she’d been in my care in The Blood Keep.

  Mona… she was my anchor. Keeping me rooted during even the fiercest of storms. I still hadn’t known her long, but she fulfilled me in ways that no other woman could. And because of her own past, I could return her love without fear of breaking her.

  Everyone on this island seemed to be talking about my so-called transformation. I’d overheard some call it a miracle. But the fact was, Mona was the only miracle that had ever happened to me.

  Chapter 42: Sofia

  By the time I’d left the Port, the Great Dome was completely empty. I returned to our penthouse. Rose and Ben had already retired to their rooms. I made my way to Derek’s and my bedroom.

  The shower was running in the bathroom as I entered. I took off my cloak and rummaged around in one of the drawers for a fresh nightgown. The door to the bathroom clicked open. Derek stood in the doorway, a towel wrapped low around his waist as he leaned his arm against the door frame, water dripping from his gorgeous dark hair onto his broad shoulders.

  The sight of him standing there all wet made me ache for him. It had been too long since Derek and I had taken time for ourselves.

  “Where did you disappear to?” he asked, removing the towel from his waist and drying his hair. “I was searching for you.”

  “I was with Kiev.”

  He stopped drying his hair and looked at me. “And?”

  “He told me his story.” I walked up to Derek and wrapped my arms around his bare waist. “I think it’s possible that he has changed, darling. I believe this now more than ever.”

  Derek grunted and resumed drying his hair. He walked back into the bathroom, wrapping a robe around himself.

  “What was his story?”

  I breathed out.

  I’d already spent the whole evening with Kiev. I really wasn’t in the mood to stay up for hours talking more about him. Now, I just wanted Derek.

  “I’ll tell you tomorrow,” I said, sliding my hands beneath Derek’s robe. “He’s been all we’ve been worrying about all day. I’ve had enough of green. I want myself some blue-eyed Novak no
w.”

  Derek smiled down at me, a boyish grin splitting his face. “You like your Novak men.”

  “Man,” I corrected him. Reaching up to grip his chin, I pulled his head down toward me so that I could look directly into his stunning blue eyes. Gazing into them still made my heart race like the day I’d first met him.

  Not bothering to change out of his bathrobe, he scooped me up in his arms and carried me out of the penthouse. I wrapped my arms tighter around his neck as we whipped through the forest. A few minutes later, we were at the lighthouse. Our sacred space. He barged in through the main door and, rushing up the stairs, entered the room at the top. He walked around the room closing the curtains while I lit some candles.

  We met in the center of the room. He drew me close as I slipped my hands beneath his robe. I ran them upward, feeling his smooth muscles beneath my palms.

  “You know I never need a change from blue,” I whispered.

  We ripped off each other’s clothes and Derek pulled me on top of him on the bed. He groaned as my fangs scraped his earlobe. Reaching for my face, he brushed my cheeks with his thumbs.

  “I’m yours, Novak,” I breathed, leaning down and caressing his rough jaw with my lips. “And don’t you ever forget it.”

  He flipped me beneath him on the mattress, gripping my wrists in his hands and stretching out my arms.

  “Is that so?” He paused, his mouth moving up from my chest and resting on my throat. “I remember a time when you would chastise me whenever I claimed to own you.”

  I grinned. I too remembered how adamant I had been about that when we’d first met.

  How things change with time.

  Epilogue: Annora

  Tick, tock.

  Tick, tock.

  A glass of blood in my hand, I sat alone in my study staring up at the old wooden clock.

  I smiled, recalling the way the mighty king and queen of The Shade had writhed on the carpet in front of me. I’d driven them to the brink of unconsciousness.

  Now, they believed that they’d gotten away.

  They believed that those few hours of punishment I’d inflicted on them were nothing more than that—a chastisement for their escape from the dungeon.

  And that was the way it would remain… at least up until their flesh started to eat itself. Then they might suspect that I’d had a deeper purpose for their visit to my study.

  If they were lucid enough, they might even guess that I’d cursed them with a bond. The same bond that kept every other vampire on this island on a tight leash.

  But until that moment, they would be living in sweet ignorance, unaware that the last seven days of their lives were slipping through their fingers like sand.

  The curse would creep up on them silently, like a thief in the night.

  And this time, not even the Channeler they’d managed to get on their side would be able to save them.

  Because one can’t fix what one doesn’t know exists.

  * * *

  Ready for the next part of Derek, Sofia and the twins’ story?

  A Shade of Vampire 10 is available now to pre-order from Amazon!:

  Click here now to grab your copy!

  I’ll see you on the other side. ;)

  Love,

  Bella x

  A Note About Kiev

  Dear Shaddict,

  If you’re curious about what happened to Kiev during his time away, and how he came upon Anna, I suggest you check out his completed stand-alone trilogy: A Shade of Kiev.

  Kiev’s story will also give you a deeper understanding of the Shade books and the kind of threat Derek and Sofia are now up against.

  The trilogy is available from Amazon, and the first book is currently discounted to $0.99 (I can’t guarantee how long the sale will run): Click here

  Click here

  Read More by Bella Forrest!

  A SHADE OF VAMPIRE SERIES

  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)

  A Shade of Novak (Book 8)

  A Bond of Blood (Book 9)

  A Shade of Vampire 10

  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 Bella’s books, please visit her website: www.bellaforrest.net

  Also, sign up to her New Release email list and you’ll automatically get notified as soon as her next book is available: www.forrestbooks.com