A Shade of Novak Read online

“So we’re sure it’s vampires behind this, Derek?” Vivienne reached out and clasped my arm.

  I looked up into her worried eyes.

  “That’s the only conclusion we can come to. It’s hard to make out their features from the CCTV, but you can see the pale skin beneath their glasses—they definitely look like they could be vampires.”

  “But why?” Anna sat forward in her seat. “Why would they want the twins?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “If they are vampires,” Xavier said, “it’s possible they targeted the twins on purpose. They may want something from The Shade.”

  “But what? And how can we even give it to them?”

  “Maybe—”

  Eli’s speculation was interrupted by the sound of a phone ringing.

  Sofia reached into her pocket and pulled out our phone.

  We all stared at it, dumbstruck.

  “Put it on speaker!”

  Sofia flipped it open and pressed the speaker button, her hand trembling.

  “Rose? Ben?”

  No response.

  “Hello?” I shouted into the phone.

  “My name is Stellan,” a deep male voice replied. “And I suggest you listen carefully to what I’m about to say.”

  My heart leapt into my throat. Sofia gasped and almost dropped the phone. I took the phone from her and laid it down on the table, staring down at it, trying to steady my racing heart.

  “We have your twins,” Stellan continued. “And they are still alive. How long this will be the case depends entirely on your cooperation.”

  I wanted to grab the phone from Sofia and shout down the line at this son of a bitch. It took all that I had to stop myself from doing it. Showing emotions would only reinforce their sense of control over us.

  “Continue,” I grunted.

  “We’re holding your son and daughter captive. We’ve given your twins a rough time already, so I suggest that you don’t make this more difficult than it needs to be.”

  “What are you?” Sofia said, her voice weak.

  “That’s not important. What’s important is that you pay attention.”

  We waited with bated breath for him to continue.

  “We know that you hold an immune on your island. In exchange for the return of your children, you will hand over the immune to us.”

  All eyes shot toward Anna. Blood drained from her face as she sat resting her hands over her pregnant stomach.

  I picked up the phone, my resolve disappearing by the second.

  “Why do you want an immune?”

  “Is that Derek Novak speaking?” The man chuckled. “You know the value of immunes. And since most of them are locked away in the depths of Cruor now, they are almost impossible to find.”

  “We no longer have the immune,” Sofia said. “She passed away a few months ago during labor. But our witches took samples of her blood. We have large stores. We could hand them over to you instead.”

  Stellan laughed.

  “Only the fresh, hot blood of an immune is of use to us. So if your immune has indeed died, then you’ve nothing to offer us in exchange for the twins. You’d better think long and hard if that immune really is dead.”

  We all paused, staring at each other. After a few moments, Stellan said, “I’ll give you time to think things over and not make any rash decisions, eh? Call me back once you have an answer. You have my number. I’ll be waiting.”

  The phone buzzed as the line cut off.

  “They’re not getting Anna,” almost everyone in the room said at once as soon as the vampire hung up.

  I held my hands up for silence. I needed to think fast. Sofia’s panicked eyes settled on me.

  I sat down in my seat and closed my eyes, resting my head in my hand.

  There was no way we would ever hand over Anna. That much was for certain. But we had to find a way to get our twins home unscathed.

  I sat for several more minutes in silence as every pair of eyes in the hall bored into me, waiting for my solution.

  Finally I looked up. “Hand me the phone.”

  I dialed our twins’ number and waited. Stellan answered after two rings.

  “Yes?”

  “We do have the immune,” I said. “We’ll offer her to you in exchange for the twins.”

  “Hm,” he said. “Good. You are to meet us tomorrow night. I suggest you write down the location.”

  I noted down the details.

  “Make sure that immune is with you, Novak. And don’t bring any witches. If you breach this agreement, I’ll snap the spines of both of your children with my bare hands.”

  He hung up.

  Everyone in the room was looking at me like I’d gone mad.

  “What did you just say?” Sofia exclaimed.

  “We won’t bring Anna with us,” I said loudly, quietening everyone’s protests. “She will remain here.”

  “What?” Sofia said.

  “We need to turn this into an ambush. We’ll bring our best fighters, along with as many witches as we can spare. All we need right now is to have these people within reach. Once we meet them, we won’t leave until we’ve got Rose and Ben safely back with us.”

  Anna stood up for the first time.

  “What if they do something to Rose and Ben once they realize you’ve tried to deceive them?”

  “They won’t have time. We’ll make this ambush fast. As soon as we lay eyes on them, we’ll rush in.”

  “But we don’t even know what Stellan and his companions are,” Anna said. “We don’t know for sure that they are vampires. How can you be so sure that you’ll be able to overpower them and get your twins back?”

  “Anna,” I said, my chest heaving. “It’s our only option.”

  Everyone quietened down and sat back in their seats.

  “So how are we going to go about this exactly?” Xavier asked.

  “Listen carefully,” I said, flattening my palms on the table as I prepared to voice the plan in my mind.

  Vampires and a few witches filled up each of the submarines we had on the island. Sofia and I boarded the smallest submarine alone. We made sure to travel a long distance ahead of the other submarines. We couldn’t afford Stellan detecting them.

  Eli had given me a pager before we left. He also placed them in each of the submarines. When I pressed mine, the others would take it as a signal to close in.

  After a few hours, we arrived at the location. Sofia and I navigated the submarine as close to the beach as possible, and stepped out into the warm night air. A tall vampire with reddish hair was already waiting on the beach. Alone. A few hundred meters away from him was a black submarine.

  We approached and stopped a few feet away from him. Looking around the area casually, I couldn’t spot other vampires on the beach, and the submarine moored up in front of us appeared to be the only one.

  “Where are the twins?” I asked.

  “Where’s the immune?” he responded.

  “We have her in the submarine,” I said, reaching into my pocket and pushing the button to signal to our submarines.

  “I suggest you bring her out first. Remember, Novak, your twins are worth more to you than the immune is to us.”

  I nodded and, taking Sofia’s hand, returned toward the submarine. We walked as slowly as possible without arising suspicion.

  Sofia and I disappeared through the hatch. We exchanged nervous glances. If all went to plan, in less than a minute, an army of our vampires would surface and storm their submarine.

  Sure enough, Stellan yelled out into the night air. He rushed back toward his submarine. Sofia and I climbed back out through the hatch and raced after him.

  I caught up with Stellan on the sand before he reached the submarine. Leaping forward and gripping his midriff, I tripped him up. He didn’t try to fight me. Rather, he scrambled to his feet and ran in the opposite direction. I had almost caught up with him when he ran into the sea—toward another small submarine that had been hidde
n from view. He dove through the hatch and slammed it shut before I could climb in after him. Several seconds later, the submarine had submerged beneath the waves.

  Confused by his behavior, I returned to the main submarine and, wading through the water, hauled myself up onto its roof and lowered myself through the hatch.

  The submarine was in absolute chaos. Vampires at war with each other, lashing out with their claws, biting each other’s necks. I caught sight of Sofia fighting a particularly vicious-looking female.

  I ducked down beneath the commotion as much as I could. I had to reach Rose and Ben while most of them seemed occupied.

  Keeping against the walls, I ran from chamber to chamber until I reached the lower deck. I checked all the rooms down there and stopped outside the only one which was locked. The door was made with reinforced metal.

  “Stand back,” I shouted through the door to whomever was inside.

  I climbed to the top of the stairs and, with all the force I could muster, I smashed down against the door. The impact made a dent in it, but it still didn’t open. Again, I struck the door. Now looser. The third time I struck, it swung off the hinges. I hurried inside and looked around the room.

  My son lay on the floor, his eyes closed. There was no sign of Rose.

  I hauled Ben’s body over my shoulder, relieved to feel he was still breathing, and ran out of the room. I looked once more in every corner of the lower deck but Rose was nowhere to be seen. I rushed back up to the top level and barged through the crowds of fighting vampires until I reached the hatch.

  As I climbed up, pain seared through my ankle. A vampire dug his claws into me. I shook the vampire off, kicking him in the face. I climbed out of the hatch and jumped into the water. Readjusting Ben’s weight over my shoulders, I ran back to our submarine and placed Ben down on top of a blanket in the back of the vessel.

  Where the hell is Rose?

  My stomach churned as I ran back toward the submarine. We had managed to overpower quite a few of the other vampires already, though many were still fighting against us. I breathed a sigh of relief on seeing no casualties on our side yet.

  In the corner Aiden tied up a male vampire in line with a bunch of others we’d managed to tranquilize. I reached out for Aiden’s shoulder and he spun round to face me.

  “I found Ben,” I said. “You need to go to the small submarine immediately. Ben is there. Bring some witches and help care for him.”

  “And Rose?”

  “I haven’t found her yet.”

  As Aiden rushed off, I looked around the vessel for Sofia. I spotted her in the far corner of the room, struggling beneath the weight of a large male vampire.

  I gripped his neck between my arms and with one sharp motion I disjointed it. I held out my hand and pulled Sofia off the floor, her face shining with sweat. “I found Ben,” I said. “But Rose isn’t here.”

  “What?”

  “I searched this whole vessel. She’s not here.”

  I began to fear the worst—that the reason Stellan had fled so quickly was that he held Rose separately from Ben just in case we attempted to pull a stunt. He probably thought that we wouldn’t risk an ambush or anything that could put our precious twins’ lives in danger. He thought that we would rather just hand over our immune. But just in case we tried an ambush, he kept Rose separately. Thinking now with hindsight, I was kicking myself for not having considered he might do this. He would have been a fool not to.

  “But where could she be?”

  “We need to find out where it is these vampires reside.”

  Leaving Sofia’s side, I raced over to Xavier, who was just about to inject a vampire with a tranquilizer. I knocked it out of his hands and pulled the vampire away from him. She had a youthful face, possibly in her twenties when she was turned, and short blonde hair.

  I outstretched my claws and positioned them over her heart while my other hand gripped her neck. “You are going to take us to your base,” I hissed.

  I pulled her up and dragged her into the control room. “Where do you vampires come from?”

  When she remained silent, I pressed my claws against her throat. She gasped but still didn’t speak.

  “There are plenty of other vampires I can ask. So I suggest you speak, unless you prefer that I rip your heart out.”

  “All right,” she croaked, gasping. I released the pressure from her neck. “We live on an island, about an hour away from here.”

  “What island?”

  “Stellan rules over it. It’s protected by a witch’s spell.”

  “A spell? Will we be able to enter it?”

  Trembling, she nodded. “Yes, because you are accompanied by us.”

  I pushed her into the control seat and said, “Do you know how to operate this thing?”

  “Y-yes.”

  “Then you’ll take us there. You said it takes about an hour. I’ll be watching the timer. I suggest you don’t mess with me.”

  She eyed my claws as I sat down next to her, ready to strike if I sensed even the slightest bit of disobedience from her.

  I turned to Sofia.

  “Are all the vampires tied down now?”

  “Yes, it looks like it.”

  “Then instruct the others to return to their subs. They must follow this submarine closely. And you should return to our submarine and follow us there too.”

  Sofia nodded and rushed off. Once I was sure that everyone who was due to leave this vessel had left—leaving me with Vivienne, Xavier, and a few others to help make sure the sedated vampires remained in their docile state—I ordered the blonde vampire to start our journey.

  Chapter 36: Rose

  I stared at the vampire, barely daring to believe his words.

  Home.

  He’s taking me home.

  “B-but,” I stammered, “what about Stellan? Won’t he tell the witch everything as soon as he wakes up?”

  Caleb shook his head.

  “He shouldn’t wake up for some time after the blow I dealt him. But it doesn’t matter even if he does. I’ve locked him up in one of the storage rooms in the lower deck of this submarine. He’ll be weak after he wakes up and won’t have the strength to smash the reinforced door down.”

  “What will you say when the witch asks what happened to me?”

  “That’s not your concern.”

  “But what will happen when Stellan wakes up?”

  Caleb looked at me darkly. “I’ll deal with him when the time comes. But you’ll be gone by then.”

  I breathed out and sat back in my chair. Escape had been on my mind for so long, now that it was finally happening, I could barely believe it.

  “ I can’t tell you when or how it will happen, but you have my word: I will be waiting and watching for that time.”

  Caleb had been waiting. All that time, he’d been waiting for the opportunity to help me escape. I guessed that he hadn’t had much time to plan any of this. He’d likely figured out this whole scheme on the spot.

  Strapping himself into the control seat, Caleb fiddled with buttons and we began speeding away from the island.

  “Do you even know where The Shade is?” I asked.

  “No.”

  “Then how are we going to get there? I have no idea how to navigate there.”

  “Your parents aren’t in The Shade.”

  “What?”

  “They’re in Stellan’s island. They’re storming the place, looking for you.”

  I gasped.

  “Have they found Ben? And what about Kristal and Jake? How on earth did they find it?”

  “I don’t know all the details. But yes, they have Ben now. I don’t know about the other two humans. Stellan struck a deal with your parents. You and your brother, in exchange for your immune.”

  I stared at him, my mouth agape.

  “Our immune? Why would—”

  “I don’t know why,” Caleb replied. “Annora doesn’t tell me everything.”

  “
So, Stellan was going to hand me over to my parents?”

  “No. They thought they could trick your parents to hand over the immune, while in return giving them your brother only. Stellan escaped from your parents and came to take you away somewhere else in case The Shade’s vampires managed to storm my island.”

  “Why would the witch want to keep me?”

  Caleb shrugged.

  “An extra bargaining chip against The Shade. Perhaps there are other things that you have over there that would be useful to us.”

  “Did they hand over Anna? Our immune?”

  “I don’t know.”

  I sat back in my chair, breathing deeply as I tried to absorb all this information. My heart was pounding at the thought of Anna’s life being in danger. She was loved dearly by all of us. My parents had told us how she had saved Ben when he was just a baby. If it hadn’t been for her, I likely would not have had a brother. What made things more worrying was that she was heavily pregnant. I prayed that my parents had managed to keep her safe. I couldn’t imagine them ever handing her over.

  “How long will it take to get there?” I asked anxiously.

  “Perhaps another half an hour. It’s not far.”

  My stomach was in knots for the rest of the journey. Finally, Caleb brought us to the surface. He moored up in some sort of port and then stood up. Rummaging around in the compartment above me, he pulled out a long dark cloak and a pair of sunglasses. I gasped when he drew out a dagger from his belt and cut a large gash in his palm. He dripped his blood all over the cloak, rubbing it into the fabric. His palm healed quickly, so he had to cut himself several times before enough blood had soaked into the fabric.

  “Now, put these on,” he said, handing me the cloak and shades. “My blood will help to mask the smell of your own. And keep that hood pulled down over your face.”

  I did as instructed and followed him toward the hatch entrance.

  “Wait here,” he whispered down at me.

  I watched from below as he raised his head out of the hatch and looked around.

  He reached down for me. His hand enveloped mine in a strong grip as he pulled me up. He lifted me out of the hatch and placed me on the ground. I shivered. This place was as cold as Caleb’s island. It seemed that the witch had cast the same spell over both.