A Shade of Doubt Read online

  “What other ways could there possibly be?”

  “I believe they see potential in her, to turn her into a witch. One of them. Perhaps they see her genetics as a strong foundation, if they train her right.”

  “What about Benjamin Novak?”

  “Lilith consumes primarily female blood. Benjamin’s blood is not of as much use to them in this regard. Besides, once they’ve taken over The Shade, they will get him anyway.”

  “Take over The Shade?”

  “Oh, yes. That is still their plan. In fact, taking Rose will just make this easier for them. You see, what you need to understand about these witches is that they value vampire, human and wolf life alike. Humans, vamps and werewolves all have their places in their rituals. They can find uses for each of them. So, while they could have attacked The Shade full force, they would much rather gain their cooperation. They don’t want to resort to mass killing in order to gain control. They see too many uses for The Shade’s residents to just kill them whimsically and would rather work on coercion than brute force. Once they’ve done some experimenting with Rose Novak, and are sure they can use her, they will use her to gain cooperation from the Novaks. The Novaks will be much more amenable to negotiation if the black witches have their daughter, don’t you think?”

  My mouth dried out. I stared at Ibrahim. His eyes were narrowed on Thalia.

  “Why didn’t Odelia take the twins at birth if she knew what potential they had?” Ibrahim said. “She could have easily stolen them, just as she stole Sofia and sent her to Cruor. Then you would have run no risk of Rose falling into the wrong hands.”

  Thalia averted her eyes to the floor. “Odelia was a conundrum.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “I mean she wasn’t as rational in her thinking as most thought she was. There was a flicker of remorse in her for the trouble she caused the Novaks. She didn’t want to take away the babies too, as much as Hermia and I tried to persuade her. She hoped that the witches would not find out about the twins. I told her that was a foolish move. Of course, it was only a matter of time.”

  “Are the black witches still interested in the immune, Anna?” Ibrahim asked.

  “As I said, they will get everyone within The Shade. There’s no need for them to exert themselves separately for her anymore. Rose is their key to Ben, the immune, and the rest of The Shade’s livestock.”

  I paused, frowning. So many questions had been competing in our minds, we’d forgotten to ask the most obvious one.

  “How the hell do you even know all this about the black witches?” I asked.

  She gave us a knowing smile. Standing up, she touched our shoulders and the room vanished. We reappeared in the city’s dungeon. I recognized this place. Though I’d rarely visited it, I remembered venturing down here once or twice when I was younger.

  Thalia walked up to a cell a few feet away and pointed into it. Crouched in the corner was a ginger-haired man. His head lolling onto his chest, he appeared to be unconscious.

  “We managed to steal one of their own. That’s how we know all this. Meet Efren Hansard. Formerly a resident of The Sanctuary. Turned traitor many years ago to join the black witches. We caught him sneaking around the borders of our realm. Since he has not yet become a Channeler, he’s not as powerful as Rhys and his family. I and several of our strongest witches were able to overpower him.”

  Ibrahim and I gripped the cells, staring through the bars at the man.

  “The black witches will be angry once they find out what we’ve discovered. They will double their efforts to bring us down. But we had to do it. We had to know what we are facing. Now we are in need of actual cooperation with a Channeler if we are to have any hope of retaining our freedom…”

  Knots formed in my stomach. I dared not mention Mona, in case they weren’t aware that she was living among us in The Shade. But somehow, I suspected that they knew already. In fact, I suspected Mona was the reason Brisalia and her daughter had been hanging around The Shade. Perhaps they are concocting a plan to steal Mona away from The Shade… thus leaving it utterly defenseless. Despair clawed at my chest. I was grasping at any hope I could that they still weren’t aware of Mona, since Thalia had not mentioned her yet.

  Although there were still so many questions churning in my mind, I finally asked the one question that had haunted me ever since she’d first opened her mouth. “Why would you trust us with all this information?”

  I feared I already knew the answer.

  Thalia gave a soft smile. “Oh, I needn’t worry about you telling anyone. Neither of you are going anywhere for a long time.”

  Chapter 1: Rose

  Every second that Annora’s hands remained wrapped around Caleb, it felt like they were wrapped around my neck. The worst thing was not being able to see Caleb’s face. I had no idea whether he was returning her passion, her affection. But when he reached behind his back and unclasped her hands from him, stepping away from her, I found some hope that perhaps I hadn’t lost him yet.

  Still sitting half-submerged in water on the floor, I’d started to shiver from cold. But I felt numb to it. The shock of what that white witch, Hermia, had said about the black witches taking over The Shade, coupled with the shock of seeing Annora, had been enough to leave me numb to all pain. To make any bodily discomfort seem trivial.

  As Caleb drew away from Annora, she tried to latch on to him. He placed her arms firmly at her sides. He cast a look at me. His face was ashen, more drained than I’d ever seen it. Then he looked away from me and straight ahead at the exit, focusing on neither of us.

  “Those witches… We have no time to lose,” he muttered as he rushed out of the room.

  It cut me how his voice sounded so distant, so separate, when all I wanted was for him to hold me and tell me nothing had changed between us. That his feelings still remained the same. That he still wanted to return with me to The Shade. But he didn’t.

  Perhaps I am losing him.

  Annora didn’t even look at me as she followed him. Reaching up to a metal ledge, I pulled myself up out of the water. I was knocked to the floor again as the submarine plunged downward. My stomach flipped, and I felt dizzy. Instead of trying to stand again, I crawled toward the entrance. It led to a flight of stairs, and a dryer area that hadn’t been exposed to the water Annora had let in whilst sucking us through the hatch.

  I was surprised she hadn’t orchestrated the rescue to keep me locked out and only suck Caleb through. Though Caleb was holding on to me. I supposed that was the only reason. I imagined she would have taken pleasure in seeing those two witches above water take me away while she escaped with Caleb.

  Still shivering, I gripped the railing in case the submarine suddenly lurched again. I found myself in a passageway. There were several narrow doors on either side, leading to cabins, I assumed. I grimaced. They were all closed. I guessed that Annora had closed the door to the control cabin.

  I was too drained to care just then. And too cold. I gripped the handle of the nearest door to me and was relieved when it opened into a small room with a clean-looking cot in one corner, a small cabinet, and a towel rack.

  I rummaged through the closet and found a towel. Stripping out of my wet clothes, I dried myself. I found clean clothes in one of the drawers—pants and a shirt. They were both too large for me, but anything was better than remaining in my wet clothes.

  Wrapping my hair up in the towel, I lay down on the cot and curled up in a ball.

  Mom. Dad. Ben. Grandpa… I thought of everyone who was dear to me in The Shade. Please, please be safe. I prayed that the witch was lying. Caleb had seemed to suspect so. But it was the doubt, the not knowing, that was torturous.

  I shut my eyes, trying to numb the pain and uncertainty boiling up within me. Scorching me alive. I should have been more concerned as to whether or not we had managed to get those two black witches off our tail. But my mind was too distracted by other worries.

  After an hour or s
o, I heard the click of a door. I crept to my own door and opened it slightly to peer out. Annora had left the control room and was walking into another cabin, where she shut the door behind her.

  I lay back down in bed, heaving a sigh.

  I didn’t know whether Caleb had asked her to leave, or if she had left of her own accord. Somehow, I doubted the latter.

  Chapter 2: Vivienne

  “Promise me, Vivienne, that you won’t feel bad while you’re away. I want you to enjoy yourself and not think about us. Can you promise me that?”

  As Xavier and I entered the lobby of our hotel, my brother Derek’s words rang through my head. I’d promised him that I would try, even if it proved to be the hardest thing in the world.

  Given that we were trying to get away from the troubles of The Shade and the waters surrounding it, Xavier suggested we go somewhere far away from the Pacific Ocean. He’d suggested Santorini, Greece. Neither of us had been there before, but we’d heard that it was a popular honeymoon destination. I wasn’t picky about where we ended up. My husband was all I wanted. But now that we’d arrived in Santorini, I could certainly see how it had earned its reputation.

  Xavier insisted we stay in the most expensive room of the hotel, the penthouse suite, right at the top of the pristine white building. The manager led us up there personally, along with two employees carrying our bags.

  I drew a breath as we entered the suite. Although the interiors were spacious and beautiful, my eyes were drawn to the balcony. I took off my shoes and walked up to the glass doors, parting the blinds to allow the evening sun to enter the room. I opened the doors and walked outside onto the terracotta-floored veranda, warm beneath my bare feet.

  There was a sprawling infinity pool to my left, a table for two with candles and a pretty flower arrangement in the center, and beyond, stretching out all around us, was a vision so eye-wateringly beautiful I could barely believe we were still on earth. The sea was the most brilliant blue I had ever seen. Perhaps only Derek’s eyes could rival it. And the sky… there was not a single cloud in sight as the sun began its descent behind the horizon. I guessed that this place could even give The Sanctuary a run for its money.

  “You both look like you have some tanning to do,” the manager said, smiling as he eyed our pale skin.

  Xavier and I exchanged glances and chuckled. The men left our bags by the queen-sized bed before they headed for the exit.

  “I can think of more interesting things on our to-do list than tanning,” Xavier whispered, as the door clicked shut.

  My heart raced as he drew me to him and planted a long, tender kiss on my lips. “I agree.”

  Xavier cupped my face in his hands, heat sparking in his eyes. “You’re blushing,” he said, his voice husky.

  “I am?”

  He nodded. “Viv, you have no idea how beautiful you are when you blush.”

  I was sure that I blushed some more as his intense eyes bored into mine.

  I reached for his shirt and began unbuttoning it while he unzipped my dress. He slid it off my shoulders, then reached behind my back and unclasped my bra. He dropped both garments on the floor before removing his pants.

  “I think a shower is in order,” he said, catching my hand and leading me toward the bathroom. Turning on the monsoon shower, he backed me up against the cool tiled wall and trailed kisses along my shoulders.

  We soaped each other down and when his hands lowered to the small of my back, I felt things were about to get a lot more heated. As he moved to taste my mouth again, I pressed a finger against his lips.

  “Wait,” I breathed.

  I twined my fingers with his and led him out of the bathroom. We crossed the bedroom floor, leaving a trail of soapy water behind us, and stepped onto the balcony. Only half of the deep orange sun remained above the horizon now. I slid into the crystal clear pool, pulling Xavier in after me. Draping my arms over his shoulders, I pressed my mouth against his. I closed my eyes, relishing the feel of his tongue parting my lips. I wrapped my legs around his waist and pulled myself flush against him.

  “Now,” I whispered. “Remind me where we were.”

  Chapter 3: Derek

  To say that Ben’s turning hadn’t gone as I’d hoped would have been an understatement. As Sofia left the chamber, he continued convulsing and coughing blood—too much blood. He couldn’t afford to lose this much. People had been known to die during this transition phase, when they were still vulnerable due to being partly human. As much as I could see he was in pain, I forced him to sit upright, hoping that it would stem the blood a little. No chance. If anything, he began coughing up more. He started to get a nose bleed. I ripped off a piece of the cloth he was lying on and tipped his head back, trying to at least stop the nose bleed. Again, it didn’t seem to make the slightest bit of difference.

  I’d never witnessed a turning with so much blood being expelled. He was looking paler by the moment.

  The slab and the floor were covered in frightening amounts of blood. I cursed myself for not thinking to bring a witch in here with us in case we needed medical help for Ben.

  I was about to leave Ben and go fetch Adelle or Patricia myself when, to my relief, Sofia barged into the room. She let out a gasp as her eyes fell on Ben, clasping a trembling hand over her mouth.

  “Go find Adelle, Patricia, or Mona,” I said. “Or any witch with medical knowledge. Whoever you can find fastest.”

  Although she looked like the last thing she wanted to do was leave him in this state, she sped out of the room.

  Of course, there wasn’t much even a witch could do at this stage of the process. Nature was taking its course. There was no way to stop my venom reacting with his body. We just had to hope that the transformation took hold of him before he lost too much blood to survive as a human. I supposed it was more for my own comfort that I wanted to know that a witch was there with us, even if there wasn’t much more she could do than I could do myself.

  Pushing him back down on the slab as he groaned, his body shaking and shivering, I opened his jaw and examined his teeth. I breathed out in relief to see that they were taking form.

  Soon. Soon. I just had to hope that it would be soon enough.

  Sofia appeared in the room a few minutes later, Adelle by her side. Adelle’s eyes widened as she took in all the blood.

  “His fangs are coming through now,” I said. “Hopefully, it won’t be much longer until he is predominantly vampire, and the blood loss won’t matter as much.”

  I shuddered. My son is going to be one hungry vampire when he comes to.

  We’d have to keep him as far away from humans as we could. It would be torture for him, trying to satisfy his newfound bloodlust on animal blood. It would be like trying to satisfy a burning itch by blowing on it.

  But he would have no choice. He’d have to get used to it, just as we’d all had to.

  “I suppose there’s not much I can do now,” Adelle concluded as she stood by the slab.

  I nodded. Sofia hurried to my side and brushed the hair away from Ben’s sweaty face as he continued to convulse and groan. She placed a kiss on his forehead.

  “It’s okay, Ben,” she whispered, as though he could make out what she was saying in his agony. “It will be over soon.”

  I couldn’t help but smile bitterly at her remark. Oh, no. Once he’s turned, it will have just begun.

  Neither of us exchanged a word for the next hour. We just stood, staring at Ben, willing his transformation to take hold faster. We all breathed easier once Ben’s coughing finally began to subside, the blood he spewed out becoming less and less. When his convulsions became less violent, and his breathing had slowed to a normal pace, I deemed it safe to leave the Sanctuary.

  I looked at Adelle. As I suspected, we hadn’t found use for her magic. “Thank you for coming.”

  “It’s no problem. I hope Ben will make a quick recovery now. If there’s anything I can do, just let me know.”

  As Adelle vanis
hed, I picked Ben up and walked out of the chamber with him. Sofia followed alongside me, anxiously looking at our son’s face. It looked a little calmer now, though it was still contorted with pain. His eyes were still glued shut. Even for me, carrying him wasn’t as easy a task as it had once been. He was almost my height, and he was a muscular young man. He kept twitching every now and then, making it hard to maintain a solid grip on him.

  We hurried back to our treehouse, and on entering, I headed straight for his room. Sofia stripped the sheets and blankets from his bed and covered it with towels. I placed him down and held him still while he finished the last of his convulsions. When I thought it safe to leave him, Sofia and I left the room and closed the door behind us.

  We’d have to keep a close eye on him until he fully came to. Because once he did, he’d be ready to go on a rampage in search of human blood. We needed to have an ample supply of animal blood for him to guzzle down, or he’d likely go berserk. He might start tearing the walls down.

  We headed to the kitchen. I bent over the sink, washing my hands, arms and face, clearing away the blood and sweat from my skin.

  “Hopefully, the worst danger is over now,” Sofia sighed, using the sink and washing her hands after I’d backed away from it.