A Castle of Sand Read online

  As I stepped out of the elevator, I realized that my father had just begun to take note of the dress I was wearing and the blood on my wrists. He then saw Derek stepping out of the elevator right behind me. My heart stopped when I realized what it looked like.

  “Dad, no!” I screamed, but he was already pulling out a gun and aiming it at Derek. I immediately acted out of instinct and used myself to cover Derek. I was about to tell Aiden—who was running toward me—that if he ever hurt Derek, I’d never be able to forgive him, but before I could make sense of what was going on, Derek was speeding forward.

  I was sure that he was about to attack my father, but then he ripped the heart of a vampire about to pounce on Aiden instead.

  My father twisted around in surprise. I moved forward and held hands with Derek as I looked my father in the eye. “Let the hunters know that no one is to lay a hand on Derek Novak.”

  A muscle in my father’s jaw twitched as he gave me a disapproving look. “Why are you dressed that way and who drank your blood?”

  “Borys Maslen had me dressed this way, because he intends to marry me. He’s also had a drink of my blood. Derek came here to rescue me,” I explained, conveniently leaving out the part when I let Derek drink my blood.

  My father glared at Derek. “Get my daughter out of here.”

  I sighed with relief as I heard him spout out orders on the hunters’ communications system that Derek was not to be harmed.

  Secure that the hunters wouldn’t hurt Derek and that our only problem would be encounters with the Maslens, Derek’s grip on my hand tightened. “Where’s your room?”

  The goal was to reach my chambers and hopefully hide out there until everything had blown over. I was relieved that Derek suggested we go there, because I wanted to retrieve the diamond necklace he gave me. I knew how important it was to him and it had also become extremely valuable to me because of what it symbolized. We weaved past the halls, Derek having to take down a couple of vampires before we reached my quarters. I entered the room and rummaged through the drawers for the necklace. The moment I found it, I pulled off the necklace given to me by Borys and threw it on the ground. I then turned to face Derek and found myself surprised when I saw the alarm on his handsome face.

  “We’re not safe here. I didn’t realize how close your room was to the Maslen family’s chambers. Come! Hurry!”

  He gave me no time to voice out my confusion; he just grabbed me by the waist and sped out of the room. He stopped when we were already at the main hall, right by the circular elevator, where the heat of the battle was going on. At this point, a hunter—one who either didn’t hear, or chose to ignore, my father’s instructions not to harm Derek—lunged toward him with a stake. Derek pushed me to one corner away from the chaos going on around us and I heard the hunter’s neck snap.

  I managed to tear my eyes away from the sight of Derek killing another person and that’s when I got a full picture of what was going on around me.

  My blood was pounding within me. A surge of horror rushed through my body as I scoped my surroundings. Gunshots were being fired all over the place. A fiery bullet hit a vampire about seven feet away from me, who screamed in agony as he burst into flames. He was only one among the many vampires present in those tombs—one among many dying excruciating deaths by those fatal gunshots. A few lucky ones were killed with stakes being driven through their hearts, but most were shot with the hunters’ bullets, uniquely engineered to mete out death on the vampires.

  The sight was sickening, but despite my mortification over the sheer magnitude of death surrounding me, my prime concern was Derek Novak.

  I can’t lose you.

  The mere thought of losing him made breathing a struggle. I looked around and gasped at the sight of him ripping the heart out of a vampire from the Maslen clan before moving on to breaking the neck of another hunter poised to attack him. He was headed straight for Borys Maslen. Fearing for Derek’s life, I stumbled forward. As I weaved through the chaos surrounding me toward my beloved, someone grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

  “Get her out of here!” My father, Aiden Claremont, was pointing toward the exit. He was speaking to the stranger gripping my arm. The sight of my father still confused me. What is he doing here? After all the years he abandoned me and left me under the care of his best friend, Lyle Hudson, he seemed out of place in this world—my world. His attempts to protect me were irritating. He had no business interfering with my life, not after all those years of ignoring me. Still, his presence moved me beyond words. He was still my father and I wanted to run to him and embrace him, feel his strength surround me, hear whispers of assurances in my ear—assurances that would answer my questions about why he had abandoned me.

  But war was being waged all around us and the only thing that mattered at that moment—reaching Derek—was being kept from me. I struggled against the hunter’s grasp as he dragged me in the opposite direction. He was far stronger than me and I couldn’t break away from his grasp until he was tackled to the ground by a familiar vampire. Claudia.

  Her mass of blonde curls covered her face as she let out a scream before ripping the man’s heart out. Her big brown eyes then turned toward me, a manic smile forming on her face.

  “Hello, Sofia.”

  I shivered as I looked into her eyes. A broken creature, she embraced darkness like no other and had become one of the most wicked beings I’d ever come across. She surged forward and pinned me against a wall with her bloody hands.

  “This is my gift to you,” she hissed before sinking her teeth into my neck. I’d been bitten by vampires before, but I felt right away that what she was doing was different. She wasn’t simply feeding on me. She was trying to turn me.

  “No!” I gasped, trying to push her away. “Claudia, don’t…please…”

  Before I could fully wrap my mind around what was about to happen to me, I saw my best friend, Benjamin Hudson, hurtling toward us. His blue eyes screamed bloody murder at the sight of what Claudia, the vampire who broke him in many ways, was doing to me. He aimed his gun at her, but she must’ve sensed him, because she whipped around and tackled him to the ground.

  “Did you really think I wouldn’t sense you coming to her rescue? Your blood still pumps through my veins, Ben…”

  Claudia’s hands rose in the air and claws came out of her fingers, poised to wound Ben. I threw my entire weight against her, hoping to push her away from my best friend, but she easily threw me back and I crashed to the ground. I cast my eyes away in desperation and scanned the hall, only to be met with another bone-chilling sight.

  Across the vast hall, Derek stood bleeding and weakened as he faced off with Borys Maslen and three other vampires. And, in another corner of the room, a vampire was poised to attack my father who was fumbling to reload his gun.

  Watching with horror as the lives of three of the most important men in my life hung in the balance, I felt an overwhelming sense of loss. Somehow, I already knew that this was going to happen, that the loss of life was inevitable, but finding myself right in the middle of it was something I wasn’t prepared for.

  A voice echoed in my mind—the voice of a friend who sacrificed her own life to bring me back into Derek’s arms. I could almost hear her—Vivienne Novak, Seer of The Shade—speaking to me. Her words not only confirmed my worst fears but painted a future I wasn’t sure I wanted to be part of.

  The memory of her spoke to me and said, “Blood will be shed.”

  And just as the memory flashed through my mind, a vampire had me pinned to a wall. Lucas. “Hello, Sofia. I’ve been looking for you.”

  Chapter 54: Ben

  Amidst all the bedlam surrounding me, I was certain of one thing and one thing alone. Claudia had reverted to her old mad and twisted self. I knew it the moment she attacked Sofia and sank her fangs into her neck.

  “What is wrong with you?!” I hissed at her after seeing her claws come out, ready to put me through another painful ordeal.
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br />   “She’s safer as a vampire than she is as the pathetic little twig that she is,” she told me. “I was doing her a favor.”

  She wasn’t feeding on Sofia. She was turning her. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what was going through her mind. “This place is filled with hunters. Nobody is safe, you crazy bitch.”

  Her claws retracted and she pressed her palm over my chest to keep me down. “You were going to shoot me,” she accused.

  “You were sinking your bloody teeth into Sofia’s neck. Of course I was going to shoot you.” I pushed her away from me and was slightly surprised when she actually backed off. I searched for Sofia in time to see her pinned to a wall, Lucas licking the blood off her neck. I scoped the room for help. Derek and Borys were still at each other’s throats. Reuben, on the other hand, was already poised to shoot at Borys, but Ingrid was on her way to keep her former husband from doing it.

  They’re pre-occupied. I looked around for my gun. I couldn’t find it. Claudia had knocked it off me when she tackled me to the ground. A Maslen vampire began to approach me. Claudia found herself distracted, battling one of her own kind.

  Thus, I was left with a wooden stake and one chance to take Lucas Novak down. I ran toward him. I reached him in time to hear him whisper to Sofia, “If I can’t have you, no one will.” His intent was clear. He wanted to kill her.

  Over my dead body. I lifted my stake, ready to drive it right through his back and into heart, but I quickly realized that I should’ve learned my lesson. Never underestimate a Novak. I was just about to make contact with him, when he unexpectedly turned around and drove his claws right through my gut. I could feel the blood trickling from the open wound and I knew then that nothing could save me. I felt little pain and for that, I found myself thanking Claudia for the first time in my life. She had numbed me toward physical pain, but not to the pain of seeing Sofia’s face when she realized what Lucas had just done to me.

  Lucas pulled his hand away from me and watched as I stumbled backward. My back hadn’t yet hit the ground when a UV bullet hit Lucas right in the forehead. I strained my neck to see who had shot him and saw Reuben standing with his gun. I turned my eyes from the grotesque sight of Lucas Novak bursting into flames and focused on Sofia who was now kneeling by my side.

  “Ben…” she gasped, tears flowing down her cheeks. She stared at my wound in horror. “No…no…no…” she sobbed.

  I was fading in and out of consciousness. At one point, I saw Reuben rushing to me, Zinnia trailing behind him.

  “We’ve got Ingrid!” she announced. “Now what?”

  Reuben’s eyes darkened. “Take her to headquarters,” he instructed after giving Sofia a quick glance. I knew even then that had Sofia not been there, he wouldn’t have hesitated to have Ingrid killed instead.

  Everything once again blurred and when I came to, Derek was kneeling over me, blood dripping from his palm. Sofia had a hand under my head and was lifting it up. “Ben, you have to drink.”

  I shook my head and panted. “Never. After what Claudia put me through…I vowed to never drink a vampire’s blood again.”

  “You have to, Ben…” Sofia cried. “It’s your only chance. Ben, please…”

  I looked up at her and reached out to wipe the tears from her face. “Derek will take care of you, Sofia. Tell my family I love them, okay? And know that I loved you from the moment I first met you. Vivienne was right. I see the world through your eyes now.” I smiled, resigning myself to my fate. “And it’s beautiful. Just like you.”

  Chapter 55: Sofia

  Ben’s eyes slowly closed and I knew without a doubt that it was the last I would ever see those beautiful blue eyes of his. It was the last I would see him smile, the last I would hear him speak. I’d lost people who were dear to me before, but the immensity of the anguish that I felt upon losing Ben was more than I could handle.

  I stared blankly at his still form for what seemed like an eternity, knowing that everyone around me—heads bowed in deference—could sense the pain that losing Ben caused me.

  Tears flowed down my cheeks. I began to shake his motionless body, fooling myself that he might actually wake up. “Ben…no…” My sobs filled the air and suddenly, everyone else was deathly still.

  I could sense Derek’s eyes on me, his gaze a soft, concerned caress. Even his presence couldn’t provide me with a shred of comfort. He motioned to touch me, but I shied away from him. I clung to Ben’s lifeless form, wishing that I could somehow bring him back to life.

  He was too young, too full of potential…he didn’t have the right to just give up like that.

  No one dared touch me. No one dared speak. Until my father decided that I had been given enough time to grieve my best friend’s passing.

  “Take the boy’s body,” he ordered one of the hunters. “We have to go before more vampires arrive. The sun is setting.”

  “No…” I sobbed, still holding on to Ben’s still form, his blood soiling the white dress I was wearing.

  “Sofia, we don’t have time,” my father insisted.

  “We can spare her a few more minutes. She just lost her best friend.” Derek. I adored him for that.

  The hunters who were ordered to take Ben’s body hesitated from prying me away from him.

  “I should kill you,” my father told Derek.

  “And give your daughter another loved one to grieve over.”

  A collective gasp filled the room. I wasn’t sure if it was because of Derek’s bluntness or if it was because not everybody knew that Aiden Claremont was my father. Either way, tension sparked between the two men.

  The urgency of the situation forced my attention away from Ben as it began to sink in to me that the love of my life was very much in danger of getting killed by my father.

  Aiden quickly changed the topic. He gave Derek a momentary, questioning glare. “Borys Maslen?”

  “He got away,” Derek responded. “Ingrid?”

  “We’re holding her captive.”

  An awkward silence followed until Derek broke it. “I won’t leave Sofia.”

  “Then you’ll have to come with us. You sure a vampire like you would be willing to walk right into the hunters’ headquarters?”

  “Why not?” Derek shrugged. “I was once a hunter.”

  “Reuben…” a young woman with blue-streaked hair interrupted. “We have to go.” She couldn’t seem to bear looking at Ben. My father nodded. He gave Derek a cold and suspicious glance before shaking his head and saying, “Get Ben’s body. Let’s go.” He reached his hand toward me at the exact same time Derek did.

  I tore my eyes away from Ben’s body—now being taken away by the hunters—and looked at the two men, holding their hands out to me. I didn’t hesitate. I took Derek’s hand, not missing the flash of hatred in my father’s eyes at the sight of The Shade’s monarch.

  Derek pulled me against him and gently caressed my forehead with his lips. I turned to face my father to find him removing his jacket. He handed it to me. “Cover up.”

  Relieved, I took the jacket and put it on, zipping it up to my neck. I then clung on to Derek’s hand as we headed for the elevator. As it rose up through the levels of The Oasis, I got a glimpse of all the bloodshed that had just occurred. I realized that it certainly wasn’t just the vampires of The Oasis that had been slaughtered.

  “They killed all the human slaves too,” I whispered into Derek’s ear when I saw the elderly maid who had dressed me lying motionless on the ground.

  He nodded. “In the eyes of a hunter, Naturals and any human loyally serving a vampire are just as bad as the creature itself.”

  “Then they could just as easily kill me for my loyalty to you.”

  “Not as long as your father holds any authority with the hunters…”

  Suddenly, I understood why Ben had turned his back on the hunters. My best friend was out for revenge, but he never would’ve willingly taken the life of an innocent.

  We finally reached level o
ne and just as we surmised from what we saw through level seven’s surveillance monitors, the hunters had blown off the entire top level of The Oasis. I was relieved to find that the sun had already set by the time we reached the top level, because I dared not imagine what would happen to Derek should the sun’s rays shine on him.

  The bloodbath we had passed through before reaching the hunters’ helicopters was sickening. At one point, I looked at Derek, silently admiring him for stopping something like this from happening at The Shade. I squeezed his hand and he looked my way. He smiled and that gesture alone made me feel a lot better.

  “I didn’t think we were going to make it out of here,” he admitted.

  “Neither did I, but we still have a prophecy to fulfil together, Derek.”

  “I don’t know how I’ll be able to keep myself from craving you, Sofia…”

  “I trust you,” was all I could think to say before I caught sight of my father who was waving for us to hurry up. We rushed forward until we reached one of the choppers. That was when I saw Claudia climbing into one of them. I pointed at her to get Derek’s attention.

  He frowned. “That vampire!” he screamed at my father through the noise of the chopper’s propellers. “Why is she being brought with you?”

  “Ben demanded it!” was Aiden’s response.

  Derek and I exchanged confused glances. Why on earth would Ben ask the hunters to spare Claudia’s life?

  “Let’s go!” Aiden sounded impatient and borderline angry.

  Thus, Derek and I quickly climbed into the chopper. I cuddled up against him as we got seated, my father sitting across from us. As the chopper rose in the air, I once again remembered Ben and grabbed Derek’s hand as I sobbed into his shoulder.

  He knew me enough to know why I was in tears, so all he did was hum our song and hold me tight. “There’ll be better days, Sofia.”

  I hoped he was right. At that moment, everything was just too overwhelming, too dark, and through it all, Derek seemed to be my only ray of light.