A Dawn of Strength Read online

  Careful not to wake her, I slid down the pillows until my face was level with hers and gathered her closer to me. I brushed aside a lock of her long dark hair that had fallen across her face so I could fully take her in while listening to her soft breathing. Gently, I leaned in and traced the outline of her beautiful mouth with my lips.

  I remembered only a short while ago, I’d been afraid to kiss her. Hell, I’d been afraid to even look at her. I remembered watching her sleeping from behind a window pane. I never could have imagined that I’d one day be holding her as she slept.

  I didn’t know what I’d done to deserve this. But Rose calling me her boyfriend was something I didn’t take lightly. Her parents—particularly her father—seemed to have accepted me after the explanation Rose had given of our exploits. She was convinced that everyone else in The Shade would accept me here with open arms, too.

  But I was still having trouble accepting myself.

  I’d saved her life several times over while putting mine at risk. I’d kept her safe when I could have so easily taken advantage of her. I’d finally gathered the courage to confess that I loved her.

  Yet, even after everything, I still winced internally each time Rose called me hers. It almost felt like she was sentencing herself to disappointment. And I wasn’t sure why.

  Perhaps the darkness that had shrouded me for so many decades while living with Annora still remained with me. I wondered if I would ever fully shake it.

  Whatever the case, I had to face the reality I found myself in, however strange it was.

  Rose was calling me her boyfriend. Her man. Her lover.

  And, by God, I was going to do the best I could to live up to that role.

  Chapter 4: Aiden

  “One twin down, one more to go,” Kailyn said as we made our way up one of The Shade’s highest mountains.

  “Yeah,” I replied. “And let’s hope Ben returns sooner rather than later.”

  Kailyn and I were taking a walk to let off some steam. Things had been so tense on the island with all the drama brought about by the ghoul, Mona’s absence, Ben’s departure and the shock of finding a dragon at our port. Now that at least some things had been resolved, it felt like everyone needed a little downtime.

  As we reached the top, we walked to the edge of the cliff and stared out at the dark sky and the brightening horizon beyond The Shade’s boundary in the distance. A sharp wind prickled my skin. I slipped my hands into my pockets, avoiding the temptation to steal a glance at Kailyn’s face while she wasn’t looking.

  “I wonder what’s to become of this place,” she said quietly.

  I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. None of us knew what was going to happen now. We all suspected the black witches would strike at some point and attempt to break through Mona’s barrier. We didn’t know if they would be successful, and what would become of us all if they were. But it felt like I’d lived most of my life on edge. Save the seventeen-odd years when we’d all had a break from the craziness of our world, living on edge was what I was used to. There was no other way to live as a hunter. It was all or nothing. I guessed I’d learned to become numb.

  When I didn’t answer, Kailyn took a step closer to me, and to my surprise, slipped a hand into my right pocket and wrapped it around my hand. I turned my head to look down into her eyes. Dimples formed in her cheeks as she flashed me a small smile, giving me the confidence to squeeze her hand a little.

  “I guess none of us know what’s going to happen,” she whispered after a pause. “But I do know one thing.” She stepped in front of me, slipping her other hand into my left pocket so she now held both of my hands. “I really like you, Aiden Claremont.”

  I wasn’t sure what I was thinking in the moments that followed—if I even had a thought process. All I was aware of was the pounding of my heart as Kailyn’s arms draped around my neck and pulled me downward until her pillowy lips were pressed against mine. My hands found the sides of her face as I returned her kiss, slowly at first, then with hunger.

  Her cheeks were flushed when we broke apart, as I was sure mine were. She bit her lower lip and laughed nervously.

  “How was that for a first kiss?” she asked, her voice slightly hoarse.

  I responded by sliding my arms around her slowly until my hands rested on the small of her back. Gathering her to me again, I caught her lips in mine once again, kissing them gently.

  “I really like you too, Kailyn,” I whispered.

  Inhaling deeply, she gripped my shirt and parted my lips with her tongue, allowing me to taste her fully.

  A gruff bark broke through the world Kailyn and I had lost ourselves in. We turned to see Shadow bounding toward us. I looked past him, expecting to see Eli, or perhaps Abby, who usually went for walks with him. Instead I saw… Adelle.

  She had a mortified expression on her face. “I’m sorry,” she muttered, taking a step back. “I had no idea you were up here… I-I didn’t mean to intrude.”

  “Hey,” I said. “It’s okay. These things, uh… happen.”

  Kailyn and I slipped an arm around each other as we walked toward the redheaded witch.

  “How’s Eli?” I asked, fighting to keep my voice casual.

  “He’s fine,” Adelle replied, her eyes fixed on the dog.

  It was a pointless question—I already knew he’d recovered some time ago from the snapped neck I’d given him as well as from the ghoul’s influence. All the couples on the island who’d been affected by the ghoul had forgiven each other and moved on from that dark time.

  “Good,” I said.

  An awkward silence followed, but Adelle didn’t let it last long. Still avoiding my gaze, she said, “I’d better get going. I have a lot of homework to mark today.”

  “Sure. Have a good day.”

  “You too.” Adelle’s eyes travelled from my face to Kailyn’s for but a moment before she hurried away with Shadow. It was long enough for me to detect something odd in them. As Kailyn and I made our way back down the mountain, I couldn’t help but wonder what it was I’d seen. Embarrassment, certainly. But there was something else, too.

  Something that looked surprisingly like… jealousy.

  Chapter 5: Derek

  It was a strange feeling to have my daughter back on the island with us, yet staying under a different roof. Since her return, I’d wanted nothing more than to keep her at home with us in our treehouse. But I had to remind myself that she was no longer my little girl. It was clear that during her time away, she’d matured in ways I hadn’t been prepared for, ways that would likely take me a while to get used to. While a part of me was happy to see her standing on her own two feet, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of melancholy too.

  After she left the apartment with Caleb, our home suddenly felt too big for Sofia and me. Tears welled in Sofia’s eyes. I wrapped my arms around her and drew her in for a hug.

  “Our baby’s all grown up,” she murmured.

  “That she is.” I sighed, looking wistfully out of the window.

  Sofia raised her head and gave me a watery grin. “We sound so… old.”

  I raised my brows in mock offense. “Speak for yourself.”

  She giggled as I scooped her up in my arms and carried her to our bedroom. I placed her in the center of the bed. Her long auburn hair strewn over the pillows, she was just as beautiful to me as the day I’d first laid eyes on her. She was, and had always been, my fire during the longest winter. My moon during the darkest night.

  “I guess I do still feel like a seventeen-year-old,” she said softly. “Especially when you look at me like that.”

  I leant down over her, lowering my head until my mouth was inches from hers. “Like what?” I whispered.

  “Like that,” she breathed.

  I closed my lips around hers. She gripped my hair and arched her back, allowing me room to slide my hands beneath her. Careful not to break our kiss, I pulled her upright so that she was kneeling on the mattress before me. I
was about to unzip her dress when there was a loud banging at our front door.

  Breaking apart, Sofia and I exchanged anxious glances. Who would disturb us at this time of night?

  As I hurried through the apartment, I could only guess that it might be Rose back for something she’d forgotten. But as I reached the front door, it was Eli standing outside. The expression on his face made my stomach flip.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “There’s something in the news that you need to see.”

  “What?” Sofia asked, appearing at my side.

  “Just come,” Eli said grimly.

  Eli was one of the few people on the island who monitored the news of the world outside. Everything about his demeanor made me recall the last time he’d come to report news to us—when Rose and Ben had first been reported missing in Hawaii. I prayed that it wouldn’t be as serious this time, but Eli’s expression gave me little reason to believe that it wasn’t.

  We raced with Eli toward his apartment. He led us straight to his study and grabbed the remote of his TV.

  “You may want to take a seat,” he said.

  Sofia and I did nothing of the sort. We stood as close to the screen as we could without getting in Eli’s way. But when the TV flickered on and he finished flicking through the channels, I wished I’d taken Eli’s advice. Replaying over and over again in slow-motion was the footage of a dark-haired vampire rushing through a park square, knocking a young woman off her feet and tearing through her throat as he sped away again. The clip was being repeated over and over on almost every news channel Eli flicked through.

  “A witness managed to film the attack with a phone camera. The footage was submitted to the local police and uploaded to the internet.”

  The shock of a vampire being caught on camera during an attack and broadcast to the world for the first time in history, combined with who this vampire resembled so closely, left Sofia and me speechless. I just kept watching the loop, willing my eyes to be mistaken.

  Eli flipped open a laptop and placed it in front of us. He pointed to a video player with the same footage. “You can watch it more slowly here, pause and rewind it as you will…”

  As Sofia worked the player with shaking hands, there was no more denying who this was. His features were unmistakeable even in this fuzzy footage.

  It was our son, Benjamin Novak.

  I had been too stunned until now to even take in the details of the reports. Now that I listened more closely, I caught the location. Chile.

  Her chest heaving, Sofia slammed the laptop lid shut. She shot to her feet, her eyes blazing into me. “We’ve delayed this far too long, Derek. We have to find our son and bring him back.”

  “The incident took place some days ago,” Eli said. “Apparently the witness who recorded this ended up being seriously injured—hence the footage was only just discovered and released. There’s no guarantee Ben will still be in Chile.”

  Although a part of me was screaming to agree with Sofia, the greater part of me simply couldn’t. I shook my head.

  “We can’t abandon our people at a time like this,” I said. “Nor will we spare more people to go after him. Not when he expressly stated he didn’t want anyone following him.”

  Sofia’s cheeks flushed, her lips parting to argue back. I gripped her shoulders. “Our son is no longer a boy. He’s a young man. We need to let him live by his choices.”

  “But we turned him, damn it. This is our fault!”

  “We turned him with his full agreement.”

  “Then, if he can’t consume animal blood, we should turn him back into a human,” she said.

  “That’s not what he asked for. If he wanted to turn back into a human, he could have told us. He chose to remain a vampire by leaving. We can’t force our son to turn back.”

  “Then let’s just bring him back and—”

  “Sofia, don’t you understand? He’s got to get over this himself—because if he doesn’t, even if we brought him back here, there’s no guarantee he wouldn’t start murdering our own people. His strength rivals my own, and it’s simply not possible to restrain a vampire like him twenty-four hours a day… unless sedating our son is what you want to do.”

  She bit her lower lip so hard I was sure she was about to draw blood. “We could sedate him temporarily, until—”

  “Until when?” I shook her. “Until when, Sofia? You don’t understand, because you never went through what I went through. Novak blood doesn’t run through your veins as it does mine and Ben’s. Sedate him for a week, and he’ll wake up the same man. Hell, I sedated myself for four hundred years and I woke up the same bloodsucker.”

  “But Derek—”

  “You witnessed the state I descended into as soon as you left the island with Ben Hudson.” I raised my voice, determined to cut through her emotions and make her see sense. “The darkness doesn’t just vanish from one’s heart, Sofia. Your light temporarily broke through mine, but when you left, it closed in around me again. There is no magic button. The only way to get rid of it is from within. Ben has to battle it from within himself, the same way I had to. He’ll have to be relentless in his fight, but if he really wants to pull through this and find himself, he’ll find a way.”

  Finally seeing the truth in my words, Sofia broke down, falling to her knees. I knelt with her, clutching her hands. “Darling, as much as we want to, this is a battle that we simply can’t fight for him.”

  As Sofia shook in my arms, I cast my eyes back up to the TV screen. That vision of my son ripping into the throat of an innocent young woman would forever be etched in my memory.

  I couldn’t get over the fact that this was the first time a vampire had been broadcast to the world like this. Even the black witches’ vampires had managed to keep themselves concealed when stealing away humans.

  If someone had told me that my own son would be the first vampire to break this code of secrecy, I would have thought them mad.

  Chapter 6: Rose

  I took Caleb to visit Corrine and Ibrahim in the Sanctuary first thing the next morning. To my relief, not only had the two of them come to, they were walking around their home as usual.

  It was Corrine who answered the front door. As soon as she laid eyes on me, her face lit up. She flung her arms around me and pulled me in for a tight embrace.

  “Rose, my darling. We have so much to catch up on. You must tell me everything.”

  And so we sat in her living room for the next few hours. I recounted all the details of my story to her, and I was stunned as she told me her tale. I was furious at how the white witches had treated their own kind, and I felt incredibly guilty that they’d gone through all that suffering just because they’d been trying to find me. Once we were caught up on each other’s stories, I reached for Caleb’s hand. Corrine had warmed up to him considerably during the course of our conversation.

  Standing up, I unbuttoned his shirt and slid it off his shoulders so Corrine could see the damage that had been done to him by the South American thugs.

  Her eyes widened as she moved closer to the vampire and looked over the wounds. “These bullets are lodged deep,” she murmured. She shot a look at me. “You might not want to be here to watch this, Rose.”

  “I’m staying,” I said firmly.

  “Okay.” Corrine sighed and led us to her spell room. She cleared the long wooden table in the corner and placed a plastic covering over it. Grabbing a cushion from one of the chairs, she placed it at the edge of the table as a pillow. She gestured for Caleb to lie down. He lifted himself up and stretched out. I walked to the edge of the table and stood by his head.

  “We’ll work on the chest area first, then the shoulders and back,” the witch said. She grabbed a bottle of bright blue liquid and began dabbing it over Caleb’s wounds with a cotton swab.

  Corrine looked down seriously at Caleb. “Now, this could be quite painful. Do you want me to give you some kind of painkiller to make it more bearable?”

/>   “I’ll be all right,” Caleb muttered.

  I looked at the sharp metal tools Corrine had started pulling out of a drawer and wiping down with the blue solution. She must have caught my expression, because she smirked. “Don’t look so scared, Rose. This procedure looks more primitive than I intend it to be. I’ll mix up a potion that will help the bullets loosen from the flesh and slide out easily. These tools are mostly to help lift them out.” She walked over to me and gripped my hand. “I’ll make this as quick for your man as I possibly can.”

  I walked with the witch over to the sink and watched as she began pulling bottles of colorful ingredients off the shelves and mixing them up in a small brown cauldron. She brought the mixture to a boil quickly, then muttered a few words to cool it. We walked with the cauldron back over to Caleb. Setting it down next to her tools, she disappeared from sight for a moment before reappearing with a long, white sheet. I helped her spread it out over Caleb.

  As she set to work, I mostly couldn’t see what she was doing because she was deliberately using the sheet as a shield. But it pained me every time Caleb’s jaw clenched.

  I stood behind his head and pressed my palms against his forehead, gazing down into his warm brown eyes.

  Corrine glanced up at me with an amused expression. “Judging by the look on your face, anyone would think that I was working on you rather than Caleb. Don’t you trust me, honey?”

  “I do trust you, Corrine,” I said. “I just…”

  I just hate watching Caleb suffer more than he has already.

  Although I didn’t say the words out loud, Caleb smiled, his eyes lighting up. He reached up a hand and brushed it against my cheek.

  “Hey,” he said. “I’m fine.”

  I caught his hand and kept hold of it until Corrine laid her tools down and looked up at us again.

  “Okay, that’s the chest area done,” she said. “Now we’ll just wait a few minutes for Caleb’s natural healing capabilities to kick in and close the open cuts I’ve just made…”