A Shade of Doubt Read online

  Spoilsport.

  I moved my head out of view again. I found myself wondering if the spider had bitten her. She was still moaning, which gave me hope that it had. Now we just had to wait and see if its venom really was deadly…

  Once Annora stopped sobbing after half an hour, I finally started to drift off. Then a cold hand touched my shoulder. I opened my eyes to see Caleb staring down at me.

  “Caleb?” I said innocently.

  “I want to finish my tour of the island,” he whispered. “And I want you to come with me.”

  I looked down at Annora. She appeared to be sleeping again.

  I didn’t need a second invitation. I sat up and as he moved his body closer to my bunk, I wrapped my legs around his waist, my arms around his neck. He put one arm around my waist, supporting me as he leapt downward from branch to branch.

  I held him tighter as we hit the ground and he began running forward. I closed my eyes, burying my face in his neck, wanting to lose myself in him. I wished he would keep running forever. Across the ocean, away from this island, away from Annora. To somewhere Caleb and I could be together without any interruptions. No distractions. Just us.

  For now, I appreciated him taking me away from her, if only for an hour or so. I felt him stop running and he lowered me down. I looked around. We’d stopped at the other side of the crystal lake. I stared out at the beautiful, calm waters covered in lotuses.

  Caleb caught my hand, pulling me to face him. He looked at me seriously. “You’ve been trying to say something for the last two days. There are no interruptions now. Talk to me.”

  Finally, I did. “I-I want to know what Annora’s return means for us.”

  He remained silent for several moments, his eyes roaming my face. I was reassured that his grip on my hand didn’t loosen after I’d asked the question. If anything it tightened.

  I held my breath as his lips parted, fearing his answer.

  “I loved Annora. Deeply. Madly. I doubt I would have put up with her all those years if I hadn’t. When I saw her again on the submarine, as a human… and she kissed me the way I’d wished she would for the longest time, I was afraid. Afraid that all those feelings would return.” He slid his hand beneath my chin, tilting my head up to look directly into his eyes. “But they didn’t, Rose. I wondered at first whether it was just the shock of seeing her and the rush of feelings would come later. But they still haven’t and now I doubt if they will ever return. She’s… different than the girl I fell in love with. Even though she’s human again, she just doesn’t feel like that same girl. I’ve come to realize that I’m more in love with the memory of her than I am with her. I just feel… numb. You, on the other hand…”

  I held my breath. He took a step closer to me, slipping his hands either side of my waist and resting them on the small of my back. Dipping his head, he rested his rough cheek against mine as he whispered: “My heart still races every time you glance my way, Rose.”

  The emotions coursing through me left me barely able to breathe, much less speak.

  Catching my lips in his, he backed me up against a tree. I felt tears in my eyes as his lips caressed mine, slowly, tenderly. I relished every second that kiss lasted, and when he broke apart, I gripped his hair and pulled him down for more. I was starving for him. I felt like I could kiss his lips all day, just standing here lost in this perfect moment.

  “So you’ll still come back to The Shade with me?” I gasped.

  He kissed me harder until I felt the tips of his fangs against my lower lip. “If we can find a way off this island.”

  “What about Annora?” I whispered.

  He paused, furrowing his brows.

  “Until we can find somewhere safe for her to stay, I am responsible for her.” He stared at me, apparently reading my thoughts. “I can’t just abandon her.”

  I feared he might say as much. Caleb was a man of valor and responsibility. After all, he’d grown up in a time very different to mine. Even after all Annora had done, I couldn’t imagine him leaving a young woman alone and helpless. His old-fashioned values were a part of him that I loved, but in this case I couldn’t deny that they were annoying.

  “She’s not going to be welcomed by anyone in The Shade,” I said bluntly.

  “Oh, I know.”

  “Then what could we possibly do with her?”

  He looked out at the lake. “I don’t know yet. But while we’re figuring out how to get off this island, we have time to think about it.” He turned back to me, pressing his lips against mine once more before picking me up again, guiding my legs to wrap around his waist. “We should finish scoping out the island now.”

  Even as he started running, I couldn’t stop kissing every part of his skin that I could reach. I’d been scheming how to get back at Annora. But now I realized I really didn’t need to. Caleb had already chosen me. And that was enough to cut her deeper than anything I could possibly do to her. What Caleb had admitted to me was enough to wipe her out completely. I’d already won the battle. In fact, based on the way Caleb had just looked into my eyes, I suspected I’d won the battle before it had even begun.

  Chapter 12: Rose

  Caleb ran so fast my surroundings blurred. But he evidently was taking in every detail as we zigzagged across the remaining part of the island that he hadn’t yet explored. It looked much the same as the rest of the island: dense jungles and sandy white beaches. There was no sign of any human habitation here whatsoever.

  As we arrived back at the spot on the beach where we’d first arrived in the submarine, Caleb stopped running.

  “Well,” he said, wiping sweat from his brow, “there’s nothing here.”

  “Where to now?”

  I feared he was going to say back to our camp, but instead he said, “I want to go back to the area where we heard those screams last night. Clearly, there’s something about this island that we’re missing.”

  I felt nervous as we raced back into the jungle and drew nearer and nearer to the spot.

  He stopped, looking around a clearing covered by trees. “This is where the blood smells strongest still. It was around here that there were a group of humans.”

  “What’s that?” I pointed to what appeared to be a piece of clothing a few feet away. He bent down and picked it up. It was a gray woolen shawl.

  “You might as well keep it¸” he said, handing it to me.

  I held it against my chest. This would be useful as a blanket, since it did get quite chilly up in the trees in the early morning and I couldn’t afford to get sick.

  Caleb stood and searched the area for more clues that could help us to piece together what we’d found, but he discovered nothing more. So I climbed back onto Caleb and we returned to camp.

  I groaned internally as Caleb finally stopped again at the foot of our tree, bracing myself to hear Annora’s voice grating against my ears, asking Caleb where we’d been.

  But as we climbed up the tree, Annora wasn’t there. Caleb went to check near the lake, thinking she might have gone there for another bath, but he returned with a blank look on his face.

  “She’s not there either,” he muttered.

  Caleb did a broader search of the area, calling out her name, but with no reply.

  As he climbed back up to me in our tree, he looked at me and shrugged. “I can’t imagine where she’s ventured off to alone…” He looked concerned. “I’ll wait a few hours. I’m sure she’ll be back. Wherever she’s gone, she obviously doesn’t want to be found.”

  I hoped to God that she’d just done us all a favor and drowned in the lake or gotten swallowed whole by a giant anaconda. Or perhaps the spider venom has finally claimed her.

  But I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was just an attention-seeking stunt. It wouldn’t have surprised me if she was hiding somewhere, hoping to draw a reaction from Caleb.

  Well, even if that is the case, I don’t care anymore. Because Caleb is mine.

  Chapter 13: Annora

/>   As I’d floated in the lake, trying to wash out the green filth that was still plaguing the roots of my hair even after its sixth scrub, I’d sworn that I was done with this game. I wasn’t going to mess around with this girl any longer.

  It was time that I cut to the chase.

  Then the next morning, when I woke up alone to find my nose swollen from the spider bite, and then climbed out of bed to spot them standing in each other’s arms across the lake, I knew I couldn’t wait another day to do it.

  My first attempt at finishing her off had failed. It was just as well, I supposed. Caleb had seemed to suspect that it was me. This time I needed to be more careful. Because, once I was successful at getting rid of her, if Caleb blamed me for it, it would take longer to make him fully mine again. For him to forgive me. I’d hoped that Rose was just a distraction, to take his mind off me. Now I feared that she had come to mean more to him than that. The situation had to be handled delicately.

  I was sure that, with time, Caleb would forget her and lose himself to me again. I just needed the chance to remind him who I was and why he’d fallen in love with me to start with.

  But to do that, I had to eliminate Rose.

  It might be true that I had lost Caleb’s heart, but I would stop at nothing to reclaim it now.

  The screams from the night before still playing in my ears, I left our tree and headed deeper into the jungle, toward where I thought the noise had emanated from. My progress through the trees was slow enough without shoes. I didn’t want to waste time stopping to treat my nose.

  The moment I’d heard those screams, I’d had a sneaking suspicion what this island might be. And if my suspicions were correct, I was very, very lucky that we ended up on this island. Of all the places we could have washed ashore, this couldn’t have been a more perfect arrangement.

  It was afternoon by the time I finally got confirmation of my suspicion. Although my throat was parched, my feet bleeding, I felt a sense of euphoria I hadn’t felt since first finding Caleb again in my heart that day I’d woken up as myself on Lilith’s island.

  As I stood in the midst of the jungle, staring into an old stone well, I couldn’t keep the smile from my face as a plan formulated in my mind.

  Yes… Yes. This will be a much more fitting ending for Rose than even handing her over to the black witches. They only want her blood, after all…

  Chapter 14: Aiden

  The moment Kyle and Anna discovered the bloodied bedsheets of their neighbors, Caroline and Thomas, the island was in an uproar. Kyle and Anna were both a bag of nerves as they came running to inform Derek and Sofia what had just happened. They’d been through such loss and trouble recently, and for this to happen just next door shook them both deeply. Kyle and Anna took Caroline and Thomas’ two children—now orphans—into their home.

  A large number of vampires and humans on the island were still convinced that the werewolves—in particular, Micah—were responsible for Rose’s kidnapping. Many had held a grudge against the werewolves ever since.

  Now, with the bloody mess that Caroline and Thomas had left behind, it was just another stab to an already gaping wound. All the doubt resurfaced again tenfold.

  Derek and Sofia were forced to call a meeting in the Great Dome. The Shade’s council, consisting of vampires, humans, and now werewolves alike—except for Eli, who for some reason had refused to attend—argued for hours. I remained silent throughout, listening to the arguments for and against a werewolf being responsible for this. The whole time, I kept looking at Sofia. I couldn’t have felt more proud of and sorry for my daughter and son-in-law at the same time. Their daughter was missing, their son was still having a tough time recovering as a vampire, and now they had to deal with this new outrage that was threatening to overrun the island with animosity.

  The entire time we were sitting there, we had to be aware primarily of Mona—we knew the werewolves were her family, and for that reason Derek and Sofia simply could not side with those opposed to the werewolves, even if they were responsible for this. The werewolves had to stay on the island, be they innocent or guilty. I saw it in my daughter’s eyes as she struggled with this conundrum. She and Derek were supposed to be completely impartial, searching only for the truth for the protection of the humans on the island, yet at the same time they had to maintain a partiality toward the werewolves. Even if it was unjust.

  No, the meeting was not intended to get to the truth. It was intended to reach balance and compromise, trying to appease opponents on both sides of the issue. Because if the culprit was found to be a werewolf, the situation would become even more tense. Neither Derek nor Sofia were used to ruling their kingdom this way, and yet now, dependent on Mona as we were, they had no choice. I could see Derek close to losing his temper on several occasions, and having to pause to reel himself in.

  Back and forth the arguments went all day. By the time evening came and Derek adjourned the meeting until tomorrow, I was exhausted. I was relieved for Derek and Sofia. They had dark shadows under their eyes—far too dark even for vampires—and worry lined their faces. Now that the torturous meeting was over for the day, they had to return to more worries. Worries much closer to home.

  I stayed behind in the Great Dome as the assembly piled out. Sofia and Derek remained seated at the table even as the last person exited. I approached them slowly, wary of interrupting their conversation. Sofia looked up at me and gave me a weak smile.

  I bent down and kissed her forehead. “I don’t think there’s much I can do to relieve the pressure on you. But I just want you to know how proud I am of both of you.”

  She breathed out, rubbing her forehead. “Thanks, Dad,” she said, her smile a little broader and warmer this time. She squeezed my hand.

  “You both should get an early night.”

  They exchanged glances and nodded.

  “We will,” Sofia said.

  We left the Dome together and made our way back to the Residences, where we parted ways.

  I couldn’t be bothered to wait for my elevator, and besides, I needed to stretch my limbs after such a long meeting, so with one giant leap, I plunged myself upward and, shooting up toward the canopy of leaves, landed on my veranda.

  I headed straight for my front door, and didn’t notice a shadow stirring to my left until it had fully emerged.

  “Aiden.”

  I almost jumped with surprise to see Kailyn standing next to me.

  “Oh, hi,” I said, attempting a smile.

  I hadn’t seen her since I’d taught her and her sister how to use their washing machine.

  Opening the door for her, I nodded inside. “Would you like to come in?”

  She stepped inside and I followed after her. I gestured toward the couch and she sat down. She shifted in her seat, looking uncomfortable. Finally, she stared at me and asked, “Do you really suspect one of us?”

  I heaved a sigh, leaning back in my chair, as I looked at her. The truth was, I didn’t know. None of us had known these werewolves long enough to judge their character. From what I’d seen of them so far, they appeared to be civilized creatures. But I of all people knew that appearances could be deceiving.

  I wasn’t sure how to answer Kailyn without offending her. I shook my head. “I don’t know,” I said honestly.

  Disappointment shrouded her eyes. “I know our pack, Aiden. Nobody would have done this. We may have a leaning toward human flesh, but we werewolves are loyal creatures. We would not have betrayed you in this way. Besides, many of us are grateful to be on this island and have basic amenities like running water. You don’t know the life we lived before we came here…”

  When I didn’t respond, she shot to her feet and began to pace impatiently around the room.

  “The Micah who took Rose wasn’t Micah. I swear. My sister is practically best friends with the guy. He never would have done this.”

  I ran a hand through my hair. “I’m not sure what you want me to say.”

  Kailyn let o
ut a soft growl as she walked up to my seat and towered over me. “Say that you trust us.”

  “I do trust you. But then I also trust our vampires. Of the two groups who could have carried out this attack, I’m inclined to believe that the werewolves are behind this. I’ve known the vampires on this island far too long to suspect them.”

  Her blue eyes bored into mine for several moments before she slumped back into her chair.

  I felt guilty that I couldn’t give her the straightforward answer she wanted. But I was being honest. “You shouldn’t be too worried though,” I said. “As long as we need Mona, you will always have a place on this island. We may just have to put some extra precautions in place… some strong boundaries to keep you wolves separate from the rest of us…”

  Now it was Kailyn’s turn to heave a sigh.

  There was no point discussing this now. We’d been back and forth all day in the Dome trying to come up with a solution, a compromise that would keep all parties satisfied. I was sick of this topic now. I stood up and walked over to the kitchen. Since she was still in her human form, I figured I should offer her a refreshment.

  “Do you want something to drink?”

  “What do you have?”

  I opened my cupboard and scanned the shelves. I smiled bitterly at the homemade chamomile tea bags that Adelle used to love when she visited me. I hadn’t touched the chamomile since I’d last seen her, and I guessed that it would be a while before I could bear to make it again.

  “How does herbal tea sound? Elderberry, nettle, mint…”

  “I’ll try elderberry.”

  I set about preparing the tea. Kailyn walked over to me as I did. Leaning against the kitchen counter as the kettle boiled, she cast her eyes around my apartment.

  “So you live in this big place all by yourself, huh?” She threw me a sideways glance.