A Castle of Sand Read online

  “You can’t leave me here,” she sobbed.

  “I’m sorry” was all I managed to say. She was my best friend and, other than Vivienne, she was the most important woman in my life, but I couldn’t stay. Not for her, not for Vivienne. I couldn’t bear the guilt anymore—the price I had paid in order to make The Shade what it was, was simply far too high. I couldn’t live with myself, yet the thought of dying left me terrified.

  “You have no idea how hard it is to have someone you love leave you this way.”

  The strongest woman I’d ever known was sobbing right in front of me, a broken, beautiful being I had no idea how to console. She did everything to convince me not to push through with it. She tried to make me see reason, tried desperately to make me realize that there was still something worth living for, but I had made my decision.

  Thus, we stood there that night, with me entrusting my entire life into her hands. Though she fought tooth and nail against my decision to escape to deep slumber, I knew that she would never do anything to harm me and that she would be true to her word that my sleep would last for eternity, without dreams or nightmares to contend with. Just peace.

  I never expected her to go back on her promise, because even though no harm did come my way and though the sleep was as peaceful as any slumber could be, I found myself awake four centuries later, madly in love with a girl I feared I would someday lose—the same way Cora lost me.

  Sofia clung to my arm and this motion snapped me out of my memories. My stomach twisted into a tight knot when I realized that Ashley was already lying on the stone slab. As she usually did, Corrine stood nearby—overseeing the ceremony, making sure that no harm would befall the human being turned. This used to be Cora’s role. I found myself missing my best friend, but knew that she was long gone. The thought added another weight to my already heavily burdened chest.

  I could sense Sofia’s slender form tremble next to mine as Kyle approached Ashley.

  “This is going to hurt a bit…” Kyle’s croaked.

  “It’s ok.” Ashley gave me a half-amused, sideways glance. “I’ve been bitten before.”

  It was obvious from the tone of her voice that she was trying to make light of the situation, but the tremble that came with her words made it clear how nervous she was.

  Who could blame her? This decision of hers will change her life in more ways than she can imagine. I stared sadly at the annoying little twerp that was Ashley and truly felt sorry for her. Kyle gently brushed strands of her hair away from her neck. Light scars were still present on her skin—my bite marks.

  I carefully studied Kyle as he lifted Ashley up into a sitting position. Every move he made was gentle and was meant to keep the young beauty at ease. I could almost see the horrifying memories of the day he was turned flash behind his eyes.

  “I can’t believe she’s really doing this…” Sofia muttered in a low voice that wasn’t meant to be heard, but she was close enough for my sensitive ears to hear.

  I caught a glimpse of how tightly Ashley was holding onto Kyle’s arms, her knuckles turning white as she did. Sam stood in the background, nervously shuffling on his feet, obviously uncomfortable with the situation. We all cared deeply for Ashley. To see her go through what we went through seemed a cruel thing to do—even if it was she who made the choice for herself.

  Why am I even allowing this?

  “Wait.” I stepped forward just before Kyle was about to position himself to bite her.

  I heard a sigh of relief escape Sofia’s lips and my heart broke along with it. Still, I had to stop myself from being so selfish. It dawned on me at that moment that the only reason I was allowing Ashley to go through with this was because I was hoping Sofia would see for herself that being a vampire wasn’t all that bad. After all, if Ashley could do it, why couldn’t she?

  You’re the most selfish man in the planet, Novak.

  “I want to have a private word with Ashley.”

  “Derek, I’ve told you hundreds of times…I want this.”

  “I still own you, Ashley. Kyle doesn’t get to turn you until I say so. Come with me.”

  A tense silence followed as Kyle helped Ashley off the slab and she gingerly made her way toward me—not bothering to hide her annoyance. I grabbed Ashley by the elbow and dragged her out of the hall. Sofia motioned to follow.

  “Stay there, Sofia.”

  Ashley was fighting against my grasp. “You don’t own me, Derek. This is my choice. You can’t keep me from doing this. You gave us this choice and I’ve already made my decision.”

  “You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into, Ashley. No idea,” I emphasized, unable to hide my exasperation that we had to have this conversation while the others were still around.

  “I don’t care. I want this.”

  Stubborn teenager… “No,” I said through gritted teeth. “I don’t think you do.”

  “Maybe you should listen to him, Ash…” Sam offered hesitantly.

  I fought the urge to sigh with relief that someone else had seconded me.

  “You all do this now?” Ashley frowned, unable to hide her irritation. “You guys had all of the past few days to dissuade me from this…”

  “Think about what you’re about to do, Ashley…” I made a step toward her, towering over her, once again feeling my thirst for her blood after weeks of being able to keep it at bay. “Once you turn, your first instinct will be to kill. Do you really want to live craving every human you come across? Can you really deal with wanting to suck the blood right out of Paige and Rosa?” My gut clenched at the mention of the next name. “Can you bear the burden of wanting to kill Sofia?”

  I could hear Sofia’s soft gasp as she realized what I was asking Ashley. Does Ashley really want to turn into a murderer by nature? I couldn’t bear to look at Sofia. I knew then that should Ashley ever try to harm Sofia, I wouldn’t hesitate to end Ashley’s life.

  Based on her silence, I actually thought that I was getting through to Ashley, so I was surprised when she stepped away from me, head bowed and lips pursed.

  She nodded her head slowly. “I know what I’m getting myself into.”

  She then turned her back to me and walked right back to the stone slab. She motioned for Kyle to help her get back on it. Kyle swallowed hard before looking my way to check if I agreed with what he was about to do.

  Despite every internal alarm inside me screaming against what was about to happen, I nodded. Ashley was right. I didn’t own her. This was her choice.

  “Let’s do this.” Ashley nodded resolutely, coaxing Kyle to do what had to be done.

  Kyle stepped forward and placed his hands gently over her waist. I finally forced myself to shift my gaze toward Sofia and found myself wishing that I hadn’t.

  Her lips were quivering and her eyes were moist with tears. As she stared at Ashley, it was as if she was lost in a daze, her long fingers clenching into firm fists. I wondered then what was going through her mind, because from the look on her face, it almost seemed like she knew exactly what Ashley was about to go through.

  Chapter 16: Lucas

  When the gorgeous Italian vampire walked into my chambers, I wanted to jump up and hug her, but this was Natalie Borgia. She was a rogue vampire perfectly capable of ripping my heart out should she decide to. I wasn’t about to take my chances, but it was too hard to fight the urge to flirt with her.

  It didn’t make sense to me how they expected me to organize a way to get to The Shade and retrieve Sofia while I was still being kept a prisoner at The Oasis, but this was how the Maslens worked, so I had to deal with the situation.

  “You’re looking like a total babe, Natalie…” I crooned. It sure wasn’t my best line, but it was all I could come up with in such short notice. “I never thought I’d be stuck in the same bedroom with you…”

  “Shut it, Novak…” She rolled her eyes. She had never responded well to my attempts to hook up with her. She looked around my room. “There have bee
n worse dungeons.” Her eyes then fell on me. “I never thought I’d live to see the day when I would find a Novak within the tombs of The Oasis.”

  “If I remember correctly, you delivered the message that brought me here.”

  “That’s because I never thought you’d bite, you idiot.” She then bit her lip as if regretting what she had just said. She was about to open her mouth to say something else, but she quickly shut her lips again.

  I was surprised by what she had said. It was completely unlike her to voice out her own opinions. She was usually the one who had that infuriating poker face that made everybody wonder what exactly was going through that pretty little head of hers.

  “I’ve never heard you voice a personal opinion about any vampire’s decisions before, Nat…”

  “Don’t call me that.” She gave me a long and meaningful gaze. I searched her eyes for judgment or condemnation. There was none. In its place were questions that would never be asked.

  Natalie was the ultimate diplomat. She was the one vampire who had the trust of all the covens all over the world. If one coven wanted to deliver a message to another coven, she was the rogue to go to. There weren’t many rogues like her—vampires who didn’t belong to any covens—but the few that existed were invaluable to all vampires. If anybody messed with a rogue, they messed with at least three—if not more—covens at the same time.

  Natalie made herself comfortable on one of the Egyptian couches. “Do tell, Novak. Why have you summoned me here?”

  “I want you to get a message through to Claudia at The Shade.”

  A dark brow lifted. “Claudia? Okay…the message?”

  “Ask her if there’s any way we can get Sofia Claremont out of the island.” I took out an envelope from my pocket. “I also want you to hand this over to my father. Make sure he gets it and make sure no one else sees the message it contains.”

  Natalie stared at me long and hard—almost as if she couldn’t comprehend what I was trying to tell her. She eventually nodded her head—slowly and thoughtfully. She took the envelope from my hand and nodded. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Lucas.”

  “Is that you caring about me?”

  She shook her head. “It’s me caring about Derek.”

  For the first time since I met her, I found myself fighting the urge to rip Natalie Borgia’s heart out.

  Chapter 17: Derek

  I took hold of Sofia’s hand and was surprised by how devoid of warmth it was. I held it tighter. There was no way of telling how Ashley’s body was going to react to the serum that would turn her into one of us. I’d seen many turnings go awry before. It rarely happened, but they weren’t the prettiest of sights.

  Sofia slowly nodded, acknowledging my gesture of reassurance, but the shaking of her body was only getting worse.

  “Let’s get out of here, Sofia.”

  Just as I expected, she shook her head.

  Stubborn little minx.

  Kyle was positioning Ashley again. His eyes found mine as he bared his fangs. I gave him a nod. His one hand rested on her hip bone, while the other clung to the back of her neck to support her. He took a bite. For a moment, he gave in to the urge to drink her blood. I knew it from the way my body reacted negatively to a morsel that was mine being partaken of by another vampire, but the boiling in my blood subsided when he went from sucking her blood to injecting the deadly serum from his fangs into her system.

  The snake has taken a bite.

  None of us could question when the serum began to take effect on Ashley, because the moment it entered her system, she let out an agonized scream.

  The blood drained from Sofia’s face. She let go of my hand and motioned to run toward her friend. I grabbed her arm to hold her back. When she fought against my grasp, I held tighter. “Sofia, don’t. You wanted to see this. This is what happens at turnings. You can’t be anywhere near her. She won’t have the presence of mind not to kill you.”

  The mutations were beginning to happen and Ashley’s long, slender form was convulsing over the stone slab. She began coughing blood. Sofia once again motioned to step forward. I knew she wanted to do something to help, but at that point, there was nothing any of us could do, so we all just stood by and watched. Kyle was staring at Ashley’s form, his shoulders stooped low. We hated the sight unfolding before us, but we all knew that it would happen.

  I expected Ashley to stop coughing after a few minutes, but it didn’t let up for another five minutes, at which point even I wanted to rush forward to try and do something about it, but I was held back by the knowledge that I had to stand by Sofia. Corrine was powerful enough to protect herself; thus, it left Sofia as the only human being in that room Ashley could possibly attack once the bloodlust took over.

  When the coughing stopped, an audible sigh of relief filled the room. Still, Ashley’s fingers and toes were twitching—aftermaths of the violent tremors her body had just endured only minutes ago. When the claws began to grow, Ashley once again screamed in agony.

  That’s when flashbacks of the night I was turned began to fill my mind.

  I trusted him. I trusted my father. I was supposed to kill him. He was a newly turned vampire, and I was the most powerful hunter there was. It would’ve been easy to take Gregor Novak down, but he was still my father and as I held that crossbow mounted with a wooden stake, I simply couldn’t make the kill.

  “How could you let this happen?” I asked through gritted teeth. “How could you allow yourself to become one of them?”

  “You don’t know what it’s like, Derek,” he explained to me as he took a step forward over the creaking floorboards. “The taste of power, the heightened senses…everything becomes a thousand times more beautiful…”

  I backed away from him, the back of my knees hitting one of the benches in our home’s small parlor. “Stop it, Father. I don’t want to know what it’s like. These creatures killed Mother…how could you…” I drew in a sharp breath. It felt like a betrayal. “How can you live everyday knowing that you’re one of them? One of the beasts who killed her?”

  “Don’t talk to me about your mother, Derek…”

  His words faded away when a surge of panic and fear enveloped me. “Vivienne and Lucas…where are they?”

  His face morphed from irritation to defensiveness. “You have to understand, Derek…”

  Breathing began to be quite a task. “No…no…what have you done?” I didn’t need to hear what he had to say. I walked past him, trusting that he wouldn’t do anything to harm me. I was his son after all. “Vivienne! Lucas!” I threw one of the bedroom doors open.

  The sight that presented itself to me made me want to vomit.

  “It was the only way we could all be together. Forever.”

  At that moment, I knew without doubt that my father was a sick, sick man. I stared blankly at the two beds where my brother and sister were lying. Both were writhing on the floor, half-grown fangs were protruding from Lucas’ lips. Vivienne on the other hand was doubled over in pain, her hands gripping her stomach. It was clear that whatever she was going through, it was agony.

  “How could you do this to your own children?” I walked toward my twin sister, longing to hear her speak to me—a pleasure I’d been deprived of since Borys Maslen took her captive. I couldn’t hold back a sob as I watched what the turning was doing to her. I wanted to spare her the agony she was going through, but the idea of killing Vivienne was something I knew I would never be able to do. I brushed a strand of her sweat-soaked hair away from her face, whispering, “What have you done?” to my father once again.

  The moment my hand came into contact with Vivienne, the skin where my finger touched her grew bright red—almost as if she were being burned by my touch. Her eyes—more bright and brilliant than I’d ever seen them before—sparked with fury. Her fangs came out and she glared at me.

  I withdrew my hand immediately and stepped back. “Doesn’t she recognize me?”

  “She’s turning, Der
ek. She’s too consumed by the process.” My father was speaking from behind me. I was about to turn around to face him, but to my shock, Vivienne lunged for me, her hands gripping my neck, ready to take a bite. I knew how to take her down, knew what I had to do in order to kill her, but I couldn’t do it. She was too precious to me. I shut my eyes as she bared her fangs at me. I had no doubt in my mind that I was about to meet my end by my sister’s hands.

  To my surprise, my father pulled her away from me and threw her right back onto the bed. Vivienne glared at him with a look that was not her own—beastly, menacing, fearsome—nothing like the serene and docile young innocent my sister used to be.

  “How could you do this?” I spat at my father as he held me down on the ground. “How could you do this to your own children?”

  “If I don’t turn you, they will kill you, Derek. Can you really let Vivienne live her whole life bearing the guilt, knowing that she helped kill her twin?”

  The implications of what he was saying hit me full force. “No…you can’t…you won’t…” It felt like I was blindsided, because he hit me on the face and everything faded to black. When I came back to full consciousness, it was because of the agonizing pain. Three days of sheer excruciation followed—three days I could barely remember. At the end of the worst seventy-two hours of my life, I woke up to find three unconscious young women surrounding me. To my relief, they weren’t dead, but I knew based on the way I was craving them, that I’d had a taste of their blood. Fighting the urge to kill the three innocents—not even bothering to ask how they got to be there, I knew that I needed to leave that place—to get as far away as possible from those three young women before I could do anything I would later regret. It was taking every bit of my will power and self-control not to hunt them down.