A Castle of Sand (A Shade of Vampire 3)

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 one 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.