A Shade of Vampire 16: An End of Night
Read A Shade of Vampire 16: An End of Night Online
Authors: Bella Forrest
A
SHADE
OF VAMPIRE SERIES
Derek & Sofia’s story:
Rose & Caleb’s story:
A
SHADE
OF KIEV TRILOGY
B
EAUTIFUL MONSTER DUOLOGY
F
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C
opyright
© 2015 by Bella Forrest
Cover design inspired by Sarah Hansen, Okay Creations LLC
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No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
“
W
e need
to break Lilith’s heart.”
After Mona had said the words, we all looked around at each other in confusion.
“Break Lilith’s heart?” I asked. “What do you mean? How?”
“I don’t know,” Mona said. “We need to find Magnus and speak to him, learn more about Lilith and figure out what would hurt her the most.”
“Even if we somehow do manage to find him,” Ashley said, “what makes you think he would want to help us? What if he still loves her?”
“He needs to understand what the black witches are doing now,” Mona said. “Their plan, if successful, will mean that no species, no realm, is safe—except perhaps the dragons. And we need to tell him about the bond Lilith formed between them to keep her alive this long. My guess is that he isn’t even aware of it.”
“If Lilith is as horrifying as Mona makes out,” Kiev muttered, “one look at her should be enough to break whatever attachment remains.”
“So we would have to find Magnus and then take him to Lilith,” Xavier said. “Do we even know where Lilith is?”
“I have some ideas,” Mona replied. “You can leave that to me. The first thing we need to do is find Magnus and persuade him to cooperate.”
“Where would we even start?” I asked. “We know for sure that he is still alive since Lilith is, but in theory couldn’t he be anywhere within the human or supernatural realms?”
Mona nodded. “It’s going to be one hell of a task. I’m going to try taking another memory potion to see if I can glean any more information about Magnus, but in case I can’t…” She turned to her husband, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Kiev, what else do you remember about the man? Please, try to think.”
Kiev furrowed his brows, running a hand across his forehead. “I don’t know,” he said after a long pause. “As I mentioned, I barely knew him. I just remember him stopping by briefly at The Blood Keep many, many centuries ago.”
Eli looked up from the laptop in front of him. His expression was grim.
“There have been several more mass kidnappings already,” he said. “Just shy of one thousand humans have been reported missing now.”
I wondered if the government authorities had bothered to listen to us about closing schools and warning everyone. Whatever the case, our efforts obviously hadn’t deterred the black witches.
Mona drew a breath. “Almost one thousand,” she said. “I can’t imagine much more blood will be needed now until they are ready…We are running out of time. Fast.”
I
kissed
Caleb until the corners of my mouth felt sore. He had been crouched over me as we lay on the jetty, his body pressed against me as he claimed my lips over and over. I ran my hands through his hair while he lifted himself off me and lay down beside me. I raised my right hand, examining the exquisite ring he’d given me.
Engaged
.
That’s what I am now.
I was still in shock. One minute I had been dancing with Caleb, and the next he had gone down on one knee and pulled out a ring. It all felt so surreal.
He turned on his side and pulled me closer to him until my nose was barely an inch away from his.
“Rose Achilles,” he said softly.
His voice and the way he looked at me made my nerves tingle. My body heated up. I pressed myself closer against him, as close as I could get. I felt his chest tense as I kissed his jawline. I nuzzled my head against him.
“And how long do I have to wait until you make me fully yours?” I asked in a whisper.
He placed his hand over my forehead, tilting my head back so he could look me directly in the eye. He smiled, then sat up abruptly, pulling me up with him. My heart raced as he held me in his arms and stood up. Expecting him to start running toward our cabin, I reached for his shirt and began unbuttoning it.
To my disappointment, he headed in the opposite direction, toward the beach.
Once we had exited the Port and arrived just a few feet away from the beginning of the waves, he put me down. He held my hands in his, bending his head down to face me. I looked up at him, my eyes wide with expectation—even though I’d already guessed the words he was about to speak.
“We have waited this long already… I think we should wait for our wedding night.”
My stomach sank. “We could do that,” I said, trying to hide my disappointment, “or we could go back to our room now…”
His smile broadened. “It will be all the more special if we wait,” he said. He leaned toward me, brushing his lips against my neck, before whispering into my ear: “I promise.”
“And how long until our wedding?” I asked.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” he said. “I don’t think anyone on this island is up for another wedding while the threat of Lilith remains hanging over everyone.”
I sighed. “I know.”
Yet another reason for wanting to end that hag as soon as possible.
“Speaking of Lilith,” I said, “I wonder if Mona might have returned by now.”
We began making our way back toward the Residences. We’d almost reached them when Caleb stopped.
“I hear voices coming from the Great Dome,” he said.
“Let’s head there.”
We arrived outside the Great Dome and pushed open the doors. Sitting around the long table were my parents, grandfather, uncle and aunt, and all the members of our council except for Claudia and Yuri.
I was relieved to spot Mona sitting next to Kiev. Caleb and I sat down in the nearest spare seats.
“What is happening?” I asked.
“Caleb,” Mona said, ignoring my question. “Do you know of a man—a vampire—called Magnus?”
“Magnus,” Caleb said, looking surprised. “Magnus who?”
“We don’t know,” she replied. “But a vampire named Magnus is the key to ending Lilith once and for all. I know only a little about the man from accessing Lilith’s memories with the help of a potion. I just spent an hour trying to access more, but it seems I’ve already witnessed all that she unwittingly shared with me.”
“I did know of a Magnus,” Caleb said slowly. “Wasn’t he a child of the Elders? I saw him briefly in Cruor.”
Mona’s eyes widened. “You knew a vampire named Magnus in Cruor?”
“I didn’t
know
him. He wasn’t a prisoner there like the rest of us were. He was a child of the Elders. He was freer than us, more privileged. He could come and go as he pleased, or so it seemed. I never talked much with him.”
“It must be the same Magnus,” Kiev said. “There can’t have been two children of the Elders named Magnus. Do you know what happened to him, Caleb?”
Caleb shook his head. “I remember him because there was a short period when he brought us blood every day. Then he just stopped coming and was replaced by someone else. I have no idea what happened to him.”
“Well, none of this helps us,” Xavier said. “It would have been a long time ago that Caleb saw him there. And he left. We have no idea where he might be now.”
Kiev stood up abruptly, looking around at everyone in the room. “Let’s go to The Blood Keep.”
“The Blood Keep?” several vampires asked at once.
“Why?” my father asked. “It was centuries ago that you saw him there. What makes you think that—”
“Oh, I don’t expect to find him there,” Kiev replied. “But there is something in that castle that I believe might help us.”
“Didn’t we ransack The Blood Keep decades ago?” Zinnia said.
“The building might still be standing,” Kiev said.
My father stood up, followed by my mother.
I was still confused as to what everyone was talking about. Who was Magnus? Why was he the end of Lilith? Clearly, nobody was in the mood to answer my questions now.
“Okay,” my father said. “We leave for The Blood Keep.”
Several people were looking doubtfully at Kiev, but it didn’t seem that anyone had any brighter ideas.
“Xavier and Vivienne, you will stay here in The Shade. The rest of us can go. Ibrahim and Corrine, we will need you, obviously.” Everyone stood up, including Caleb and me. I was waiting for my parents to tell me that I should stay too, but they didn’t bother. It seemed that they were past trying to keep me out of things.
“Be careful,” Vivienne said, her hands resting over her stomach.
“The dragons will remain with you too,” my father said. “The rest of you can come. Though I’d prefer we keep our party no larger than fifteen members. We will be back as soon as we can.” He kissed his sister on the forehead, then nodded toward Xavier before following us all out of the Dome.
Fifteen of us gathered in the clearing outside: Caleb and me, my parents, grandfather, Kiev and Mona, Corrine and Ibrahim, Kiev’s siblings and Matteo, Micah, Ashley and Landis. My mother was looking worriedly at me. She walked over and held my hand. A small gasp escaped her lips when she realized that I was wearing a ring. She stared at it, looked from me to Caleb, then back to me.
“You’re engaged?” she choked.
I nodded, grinning. Tears brimmed in her eyes. My father was already in conversation with Corrine and Ibrahim, but my mother caught his hand and pulled him over. She pointed to my ring.
Despite the worry creasing my father’s forehead, he couldn’t hold back a smile. He drew me in and planted a tender kiss on my head. Then he placed a hand on Caleb’s shoulder. “Congratulations,” he said, his voice hoarse.
“Derek?” Ibrahim called.
My father left to continue talking. My mother hugged me tightly. I felt her shake slightly, as though she was trying to suppress a sob.
“Sofia,” my father called.
She let go of me and joined him. I moved closer to Caleb, wrapping my arms around him. After a couple of minutes, my parents, Ibrahim, and Corrine had finished their conversation. They turned to the rest of us.
“Let’s go,” my father said. “Form a circle.”
We all gathered around and did as requested.
“Corrine and Ibrahim are going to take us directly within the compound of The Blood Keep. We don’t know what we are going to find there now, so be careful once we arrive.”
My parents took their place in the circle next to me. My father held one of my hands, while Caleb held the other, and we all vanished.