A Shade of Vampire 8: A Shade of Novak (16 page)

“There are plenty of other vampires I can ask. So I suggest you speak, unless you prefer that I rip your heart out.”

“All right,” she croaked, gasping. I released the pressure from her neck. “We live on an island, about an hour away from here.”

“What island?”

“Stellan rules over it. It’s protected by a witch’s spell.”

“A spell? Will we be able to enter it?”

Trembling, she nodded. “Yes, because you are accompanied by us.”

I pushed her into the control seat and said, “Do you know how to operate this thing?”

“Y-yes.”

“Then you’ll take us there. You said it takes about an hour. I’ll be watching the timer. I suggest you don’t mess with me.”

She eyed my claws as I sat down next to her, ready to strike if I sensed even the slightest bit of disobedience from her.

I turned to Sofia.

“Are all the vampires tied down now?”

“Yes, it looks like it.”

“Then instruct the others to return to their subs. They must follow this submarine closely. And you should return to our submarine and follow us there too.”

Sofia nodded and rushed off. Once I was sure that everyone who was due to leave this vessel had left—leaving me with Vivienne, Xavier, and a few others to help make sure the sedated vampires remained in their docile state—I ordered the blonde vampire to start our journey.

I
stared at the vampire
, barely daring to believe his words.

Home.

He’s taking me home.

“B-but,” I stammered, “what about Stellan? Won’t he tell the witch everything as soon as he wakes up?”

Caleb shook his head.

“He shouldn’t wake up for some time after the blow I dealt him. But it doesn’t matter even if he does. I’ve locked him up in one of the storage rooms in the lower deck of this submarine. He’ll be weak after he wakes up and won’t have the strength to smash the reinforced door down.”

“What will you say when the witch asks what happened to me?”

“That’s not your concern.”

“But what will happen when Stellan wakes up?”

Caleb looked at me darkly. “I’ll deal with him when the time comes. But you’ll be gone by then.”

I breathed out and sat back in my chair. Escape had been on my mind for so long, now that it was finally happening, I could barely believe it.

“ I can’t tell you when or how it will happen, but you have my word: I will be waiting and watching for that time.”

Caleb had been waiting. All that time, he’d been waiting for the opportunity to help me escape. I guessed that he hadn’t had much time to plan any of this. He’d likely figured out this whole scheme on the spot.

Strapping himself into the control seat, Caleb fiddled with buttons and we began speeding away from the island.

“Do you even know where The Shade is?” I asked.

“No.”

“Then how are we going to get there? I have no idea how to navigate there.”

“Your parents aren’t in The Shade.”

“What?”

“They’re in Stellan’s island. They’re storming the place, looking for you.”

I gasped.

“Have they found Ben? And what about Kristal and Jake? How on earth did they find it?”

“I don’t know all the details. But yes, they have Ben now. I don’t know about the other two humans. Stellan struck a deal with your parents. You and your brother, in exchange for your immune.”

I stared at him, my mouth agape.

“Our immune? Why would—”

“I don’t know why,” Caleb replied. “Annora doesn’t tell me everything.”

“So, Stellan was going to hand me over to my parents?”

“No. They thought they could trick your parents to hand over the immune, while in return giving them your brother only. Stellan escaped from your parents and came to take you away somewhere else in case The Shade’s vampires managed to storm my island.”

“Why would the witch want to keep me?”

Caleb shrugged.

“An extra bargaining chip against The Shade. Perhaps there are other things that you have over there that would be useful to us.”

“Did they hand over Anna? Our immune?”

“I don’t know.”

I sat back in my chair, breathing deeply as I tried to absorb all this information. My heart was pounding at the thought of Anna’s life being in danger. She was loved dearly by all of us. My parents had told us how she had saved Ben when he was just a baby. If it hadn’t been for her, I likely would not have had a brother. What made things more worrying was that she was heavily pregnant. I prayed that my parents had managed to keep her safe. I couldn’t imagine them ever handing her over.

“How long will it take to get there?” I asked anxiously.

“Perhaps another half an hour. It’s not far.”

My stomach was in knots for the rest of the journey. Finally, Caleb brought us to the surface. He moored up in some sort of port and then stood up. Rummaging around in the compartment above me, he pulled out a long dark cloak and a pair of sunglasses. I gasped when he drew out a dagger from his belt and cut a large gash in his palm. He dripped his blood all over the cloak, rubbing it into the fabric. His palm healed quickly, so he had to cut himself several times before enough blood had soaked into the fabric.

“Now, put these on,” he said, handing me the cloak and shades. “My blood will help to mask the smell of your own. And keep that hood pulled down over your face.”

I did as instructed and followed him toward the hatch entrance.

“Wait here,” he whispered down at me.

I watched from below as he raised his head out of the hatch and looked around.

He reached down for me. His hand enveloped mine in a strong grip as he pulled me up. He lifted me out of the hatch and placed me on the ground. I shivered. This place was as cold as Caleb’s island. It seemed that the witch had cast the same spell over both.

Getting down himself, he stood in front of me, his muscular frame concealing me from view against the submarine. He turned around and looked down at me.

“You’re going to need to stick close to me until we find your parents. Understood? Follow me like you’re my shadow.”

Holding my arm tightly, he held me close against him as we moved forward. I couldn’t see much, given the dark shades and hood pulled right over my eyes, and I dared not lift either after Caleb’s stern instruction. I could only see what was on the ground a few feet ahead of me.

We had barely been walking five minutes when he hissed, “Duck down!”

He pushed me down behind a bush. He knelt beside me. I held my breath as I tried to listen to what was going on. He parted the shrubbery and peered through it.

“They’re leaving,” he whispered.

“Huh?”

He parted the bush a little more and I raised the hood and sunglasses. We were still near the port—we had been walking along the outskirts of the dark island—and I looked just in time to see a submarine submerging. Even though I only caught the top of the submarine, I knew it was one of The Shade’s subs from its distinctive design.

Before I could say another word, he lifted me up and raced back to our submarine. Flinging open the hatch, he lowered me inside and shut it after him. He raced back to the control room and lurched the vessel forward before I even had a chance to reach my seat.

“We can’t lose them,” he said. “Or we’ll have no way of getting you back to The Shade.”

I gripped my seat as we surged forward. As I looked through the front screen at the dark waters we were traveling through, I couldn’t see anything, but from the way Caleb was navigating the vessel, it was clear that he was following something.

But something didn’t seem right. Home was the last place my parents would have been traveling to if they had been unable to find me on Stellan’s island. They had found Ben, but I couldn’t imagine them returning home without me.

“Do you think they’re definitely heading back to The Shade?” I asked.

“It looks like it. At least, they’re not headed toward my island.”

I wondered if perhaps they had to return some injured vampires back to the island before coming back to search for me.

I settled more comfortably in my chair and looked up at Caleb’s face. His eyes were fixed forward. As the hours passed by in silence, his concentration didn’t break. I assumed that we definitely were headed toward The Shade since Caleb hadn’t said anything to indicate the contrary.

This is it now.

I’m going home.

I’d thought I would be feeling joy and relief.

Instead, watching Caleb speed the vessel forward, I felt strangely numb.

A
few hours later
, the vessel ground to a halt.

I glanced up at Caleb. He stood up and walked out the door. He headed toward the hatch and pushed it open, then lowered himself back down, making way for me to climb up.

Shivers ran down my spine as I looked up at the open hatch.

Just a few steps up toward goodbye forever.

He raised his eyes to me and, reaching for my hand, planted a chaste kiss over it.

“Goodbye, princess,” he said softly.

He motioned to let go of my hand, but I gripped on tight. I began shaking my head.

“No. Not yet. Come with me,” I said, tugging at him to climb up through the hatch with me.

“No. This is where I leave you.”

“Caleb, you’re coming with me whether you like it or not.” I began climbing the ladder to the open hatch, gripping his arm and pulling him with me with all the force I could manage.

Sighing, he caught hold of a pipe sticking out of the wall and pulled himself back.

“Don’t.”

“Look, it’s just for a short while. I promise. Please?”

He frowned at me. “For what?”

“I want you to meet my parents. Th-they’ll want to thank you for everything you’ve done.”

He looked even more reluctant at the mention of my parents. But after several more minutes of my begging, he eventually gave in to my request and followed me out of the hatch.

Looking around the port, I saw the large submarine moored in the harbor. I caught his cold hand, and, entwining my fingers with his, walked toward the entrance of the woods.

I watched his face as he took in the surroundings of our warm island. His expression was a mixture of fascination and apprehension.

“Mom?” I began to shout. “Dad?”

If they were on this half of the island they would hear me easily. One of the many benefits of having vampires for parents.

No reply.

But then a few moments later, my grandfather came into view, rushing along the forest path toward us.

“Grandpa!” I yelled, running toward him.

His face broke out into a huge smile and tears of relief filled his eyes as he swept me up in his arms. “Rose! Oh, Rose! I don’t remember the last time I slept. We’ve all been sick with worry.” He showered my cheeks with kisses and hugged me tight before finally putting me down. “How did you get here?”

“This is Caleb,” I said, smiling and tugging at Caleb’s sleeve. “He’s the only reason I’m here. Caleb, this is my grandfather, Aiden.”

My grandfather stood up straight, his eyes settling on Caleb for the first time. He reached out for Caleb’s hand and shook it. Then he pulled Caleb against his chest for an embrace.

“I don’t know anything about you, boy. But I’m forever in your debt for returning my granddaughter to me.”

Caleb nodded, and gave him a small smile.

“Where’s Ben?” I asked.

My grandfather’s smile faded and worry creased his forehead.

“We found him unconscious in one of Stellan’s submarines. He still hasn’t come to, but we’re hoping he’ll be okay. Corrine’s treating him now in the Sanctuary.”

“What about Mom and Dad?”

“They’re still looking for you. As soon as we realized you weren’t with Stellan, your father managed to coerce one of the vampires there to reveal the location of his island. Vivienne, Xavier and a large group of other vampires are still with them storming the place and searching for you. I had to return early with Corrine and a few other witches in one of the submarines to care for your brother.”

“And Anna?”

“She’s here too. She’s been here all along. Your parents never planned to hand her over. They pretended to have her just so they could ambush their submarines… but that’s a long story. Now I must call your mom.”

He reached into his pocket and, pulling out a phone, dialed my parents.

“Sofia? Darling, I’ve got her. Rose. She’s here. Your daughter is back here in The Shade. No, I’m not joking. What kind of a joke would that be? You want to talk to her? Yes, of course. Hold on a second.”

He passed the phone to me.

“Mom?”

“Oh, God. Rose!” My mom began gasping. I heard her pull away from the phone and yell, “Derek! Rose is back home! We can leave now! Yes, she’s back!” She returned to speak to me. “Sweetheart, are you all right? Are you injured? How did you get back?”

“Mom, yes, it’s me. I’m fine. A handsome knight in shining armor rescued me,” I said, winking at Caleb. He smirked and rolled his eyes. I could have sworn I saw a slight blush in his pale cheeks.

“We’re coming home right now, honey. We’ll be back as fast as we can, in a few hours. Just stay where you are. Don’t go anywhere.”

“Don’t worry, Mom,” I said, half laughing. “I don’t plan on going anywhere.”

No sooner had I put the phone down than someone shouted out my name.

I turned around to see Griffin racing toward us. His face was pale, and he had dark circles under his eyes. He looked as though he hadn’t slept properly for days.

“Rose?” he gasped as he reached me.

I wrapped my arms around him and I felt him cling to me, breathing heavily against my neck.

“You have no idea how much we’ve all been worrying about you.”

“Griff, I can’t tell you how sorry I am. What we did was incredibly stupid. I—”

“How the hell did you escape?” he asked, looking down at my face.

I took a step away from him and reached for Caleb’s arm, pulling him closer to me.

“This is Caleb. He helped me escape. Caleb, this is my friend Griffin.”

I watched as Griffin stared at Caleb as though he didn’t know what to make of him. His expression was a mixture of surprise and distrust.

“Well, thank you,” he finally said, patting Caleb on the shoulder. “I’m not sure what I’d do without this girl.”

I stared at Griffin, surprised by the strength of emotion in his voice as he spoke those last words. We were close friends, but I supposed that I had never quite realized just how much I meant to him.

Griffin turned back to face me.

“Are you all right?”

“Yes, I’m not harmed. I just have a few scratches.” I squeezed his hand, hoping to reassure him. “But I really need to see my brother now.”