A Shade of Vampire 8: A Shade of Novak (2 page)

I smiled on seeing Ben and Rose already there sitting on Uncle Xavier’s lap. They loved the control room. Their eyes were filled with wonder as they fiddled around with different buttons and muttered to each other.

“Welcome to my abode.” Xavier grinned.

Derek gripped Xavier’s shoulder and ruffled his hair, while I placed a kiss on his cheek. Then Derek turned to his sister and, pointing at Xavier, asked, “Has this scoundrel been treating you right since I’ve been away?”

Vivienne grinned and placed a hand on Xavier’s shoulder. “Oh, yes. He has.”

“Good.”

Vivienne turned to the twins, “Hey, Rose. Ben. Aren’t you going to give Aunty a hug?”

They pried their eyes away from the controls. Toothy smiles spread across their faces as they looked up at Vivienne. They reached out their arms so she could pick them both up. She showered their faces with kisses and carried them out of the control room toward the back of the submarine.

“We’re all… uh… intrigued, to say the least, to hear that you’ve decided to become creatures of the night once again,” Xavier said, as he began to navigate the vessel away from the harbor.

I looked at my father. I’d discussed our plans with him already over the phone, and he’d seemed to understand my reasons for wanting to turn back. Apparently sensing my uncertainty about his true feelings, he reached out and gripped my knee, smiling.

“I think we were all surprised,” Aiden said. “But I’m sure everyone in The Shade will be glad to have their queen and king return to their full-time duties.”

Vivienne entered without the twins. When I looked up, she pointed toward the back of the sub where Rose and Ben sat on a bench munching their way through a bowl of strawberries.

“Corrine insisted on sending a snack for them for the journey,” she said, smiling.

Vivienne took a seat in the front row next to Xavier and we spent the rest of the trip answering questions about our decision.

Finally, Xavier raised a brow and looked at me and Derek.

“So… assuming Ibrahim says that it’s safe to try turning Derek back into a bloodsucker, have you decided who will turn you both?”

Derek and I exchanged glances.

“That should be obvious,” Derek said, looking back at Xavier and raising an eyebrow. “You shall have the great privilege of turning me, while Vivienne will turn Sofia.”

“Oh…” Xavier said, a look of mock disappointment crossing his face. “I think I’d have more fun turning Sofia. I’m not overly keen on the idea of biting into your thick neck.”

Vivienne elbowed Xavier in the gut and said, “No, Sofia’s mine. All mine.”

I giggled and, looking at Derek, shrugged.

“Seems nobody wants poor Mr. Derek. Maybe I’ll have to turn you myself.”

I’d meant it as a joke, but his eyes lit up. “Yes, Sofia. Why not? Why don’t you turn me? I’d much rather have you sucking at my neck than this ugly bloke,” he said, shoving Xavier in the shoulder.

I looked at Derek nervously.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes. I’m serious,” he said, staring back. “Vivienne will turn you, and then you’ll turn me.”

My stomach writhed.

“Why doesn’t Vivienne just turn you after me?”

He looked at Vivienne, then back to me. “I just think that it would be more interesting if you turned me.” He raised a brow at me, a small smile curling his lips.

“Actually, what if you can’t be turned? You need to go first, because if you don’t turn, then I can’t turn.”

“Well, let’s see what Ibrahim says,” he replied. “If he says I can be turned, then we’ll take his word for it.”

“But, Derek,” I spluttered. “I’ve never turned anybody before. What if I do something wrong?”

He stared at me for a moment, considering the possibility.

“Well, Xavier and Vivienne will be there to guide you… and haul you off of me if necessary.”

B
arely had
the hatch of the submarine opened when cheers erupted. I picked up Rose, while Derek carried Ben, and we all climbed out of the submarine.

A small crowd was standing by the port to welcome us. Tears welled in my eyes as I looked around at the familiar faces.

I had to quickly hand Rose over to my father as Shadow was the first to reach us. His tongue wagging, he jumped up at me to lick me, almost knocking me over in the process. He had broken free from Eli, who now came hurrying over with a wide grin on his face.

“I hear you’ve decided to come back over to the dark side again, Sofia.” Claudia smirked and winked at me. “Welcome.”

Zinnia bared her fangs at me and chuckled. Gavin gave me a friendly punch on the shoulder. “Good to have you back, girl.”

“Rose!”

Griffin, their four-year-old son, stepped out from behind Gavin. His curly red hair reminded me so much of his father, while his hazelnut brown eyes were decidedly his mother’s. He made a dash for Rose and wrapped his arms around her, placing a kiss on her cheek. I smiled as Rose blushed.

“Hello Griffin,” she mumbled.

Griffin had been a surprise for Zinnia and Gavin. He’d been conceived while they were travelling and helping Aiden disband the worldwide organization of hunters. Only recently had the couple decided to turn into vampires, once they’d deemed their little human boy old enough to handle the shock of mom and dad sprouting fangs.

It saddened me to think of two vampires who would not be waiting to greet us: Liana and Cameron. Even though it had been years, we still missed their company. They had taken the cure to become humans and left the island. Their children and grandchildren had passed away, but they’d had a burning desire to search out any family living today. They’d told us they would likely return to The Shade after a few years, but we were still waiting for them.

Once we’d finished greeting everyone who’d been waiting at the Port, Derek and I took the twins’ hands and led them toward the forest. But as we were about to enter the woods, something stirred in the trees. A small vampire walked out. Abby.

She looked at me and smiled faintly. Something about her was off.

“Abby!” I said.

She came to us and I put my arms around her, hugging her close. I pulled her away so I could examine her face more closely.

“What’s wrong?” I asked quietly.

A tear rolled down Abby’s cheek and her lip trembled.

“I want to turn back into a human, Sofia,” she said. “I want to grow up.”

I breathed in deeply. I felt the pain in her voice. I’d actually been expecting this day to come sooner. She should be reaching her adolescent years by now, yet she was still trapped in the body of a child.

“We’ll do it, Abby. I promise. We’ll turn you back into a human before this month is over.”

I placed a kiss on her head and she smiled more fully, reassured by my promise. She kissed my cheek and drew away from me, allowing me to continue forward with Derek, Vivienne, Xavier and the twins.

“Sofia! Derek!”

I turned around yet again. Anna walked toward us, her long black hair flowing down her back as she carried her and Kyle’s one-year-old daughter, Ariana, in her arms. Kyle followed closely behind her. I kissed them all and while Anna stayed to talk with me, Kyle walked over to Derek, who started talking animatedly with him.

Ariana reminded me of Rose when she was younger. She was a beautiful child and had similar features–green eyes and dark hair.

“Anna!” Ben shouted. He left Derek’s side and wandered over to us.

Anna beamed and bent down to cuddle him. It warmed my heart to see the special bond the two of them had, and I felt an eternal sense of gratitude. If it wasn’t for Anna’s initiative to take care of Ben when he was still a newborn trapped in Aviary, I doubted I ever would have seen him again.

Rose also skipped over and tugged on Anna’s sleeve.

“Hey Anna and Ariana,” she said, smiling sweetly.

“Hey beautiful.” Anna kissed Rose’s cheeks.

“Sofia,” Anna said, after she’d finished greeting the twins. “Ian left.”

I stared at her. “Already?”

She nodded. “He finally proposed to Katrine about a month ago, and they decided it was time to leave the island and start their new life outside. He was sorry you weren’t here to say goodbye.”

I smiled. Ian and Katrine—one of the human girls who used to live a few doors along from him in the Catacombs—had started seeing each other three years ago.

While I was deeply disappointed that he hadn’t waited to say goodbye to us, I felt nothing but happiness for them. I saw joy in Anna’s eyes too, and an obvious relief. Ian had finally found someone to replace her, and he no longer had to suffer each time he saw her with Kyle.

“Well, I’ll let you go, Sofia,” Anna said. “I’m sure you’ve got lots of work to do settling into your home again. I’ll see you around.”

She kissed me once more and headed off with Kyle and Ariana.

Derek scooped up Ben and placed him on his shoulders. Ben chuckled with delight on being so high up. I took Rose’s hand and kissed her on the nose, which made her giggle.

As we neared the Residences, two more familiar faces came into view. Ashley and Landis—Xavier’s younger brother—were walking toward us, holding hands.

It had taken Ashley two years to finally let Landis in after she had lost Sam in the most brutal way imaginable. But finally, the day had come when she was happy again.

I ran up to Ashley, pulling her into my arms. I kissed her cold pale cheek and whispered, “I missed you so much.”

Tears welled in my eyes as she smiled back at me. I’d grown so used to her smiling only to stop people pitying her. But now she was smiling from her heart. She’d truly found happiness with Landis.

I stayed with Ashley for several more minutes before finally turning away and arriving at the foot of one of the tallest redwood trees on the island, upon which our magnificent penthouse was built. We stepped into the glass elevator and made our way to the top.

Rose and Ben wandered about on the verandah, marveling at the star-strewn sky. We’d made sure to build a high fence around the verandah so that there was no chance of any accidents. Our twins had dangerously adventurous minds and, now that they were becoming independent, it was hard to keep an eye on them sometimes.

Once we’d settled down and finished bringing our luggage up, we left the twins in their playroom with Aiden watching over them and left the house with Vivienne and Xavier.

We headed back through the woods until we reached the clearing outside the witches’ temple. Corrine’s Sanctuary. We knocked on the wooden double doors and Corrine opened them a few moments later.

“Well, hello,” she said, grinning. “Come in.”

We followed her along narrow corridors until we reached a circular study lined with shelves of bottled potions.

Ibrahim looked up from his seat at a small table in the corner of the room.

“Welcome back!” He stood up and gave us both a hug.

We took seats around the table, while Corrine sat herself down on Ibrahim’s lap.

“So,” Corrine began, raising an eyebrow and eyeing us closely. “You both really want to turn back again.”

Derek and I exchanged glances before nodding.

“But we need to know what the situation with Derek is,” I said. “Do you think he can be turned back—with his fire powers and all?”

Ibrahim stroked his chin and continued staring at us, deep in thought.

“Well,” he said, “we still don’t know exactly what kind of spell Cora cast on you to give you those powers. But I am quite certain that it won’t interfere with you turning back. You were a vampire before. I don’t see why you can’t be one again.”

I looked at Derek, gripping his hand.

“Well, let’s do this,” he said.

A
fter we returned
to our penthouse, we finished unpacking and then spent the rest of the evening with Ben and Rose. This would be the last night we’d spend with them as humans. Derek and I had decided that Vivienne would turn me the next day. Assuming I felt steady enough after the transformation, the plan was for me to turn Derek the same day.

The twins slept cuddled up with us that night in our warm bed. We slept in late the next morning and had breakfast in bed. I cooked up their favorite: hash browns with cheese and tomato sauce.