A Shade of Vampire 8: A Shade of Novak (4 page)

I exhaled sharply.

“Do you want this, Sofia?” he whispered, reaching behind my back and unzipping my dress.

“Yes,” I breathed.

“Do you really want it?” he asked, pulling the dress over my head and unclasping my bra.

“Yes.”

Gripping the front of my bra between his teeth, he tossed it over his shoulder. Then he lowered his head to my panties and, biting through the elastic, disposed of them too.

“And you want me to do it to you?” he asked, now running his wide palms along my thighs.

“Duh,” I gasped.

The shadow of a smile crossed his lips.

I shivered as he positioned himself over my hips.

“All right,” he whispered. “If you insist.”

"
S
ummer camp at seventeen
. Are you serious, Mom?"

I stared at my daughter. Her long dark hair was tied up in a ponytail, her beautiful green eyes fixed on me.

My Rose. Princess of The Shade.

“Ben!” she called.

The door swung open and her brother came storming into the dining room.

“You’re not going to believe this,” she said, rolling her eyes in my direction. “Mom wants us to go to summer camp
again
this year.”

“What?”

Ben, my prince. He looked so much like his father it was uncanny. He towered above us, looking from me to Rose. As soon as he laid eyes on his sister, his expression mimicked hers. He turned on me.

“Seriously, Mom? Last year, okay, but this year? We’re way too old.”

I couldn’t help but giggle at their outrage. “Oh, I’m sorry, old man,” I said, patting his shoulder. “Are your knees playing up again?”

“Dad!” Ben called. When Derek didn’t answer, Ben went storming back out of the room in search of him.

“Hey, Mom. Can I have an early birthday present?” Rose asked, looking up at me innocently through her long dark lashes.

“What?”

“Don’t send me to summer camp,” she deadpanned.

“You two!” I said. “It’s not the same one you went to last time. It’s not even called a summer camp. It’s a survival training course. It’ll be heaps of fun. It’s on a little island off the coast of Scotland. Look, here’s the brochure. As you can see on the first page, this is for ages seventeen to twenty-five, so you’ll be the youngest ones there. Granddad’s already booked it and—”

“Oh, so it’s old enough for both of my parents to go. That’s great,” Rose said, eyeing the brochure. “How about you two go instead of us?”

“Watch it,” Derek said, as he entered the room with Ben. He was still dressed in his pajamas and was carrying a book under his arm. “The two of you aren’t going to make it to seventeen if you’re not careful.” Derek bared his fangs at Rose. “You’ll forever be almost-seventeen-year-old vampires.” He caught hold of Ben and nuzzled him.

Ben ducked out of Derek’s grip and walked over to his sister, standing at the opposite side of the table from us. “Did you agree to this?” Ben stared at his father accusingly.

“Oh, yes,” Derek said. “In fact, I was the one who suggested it.”

They both groaned.

“Why do you want us to go so much?” Rose asked.

“We’ve been through this before, sweetheart.” I sighed. “This is going to be your last year of having the opportunity to go outside and be normal. You keep saying you want to turn into vampires. Well, this is the price we’re making you pay, because you’ll thank us for it five hundred years from now. You’ll think back on this time fondly.”

“Five hundred years stuck with you two,” Ben muttered under his breath. “Maybe I’ll stay a human.”

“You’ve been begging us to turn you since you were eight years old,” I reminded him.

He fell silent.

“Now,” I said. “You’re leaving the day after your birthday. That’s in three days’ time. So I suggest you start packing now. Look at this list of stuff to take and let me know if there’s anything we don’t have.”

With that, I caught Derek’s hand and we left the room.

“They complain every year,” I said to him. “But when they come back they’ve had the time of their lives. Teenagers. They have to find something to complain about or their day isn’t complete.” I kissed Derek’s cheek and said, “I’m going to see Corrine.”

“All right, baby,” he said, retreating into his study.

I left the penthouse and made my way toward the Sanctuary. I knocked on the door. Ibrahim answered, holding a mug of some type of exotic-smelling spiced tea in his hand.

“Hi, Ibrahim.”

“Hello, Sofia. How can I help?”

“I’m here for Corrine. Is she in?”

“No, she’s at the school.”

I thanked him and walked back through the woods until I reached The Shade’s bustling town center—the Vale. The school was in a large white building in the middle of the main square. I entered and walked through the corridors, scanning each classroom as I went. I stopped suddenly as I caught sight of my father—now a vampire—leaning against a desk in one of the classrooms. He was talking to Adelle, the headmistress of the school. She was a tall, striking auburn-haired witch who looked as though she was in her mid-thirties.

She’d arrived on the island seventeen years ago, along with Ibrahim and a group of other witches who’d abandoned The Sanctuary in favor of living with us. We were indebted to these witches in so many ways. We could not have rebuilt The Shade into what it was today without them. Before they arrived, thanks to The Elders and their children, our island had been a complete wreck. Now, the island was better and more beautiful than ever before.

“Oh, hi, Sofia,” Aiden said, noticing me by the door.

It was still bizarre to see him as a vampire. He had finally caved in about a year after Derek and I had become vampires. He’d detested himself at first, but over the years he’d grown used to it. Recently I’d noticed him having some particularly long conversations with Adelle. I hadn’t dared ask him about their friendship yet, but I couldn’t miss the attraction that sparked in his eyes every time he laid eyes on her. It warmed my heart that he might finally be opening up to another woman. And this time, to a woman who deserved him.

“Hi, Dad,” I said. “Don’t mind me.”

I smiled to myself as I left them in privacy. I continued walking along the corridors in hopes of spotting Corrine. That was when I saw Abby. She was sitting behind a desk in a small office, shuffling papers and making notes.

She looked up as soon as I entered. Abigail Hudson was now a beautiful young woman, her long blonde hair wrapped in a neat bun above her head, her light blue eyes gazing at me. Her resemblance to her brother was so striking I often found myself needing to take a few moments aside after speaking to her, as tears threatened to spill down my cheeks.

Years ago, we’d turned her back into a human so she could grow up. She’d remained as one until she reached eighteen, and then she’d wanted to turn back into a vampire. I’d turned her myself. Now she worked here alongside the witches as a school teacher, and she clearly adored every moment of it.

“Hi, Sofia,” she said, grinning. “How can I help?”

“Do you know where Corrine is?” I asked. “Ibrahim said she was here in the school somewhere.”

“She’s with Anna in the dining hall.”

“Thanks, Abby.”

I turned and left the room. Arriving in the dining hall—a large high-ceilinged room with long wooden tables running the length of it—I saw Corrine sitting with Anna in the far corner.

They appeared deep in conversation, so I waited by the door, but my acute sense of hearing couldn’t help but pick up on their conversation.

“I think we’ll only need one more round of blood,” Corrine said. “After that, I’m sure we have enough to recreate more samples from what you’ve given us over the years. We’ve stored it all carefully.”

Of course.
Corrine had mentioned to me that she’d be having this conversation with Anna. Since Anna was now the only immune that we had on this island, her blood was immensely valuable.

She’d given us generous amounts of her blood so that we could store it and use it for any vampires who wanted to turn back into humans. Over the years, the witches had managed to develop a way to duplicate her blood and mix it with animal blood that would have the same effect when consumed by a vampire. Had they not done this, too much of Anna’s blood would have been needed to ensure that we would never run out. The witches stored the samples securely in three separate parts of the island—that way even if disaster happened, it was unlikely that we’d lose everything. Vampires would continue to have the option to turn back into humans, even after Anna died.

Anna’s straight black hair flowed down her shoulders, her eyes on Corrine. When she wasn’t giving blood or spending time with her family, she assisted in the island’s pre-school. She was well into her thirties now, and a large bump protruded from her stomach. This would be her third child with Kyle.

It was strange to think that I would be her age now had I not asked Derek to turn me. My heart ached as I looked at her. I owed her more than I could ever repay. Yet I felt powerless to hold on to her.

Since Anna was immune to the vampire curse, there was no way she could ever become one of us. Immortal. The only way we knew to cure an immune of their immunity was to take them to Cruor—as I had been kidnapped there. That was a fate worse than death, and it wasn’t even possible, since the gates to that realm had been closed for almost two decades.

We all had to accept the fact that she would pass away. It was for that reason that Kyle hadn’t changed himself back into a vampire. He couldn’t stand the idea of living on without her, so he’d decided that he would pass away naturally with her when nature took them both.

“It’s not a problem, Corrine.” Anna smiled gently. “I’ve always told you that I don’t mind giving blood. I’m glad that it’s so useful.”

“Yes.” Corrine squeezed her hand. “And this island owes you too much already, Anna. We don’t want to take anything more from you than we absolutely need.”

“It’s fine, Corrine,” Anna said, waving a hand in the air. “You’re all my family.”

Corrine sighed and stood up. “Well, I won’t keep you any longer, dear,” she said, eyeing Anna’s huge stomach. “You take it easy, all right?”

Anna nodded and walked over to the exit at the other side of the room, while Corrine made her way toward me. “Ah, Sofia. I’ve been expecting you.” She looped an arm through mine and we left the dining hall. “Let’s go back to my place.”

“So you definitely won’t need to take any more of Anna’s blood after this?” I asked.

“That’s correct. We have enough to recreate more doses, so long as we guard our supply carefully.”

I sighed heavily.

Corrine looked up at me. “Anna’s at peace with her life,” she said. “You fret more about her than she does for herself. You do realize that?”

I nodded. “I just can’t stand the thought of losing her one day. It will be like losing a sister.”

“I know,” Corrine replied, clenching her jaw. “There’s not a person on this island who won’t grieve her loss. That one’s special. Kyle’s a very lucky man.”

We walked in silence for the rest of the walk to the Sanctuary. Once we were sitting in Corrine’s lounge, I tried to tear my mind away from Anna. From her fate that I had no power over.

“So,” I said, clearing my throat. “About the twins’ birthday…”

Corrine’s eyes lit up with excitement as she began explaining to me the ideas she had for their party this year.

I held up a hand.

“Corrine, this is what I’m here to talk to you about. They don’t want us to throw them a big party this year.”

Her face fell in disappointment.

“Why ever not? We always have so much fun.”

“They’re… maturing. They don’t like the idea of their parents still organizing parties for them. I’m already making them go on that adventure course. They won’t want a big party as well. We can just arrange for a picnic for all the children and teenagers on this island.”

Corrine swallowed back her disappointment and nodded.

“Well… all right then.”

I squeezed her shoulder. The witch—still holding out on having children of her own with Ibrahim, since, being a witch, she still had lots of youthful years ahead of her—lavished all her attention on the twins and enjoyed every moment of it. I knew how much my twins meant to her—especially Rose—and I saw the pain in her eyes as it dawned on her that they no longer were the young children who lapped up all her attention eagerly.

I stayed for about half an hour longer with her discussing the picnic, and then I returned to the penthouse.

Once the twins are gone, we’ll all have much more important things to discuss than birthday parties.

“
H
e could wear
my grandma’s pants and still look sexy,” Becky said, looking longingly at my brother who was sitting across the lawn with a group of friends.

“I love that he’s growing his hair out a bit,” Jessica said, staring at him dreamily, her chin resting in her palms. “Damn, it looks good.”

“Seriously, what do your parents feed him?” Silvia asked, turning toward me.

“The same as me,” I muttered, rolling my eyes at my friends.

“Who do you think he’ll date next, now that he’s no longer going out with Yasmine?” Jessica asked.

“No idea.”

“Does he still do martial arts training with your dad?” Becky asked.

“Yeah,” I said, stretching my legs out on the grass and yawning. “My dad makes us both do it.”

“Ahh… Prince Benjamin Novak,” Silvia whispered, sighing. “When will you be mine?”

I looked at the three friends who had stayed back with me after the picnic just so they could continue to ogle my brother. Ben was the heartthrob of all the girls on the island. Whenever I was with them while Ben was around, it felt like I might as well not exist.

It was my birthday as well as Ben’s, yet throughout the whole picnic my friends had done almost nothing but stare at and gossip about my brother. Occasionally I found myself wondering how many of them were friends with me just so they could get the inside scoop on my brother.

I, on the other hand, didn’t seem to get as much attention from the boys my age. Sure, I caught them looking at me, but it was rarely more than that. My girlfriends thought that maybe I intimidated them, being princess of The Shade. My theory was that they were intimidated by the males in my family. I thought that perhaps the prospect of having both Derek and Ben Novak breathing down his neck was just too daunting for a young man to bother. Because my brother was just as protective of me as my father. There were after all plenty of other pretty girls on the island with less obstacles.

I couldn’t say that any of this bothered me much though. My life didn’t revolve around finding a boyfriend as my friends’ seemed to.

I didn’t know if it was just my imagination, but my girlfriends’ gossiping seemed to have become worse in recent months and I found myself spending more and more time with Griffin. When he wasn’t around, I’d got into the habit of hanging out with my parents’ friends instead. I realized that I had more in common with them than most of my contemporaries, who were all still human.

The Shade was an odd place. Although most of my parents’ friends were technically in their late teens and early twenties, many had been alive for hundreds of years. In a sense, I got the best of both worlds when I spent time with them. They were still young at heart, yet had so much experience – with centuries’ worth of knowledge and stories to share.

“Would you do that for us, Rose?”

I looked up to see my three friends staring at me.

I’d drifted off into my own thoughts and completely lost track of their conversation.

“Sorry, what?” I mumbled.

“We want you to give us a tour of your brother’s bedroom,” Jessica said, her chestnut brown eyes wide with expectation.

“Oh,” I snorted. “No. Trust me. You don’t want that. It’s such a mess, you have no…”

My voice trailed off as I spotted Anna and Kyle taking a seat on the lawn a few feet away from us with their children, Ariana and Jason.

Although Ariana was four years younger than me, I knew that she would make for better company than my friends right now. I stood up and shook the grass off my dress.

“I’ll see you guys around,” I muttered, waving a hand and walking away before they could object.

All four looked up as I approached.

“Happy birthday, princess.” Kyle grinned. “You want to sit with us?”

“Thanks.”

I plopped myself down next to Ariana. Everyone on the island joked that we were twin sisters because our features were similar.

“Happy birthday,” Ariana said through a mouthful of cake. “What’s up?”

“Ah, nothing much.” I sighed, leaning back and looking around the lawn once again. Most of the attendees of our picnic had left by now, with just a few latecomers stopping by to drop gifts off for us and pick up some lunch. “I wanted to thank you so much for the gifts.”

“You liked them?” Jason asked, poking his head around Ariana’s shoulder to look at me. The ten year old’s mouth was covered with strawberry icing.

Anna had knitted pajamas for Ben and I, and they truly were works of art. I hated to think how many hours she must have spent on them.

“They’re the most beautiful pajamas I’ve ever seen,” I said, ruffling Jason’s hair. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, darling.” Anna smiled.

“Hi Rose.”

I swivelled around to see who had spoken.

A tall red haired boy with warm hazelnut eyes. And now possibly the best friend I had on the island: Griffin.

“Sorry I couldn’t make it earlier,” he said, grinning sheepishly.

“Oh, that’s fine.”

He had one hand hidden behind his back, while he reached the other down to pull me to my feet.

I turned back to Ariana and her family.

“Sorry, guys,” I said. “I’ll catch you later. Enjoy the rest of your cake.”

“Bye!”

I turned back to Griffin and attempted to see what he was hiding. He stepped away, blocking my view.

“Wait,” he said, laughing. “Not yet. Follow me.”

He placed his hand on the small of my back and pushed me forward toward the entrance of the woods.

“Where are we going?” I asked, looking over my shoulder and narrowing my eyes on him in mock suspicion.

“Just trust me,” he said, still smiling. “It’s a surprise.”

He led me forward, refusing to answer any of my questions until we reached the Port. We stepped onto the jetty and he walked me right up to its edge.

“Keep your eyes forward,” he said.

I placed my hands on the banister and stared out at the dark ocean. I heard a clinking behind me and then Griffin said, “Okay, you can look now.”

He stood beside me, holding out a gorgeous shell necklace.

“Happy birthday.”

“Oh my.” I gasped, reaching out to take the necklace from him.

“I’ll put it on you. It’s quite delicate.”

“Yeah, good idea,” I muttered.

I bunched up all my hair above my head and he reached his warm hands around my neck, fastening the hook.

“I wish there was a mirror here… Did you make this yourself?”

“Yup.”

“It’s beautiful. Thanks man,” I said, giving him a high five. “Since when did ol’ Griff start getting in touch with his feminine side?”

“Since I realized I should probably start giving the princess better gifts than home made chocolate pigs every year… which my mom made, by the way. I just took them from the kitchen and pretended they were from me.”

“I always thought those pigs tasted suspiciously good,” I said, giggling and shoving him in the shoulder. “What did you get Ben?”

“Oh, pigs again.”

“So the princess was deserving of a better gift, but the prince wasn’t?”

“Yeah, I guess,” he said nonchalantly, reaching a hand behind his head and running it through his hair. “Maybe I’ll think of something better for him next year. But for now, it’s pigs.”

“I see,” I said. “And why did you need to bring me all the way here to give me the necklace?”

“Oh, I dunno. Just thought the setting matched the gift.” He averted his eyes to the ocean and placed his hands on the banister next to mine. He cleared his throat. “Rose, uh. I also wanted to ask you if…if you—”

“If I still want the pigs too?” I asked, grinning up at him.

He chuckled and shook his head.

“No, actually. I mean, you can have them too if you want but… I-I wanted to ask if you–”

“Rose!”

I whirled around to see Ben emerging from the woods.

“Just a moment, Griff,” I said, looking at him apologetically.

“O-okay. Yeah. Sure.”

I ran over to my brother.

“Now’s the best time to do it,” Ben whispered hurriedly. “Almost everyone has gone, but Corrine is still there with Ibrahim.”

“Okay,” I said, casting a glance back at Griffin. “Just let me say good bye to Griffin.”

I left Ben and ran back over to my friend.

“Griff, I’ve got to go.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck and drew him in for a tight hug. As I placed a kiss on his cheek, I felt taken aback to see him blushing.

Feeling awkward, I took a step back.
It’s not like I’ve never hugged him before. What’s up with Griff?
I didn’t have time to ponder over it, however, since Ben was waiting impatiently for me.

“I’ve really got to start, uh, packing for my trip. But thank you again for such a stunning and thoughtful gift. You’d better keep up the handiwork though, because I’ll expect a crown next year…”

“All right, princess.” He smirked, slipping his hands into his pockets. “The necklace does look beautiful on you.”

“Thank you…” There was an odd silence between us as he stared at me. “Oh yeah, what was it that you wanted to say to me?”

“Oh, it was nothing,” he said quickly. “Really, I’ve even forgotten what I was going to say.”

His cheeks were still a bright red color.

“Oh, okay. Well, if I don’t manage to see you again before I leave, I guess I’ll see you when I get back in a couple of months.”

“Sure thing.”

I patted him on the shoulder and ran back over to Ben. We rushed through the woods together until we arrived at the lawn.

I scanned the area for my parents. They appeared to be deeply engrossed in a conversation with Vivienne and Xavier.

Certain that they wouldn’t notice me, I left Ben’s side and walked over to Corrine, who was still sitting on the grass next to Ibrahim. I took her hand in mine and tugged on her to get up.

“What is it?” she asked.

“I need to talk to you in private,” I said.

Corrine looked surprised, but followed me. I led her away from the field and into the woods. I didn’t stop walking until we’d reached the Sanctuary, and refused to offer any explanations along the way.

Once we were safely inside her bedroom, I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out two passports, laying them on the table in front of her.

She raised a brow at me. “Rose, what?”

I cleared my throat.

“I told you to wait before giving me a birthday present this year, because I had something specific in mind.”

“Yes, and?”

I flipped open Ben’s and my passports and pointed to the date of birth inscribed on each of them.

“I want you to work a little magic on these dates,” I said.

Her eyes widened.

“Huh?”

“I want you to change them. Set them back.”

“Why?”

I sighed.

“My mom keeps saying that this will be our last summer away. Our last summer as normal, human teenagers. Well, if that’s the case, I don’t want to spend it wallowing around in mud.”

“Rose.” She looked at me sternly. “Nobody is forcing this to be your last summer as humans. You don’t have to turn into vampires.”

“I know, Corrine. I know. But we do want to turn into vampires. We just really wanted this last summer to be special before we do.”

She frowned at me, biting her lower lip.

“Well, what exactly do you want to do?”

“This place we’re going is off the coast of Scotland. And we’ll likely be the youngest there. If we make friends, we want to be able to go to the mainland and stay out late partying. We’ll need ID to get into clubs. I was reading in the brochure that people above the age of eighteen are allowed to come and go as they please.”

“That’s all you want these passports for?”

I nodded.

“All you need to do is change these dates,” I said. “Oh, and don’t tell my parents about it because I doubt they’d approve.”

“What age do you want to be?”

“Twenty-one.”

She looked at me dubiously.

“Why twenty-one?”

“It’s the legal drinking age in the UK,” I lied, praying Corrine wouldn’t know any better or verify my statement.

“Hm. You don’t exactly look twenty-one.”

“Maybe not,” I said, “But they’re not going to question it if they see it on our ID.”

“Hmm… And this is really all you want for your birthday?”

I nodded vigorously.

A small smile curled at the corner of her lips as she reached for the passports and slid them across the table toward her.

“You’re making me into a criminal by asking me to tamper with these, you do realize that, don’t you? Wait here.”

I waited as she left the room. When she returned a few minutes later, she handed me the two passports—the dates changed and looking as though they had been that way all along.

I wrapped my arms around her neck and kissed her cheek.

“Thank you, Aunty Corrine.”

She frowned at me.

“I feel awful going behind your parents’ backs like this. Just promise me that you won’t get yourselves into trouble.”

“I promise,” I said, grinning and dashing out of the room.

B
en was waiting
for me in his room when I returned to the penthouse. He raised his eyebrows expectantly and stood up from the bed.