B00C8324IS EBOK (29 page)

At the mention of the name, Zinnia gasped. Her brown eyes began to burn through me with anticipation. She was obviously hanging on my every word.

Distracted, I asked them the first thing that came to mind. “Could you tell me more about Eliza? I’m curious.”

“We really don’t have time for this.” Reuben was obviously growing impatient.

“She was my older sister,” Zinnia admitted.

I looked at her in surprise. “I’m sorry...”

Tears blurred her hazelnut irises. “She’s gone?”

I nodded solemnly. “I barely knew her, but she felt like a kindred soul. She could’ve tried to escape without me, but she risked helping me out. I truly am sorry, Zinnia.”

She smiled bitterly, wiping her tears away. “We all lost someone to the vampires. If not, we were – like you – victims ourselves. That’s why we’re hunters.”

Reuben must’ve realized that I wasn’t about to let go of the idea of finding out how Eliza came to be in Cancun, and gave me the information I wanted.

“Eliza was always rather hard to keep a rein on. She was so eager to prove herself to us and was far too impulsive, acting before thinking things through. We sent her to Cancun mainly as a way to get her out of here. It was supposed to be a treat, a vacation. The last time we heard from her, she was asking for backup because she discovered a vampire from the Novak coven. We told her not to do anything about it, that she should wait for us, but I guess she put matters in her own hands. We haven’t heard from her since that night.”

Satisfied with the explanation he offered me, I steeled myself and set aside what personal biases I had against Reuben. This was business. I began to unbutton my shirt as I spoke. “As Zinnia already implied, revenge is the main reason I want to become a hunter. I want revenge on the vampire who did this to me.” I showed them the scars on my torso. “Eliza was captured by that same vampire. She tried to help me escape, but we were caught. The vampire’s name is Claudia.”

Reuben’s ears perked up at the mention of the name. “
Claudia
? She belongs to the Novak coven just like Eliza messaged us?”

“Yeah… I guess… Derek Novak was their prince or something… He was the one who killed her. Claudia offered her to him as some sort of tribute…”

My voice trailed off, realizing that they were staring at me in stunned silence, trying to take in what I just told them.

I began to question my judgment in revealing to them so much already.
I barely know these people.

“We want you to tell us everything you know about their coven,
especially
where they are. You’re the first person in hundreds of years to ever have been captured by the Novak coven and come out alive. Most of them just disappear… no bodies even… never to be heard of again.” Reuben sat on the edge of his seat. “Go ahead, Ben. Tell us what you know.”

I shook my head. “No. I’ve already said enough. Incidentally, I don’t trust you,
Aiden
. Not after what you did to Sofia. I’m not telling you anything until
I
get answers.”

The man gave me a murderous glare. “Look,
boy
. I’m here for one reason and one reason alone and that is to find Sofia. I don’t care what you think of me. The last time you and my daughter disappeared, I practically turned the world upside down trying to look for her. I arrived at one dead end after another, and then you two little juveniles show up out of thin air, giving authorities this crap story about running away – no explanations, no records…
nothing.
” He began swearing loudly. “And now she’s gone again
right after
a private conversation with Vivienne Novak!” Another swear word escaped his lips. “
Vivienne Novak
! After centuries of not even seeing a trace of her or anybody from her clan, she shows up and she goes after
my
daughter. If you don’t want her to end up the way Eliza did, you’re going to tell me everything you know.”

He looked nothing short of intimidating and Zinnia looked absolutely terrified of him, but his outburst only made me relax. I leaned back on the couch and cocked my head to the side. His reaction just showed me how important I was to them. “Don’t you have Vivienne in your custody?” I replied nonchalantly. “Why don’t you just ask her what you want to know?”

“You’ve obviously never tried to break a vampire,” Zinnia muttered.

I raised one shoulder. “I’m willing to learn.”

“Now’s not the time.” Reuben was reeling in his anger. “Tell me where my daughter is.”

“She returned to
The Shade.”

“
The Shade?” they both asked in unison.

Not wanting to tell them anything about the island, I said the words that left a bitter taste in my mouth.

“Sofia is Derek Novak’s lover.”

Silence followed as both hunters let the statement sink in. My eyes remained locked on Reuben, watching as the blood rushed to his face, his knuckles growing white
from the way he was clutching the armrests. After what felt like forever, he managed to react. “
Lover
?” The way he said the word made it sound foul and disgusting. “How could something like this happen? How does my own
daughter
fall prey to a Novak?”

I was surprised by the anguish I saw in his face. The anger increased how menacing he looked, yet a deep sadness was mingled with the fury.

“I was trying to protect, keep her hidden from vampires and hunters and all this bloodshed. What they’d do to her should they find out that
I’m
her father…” He rose from his seat and began pacing the hardwood floor in front of us. It did little to ease the tension.

I couldn’t keep myself from speaking my mind. “Protect
her
? What the hell are you talking about? You abandoned her!”

“To keep her away from all this! She was safer without me…”

“Safer?” I scoffed. “Really? You mean like she is now?
Safe
as that vampire prince’s slave?”

“
Slave
? I was under the impression that she went out of her own free will…” Something dark and foreboding flickered in Reuben’s eyes.

I knew then without a shadow of a doubt that Reuben would willingly burn down the entire world if it meant he could keep
Sofia away from Derek Novak.

That’s what earned him my trust. That’s what made him my ally.

I drew a deep breath. “You don’t
know
Sofia. She’s naïve. She trusts people too much. You must’ve heard about what was happening when the hunters came to take Vivienne from Sofia. It was almost like the vampire was brainwashing or hypnotizing Sofia. I don’t know… they did something to Sofia on that island. She’s fiercely loyal to Derek for reasons I can’t even comprehend. After we got back from The Shade, I tried to reason with her as best as I could, but it was of no use. He
had
her. I don’t know if there’s anything we can do about that.”

Fierce de
termination deepened the lines on his face as he sat back on the recliner. “We’re going to get my daughter out of there, and you’re going to tell me
everything
you know about The Shade.”

1509

A slight drizzle had begun over the thatched roofs and stone walls of our small village. The fresh air of the countryside was a welcome change to the city atmosphere I’d grown accustomed to since joining the hunters. However, even the comforting sight of our beloved and closely-knit farming community failed to ease the heavy burden I brought with me upon coming home.

Though our neighbors greeted me with nods and smiles, I could tell that they were wary of me, some even fearful of me. After our mother was murdered inside our own home two years ago, I was written off as having gone mad, because I was convinced that a vampire took my mother’s life. It didn’t take long until I couldn’t bear working our farmlands anymore. I had to get away. Rumors were circulating about an order known as “the hawk”. They were hunters, determined to rid the world of vampires. I found them and I joined them. Of the several times I went home since I joined the hunters, this homecoming proved to be the most difficult, because along with it came a mission I was afraid I didn’t have in me to accomplish.

Upon reaching the thatched roof and brick walls that made up our home, the first person I wanted to see was my twin. Vivienne joined me during my first year of becoming a hunter. She didn’t become one herself, but she assisted me in more ways than one, given her premonitions and ability to see into the future. She eventually had to go home, however, due to an illness she contracted during one of our travels. Expecting her to greet me by the door, I was surprised to find our older brother instead.

It was midday, yet it was obvious that Lucas had been drinking. He had his arm over a giggling, sparsely clothed bar wench and a cask of wine in one hand.

“Where’s Vivienne?” I asked him.

He blinked his eyes several times, unsure if he was really seeing me. “Derek?”

I brushed past him and entered the house, eager to see my sister. “Vivienne!”

“She’s not here.” Lucas swallowed hard.

I knew then that something was very wrong. “Where is she? What happened?” My pulse began to race, my heartbeat doubled.
Something’s wrong.

He rubbed the back of his neck with a hand and motioned
to his wench to go away. Even in his drunken stupor, guilt was evident in the way he was conducting himself.

“What have you done?”

“I haven’t done anything!” he defended himself, arms raised in the air in surrender. “Derek… you must understand… There was nothing we could do about it…”

“Do about what? Understand what? Where the hell is Vivienne?!”

“Lord Maslen asked for her. She was brought to their estate only this morning.”

Blood pounded in my veins at the information I was given. Lord Maslen was baron of the lands we were living in. His eldest son, Borys, had his eye on Vivienne for years. She told me many times that she couldn’t stand the thought of being with him. It made me sick to my stomach thinking of what they could possibly want from Vivienne.

“You know what trouble we could get into if we defy the Maslens…” Lucas continued his defense. “How were we to say no?”

“It’s easy, Lucas. You just utter the word. No.”
I stared at my older brother in disbelief. It was amazing to me what kind of a spineless coward he always proved to be.

“As if that would’ve done any good! These are the Maslens we’re speaking of. They could have our heads if we just look at them the wrong way. It’s not like we can just go against them by withholding Vivienne from them.”

“Why the bloody hell not?! She’s our sister! She’s not some piece of property they can have at their whim. We’re not their slaves!”

“They have all the power.”

“Only the power that we give them, Lucas. No more than that.”

“It’s not that simple.” Lucas shifted uncomfortably on his feet. “She’s Borys’ betrothed… She’s come of age… They said it was time to give Borys what was his.”

“Betrothed?!” I spat, a subsequent slew of curses escaping my mouth.

“Without our knowledge – and even hers – father promised Vivienne to Borys Maslen in exchange for a generous dowry…”

I froze.
Generous dowry…
When our mother died, we were deep in debt and about to lose the farm. I tried to contribute by working as a bard at the local tavern. Vivienne too was attempting to contribute, working as an apprentice for a local merchant. Even Lucas did more than his typical bare minimum with his chores at the farm. Even with all of us pulling our own weight, we were still about to lose the farm. Then suddenly, father had come by a huge sum of money to pay off our debts. He refused to let us know where the money came from. Now I knew where he got it. He sold his own daughter to that demon.

“Derek, we had no choice…”

“To hell with that. There is
always
a choice.” I brushed past him and headed out, determined to find my father. I knew that there was only one place to look. Muscles flexed, fists balled and ready to make a hit, I marched through the muddy roads of our village. I wanted to strangle my father.

Fear and worry grated at me, the uncertainty of what my sister was going through in Borys Maslen’s hands
was overwhelming my senses. Passersby who happened to stand in my path quickly stepped aside in order to give way to me. Even at eighteen, I’d already grown a reputation as someone no one ought to mess with and my demeanor as I charged past them toward the village tavern was far from welcoming.

I pushed the tavern’s door open and immediately laid eyes upon our father. When I found him, tipsy and laughing with some of his comrades, I saw red. I lunged for him, tackled him to the ground and began hitting him on the face.

“How dare you do that to your own daughter! How could you send Vivienne there!”

I’d already thrown several blows when my father was able to hit me back. With a few swift moves, he managed to roll me over so that he had me pinned
to the ground.