A Castle of Sand (A Shade of Vampire #3)(16)
Author: Bella Forrest

Just like every moment I spent with him, I wanted it to last for an eternity, but the song came to a close. He then uttered words that sent my brain into a tailspin.

“Marry me, Sofia.”

I froze. I guess I should’ve seen it coming. He was pursuing me. He wanted me. Why is this request taking me by surprise? Every fiber of my being was begging me to nod my head and say yes. There was nothing more I wanted than to be his wife, but what kind of life would he have with me? It didn’t make any sense for an immortal to commit his entire lifetime to a mortal such as me. I looked up at him, seeing the longing there, mirroring exactly what I felt.

“Derek…” My voice was choked and slightly broken. “I want to…you know that, right?”

“But you can’t…” he muttered sadly, his head slowly nodding to show his attempt to understand. His eyes betrayed the pain inside, however, and I wanted nothing other than to ease his pain. But I had no idea how to do that.

My grip tightened over his arms. “I’m so sorry…”

“Don’t be. I knew you’d say no, but I wanted to try anyway. I know that someday, I’ll hear you say yes to that request, Sofia.” He nodded resolutely. “Someday, you’re going to be my wife.”

You have no idea how much I want to say yes right now. A soft gasp escaped my lips when he pulled away from me. He kept on talking about marriage as if only he wanted it, as if I didn’t want it just as much as he did, but how could we take such a step? I didn’t even want to think about tomorrow, because the hopelessness I felt whenever I thought about the future always ate me up. I didn’t want to think of a future without Derek. I wanted to just live today. Marriage was a commitment that forced me to look ahead and wonder what would happen.

Confused, I stepped away from him and looked into his eyes, wondering what was going through his mind. I was relieved to see his melancholy fade away with one bright smile. He lifted his forefinger in the air in a gesture for me to wait.

He walked toward a small chest placed on top of a wooden desk in one corner of the room. He took out a square blue velvet box just about the same length and width as my hand. He brought it to me and opened it. Inside was a golden chain with a small heart-shaped pendant. I brushed my fingers over the pendant, marveling over its beauty. I really had no idea how to tell if a piece of jewelry had any worth, but my gut told me that the necklace he was offering to me was more expensive than I would care to know.

He verified this when he announced, “It’s a diamond. It was my mother’s. It was the most valuable thing she owned. She had to pawn it off before she passed away, because of some difficulties we were having at the farm. It took me years to find it.”

“Derek, I can’t possibly take this. It’s too valuable…”

“No. I want you to have it. I know that she would’ve wanted you to have it.” He took the necklace from the box. “Lift your hair up,” he instructed.

“Derek…” I said breathlessly, wanting to object, knowing how precious the item he was offering to me was.

“Sofia…please…” His voice was husky. “I want you to have it. Wear it always. It will remind you of me. Take it as a promise from me—a promise that I will find a way to be with you.”

I lifted my hair up with my hand. My skin tingled as he put the necklace over my neck. I was fighting back tears. I couldn’t remember anyone ever giving me something so precious. When he faced me, I could barely look at him.

“Thank you…” I brushed a hand over the pendant. “I love it.”

“I have another surprise…” He smiled, his hand squeezing mine.

I adored him for what he showed me next, but a part of me wished he hadn’t done what he did, because the moment I saw the lavish quarters he’d prepared for me, Paige and Rosa in The Catacombs, I knew without a doubt that life there wasn’t going to be easy.

CHAPTER 13: BEN

BANG! BANG! BANG!

A smirk formed on my lips as each bullet hit the target right on the mark, smoke billowing out of the place the bullets struck.

“Watch it, Zinnia. I think it’s possible I could take your spot among the order’s best shooters.”

Zinnia scoffed as she traced a finger over the small scar on her left cheek, a scar I never actually thought to ask about before. “You wish, Hudson.” She aimed her gun and fired five rounds—all hitting the red circle on the target.

She looked at me with a wide grin on her face. “You may be one of the best fighters the academy has, Hudson, but you’re still not as good with a gun as I am.”

I rolled my eyes, hating to admit defeat. “Still, you have to admit…I’m ready for this mission.”

“Well, you certainly look like you’re ready to murder just about every vampire you lay eyes on.”

My eyes narrowed at the thought. It was true. I wanted to make my first vampire kill. Desperately. Soon, Ben…very soon…

We were off to New York. We’d been tipped off that a group of vampires—whose coven had recently been destroyed by a team of hunters—would be passing through the city that night on their way to seek refuge at a new coven. The plan was to attack at the break of dawn—thus giving us the advantage of sunlight.

“Have you ever seen a vampire die by one of these bullets?” I asked, holding my gun up, pointing it at the mock vampire target a considerable distance away from us. We were using ultraviolet-ray bullets.

Zinnia licked her lips and nodded. “It’s an interesting sight, though it’s not as lethal as a stake through the heart.”

“Why’s that?”

“We’re not sure why, but the bullets have different effects on different vampires. Some immediately combust…others…well, they die a slow, painful death. We’re not really sure yet why the effects aren’t the same for everyone.”

I imagined what it would feel like to shoot one of those bullets right through a vampire’s heart. I wondered what it would feel like if the vampire was Claudia. Seeing her scream in pain, her lithe body writhing on the ground…after everything she did to me, I couldn’t keep the wicked smile from forming on my lips as I pulled the trigger once again.

“It’s a different kind of feeling. You really don’t expect it to be like that,” Zinnia said pensively, as if reading my mind. “Killing vampires…especially your first kill…”