A Castle of Sand (A Shade of Vampire #3)(36)
Author: Bella Forrest

“I just had no idea…Cora and Derek?”

“I thought you knew. Derek was the love of Cora’s life. Everything she did for The Shade was out of her love for him. He never did quite return her love though—not the way she wanted to at least. He protected her. She was his best friend, but no…he never loved her, not the way he loved you.”

My heart broke for Cora, and yet to be once again assured that I was the love of Derek’s life was something that made my spirits soar.

“For a time, Cora thought that she was the woman who would help him fulfill the prophecy. It took years before she realized and accepted that she wasn’t and that his heart would never be hers. I think you already know this, Sofia, but Derek has been with countless women throughout his lifetime, but he never did fall in love until you came along.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but no words came out. How was a girl to respond to a revelation like that? To my relief, it seemed I didn’t need to come up with a reply, because within seconds of her finishing her last statement, Corrine’s brown eyes grew wide with utter panic as she stood on her feet, her hands clutching the edge of the desk until her knuckles grew a pale white.

“Corrine?” I asked, my concern immediate.

She swallowed hard. “Something’s wrong. Something is very, very wrong…”

Before I could even react, a blow to my head knocked me unconscious and everything that surrounded me succumbed to darkness—a phenomenon that seemed inevitable in a place like The Shade.

CHAPTER 28: DEREK

Over the past five hundred years, my father had already given me many reasons to hate him, but I never did quite hate him as much as I did that night.

I was intrigued to say the least. I was no fool. I was gearing myself up for a fight—an argument at the least—once I reached the dome, but what greeted me was something that was far beyond my expectations.

The moment I walked through the large oak doors of The Shade, multiple tranquilizer rifles—the same ones used by hunters—were fired at me before six guards jumped at me to chain me up and restrain me from fighting back. I was still able to severely maim one of the guards who attacked me, but I was outnumbered and weakened by the suppression serums the tranquilizer darts injected into my system. It was the same serum used to inhibit a vampire’s healing abilities—the same one used on Claudia when she was whipped for her defiance toward me. The serum also worked to suppress a vampire’s strength.

Five chains were placed on me—my neck was shackled, my wrists and my ankles. The five guards who jumped on me were holding the other ends of the chains, all of them pulling on opposite directions. It felt like they were trying to tear me apart. The guard I was able to take down was still writhing in pain on the ground, severely wounded, as he clutched a chain that I figured must’ve been for my waist. I knew them. Felix’s men.

I glared at my father. “What’s going on?” I hissed as I tried to fight against the restraints.

Seated on his throne, my father smirked at me. “How the mighty have fallen…this is just a father giving his son a lesson in humility,” he said as he leaned back and crossed his legs, wicked glee evident in his eyes.

“Do you really think you can kill me without the rest of the Elite destroying you for it?” I spat at him.

“Kill you? There are worse ways to make you suffer than just end your life, son.”

I pulled against the chains, mainly to gauge just how strong the guards were. I couldn’t remember seeing any of them at the training grounds. I wondered then if Felix had been doing training of his own. The guards were strong, perhaps the best he had.

My father rose from his seat and began walking down the balcony to the stand where I was restrained.

I glared at him as he approached. “What do you want?”

“A trusted source of mine revealed to me that some of the Naturals are planning to incite a revolt. The key people are being arrested as we speak. We don’t want them to get in our way once we conduct the culling tomorrow.”

My stomach turned. Tomorrow?! How could I have not known that? “No one told me that plans have been finalized for the culling!”

“Not many knew. We couldn’t risk you and those whom we know are loyal to you finding out about the plans and getting in our way. Considering how you’re practically bordering on treason on behalf of that human of yours, it’s hard to trust you, son. You understand, right?”

I once again pulled at the chains. The guard holding down the chain on my right wrist budged. I smirked, noting a weakness. I shifted my glare back to my father. “I have nothing to do with the revolt. Why restrain me here when you need military force to conduct the culling and take down the inciters of the revolt?”

“Because I doubt you would do anything to punish one of the key people leading the revolt.”

Realization dawned on me. Sofia. All I could do was scream as I pulled on my restraints, making all five of the guards holding me down tense as they tried to keep hold of the chains. “I swear if you do anything to harm her…” Several curses flew from my lips. “No! What are you going to do to her?!”

“Give her the punishment any rebel deserves. Make an example of the little fool. They’re all being hauled to the town square, where they will receive fifty lashes each.”

I remembered the way Claudia’s back looked after receiving thirty lashes. Despite the suppression serum inhibiting her ability to heal, a vampire was still much more capable of taking that much pain. “There’s no way she’s going to survive that many lashes!”

“Exactly.” My father grinned. I could barely recognize him anymore. “Well, I have punishments to see to.” He walked out of the dome, chuckles still coming out of his mouth.

I couldn’t stand him. At that moment, I hated him. I took several deep breaths as I glared at the guards surrounding me. No…not again…Sofia isn’t going to shed any more blood. Enough is enough.

Gathering up my strength, I let out all my fury with one long growl before pulling on my restraints. The next half hour was spent taking down every single one of the five guards restraining me. I walked out of the dome still holding the beating heart of the final guard in my hand.

I might have underestimated my father, but he had no idea how much he had just underestimated me.

CHAPTER 29: SOFIA

I was woken by a splash of cold water. The first person I saw was Corrine standing at a distance from me, amongst a crowd of onlookers. I wondered why she didn’t do anything to help me. She could’ve easily rescued me from whomever it was that attacked me. That’s when I realized that she wasn’t exactly an ally, that she would never meddle with our destinies or interfere with the events that were unfolding. She was an observer. She was there to watch the prophecy unfold. She wasn’t there to change it or mess with it. Considering everything she knew, to do so would be dangerous.