A Castle of Sand (A Shade of Vampire #3)(54)
Author: Bella Forrest

“But what about The Shade?” With all the noisy murmurs and mild commotion going on, I didn’t even recognize who was asking questions anymore.

“Cameron, Liana, Xavier and Eli are more than capable of working together to run the island while I’m away.”

“Derek, you’re seriously considering this?” Xavier seemed apprehensive.

“You of all people are aware of what Borys is capable of,” I told him. “You know what he did to Vivienne. Borys will break and ruin Sofia.”

“Sofia is stronger than we’ve given her credit for,” Cameron spoke up and I knew immediately that what he was saying was true. “Maybe she will find her way out of there by herself and back here.”

I smirked. “Yeah…maybe…maybe she can, but I’m not going to hang the fate of the woman I love on maybes, Cameron. I’m not going to just sit here and allow that shameless brute to have his way with Sofia.”

“So you’re actually going to The Oasis?” Liana verified.

I nodded. “I wouldn’t miss Sofia’s wedding for the world.”

CHAPTER 47: SOFIA

It felt like days since I was brought to The Oasis. I hadn’t seen Borys since our first meeting—something I was immensely grateful for. The only vampires from The Oasis I’d seen then were the two guards they sent to keep watch over me and the women who came to take my measurements and do the fittings for my wedding gown.

To my relief, they kept Ben inside my room, but he wasn’t supposed to talk to me much, and the guards strictly warned us that he was not to touch me. Apparently, Borys made it some sort of law that no man would be allowed to lay a hand on me until the day of our wedding.

“He wants you pure,” the guard explained.

I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of a demented lunatic Borys Maslen really was.

“Doesn’t the idea of marrying him just make you sick?” Ben wrinkled his nose, as he sat on the edge of the bed next to me. He said the question in a low voice so that the guards wouldn’t hear.

“All I can think about is escaping. I haven’t even really let the possibility of being his wife sink in. It’s too horrible a thought to be with anyone other than Derek.” I bit my lip, wondering for a moment if I was being insensitive toward Ben, knowing how he felt toward me.

I was relieved to find him nodding as he eyed the guards warily. “Yeah…I’ve stopped thinking of you ending up with anybody else other than Derek, but…I can’t see how we’ll escape this place alone. We’re hundreds of feet below ground, and these two nuts are always around.”

I blew out a sigh as I eyed the two guards standing nearby. During the time we’d spent there, we’d gotten more information—mostly from the women dolling and dressing me up—about what exactly The Oasis was. I tried chatting the two guards up, but I quickly found out that they were thoroughly lacking in personality—completely unlike Sam and Kyle, who’d always been more than willing to exchange witty banter.

Their presence made both Ben and I uncomfortable because of the way we would catch them staring and licking their lips whenever they laid eyes on me. They weren’t subtle in showing how much they were craving me, and based on the way I saw Derek black out and attack Gavin, I knew that if these vampires suddenly flipped out, neither Ben nor I had any defense against them.

I suddenly heard a knock at the door. My stomach fluttered when I realized who it was. Ingrid. I still couldn’t wrap my mind around her being my mother. Questions whirled within my mind, questions I wasn’t even sure I wanted to hear the answers to.

The guards quickly made way for her and she walked into the room with grace and elegance. She stopped near the end of my bed and gave Ben a pointed look.

“So it’s you that my daughter has been hiding with all these years.”

Ben sneered at her. “So it’s you who abandoned Sofia all these years. For what? So you could become Borys Maslen’s baby…”

“You’re going to regret saying that, boy.” She tilted her head to the side. “You obviously mean something to my daughter, so I’ll let that go for now.” She walked toward us—toward me and stopped right in front of me. She used a finger to lift my chin so she could take a good look at me. I turned my eyes away from her. I found myself recoiling from her touch.

“I did not abandon you, Sofia. Your father kept you away from me. I’ve been looking for you all these years.”

“And why exactly were you looking for me? So you could give me to Borys as a bride?” I realized that I didn’t even know how to address her or what to call her. Do I refer to her as Ingrid or as Camilla? Calling her Mother didn’t feel right.

She brushed her thumb against my cheek. “You have your father’s eyes, but you don’t have his build, I’m glad to see…fragile, weak, breakable…”

I glared up at her. Was she insulting me?

She withdrew her hand from me and raised a brow at Ben. She addressed the guards, “I want time alone with my daughter. Have the young man brought to the little blonde vampire from The Shade. She could use some company.”

My blood began to pound as alarm rose from the pit of my stomach to the top of my head. “No…” I immediately saw the fright in Ben’s eyes. “Please…no…not her…not Claudia…Mother, please.”

Surprise sparked in Ingrid’s eyes the moment I called her Mother. She raised a hand toward the guards who were already approaching to take Ben. “Wait. What did you just call me?” she asked me.

“Mother…” My lips trembled as I spoke. I grabbed Ben’s hand, not knowing whether I was trying to comfort him or draw strength from him. “Isn’t that what you are? My mother?”

“Yes. That’s right, Sofia.” She smiled, but I saw only insanity in her eyes. “I’m your mother. That means you do what I say, right?”

Terrified on Ben’s behalf, I nodded in attempt to humor Ingrid. “Of course.”

“So you’re not going to cause any trouble tomorrow, yes?”

“Tomorrow?” My grip on Ben’s hand tightened.

“Yes. Tomorrow. Did you not know? You’re to be wed to Borys tomorrow.”

“Why? Why would you do this? Why would you force your own daughter to marry that brute?”

She began brushing strands of my hair away from my face. “You just don’t know him, Sofia. Borys deserves the best and you, Sofia, are the best. Why wouldn’t you be? You’re my blood, my beautiful, perfect little girl. You belong to Borys.”