A Castle of Sand (A Shade of Vampire #3)(56)
Author: Bella Forrest

Ingrid seemed annoyed and even slightly concerned for me, but she soon seemed to brush away the fact that her king was draining the blood from her own daughter. “Our special guest has just arrived.”

A fearsome grin formed on Borys’ face as he shifted his gaze back to me. “Did you hear that, my lovely Sofia? Derek Novak has come for you.” The hand he had clamped over my mouth tightened as his other hand gently brushed over my hair. “Maybe he really does love you, huh? Do you want to go see him?”

I nodded furiously, wanting nothing other than to once again be in Derek’s arms, and find comfort in his strength.

Borys leaned over and whispered into my ear, “I will enjoy watching the reaction on your face when you see him die.”

CHAPTER 48: BEN

Soon after Ingrid had left with Sofia, the guards dragged me out of the room. I wasn’t entirely sure if they were going against Ingrid’s orders to keep me there for Sofia’s sake or if she just allowed me to stay in order to appease Sofia into being compliant about the idea of being brought to Borys. Either way, it didn’t matter. My best friend—still very much the love of my life—was in the arms of a monster and there was nothing I could do about it. Without my hunting weapons, I was useless against the vampires. I was just another weak human being they could prey on.

“Where are you taking me?” I demanded.

One of the guards smirked. “To the little blonde vampire.”

Terror filled me. “But Ingrid just said…”

The guard hit me on the face, making my surroundings dim and blur. “You are not to call her by name. She is your superior in every way.”

I gritted my teeth as I fought to stay conscious. One guard had already grabbed me by the arm. That’s when an adrenaline rush took over. I wasn’t going to be handed to Claudia on a silver platter. No. Not again. Not without a fight. Summoning all my strength, I managed to tackle him to the ground. He fell with a loud thud. The only way I knew how to kill one without a stake or a UV gun was to rip their hearts out, but I doubted I had enough strength to do it.

Thus, with one vampire down and the other still in shock that a human would dare fight back, I made a run for it. Of course, I was no match for the vampires’ speed and agility, so I didn’t get far before they hit me on the back of my head and forced me unconscious.

When I opened my eyes, my stomach turned, because I was sprawled on a large bed, with Claudia looking down at me.

“Hi, Ben.” She smiled. “I missed you.”

I thought that I would be terrified at the sight of her. I was expecting to feel fear and dread over what she was going to put me through, but there was none of that. Just hatred, hatred the likes of which I’d never felt for anyone or anything before.

I sat up on the bed and backed away from her. She reached out for me and I flinched when her fingers brushed over my shoulder. I glared at her, expecting to see the same glint of manic glee in her eyes—the same look she always gave me when she held me captive at The Shade. Instead, the look on her eyes was soft and pensive—practically moist with tears.

“Do you love her, Ben?”

“Love who?” I practically spat the words out. I was sickened by the way she was acting. I felt as if someone like her had no business talking about love.

“Sofia…”

I stared at her incredulously. She didn’t have the right to talk about Sofia and I had every right not to give her a response. “And if I do?” I managed to say.

She shrugged one shoulder. Her head bowed slightly, a mass of curls falling over her shoulders. “I love someone too. I didn’t realize how much until I got here. I never should’ve left The Shade. I need him.”

I practically gawked at her. I had no idea who I was facing at that moment. Gone was the evil, sadistic vampire who made my life a living hell. In her place was this broken young woman looking for love. Does she really expect me to sympathize with her?

“Why are you telling me this?”

She began pacing the room as she scratched her head. “I don’t know…because you’re here. I promised Lucas I would help him, and in return he arranged for me to have you. I thought perhaps you could get rid of this longing I have for Yuri, but when they brought you here…just when I was about to feed on you, all I could think about was what Yuri would think of me if I once again tormented you for things you did not do.”

“Just let me go, Claudia. I can’t stand the sight of you. I can’t stand being in the same room with you. When I look at you, I really just want to kill you.” I was probably crazy for saying those words out loud, because they could only get me into more trouble. Still, the truth remained. I didn’t care about this soft side of Claudia any more than I cared for her wicked villainess act. I just wanted to get as far away from her as I could.

I was expecting her to slap me in the face and put me in my place, remind me that she was my mistress and I was her slave, but she just stopped pacing and looked at me with a bitter smile.

What on earth is going on in her mind? Is this for real? Is this Claudia having a heart for once?

I searched myself for some sort of compassion, any form of empathy for her, and I found none. I still wanted to see her pay. I wanted to kill her myself. Fury was still burning in my veins over what she did to me, over how she ruined the life that I knew. However, deep inside me, I knew that I couldn’t do it. I wouldn’t be able to kill her if I had the chance. My time with the hunters had completely eradicated my thirst for vengeance, because I knew without a doubt in my mind that no matter how tempting the notion of killing Claudia was, seeing the life drain out of her would not satisfy me.

Sofia knew the way all along. No matter what she’d been through, she was never a captive. She’d always been free to love and trust and accept others. She never built walls around herself to protect her from what others could put her through. She remained ready to forgive and to embrace the things that actually mattered in life.

At that moment, it felt like I understood Sofia completely for the first time. It was the fulfillment of Vivienne’s prophecy about me.

“What do you want from me, Claudia?”

She sank over the edge of the bed and buried her face in her palms. She was the abject picture of dejection and I had no idea how to handle it. “I don’t know what I want. I still want to taste you. That much is true, but I want Yuri…I want Yuri more than anything.”

I didn’t even know who Yuri was. “Then why the hell are you here at The Oasis when whoever this guy you’re pining for is way back at The Shade, where your home is.”