A Shade of Blood (A Shade of Vampire #2)(22)
Author: Bella Forrest

“What?!” I exclaimed, unable to keep myself from reacting. “We didn’t even have three hundred when I went to sleep.”

“That was four centuries ago, Derek,” Vivienne reminded me. “Many have sought refuge at The Shade since.”

At that, I kept my mouth shut, but one question kept circling my mind as Eli prodded on with his report. How much human blood had to be shed to sustain all these vampires?

“Among the Elite, twenty-five are Knights,” Eli continued, referring to warriors who belonged to the Elite, “while among the Lodgers, we have three-hundred and fifteen guards and fifty scouts.” Guards were warriors who belonged to the Lodgers, while scouts were mainly vampires authorized to leave the island, specifically to retrieve necessary materials from the outside or to take human slaves. Scouts were only allowed to leave the island under the supervision of at least one knight.

“That concludes my report.” Eli gave me a curt nod to indicate he was done.

“Done? And what of the slaves? How many humans are living in The Shade?”

He looked at his feet uncomfortably. “I didn’t think they were to be included in the census.”

“Why not? Are they not under the kingdom’s jurisdiction?”

The silence spoke volumes. After all, why keep track of the population of humans when hundreds of them were lost and replaced on a regular basis?

It was a cold thing to say, but Xavier said it best when he leaned back in his council seat and nonchalantly shrugged a shoulder, “Keeping track of the humans is arguably equivalent to keeping track of The Shade’s food consumption.”

It was a shocking portrayal of how depraved we’d become over the years. A lot of us had begun long ago to see humans as something akin to cattle. Guilt knotted in the pit of my stomach, because I knew full well what hand I played in the culture we managed to create at The Shade. Thus, though I hated to force the council – or even myself – to get into the nitty-gritty of this logistical nightmare, I couldn’t ignore the issue either.

“I want a full accounting of every human who lives at The Shade, starting with those residing at the Black Heights, all the way to the slaves living with vampires.” Another figment of our past began to haunt me. “We can’t afford another uprising.”

“I think there’s someone who can help with this,” Vivienne spoke up.

I stared, waiting for her to speak further. She seemed hesitant but eventually revealed whom she was referring to.

“Corrine.”

I was surprised, but if there was anything we vampires had an abundance of, it was time. “Have her brought here then.”

Within minutes, one of the guards was sent to the Sanctuary to escort the witch back to the dome. When Corrine arrived, I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. Her uncanny resemblance to her ancestor, Cora, always managed to knock some breath out of me.

“What do you want?” She demanded, making it clear that she was brought there against her will.

“Vivienne says you’ll be able to help with a dilemma we have regarding how many humans are currently residing at The Shade.”

Her brow rose. “You want to know because…?”

“It’s high time we figured out the actual state of this island and its residents, don’t you think?”

This seemed to take the witch by surprise. She studied me as though trying to figure out if I had some sort of angle, but she eventually took her place at the stand, straightened to her full height, and began to address the issue at hand.

“The numbers fluctuate constantly – as you might well expect…” She glared as if to accuse every single one of us for the crimes we knew we were guilty of. “However, the number of Naturals doesn’t change much. It’s the Migrates who come and go depending on your vampire nature’s whims.”

“Naturals? Migrates?” From the look on the council’s faces, it seemed none of them had any idea what Corrine was talking about.

“Of course.” Corrine rolled her eyes. “You vampires haven’t really paid attention to the state of the humans brought here as long as they keep in line. We humans – myself included actually – have classified ourselves according to those who were born on this island – the Naturals – and those who were taken from the outside world and brought here – the Migrates.”

Growing impatient, I sat up straight and leaned forward to emphasize what I needed to know. “How many of them are there, Corrine?”

“As of our last tally, the island had seven thousand five hundred and thirty two Naturals, all crammed into the Black Heights, and two thousand three hundred and twenty nine Migrates living at the Residences along with their vampire masters. Of course, that number has most likely changed. Who knows how many of them have died since the last time we checked?”

The numbers Corrine uttered left me shell-shocked as question after question flooded my mind. How are we sustaining all these human lives? What are they all doing here on the island? How did their population get so large? What happens to the dead? I found the numbers absolutely staggering and unacceptable.

Then the reality hit me full force. They outnumber us at least five to one. If they ever realize their strength, we’re done for. I stared at the witch, whose loyalties I wasn’t certain of. All they had to do was get Corrine on their side for The Shade to meet its end.

CHAPTER 19: LUCAS

Claudia swung the door wide open and stepped beneath the doorposts of the bedroom she was keeping me in. Feet wide apart, hands planted on her hips, blonde locks cascading down to her waist, the little spitfire actually looked incredible.

I smirked. This is going to be interesting.

“Your brother is going to drive everyone at The Shade mad!” she exclaimed.

Oh yeah… this is going to be very interesting indeed. “What’s he done now?” Having just stepped out of the shower, I was still rubbing my hair dry with a towel.

“He asked for a census of all the humans in the island.”

“What an enormous waste of time…”

“That’s what I thought. Of course, the mighty Prince Derek won’t hear any of it.”

“Any of what?” I chuckled. “Your thoughts?”

She shot me a stern look of disapproval and I was almost certain that I’d just earned myself a fight, only to find her groaning loudly. Her shoulders sagged. For a moment, it seemed she totally forgot about my brother when she began complaining about how every muscle in her body ached. “He made us fight him in the arena. It was exhausting. I haven’t bled this much in a long time. Makes me hate Cora sometimes…”