Her cheeks paled at my words. “This cycle of vengeance between hunters and vampires… will it ever end?”

I withdrew from her touch, running one hand through my hair and fisting the other over my knee. “You can’t talk me out of this, Sofia. Vivienne is too precious for me not to avenge her.”

“I’m not trying to talk you out of anything, Derek. I doubt that I could make you do anything you don’t want to do.”

I held back the urge to scoff at her words. “You underestimate yourself, Sofia. You’ve consistently been able to make me do things I wouldn’t normally do.”

She chuckled. “Oh yeah? Like what?”

“I just spared Ashley’s life, didn’t I?”

She fell silent at the mention of her friend. My gut clenched at the thought of what I was doing when Sofia suddenly walked in on me – just another addition to the growing pile of issues I was contending with. This one, in particular, I wasn’t yet willing to talk about.

Desperate to divert her attention, I brushed my thumb over her lightly freckled cheekbone. I loved seeing how her cheeks once again blushed red the moment I touched her. “I still can’t believe that you came back.”

“Vivienne made quite a compelling case…”

“Tell me what happened, Sofia… Between you and Viv…”

“Could we talk somewhere else? Please? I look around here and all I can think of is…” she paused.

…Ashley, my mind finished for her. I nodded. “Of course.” I rose from the bed and she took my hand as we walked out of the room. “Where do you want to go?” I asked when we reached the living room.

“The Sun Room maybe?” she eyed me hopefully.

My heart broke as I told her the truth. “I had it destroyed and stripped to a blank room.”

“Why?!”

“It reminded me too much of you. I thought I’d never get you back, Sofia. I wanted to forget.”

She paused, disappointed, before asking, “Did it work? Did you forget?”

“I couldn’t no matter how I tried.”

“Good.” She gave me one curt nod. “You should never forget me.”

Something akin to delight sparked in her eyes when she saw my smile. To my surprise she threw herself right at me and pressed her lips against mine. I was frozen with shock for a few seconds, just enjoying the sensation and taste of her lips on mine before I was brought back to my senses. I wrapped my arms around her waist and lifted her up so she wouldn’t have to stand on her tiptoes. I returned her kiss with fervor, releasing all the pent-up longing I had for her. I began walking forward until I had her backed up against a wall, my hands beginning to move along her waist, her hips and her thighs.

By the time she pulled away from me, we were both panting for breath. Her eyes focused on me.

“What was that?” I asked in between breaths.

“I couldn’t help it. You shouldn’t have kissed me before I left The Shade. I’ve wanted the taste of your lips on mine from the moment I woke up on that damn shore in Cancun,” she admitted, her cheeks flushed pink, her lips swollen red. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. You can kiss me anytime you want.”

She bit her lip and grinned. “Anytime?”

I smirked and nodded. To my surprise, she pushed me back and placed her feet back on the floor. “It’s so hard to think straight when I’m around you!”

I fought the urge to laugh when she hit me on the shoulder, wincing when she felt more pain than she actually inflicted.

“Have you gone mad, Sofia?”

“I’m supposed to be mad. After what I saw, after what you did… You attacked Ashley. It took me weeks to finish the Sun Room and you destroyed my masterpiece in a span of a few days.” She hit me again a pout forming on her lips. She looked absolutely adorable. “I should be flaming mad…”

“And I’m assuming that this is you being not mad?”

She began pacing the floor in front of me as she shook her head. “I’m not mad, but I should be.”

“Why aren’t you?”

She stopped pacing, heaved one deep sigh and stared at me with burning emerald green eyes. “Because it’s you… How can I get mad at you when you’re standing right there… looking like that… distracting me?”

I began chuckling. “So I’m distracting you from being mad at me?”

She pouted before a giggle escaped her lips. She’d been back only an hour or two and she’d gotten me to laugh and smile more than I had during the whole time she was away. In that short span of time, she managed to make me forget even for a while all the pressures weighing down on me.

I cupped her cheeks with both hands. “I adore you, Sofia Claremont.” I then placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, breathing out when her arms snaked around my waist.

She buried her face against my chest. “Let’s just get out of here.”

“Lead the way.”

We left the penthouse and took our time meandering aimlessly through the woods, enjoying the silence and the privacy. We were silent for the most part until I found the guts to ask her the question weighing heavily on my mind.

“What did my twin tell you to get you to come back?”

“We were at Ben’s championship game. Football. Vivienne arrived and asked me to talk to her.”

Her mention of her best friend made a sick feeling settle in the pit of my stomach. I’d completely forgotten about him. The idea that she was with him the whole time she was away from me introduced me to an emotion I felt only with Sofia: jealousy.

“We met up at a nearby coffee shop and she told me that I needed to come back here, that you needed me. She told me that you blacked out and attacked Ashley. She told me that you were headed for a dark path.”

“That’s it?”

She hesitated and then nodded. “That was the gist of it.”

It felt like she was holding something back from me. “And that’s what got you to come back? Because she said I needed you?”

She stopped walking, her eyes focused on the dirt ground below as she leaned one hand against a sycamore tree. “I guess you could say I came back because I was hoping it was true. The fact that it was Vivienne of all people who came to convince me meant a lot. I don’t think she was one of my biggest fans.”

I smiled bitterly. “You don’t know my sister. She thought very highly of you.” I eyed Sofia longingly, reminding myself that Vivienne believed she was important enough to sacrifice herself to the hunters for. I wasn’t about to take that sacrifice lightly.

“I know her more than you think…” Sofia continued her story as we both once again continued our aimless walk through the woods. “Just before the hunters arrived, I think she sensed it. She did something to me… I’m not entirely sure what, but she said something about sharing memories with me and showing me the way back here. And then she held me and the memories just came…”

“She shared her memories with you?”

Sofia nodded. “I know it sounds crazy, but it’s the truth.”

“I don’t question that you’re telling the truth. I’m just surprised that she would risk doing it to a human like you. Transferring of memories has been known to leave many memory recipients in a state of coma. The human brain simply can’t handle the sudden influx of information… The human subconscious wasn’t made to contain and absorb the memories of others.”

“I passed out after she did it,” Sofia reasoned with a shrug. “I saw just enough to see the hunters take her away before blacking out.”

Silence followed, neither of us knowing what to say. We just walked, relishing each other’s company. Enveloped by the darkness of night, I pocketed my hands in my jeans and asked her a much lighter question.

“What was the sun like?”

She smiled at the memory. “Warm. Hot. Everything the moon isn’t. Our first few days back in Cancun, Ben and I couldn’t stay out of the sun.”

Ben again. Jealousy reared its ugly head once again. “What became of him?” I dared ask.

“I’d rather not talk about him if you don’t mind…”

I nodded.

The rest of our walk continued in silence until a familiar sight came to view.

“The Sanctuary!” Sofia exclaimed, excitement lighting up her eyes as she bound forward. “I want to see Corrine!”

The Sanctuary, befitting its name, was located southwest of the island. The white marble structure, with its large round pillars and domed roof, was originally built to honor and house Cora, and later became home to every other witch who succeeded her. One of its chambers also served as my mausoleum during my four-century slumber. Surrounding the structure were lush gardens, complete with a labyrinth, a gazebo and a fountain.

When Corrine saw Sofia, delight showed in her eyes, but she didn’t seem the least bit surprised that Sofia returned, almost like she was fully expecting Sofia to eventually come back.

“Sofia!” she exclaimed. “It’s good to have you back.”

It was one of the few times I remembered seeing Corrine smile since I first met her.

She gave me a curt nod to acknowledge my presence. “Prince.”

Sofia’s hands found mine. “I’d like to speak with Corrine privately.”

“Of course. Go ahead. I don’t mind.” Liar. I minded. Now that she was back, I wanted to be around her as much as I could. Sharing her with someone I didn’t fully trust didn’t exactly thrill me. Still, I gave in to her request. I found myself alone, sitting on a bench by the fountain, waiting for what felt like hours for her to return to me.

I marveled at how the Sanctuary’s pure white marble façade seemed to glow under the light of a full moon. It was quite a sight to see, but the price paid for such a lavish structure lessened its value in my eyes. Here at The Shade, everything beautiful and worthwhile comes at a price.