Before anyone could react, Sofia’s arms were around my neck and she placed a soft, gentle kiss on my lips. Tears were streaming down her face. I couldn’t understand why she was crying, but it made the kiss—innocent as it was—utterly heartbreaking. Sofia was forever going to be an enigma to me—I’d long accepted that fact, but if there was one thing I couldn’t stand seeing, it was her tears.

“What’s wrong?” I asked her.

She shook her head and smiled amidst the tears. “Nothing. Nothing’s wrong. Not as long as you’re here.”

And that, I realized, was the reason for the tears. I could be there for her for as long as she lived, but she couldn’t possibly be there for me for as long as my immortality lasted. The realization strengthened my resolve to make every moment I had with her a memory worth keeping.

My life was no longer about myself or the prophecy I had to fulfill. It had just become entirely about Sofia.

CHAPTER 7: BEN

The hunter was lunging toward me at full speed, throwing all the strength he had left into a tackle that I knew wasn’t going to work. I grinned. Pathetic. I twisted my upper torso to the side in order to dodge him and watched him fall to the ground on his hands and knees. I still found time to run a hand through my hair—wet with sweat—before tripping him with one strong kick to his legs as he tried to stand up.

“You’re getting smug, Hudson,” our trainer, Julian, warned.

“Way to kick a man when he’s down, Ben.” Zinnia laughed. I found her lighthearted jibes endearing, but I doubted the man I just sent writhing on the ground felt the same way.

We were right in the middle of the glass-enclosed atrium, which served as the main martial arts training center at the hunters’ headquarters. I was going through a final test in order to qualify for advanced training at the hunters’ academy. Most hunters went through years of training before advancing into that level, but I’d already been promoted. I guessed that Reuben had something to do with it.

Being the best friend of the boss’s daughter did have its perks. Of course, not everyone knew my connection to Reuben. It seemed as if only Zinnia and I knew that Reuben was, in fact, Aiden Claremont, Sofia’s father.

Determined to prove that I was worthy of the special treatment I was getting, I positioned myself ready to deal one final blow onto my opponent.

“Enough!” Julian bellowed, sparing the wincing hunter more pain.

I stood to my feet, taking in deep, even breaths as I stood over the hunter. I couldn’t keep the smirk off my face. I got this in the bag.

“So? What do you think?” Zinnia asked Julian. During my stay at the headquarters, she’d become everything to me from a friend to a tour guide to my closest handler. I could tell from the get-go that she was into me, and I’d already returned her flirtatious attempts with several quips of my own, but I wasn’t ready to get into anything serious.

In every way, my heart still belonged to Sofia, and I doubted it could belong to anyone else. The slightest thought of Sofia, my best friend, my Rose Red, was enough to distract me from what was going on around me. I wondered where she was and if she was being taken care of. It sickened me to think that Derek Novak, the vampire she was inexplicably head over heels in love with, could be taking advantage of her.

I wished I’d never let her go back in the first place. After everything I’d learned during my stay with the hunters, I knew that I’d made a big mistake letting Sofia go back to The Shade. The vampires were irredeemable monsters. I should’ve known that then, but I didn’t have the heart to keep her away from what she told me she wanted. I’d been too selfish with Sofia all my life and letting her go was perhaps the first selfless act I’d ever done for her.

“Hello? Is anyone at home?” Zinnia was snapping her fingers in front of my face. She was accustomed to me spacing out on her by now, so I figured the annoyed look on her face was more on Julian’s behalf than hers. “Did you hear what Julian said?”

“I’m sorry…what?”

“I think you’re beyond any training we can give you when it comes to hand-to-hand combat. And I’ve never seen anyone master the use of a wooden stake as quickly as you did. The only thing I think you’ll need more practice on is firing a gun. In that vein, Zinnia is one of the best shooters we have. I think she’s more than capable of putting you through the training required in that area.”

A smug smile formed on Zinnia’s face, her hazelnut brown eyes glimmering with glee. “Hear that, Hudson? The best…”

“I believe he said one of the best, Wolfe.” I then turned my attention toward Julian. “So what does that all mean?”

“I think you’re ready for your first mission. I’ll discuss this with Reuben and I’ll have Zinnia inform you of the boss’s decision.”

I glanced at Zinnia just in time to see her mouth form into a surprised “whoa.”

“When do you think we’ll find out?” I asked.

Julian shrugged. “When it comes to Reuben, we never quite know. He’s always so busy—especially with the work being done to locate the Maslen and Novak covens, but since it involves you…who knows? His response may come quicker than normal.”

I winced at the implication behind what he said. Even he was convinced that I was being given some sort of special treatment. I stood still, fists clenched, as I watched Julian walk away.

Zinnia rubbed a hand over my elbow. “Hey. Don’t mind him. I’m sure you’ll be able to prove that any favors Reuben’s giving you are deserved.”

“So you think that Reuben’s really giving me favors?” I asked.

“Come on, Ben…you’re the only recruit staying in a guest suite. You flew right through training—and yeah… even I have to admit that you’re better than all the people you passed by—but still, your time here as a hawk-in-training is, let’s say, out of the ordinary.”

I looked at the tattoo of a hawk on my wrist. It was the sign that I was now a hunter—one of them, part of the international order devoted to ridding the planet of vampires. I wondered to myself what Sofia would think once she saw the tattoo. I steeled myself for when I had to kill Derek Novak—even if I had to do it right in front of her eyes.

It’s necessary, Sofia. He has to die before he totally corrupts you. When the time comes, I hope you’ll find it in your heart to forgive me.

“You’re thinking about her, aren’t you?” Zinnia asked me, her brown eyes set on my face. “Sofia?”

I was surprised to hear her mention Sofia. I tried to recall the last time I heard my best friend’s name spoken out loud. Was it from Reuben? I couldn’t remember, but an unwelcome memory did haunt me. It was that of Vivienne Novak, Derek’s twin sister. As a last ditch attempt to pry information out of her, Reuben sent me into her cell to speak with her. She was bloodied, bruised and tortured, her fangs ripped from her mouth.

Her words haunted me. You have no idea how much you mean to her. One day, Ben, you’re going to look beyond yourself and you’re going to see Sofia as she is. Once you see the world through her eyes, you will understand. You could be great, Ben.

Ignoring Zinnia’s question, I shook my head and began walking toward the showers. “What happened to Vivienne? Is she dead?”

Zinnia kept pace with me, having to take at least two strides with every one of mine. “I don’t know. I never thought to ask. Didn’t Reuben say that he had her executed?”

“Yeah… I just…” I sighed and shook my head. “It’s nothing.” I stopped in front of the locker room and pointed toward the door. “I’ll just take a quick shower, okay?”

I miss you so much, Sofia. As I took a shower, I went through for the umpteenth time everything that happened between us. She was into me for so long. I took advantage of that knowledge and in so doing, I lost her. She deserves better than me, but ‘better than me’ definitely isn’t Derek Novak. My gut clenched to think that she felt more valued being with the vampire prince than with me. I really screwed it up with her.

It felt hopeless, like I could never get her back, but I refused to entertain that particular emotion. She was too important to me to just give up on. I was going to get her back.

I twisted the shower’s brass knobs and the steady stream of water rushing down onto my body stopped. My resolution was clear. I’m going to get Sofia back. Right after I help destroy The Shade and every single vampire within it.

CHAPTER 8: DEREK

The Catacombs were composed of several levels of intricately networked caves, located within the base of a giant mountain range known to the island as the Black Heights. The human population not housed within the vampire residences was given quarters within The Catacombs, and it was to be my beloved’s home.

I couldn’t help but wince whenever I visited The Catacombs. It was no place for a vampire—this was made clear by the stares that came my way; some curious, and some tainted with blatant animosity. I couldn’t blame them. The Catacombs was their haven—their place away from our kind, and my presence there only served to remind me that they were a generation of captives—they and their ancestors before them.

Still, I steeled myself against their glares, because I had work to do. If Sofia was going to live there, she wasn’t about to live the same way the others did.

Corrine, witch of The Shade, served as the humans’ champion. Though one could never underestimate my own position and power within The Shade, she was one of the few people in that island whom I was severely wary of.

“You can’t be serious!” she exclaimed when I broached the topic of clearing out half of the entire top level so I could have it turned into Sofia’s quarters.

“I want it done,” I responded firmly.

“Derek…this is insanity. You do realize that, don’t you?” she asked as she paced the floor of the Sanctuary, her home.