“He was going to.” I recalled the look in both brothers’ eyes that night. I knew that Derek was more than willing to end Lucas’ life. I also knew that he would never be able to forgive himself for doing it. “I stopped him.”

“You what? Sofia, why? If I could be given the chance to end Claudia’s life, I wouldn’t hesitate to do it and I wouldn’t feel an ounce of guilt about it either.”

“Lucas is still Derek’s brother. That means something to Derek… Family means something to him.”

At that, Ben grew silent. He knew what family meant to me and why I would respect Derek for valuing family. I stopped at a red light and rubbed my neck with my palm, trying to ease my own tension.

“Derek… did he ever…” he hesitated.

“No. He never fed on me. He never had his way with me.” I was relieved when the red light went green again. The sooner we get home, the sooner this conversation is over. “And for the record, my choice to leave the Shade wasn’t about you or him. It was about me. I didn’t want to live my life as a slave – Derek’s or otherwise. That wasn’t a future I wanted for myself. I left the island because I knew that I could carve a better future for myself out here than back there.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know…”

“That’s because you never asked, Ben.”

For the rest of the ride home, both of us remained silent. When we reached the Hudsons’ driveway and I finished parking, we lingered inside the pickup, both of us hating the strain between us.

“I feel like I’m losing you, Sofia.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. It sparked the memories of all those times that I wanted him to want me, of times I daydreamed of being in his arms, of becoming his girl. Is it possible that he actually felt something for me all this time?

Consumed by the silence, I took hold of his hand and squeezed tightly. “I’m right here.” For now. I hoped it was enough to assure him that he hadn’t lost me yet.

Our fingers intertwined and then his lips were on mine. Gentle. Chaste. Sweet. Numb. I was too surprised to respond and the kiss came to a quick end. Our eyes met for a split second before we both fumbled out of the vehicle and made our way to the door.

Amelia’s mouth dropped open when she saw her son. “Ben… what happened?”

“It’s nothing, mom…”

Amelia looked at me questioningly, almost as if she were blaming me for the cuts and bruises he received. We entered the house and I let Ben explain to his mother what happened. He was in the middle of telling her that either she or Lyle had to go to school and speak to the guidance counselor with him tomorrow, when I decided to retire to my room. I wondered where Lyle and Abby were and remembered that she had a play date. Lyle probably went to pick her up.

I was exhausted – more in an emotional sense than a physical one. I collapsed on the bed. My phone began vibrating within my bag. I fished for it and found a text message from an unknown number. The message read: For the record, Ben was fighting for you. – Connor

I wondered if Ben put him up to sending the text. Either way, I was intrigued. Fighting for me? I found it confusing that Ben would suddenly – in a span of one day – show that kind of interest in me when he never looked at me as more than a friend for so long. Is he just doing this to get me to join him in his quest for revenge?

I opened my closet for a change of clothes. I’d just finished slipping on a red tank top and buttoning up my shorts when Ben knocked twice and opened my door.

When he stepped inside, I was taken aback by the look he was giving me.

“Ben?”

As soon as I spoke his name, he held my waist and pulled me against him. He kissed me fully this time. I shivered as I responded with gusto.

It wasn’t void of passion and no one could ever accuse Ben of not being a good kisser. He was a great kisser in fact – not that I had many others to compare him with. Still, kissing him was just as I always imagined it to be. Except for one thing. I couldn’t feel a thing. It was void of any substantial emotion. In fact, the whole time our lips were pressing against each other, the one emotion that stood above all was the now familiar ache I felt whenever I came face-to-face with the truth of how much I missed Derek.

CHAPTER 18: DEREK

I sat in stunned silence as Eli Lazaroff began reporting the results of the census to everyone present at the dome. Apart from the fact that the census gave me a staggeringly clear picture of the state of the kingdom, I remained quiet because I found Vivienne’s presence and Lucas’ absence upsetting. Vivienne’s words were still ringing in my ears and Lucas was always the constant reminder of how I lost Sofia.

Eli started with the number of the Elite. “We now number a hundred and ten.” He then began listing off the breakdown of each vampire clan and where each of the hundred and ten belonged.

Each clan didn’t necessarily consist of blood relatives. New members were added to a clan when a new vampire was “sired” by one of the other members of the clan.

When I went to sleep, only sixty-five vampires – including me – composed the Elite. The number Eli mentioned meant that through the centuries, forty-five humans were turned into vampires. As far as I was concerned, that was a staggeringly great number. The largest vampire clan was that of the Vaughns, with Xavier as head of the clan and their representative at the council. Their clan numbered fifteen. On the other hand, the smallest clan was that of Claudia’s. Her clan only had one member – herself.

After his report on the Elite, Eli moved on to talking about the Lodgers. The Lodgers were vampire clans who didn’t belong to the original twenty clans. They were composed of those who swore fealty to The Shade in exchange for the security of becoming one of the island’s citizens. The number Eli uttered made my mind reel. “One thousand three hundred and twenty six.”

“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.”