I walked along the stone path that led to the luxurious log cabin and knocked on the door. When Natalie opened it, a smile spread across her face as she handed me a glass of blood.
“I’m sure you’re famished.” The Italian girl always had a way of making me feel taken care of.
I looked at her gratefully as I took the glass and drank its contents in one go. I hadn’t had a drop of blood in my system since I left hunter territory. I couldn’t bear the thought of killing the humans I had happened to come across during my journey to Natalie’s safe house. I was indeed famished.
Natalie welcomed me into the cabin and asked me to make myself comfortable as she poured another glass of blood for me. As I waited for her, I recalled the first time I was able to get in touch with her a couple of days back.
“Derek? What is going on? Where are you? Do you have any idea how many people are looking for you right now?”
Gripping the disposable cell phone over my ear, I never thought I could be as elated to hear Natalie Borgia’s voice as I was at that moment. I heaved a sigh, taking note of the mixture of alarm and relief in her voice upon realizing that she was talking to me. “I need you to help me get back to The Shade without the hunters following me there. I’ve been trying to get them off my back for the past two days. It’s been hell.”
“Two days? Where are you? How are you keeping out of the sunlight?”
Hidden in some sleazy motel in the middle of who-knows-where, I was in no mood to answer her questions. “Natalie, I appreciate your concern, but right now, could you be less of a friend and more of a diplomat and just help me out?”
Truth be told, I couldn’t really wrap my mind around how I had survived the past two days. During times we spent at The Shade, both Sofia and my sister Vivienne—before she passed away in the hands of the hunters—tried their best to keep me up-to-date with the technologies and norms of the twenty-first century. Still, living them out firsthand was a shock. The world was far different from what it was four hundred years ago.
“Okay,” Natalie said, her voice lower and a bit less excited. “What do you want me to do?”
“I don’t know how they’re doing it, but the hunters seem to know where I am at all times. I just can’t get them off my back no matter how hard I try.”
“They probably have a tracker on you.”
“Okay…how do I get rid of the tracker?”
“For one thing, do you have anything on you that came from the hunters’ headquarters?”
“I have credit cards, wallets, drivers’ licenses, an SUV…”
I could practically see Natalie roll her eyes. “Get rid of all of those. You don’t know which one of those is bugged, so you might as well just get rid of everything. I’m going to give you an address. That’s my safe house. Don’t bring anything that the hunters have been in contact with. Did you get all of that?”
I nodded before remembering that she couldn’t actually see me. “Yes. Thank you.”
“Get here safe, Derek. I’m worried about you.”
“I will. Thanks.” I heaved a deep sigh before looking at the SUV. I said goodbye to it, inwardly groaning at all the running I was about to do.
Natalie plopped on the empty space on the couch beside me as she handed me another glass of blood. “I’m glad you made it. You sure the hunters aren’t still on your back?”
“I completely lost them about a day ago. Had to take several detours though…”
“What’s going on, Derek? Where were you? The people at The Shade have been going mad when they heard news of the fall of The Oasis. Rumors are that you’re now siding with the hunters.”
I almost choked on my drink. “Siding with the hunters? Did you not hear me when I said that they’ve been hunting me down for days?”
“Well, the rumor is that they caught you and that you, Ingrid, Claudia and Sofia were taken to hunter territory. We all thought you were a goner, and yet, here you are. How could you have possibly escaped the hunters? Hunter territory is to vampires as The Shade is to humans. Once you get in, you can’t get out.”
I didn’t like where the conversation was going. I quickly finished the drink and laid the glass on top of the coffee table. “I can’t believe that anyone would think that I would work with the hunters.”
“Well, you were once one of the most feared hunters alive and you have to admit that you coming out of hunter territory unscathed is more than just a bit suspicious.”
“Natalie, you believe me when I say that the only reason they kept me alive and let me out of there was because of Sofia, right?”
“I’m a rogue, Derek. What does it matter what I believe? My job is to remain a diplomat and bring messages across covens. Since when does my opinion count?”
“It counts to me.”
“Of course I believe you, but come on… It’s not like the other covens will buy that story. For crying out loud, Derek, do you really expect them to believe that you just walked out of hunter territory thanks to true love?”
“I expect them to believe that there is an exception to every rule. You said it yourself, Natalie… Hunter territory is to vampires as The Shade is to humans. Sofia and Ben were the exceptions. They got out of The Shade, did they not? Isn’t it high time that a vampire got out of hunter territory unscathed?”
“Sure.” Natalie shrugged. “I know you well enough to buy that, but just to play devil’s advocate here, I have to remind you that you are Derek Novak and you are in love with Sofia Claremont, who is the daughter of the notorious Ingrid Maslen. Not only that, but she’s also the daughter of Aiden Claremont, or as we know him in our world, the infamous hunter, Reuben.”