I stepped out of the room and all eyes were immediately on me. Gavin’s, Ashley’s, Sam’s and Rosa’s. Aiden’s glare was fixed on me even as I shifted my eyes from him to his daughter. I didn’t need to look at Sofia to know that she was there. I was aware of her presence, my heart pounding at the very scent of her.
I gulped as I looked into her emerald eyes. Vivienne’s words echoed in my ear. Drink deep. I lost control. I just snapped. Before I knew what was going on, I had her pinned to a wall, my hands on her hips, raising her up so that she was barely on her tiptoes, my fangs bared, ready to sink into the milky white skin of her neck.
I was about to take the bite I so longed for, but out of nowhere, I still managed to scrounge up what was left of my self-control and step away from her. My thoughts cleared and suddenly, I could hear her humming. She was humming our song—the same one I hummed to her the night of her eighteenth birthday—the night I promised to stay true to her, to value her, to pursue her, to find a way to be with her.
I stared into her lovely face, looking up at mine, and realized once again how precious she was to me.
“You can control yourself, Derek.” she whispered soothingly as she took my hand in hers.
My fangs retracted and I could feel jolts of pleasure shoot through my spine when she reached up and gently pressed her lips against mine. She smiled at me before looking over my shoulder.
“I’m fine, Dad,” she assured.
My heart sank. Aiden Claremont had just witnessed me attacking his daughter. I turned to find Aiden trying to get away from the clasps of Sam and Ashley. Gavin, on the other hand, was holding a gun—one I was sure that Aiden had pointed at me when he saw me charge for Sofia.
Aiden was glaring daggers at me. “How many times have you done something like that to her? How many times have you pushed her against walls and had your way with her?”
I hung my head, recalling the numerous times I’d lost control with Sofia, the many times her life was endangered by my own hands.
To my relief, Sofia answered for me, “It doesn’t matter, Dad. Derek and I are going to take a walk. You stay here. We’re going to spend the night together. We need to catch up. I’ll be fine.”
“No…” Aiden shook his head. “I’m not going to let you leave with that monster, not right after what I just saw him do to you.”
“This isn’t hunter territory anymore. If Derek says he wants me with him, then there’s really nothing you can do about it.”
She squeezed my hand and I could practically hear her coaxing me to say that I wanted to be with her, but I was apprehensive.
“Maybe your father’s right, Sofia… I don’t know if I can control myself around you…I…”
She cupped my cheeks with both her hands and began shaking her head. “Derek…please…”
The thought that she wanted to be with me as much as I wanted to be with her was my undoing. How could I stand there and not give in to what she wanted? How could I ignore her plea?
I raised my eyes to Aiden’s—his glare threatening and cold, warning me to choose my words well, but Sofia was right. He was in my territory, a place where my word was law—not his. I gave Sam and Ashley a quick look. “Kindly take Mr. Claremont to The Catacombs. I’m sure he’ll be more comfortable in his daughter’s quarters, where he’ll be among humans, instead of here with the vampires. Rosa, make sure he is fed well. Gavin, kindly inform Xavier to keep an eye on Vivienne. Where’s Claudia?”
“She returned to her villa,” Sam responded. “We weren’t quite sure what to do with her.”
“She’s no threat. She really just wants a way back to Yuri’s good graces,” Sofia explained.
“Leave her then. It’s about time she realized how much Yuri values her.” I then looked at Aiden. “I will do your daughter no harm, sir.”
He snorted in response. “Sure you won’t. Of course, you and I have very different definitions of the word ‘harm,’ or so it seems.”
I turned to Sam. “Sam, one more thing… See to it that my father is released and escorted to my sister’s chambers. Make sure he is well-guarded by more than one vampire stronger than him. We must also immediately hold a council meeting to address the loss of our chilling chambers… We won’t have enough blood to last us for another week unless we do something about that.”
I didn’t miss the way Aiden’s eyes sparked with interest at that bit of information. I’m sure every perceived vulnerability at The Shade was a point of interest to a man like him.
Finally satisfied that I had all my bases covered, I walked out of the penthouse with Sofia. We were already in an isolated part of the woods when Sofia stopped in her tracks and looked up at me.
“You’re trembling,” she said in what was almost a whisper.
“It’s nothing.” I shook my head. “This cure…do you think it will work?”
“It worked with my mother. I saw it with my own eyes. She’s not happy about it, but Ingrid Maslen is human again… She’s still nothing like my mother was. She’s one angry human…”
“How is that possible?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “But it is.”
I wanted it so much to be true. I wanted to escape my immortality and the weight of being prophesied as some sort of savior to my kind. I was also aware that since Sofia could never be immortal, the only way we could really be together was if I became mortal once again. My head was swimming with everything I wanted to say about Anna possibly being immune too, about Sofia not actually having LLI, but whenever I looked at Sofia, all I could think about was how much I wanted her blood.