“Vivienne…”
She looked up and the moment she laid eyes on me, she broke down crying. She immediately approached me and threw her arms around my neck. I wrapped my hands around her waist and pulled her against me, allowing her to sob as long and as much as she needed to. I didn’t know what to say to her. I found myself hoping that my presence was enough, because I couldn’t find the right words to comfort her.
“It’s just you and me now…” she rasped out in between sobs, her voice hoarse and choked. “We’re the last of the Novaks.”
I hung my head—almost as if I was ashamed that this was true, almost as if it was my fault Gregor was gone.
When her sobs subsided, she pulled away from me and nodded slowly, her eyes fixed on a black orchid which she was gently caressing with her thumb. “I knew it would happen…” she eventually said. “He was too far into the dark. He was fighting with every bit of his strength to stay in the light, but even you weren’t strong enough to stand against it when it began to consume you. He’d been giving into it for too long.”
“I don’t understand…”
Vivienne caught my eye in that way only she could—that way that made me feel as if she were looking into the depths of my soul. I would look into her eyes and find uncharted galaxies behind them. I knew that I could never really grasp or comprehend her depth.
“I think he chose us, Derek. That’s why he’s dead. That explains the message on his arm. He chose us over darkness.”
“He hated me,” was all I could manage to say as I fought back my own tears.
Vivienne shook her head. “He lost a lot of himself. I know he wasn’t the greatest father, but he did the best he could. He was a weak man. He was nothing like you, Derek. He never hated you. He envied you.”
I smiled bitterly. “It doesn’t matter now I guess…”
She heaved a sigh and gently brushed her hand over my face. “I guess what matters is that we still have each other and that no matter where our father is right now, I’m certain that he is much more free than he ever was as ruler of The Shade and father of the great Derek Novak.”
Overcome by emotion, I could no longer keep the tears back. I pulled Vivienne against me. “I’m so glad you’re back, Vivienne. I would have no idea how to get through this without you.”
“You’ll do just fine, Derek. You’ve always been stronger than any of us ever were. Now that you have Sofia back here, you can make it. You can go against the original.”
I pulled away from our embrace, my jaw dropping involuntarily. “You can’t mean that… Vivienne…”
She just smiled at me and turned away. I knew what that meant. She wasn’t willing to say any more and no amount of coaxing from me could make her speak again. She’d said her piece and that was it. I was dismissed.
Going against the original vampire was something that had never crossed my mind. I couldn’t understand why she would even think it. The original was almost a myth to us. None of us knew if the creature really even existed or what it was capable of. It was one thing to battle against something tangible, something you saw and understood, but it was a whole other thing to contend with a powerful unknown.
I was in a daze as I returned to my penthouse, all sense of sleep leaving me. I knew that I couldn’t escape to deep slumber even if I wanted to. Vivienne had just dropped a bomb that would make me toss and turn with anxiety all night.
Thus, I was relieved to open my bedroom door and find Sofia sitting on top of the bed. My guitar was laid on the empty space on the bed beside her. She was busy penciling a drawing on the sketch pad laid over her lap, loose strands of her red hair falling over her face. She looked up through her long lashes the moment I entered and smiled.
“Rough day, huh?”
“As rough as it could get…” I leaned against the doorpost in a show of resignation. “I haven’t yet been able to rise up from one wave crashing over me before another one comes raging toward me again.”
She tapped gently on the guitar beside her. “It’s been a while since I last heard you play.”
No matter how exhausted I felt, I realized that I wanted nothing more than to surround myself with that which I loved—music and Sofia. I sat over the edge of the bed and took the guitar. I began strumming a chord to make sure it was in tune. Satisfied that it was, I began to pluck away, losing myself in the sound of the music.
I could feel Sofia settle herself behind me, leaning her chin over my shoulder as she watched me play. As I continued to play tune after tune after tune, she began whispering encouragements in my ear. “You’re strong. Brave. Courageous. You don’t need to give in to the darkness in order to get through this. I know you. I know that we can make it through this. We’re going to fight this together.”
I had no idea how long it took before we eventually settled down on the bed, snuggling against each other, enjoying that momentary reprieve. We were each other’s refuge and in that bedroom, holding Sofia in my arms, it felt as if the world was as it should be.
“The hunters are coming tomorrow…” Sofia whispered as she brushed her fingers over my chest. I could hear the hesitation in her voice. I could tell she felt apprehensive about bringing up the subject. “You ready for that?”
“I don’t know… Are you? If things go south, Sofia, I may need to fight your father… I just…”