After recent events, I deemed that it was no longer a safe place for our coven to be based. Although the Nasiris had left and the bonds they’d held with us were broken, it did not feel like a home anymore to any of us. Luckily for the vampires who’d been present, the Drizans only seemed to be interested in the Nasiris, but nobody wanted to live with the constant fear of those jinn returning. There was also the possibility that the Novaks could launch an attack on us in revenge for what I’d attempted to do, which was another reason why we shouldn’t remain here much longer.
Some of the vampires in our coven had scarpered already without waiting for my return. But most of them stayed behind out of loyalty to me. After all, they saw me as their leader. I was the one who had led them to this desert to begin with.
I mulled over our situation, wondering where we could go from here. We would take our half-bloods with us, but there was also the matter of the humans downstairs in the prison. We had toiled so hard to build up our human population. But if we were to leave, it would be completely impractical to bring them with us. So, after each of us had drunk as much blood as we could hold—as well as stored as much as we could pack—we let the rest of our prisoners free. It was a melancholy sight, watching them staggering into the desert. No doubt they would cross paths with the hunters stationed nearby, who would then return them to human civilization. All that work… for nothing.
Wherever we found our shelter next, we would have to start again from the beginning. But strangely, I was not as agitated by it as I’d expected to be. I’d been living down in that atrium for so long, chained by the bond of the Nasiris, it felt like it was time for a change of scenery.
A few hours before our planned departure, we made a visit down to the jinn’s atrium beneath us. It was like a ghost town. We filled up sacks of jewels and gold, intending to bring them with us. I wasn’t quite sure what use we would have for them during our travels, but they might be useful at some point in the future if we ever needed to barter with humans.
Now I found myself in my bedroom, glancing around at my belongings and deciding which items were really worth bringing with me. The reality was, I needed very little. Just a few sets of clothes, shoes, and toiletries which I stuffed into a backpack.
My eyes roamed the king-sized bed. Lucretia had been the last woman I’d shared it with. My supposed girlfriend. She had been among the vampires to escape after I left and ironically, my ex-girlfriend Marilyn had remained.
I moved into the living room to see if there was anything in here that I had forgotten about. I bent down to my bureau and began rummaging through the drawers. Then, to my surprise, the lights flickered out. The only light in the room now was a faint trickle through the door, emanating from an ornamental candle that I kept lit in the hallway.
Power cuts weren’t a common occurrence in The Oasis, not when we had witches here working their magic. Perhaps Amaya and our other witches had wound things up prematurely, although I had told them to wait for me before relinquishing their magic on this place. I could see through darkness as a vampire, but it irritated me that the witches had gone against my command. I stood up and headed for the door to find out what they were playing at, but as my eyes crossed the doorway, I stopped short. My heart skipped a beat.
Standing in the doorway was a looming figure, clad in a long, dark cloak. His face was concealed with an opera mask, and all I could see were his eyes. Blue eyes so vivid, they were almost luminous in the gloom.
What the…
I barely had time to wonder who the hell he was and what he was doing in The Oasis—heck, my apartment!—before he lurched toward me. I yelped in shock, but by the time I reacted, it was too late. He had reached me and grabbed hold of my neck. He slammed my back against the wall, pinning me there with alarming strength. The man’s eyes were closer to me now, and they bore into me with such intensity, it was as though they pierced my very soul. He let out a low, animalistic growl and the next thing I knew, he had withdrawn a syringe from his pocket and sunk it deep into my neck.
Sofia
After Derek vanished with Ibrahim, I blew out a sigh and shook my head. I loved Derek more than I could express, but he was just such a weirdo sometimes.
Whatever he was planning to do with Jeramiah, I couldn’t help but pity the lad. I had been expecting Derek to drink more blood before setting off; he hadn’t ingested nearly enough to satisfy his body. And because of that, he would likely manifest more aggression than he should, but I suspected that this too had been a part of Derek’s plan.
At least he was with Ibrahim. If there was anybody I trusted to take care of my husband, it was that warlock.
I left the lighthouse, intending to head back to Vivienne’s penthouse where I would have a long shower.
But I didn’t make it as far as Vivienne’s home. As I made my way along the main path through the forest toward the Residences, I stopped in my tracks as River and Rose came hurtling toward me from the opposite direction.
“Mom!” Rose yelled.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, staring at the two girls as they approached me.
“You’ve got to see this.”
“See what?”
“By Vivienne’s tree,” River panted. “Just come.”
I was heading there anyway, but now I sped there with urgency alongside River and Rose.
As we arrived, the two girls pointed to the ground. My breath hitched as I stared down at a message scrawled in the soil.
“Ben?” I breathed. My eyes shot to Rose and River for an explanation. “What is this?”