“Tomorrow?” I noticed how her grip on Ben’s hand tightened.

“Yes. Tomorrow. You’re to be wed to Borys tomorrow.”

“Why? Why would you do this? Why would you force your own daughter to marry that brute?”

I began brushing strands of her hair away from her face. At that point, I found myself once again shoving Camilla back into my subconscious and letting Ingrid take over. “You just don’t know him, Sofia. Borys deserves the best and you, Sofia, are the best. Why wouldn’t you be? You’re my blood, my beautiful, perfect little girl. You belong to Borys.” I then straightened to my full height. “I’ve changed my mind,” I announced. “Leave the boy here. The Shade’s little blonde vampire can have him after the wedding. Right now, Borys is requesting the presence of his blooming bride. Have my daughter brought to his chambers.”

I watched as the guards dragged my daughter away to whatever fate Borys had for her that day. I watched wondering why I was so threatened by her. I watched hoping that she would break down, because the strength of her spirit only served to highlight the weakness of mine.

One would have to be blind not to see how much Sofia loved the legendary Derek Novak, rumored to be the most powerful vampire alive—king of The Shade, the largest and most influential vampire coven in existence. The look on his face upon seeing her made it quite evident that he felt for her the exact same way. Their reunion would haunt me my whole life, the way they whispered comfort into each other’s ears and caressed one another would forever be etched into my mind.

I had hoped that I would experience the same thing upon once again seeing Aiden, but when the hunters attacked and our eyes met for the first time in almost a decade, all I could see was a million unanswered questions behind his eyes and pure and utter hatred.

I still loved Aiden Claremont, but he no longer felt the same way about me. I couldn’t blame him, but I hated that he couldn’t look at me with affection, yet he could still look at Sofia as if he worshiped the ground she walked on.

Whatever love I felt for my daughter faded away when Aiden chose to ride in the helicopter with her instead of the one I was in. The hunters wanted me dead, but Aiden stopped them. I thought it was because he still cared, but he gave me one glare and coldly said, “I want her dead too, but my daughter isn’t about to lose a mother. Not tonight.”

Everything just had to be about her.

Sofia ruined my life. Not only that, but the world of all these powerful men seemed to revolve around her—Aiden, Derek, even Borys. I was jealous of her.

Sofia was beautiful inside and out. She had a good heart and an inexplicable strength of spirit. She was powerful and vied for as the immune—a human who could never be turned into a vampire. She was loved.

Sofia was everything that I was not. Whenever I laid eyes on her after that fateful night when The Oasis was destroyed and we were all taken to enemy territory—to the hunters’ headquarters—there were three words going through my mind: I hate you.

CHAPTER 1: DEREK

Blind-folded, I was enveloped by pitch black darkness. Tucked between two hunters at the back seat of a black SUV, I found the ride bumpy and uncomfortable. My wrists were tied together in front of me.

Back at the hunters’ headquarters, I couldn’t help but smirk when the hunters motioned to bind my wrists together.

Do they really think I can’t just snap off whatever they bind me with?

Still, not wanting to cause them any reason to suspect me and harm me, I let them have their way. I couldn’t afford to cross the hunters—not while I was in their territory, not when I was at their complete mercy.

The ride was excruciatingly long, and now that we were outside headquarters, I was gearing myself up for a fight. I was fully expecting them to try and kill me. It didn’t take a genius to realize that every single one of the four hunters escorting me out of hawk territory hated me.

I wasn’t surprised. I knew that they resented Aiden for not ending my life just because his daughter was in love with me. I also knew that Aiden letting me go was too good to be true. He was the head hunter—with a deep-seated hatred for vampires.

They’re either going to kill me or they’re going to follow me to The Shade. The Shade was the island I had given my entire life to protect. If the hunters ever found the island, it would be the end of arguably the most powerful vampire coven in the world—the Novak coven, my coven. I couldn’t have that.

Thus, I tried to think of a way to get out of the predicament I was in. I knew that the hunters weren’t just going to let me go. However, I found it practically impossible to come up with a plan—not when I couldn’t get my mind off of Sofia.

I had already convinced myself over and over again that it was the right thing for me to do: to leave Sofia behind. She was safe with her father, safer than she would be with me. I swallowed hard, once again keenly aware of my hunger for her, the taste of her blood still lingering in my mouth.

Sofia…my fiancée…the only woman I have ever loved…the immune. How is it possible that she cannot turn into a vampire? How could she possibly be immune to this wretched curse?

Flashbacks of the night she had told me of her past haunted me. I hated Borys. I hated her mother for allowing everything to happen. I wondered to myself what it all meant—her being the immune.

I grimaced. I know what it means. It means that she could never be immortal like I am. It means that despite all my proclamations that I would someday marry her, she was right all along. We could never really be together.

I desperately attempted to shove thoughts of her away. If I was going to survive that night, I needed to think about myself and what had to be done to get the hunters off my back and get to The Shade without being followed.

Apparently, there wasn’t much time for me to think.

“We’re here, your highness,” the hunter on my right side drawled, the mockery in his voice hard to miss.

The sound of doors opening was followed by gruff hands grabbing me and dragging me out of the car. My feet had just hit what felt like gravel when one of the hunters whispered, “I say we kill him.”

The statement was followed by a punch in the gut and a wooden stake through my left bicep. They were about to kill me and they planned to make it a painful death. I steeled myself against the throbbing pain in my arm, snapped the rope they used to bind my wrists together and pulled my blindfold off before glaring at my captors.

“You really shouldn’t have done that.”

I immediately noticed the shock on their faces upon seeing how easily I had gotten out of my restraints. Their reactions made it clear that it wasn’t normal for vampires to be able to get out of those ropes. I was sure that some sort of spell was most likely placed on those ropes by the hunters’ witches.

Recovering from their shock, all four began to reach for their weapons as I pulled out the wooden stake from my arm. The quickest among the four already had his UV-ray gun out. His swiftness was his death, because it was at him where I threw the wooden stake, the weapon digging right through his skull.

I still had Sofia’s blood coursing through me, and I could feel its amazing and rapid healing powers take effect over me. Flashes of her green eyes, her auburn hair, her inviting smile filled my mind and her influence on me took over. I used my agility to get behind one of the hunters to take hold of his head, threatening to snap his neck in two. At this point, the stab wound on my arm had already fully healed.

“There doesn’t have to be any more bloodshed.” I eyed the other two men who weren’t in my grasp. They were exchanging glances, perhaps wondering what to do.

“I don’t mind dying…” The hunter I had in my arms spoke up. “End him. End Derek Novak. What could Aiden possibly do to punish you? He probably secretly hopes that we do it.”

I raised a brow, taken aback. So Aiden didn’t really order my execution… “He may not mind dying,” I spoke up, “but I really don’t like the idea of having to kill all three of you, and do believe me when I say that I can do just that.”

One of the hunters—a man with a bald head and tattoos running down his neck and arms—glared at me. “No vampire has ever been able to break those ropes before.”

“I’m stronger than most vampires.” Cora made sure of that. After establishing The Shade, she put me into a four-hundred-year slumber and to make sure that I’d be able to fulfill the prophecy spoken about me. She added a spell that would make me stronger and stronger as I slumbered.

“What do you propose we do?” he asked.

“What do you mean what do we do?” my hostage admonished. “You kill him!”

The other two ignored him. They kept their eyes on me, waiting for a response.

I took a quick look at our surroundings, something I didn’t get a chance to immediately do after they attacked me. We were in some sort of woods. “Toss me the keys to the SUV. I want your wallets too. Where’s the highway?”

The tattooed hunter tossed the keys to me and pointed toward the direction of the highway. Within minutes, I was driving in the hunters’ black SUV, with the hunters’ wallets in the passenger seat beside me. I had no idea where I was or where I was going, but I still had a tank full of gas and a long road ahead of me.

I couldn’t help but recall the last time I drove a car—a red convertible. Sofia was in the passenger’s seat, screaming, because she was certain that I was about to drive her to her death. She declared that day my birthday, refusing to accept the idea that I no longer needed to celebrate the day I was born.

The reality of what I had just done fully sank into me. I left Sofia. I didn’t even say goodbye. I left in the middle of the night, taking in the peaceful sight of her asleep for as long as I could, before the hunters took me away. I began to feel it immediately, the familiar forces of the darkness beginning to break down my defenses.

Sofia was my light and I was driving away from her—far away. My hands gripped the steering wheel. I can’t let the darkness take over. Not again. I must find a way to survive apart from Sofia. I kept her in my mind, recalling every precious memory I had of her. If I lose sight of her and what I had with her, it will be the end of us all.