A Shade of Vampire 14: A Dawn of Strength (18 page)

I
’d already suggested
that Kailyn move in with me once the new residences were built among the treetops, but for the time being, we retreated to an empty mountain cabin. I didn’t want to assume she’d be ready to share a bed with me so early in our relationship, so I’d made sure to choose one with two bedrooms.

Neither of us had any possessions to bring with us, since both of our homes had been destroyed in the blaze. Unlocking the front door, I pushed it open and we walked inside. I walked her along the hallway, pointing out the kitchen and bathroom before reaching the back of the building where the two bedrooms were situated. I opened each of their doors for her to look inside.

“Your choice,” I said, with a smile.

She twisted a lock of her curly blonde hair between her fingers, a mischievous glint in her eye. “I’ll take whatever’s your choice.”

Okay, then.

I knew Kailyn wasn’t exactly one to be shy, but I couldn’t deny that her answer surprised me. We’d only just shared our first kiss a short while ago. Sharing a bed so soon… I didn’t feel at ease with it. But perhaps this was just the way of werewolves. They moved fast.

I chose the room with the best view of the ocean and sat down on the edge of the bed. She took a seat next to me, sliding her hand into mine and resting her head on my shoulder.

“I hope I don’t make you feel uncomfortable, Aiden,” she said quietly.

I brushed my fingers against her cheek and planted a kiss on her forehead. “I’m not going to lie,” I said, smiling as I took in her pretty face. “I wouldn’t have suggested sleeping together so soon…”

“We don’t have to—”

I pressed a finger to her lips. “But, Kailyn, your frankness is something that I love about you. You don’t play games or beat around the bush. I don’t have to try to read your mind. You tell me what you want, and you’re not afraid of doing so. It’s a quality that’s rarer than you might think… Honestly, it’s a breath of fresh air.”

She bit her lip, staring out at the distant horizon though the window. I wrapped an arm around her, holding her closer against me.

“While I would prefer we waited at least a while longer before making love,” I continued, “I don’t want this to stop you being as open with me as you have been till now. You don’t need to worry about making me feel uncomfortable, because I’ll tell you if I feel uncomfortable.” I kissed her cheek. “Can you promise me you won’t stop?”

She smiled, dimples forming in her rosy cheeks. “Okay, vampire. I promise.” She stood up and leaned against the wall, looking down at me. “It’s just been a long time since I’ve been with someone. And I really, really like you, Aiden.”

I felt the blood rise in my own pale cheeks. “You know that I adore you, too.” I stood next to her, pressing her back against the wall as I dipped down to kiss her lips. “I’d just like more time to romance you.”

“I can live with that,” she said, draping her arms around my neck and kissing me harder.

A knock at the front door interrupted our passion. I walked to the door, opening it to see Kailyn’s younger sister, Kira, standing there with a huge smile on her face.

“I heard you two were headed here,” she said. “Is Kailyn around?”

Kailyn appeared by my side. “What’s up, sis?”

“Micah. He just—” Kira looked close to tears as she clasped her hands over her mouth. “He just told me he loved me.” She leapt into Kailyn’s arms, burying her head against her neck.

Kailyn squealed. “I told you so! I could see it in that boy’s eyes.” Kailyn turned to me. “You’re going to have to excuse me for half an hour while I go see the lad and squeeze out all the juicy details,” she said.

“Go right ahead,” I chuckled, watching them jump the steps and clamber down the mountainside.

I sighed, closing the door behind me and heading to the bathroom. I switched on the shower and began undressing. I was about to step inside when there was another knock at the front door. I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my waist before hurrying to the entrance again. I wasn’t expecting Kailyn to be back so soon, but I certainly wasn’t expecting to find Adelle Ardene standing on my doorstep. As I looked her over—her long red hair twined in a braid over one shoulder—I realized how close we were to her old home.

“Adelle,” I said, raising a brow as I tightened the towel around my waist and leaned against the doorpost. “What brings you here?”

“Well, I… I didn’t get a chance to speak to you properly in the caves. I-I just wanted to say how happy I am you’re all right.” Her demeanor was awkward and rigid like it had been when she’d walked in on Kailyn and I sharing a kiss on the mountaintop.

“Well, yeah. Thanks.”

“I’m sorry if I disturbed you,” she said, her eyes falling to my bare torso.

“I was just about to get in the shower.”

“Okay,” she said breathlessly. She took a step away, and I was shocked as she almost tripped backward down the stairs. I whizzed forward and gripped her arm just in time to stop her.

I looked her closely in the eyes. “Are you all right, Adelle?”

“I’m fine,” she said, even as tears brimmed behind her eyelids. “I… I should get going.”

“Okay. Just take care of yourself, all right?”

She gulped, nodding. I waited until she’d safely descended the stairs before backing into the cabin again. I was about to lock the door when something slammed against it. I opened it, my mouth hanging open to see Adelle outside the doorstep again. This time, instead of timidly waiting outside, she pushed open the door and slipped in before shutting it behind her. Tears were now streaming freely down her cheeks.

“Are you alone?” she whispered.

“Yes. Why? What’s wrong?” I urged. “Talk to me.”

Her lips trembled as she said, “It’s just w-when we thought you all were dead… Oh, God, this sounds so terrible… It wasn’t Eli at the forefront of my mind.” Her voice broke. “It was you, Aiden. All the times we’d spent together flashed before my eyes. Our classroom chats, our walks by the lake, our chamomile tea breaks—” She buried her head in her hands. “It’s so wrong and I feel so awful about it.”

I stared at her, stunned speechless.

“I don’t even know why I’m telling you this. I just… had to let it out, I guess.” She roughly wiped away her tears with the back of her hand even as more flowed from her eyes. “Please don’t tell Eli I came here,” she croaked. “I don’t want to hurt him.”

Before I could gather myself to say anything, she’d vanished from the spot.

Leaning back against the closed door, I slid down to the floor, staring blankly at the opposite wall.

Adelle Ardene. She was my type if I’d ever had one. Everything about that woman—from her luscious red hair and slender long-legged figure, to her charm and intelligence—had had me yearning for her for years.

Now here she was standing before me, practically professing her love for me… too late.

Damn.

Why can life never just be simple?

A
fter Sofia
and I had finished meeting with the dragons, we parted ways. She headed off to check on the humans and then begin preparations for the memorial ceremony we were to hold for those brave warriors we’d lost, while I took some time out to be alone. I headed to the beach near the Port, which had borne the brunt of the flames. Walking close to the waves through the piles of ash, I cast my gaze out toward the horizon. Dawn had now broken beyond the island’s boundary—the sun a brilliant ball of fire rising in the sky.

As I watched it, the promise I’d made Sofia replayed in my mind. She was right that survival had been our only way of living for the longest time. Ever since leading the first vampires to The Shade all those centuries ago, all I’d done was worry about securing ourselves against outside forces.

But after the victory against the black witches, and with the pending arrival of at least a hundred dragons, it couldn’t be denied that tides had turned.

Yes, there were still many uncertainties hanging over us.

What would the black witches’ next move be? Would they remain a direct threat to us, or would they move on to new shores?

How had our daughter suddenly developed her powers? And why would they come now, after all these years of lying dormant?

What was becoming of our son? His sheer strength combined with his lust for blood and lack of control reminded me all too much of the shadow of a man I’d been before I met Sofia.

What would become of the human world as we knew it, now that a supernatural’s existence had been broadcast on mainstream media for the first time in history? It was still too early to predict what the repercussions would be, but I feared that Ben’s breaking this ancient code of secrecy was the beginning of an avalanche of unforeseen consequences.

All these doubts and more crowded my mind.

But as I stood on that beach watching the sun’s ascent, a sense of calm formed within me, rising above the chaos.

Whatever we were up against now, this was a new dawn breaking over The Shade.

No longer one of weakness, or clinging to survival.

No.

This was a dawn of strength.

I
hated myself for it
. But I did it. I saved Mona from that burning tree.

After all she’d done to betray me and my people, I should have just left her to the flames. Yet as the fire closed in on the forest, something within me just… couldn’t let her go.

But that was the last piece of mercy she would experience from me if we ever crossed paths again. Julisse had waited toward the end of the battle to inform me of our younger sister’s demise. She hadn’t wanted the grief to distract me from our mission. But as we arrived back on our frozen island—most of us injured and all of us fatigued from the battle—she showed me Arielle’s corpse that she’d managed to salvage.

I gazed over her body as it lay on the floor of the entrance to the castle. Crouching down, I brushed my palm against Arielle’s bloodied forehead, planting kisses over her closed eyelids.

Careful to contain my emotions, I stood up and walked over to the window. I placed my palms flat against the glass panes and gazed out at the snowy peaks surrounding us.

We had come so close to taking hold of The Shade. As we’d neared those mountains, I’d already been mentally preparing for the first ritual we would perform that night. To have it all taken away so quickly had been a shock to all of us.

Yet I didn’t even allow the thought to enter my head that we’d failed. I couldn’t. Lilith was hanging on to life by a thread. Allowing her to slip away before the blood rites were complete would be worse than committing suicide—we’d not only be condemning ourselves to a life of fruitless effort, but our kind’s future generations would continue to degenerate under The Sanctuary’s complacent and inept leadership. I could already imagine a time not far away from now when witches would become slaves to more powerful races. Our magic—a sacred gift to be revered, and the only thing that gave us our identity—would dilute to such a state that it would be merely used for mundane chores, or perhaps for entertainment.

Feeling the heat rise in my body, I turned to face Julisse, who was still gazing down upon Arielle’s face.

“We might be suffering now,” I said, stepping round the corpse and gripping Julisse’s arm. “But never forget. The sacrifices we make now will benefit generations to come. Arielle, Celice, and all those we’ve lost will be honored as martyrs in time.”

“I know they will be, brother,” she replied, her voice hoarse.

“There will be time for mourning our sister later. Now, we need to change course. Any witch with palms intact has exactly one hour to rest. After that, we all head to the nearest, most densely populated human shore.”

Julisse’s eyes widened. “What are you thinking?” she whispered.

“What we now lack in the variation of blood found in The Shade, we must make up for in quantity of human blood. And quickly.”

“But the number of humans we’d be talking about… there’s no way we could gather any number close to that in a short period of time without being detected.”

I breathed out impatiently. “Did Isolde not tell you about the Novak boy?”

“The Novak boy?”

“He’s already broken the code. It’s only a matter of time now before others follow suit… We might as well be the first to get in line.”

R
eady for the
PENULTIMATE book in Rose and Caleb's story? 

A Shade of Vampire 15: A Fall of Secrets 
is the penultimate book in Rose and Caleb's series as we move toward the thrilling finale in book 16!

A Fall of Secrets
is available now from Amazon!:

Click here to grab your copy
.

Here’s a preview of the cover (you may need to turn to the next page for it to be visible):

I can’t wait to see you back in The Shade!

Love,

Bella x

P.S. Join my VIP email list and I’ll send you a personal reminder as soon as I have a new book out! Click here to sign up:
www.forrestbooks.com

P.P.S. Follow The Shade on Instagram and check out some of the beautiful graphics:
@ashadeofvampire