A Shade of Vampire 14: A Dawn of Strength (6 page)

O
nce the conversation
with Rhys had finished, I didn’t have long to decide on my next move. They were gathering vampires and witches to join them, that much I knew. But how exactly were they going to travel to The Shade? Would they just vanish themselves there or would they pile into vessels and travel? The latter made more sense to me. After all, the vampires would need some place to stand while the witches worked on penetrating Mona’s spell.

But I couldn’t be sure. And I only had one shot at making it out of here with them. I couldn’t mess this up. So I bet on the latter, and began to race back down the mountain toward the island’s harbor with as much speed and stealth as I could manage.

On reaching the jetty, I noticed several submarines that hadn’t been here when I’d left for the castle. I looked from the submarines to the boat I had travelled here on. A boat was clearly easier to escape from. If I got detected hiding in one of the submarines, I’d be trapped inside the metal container, whereas at least boats were above water and I could smash my way out without too much difficulty. But would they choose to take a boat over a submarine?

I had no idea. As my body began to transform back into my humanoid form, the trees rustled behind me. I was running out of time. I didn’t have time to wait and see which vessels they chose, or I would end up being left behind. So I leapt into the nearest vessel to me—the yacht. I hurried down beneath the deck, hoping the witches had brought it back here because they intended to use it. I entered the bathroom and, closing the door behind me, slipped into the narrow closet beneath the bathtub where I’d hidden before.

Now all I could do was wait.

I breathed out a sigh of relief when footsteps sounded on the deck above. The yacht sank slightly as more and more people boarded the yacht. My breath caught in my throat as I heard people descending the stairs. I barely dared breathe as they passed outside the bathroom door.

I was beginning to relax a little as the footsteps disappeared down the corridor when the doorknob rattled. I clasped my hands over my mouth and nose and remained deathly still, trying to avoid making even the slightest noise.

The door creaked open and steps sounded on the floorboards a few feet away from me. There was a sharp burst of water as the tap turned on and off. Then cupboards began to open and close.

“Roman,” a male voice called. There were more footsteps as another person entered the room. “Do you smell that?” he asked.

The two men sniffed the air. “I smell… wolf.”

Oh, no.

I guessed that these must be vampires to sense me locked up in a cupboard… or perhaps they were sensing me when I’d stayed down here before, even in my wolf form. To my horror, the door of my closet banged as someone kicked against it. I gripped the handle and pulled it toward me, even though I had locked it. It was a flimsy lock by any standards, and wouldn’t last five seconds with any real pressure from a vampire.

I grabbed the handle and pulled it toward me. He tugged again, harder. My grip loosened. One more tug from him, and it would pop right open.

“What are you doing down here?” a shrill female voice called. It sounded like Julisse. “Everyone is supposed to be above deck.”

The vampire trying to break into my cupboard loosened his grip and stepped back.

“Why do we smell wolf, Julisse?”

“Because there was a wolf traveling on this boat with the Novak girl before we hijacked it,” she said impatiently.

I thanked my stars as they all left the bathroom and closed the door behind them. A few minutes later, I found myself once again being slammed about in the cabinet as the yacht began traveling at supernatural speed.

We just need to get beyond the boundary, and then I can get away from these people.

There was no window in this bathroom that I could smash, but there were windows in the bedrooms a few doors along. I just needed to dart in there undetected, smash through, and escape. Somehow, I was confident that I’d manage it. I just had to hope that nobody else would come down here in the meantime. And that, once I did escape, I’d be able to reach The Shade in time to at least warn the people there what was happening… not that I was sure there was much we could do about it even if I did manage to reach the island in time.

C
aleb
and I quickly reached the Vale’s town square. Jumping off his back, I gripped the ladder leading up to the bell tower that stood in the middle of the ornamental fountains and started to climb. I arrived at the top and grabbed the rope attached to the huge metal bell. I tugged on it as hard as I could. My eardrums stung as the bell’s ringing pierced the air. I kept ringing until the square was packed with humans who’d hurried out of their homes.

I lowered myself a little, stepping down from the bell, but remained high enough on the ladder so I could take in the whole crowd. There were many more humans who weren’t here yet, of course. But with the help of everyone here, we’d be able to quickly gather everyone together if they listened.

“I’m sorry for the disturbance,” I shouted down as loud as I could, my voice echoing around the square as the humans’ anxious eyes fixed on me. “But The Shade is in grave danger. My father is expecting an attack by the black witches any time now. By now, you should all be aware of the power and ruthlessness of these witches. We still don’t know what they want with us, but if they manage to break through Mona’s spell, it’s safe to assume that nobody will be safe. With this in mind, each and every one of you must decide if you still wish to remain in The Shade.” I paused, resting my voice for a few seconds, my throat dry from shouting. “Here’s what needs to happen. First and foremost, I need you to help me gather every single human on this island and bring them to the clearing outside the main entrance to the Black Heights. Once you do this, we’ll give you time to decide whether you want to leave, or stay with us and weather the storm. But until then, I need your help.”

People began to shout questions up at me, but now wasn’t the time for answers. Not yet.

“Guys, please,” I bellowed, my voice straining from the pressure. “First do as I’ve requested. Direct everyone to the clearing—bring with you only your most valuable possessions. I’ll expect everyone there no later than an hour from now. Please, don’t be late.”

I was relieved when they obeyed. The crowd dispersed quickly, and I climbed back down toward Caleb. I leapt onto his back again and wrapped my arms around his neck.

“We need to help in herding them all,” I said, breathing heavily.

Caleb and I spent the next hour speeding around the island, doing our best to make sure no human was left behind. As the hour was drawing to a close, we headed toward the clearing. I was relieved to see it teeming with humans. There were so many here, not all of them even fit in the large clearing. Many found themselves being pushed into the shade of the forest. I took in a deep breath as Caleb and I made our way through the crowd toward the entrance of the Black Heights. Caleb climbed up the side of the mountain, high enough so that we were clearly visible to everyone who’d gathered here.

The sheer mass of people here was daunting to my already hoarse throat. I wasn’t used to this. I needed a loudspeaker or something…

Caleb seemed to sense my hesitation. “What is it you want to say to them exactly?” he asked.

“I need to explain again about the black witches, for those who didn’t hear it. And then tell them that they have twenty minutes to make a decision whether or not to leave The Shade. Those who wish to leave should remain here in the clearing, while those who wish to stay should walk through the entrance into the Black Heights.”

Caleb nodded, and then his deep voice began booming across the clearing, explaining what I’d just told him. I was shocked at how loud his voice was.

After he’d finished, predictably, the crowd broke out in questions again.

“We don’t have time to answer everyone’s questions one by one,” I said, my stomach clenching at all the fearful faces. “We’re going to have to just answer some general ones, and hope that satisfies most people. Firstly, explain how they will leave The Shade.” I had to pause for a moment to think of this answer myself. I didn’t know how my father was planning to handle this, so I told Caleb what I thought was most logical. “We have witches who can help with that. We’ll send those who want to leave out with a group of witches. Their memories will be erased. They will have no recollection of their time spent in The Shade, but they’ll be left with enough money to last them until they’re reintegrated into society.”

Caleb nodded and, once again, acted as my mouthpiece.

The crowd murmured amongst themselves at his words.

“Next,” I continued, “tell them we don’t know how long they will need to remain within the mountains, because we don’t know exactly when the witches will come. For all we know, it could be days, or it could be weeks. But Vivienne suspects it will be sooner rather than later. So at least for now, we have to play things safe. Food and water will be provided in ample quantity, so they need not worry about this.”

Once Caleb had finished explaining, I said, “Finally, tell them if anyone wishes to take this as an opportunity to turn into a vampire, they can. Those who wish to do this should head immediately to the Vale, and we’ll arrange for a mass turning.”

Hopefully, my parents would be all right with this. I just felt like we ought to offer them this option, given the danger we were now up against.

The crowd seemed satisfied with the answers we’d provided for now, and the next twenty minutes everyone spent discussing among themselves. I felt bad forcing them to make such life-changing decisions within minutes, but none of us knew how much time we had, and we couldn’t afford to have our humans caught out in the open if there was a sudden attack as Vivienne was fearing.

As twenty minutes came to a close, people began hurrying into the entrance. I caught sight of Anna passing by us, holding baby Kiev in her arms, while Kyle walked by her side. Ariana and Jason, although vampires, followed behind them.

“Kyle,” I said, “Would you manage the doors? You know where the keys are stored?”

“Of course, Princess,” he replied.

“You’re human too, Rose,” Anna said, looking up at me with concern. “You should also get yourself inside.”

I shook my head. “Not yet, Anna.”

She threw me a pleading gaze before entering the mountain with her family. Humans continued to pile into the entrance for the next half an hour, and by the time the crowd had completely dispersed—although I’d caught sight of a handful heading toward the Vale—I was shocked to see not a single human had remained in the clearing. Not even Yasmine’s family.

I stared at Caleb, who looked just as surprised as I felt.

I looked out at the clearing again, barely believing my eyes.

How could they all remain so loyal to this island, even in the face of such danger?

It was at that moment that I realized just how much The Shade meant, not only to vampires, but to every single one of us.

The Shade was our home.

A place we would fight for.

A place we would die for.

T
he boat stopped moving
. My back dropped down against the floor of the closet. After a minute, footsteps began to sound above deck. I hardly dared to breathe as I tried to make out the whispered conversations that had started going on upstairs. So many people were talking at once, it was hard to make out the individual dialogue. However, as the conversation died down, there was one thing I heard loud and clear.

“We all know our roles. Let’s go.”

A crash echoed down from above and the boat began to rock.

What are they doing?

I expected for a moment that the boat was going to start spinning again, but as shouts began to erupt on deck, I realized that something very different had just happened. Something, it seemed, not quite planned by the black witches.

A deafening creak rang through the frame of the vessel as it jerked downward. I pushed open the closet and climbed out. To my shock, a pool of water had already formed across the bathroom floor. Water was spilling through the cracks around the door. I hurried toward it and gripped the handle, pressing my ear against the wood. The shouts and crashes were now more muffled. That meant only one thing: the boat was sinking.

I now had no choice but to open the door and fight to escape the yacht. Either that, or wait and get dragged down to the sea bed. For the first time in a long time, the black witches weren’t the greatest of my worries.

I pulled open the door, only to be sent flying back against the far wall of the bathroom as a wall of water crashed down over me. Struggling against the force of it pulling me downward, I fought to the surface to gasp for air. This room contained no windows I could smash to break free, and it was filling up rapidly. If I didn’t make it out of the door in time, before the water reached the ceiling, I’d be trapped without oxygen.

Kicking with as much strength as my legs could muster, I struggled to reach the exit once again. Gripping hold of the doorframe, I pulled myself out and began swimming down the corridor—now also completely submerged in water.

I needed to get to a window, fast.

I had no choice but to open my eyes. The sea salt stung like needles pricking my eyeballs. Fighting to keep my lids open, I swam into the closest bedroom to me. I glimpsed a shaft of natural light spilling through the window in the far corner, though as the boat sank further beneath the waves, it was getting dimmer and dimmer by the moment.

Battling with heavy furniture blocking my way, I managed to reach the window. Balling up my fists, I smashed them against the window. The glass was tougher than I’d expected. It took several attempts before it finally cracked. My knuckles stung as the glass ripped through my skin. I closed my eyes and ducked down toward the floor of the cabin as the shards swept toward me. Pushing myself back up, I gripped hold of the window frame. I feared for a moment that it was too narrow for me. But, although it meant enduring more cuts from the jagged frame of the window as I narrowly squeezed through it, I finally managed to escape into the ocean.

Swimming to the surface, I gasped for air. I wiped my eyes and looked around.

All around me was utter chaos. Balls of red fire blurred my vision as they shot through the air from all directions. Black witches hovered over the waves while vampires splashed within them. I strained to see whom they were battling, but as I looked further toward the direction their curses were flying, I caught sight of a line of witches, stretching out as far as I could see, their bodies forming a barrier as they shot curses back toward the black witches and vampires.

Their colored clothing was distinct from the black witches, who wore only black garb. I could only assume that these were white witches. And if The Shade was beyond the barrier they’d formed, as I suspected…

A ball of fire shot toward me. I ducked beneath the water, narrowly missing it as it skimmed the waves above me.

The white witches are protecting The Shade.

I had to get away from this patch of sea as fast as I could—away from the black witches and their vampires, before somebody noticed me.

But where do I swim? Do I risk drawing closer to the white witches?

How am I ever going to reach the island now?