A Trail of Echoes

  Now that Caleb and I had made this plan, we didn’t want to delay. Caleb finished the boat quickly with the help of Ibrahim, while I took on the task of packing everything I could think of that we might need. Caleb wasn’t sure how long it might take us to get to New Zealand, and of course it depended on so many things—how long we decided to spend on each island we stopped at, how rough the weather was, whether we just got lost in each other’s eyes in the middle of the ocean for a few days…

  The night of our planned departure soon arrived. My parents came early that evening to the cabin, and helped us carry all our baggage to the boat.

  When I arrived at the end of the jetty, it was the first time that I had seen the boat completed. It was gorgeous. The covering over the wide deck Caleb had created to give shelter from the sun was made of a dark teak wood, and there was a long sofa in the center with a walnut coffee table, directly in front of the small control room. Beneath the deck were all the amenities we might need—a bedroom with a large window of tinted glass that gave a stunning view of the ocean, an en suite bathroom, a small living room and a storage room equipped with enough supplies to last a month in case of an emergency.

  Corrine, Ibrahim, my grandfather, Vivienne and Xavier were waiting for us on the deck. I hugged them each one by one.

  “The invisibility and protective spells we’ve placed over the boat will come into play as soon as you leave The Shade’s boundary,” Ibrahim said.

  “You two be careful,” Vivienne murmured, worry in her eyes.

  “We will,” Caleb said, making his way with a large suitcase toward the staircase leading down to the lower deck.

  My parents and I followed him, carrying all the luggage downstairs before returning to say one final goodbye. My mother pulled me close and kissed my cheek.

  “Enjoy yourself, sweetheart,” she said, squeezing me tight. “And please… try to stay out of trouble.”

  “We won’t be going anywhere where there’s trouble.” I chuckled, kissing her back.

  I drew away from my mother and wrapped my arms around my father. His hug lifted my feet off the ground.

  “Goodbye, darling,” he said. “Your mother and I will miss you.”

  “I’ll miss you too,” I said, pressing my warm cheek against his.

  Then my parents said goodbye to Caleb and stepped back onto the jetty with Vivienne, Xavier, Corrine, Ibrahim, my grandfather and a crowd of people who’d just gathered.

  Caleb and I were due to leave now, but we stepped off the boat to say goodbye to the rest of them. Micah was standing—in his wolf form—near the front with his girlfriend, Kira.

  “Have a good one,” he growled, butting Caleb in the side with his head.

  Then he nuzzled my leg.

  “Bye, Micah.” I ran my fingers through the fur on his neck and gave him a pat.

  Then we spent the next ten minutes saying goodbye to Claudia, Yuri, Anna, Kyle, Griffin, his parents, half a dozen of my girlfriends, and finally, just as we were about to head back toward the boat, I noticed that at the back of the crowd, Jeriad was standing with his girl of choice, Sylvia.

  Leaving Caleb, I walked toward the shifter. I was surprised to see him present. I’d hardly seen any of the dragons since my wedding. It was as if they were avoiding me.

  He looked at me steadily as I approached.

  “Hi, Jeriad,” I said, looking from him to Sylvia, whose arm was looped through his.

  “I wish you a safe journey,” he said, his voice deep and rumbling.

  “Thanks,” I replied, eyeing him closely. I was about to ask how he and his companions had been, but he didn’t give me a chance. Taking Sylvia by the waist, he walked off with her into the woods.

  I looked over at Caleb. He raised a brow. I shrugged and made my way back over to him.

  “Not sure what’s going on with those dragons,” I muttered, sliding my hand into his.

  We said our final goodbyes and then, clutching the bag of chocolate bunnies Griffin had given me for the journey, I boarded the boat with Caleb. He headed to the control room, while I remained at the stern of the boat, waving and blowing kisses as Caleb navigated the ship to the boundary. As the figures on the beach grew tiny, I joined my husband. I took a seat by his side and looked at him.

  His eyes were fixed forward in concentration. I followed his gaze, then spotted the hunters’ gray ships surrounding our island.

  “Do you think they’ll detect us?” I asked.

  “I don’t know,” Caleb replied. “But it doesn’t matter too much. As long as none of them follow us.”

  “Yeah… That wouldn’t make for such a relaxing trip.”

  Even though I knew we were safe within the witch’s spell, my palms still grew sweaty as Caleb navigated the boat beyond the boundary. He moved slowly at first, skirting close to the boundary as he kept watch on the ships, and then he began speeding us away along the choppy waves, toward the wide-open waters.

  Once we had traveled miles and the ships were nothing but dots in the distance, I was able to breathe more easily.

  After two hours, Caleb was confident enough to put the boat on autopilot. He stood up and looked down at me, a small smile curving his lips. Taking my hand, he led me out of the control room and onto the moonlit deck. I breathed in the fresh salt air and looked around at the endless expanse of water, relishing the cool wind against my skin. The star-strewn sky was breathtaking. We walked to the front of the boat and stood listening to the rolling waves.

  He stood behind me and his mouth found the back of my neck. He trailed kisses along my skin, which heated up beneath his touch. I bent my head backward so he could claim my lips. I felt his body tense against me. The next thing I knew, he was pulling me across the deck, down the staircase and into our bedroom. We took turns undressing each other, and then made love between the silk sheets.

  Each time Caleb had slept with me since our wedding had been magic, but there was something about being on a boat again that made that night even more exhilarating. Our first time had been on a boat. That beautiful boat he had constructed for my birthday…

  I’d been under the impression that the first time was always awkward, but it hadn’t felt like that with Caleb. He’d taken me as he’d said he would. He’d made me feel owned, possessed, cherished, and he’d left no room for doubt or uncertainty.

  Being so intimate with a vampire, I’d expected to feel more pain. But except for a dull ache between my thighs, I had barely felt discomfort. I wondered if my body was tougher than that of a regular human, or, perhaps more likely, the pleasure I found in Caleb’s arms was too overpowering to feel much else.

  Caleb often tensed up, and I could sense what a struggle it still was for him to reel in his craving for my blood. But he did. His fangs hadn’t yet broken my skin. There were times, in the heat of his passion, when he seemed to forget his strength, but I was so used to Caleb being gentle around me that, if I was honest with myself, I relished those moments of roughness and reveled in his abandon.

  Hours passed, and by the time Caleb and I reached our climax again, morning had arrived.

  I lay breathless against him, our legs still intertwined. He ran a broad hand down my back as his lips pressed against mine.

  “You’re on fire,” he whispered, pulling me flush against his cool body.

  “Now you know why I married you,” I breathed back. “I needed a portable A/C unit.”

  His chest vibrated as he chuckled.

  I imagined that had he been a human, I would be feeling far too hot to be so close to him right now. But Caleb being a vampire meant that there was rarely a time when I didn’t cherish his embrace.

  I blew out a sigh and nestled my head against his chest. Listening to the beating of his heart, I looked out of the tinted window at the sun’s first rays reflecting in the waves.

  The question that Claudia had asked me during her and Yuri’s welcome-home dinner played in my mind.

  “Are you going to turn into a vamp
ire, Rose?”

  It was a question that had been at the back of my mind ever since Caleb had proposed to me. Of course, I’d always expected that I would turn as soon as my parents allowed it—but being married to a vampire made the issue more pressing.

  There wasn’t a day that went by when I didn’t worry about Ben. None of us had any idea of when he would return. Or even if he would ever return. I couldn’t lie to myself and pretend that question hadn’t passed through my head, although I tried not to entertain the thought.

  In the meantime, it was frustrating not knowing what was to become of my future. I didn’t want to risk turning and becoming the same crazed bloodsucker my brother had woken up as. I couldn’t become a risk to our people like he was.

  And yet I felt that I had no choice but to turn into a vampire. My whole family were vampires now—except my father, although he would turn back into one soon. And most of my closest friends were supernaturals. Even if Caleb was willing to turn into a human for me, which I knew he was, I just couldn’t imagine living my life as a mortal and leaving everyone behind.

  No. I had to turn into a vampire. And we had to find a way to solve my brother’s problem, not run away from it.

  I chewed on my lower lip.

  “What’s wrong?” Caleb asked, frowning as he looked down at me.

  “What if I don’t turn out like my brother?” I said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “What if Ben turned out the way he did not because of our blood? What if it’s something unique to him?”

  “You’re twins. What makes you think that could be the case?”

  “I’m not sure. I’m just thinking that all this time we’ve been assuming there is a danger of me turning out like him. But what if we’re assuming wrong?”

  Caleb remained staring at me, waiting for me to continue. Detaching myself from him, I rolled onto my back and gazed up at the ceiling. “When Ben and I were newborns, we got separated. He was taken to Aviary… by none other than Kiev. I just wonder if the Hawks could’ve done something to him that even Kiev wasn’t aware of. Or if the atmosphere affected him somehow. I already mentioned the idea to my parents, but of course, there is no way that we would know for certain… unless you tried turning me.”

  Caleb sat upright. I could see from the expression on his face that he didn’t like where I was going with this. But I continued all the same. “If you tried turning me, one of two things would happen. I could turn out exactly like my brother, or I could turn into a normal vampire. If it was the former, we’d know for sure that there’s something strange about our blood that causes this reaction, and we could eliminate the Aviary theory. But if I turned out all right… we’d be a step closer to understanding what’s wrong with my brother, however small a step that might be.”

  “Why don’t we save this talk of turning for when we return from our honeymoon? We’ll have plenty of time to discuss this then with your parents and family.”

  I bit my lip. “The thing is… if we’re going to try this, it would make sense to do it while we are away from The Shade, away from our humans, floating on a boat where you can control me…”

  Caleb shot to his feet, wrapping a sheet around his waist. He stared down at me incredulously. “Is this supposed to be a joke?”

  I shook my head.

  He breathed out sharply. “What if you turned out exactly like him? Then what?”

  “Then we’d have the opportunity to experiment on me, and figure out how to make me normal.”

  He looked at me in disbelief. “Rose, this is supposed to be a honeymoon. Honeymoon. Do you know what that word means? I’ll tell you what it doesn’t mean. A crazy, dangerous experiment in which neither of us understand what the hell we are doing and which could end up with you turning into a rampaging bloodsucker for all eternity.”

  Despite the seriousness of the subject, I couldn’t help but find amusement in Caleb’s exasperation.

  “If things got really, really bad,” I said, “we could return to The Shade and I could just take the cure.”

  Caleb scoffed. “‘Just take the cure.’ You speak of it like it’s popping a pill. You have no idea how painful it is.”

  “I do have an idea. My parents told me how much it hurts.” I got up from the bed and walked over to him. Reaching for his hands, I held them gently and stopped him pacing.

  He looked down at me, concern filling his eyes. “But just like turning into a vampire,” he said, “it doesn’t matter how much people have told you about the experience. There’s no way to prepare for the agony.”

  “Maybe, Caleb,” I replied softly. “But please understand… I need to try this, for my brother’s sake and mine.” I reached up to kiss his jawline. “And for our peace of mind.”

  He wet his lower lip. “And what about our children?” he asked, his brown eyes boring into mine. “Say for the sake of argument the turning did go fine, then what? If we want children, I would have to become a human in a few years anyway. What’s the point in your becoming a vampire now when you would have to turn back soon? You’d be putting yourself through an unnecessary amount of pain—and risk.”

  “Because I don’t want to wait that long. I’m fed up with living in uncertainty about our future and about my brother. I just want to at least do what’s within our power to try to understand the situation.”

  Caleb turned his back on me and faced the window, leaning an arm against the frame. I remained in my spot a few feet away from him and didn’t say a word. I needed to let him think.

  When he finally turned back around to face me, I was relieved to see a look of resolve in his eyes.

  “I understand what this means to you, Rose. I understand how hard it must be for you to have your twin go through what he has and to be living in such uncertainty. But it comes down to this: I’m not willing to inflict unbearable torture on my new bride during her honeymoon.” He paused, a spark of sarcasm in his eyes. “Call me old-fashioned…”

  “Then do it right at the end,” I shot back, “just before we return.”

  He narrowed his eyes on me.

  “That way,” I continued, “we can enjoy a long, peaceful honeymoon with no hurry to return. You can turn me when we come back, just a few miles from The Shade. So if things get really bad, you can take me back there quickly.”

  He still looked wary, but apparently he was struggling to find an argument against this compromise.

  I walked up to him again, wrapping my arms around his waist and pressing my bare form against him. I kissed his chest, letting my tongue graze his skin. “Please, baby,” I whispered.

  He looked down at me, until finally he muttered:

  “Your father is going to skewer me.”

  Chapter 9: Derek

  I stood in the Armory with Xavier and Ibrahim, eyeing the walls covered with weapons. Some had been newly developed by the witches, while others were as old as The Shade itself. I still remembered some of the stakes from the Battle of First Blood. They had aged well.

  While each of us moved about and picked up a weapon every now and then, my thoughts drifted to my twins.

  Although I hated the idea of both of them being away from The Shade at the same time once again, of course I couldn’t deny Rose her honeymoon. She and Caleb more than deserved it. They had been through so much recently…

  “Do we have enough?” Xavier asked, bringing me back to reality.

  I eyed the weapons in each of our hands. “Yes,” I said. “We’re done here.”

  I left the Armory with the two men and stepped onto the training grounds outside.

  Although we had witches protecting us from the hunters, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy about the fact that they were still watching us. If I knew exactly what their intentions were, it wouldn’t be so bad, but not knowing… It was eating away at my nerves. It went against my every instinct as a ruler to just shut my eyes to them, even though our barrier was impenetrable to them.

  So I had
to change that. And there was only one way. Sofia was nervous about what I had planned, but she understood why I needed to do it and didn’t bother attempting to persuade me otherwise.

  We assembled all the weapons on the ground that were suitable for use against hunters, and I picked three of the most deadly ones—guns—and holstered them in my belt.

  Then I turned to Ibrahim. “Let’s go.”

  Xavier slapped me on the back. “Good luck.”

  I nodded, and then touched the warlock’s arm. Xavier and the rest of our surroundings vanished from sight and we reappeared at the end of the Port’s jetty.

  Ibrahim and I looked out toward the huge ships, still stationed in the exact same positions as they had been for days now.

  “Which ship do you want to try first?” Ibrahim asked.

  I didn’t care much. I imagined that all of them would be similarly equipped. I pointed to the one furthest to our right.

  “All right,” Ibrahim said, and then clutched my shoulder. A second later, we had left the boundary of The Shade and emerged on the dark deck of the hunters’ ship.

  As I looked around the empty deck, the vessel appeared to be much larger than I had thought. Rows of chairs were positioned at the bow, directly facing The Shade, and they were surrounded by various telescopes and other spying equipment. This was where they sat and watched us.

  Now, however, the deck appeared empty.

  “Derek,” Ibrahim muttered.

  I could not see him because he had placed an invisibility spell over the two of us, but I felt him touch my arm, and the next thing I knew, he was tying a thin rope around my wrist. We had to stay connected. He was my ticket back to the island, and I couldn’t afford to lose him.

  Xavier had wanted to accompany Ibrahim and me, but of course, coming here with a bloodsucker was the most stupid thing we could do.

  We remained in one spot for the next minute, continuing to look around, and then we moved toward the edge of the deck. Placing my hands over the railing, I looked downward. There were two rows of windows beneath us, one above the other.