“H-how are you here?” Caleb asked, cutting her off.
“Isolde told me she suspected you were heading back to The Shade. I packed some supplies and slipped away from the island in one of the subs. I was hoping to chase you down and catch you before you reached The Shade’s port. I-I’ve been waiting days for you to show up.”
A lioness awaiting her prey.
Unable to contain herself any longer, she threw herself at him. My heart skipped a beat as she ran her hands through his hair, and reached up to press her lips against his in a slow, lingering kiss. With Caleb’s back turned to me, I couldn’t see the expression on his face. Whether he was resistant, or welcomed her advance.
I looked away, my chest burning. I didn’t know how much more despair I could handle in such a short space of time. I’d just been told that I’d lost my family. And now, as Annora moaned in Caleb’s arms, I feared that I might have just lost him too.
Chapter 32: Mona
Once Sofia had left the cabin, I lost no time in hurrying out of there myself. I didn’t want to spend any more time alone with those two witches.
When I’d sensed someone calling to me and hurried to the island’s boundary, I never could have imagined that I would find myself standing face to face with the Ageless’ sister. I recognized Brisalia from all those years ago, before I’d been banished from The Sanctuary. How could I have forgotten her? She’d been my mother’s best friend, and my own godmother. After my family died and I’d been blamed, Brisalia had been the only one in all of The Sanctuary to speak out against her sister’s decision to banish me. She’d been ignored, but to this day I couldn’t forget the gratitude I’d felt to her for being the only soft face among a sea of frowns.
I’d expected that it would be just as much a shock for Brisalia on seeing me as it was for me on seeing her. I’d thought that she must have intended to come for Corrine. Or Ibrahim. But she’d looked as if she’d been expecting me. Guilt had burned within me as she’d smiled and reached out to touch my shoulder.
“Mona,” she said, her voice gentle as silk. “It’s been a long time…”
I was speechless, my body rigid beneath her touch. I wished that she wouldn’t look at me that way. With fondness. With empathy.
She didn’t know the monster that I was. She didn’t know what I’d done.
“Do you remember Csilla?” She pointed to her daughter.
Of course I did. Csilla was younger than me, but I remembered we used to collect gems down by the river near my parents’ house.
I nodded.
“We heard rumors that you left Rhys and his people. I see now that it’s true.”
“Yes,” I managed.
I supposed I should have been grateful that Brisalia didn’t seem to know what I’d done. But somehow, her ignorance made me feel even worse.
“B-Brisalia, why are you here?”
She looked at me steadily. “I want to talk to the king and queen of The Shade. I come here on behalf of our people in The Sanctuary, in a mood of cooperation.”
My heart sank. Part of me just wanted to vanish and ignore her. Hope she’d go away and the Novaks would never find out she’d come. But an overwhelming sense of guilt was already ripping at my heart. I wasn’t sure that my nerves could handle walking away after she’d gone to the trouble of coming all the way here.
So I agreed to take them both in. I took them to a spare cabin, and locked them in with a spell I knew even the two of them combined wouldn’t be able to break. I told them to wait while I fetched The Shade’s rulers. I wished that Sofia had just told them outright that we weren’t interested. But I could hardly blame her for reconsidering her stance when Brisalia had mentioned Rose.
Now, we had to wait for the king and queen to come to a decision.
As I returned to Kiev’s and my home later that evening, my mind was whirring. I staggered into the living room and sank down on the couch, burying my head in my hands.
“Mona?” Kiev walked into the room and sat down next to me, clutching the back of my neck and forcing me to look at him. “What’s wrong?”
“I killed her,” I breathed, tears spilling down my cheeks. “I killed Odelia. The Ageless.”
Even after all this time, I’d never told anybody. I supposed I’d thought, if I never spoke about it to anyone, it would almost seem less real. More like a nightmare, a bad dream. But seeing Odelia’s sister standing before me, in her likeness, memories of that horrifying night flooded back. The night I’d swept through the streets of The Sanctuary like a shadow and slit their leader’s throat in her sleep.
Even Kiev seemed speechless as he picked me up and carried me upstairs to our bed. I was glad that he didn’t say anything. That he didn’t try to comfort me as I wept in his arms. Because I didn’t deserve to be comforted. I deserved to feel this pain.
I smiled bitterly as I realized that only a short while ago, I would have done anything to be accepted back into the fold of my people. To be welcomed back home, no longer seen as a traitor. Now, even if they invited me back, I’d have to bear this guilt on my shoulders each and every day that I lived there. I supposed they might even forgive me if I’d explained the circumstances in which I’d found myself. They might still allow me to live with them in exchange for lending my powers to them as a Channeler…
I stopped myself short.
What am I thinking?
How can I even imagine returning home?
I was getting carried away with the fantasy I’d had for so long.
But it was out of the question.
The safety of this whole island depended on me. I couldn’t abandon the people here. And I couldn’t do that to Kiev, not after all he’d been through to get here. I knew what his place on this island with his family meant to him, how hard he’d fought for redemption. I couldn’t bring it all crashing down.
I had to stay strong not just for Kiev, but for everyone here. Because as much as my heart ached to visit home, even if only briefly, I’d come to love The Shade’s people far too much to risk breaking them.
Chapter 33: Csilla
“Love. It’s a flickering flame. So easily swayed by doubt…”
As I stood by the window of the cabin, taking in the magnificent view, I recalled the words my mother had spoken to me when we’d first arrived outside the island’s boundary.
We didn’t know how long it would take for Derek and Sofia Novak to come to a decision. But the longer we spent in The Shade, the better.
Our pitch to the queen had been that we sought an alliance between their people and ours. But really, we were only here for one purpose and one purpose only. To reclaim Mona as our own.
I guessed that Sofia and Derek might even suspect this. But it didn’t matter, as long as we were able to drag out our stay long enough to complete our assignment. It helped that their son had just turned, and they had lost their daughter. We couldn’t have arrived at a better time. They were distracted and desperate.
Now that Mona had left Rhys, we needed her. The power of the black witches only grew day by day, and without a Channeler on our side, we had little hope of defending our freedom. We needed one of their own to help us navigate their dark minds.
Of course, Mona couldn’t be forced to come with us. She was far too powerful for that. That was why my mother and I had been chosen for this task. We were the two witches in The Sanctuary whom Mona held the greatest weakness for.
And we were off to a good start, it seemed. My mother was pleased by our initial encounter with Mona. She’d already sensed a weakness in her. A leaning toward what we were planning to propose to her, once we’d set all our pieces in place.
“Doubt. Such an easy seed to sow. So troublesome to dig out…”
* * *
Ready for the next part of Derek, Sofia and the twins’ story?
A Shade of Vampire 12: A Shade of Doubt is available now to order from Amazon!:
Click here now 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’m excited for what’s next and can’t wait to see you there. :)
Love,
Bella x
P.S. Join my VIP email list and I’ll send you an email reminder as soon as it’s out! Click here to sign up: www.forrestbooks.com
P.P.S. I want to invite you to join The Shade’s private group on Facebook. It’s for fans of the series who want to chat about the books with others. I also hang out there whenever I have time away from writing. You can find it here: www.facebook.com/groups/shaddicts
It’s a super friendly group and I’d love to meet you personally!
(You can also say hi to me on Twitter: @ashadeofvampire )
An Important Note About Kiev Novalic
Dear Shaddict,
If you’re curious about what happened to Kiev during his time away, how he met Mona, and how he came upon Anna, I suggest you check out his completed trilogy: A Shade of Kiev.
Kiev’s story will also give you a deeper understanding of the Shade books and the kind of threat Derek, Sofia and the twins are now up against.
The trilogy is available from Amazon. Click here to grab the first book!
Read More by Bella Forrest!
A SHADE OF VAMPIRE SERIES
A Shade of Vampire (Book 1)
A Shade of Blood (Book 2)
A Castle of Sand (Book 3)
A Shadow of Light (Book 4)
A Blaze of Sun (Book 5)
A Gate of Night (Book 6)
A Break of Day (Book 7)
A Shade of Novak (Book 8)
A Bond of Blood (Book 9)
A Spell of Time (Book 10)
A Chase of Prey (Book 11)
A Shade of Doubt (Book 12)
A SHADE OF KIEV TRILOGY
A Shade of Kiev 1
A Shade of Kiev 2
A Shade of Kiev 3
BEAUTIFUL MONSTER DUOLOGY
Beautiful Monster 1
Beautiful Monster 2
For an updated list of my books, please visit my website: www.bellaforrest.net
Join my VIP email list and I’ll send you an email reminder as soon as my next book is out! Click here to sign up: www.forrestbooks.com
Bella Forrest, A Chase of Prey
(Series: A Shade of Vampire # 11)
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