My mind drifted back to what had happened, playing the blurred scenes over in my mind and trying to make sense of them now I could think more clearly.
“Do you know who they were?”
“Traffickers. Drugs, humans… they’d probably trade anything.”
I shuddered, recalling how they all seemed to have been eyeing me in particular. I wondered whether their plan was to just kidnap me, or if they’d wanted to bring Caleb along too.
We passed the next few hours until sundown in silence. When Caleb finally pulled off the highway and down a muddy track as the sun started dipping behind the horizon, I breathed out in relief.
The stench of the corpses in the back was beginning to overwhelm me, and yet I knew we couldn’t throw them out until we stopped and Caleb had drained them. I looked over the vampire. Some of his wounds had closed over by now, albeit with the bullet still embedded beneath his flesh. Others were still moist with blood.
As we continued along the bumpy track, I was beginning to worry. The mud seemed to be getting softer and deeper the further we traveled. I supposed that we were planning on abandoning the vehicle anyway, so it wouldn’t matter even if we did get stuck. Caleb stopped the engine once we arrived at the bank of a stream.
“Are you thirsty?” he asked.
I paused, wetting my lips nervously. “Yes, but—”
He seemed to understand my hesitation. I’d had enough of Amazonian streams for more than one lifetime. He reached over and grabbed my water bottle, then made his way down to the water. Filling up the bottle, he placed it on the bank before wading in himself. Tearing off the remaining shreds of his shirt, he dipped underwater and washed himself. By the time he stood up again, his wounds looked much cleaner, the bloodstains gone.
He returned to the car and handed me my bottle.
“Thanks,” I said, unscrewing the lid and drinking from it.
Opening up the middle door of the vehicle, he positioned himself over one of the corpses. I watched with a mixture of horror and disgust as he dug his fangs into the first body.
My own drink seemed less appealing now. Holding my ears, I tried to block out the squelching sounds, but they were hard to ignore. I looked back once the noise stopped. He hauled them both out of the car and dragged them down to the river. Wading in deep, he let go of them.
I felt infinitely grateful that he’d filled up my water bottle before dumping those dead bodies in the river. I imagined that the blood would draw alligators, which made me even more determined to stay in the truck.
When he approached the vehicle again and was about to seat himself back into the driver’s seat, I reached out and locked his door.
“Get in the back,” I said. “We need to take a look at your wounds.”
He heaved a sigh, but did as I’d requested. I climbed over the seats toward him. The blood splatters made me feel nauseous. I craned my neck to examine the back of the seats in the middle row. There were two latches on either side. Just what I’d been hoping for. I unlatched both of them and the back of the seat flattened, creating a narrow double bed.
I ducked down on the ground and looked beneath the seats. There were six small pieces of luggage. I reached for the one closest to me and pulled it out. Opening it up, I found a few personal possessions—toothpaste, a toothbrush, shaving equipment, tweezers, a set of spare clothes… I put the clothes and tweezers to one side before discarding the bag and reaching for another. They all had similar contents—light travel equipment. In the sixth case, I was pleased to see two blankets bundled up inside it. I stretched them both out on top of each other over the outstretched seats, covering up the bloodstains.
Caleb had been watching me closely the whole time. I beckoned him over. As he lifted himself onto the makeshift bed, I didn’t miss the way he winced as he lay on his back. I took the spare clothes I’d fished out from the bags and arranged them over the hole in the roof so that they covered it. Then I looked nervously at the wounds in Caleb’s chest and shoulders that hadn’t yet closed over. I crouched down on the seat over him, examining them more closely. I couldn’t fish these bullets out with my fingers, that was for sure. I’d have to use the only equipment I had—the tweezers I’d found. I grabbed my water bottle and washed the tweezers. I hovered more closely over Caleb. He inhaled sharply as I placed a hand on his chest and tried to steady my hands.
“I’m sorry if this hurts,” I whispered.
He grunted as I picked a wound and slid in the tweezers. His flesh made a horrid squelching sound as I closed around the bullet and lifted it out. Blood flowed, and I stemmed it with a towel. I didn’t know how clean it was, but we didn’t have many options.
I repeated the process with five more bullets—three wedged in his stomach, one in his shoulder, and one just beneath his neck. I had to ask him to roll over so I could reach his back. Most of them had closed over, but I managed to retrieve one that was stuck beneath his lower shoulder blade.
My eyes roamed the rest of his body. I was nervous that there were so many bullets I couldn’t get to without tearing through a layer of his flesh. I’d have to leave those bullets for Corrine to remove.
Corrine. My heartbeat quickened as I thought once again of returning home with Caleb.
I held the towel against the wounds I’d treated until the blood clotted and the wounds began to heal. His healing process seemed to have sped up. I guessed because of all that human blood he’d just consumed.
He sat up once I’d finished, examining his body.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yes… Thank you, Rose.”
I nodded, but I wished that he wouldn’t thank me. I owed him more than I could repay. He’d saved my life more than once, as well as the lives of my parents.
“Thank you, Caleb.”
He broke eye contact with me and pulled himself to the edge of the seat. He swung his legs off, his feet touching the vehicle’s floor.
“And now we continue by foot?” I asked.
“Yes.”
I was feeling exhausted after the day’s events. The last thing I wanted was to spend another bumpy night clinging to Caleb’s back. But I knew we had to reach Mona, or Caleb would be no more. I swung my legs over the seat and sat next to him.
“You look tired,” he said, glancing down at me. “I suppose we can stay here for an hour. We don’t know how long it will take us to find another vehicle once we’re in Venezuela. And we don’t want you fainting from exhaustion.”
An hour. It didn’t seem like much. But it was better than nothing.
“And what about you?” I asked. “Don’t you need to rest too?”
He leaned back against his elbows. “I suppose I could rest for a short while.”
I looked over the makeshift bed. There was enough room for the two of us to lie comfortably. Though, recalling the way he’d kept his distance back in the hostel room, I wasn’t sure that he’d want to share a bed with me even for an hour. I looked around the vehicle. The back seats didn’t extend backward. And the front seats didn’t extend back much now that we’d created this bed.
I moved over to the far side of the blankets and lay down on my side, propping my head up with my elbow. I patted the space next to me. He eyed the spot I was touching for several moments before—to my surprise—he acquiesced. He lay down alongside me, though he turned his face away, his muscled back facing me. Reaching out, I traced his bumpy scars with the tips of my fingers.
Silence descended on the truck. We’d closed the windows to keep out the bugs, but I could hear the sounds of the rainforest through the fabric above us. The chirping of crickets, the croaking of frogs, the sighing of the wind against the trees.
“Caleb?” I whispered through the darkness.
“Hm?”
I bit my lip.
I wanted to tell him how much I was looking forward to having him live with us in The Shade. And I wanted to tell him why. I wanted to tell him how hard it had been to have him leave me the way
he had. How much I’d struggled with myself in his absence. How relieved I was to see him again, even in these desperate circumstances.
I wanted to tell him how much he’d come to mean to me.
But I didn’t know how he’d take it.
I wasn’t sure if now was the time.
“Nothing.” I let out a sigh and rolled over on my other side, my back facing his.
I should just go to sleep. I don’t have much time as it is.
I closed my eyes and tried to coax myself to sleep. But the truck was hot and stuffy. My breathing was heavy and sluggish. It didn’t help that we’d had to close all the windows.
Perhaps Caleb had sensed my discomfort, or perhaps it was just my imagination. Whatever the case, as I struggled to drift off, he reached around my waist and pulled me back against him. The coldness of his skin seeped through the fabric of my dress, cooling my hot back. His hand rested over my navel, his body spooned around mine, our legs intertwining. I placed a hand over his and nestled closer against his chest. I felt his cold breathing against the nape of my neck. He was like my own personal AC unit.
This is more like it.
I closed my eyes again, relishing the feeling of his strength enveloping me. Protecting me. Keeping me safe. Just as he had done since the day we met.
Chapter 9: Sofia
I’d thought that talking to Mona would at least ease my uncertainty and doubts. Now I partly wished I hadn’t talked to her. Our conversation had only added more heat to my already burning mind. The worst thing was, there wasn’t anything anybody here could do about it. We had all these theories, but no way of actually confirming any of them since we were all stuck on the island. And if I was honest with myself, even if we weren’t stuck, there was still no way of knowing unless one of the black witches behind all this decided to reveal their true motives.
Derek and I had tried to comfort each other, but there were only so many times we could say to each other that Ibrahim and Corrine were the best people to find our daughter. Even though it was true, it didn’t stop anxiety eating away at us.
I left Derek at home and headed toward my father’s treehouse. We’d been promising each other that we’d make time for each other for weeks, but we still hadn’t followed through. It seemed that there would never be a perfect time, so I decided to go and visit him now.
I reached Aiden’s tree and ascended in the elevator. When I knocked on the front door, he answered after two seconds. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against him, kissing my forehead. Something about the strength of my father’s arms made me break down in a way that I hadn’t with Derek. I’d been trying to put on a brave face for my husband, because my breaking down in front of him would only increase his suffering.
While I knew my father suffered Rose’s absence too, somehow I felt like I could let myself loose without feeling as much guilt as I did with Derek.
My father led me to the couch and I cried for the next hour. He didn’t even try to offer me words of comfort, he just held me and let me feel my grief. I let out emotions I’d been trying to bottle up for days. He was there for me, the way I’d always dreamed he would be one day as I was growing up.
When it felt like I had no more tears left to shed, I sat up and dried my face with a tissue.
“Thank you,” I croaked.
He squeezed my hand and smiled. “Any time, darling.”
I looked around the room, craving a change of subject. The memory of Adelle opening the door to Eli’s apartment in her dressing gown came flooding back to me. To this day, I still hadn’t talked about Adelle with my father, and now seemed as good a time as any to broach the subject. Although I didn’t want to hurt him, I wanted to understand what was going on.
“You know that Eli and Adelle are going out?” I asked. I watched him closely, studying every flicker of emotion that crossed his face.
His smile faded. “Yes.”
“Dad… you like her, don’t you?”
He nodded, looking down at the floor.
“Did you ever ask her out?”
He sighed. “I was late to the party.”
While I was happy for Eli, my heart broke for my father. He deserved a good woman more than anyone after all he’d been through with my mother.
“But don’t feel sorry for me, honey,” he said, forcing a smile back on his face. This time it reached his eyes a little more. “You have enough on your shoulders already. I’ll get over her soon enough.”
“I just worry about you,” I said, kissing his cheek. “It’s been almost two decades since Mom passed away. I want to see you with another woman in your life, someone who deserves you. You’re a vampire now… and forever is a long time to be alone.”
There was a pause. I felt his chest constrict beneath me, and I felt a drop of water—a tear—drop onto my shoulder. But I didn’t look up, in case he’d feel embarrassed that I’d caught him crying in front of me. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen him cry.
He cleared his throat, though I could tell that he struggled to keep his voice steady as he said, “I’ll find someone, Sofia. I promise.”
Chapter 10: Aiden
I hadn’t dared go to the lake again since the day I’d spotted Adelle and Eli there in the boathouse. That same boathouse where I’d initially intended to ask her out. It seemed that it was a regular haunt of theirs, because Claudia had told me she’d spied them there on several occasions since. But now, as I took a walk through the woods, my mind more absent than present, I found myself passing by it.
I stopped short, straining my ears for any indication that they might be down there. Once I felt confident that they weren’t, I started down along the path toward the lake and stopped at its bank. This lake was one of my favorite parts of the island, perhaps even more than the beaches. It held a serenity that affected my entire being.
I recalled the words my daughter had spoken to me. Mention of her mother had cut me to the core. Sofia was right that after what had happened to Camilla, I’d thought I’d never be able to open up to another person again. She’d ripped an open wound in my heart I’d thought would never heal. Perhaps it wouldn’t—not fully—and anyone who came after her now would be a layer on top. Perhaps, deep down, I always would be cut.
Although I’d rather be with nobody than someone who wasn’t right for me, I’d meant it when I told my daughter that I would find someone.
I sat down on one of the benches that afforded the best view of the lily-speckled lake and closed my eyes, breathing out slowly.
If I was to have any hope of fulfilling my promise, the first thing I had to do was let go of Adelle. Holding on was stupid. It would only cause me pain and make me harbor ill feelings toward Eli. Eli deserved Adelle—he’d gotten to her first, after all. If I really cared for Adelle, I would feel happy for her and Eli.
I swallowed hard, determined to no longer feel resentment toward Eli. It felt like an impossible feat, but Eli hadn’t done anything wrong. Hell, he hadn’t even known I was pursuing Adelle.
It was my own damn fault for arriving late to the party. I should go and congratulate him, just to help myself get over this.
Adelle and I could still be friends, though I doubted that the awkwardness would ever disappear. And I knew that I would be inclined to seek her out less now, if for no reason other than self-preservation.
There was no denying that it was the end of an era for Adelle and me. Although it filled me with melancholy, I didn’t see how it could be avoided.
I stood up and started walking again, back toward my penthouse. But as I passed the boathouse, I stopped. My ears picked up on splashing, and the sound of scrubbing. Since it didn’t sound like the type of noise Eli and Adelle would make, I approached the door of the boathouse and peered inside.
A woman with her back turned to me was crouched down over the edge of the boathouse, dipping clothing into the water and scrubbing it against the floorboards. As I inched closer, I realized that she was a were
wolf, for her features weren’t entirely human. She had curly blonde hair that touched the sides of her face and an athletic build, her arm muscles tensing as she beat her washing against the floorboards.
Now that my curiosity had been satisfied, I was about to back away unnoticed, but I took a misstep and ended up standing on a loose floorboard, which creaked. Her blue eyes shot toward me. Now that I saw her face fully, I realized that she was pretty. She had a slight splash of freckles, plump lips and thick eyelashes.
“Oh, hello,” she said, looking me over briefly before going on with her washing.
“Hi, I didn’t mean to disturb you.”
“That’s all right,” she said, clenching her jaw as she began beating her clothes furiously against the wood again. I was surprised that they hadn’t disintegrated already. It looked like she was trying to murder them. I stepped further back as drops of water sprayed everywhere. “My name’s Kailyn.”
“Aiden.”
“Oh, I know who you are.” She cast another glance back at me over her shoulder. “A word of advice. Never let Brett sit behind you while he’s eating. Or at any time really. He sprays all kinds of strange substances.”
I chuckled. “Thanks for the warning.”
“You’d have thought I’d have learned my lesson by now,” she grumbled, holding up a dress and examining it.
“We have washing machines, you know.”
She looked up at me, frowning. “Washing machines?”
“Yeah. I’m pretty sure the townhouses you’re staying in are already equipped with them.”
“Oh.” She stood up, straightening out her clothes over her arm. “I think I know what you’re talking about, actually. In the kitchen area, beneath the sink. No idea how to use it though, and neither does my sister. In fact, I doubt any of the wolves are using this human technology you’ve given us. We’re all too stuck in our ways of doing things. Unless you want to show me?”
She raised a brow at me. I was surprised by her forwardness. All I wanted was to return home. It had been a grueling day and I wanted to retire to begin afresh tomorrow. But it wouldn’t have been good manners to refuse to help her.