A Shade of Vampire 14: A Dawn of Strength (9 page)

A
s I sat with Vivienne
, Anna and Ariana in one of the small private rooms, I tried to lose myself in conversation. We all tried. But every word we spoke was just an attempt to distract ourselves. Every sentence sounded forced. None of us could stop thinking about what might be going on outside the Black Heights as we sat here in the quiet of the mountains’ chambers.

I managed to remain seated for a few hours in their company until finally I could bear it no longer. I stood up and stretched my legs, feigning a yawn. I looked down at my aunt leaning back in her chair.

“I’m sure I won’t be able to, but I’m going to try to sleep,” I said. “It will be less painful… and I do still feel pretty sleep-deprived.”

Vivienne looked at me doubtfully. “Where are you going to sleep?”

“I spotted a spare room on the level above us. There might even be a spare mattress up there.”

To my dismay, she stood up and held my hand. “We’ll go together. I’d also like to try and sleep.”

“O-okay,” I said, fighting to hide the disappointment in my voice. Clearly my aunt was already suspicious of my intentions—not that I had any right to blame her for it—so now I had no choice but to play along. I forced a smile. “That will be nice, actually, to have someone else for company.”

We said goodbye to Anna and Ariana before leaving the room. Walking along the corridor toward the flight of stairs that led up to the next floor, I hoped that there was indeed a spare room up there somewhere.

Vivienne slipped an arm around my waist as we climbed the staircase. “I’m proud of you, Rose.”

I winced internally. I wished she would have saved that statement for a later time.

“I’m not sure why,” I muttered.

She raised a brow. “I’m sure most young women your age wouldn’t have managed to survive what you have… at least, not with their mental faculties intact.”

I gave her a funny look.
You don’t know they’re still intact,
was what I wanted to say. But now wasn't the right time for this joke considering what I was planning.

We reached the upper floor and began to walk along the corridor. We passed locked door after locked door.
What was I thinking?
Every human on this island was locked within these mountains now. It was unlikely we’d find a spare room without venturing further up. I was about to suggest we keep climbing to the next level when Vivienne pointed to a door at the end of the hallway. It was ajar. We walked up to it and Vivienne knocked. When nobody answered, she cautiously pushed it open.

“It’s empty,” she said, lighting up one of the lanterns fixed to the wall.

I walked inside after her and looked around the room. It was about the same size as the one we’d just left. There was a chair in one corner and three single mattresses spread out on the floor.

“Perfect,” she said, sighing and lowering herself onto one of the mattresses. She patted the one next to her, indicating that I do the same.

I flopped down onto it, spreading out my legs and looking up at the dark stone ceiling. Vivienne did the same, resting her hands over her stomach. Now I just had to hope that Vivienne would eventually grow tired enough to fall asleep.

“Have you and Uncle Xavier decided what you’ll name the baby if it’s a girl?” I asked, running a hand gently against the side of her belly.

She nodded, her face lighting up. “We talked about it on the journey back here. If we have a girl, we both love Aurora.”

“Aurora,” I repeated, listening to the name roll off my tongue. “I love it! And if you have a boy?”

Vivienne smirked. “Xavier and I had a disagreement on that. He likes Leo, while I love Isaac… Which do you prefer?”

“Leo Novak. Isaac Novak. Hmm. I gotta say, I’m leaning toward Xavier’s choice on this. Leo… it’s just such a kickass name.”

She frowned at me in mock disdain. “Well, Anna and Ariana prefer Isaac.”

“Have you asked my dad yet?” I narrowed my eyes on her. “I’ll bet you a hundred dollars he’ll prefer Leo.”

“Then I’ll ask your mother instead.” She winked at me. Then her expression became more serious as she chewed on her lower lip. “Leo. It’s just too fiery. Our son will have Novak blood running through him as it is. The least I can do is give him a name that’s a little more… relaxed.” She paused, letting out a yawn. Her eyelids flickered shut for a few moments before opening again.

“Let’s try to sleep, Viv,” I said, taking advantage of the pause in the conversation.

I turned onto my side, facing her, and watched as she mirrored my action.

“Honestly,” she said, “I didn’t think I’d be able to sleep when I was downstairs sitting in that chair. But now I’m lying down…” She yawned again. “Maybe it’s this pregnancy making me feel exhausted.”

“Then rest,” I whispered.

She reached for my hand and held it. As she closed her eyes, an expression of worry settled in on her face. I knew she was now imagining what I was trying not to imagine. I closed my own eyes and kept as still and quiet as possible until, finally, I was confident that sleep had claimed her.

Her grip on my hand had slackened, so it wasn’t difficult to detach myself from her. As I slowly sat up in bed and cast my eyes toward the closed door, I could only feel thankful that Vivienne was no longer a vampire. Her hearing wasn’t nearly as sharp. If I was careful enough, I might just be able to escape without disturbing her.

Opening the door as quietly as I could, I stepped out into the corridor and pulled it shut behind me. I knew there was no point trying to convince Kyle, or whomever else might be guarding the exit now, to let me step outside. No, I had to find another way out.

I hurried toward the staircase and climbed up to the next floor. I kept climbing level after level. Along the way, fortunately, I only bumped into three humans who were only vague acquaintances of mine. Finally, the stairs stopped and I could climb no higher.

I was relieved to see that this top level was less populated than the lower ones. Many of the doors were wide open. I stopped outside the last open door to my left at the end of the hallway. I stepped inside the dark, empty room and looked around.

As children, Ben and I sometimes used to sneak into the Black Heights with our friends to play hide and seek. I was always the last to be found in those games, and nobody understood why. I’d never revealed my secret to them—the secret that used to lie within the very walls I was standing between now. Yet it seemed that my hiding place had been removed. Where there used to be an old narrow fireplace was now solid wall. The whole room looked so different than how I remembered it.

Unless this isn’t the same room. Perhaps I’m on the wrong side of the corridor…

I hurried back out of the room to see the door opposite me was closed. I pressed my ear against the wood, and, on hearing no signs of anyone being in there, gripped the handle and pushed it open.

This room was almost identical to the previous room. There was no fireplace. However, there was a wide cabinet fixed into the furthest wall. I rushed over to it and crouched down. The hinges groaned as I pulled open the doors. Dust billowed into the air and it took all I had to fight off a coughing fit. The cabinet was stuffed with blankets. I pulled them out onto the floor, revealing a spacious area—large enough for me to crawl into—and charcoal-black stone walls. I climbed inside and, tucking my legs beneath me, looked directly upward. There was a narrow hole where the ceiling should have been, and a thin metal ladder leading upward.

My suspicion had been correct—the fireplace had been removed, and the cupboard built in its place. However, from the darkness of the tunnel, it was clear someone had also blocked off the opening at the top of the chimney—it used to open up at the top of a cliff. Still, gripping hold of the rusty ladder, I began to climb.

I kept going long after my hands became sore from the metal. I didn’t stop until the top of my head brushed against a ceiling. It was pitch black now. Looking down, I could only vaguely make out the light emanating into the room downstairs from the corridor outside. Holding onto the ladder with one hand, I reached up to push my palm against the ceiling with the other. To my surprise, it was slightly crumbly. I’d expected to feel the same stone that constituted the walls and all the other ceilings in this place. Whoever had sealed the hole had done it with clay. I wondered just how deep the layer was.

My brain whirring, I descended the ladder and looked around the room. My eyes fell on the only portable metal object in the room—a lantern hanging from a hook on the door. I pulled it down and examined its base. There was a sharp ridge running around the bottom of it. I had no idea whether this would do the job, but there was only one way to find out. I climbed back up the ladder with it. Reaching the top, I brushed back the hair from my face with one hand and tipped the lantern upside down. And then I began to scrape.

Slowly but surely, the clay crumbled beneath the ridge. Dirt fell onto my face if I looked up, so I kept my eyes cast downward as I worked. I wasn’t sure how long it took me to dig deep enough into the dirt before the small ceiling gave way, but eventually it happened. The chilly night air touched my face as I stared up at the dark sky.

Before I squeezed myself through the opening, I climbed down the ladder one last time and crawled into the room. I walked to the door and made sure it was closed before picking up the blankets. Squeezing back into the cupboard, I brought the blankets in with me and arranged them as neatly as I could before pulling the closet doors shut and standing up to climb the ladder again. I hoped that Vivienne would remain sleeping for at least a few hours. I reached the top of the chute and hauled myself through it. I only narrowly avoided getting stuck. I wasn’t as small as I’d been the last time I’d climbed up here, and if my hips had been even slightly thicker, I was sure I wouldn’t have made it through.

Breathing heavily, I found my footing on the rocky cliffside and stared down at the island, looking for any signs of battle. It didn’t take long for me to find them. I clasped a hand over my mouth as my eyes fixed on the shoreline in the distance. Balls of fire blazed through the air as two lines of witches faced off just outside the boundary. I scanned the mainland once again, relieved to see no signs of struggle. It appeared as though The Shade’s boundary was holding up, at least for now. I looked back at the witches. One cluster were black witches, based on their garb, while the other group looked like white witches. They seemed to be falling fast, but there were still too many of them to be our own witches. For some reason, we had outside help.

I wasn’t sure what to do now. I would only be putting my family, Caleb and our people in more danger if I attempted to leave the mountains. I’d thought that coming up here and seeing what was going on would relieve the burden weighing down my heart. But I should have known that it would only make things worse. Now I saw for myself the threat closing in around us while I stood here powerless to help or do anything other than watch.

But no matter how much I was called to, I simply couldn’t leave here as the weak human that I was. Even though it killed me, right now, all I could do was wait.

W
aiting outside the gate
, I could breathe more easily now that I knew Ibrahim was inside the Pit with my husband. As the hours passed, I could shout through asking about Derek’s state and receive an immediate answer from the warlock, reassuring me that the cure was working.

I also stepped inside briefly just for a few seconds to verify it with my own eyes. Although Derek was writhing in pain, he was clearly transforming and wasn’t displaying any abnormal symptoms.

My breath hitched when the two men finally emerged from the gate, Derek’s arm wrapped around Ibrahim’s shoulder as the warlock supported him.

Derek’s pallor was gone, and his skin exuded a healthy warm glow that only a human’s could.

He stepped toward me and, placing his hands on my waist, drew me against him. He kissed my cheek, then my lips.

“How are you feeling?” I asked, brushing hair away from his sweaty forehead.

“Like I never want to see the sun again.”

I turned to Ibrahim. “How long do you think it’s going to take for him to gather his strength again?”

“It’s so hard to say. It also depends on how strong a potion he can stomach…”

Ibrahim’s voice trailed off as Derek stepped away from us, stretching his arms and rolling his neck. Then he closed his eyes, balling up his hands into fists. We watched with bated breath as his chest began to heave.

After all this, his powers had better still be there.

As if on cue, Derek pointed his hands toward the ground. His fingertips began to glow redder and redder until fire blazed out from them, singeing the grass at his feet.

His eyes were alight with triumph as he looked at us.

“Give me the strongest potion you have, Ibrahim,” he said.

A
fter everyone had finished donning
their armor and the witches had made sure each of us had a tight fit, it was time to return to the beach. None of us knew for certain how much longer the white witches would hold them off, but when Aiden came running toward us with a panicked look on his face and the two ogres trailing behind him, I knew that whatever time we’d thought we had had just been cut short.

Eli and I hurried toward him as he neared the Armory. “There are now an equal number of white and black witches,” he panted. “An insane number have either fled or fallen in the last two hours. Is everyone ready?” He looked around at the crowd.

“Yes,” Eli replied.

“Where are Derek and my daughter? Have they returned?”

“Not yet,” I said.

“What about Mona?”

Eli pointed to the witch, who was standing on the other side of the field, tightening up the armor around Kiev’s newly installed prosthetic arm.

“What have I missed?” a deep voice boomed across the field toward us from the direction of the woods. We spun around to see Xavier racing toward us… now a vampire.

A vampire Rose had introduced me to by the name of Landis—Xavier’s brother—ran up to him. “You recovered quickly,” Landis said, gripping Xavier’s shoulder. “We’re about to head to the beach. Grab a gun and put some armor on.” He hurried with Xavier into the building.

Aiden turned to address the throngs of vampires and werewolves. “To the beach!” he shouted.

Everyone launched into a sprint. Running at the head of the group, Aiden said to me beneath his breath, “It looks like we’ll just have to get started without our king and queen.”