Read A Shade of Vampire 13: A Turn of Tides Online
Authors: Bella Forrest
A Shade of Vampire 13: A Turn of Tides (16 page)
Now that the danger had passed, my mother allowed me to run out from the bushes again. I leapt into Caleb’s arms, wrapping my legs around his waist and holding him in a tight embrace.
“You did it!”
I was expecting him to look at least somewhat triumphant, but instead he was just scowling. “I didn’t. It got away. I should have killed it, but clearly I didn’t apply enough pressure.”
“I doubt Charis will come back with that injury,” I said.
“Maybe not Charis… but if he makes it back to his realm, this island could have just made another whole horde of unwanted enemies.”
A
lthough Caleb’s
words worried me, I was too exhausted to think about them much. I was just relieved to be back here on the island with him and my family.
A crowd gathered around Caleb and me, my parents at the forefront. I looked my father straight in the eye as Caleb lowered me to the ground.
“I think my boyfriend has earned his place on this island now, wouldn’t you agree?”
I ignored the way my father’s eyes widened as I referred to him as
my boyfriend
. I was too proud of Caleb to feel shy.
My father still looked uncertain as he eyed Caleb, but I was relieved when he said, “I’ve been wrong about people in the past. I look forward to a full explanation.”
I squeezed Caleb’s hand and was about to suggest that we return to the apartment and give him just that when a voice called out from behind us.
“Hey! We could use some help!”
The crowd parted as everyone turned around to see who it was.
Standing by the Port was Mona, an arm wrapped around Kiev’s waist, with Erik on the other side supporting him. Two figures lay on the ground—Corrine and Ibrahim—while Abby was standing nearby, calling and waving us over. We all hurried toward them and as we drew nearer, I was shocked to see that Kiev was missing an arm.
Helina reached them first and threw her arms around Kiev’s neck. “What happened to you?”
He looked so sick and pale, as though he might collapse at any moment.
“Corrine and Ibrahim…” my mother said, as she bent down to their unconscious forms. “How?”
Mona shook her head wearily. “Later. My man needs to lie down.”
“Your house is a wreck,” Helina said, still looking distraught at the state of her brother. “We should take him to one of the spare mountain cabins.”
Without another word, Mona vanished from the spot with Kiev, Helina and Erik.
My mother picked up Corrine, while my father lifted Ibrahim, and they hurried toward the direction of the Sanctuary. Caleb and I followed them, along with Abby and most of the crowd.
“Where’s Patricia?” my father asked Abby as we ran.
“She didn’t make it,” Abby croaked.
A mournful silence fell among us—a silence that lasted until we reached the witches’ temple. My parents laid Corrine and Ibrahim down in their bed. I still had no idea where Mona, Kiev and the others had even gone, so to hear that Patricia had passed away left me shocked and doubly bewildered.
A handful of witches gathered around the bed and began treating the couple. After five minutes, they turned to everyone present in the room and requested us to leave and give them some space.
I looped my arm through Caleb’s as we walked out the room, following closely behind my parents.
I supposed it was just as well Mona had arrived when she had. They’d obviously been through the mill. I doubted they would have appreciated Charis as a welcome-home surprise.
My parents pulled us aside as we entered the courtyard. My father’s intense blue eyes travelled from my face to Caleb’s.
“Let’s go home,” he said softly. “I’d like to learn more about your boyfriend.”
I
stared
down at the two vertical lines, barely daring to believe my eyes. I ran out of the bathroom and into the bedroom next door. Xavier was relaxing in bed, leaning against the headboard and reading a book. He looked up at me.
“C-can you… take a look at this?”
He leapt from the bed and closed the distance between us.
“That’s… two lines, right?” I stammered, handing him the test stick.
A broad smile split his face and his eyes lit up. “Yes, baby. Two lines.”
“I should do another test to be sure,” I said quickly, afraid to raise my hopes after just one test.
He lowered to his knees before me. Raising my blouse, he pressed his lips against my navel.
“You’ve had bad cramps the last few days,” he murmured.
“Yes, but—”
“Your period is late.”
“Well, it could just be—”
“It could just be that you’re pregnant.” He stood up, a huge grin still on his face as he looked down at me.
I was still afraid to accept the idea. Afraid of the disappointment that would follow if the signs turned out to be misleading. Xavier was always the optimist of the two of us though. I couldn’t have expected him to respond any differently.
He caught my hands and pulled me back on the mattress on top of him. He cupped my face in his hands and whispered, “God knows, we’ve been trying enough.” I giggled as he raised a brow.
I rolled off him onto my side and leaned on my elbow. He ran his fingers through my hair, brushing strands of it away from my face.
“I’ve got my hands full if we have a girl,” he muttered.
“Why?” I asked, smiling.
He reached for my hand and kissed the back of it. “If she’s half as beautiful as you, I’ll be scared to let her out of my sight.”
My cheeks flushed as though Xavier was my teenage crush.
“And if it’s a boy?” I began to muse, narrowing my eyes on my husband.
“He’ll replace Ben Novak as The Shade’s teenage heartthrob,” Xavier finished for me, throwing me a wink.
I laughed, poking him in the shoulder. “Don’t let my brother hear you say that.”
There was a pause as we both gazed into each other’s eyes. Despite my attempts to quiet my hopes, Xavier’s enthusiasm was contagious and it was slowly infecting me.
“Of course,” I said, “there’s always a small chance we could be blessed with twins, like Derek and Sofia were…”
He shifted on the bed and, raising himself on all fours, positioned himself over me. He dipped down and kissed my lips. “All the better,” he said.
As I eased into my husband’s embrace, my head jerked back against the bed as though I’d just been electrocuted.
I’d managed to pass our honeymoon without even the slightest of visions, but now one took hold of me. My blood pounded in my ears as a disquieting scene unfolded before my mind’s eye.
A dark, treeless terrain sprawled out beneath me. The pale rays of the moon fell upon field after field of faded, moss-stained tombstones. Every foot of the landscape seemed to be covered with them.
When I glimpsed the glistening ocean in the distance, I realized this was an island.
But it was only once I caught sight of a familiar lighthouse perched among a cluster of rocks, that I realized this was The Shade.
Once our home.
Now a sea of graves.
When I came to and Xavier, gripping me by the shoulders, managed to pull me upright, all I could do was gasp:
“I need to warn Derek.”
T
obias the cancer
patient’s “half-turning” appeared to be successful, at least from what I could tell. His convulsions finally stopped, as did his vomiting. At first, when I opened his cabin door to go in and inspect him, I feared he might be dead. But I felt his pulse—he was alive, just unconscious.
I was struck immediately by how cold he felt—almost as cold as me—and I noticed he was trembling ever so slightly. I wrapped a blanket around him before leaving the cabin again. Picking up the black phone Jeramiah had given me, I dialed his number.
He picked up after seven rings. “Joseph?”
“I appear to have been successful in half-turning a man. I don’t notice any claws or fangs, yet he’s clearly still alive.”
“Is his skin cold?”
“Yes.”
“That’s a good sign. Stay where you are. I’ll be with you in five minutes.”
Five minutes?
“Wait, how do you even know where—?”
Jeramiah hung up before I could complete my question. I slipped the phone back into my pocket.
How could he get here so quickly? Could he have been stalking me all this time?
I climbed up to the hatch and opened it, poking my head out and scanning the shore. I didn’t notice anyone. I remained standing for the next few minutes and almost jumped out of my skin when there was a sudden thudding beneath me in the submarine. I feared for a moment Tobias had come to and was attempting to break out of his cabin. But as I descended the ladder, my eyes fell on Jeramiah standing in the passageway, his arm around a tall young woman with sleek black hair and narrow eyes.
“How did—?”
Jeramiah chuckled at my surprise. “Meet Amaya,” he said, gesturing toward the woman. “One of our witches.”
She gave me a smile and held out a thin hand for me to shake.
“So where is he?” Jeramiah asked, his sharp blue eyes settling on me as he tightened his long hair in a bun.
I gestured toward the cabin where I was keeping Tobias. Jeramiah opened the door and stepped inside. I walked in after him, leaving Amaya standing in the corridor.
Jeramiah ran his hands along the man’s arms as he looked him over. Then he gripped his jaw and examined his face. Finally he turned back to me and nodded.
“Seems you’ve done it.” He nodded at Amaya and scooped Tobias up in his arms. “Let’s go.”
I wasn’t even given time to ask where we were headed before Amaya gripped my and Tobias’ arms, and my surroundings disappeared.
As a blur of colors assaulted my vision, I couldn’t help but wonder if this was yet another mistake.
I could be headed to my death for all I knew.
All I could do was hope that, wherever these strangers were taking me, it would be a place where I could find myself… rather than lose myself further.
R
eady for the
next part of Derek, Sofia and the twins’ story?
A Shade of Vampire 14: A Dawn of Strength
is available now from Amazon!:
Here’s a preview of the awesome cover (you may need to turn to the next page for it to be visible):
I can’t wait to share it with you!
See you there…
Love,
Bella x
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D
ear 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!
Here’s a preview of the cover:
A
SHADE
OF KIEV TRILOGY
B
EAUTIFUL MONSTER DUOLOGY
F
or an updated list
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