Corrine patiently laid her palms over the top of the wooden desk she was seated behind. "There are some things you can't change here at The Shade, Sofia. One of them is that the vampires need to feed on human blood. Take that away from them and everything falls apart." "So it's okay for them to massacre the weak and the defenseless?" I spat out. "Can you think of a better alternative?" I stared at Corrine with utter disbelief. "Well, yeah! Force the vampires to live on animal blood!" "Trust me, Sofia. That would cause more chaos than you can possibly wrap your mind around, but if that's what has to happen." She shrugged. "Then so be it." I couldn't understand her nonchalance. We were practically talking about genocide and she was just sitting there talking as if life didn't matter. "I can't believe it. Doesn't life matter to anyone here at The Shade?" "It's going to be over soon, Sofia," was the only assurance I got from the witch. I stood from my seat and began pacing the marb

I saw the flash of confusion that crossed Derek's eyes as he withdrew his hands from my face. I felt the exact same confusion. What is this guy talking about? "Lies." Derek shook his head, but for a moment he looked at me as though I might have been a wholly different person. Desperation began eating at me. I knew how much he hated the Maslens. "My mother's name is Camilla Claremont," I told him trying to stay calm. "She's been in an insane asylum for the majority of the past decade. You know this. Your father's bluffing, Derek." "I'm not bluffing. I can prove everything," Gregor said confidently. "I have all the background checks to prove it. Ingrid Maslen was once Camilla Claremont, wife of Aiden Claremont. They only have one daughter—your pretty little redhead right there." I shook my head. "No. It's not true. Ingrid Maslen is not my mother." "When was the last time you saw Camilla Claremont, Sofia?" Gregor continued to pry. "Did you actually ever even see her in an insane asy

Tears began to brim Ashley's eyes. "Paige and the three new girls…they're dead. Felix and his men…while everything was happening at the town square…they went to your quarters and killed everyone they found there. By order of the king." "They planned on doing it even before everything that happened at the town square," Kyle continued to explain when Ashley broke into a sob. "It was their back-up plan in case what Gregor wanted to happen at The Shade—turn Derek against you—didn't push through." "A last-ditch attempt to hurt me." I nodded with understanding, tears beginning to fall down my cheeks. Gregor definitely knew how to hurt me. "Rosa?" I asked. "She was visiting with Lily and the kids when it all happened," Kyle said the words reassuringly in hopes of giving me a thread of comfort. I wanted to break down. I wanted to just crumble and give in to the despair that I felt over the loss of four innocent lives, but even as tears flowed down my face, beyond the grief, what I felt wa

"We definitely need that now…" About a hundred fully-armed vampires were standing before us. We might've outnumbered them ten to one—perhaps even more, but I was no fool to believe that we could possibly stand a chance against them. "You…" Gregor sped my way, stopping a couple of inches away from me. "You did this?" "You're going to have to kill a lot more than just the weak and defenseless if you want to proceed with the culling," I told him, sounding far more confident than I actually felt. "Are you really willing to cripple The Shade by murdering off a good chunk of its loyal human population?" "Yes, you little fool. I'm willing to do exactly that." He smirked at me and I knew then that he was made of pure evil. I couldn't help but wonder how on earth he could be related to Derek and Vivienne. I wanted to falter, wanted to run away, but this was my war now. "You're going to die, Sofia Claremont." Gregor nodded. "I'll make sure of it." "I know you're immortal, Gregor Novak, b

"She's practically the princess of The Shade now," Ashley had said proudly, as she cast an affectionate gaze toward Sofia. "She's about to become the queen." Rosa smiled as she fingered the ring on Sofia's finger. Derek had given it to her shortly after he released me from the port. The sight of the ring made my heart ache with a sense of loss as I wondered what could've been if I'd done things differently, if I had been the one who treated Sofia the way she deserved to be treated. Every time I looked at Sofia, I couldn't help but regret how things turned out between us. I felt the same way as I had supper with her. "Stop looking at me that way, Ben," she said as she took a sip from a spoonful of soup. "What way?" I asked. "I don't know…you look at me a certain way, Ben. Like you've somehow lost me…"I cleared my throat. "Am I that transparent?" "I just know you, Ben. That's all. You feel like if you don't get something you want, you did something wrong. The fact that I'm with