A Shade of Vampire 28: A Touch of Truth (6 page)

G
race’s disappearance
was a horrible form of déjà vu for me. I remembered the time when I had been captured by the hunters all too well. It cut me to the core to imagine what they might be doing to her now. What they might be taking from her.
Whether she’s still alive.

Tears welled in the corners of my eyes as I watched my husband leave with Lucas, Kailyn and Corrine.

But I had to have faith in Ben’s words. I had to trust that he would find her— just as he had managed to find me against all odds—and bring her back to safety.

The meeting was held as planned, but it was a sheer waste of time. None of us Novaks could concentrate on anything, and we all just wanted it to be over. So we wrapped up quickly and I was free to leave. I didn’t think I had it in me to concentrate on anything until my husband was safely back home with my daughter.

On leaving the Great Dome, Rose and Sofia hugged me, trying to offer words of comfort. But I could draw none from them. My first instinct now was to go to my mother. She knew exactly what it was like to lose a child, and in this moment, there was nothing that I wanted more than to feel her arms around me.

My heart hammering in my chest, I sped through the redwood trees to the apartment that she shared with my two younger sisters.

On arriving, my sisters were out, but my mom was home. Her face lit up to see me, but then dropped instantly on noticing my expression. She pulled me inside, and I told her everything that had happened. Even though I trusted my husband, I couldn’t hold back the tears. This was the first time I’d ever experienced losing Grace. She had spent her whole life on the island, and since the day she was born, I’d always known where she was—that she was safe somewhere within its borders. Even more recently, when she’d started going out on missions with the League, Ben and I had always been there to keep a close eye on her. This was a brand-new emotion that I was experiencing, and it felt like somebody had bored a hole in my heart.

I sat with my mother for a while in her living room, trying to calm my nerves and stop my mind from playing over all the worst possible scenarios. Then my mother suggested that we go out for a walk and get some fresh air, which I eagerly agreed to. We left her penthouse and strolled through the woods, heading for the beach.

“Grace is a tough one,” my mother said as we removed our shoes and dipped our feet in the waves. “And she is a lot less vulnerable than you were.”

My mother held my hand and continued trying to keep my mood up while we walked, keep me thinking positively… and I tried. I truly tried.

After about an hour of breathing in the fresh ocean air, I couldn’t deny that I was feeling a tad calmer—the seeming infinity of the water surrounding our island often had a way of doing that to me—but my stomach was still aching.

We turned around and decided to head back. We lapsed into silence and I fixed my eyes on the sky, remembering how, not far from here, I had once prayed for Ben to find his way back to me. That was when I’d thought that I had lost him forever after discovering he was a ghost. He had appeared behind me soon after, and it had seemed like a miracle at the time. I wasn’t exactly expecting that to happen now, but then… something so entirely unexpected happened that I thought I must’ve been hallucinating.

A streak of black hurtling across the sky above The Shade’s boundary caught my eye. Then I lost sight of it just as quickly as it had appeared. It had looked far too large to be a bird, and yet it definitely hadn’t been an aircraft either.

I felt a bit crazy just thinking of it, but it had looked like… some other kind of flying animal. I was sure that it had four legs. But now, as I gazed around trying to spot it again, I couldn’t find it for the life of me. There wasn’t a single trace of it having been anything other than a figment of my imagination.
Maybe Grace’s absence literally is making me insane.

“You all right, honey?” my mother asked, noticing me looking around with a confused expression on my face. “What are you looking for?”

I didn’t answer for several moments as I continued to scan the heavens. When I still didn’t spy it again, I could only conclude, “It was nothing.”

S
pending
time with Bastien in his castle was like a dream. A fairytale, almost. I felt as if I was floating on clouds, and I wasn’t sure that I would ever come down. Although much of his time during the day was occupied by coming to grips with his responsibilities as the new ruler of the Blackhalls, I was just so overjoyed to be with him.

It was also incredibly interesting to witness the ins and outs of a werewolf chieftain’s duties. I supposed I had never really thought much about it, but they functioned much like any ruler would, including those in The Shade. All ultimate decisions lay with him. The emphasis on food and defense seemed to be the greatest. He had to ensure there were enough food scavengers bringing in a constant supply for the pack, and ensure their territory was properly guarded.

Even though I wasn’t a wolf, the fact that everyone saw me as Bastien’s “girlfriend”—a term that Bastien had to clarify for the others, as I had once clarified for him—meant that I was treated with the same respect as Bastien. I felt pretty awkward about it all, considering that I was basically just Bastien’s shadow. I wanted to contribute, and help wherever I could, but so far there wasn’t an awful lot that I could do—since Bastien himself was still learning the ropes, with the help of his elderly friend and advisor, Cecil.

All the while, Azaiah and Regan were kind enough to stay with me. Though they didn’t end up spending that much time in the castle. They seemed to enjoy themselves going out to roam the Woodlands—scaring hundreds of wolves in the process, I was sure. But I trusted the two of them to not give into the temptation of scooping up a wolf for a snack. They were content with other eatables they found around this place.

One good piece of news was that, after the upheaval that had so recently taken place in The Woodlands, the wolves had been forced to work together. Tensions between many of the tribes seemed to have reduced. Several chieftains came to visit Bastien after learning of his appointment, seeking to form alliances with the Blackhalls.

Cecil also suggested that Bastien ought to make some trips of his own, to reach out to some other chieftains to introduce himself as the new Blackhall leader, and start a dialogue with them… the Bonereavers, however, were definitely not on that list. Cecil advised that Bastien go with ten other wolves from the pack while the recent hunter invasion was still fresh in the minds of the wolves of The Woodlands. Bastien began to make plans to leave, discussing details with his council. He approached me last. I had already anticipated the reluctance in his expression before I witnessed it.

He didn’t want me to go traveling across The Woodlands again, of course. And I accepted that. It was pushing it just for me to be here in his castle to begin with.

I resigned myself to the fact that my stay would only last a few more days, until Bastien and his companions departed on their journey. He wasn’t sure how long they would be gone. I didn’t know when I might be able to visit him again. He said to be safe, I ought not return for at least a week and a half. A week and a half wasn’t long by normal standards, but I was already imagining how slowly the hours would tick by without him.

I also knew that the time we had left together would go by in a flash, and it seemed he realized it as well. He informed Cecil he would need some more free time until he departed. Cecil agreed to take over some of his duties and slow down on his training, so that we could have more time together.

On the evening Bastien and I had agreed I would depart, he completed his duties in the early evening. I was expecting us to go up to his apartment, where we usually went to get away from everyone. This time, to my surprise, he suggested that we head out for a walk— close to his lair, but far enough for us to stretch our legs a bit. We could feel more alone with each other, in peace and quiet, without the bustle of the pack beneath us.

I hadn’t been out of the mountain even once since I arrived, and The Woodlands was an absolutely beautiful place. Twining my fingers with his, I was looking forward to seeing where Bastien was planning to take me. But we didn’t make it far. We had barely walked halfway across the grassland in front of the Blackhalls’ mountain when I spotted my father. He was marching toward me, his jaw firmly set, a look of determination in his eyes. Behind him was a dragon, Neros. I guessed the League had finished their latest mission and returned to Kyle, who’d informed them of my whereabouts.

My heart sank to my stomach. Bastien and I stopped in our tracks, staring at him. My father reached us in seconds, and, glancing at Bastien briefly, set his focus on me. Somehow, I already knew what he was going to say before he even parted his lips.

“Victoria,” he said heavily, “I’m very disappointed that you came back here. You need to come home.”

I swallowed hard, my own disappointment clawing at my chest.

My shoulders sagged. “Well, I was planning to come home, anyway, after a few days…” I murmured.

“You need to come home with me,
now
,” he said.

I heaved a sigh. There were times when there was no arguing with my father, and I could already tell that this was one of them.

Bastien also looked crestfallen, but he turned to me, clutching both of my hands. “You must go with your father,” he said, his soulful gray eyes gazing down into mine.

I faced my father. “Okay, but… I have to visit Bastien again.”
Soon.

I hated the doubt in my father’s expression. “Things between the dimensions are very, very turbulent right now, Vicky. We’ll talk about that in a week or so.”

I couldn’t help but feel that even if my parents did sanction my returning for another visit, it wouldn’t be nearly as long as this one. I was sure I wouldn’t be able to spend a full day, let alone a night… maybe just a few hours.

Bastien seemed to detect my dismay, I guessed because he was experiencing the same fear. He dipped his head and planted a chaste kiss on my lips before giving my hands another squeeze.

“We’ll be all right, Victoria,” he said quietly.

I nodded, even as I found myself wishing that somebody else had stepped up to take over the Blackhall tribe. But I knew how selfish it was of me to even think such a thing. This was Bastien’s place among his people. This was what he was meant to be doing. This was his duty.

“Okay,” I said, trying to turn my thoughts around and look on the bright side. The main reason it had been so unbearable the last time I had been separated from Bastien was because of the way we had parted. Him doubting me, and thinking that I might have betrayed him to the hunters. Not knowing whether he’d even survived the IBSI’s attack on Rock Hall. Now, the circumstances were totally different. I knew that Bastien was okay here. He had regained his home. And he had people around him—people who respected and appreciated him. He was no longer on his own.

“I should go fetch your dragon friends,” Bastien said.

I didn’t want to be parted in these last few minutes we had before I left, so I went with him. Unfortunately, the dragons weren’t hard to find. They’d been hanging out in one of the lounge rooms on the ground floor, and we found ourselves heading back to the clearing where we’d left my father all too soon.

“I’ll give you a moment to say goodbye,” my father said to me, his tone softening a little as we returned. He cast another furtive glance at the werewolf before turning around and approaching Neros with Azaiah and Regan. So much had happened, and my parents had been away so much, I hadn’t even had a chance to properly talk to them about Bastien yet, to explain how I felt about him.
No doubt now, I will have plenty of time for that
, I thought grimly.

Bastien placed his hands on either side of my neck, his fingers reaching into my hair as he bestowed on me another kiss. A long, deep, mournful kiss.

Bastien’s assurance that “we’d be all right” felt too vague. Neither of us could say when we’d see each other again. I was grasping for something more concrete.

“One and a half weeks, you said,” I reminded him, “that’s when you should be finished on your tour?”

“I hope so,” he replied.

“Then I will try to return, then, even if it’s just for a few hours. And hopefully, in the coming weeks, some things will change,” I went on, though I struggled to understand how they would. “And I’ll be able to stay longer with you again. Then you could come to stay in The Shade with me, if you can get some time off.”

He smiled at me warmly, brushing his fingers against my cheek. Then his arms wound around me and he lifted me off my feet in an embrace. “I would love that,” he whispered.

“Okay,” I said, as he set me back down. I drew in a breath to steady myself. All I wanted was to lose myself in another one of his kisses, keep myself wrapped in his arms a moment longer… but it would only make it harder to pull away.

We took a step away from each other, our bodies parting. I did my best to put on a strong, optimistic face. And so did he.

“Goodbye, Victoria,” he said. “I love you.”

“Goodbye… I love you too.”

I unglued my gaze from him and turned around to make my way toward my father and the dragon. I didn’t look back at Bastien until I’d climbed aboard Neros, my father sitting behind me.

Bastien remained rooted to the spot, looking up at me. The breeze caught locks of his curly black hair, making them trail across his handsome face. Even from this distance, his eyes were striking.

I pulled another smile and blew him a kiss. And then, as the dragons took to the air, I watched him grow smaller and smaller on the ground, until a line of trees hid him from my view.

I swallowed.

Okay. This is okay.
Bastien and I will just have a long-distance relationship for the time being
.
Many couples do that and pull through…
I comforted myself that we would probably even grow stronger apart, and that the next time we met would be even more special.

“Okay, Vicky?” my father asked behind me, breaking through my thoughts.

“Yeah.”

I felt him kiss the back of my head.

We fell into silence as we gazed down at The Woodlands slipping away beneath us. When we reached the shore and launched out over the endless blue, my father cleared his throat and asked, “Do you love him?”

I suspected that he’d wanted to ask that the moment he had gotten me alone.

“Yes,” I replied, barely hesitating.
I love that wolf…

I didn’t turn to see my father’s reaction, though I felt him tense slightly behind me.

There was another pause before he spoke again, echoing Bastien’s assurance: “Then you’ll be all right.”

My father couldn’t have known how much his words meant to me.