clara began clapping her hands. "enough! much as i would love to watch you two kill each other, we all know i can't allow you to do that."

emilia gave her brother one last claw right through his upper torso before she stood to her feet. she had barely taken a couple of steps forward before she completely healed. kiev, too, had just rose to his feet and it seemed not a scar was in sight anymore.

still, the two glared murder at each other, threatening death on each other by mere body language.

i couldn't have cared less about either one of them. the goal i had in mind was to find another immune before i once again lost control. emilia must've read my mind, because she slapped me right on the face so strongly my head began to spin.

i was trying to control the urge to attack her, noticing the way her siblings chuckled when they saw her hit me. something told me that though they were apparently willing to kill one another, they weren't about to allow anyone else hurt any single one of them.

emilia pressed her lips against mine, before clutching the back of my head with both her hands and whispering into my ear, "don't even think of drinking another immune's blood again, derek. if you do, once this week is over and my vow to you that sofia won't be harmed is null, i will make her pay for every single time you displease me while you're here."

at that, i chuckled. "you can't harm sofia. even your father can't harm her. she has too much light in her for darkness to take hold."

emilia laughed in response. "maybe i can't, derek, but i know someone who can... someone who will." she relished my short intake of breath, before revealing who she had in mind. "her own mother is going to kill her, derek. camilla claremont is going to kill your sofia."

chapter 27: aiden

"do you think she'll ever be able to accept me?" camilla asked me, her voice quivering with anxiety.

every time i let my gaze linger upon her, i found myself wishing that the cure was for real, that ingrid could actually turn back into a human, turn back into my camilla. i brushed my hand over the back of hers. "i think she wants to, but you'll find it hard to convince her that your intentions are genuine. can you blame her?"

she leaned her head on my shoulder. "i guess not."

right then, the door to the cell opened and sofia appeared. i could tell that something was bothering her by the expression on her face. she swallowed hard before looking me in the eye. "i need your help."

my heart leapt at the words that she had uttered. for the first time since i could remember, my daughter was actually asking for my help. "what is it? what can i do for you? anything..." i was desperate not to disappoint her again.

she told me about what was going on in the shade and i listened intently, waiting for her to present to me her request. "you've led a multi-million dollar security conglomerate while you were still one of the head hunters at hawk territory. i know you can help me run the shade."

"i can definitely help." i nodded, already having a fair idea of what we could do to solve the problem of the vampires and humans all being held up at the catacombs. i knew from what i'd been told that sofia also had it in her to handle things, but she seemed overwhelmed by derek being away from the shade.

she sighed with relief before nodding curtly my way. "come with me then."

i stood up still holding camilla's hand, pulling at her.

when sofia noticed, she shook her head. "not with her."

"sofia..." i took a step forward. "please..."

sofia set her green eyes on her mother. she looked longingly at camilla. "how can i ever trust you?" she asked, her voice breaking.

"you can't." camilla shook her head. "not yet. i haven't earned any of your trust, sofia, but your father trusts me. that's enough for me right now."

sofia looked questioningly at me, as if waiting for me to vouch for camilla.

"i'm responsible for her," i assured my daughter.

i could tell she was severely conflicted as she shifted her gaze from me to her mother. "i'm sorry. i just can't risk it. i already have enough problems on my plate and i don't want to have to worry about what she can or can't do."

my heart sank, but i couldn't blame sofia either. i hesitantly let go of camilla's hand as i moved forward to follow sofia out of the cell. i knew that camilla's heart was breaking and my heart broke with her, but i figured there was plenty of time for mother and daughter to make amends with each other.

i was wrong.

chapter 28: sofia

i was right to consult with my father regarding what to do. we arranged a meeting with the elite council and things were immediately put in place. the solution seemed fairly easy. during the day, the catacombs belonged to the vampires. during the night, it belonged to the humans.

it wasn't easy to get all the humans to agree to being out in the sunlight - especially the naturals - but they eventually got used to it. having a little sun on their skin was a better alternative to being afraid of what the vampires could do to them should they stay at the catacombs.

by our second sunset, we only had one problem left.

"we have no idea where kyle is," vivienne announced. "by the time ashley and i arrived there, rex already brought him somewhere, and none of us know where either of the men are. ashley, gavin, sam and a bunch of other guards are all looking for him as we speak."

"what happened? what caused the fight?" i asked.

"i guess only anna can tell us." vivienne shrugged.

"let's hope all that time she spent with corrine paid off." i sighed. minutes later, ian and anna were brought into our presence. she seemed confused at first and i could swear that she was going to go right back to her old insane self, but after ian began to reassure her, she eventually relaxed and took a seat, her hands clasped together over her lap. "tell us what happened to kyle, anna."

"the vampire attacked me and he began drinking from my neck and from my wrist, so i screamed. ian told me to scream whenever someone tried to hurt me. kyle showed up and they fought. kyle was in bad shape. blood was all over his body and then the other vampire hit him so hard, he became unconscious. i thought he was going to hurt me again, but he left. he was angry. i didn't know what to do to help kyle. i wanted to help him because he was hurting, so i did what felix made me do when he was hurting before. i fed kyle my blood through my wrist. i wasn't done feeding him yet when the vampire returned and he attacked me again. after that, i'm not sure what happened. i woke up and i was in my room. ian told me that i hit my head somewhere..."

we were about to ask ian what he saw happened when gavin showed up through the door. "we found him. sam and ashley are bringing him to your quarters as we speak."

"is he alright?" i asked.

"i'm not sure," gavin shook his head. he looked baffled. "you're not going to believe this, but we think kyle just turned back into a human."

chapter 29: derek

"i hate them!" emilia hissed. "i hate kiev. i hate clara. i hate all my brothers and sisters. it's a good thing they're not all here to make my life miserable."

i sat on a wooden bench at the castle's labyrinth, legs crossed, as emilia paced back and forth in quite a fury right in front of me. the immune's blood had already worn off and though i felt nothing but delight and amusement at seeing how worked up the witch was, i appeared concerned and sympathetic towards her plight.

happiness appeared to be an elusive thing at the elder's castle. nobody seemed to have it at all. i'm pretty sure that even if they did have it, they're still fearful of it somehow slipping right through their fingers and disappearing. i watched as emilia continued her tantrum even as i mulled over the kind of relationship the elder's children seemed to have.

"are you happy, emilia?" i asked. "do i make you happy?"

emilia stopped her pacing, her fingers twirling the tips of her dark brown hair like a mad woman, before she directed her gaze at me, her eyes softening. she came to me and sat over my lap, facing me, her arms wrapped around my neck. she bit her lip as she stared at me. "i still see her ghost behind your eyes. you don't have me fooled, derek. you don't love me."

her response made me feel triumphant, knowing that she was talking about sofia. of course i don't. may she haunt you whenever you look into my eyes. "i love you, emilia. how could you ever think that i don't love you?"

she pouted at me before playfully biting my lower lip.

what is wrong with you? i was disgusted by her actions, but i outwardly responded with a chuckle, pulling her closer to me and kissing her full on the mouth - an action i found revolting, but could not bring myself to express.

we began making out until she finally got bored with that. i realized that rarely anything seemed to satisfy emilia for long. she was always craving something, demanding more. she seemed to have countless needs, and she was always clamoring for someone to meet whatever those needs were.

yawning, she got off my lap and sat on the bench beside me. she leaned her head over my shoulder and took my hand in hers, our fingers clasping together. despite my aversion to her, my thumb began rubbing the back of her hand.

i'd been there for three days and it already felt like an eternity. the thought that i had four days left was sickening. i hated to think about it, but i knew that i had absolutely no assurance that emilia would make good on her word and actually return me to the shade after a week. the thought was killing me. i missed sofia and everyone in the shade more than i ever had before, and the idea of being stuck like this was horrifying.

"i can sometimes read your mind, you know," she broke the long silence we found ourselves in. "i know what's going through your thoughts, how much you don't want to be with me."

"that's not true," i said even though my brain was saying the exact opposite.