A Shade Of Vampire: A Shade Of Novak Part 6

"Also," Sofia said, "I say that since we have knowledge of this hidden world of supernaturals-something normal people could never have-we ought to use this knowledge to get to the bottom of this. It's our responsibility. n.o.body else will solve this mystery unless we do."

Her words sounded strange to my ears. Although we'd stopped kidnapping humans and drinking their blood almost two decades ago, this was the first time in centuries that the vampires of The Shade were opening their minds to the possibility that our responsibilities might stretch outside of our own little world.

"So, what's the first step?" Yuri asked.

Eli turned to look at his brother.

"There's only one option. Reach the latest kidnapping spot as soon as possible after the disappearance. I suggest that Ibrahim or another witch vanishes us to the location, and that way we can escape quickly if an official approaches. As I said, we may find nothing... or we may find something. I suggest we bring Shadow, since he has the best senses of all of us."

"So where was the last crime scene?" Landis asked.

"Cancn. A bunch of humans went missing along the beach all on the same evening, leaving no trace of any struggle. According to the reporters, they just vanished."

"Cancn," Sofia repeated, alarmed. "Mexico."

Eli nodded.

"All right," I said. "For now, I suggest just a handful of us go. It'll be easier to appear and then make a hasty exit if need be. Myself, Sofia, Eli and Shadow I think will be a good idea to start with... and a witch."

"I'll come," Ibrahim said.

"That's settled then," I said.

Eli, Sofia and Ibrahim all nodded.

I dismissed everybody. Sofia and I remained seated until the dome was empty. She was breathing deeply and I didn't miss the slight tremble in her hand. I pulled her against my chest. Kissing the top of her head, I said, "I know what you're feeling. But Rose and Ben will learn the truth sooner or later. They've got these last two months of oblivion on their little island. When they come back, we tell them."

Sofia nodded. "I know. And we'll make use of their time away to work on this problem. I-I just..." She stopped short, choking up. "I just don't want anything to happen to them again."

I brushed my thumbs against her cheeks and kissed her forehead.

I wanted to promise her that nothing would ever happen to our twins. I wanted to rea.s.sure her that they would never be put in harm's way or threatened ever again.

But I couldn't.

Because I didn't know what the future held. Neither of us did.

Everyone had been expecting Ben and Rose to grow up with some kind of supernatural ability-given my fire powers and Sofia being an immune when they were conceived-but so far they'd shown no sign of it. I knew that this made Sofia more nervous for them. They were just normal, fragile humans.

"Now that they're almost adults," I said, "the best thing we can do for them is arm them with knowledge and train them to stay out of danger."

"I know." She inhaled, her voice deep with resignation. "And to do this, we first need to figure out what kind of danger is surrounding us."

Chapter 4: Rose.

The journey went smoother than either of us was expecting.

Corrine left us at the Scottish island without much fuss and we stayed the night there. The next morning, we checked out and took the ferry back to the mainland where we travelled by a combination of bus and train to Glasgow airport. Direct flights weren't available for when we wanted them, so the journey took longer than we had expected, but finally we touched down in Honolulu.

As we pa.s.sed through arrivals, I spotted Kristal and Jake waiting for us. Kristal was eighteen, while Jake was nineteen. They were both tall, like us-though Ben was still the tallest among us. Being almost six foot already, he was well on track to reach our dad's height. Kristal and Jake both shared the same blond hair and blue eyes.

I looked at Ben for a reaction on seeing Kristal. He scowled and shoved me in the shoulder. "Stop it," he whispered, as we approached.

I rolled my eyes.

"Hey, you guys!" Kristal squealed. She ducked beneath the barrier and wrapped her arms around me, kissing either cheek. Ben's cheeks flushed ever so slightly as she did the same to him.

"Hi, Rose."

I looked up to see Jake staring down at me.

"Hi, Jake," I said.

I gave him a quick hug and kissed either cheek politely. He smelled of expensive aftershave.

They led us out of the airport toward a parking lot where we stopped in front of a s.h.i.+ny black limousine. I looked up at Kristal.

"Seriously?"

She beamed. "Hop in."

We all climbed into the back and the car moved forward.

"So this is yours?" I asked.

"Nah, we rented this especially for you as a surprise." Kristal smiled. "Though Andre in the front there is my dad's driver."

"You really shouldn't have," Ben said.

"It's our pleasure," she replied, touching Ben on the shoulder.

Kristal and Jake's parents were divorced. Their mother lived in New York, while their father-a wealthy businessman-split his time between Hawaii and San Francisco. Kristal had explained that their father often allowed them to stay in his condo by themselves during the summer.

After about an hour of driving, we pulled up in the underground parking area of a towering block of apartments. We exited the car, heaved our luggage out and took the elevator up to their condo.

I breathed out slowly as Jake pushed the door open and we walked inside. Everything about the place exuded luxury and cla.s.s. The external walls of the apartment consisted almost entirely of tinted windows. The floors were white marble and looked clean enough to eat off, beige carpets sprawling out at strategic positions. There was a ma.s.sive flatscreen TV in the sitting room and a black leather couch. It didn't have the homely feel of our penthouse in The Shade, but it was certainly more flashy.

Kristal showed me to my s.p.a.cious room next door to hers, while Jake led Ben further along the corridor. Once we'd settled in, Kristal ordered some pizza and French fries. We all sat down around the kitchen table to eat.

"So," she said. "Is there anything in particular you'd like to do while you're here?"

"Party," I blurted out, through a mouthful of Pizza Margherita.

"What kind of partying?" Jake asked.

I shrugged.

"Just whatever kind you normally do."

"All right," Kristal said, chewing thoughtfully. "We'll head out to the beachfront at nine. There's a party going on down there tonight, near one of our favorite bars. A few of our friends are supposed to be there too. You could meet them."

"We'll have to buy drinks for you, if you want them," Jake said.

"That won't be necessary." I fetched the pa.s.sports from my handbag and placed them on the table in front of them, pointing to the dates of birth.

Jake and Kristal's mouths dropped open.

"These are fake pa.s.sports?" she gasped.

"Just changed the date on the real ones," Ben said. "A friend of ours is, uh, very good with things like this."

They looked at us, stunned.

"Wow," Kristal said. "I might want to get the phone number of that friend."

I laughed nervously and changed the subject as we finished eating. Then Ben and I retreated to our rooms for a nap before the party.

The party was only a few minutes away, so we walked. Ben wore a loose s.h.i.+rt and jeans, similar to what Jake was wearing. Kristal wore a miniskirt, a low-cut blouse and thick high heels designed for the sand, while I wore a flowing summer dress and sandals. High heels made my feet ache and I always felt awkward wearing short skirts and dresses. It gave me constant anxiety that a rogue gust of wind might creep up on me, revealing the color of my panties to the world.

"You're such a dork," Kristal said, laughing, after I told her.

"Maybe." I smirked, nudging her in the shoulder. "But at least I'm a comfortable dork."

Music boomed and lights flashed as we approached the party. Everyone appeared to be young, in their late teens or early twenties. Kristal grabbed my hand and led me deeper into the crowd. I looked around for Ben but I could no longer see even him above the sea of bobbing heads.

Kristal led me until we reached a patch of sand with enough s.p.a.ce to breathe. A man came up with a tray of canapes and champagne. I accepted both and thanked him. Kristal just took a gla.s.s of champagne.

I finally spotted Ben and Jake approaching us, already holding gla.s.ses. My eyes settled on Jake, his white s.h.i.+rt slightly undone at the top. When he made eye contact with me, I hurriedly looked back down at my drink. We stood together awkwardly for a few minutes, sipping from our gla.s.ses and glancing around. Eventually I just stared at Ben, since it was more convenient than having to keep thinking of places to look other than Jake. My brother looked down at me and widened his eyes.

"What?" Ben mouthed.

I rolled my eyes and looked down at my toes. Then Kristal moved away from me.

"Well, our friends still haven't arrived," she said loudly over the blaring music. "I guess we may as well start without them. Do you want to dance, Ben?"

I couldn't stop the grin from spreading over across my face as Ben swallowed a mouthful of his drink a little too quickly.

"Yeah," he said. "Sure."

He took her hand, following her to an empty spot a few feet away. She started dancing as soon as they reached it, placing her arms around his shoulders and moving her hips to the beat.

Jake cleared his throat next to me.

Oh.

He looked down at me expectantly, a smile on his lips. He nodded his head toward a spot next to them.

"You want to dance?"

"Uh. O-okay."

He held out his hand and led me toward a spot near Ben and Kristal. Ben threw me an exaggerated wink as soon as he saw me. I rolled my eyes.

"What's wrong?"

Jake was looking down at me, frowning.

c.r.a.p.

"I-I was just making a face at Ben."

"Okay," Jake said, smiling now-though he still looked a little disconcerted. "Because if I'm boring you and you'd rather dance with someone else, just say."

"No! No. Of course not!" I blurted out the words so quickly it made the situation feel even more awkward.

My cheeks blazed.

I felt uncomfortable dancing. The girls in skimpy dresses all around me were dancing like they'd been born in a club. I felt clumsy and out of place in my flowing dress and brown sandals.

Sandals. What were you thinking, Rose? I was shocked to find myself wis.h.i.+ng that I'd borrowed one of Kristal's short dresses.

I tried to concentrate on the rhythm and beat of the music. But the music felt so foreign to me, it was hard to flow with it. The more I tried, the more I pictured myself as the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz.

Ben and I had been exposed to music aplenty. But not this type of music-club music. Stuff that people our age listened to.

Our father had encouraged Ben and I to take up musical instruments from a young age. I'd played both the harp and piano since I was six years old, while Ben played the piano and guitar. Our dad had taught us both. But our dad's taste in music was rather old-fas.h.i.+oned, as one would expect from a man born in the fifteenth century.

"They've arrived!" Jake shouted over the music, pointing toward a group of girls and boys our age who'd just broken through the crowd. He let go of me and walked toward a tall, skinny blonde girl in a black glittery minidress and heels so high they made my feet ache just looking at them.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and reached down to kiss her on the lips.