Holding my arm tightly, he held me close against him as we moved forward. I couldn"t see much, given the dark shades and hood pulled right over my eyes, and I dared not lift either after Caleb"s stern instruction. I could only see what was on the ground a few feet ahead of me.
We had barely been walking five minutes when he hissed, "Duck down!"
He pushed me down behind a bush. He knelt beside me. I held my breath as I tried to listen to what was going on. He parted the shrubbery and peered through it.
"They"re leaving," he whispered.
"Huh?"
He parted the bush a little more and I raised the hood and sungla.s.ses. We were still near the port-we had been walking along the outskirts of the dark island-and I looked just in time to see a submarine submerging. Even though I only caught the top of the submarine, I knew it was one of The Shade"s subs from its distinctive design.
Before I could say another word, he lifted me up and raced back to our submarine. Flinging open the hatch, he lowered me inside and shut it after him. He raced back to the control room and lurched the vessel forward before I even had a chance to reach my seat.
"We can"t lose them," he said. "Or we"ll have no way of getting you back to The Shade."
I gripped my seat as we surged forward. As I looked through the front screen at the dark waters we were traveling through, I couldn"t see anything, but from the way Caleb was navigating the vessel, it was clear that he was following something.
But something didn"t seem right. Home was the last place my parents would have been traveling to if they had been unable to find me on Stellan"s island. They had found Ben, but I couldn"t imagine them returning home without me.
"Do you think they"re definitely heading back to The Shade?" I asked.
"It looks like it. At least, they"re not headed toward my island."
I wondered if perhaps they had to return some injured vampires back to the island before coming back to search for me.
I settled more comfortably in my chair and looked up at Caleb"s face. His eyes were fixed forward. As the hours pa.s.sed by in silence, his concentration didn"t break. I a.s.sumed that we definitely were headed toward The Shade since Caleb hadn"t said anything to indicate the contrary.
This is it now.
I"m going home.
I"d thought I would be feeling joy and relief.
Instead, watching Caleb speed the vessel forward, I felt strangely numb.
Chapter 37: Rose.
A few hours later, the vessel ground to a halt.
I glanced up at Caleb. He stood up and walked out the door. He headed toward the hatch and pushed it open, then lowered himself back down, making way for me to climb up.
Shivers ran down my spine as I looked up at the open hatch.
Just a few steps up toward goodbye forever.
He raised his eyes to me and, reaching for my hand, planted a chaste kiss over it.
"Goodbye, princess," he said softly.
He motioned to let go of my hand, but I gripped on tight. I began shaking my head.
"No. Not yet. Come with me," I said, tugging at him to climb up through the hatch with me.
"No. This is where I leave you."
"Caleb, you"re coming with me whether you like it or not." I began climbing the ladder to the open hatch, gripping his arm and pulling him with me with all the force I could manage.
Sighing, he caught hold of a pipe sticking out of the wall and pulled himself back.
"Don"t."
"Look, it"s just for a short while. I promise. Please?"
He frowned at me. "For what?"
"I want you to meet my parents. Th-they"ll want to thank you for everything you"ve done."
He looked even more reluctant at the mention of my parents. But after several more minutes of my begging, he eventually gave in to my request and followed me out of the hatch.
Looking around the port, I saw the large submarine moored in the harbor. I caught his cold hand, and, entwining my fingers with his, walked toward the entrance of the woods.
I watched his face as he took in the surroundings of our warm island. His expression was a mixture of fascination and apprehension.
"Mom?" I began to shout. "Dad?"
If they were on this half of the island they would hear me easily. One of the many benefits of having vampires for parents.
No reply.
But then a few moments later, my grandfather came into view, rushing along the forest path toward us.
"Grandpa!" I yelled, running toward him.
His face broke out into a huge smile and tears of relief filled his eyes as he swept me up in his arms. "Rose! Oh, Rose! I don"t remember the last time I slept. We"ve all been sick with worry." He showered my cheeks with kisses and hugged me tight before finally putting me down. "How did you get here?"
"This is Caleb," I said, smiling and tugging at Caleb"s sleeve. "He"s the only reason I"m here. Caleb, this is my grandfather, Aiden."
My grandfather stood up straight, his eyes settling on Caleb for the first time. He reached out for Caleb"s hand and shook it. Then he pulled Caleb against his chest for an embrace.
"I don"t know anything about you, boy. But I"m forever in your debt for returning my granddaughter to me."
Caleb nodded, and gave him a small smile.
"Where"s Ben?" I asked.
My grandfather"s smile faded and worry creased his forehead.
"We found him unconscious in one of Stellan"s submarines. He still hasn"t come to, but we"re hoping he"ll be okay. Corrine"s treating him now in the Sanctuary."
"What about Mom and Dad?"
"They"re still looking for you. As soon as we realized you weren"t with Stellan, your father managed to coerce one of the vampires there to reveal the location of his island. Vivienne, Xavier and a large group of other vampires are still with them storming the place and searching for you. I had to return early with Corrine and a few other witches in one of the submarines to care for your brother."
"And Anna?"
"She"s here too. She"s been here all along. Your parents never planned to hand her over. They pretended to have her just so they could ambush their submarines... but that"s a long story. Now I must call your mom."
He reached into his pocket and, pulling out a phone, dialed my parents.
"Sofia? Darling, I"ve got her. Rose. She"s here. Your daughter is back here in The Shade. No, I"m not joking. What kind of a joke would that be? You want to talk to her? Yes, of course. Hold on a second."
He pa.s.sed the phone to me.
"Mom?"
"Oh, G.o.d. Rose!" My mom began gasping. I heard her pull away from the phone and yell, "Derek! Rose is back home! We can leave now! Yes, she"s back!" She returned to speak to me. "Sweetheart, are you all right? Are you injured? How did you get back?"
"Mom, yes, it"s me. I"m fine. A handsome knight in shining armor rescued me," I said, winking at Caleb. He smirked and rolled his eyes. I could have sworn I saw a slight blush in his pale cheeks.
"We"re coming home right now, honey. We"ll be back as fast as we can, in a few hours. Just stay where you are. Don"t go anywhere."
"Don"t worry, Mom," I said, half laughing. "I don"t plan on going anywhere."
No sooner had I put the phone down than someone shouted out my name.
I turned around to see Griffin racing toward us. His face was pale, and he had dark circles under his eyes. He looked as though he hadn"t slept properly for days.
"Rose?" he gasped as he reached me.
I wrapped my arms around him and I felt him cling to me, breathing heavily against my neck.
"You have no idea how much we"ve all been worrying about you."
"Griff, I can"t tell you how sorry I am. What we did was incredibly stupid. I-"
"How the h.e.l.l did you escape?" he asked, looking down at my face.
I took a step away from him and reached for Caleb"s arm, pulling him closer to me.
"This is Caleb. He helped me escape. Caleb, this is my friend Griffin."
I watched as Griffin stared at Caleb as though he didn"t know what to make of him. His expression was a mixture of surprise and distrust.
"Well, thank you," he finally said, patting Caleb on the shoulder. "I"m not sure what I"d do without this girl."
I stared at Griffin, surprised by the strength of emotion in his voice as he spoke those last words. We were close friends, but I supposed that I had never quite realized just how much I meant to him.
Griffin turned back to face me.
"Are you all right?"
"Yes, I"m not harmed. I just have a few scratches." I squeezed his hand, hoping to rea.s.sure him. "But I really need to see my brother now."
Chapter 38: Caleb.
Rose insisted that I stay on the island until her parents returned. Although I felt uncomfortable, something made me give in to her requests. Perhaps it was just because she was so stubborn.
After greeting Aiden and her friend, we headed to see Rose"s brother in a beautiful white stone building they called the Sanctuary. Walking through the hallways, we stopped outside a circular bedroom where Ben lay in the center of a bed. His eyes were open by the time we arrived.
"Ben!" Rose yelled and ran over to him, planting a kiss on his forehead and embracing him.
"Rose," he whispered, coughing and rubbing his throat. Compared to Rose, he certainly looked worse for wear. He had shadows beneath his eyes, his skin had a yellowish tinge to it and he looked much thinner compared to when I last saw him. I dreaded to think what Stellan had put him through.
I looked at the brown-haired witch who was attending Ben along with several other witches. Her face lit up as soon as she saw Rose enter and she wrapped her in a tight hug.
"How did you get here?" Ben asked.
Rose ran over to me and dragged me to his bed. "Caleb." The princess beamed up at me. "He saved me."
Ben looked up at me and smiled, nodding. "I remember you," he wheezed. "Thanks man, for saving her... and for trying to save me."
He reached up a hand and I shook it.
It made me uncomfortable how she was touting me as some kind of hero. Still, she was getting pleasure out of it, so I didn"t say anything to her.
Rose stayed beside Ben for a while longer, but it was clear that he wasn"t in much of a state to talk. The witches suggested we leave and allow him to sleep to speed up his recovery.
We left the Sanctuary with Aiden, emerging into the beautiful moonlit courtyard outside.
"Grandpa," Rose said, "I"m going to show Caleb around the island for a bit, all right? I"ll check back at the port in a couple of hours or so to see if Mom and Dad have returned."
"Okay, darling." Aiden gave his granddaughter another hug before we parted ways.