“Hey,” I whispered.

“Resorting to seduction now, Mrs. Novak?” he muttered, not bothering to look up from his work. “I thought you were more classy than that.”

I giggled, tightening my grip around his neck. “What about resorting to force?”

He leant his head back, staring up at me with his blue eyes, calmly raising a brow.

“You can always try, darling. Though I don’t suggest it if you place any value on the time you spent combing your hair this morning…”

I squeezed his cheeks and pulled a face at him. I couldn’t stop grinning as I knelt next to him. I removed one of his hands from the desk and held it.

“Derek, seriously. You’re king of this island. They are now your citizens. You need to get to know them.”

“It’s not required that both of us get to know them. You’re queen. My other half. My representative. You going is the same as my going. It’s a waste of time both of us doing the same task. Besides, I already spoke to Matteo. And as for Kiev, I know more about that vampire than I can ever hope to erase from my memory.”

“You don’t know him. He’s different now.”

“So it seems. But you’ve already told me his story. There’s nothing more I require.”

“But, Derek—”

“Sofia, I don’t owe him anything. He owed us. That’s why he did what he did. Now we’re even.”

I sighed and stood up. It seemed that Derek would rather swallow a mouthful of nails than agree to my proposal.

I walked round to the back of his chair as he focused his attention once again on his work. I placed my palms over his forehead, brushing back his thick dark hair, and kissed his temple.

“Okay, baby. I’m not going to keep trying to force you. I just hope that one day you and Kiev will be able to accept each other for what you both are now… family.”

Derek remained silent.

I rolled my eyes and left the room.

Since the last meeting, Derek had resisted all my attempts to rope him into another meeting with Kiev. And vice versa. The truth was, as much as the two men’s stubbornness was frustrating, it was also beginning to amuse me. Kiev and Derek could pull off passive-aggression like I’d never seen before. As I walked out of the apartment alone, I determined to somehow bring the two of them together again. And something told me that I would have fun doing it…

I descended the elevator and began walking through the forest toward our guests’ residences. My father was approaching Yuri and Claudia’s tree.

“Hey, Dad,” I called.

“Hi, Sofia,” he said. He looked exhausted, his skin grey, eyes dark with fatigue.

I hugged him and kissed his cheek. “Are you all right?”

“Yes,” he said, pulling a strained smile.

“I’m just on my way to meet some of the werewolves,” I said.

“Oh, great. I won’t keep you then, honey. I’m just paying a quick visit to Yuri.”

“We need to make some time for each other.” I could hardly remember the last occasion we’d sat down and spent quality time together.

“We will.”

I hugged him again and we parted ways.

It took me about ten minutes of sprinting to reach the stretch of beach that was lined with the werewolves’ townhouses. I headed straight for Saira’s door. I knocked three times and waited. No answer. I peered through the window, but the curtains had been drawn. I knocked again. When there was still no answer, I tried knocking on the house next door. Again no answer. I knocked on each door next to hers for about five doors. When not one of them opened, I stepped back onto the beach, frowning.

Strange. Perhaps Matteo knows where she is.

I continued walking along the beach toward the vampires’ residences when I saw a large bonfire in the distance. A group was huddled around it, laughing and chattering.

Brett the ogre towered over the fire, skewering fish and holding them against the flames. He wore a stained waistcoat over his muddy brown chest, and grubby-looking pants that were a little too ripped for comfort.

I looked around at the crowd. All werewolves—still in their human forms since it was daytime, for which I was grateful. It still felt strange to hold a conversation with a giant wolf. I hadn’t yet gotten used to the way they replied in their deep gravelly voices.

They stopped laughing and chattering as soon as they saw me approach. An awkward silence descended. It was broken by Brett, who pointed to a spare seat near the fire. “Have a seat, why don’t ya.”

All eyes were on me as I sat down on the sand. I was glad to see Saira a few feet away from me. Her plump face split into a smile.

“Hello, Sofia.”

“Hello.”

The rest of the group began chattering again, though still glancing at me curiously.

“So, how are you finding The Shade so far?”

“Very comfortable. Certainly, these accommodations are more luxurious than what we’re used to.”

“Good.”

We needed to go out of our way to keep them all as comfortable and satisfied as possible.

So far, there had been no reports of attacks of their vampires or werewolves on our humans, which a part of me was definitely surprised about. Despite their assurances that they were house-trained, I had still harbored doubts. But they seemed to stick to their area of the island and not encroach on ours.

The ogre roasted several skewers of fish at once. I nodded toward the fire. “I see you’re doing all right for food.”