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I left the penthouse and made my way toward the Sanctuary I knocked on the door Ibrahi spiced tea in his hand

"Hi, Ibrahim"

"Hello, Sofia How can I help?"

"I’m here for Corrine Is she in?"

"No, she’s at the school"

I thanked hih the woods until I reached The Shade’s bustling town center--the Vale The school was in a large white building in the h the corridors, scanning each classrooht of ainst a desk in one of the classroo to Adelle, the head auburn-haired witch who looked as though she was in her o, along with Ibrahiroup of other witches who’d abandoned The Sanctuary in favor of living with us We were indebted to these witches in so many ways We could not have rebuilt The Shade into what it was today without them Before they arrived, thanks to The Elders and their children, our island had been a complete wreck Now, the island was better and more beautiful than ever before

"Oh, hi, Sofia," Aiden said, noticing me by the door

It was still bizarre to see him as a vampire He had finally caved in about a year after Derek and I had become vampires He’d detested hirown used to it Recently I’d noticed hi conversations with Adelle I hadn’t dared ask him about their friendship yet, but I couldn’t miss the attraction that sparked in his eyes every tiht finally be opening up to another woman And this time, to a woman who deserved him

"Hi, Dad," I said "Don’t mind me"

I s along the corridors in hopes of spotting Corrine That hen I saw Abby She was sitting behind a desk in a s notes

She looked up as soon as I entered Abigail Hudson was now a beautiful young wo blonde hair wrapped in a neat bun above her head, her light blue eyes gazing atI often foundto her, as tears threatened to spill down o, we’d turned her back into a hurow up She’d rehteen, and then she’d wanted to turn back into a vaside the witches as a school teacher, and she clearly adored every"How can I help?"

"Do you knohere Corrine is?" I asked "Ibrahim said she was here in the school so hall"

"Thanks, Abby"

I turned and left the rooed rooth of it--I saw Corrine sitting with Anna in the far corner

They appeared deep in conversation, so I waited by the door, butcouldn’t help but pick up on their conversation

"I think we’ll only need one more round of blood," Corrine said "After that, I’h to recreate iven us over the years We’ve stored it all carefully"

Of course Corrine hadthis conversation with Anna Since Anna was now the only immune that we had on this island, her blood was ienerous amounts of her blood so that we could store it and use it for any vampires anted to turn back into hued to develop a way to duplicate her blood and mix it with animal blood that would have the same effect when consumed by a vampire Had they not done this, too much of Anna’s blood would have been needed to ensure that ould never run out The witches stored the samples securely in three separate parts of the island--that way even if disaster happened, it was unlikely that we’d lose everything Vampires would continue to have the option to turn back into huht black hair flowed down her shoulders, her eyes on Corrine When she wasn’t giving blood or spending time with her family, she assisted in the island’s pre-school She ell into her thirties now, and a large bump protruded from her stoe to think that I would be her age now had I not asked Derek to turn me My heart ached as I looked at her I owed her more than I could ever repay Yet I felt powerless to hold on to her

Since Anna was immune to the vampire curse, there was no way she could ever become one of us Immortal The only e knew to cure an immune of their immunity was to take them to Cruor--as I had been kidnapped there That was a fate worse than death, and it wasn’t even possible, since the gates to that realm had been closed for almost two decades

We all had to accept the fact that she would pass away It was for that reason that Kyle hadn’t changed himself back into a va on without her, so he’d decided that he would pass away naturally with her when nature took them both