Status Updates From A Shade of Blood (A Shade o...

Lucas in Eqypt “Oasis” with Maslens. Tells brother is awake, found girl from prophesy to establish his rein and “true sanctuary.” They don’t want Derek to succeed. Boris thinks Claremont girl was his! Ingrid tells Boris “she is yours, you’ll get her back.” Ingrid Sophia’s mother. Ingrid gave daughter to Boris. Lucas better help them; either way, they will take Sophia. Bet mom never went crazy. Ugh

His father returns to question Sophia as a threat. Boris visited the island—but father protected their knowledge how to get there. Father still working with Boris. Father and Son argue about power. Father also warns Sophia that Derek will lose interest. Derek convinced he loves her like no one else. (Why is Sophia so naive? Oh wait, she’s effing 17!!)

Wakes from sex, what have I done? She knows she’ll grow old; they are temporary. But she doesn’t regret because she’ll remember it forever even if temporary. She promise to never leave him again. He calls her his again. “I don’t belong to you. I belong with you.” They are in stupid postsex bliss. (I hate this book)

He’s under heat for protecting her. He wants her to feel for him like she used to. He fears losing her—just like Ben. He starts pushing her physically too. He thinks she’s everything to him; but she doesn’t trust his feelings. He confesses love and so she takes him to bed and has sex. WTF.

Sophia seeing Vivian’s (only vamp to exclusively drink animal blood) memories, of a ruby necklace Ingrid sent to her prior to Vivian after Boris had taken her and done who knows what (father sold her to Boris). We don’t know what’s up with necklace but the ring Sophia got from Corine also had rubies.
Friends defending Derek for him sleeping with other women. What??? She’s afraid but more of losing him. Idiot

News spread that Sophia defied vampire and got away with it.
Derek still won’t let them abduct more humans for feeding. The natural born humans are laborers the island needs to function so they don’t regularly get fed from.

Lucas looking for his father in real world. Natalie is vampire diplomat (Italian), allowed to visit all covens. Father won’t see him. Boris (in Cairo) is offering Lucas sanctuary in exchange for loyalty to Maslens. Tells her to tell father the problem is human named Sophia.

Sophia tours catacombs (human quarters). Meets Lily who knows her beautiful children will be taken and drank/killed. Sophia conflicted. Knows treatment wrong but still cares for Derek. Meanwhile Derek planning culling of humans she’ll never forgive. Sophia sees Claudia who tells her she slept with Derek and taken lily’s oldest son as slave. She’s afraid of Derek and everyone tells her he gets rid of his pets.

Prophecy says she’ll be a queen.
Ben tortures Vivian, who’s still alive. Ruben wants to find his daughter.
Sophia saves Ashley from trial; she faked her Hawk tattoo. Friends hate her.
(I Fell asleep listening so don’t remember what else happened.)

Nightmares have stopped. She tells Derek that Ben joins Hunters. Sophia remembering Derek is still really in charge. (ie She’s not free even though Vivian said she could be.) The girls believe her to be a traitor — she didn’t save them, came back and took back Derek after his decline.

History of Vivian and evil Boris Maslen (fiancé), sold by their father. Lucas didn’t help. Derek was a Hunter then and knew Boris was a vampire he was meant to kill. Now he believes Vivian dead bc of Hunters. Sophia is pretending to be his slave again.

Ben going to tell Ruben everything about the Shade to get Sophia back, believes her brainwashed by Derek.

History of Derek meeting Cora at the lighthouse of island, saved her life even as vampire. Shade history book will make her hate him.

Ben lost all hope after Sophia left, only has vengeance. Left his family (doesn’t know his dad is with Hunters, but dad knows). He calls Ruben with Hunters and they take him to Hawk Headquarters; they all know him and have been waiting. He and Sophia had already been under their surveillance. That helped them catch Vivian. Zero surprise, he gets to their compound and “Ruben” is Sophia’s dad, Aidan Claremont.

Even 500 yo vampires are children. Derek now wants to atone and earn Sophia back? Dude, you literally were ready to punish her by killing her friend. And you still sent her friend to the prisons. She can’t ignore that. (But the stupid girl will.) They pause to just be together but then start to fight about his spiraling behavior.

Derek freaks out at the loss of his sister, so he decides to blame Sophia and thus take it out on her friends, Ashley notably since he’d drank her before. He’s really a monster now. Hawk tattoo marked her as a Hunter. Sophia returned to catch him in the process of torturing Derek. He’s pissed at her and turned to attack Sophia. She made him save Ashley. He lets her know he’s not the same man she left.

These children are CHILDREN. Ben’s mad at Sophia for being undecided about the Shade and now he’s over her? Then Ben gave her ultimatum about going with him to find the Hunters. That pushed Sophia to go back. Stupid girl. And Ben knows she’s giving up on their relationship. Vivian stuck with Hunters.

He’s been having sex with other women every night since Sophia left? There’s only so much he’s done that’s forgivable. I don’t like any of these MCs. Oh my god, even Claudia?!? I’m done with him.

She knows she loves Ben but not sure if only as a friend. She feels guilt when she kisses Ben.
Vivian shows up at their high school football game. She tries to get Sophia to come back. She transferred her memories to Sophia before Ben’s dad and other men arrived and captured Vivian. Then she passes out.

Ben only feels their kisses, not other touches. She wouldn’t sleep with him at prom.

Now I’m really mad. Derek is obsessing over the “lovely” Ashley since he had drank from her. Regretting checking out the 3rd book because I’m about to DNF.
Now he’s dictating no more human abductions and to drink the stored blood from the massive “culling” awhile ago when the murdered many humans when their population got unhappy in their slavery.

Ben tried to touch her in bed, and when she said no, he brought up what Claudia had done to him. Sad. Now they are going on their first date. Childhood memories of her all over the place. It seems his family treats her like a maid (dishes, watch little sister). He said he didn’t want to date her before because he knew she had a crush on him but wanted to wait to “settle”? And she’s happy to date him? Wtf?

Derek doesn’t want to protect Sophia anymore? He’s losing control and humanity. Sending other girls away. Destroying the sunroom she had made for him. Overcome by power. Sentenced Claudia to imprisonment for aiding his brother.

She wants to kiss Ben?? (Rose Red nickname for Snow White’s sister. Blood red lips, Snow White skin.) And she wants to date him? How quickly she stops “loving” Derek. Now, she shouldn’t have loved Derek in the first place (captor, little to no respect for humans anyway), but this dumb 17 yo flipped back to dumb Ben in like 3 weeks. They are literally sleeping together bc nightmares.

There had been a human uprising before. The vampires had killed them all. Felt they had to protect the Shade. Cora was divided. Real time, Derek blacked out and attacked/drank from the girls left in his harem. “The darkness has arrived.”

Lucas escaped the island. He wants to find their father, Gregor. He doesn’t know Sophia left the island, but is still craving her.

Women choose Derek over Lucas. Cora was in love with him, too. Even Claudia.

Census:
110 vampires across clans, 65–>45 turned. Knights among them.
Lodgers 1,326. Guards and scouts among them.
Humans to sustain them: (not counted bc food/cattle) prisoners and slaves.
7532 Naturals (born here) and 2329 migrates (kidnapped).

Cool, now asshole Ben is kissing her like he has a right to. Ugh.

Ooh, gross. Ben desires. “She was mine.” Guys at school knew she was off limits; girls I dated knew they were flings. (why do all these fucking men think she’s theirs?) The Shade changed him and his trust for her. He knows he treated her like crap and lost her to Derek. Whole football team knows he’s been holding off on her. What an ass. Even still, he’s fucked up from the Shade and has gone numb.

Sophia is having nightmares in the real world, the “darkness is coming”; Vivian saying same thing in the Shade.
Sophia’s father is owner of home security company; guessing he is part of the Hunters and he saw something in her and her mother. Ben will give her until end of High school, then he’ll tell people and take revenge on the Shade.