A Gate of Night (A Shade of Vampire #6)(13)
Author: Bella Forrest

“Kiev and Clara.” Corrine said the words with utter spite. “The Elder’s children.”

I asked the question I was dreading the answer to. “Do they have my brother, Natalie?”

She nodded. “I tried to stop it, but Kiev and Clara… they’re powerful. I didn’t stand a chance. They have both Derek and Sofia.”

My stomach turned. My brother was mortal. How on earth was he going to protect himself? “What would they want with…”

“They’re after Sofia,” Corrine announced. “They’re after the immunes.”

Aiden’s hands balled into tight fists, a muscle on his jaw twitching. Behind him, Zinnia stood, arms crossed over her chest, leaning against the wall, seemingly enjoying everything that was happening.

I tried to ignore how irritated I was by the little brat. “And my brother?” I was afraid for his life. They only wanted Sofia. That meant Derek, especially now that he was a human, was dispensable.

“They told me to tell you that they would return Derek alive in exchange for one thing. They want The Shade’s side of the portal activated. The Shade’s gate.”

“No. Never.” Corrine shook her head violently.

“What?” I blurted out. “What is going on, Corrine? What portal? What gate?”

“We can’t have that, Vivienne. Trust me. We can’t allow something like that to happen. The stakes are too high.”

Collect yourself, Vivienne. I breathed a deep sigh. “Something like what, Corrine?” I said through gritted teeth. “Make it clear to me what’s so important about this portal that you are willing to exchange my brother’s life for it.”

“Surely they wouldn’t kill Derek,” Corrine muttered.

“Why wouldn’t they?” Natalie said. “Derek has been a pain in their ass since he woke up. Now is the best time to get rid of him. As a human, he’s the weakest he’s ever been in centuries.”

“If they wanted him dead, they would’ve killed him when he was in their territory—when Emilia was madly in love with him.”

“There’s no Emilia now to protect him, is there?” I added. “Corrine, what is this gate?”

“I can’t tell you.” Corrine shook her head. “But it’s the only reason I ever agreed to come here, Vivienne. I need to protect that gate. It can never be opened.”

“I’m getting my brother back, witch. I will strike a deal with the Elder himself if I have to.”

“You know that I’m powerful enough to stop you.”

“Then do it. You’ll have to kill me, because that’s what it will take.”

Seeing the witch so alarmed daunted me. Corrine was so much better at keeping a calm and collected exterior than I was. We’d never been friends, but we’d always had an understanding—we were on the same side. Until now. Staring at her, I wondered if Corrine would go as far as killing me to prevent that gate from getting opened.

She eyed me, her inner conflict evident in the heave of her chest and the firmness of her expression. “There are three gates that will open a portal to Cruor, the realm of the original vampires, the Elders. And yes, there is more than one Elder. One gate is in The Blood Keep, one is here at The Shade, one is at The Underground. From what Natalie said, they already have control of The Underground. The only one left is The Shade.”

“What does that mean? Why should it matter to me that the portal be opened?”

“You have no idea what the original vampires are like. Elders. They are nothing like you. Your kind are their creation, a mere mutation of the original. Should they come to earth, then those of the other supernatural realms will come too. That means war, Vivienne. A war of supernaturals. Do we really want to be a catalyst of that?”

“Why now? Why do all these Elders want to come now after all these years?”

Corrine shrugged. “Your brother found the cure. That cure has been the greatest threat to their presence here on earth. If that cure has the potential to eradicate all vampires…”

I stared at Corrine, unable to breathe. I couldn’t help but feel like her very existence had been a lie. I’d thought that she had become an ally to us, but I should’ve known that it was a mistake to ever trust a witch.

Derek trusted Cora and he paid dearly for it.

“Do you really think for one moment, Corrine, that the Elder isn’t going to find another way to activate that portal—with or without Derek as a bargaining chip? If this war is—”

My sentence was cut off because a vision flashed right in front of me—a vision so vivid I dropped to the ground. I was known as the Seer of The Shade for a reason but never before had I seen a vision so disturbing.

The sky was a deep crimson red. Deafening thunder rolled overhead. Torrents of hot rain poured from the clouds, soaking the blood-stained ground. Giant winged creatures and immortal vampires were in full-on war. The earth was their battleground, humans their casualties.

By the time the vision was over, I was trembling uncontrollably. When I came to, Xavier’s arm was around me and Corrine was kneeling right in front of me.

“What did you see?” she asked.

“War. Violent… bloody… too many deaths…”

“That’s what’s going to happen if the portal is opened.”

“The portal will be opened, Corrine. The real question here is whether or not my brother will be alive when it does. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather go through that war with an ally like him.”

Something sparked in Corrine’s eyes. “Vivienne… I don’t know…”

I opened my mouth but Aiden cleared his throat, interrupting us. “I understand the discussion on whether or not to save Derek, but you forget his number one weakness. My daughter. In the rush of your discussion, you ignore one key thing. What are they going to do with the immunes? What are they going to do with Sofia?”

Chapter 11: Sofia

Derek was trying to keep a brave face, but he was in agony. I was barely able to sleep because he kept stirring on my lap, moaning. I wasn’t sure if it was because of the pain or because of the nightmare he seemed to be having. Abby remained snuggled beside me and my body was beginning to feel the strain caused by their weight leaning against me, my back aching, the hard concrete wall behind me not helping.

The Elder’s children had us and I had no idea what they wanted from us. I didn’t have the heart to pry information out of my Derek. He’d already been through enough. I could only imagine the trauma he was going through now that he’d been tortured as a human being and not a powerful vampire.