A Gate of Night (A Shade of Vampire #6)(16)
Author: Bella Forrest

“I think it’s time I start asking the questions. Don’t you agree?”

“What are you going to do to me?”

“Why did you fall in love with him?”

“What does it matter to you?”

“Come on, tell me, Sofia. What exactly did you see in him?”

“Why are you such a monster?”

He seemed to tire of our questioning game, because he tilted his head to the side, ran a hand through my hair before grinning. “Mrs. Novak, believe me when I say that you haven’t got the slightest clue just how much of a monster I am.”

The moment the words left his lips, his fangs appeared and sank into my neck. At the same moment, he stuck a syringe into my arm, causing me to lose all consciousness.

Chapter 12: Derek

Nothing was left of The Shade. Nothing. War raged all around me as I stood at the center of a bloody battlefield. I couldn’t make out the creatures that were fighting. Phantoms, all of them, but I was seeing my comrades fall one at a time.

First, Cameron, then Claudia, then Xavier… then Vivienne…

I wanted to scream when I saw her fall, but I couldn’t. The pain built up inside of me until it balled into a magnificent force that caused fire to spark from my palms.

Anger. Fury. Rage.

I was unstoppable.

I hit anyone who came into contact with me. Someone had to pay for my sister’s death. I was on a rampage, destroying everything in my path—indiscriminate and violent. I no longer knew who my allies were, so I determined to ruin them all.

Then I saw her.

My Sofia.

Beautiful as always.

Terrifying.

Covered in a thick black liquid, she smiled.

I couldn’t think of anything more horrifying than seeing my innocent Sofia standing amidst a battlefield of phantoms, the liquid dripping from her head to her toes, flashing that eerie, delighted smile.

For a moment, I hesitated. Then I shook my head.

I said words more horrifying than the scene that surrounded me.

“She isn’t my Sofia.”

My eyes shot open, waking me from the nightmare. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. The nightmare had been plaguing me since our honeymoon began. A cold breeze swept across the dungeon. I was alone. I was terrified.

What are they going to do to her? I felt like I was about to lose my wife.

I took a long gasp for breath, refilling my lungs with air before jolting up in a sitting position. The cell was empty. My heart doubled its beat. My stomach twisted.

“Sofia!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. My voice bounced across the room in a mocking echo. “Sofia,” I sobbed.

The idea that she could be going through what Kiev had put me through inside that torture chamber haunted me.

“What were you thinking, Novak? Why would you willingly become human again? Become weak again?” he taunted me as he ran the edge of the knife beneath my skin.

I shouted through the gag he’d stuffed into my mouth as I lay flat on my back on the steel platform he had me chained to. This was after he’d let loose the mutts. I didn’t know what those creatures were, but they’d torn at my flesh before gulping generous amounts of my blood. I’d thought Kiev was going to let me die under their mercy, but he had other plans. Once he was satisfied watching the strange dogs maul me, he’d brought me to a dimly lit chamber where he took pleasure in taunting me as he tortured me.

His taunts escalated even as his methods became more torturous.

“What did you think was going to happen? You killed Emilia, crossed my father more times than can be counted, then you find the cure that would threaten our kind’s existence in this world, and then you turn human. Did you really think you were going to get away with all that? Did you really think we would just let you live happily ever after with your precious redhead? What were you going to do? Buy a house with a white picket fence? Have children? Be normal?”

He grinned when he saw in my eyes that this was exactly what I’d wanted. It was what I’d always wanted—even before I turned into a vampire. Fall in love with a girl, raise children with her, live a happy, normal life. Instead, what I’d gotten was centuries of being a creature I detested.

“Why didn’t you just kill her? Being around her, sensing how sweet her blood is, how could you have not bled Sofia dry? Where did you find the will?”

I glared daggers at him. A multitude of threats ran through my mind at the very thought of him ever laying hands on my wife.

“If you die, do you think she’ll ever love again?” He stared at the dagger he was about to gut me with. He had a sparkle in his bloody red eyes—almost as if he wished Sofia would love him.

All I could do was snicker. The attempt made me groan with pain.

“Relax, Novak. Stop exerting yourself. I don’t want you to die just yet.”

I lay as still as I could, attempting to focus on Sofia, knowing that I had to survive that night. I couldn’t afford to die. I couldn’t afford to leave my wife behind. I had to protect her.

As I lay there, however, I knew that I wasn’t who I used to be. The hours of torture Kiev put me through proved me weak. At the end of it all, I was convinced that I was completely useless to my wife.

I’m just too weak, I told myself. I’m powerless to defend her.

Those same words haunted me as I sat up inside the cell, terrified by the thought of what Sofia could be going through. I resented the words because I couldn’t deny it. I stared at my palms, hating how weak I felt at that moment.

“What have I done?” I muttered, before realizing something was amiss.

I felt absolutely no pain. None. I checked my body, my arms, my legs. I ran my hands against my face. No wounds. Nothing.

How is that possible?

Lost in my confusion, I was completely stunned when a beautiful woman appeared inside the dungeon. She wore a white velvet robe with fur lining over a snowy blue gown. With silver hair and amber-gold eyes, she stared down at me.

It took several minutes before her presence fully registered in my mind. “W-who…?” I creased my brows and looked at the cell around me. “How?”

She gave no introductions or explanations. There wasn’t even a greeting. All she said was, “You’re coming with me.”

I stood up, thankful that I was healed but mystified by it nonetheless. I shook my head. “Who are you?”

“I’m the Ageless, mother witch of The Sanctuary, and you’re coming with me, Derek Novak.”

“Wha… How do I know I can trust you?”