He caught me staring at him in question.
“You and her?” I asked, wondering if I had found his weak spot. “That’s repulsive.”
His jaw tightened. I saw a glimpse of humanity in him when he said, “My thoughts exactly.”
“Then why do you let her get away with it? Can you not take her down? Put her in her place? If you hate it so much, why let it happen? Maybe you like it. You actually like it when your sister comes on to you.”
“Shut your mouth before I shut it for you. Clara is not my sister. We’re the Elder’s children, but Clara… Emilia… all his spawns… none of them are my family.”
“Then who is?”
“Whoever I want”—red eyes traveled from the top of my head to the tips of my toes—“for the moment.”
I suppressed a shudder, fighting to maintain composure. You’ve been around all sorts of disgusting creatures before, Sofia. You can handle this. I stared at him, slightly mortified, but keeping my head held high, increasingly intrigued. I returned the favor and began to peruse him. Strong, muscled, virile…
My eyes met his and based on the way he was glaring at me, he didn’t seem to appreciate the way I was studying him. To retaliate, he began hitting me where it hurt.
He set his eyes on Derek.
“You should’ve heard him scream in pain when I ran the knife against his flesh. Oh, and when the beasts came at him…” Kiev chuckled, delight sparking in his eyes.
I didn’t even want to ask what beasts were.
Kiev’s voice took on an almost nostalgic tone. “I never thought I’d see it myself… the fall of a legend. I honestly thought that Emilia was going to be his downfall, but he survived even that. I’ve got to admit that I like this better.” He lightly kicked Derek’s leg. “I like being the hand that brings him to his knees.”
I’d gotten to him when I’d taunted him about Clara. His defenses had dropped. Now he was launching a counterattack. I managed to just smirk at him before nudging Derek. Why aren’t you waking up at all this commotion? You’re not normally a heavy sleeper. “Derek?” I muttered.
“He’s fine.”
I looked up to find Kiev rolling his eyes.
“He’s not dead, if that’s what you’re worried about. So, enough of your moping, Lady Novak. Get up.”
“No.” I shook my head. “I’m not going to leave him here. I’m not going anywhere with you.”
I was barely able to comprehend what happened next. Within seconds, his one hand was fisted over a clump of my hair, gripping it painfully. His other hand pressed against my back, pushing me against a wall, my cheek against the rough stone.
“My orders aren’t requests, sweet queen. They’re commands, which you are to immediately obey.”
I tried to hit him with my free hands, but he grabbed one arm and twisted it until I yelped with pain.
“I wouldn’t exert myself too much if I were you. Not in this condition.”
I had no time to wonder what he meant because he flipped me in one swift motion so that I was facing him, my back against the wall. His face was way too close to mine.
“Let go of me,” I hissed at him.
“You’re queen of The Shade, Sofia. Not queen of The Blood Keep. Your commands mean nothing here.”
“What do you want from me?”
“I want you to come with me.”
Derek lay motionless on the ground. He was clearly still breathing, but to still remain asleep even after his head had hit the ground when Kiev pulled me from beneath him was completely unlike him.
“Why isn’t he waking up?”
“Damn it, I could snap you in half and still it’s him you’re worried about.”
I slammed both my palms against Kiev’s chest. “Why isn’t he waking up?”
“I don’t know, okay? Maybe his body is trying to cope with the torture he went through. I don’t give a damn! I just know that I don’t want to be here when he does, so you better come with me right now, Sofia, or I am going to make you regret it.”
I froze. The threats meant nothing to me. What resounded in my mind was his slip-up. I don’t want to be here when he does. Was I just fooling myself or did it seem like he was still afraid of Derek?
I didn’t have time to ask because he began dragging me outside the cell.
“Let go of me!” I tried to pull away, but he was holding me by the wrist with such an iron grip I was sure my bones would break. “Let go of me, Kiev. I refuse to be treated like some child throwing a tantrum, being dragged to whatever hell you want to take me to.”
Kiev stopped in his tracks, right outside the dungeon, his grip on my wrist tightening. “You want me to stop treating you like a child? Stop acting like one. I am lord of this castle—your lord. You will do as I say without resistance.”
“Then get off me.” I wriggled my wrist away from his grasp. “It’s not like I can run away from you without you catching me. We both know that in both speed and strength, you overpower me.”
He reached past me. I flinched when the cell door slammed shut behind us. I hated leaving Derek there.
“Promise me that nothing will happen to him in my absence.”
“You are in no position to demand promises from me, Sofia.” Kiev tipped my chin up with his curved forefinger. “But I must say, you are stunning when you exert your authority as queen of The Shade. Too bad that fact doesn’t have that much pull here.”
“Promise me and I will cooperate with you.”
“I can force your cooperation and you know it. I might even enjoy your fighting back more.”
I stood on my spot and just stared, raising a brow at him, bluffing confidence.
To my surprise, he said, “Fine. As long as you’re with me, he won’t be harmed.”
I didn’t like the sound of his preamble, but I was going to take whatever I could get.
“Very well then. Where are you taking me?”
He placed his hand on the small of my back and gently pushed me forward. “Follow me.”
We walked through hallways with high ceilings and imposing pillars. Heavy velvet curtains coated with dust and cobwebs hung closed by every window. Everything about the castle was dark, foreboding and imbued with fear. Kiev led me into a room that looked like a laboratory of sorts.
“What is this place?” I grimaced, half-expecting Dr. Frankenstein to show up somewhere.
Kiev propped me on top of a desk. “Don’t do anything stupid, Sofia. Sit still.”
Within minutes, he was drawing blood from me through a syringe.
“What are you going to use my blood for?”
“You’ll know soon enough.”
“Where is Abby? Why would you take a child like her? What could you possibly want from her?”
Kiev eyed me for a moment, as if debating whether or not he should answer the question. To my relief, he did. “She’s an immune. Just like you.”
I felt the blood drain from my face. “How would you even know that? That only means that you…”
“Clara tried to turn her.”
“She’s just a child.”
“As if Clara cares. Truth be told, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s drinking the child’s blood now.”
“And you don’t care that this is happening? Is there no humanity left in you?”
He began to chuckle. “Humanity? In me?” He pouted to mock me. “Is that what you’re looking for, sweet Lady Novak? Are you actually trying to find some good in me? I’ll show you what’s good about me.” He pressed his lips against mine. Invading. Intruding. Violating.
I tried to pull away from him but my struggles did me little good. When our lips parted, I gasped for breath—something he mistook as a gasp of pleasure. This can’t be happening to me. Not again.
He gave me a smug smirk. “Good enough for you? You know, Sofia, if you ever tire of your mortal, remember that I’m waiting for you to give yourself to me. After all, without his power, Derek might be a lot less appealing to a youn
g woman like you.”
The idea that he was actually into me was sickening. I didn’t know if I had it in me to fend off another Lucas or another Borys. “You disgust me,” I spat at him. “I will always be Derek’s. Always.”
“Ah, yes.” He smiled with genuine pleasure. “I must say it’s beautiful to see the eternal love of Derek and Sofia Novak playing right in front of me. Riveting really. But I hate to say it, sweetheart. I doubt he’ll want you after we’re finished with you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“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?”
“You don’t.”
I frowned, taken aback by the bluntness. “What do you want from me? Why would you want to help me? What is The Sanctuary?”
“I came to get you out of here. I don’t want to help you. I just know that I have to. You’ll discover what The Sanctuary is if you come with me.”
“I’m not leaving without my wife.”
“You have to. If you stay here, mark my words, child, you will die. They won’t harm Sofia. They need her. You, on the other hand…”
I wasn’t used to being called a child, but if she was as her name implied, a five-hundred-year-old man was indeed a child compared to her.
“I can’t leave Sofia here.”
“You have a better chance of helping her outside of The Blood Keep than inside where they can torture you and make your powers regress.”
“Huh? Powers?” My b
reath hitched as I tried to comprehend the words she was speaking.
“Your ignorance is astounding.” She huffed impatiently. “Are you coming or not?”
“Where are we going?”
“The Sanctuary.”
I only knew of one Sanctuary—the witch’s temple back at our island kingdom. I definitely saw the benefit of returning there, where I had forces to command to free Sofia from the Elder’s grasp.
“Sanctuary? You mean at The Shade?”
She scoffed at the notion. “No, child. The true Sanctuary.”
I saw no other choice. Kiev would end my life if I stayed there. I was more useful to Sofia alive, though weak, than dead.
The moment I nodded, the Ageless grabbed my hand and within seconds, I was no longer at The Blood Keep.
I opened my eyes only to be blinded by a radiant sun. Once I had adjusted to the sudden change of lighting, I realized I was situated on the top floor of a towering building, standing on a broad white-marble verandah, overlooking a magnificent—almost ethereal—city.
A gentle breeze brought with it the fragrance of exotic flowers. For as far as my eye could travel, pure white architecture sprawled beneath me, with domed roofs studded with gems, glistening in the sunlight. The buildings were surrounded by lakes and green pastures. Not far in the distance came the crash of water. My gaze fell upon the crown of a waterfall, gushing down into a lush valley. An elegantly crafted bridge hung across the basin, allowing for passage.
One look at my surroundings and I could understand why anyone would call it true sanctuary.
Chapter 13: Aiden
Tense and irritated, I stood on one side of the large room they kept the rogue vampire in. I was infuriated that the witch and the vampire princess could go on and on about Derek with little thought to my daughter.
It’s not that they don’t care about Sofia. Stop taking things too personally, a voice of reason said, while the greater part of me was screaming, How can I not take it personally? This is my only daughter whose life is on the line!
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