A Shade Of Vampire 4: A Shadow Of Light(73)

I steeled myself against shedding more tears. I didn’t want to cry any longer, but I also had no fight left in me either, so my tense and exhausted form just limply hung within his embrace, hoping that whoever was behind that door would somehow provide me momentary relief from Borys Maslen.

Borys finally opened the door.

I only realized how terrible I looked when I heard Ingrid, whom I was certain didn’t give a damn about what happened to me, gasp at the sight of me. “What have you done to her? Are you trying to kill her?”

Borys pulled his mouth away from my cheek. “She’s trying to kill herself with all the fight she’s trying to put up against me. Little minx can’t seem to get it in her head that she’s mine and that she’s supposed to just lean back and take whatever I give her.”

“Lest you forget, she’s the only leverage you have against Derek Novak. If you destroy her, you’re not going to be able to leave this island alive.”

Borys scoffed. “Just one drink of my blood will fix her.”

“Let her drink mine.”

I was stunned to hear the familiar voice. Vivienne. I turned to find her stepping into the room right behind Ingrid.

“What’s she doing here?” Borys spat out, though none of us missed the way his grip loosened around me as he perused Vivienne from head to foot. There was no mistaking that he still wanted Vivienne after all those years.

“A gift from Derek Novak.” Ingrid shrugged.

“I’ll do anything you want me to.” Vivienne looked confident enough, but her voice broke when she spoke the words. She heaved a sigh to regain composure before raising her eyes to him. “Just stop tormenting Sofia.”

Borys grinned as he wrapped both his arms around me, crushing my broken ribs against his firm chest. “Hear that, Sofia? Your lover is so enamored by you that he would willingly whore out his own sister just to rescue you.”

I hate you. With all the defiance I still had left within me, I spat in his face. Angered, he once again threw me forcefully to the ground. Vivienne rushed to my side.

“Sofia, you look awful,” she muttered under her breath. She bit into her wrist and made me drink her blood.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Borys fisted a clump of Vivienne’s hair.

“Healing her. If I don’t, she will die. Do you not see how much you’ve broken her?” Vivienne responded through gritted teeth. “I can barely see a trace of her original complexion. She’s black, purple and blue where she’s not bleeding.”

“Serves her right for not giving in to me…” Borys walked away from us and leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest as he watched Vivienne feed me more of her blood.

The momentary reprieve was exactly what I needed as my eyes met with Vivienne’s. Her blue violet gaze bore into mine with sympathy and compassion. She was the one person I knew who had been through Borys’ cruel hands before, which is why I was so shocked when she looked at me and said, “Just give in to him, Sofia. Let him have his way. There’s no point in fighting back. You’ll only get hurt much worse if you don’t give in.”

I stared up at her in horror. She must know exactly how I feel about him, how disgusted I am by the idea of his touch, how revolted I am whenever I sense his eyes on me. How could she ask this of me? Her own memories—ones that she had shared with me before—came flooding through my mind. How she fought back with everything that she was, how he continued to defeat her and break her until her mind snapped and just let things be. It took years before she was able to completely recover from the trauma of what Borys had put her through.

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Delight was sparkling in Borys’ dark eyes as he stared at Vivienne with amazement, reveling in her words. “You should listen to Vivienne, Sofia. She knows. If Derek hadn’t taken her away from me, I know Vivienne and I would’ve gotten along well even to this very moment. Isn’t that right, Vivienne?”

Vivienne didn’t respond. Instead, she checked on me and seemed satisfied that I was healing fine. I could see the fear and the dread in her eyes and I gulped at what she was planning to do. She rose to her feet and faced Borys.

As I followed her with my gaze, it finally dawned on me what she was doing. She was using herself as bait, as a distraction to get Borys’ attention away from me. My heart broke in the process, knowing the kind of sacrifice she was making for me.

Vivienne approached Borys slowly, biding her time. Caught in her spell, he remained still, devouring her with his eyes, taking in her lovely form, loving every minute of her approach. I couldn’t help but sneer at how delighted he seemed. I was certain that no woman had ever given him the same attention Vivienne was giving him at that moment. She gently caressed his face and hair. She then pressed her lips against his jaw. A sigh of pleasure escaped Borys’ lips. The idea that he was getting pleasure out of Vivienne’s humiliation sickened me.

He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her body against his, before rolling over so that Vivienne’s back was against the wall and he had full control. Now having a pliable victim under his grip, he seemed to revel in the idea that Vivienne was just going to let him do whatever he pleased.

I rose to my feet, my eyes on Vivienne. She looked straight at me even as Borys began ripping the neckline of her shirt and kissing her collarbone. What am I waiting for? This is my chance. I reached for the wooden stake attached to my thigh and slipped it out. Vivienne’s eyes widened and she nodded at me, but she also raised one hand to motion for me to wait.