A Break of Day (A Shade of Vampire #7)(28)

“Gavin,” Yuri said, handing him the syringe, “run up to the emergency rooms and ask the nurse to give you an antidote to this paralyzer solution. If the nurse asks why you need it, just lie.”

Once Gavin had left the room, I said to my two friends, “Gavin’s right. You mustn’t be seen by anyone. As soon as Gavin returns, you must go with him to his apartment and lock yourselves inside. Don’t come out under any circumstances.”

“But Derek!” Liana exclaimed. “You need our…”

“No, Liana. Neither of you will be useful for anything if you get caught and taken God knows where.” I shuddered, thinking of Vivienne and the others.

Gavin returned five minutes later with a new syringe full of transparent liquid. He lost no time in stabbing the needle into the vein in my left wrist. Within several minutes, I had regained full control over my limbs. I stood up and looked around the room. “Now that Aiden is gone, we must be careful. A hundred times more careful,” I warned. “As long as we stay in this place, we’re completely at the mercy of Arron.”

I nodded at Liana and Yuri and they begrudgingly headed toward the door. “Gavin,” I said, “take them to your rooms and keep them safe while I’m gone.”

We all exited the room, heading off in different directions. The Atrium was only five minutes away from Aiden’s office and it wasn’t long before I’d found the armory and located a dusty wooden trapdoor behind a tall cupboard. As I heaved it open, the smell of damp and rot invaded my nostrils. The place was lit with dim light bulbs fixed at intervals along the walls of the winding staircase. I moved down the steps, pulling the door shut above me, making as little noise as possible.

The dungeon came into view and, in the corner, a familiar figure lay curled up on the ground.

“Sofia?” I whispered, approaching her cautiously. She didn’t stir. She was so still I feared for a moment that she was no longer breathing. Chains had been attached to her hands and feet. The skin around them was red and raw. She must have been tugging against them for hours. I brushed her long matted hair away from her face. Dried blood covered her mouth and her eyes were closed. I reached to touch her skin and was appalled by how coarse and dry it now felt. A yellowish color was developing in patches.

“Sofia.” I spoke louder and with more urgency.

I dared to shake her shoulders. She remained still. Just as I was about to leave her side to look around the room for keys to the chains, her eyes shot open, only these were not Sofia’s eyes. A translucent film had developed over them. Her mouth hung loosely as though she had lost control over her facial muscles.

Her breaths started coming in rasps. “Derek!” she wheezed. “Please, darling. I need b-blood. I’m dying of thirst.”

Is this Sofia addressing me? Or is it the Elder?

Whatever the case, Sofia’s body was clearly fading away and if sustaining her also meant sustaining the evil within her, so be it.

I lowered my wrist and coaxed her to take a bite. Instead, with an unexpected motion she placed her arms around my neck and dragged my head down toward her. She bit into the flesh beneath my ear and began sucking. After several seconds I felt a stinging, weak at first but growing stronger and more painful. The Elder wants to turn me.

I jerked away from her, wincing as her fangs tore through my skin. She tried to grab hold of me again, but I stepped away.

“What are you doing, Derek? Can’t you see that I need you, my love? I’m dying! All the times I fed you my own blood, and this is how you repay me?”

Although I knew Sofia would never speak such words, there was an undercurrent of truth to them that didn’t fail to make me feel a pang of guilt.

Sofia continued to cry out to me. “If you won’t feed me, then please, melt away these chains. Free me, Derek! What are you waiting for?”

Although I still had no idea how to get Sofia out of this nightmare, doing the opposite of what the Elder was insisting upon was a good place to start.

“Stop playing games by hiding behind my wife. I know what you are.” My voice boomed through the dungeon. “You saw what I did to one of your fellow Elders back at The Shade, didn’t you? Leave my wife now, lest the same fate befall you.”

Sofia’s eyes rolled and she began to laugh. “As if you would risk your precious lover’s life! Remember that your Corrine is not here to save the day this time. She’s powerless now, as weak as a bee out of sting. We made sure of that after what she did. If you kill me, you kill Sofia.”

“I don’t need any witch.” I spoke with confidence I didn’t possess. “I inherited more powers than you can possibly imagine from Corrine’s ancestor, Cora. I could have done it without her. And I will do it without her in a few moments if you don’t comply. My patience is running thin.”

So desperate was the situation, bluffing was the only tactic I could think of. I knew better than anyone that I couldn’t unleash fire on Sofia’s body without running the risk of killing her. I widened my stance as if gearing myself up for a fight and allowed a small flare to escape from my palms.

“I’m warning you. I’ll count to three. One… Two…”

Before I could finish counting, a door unlatching echoed around the room. I whirled around to look up at the trapdoor, but from a different direction a deep voice I knew too well spoke.