A Gate of Night (A Shade of Vampire #6)(21)

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!

Vivienne began tapping her foot on the marble floor in an attempt to control her temper. “Corrine said that they want the immunes. Sofia’s life is not in immediate danger. Derek’s is.”

“We don’t know what they want her for, Vivienne! Who knows what they can do to her?”

She glared at me and I began to wonder if I preferred this feisty leader to the mousy and pliable version of her that had existed not long ago. “I understand that, Aiden, but what would you have me do?” She spoke the words slowly, as if she was speaking to a child.

“Don’t patronize me, Novak. We both know that you do not scare me one bit. So don’t try to intimidate me either.” I groaned. “We’re getting nowhere. We’re on the same side, are we not?”

“What do you think we should do about Derek? Do you agree to a trade?” Xavier butted in.

I mulled it over before shaking my head. “Opening the portal to a realm of original vampires seems like welcoming more trouble than we can handle. I think our best option is to ignore their trade proposal and just try to get both Derek and Sofia back. Of course, it’s likely these Elders will try to open the portal anyway—with or without my daughter and son-in-law as bargaining chips.”

“I agree with Aiden.”

Arron. He was standing in the open doorway, looking more relaxed than all of us combined.

“There will be no trade. We cannot allow for the portal to be opened so easily.” Arron said the words with a finality that was hard to ignore. “We’re going to have to rescue Derek and Sofia from The Blood Keep. That’s our only option.”

“Are you mad?” Xavier eyed Arron from head to foot, wrinkling his nose in disgust. “We don’t even know where The Blood Keep is!”

“Why would we even bother, Arron?” Zinnia stood up, her pretty face twisting with confusion. “Why should we care what happens to them? With Derek and Sofia taken, The Shade is without its ruler. We can do whatever we want with it.”

Vivienne grimaced. “Silence this little fool before I rip her throat out and bleed her dry.”

“Let’s not get feisty,” Arron drawled. “Zinnia is not privy to a lot of our organization’s inner workings. The reasons are way above your pay grade, Zinnia, but right now, it is the hawks’ priority to get Derek and Sofia as far away from the Elder as possible.”

“How do you propose to do that, hunter?” Vivienne tilted her head to the side. “Do you know where The Blood Keep is?”

Corrine, who’d been silent the whole time, placed her cup on a wooden table. The thud diverted our attention to her.

“What’s on your mind, Corrine? What do you think of all this?”

“Well, princess, I do have a way of finding out where The Blood Keep is.” She eyed Arron from head to foot. “I don’t trust him, but it seems to be the only recourse you have. At least, for once, you hunters and vampires actually agree.”

I turned toward Natalie. “What did the Elder say about how we’re to negotiate with them?”

“All I know is that they want the portal opened in exchange for Derek.”

Xavier shook his head. “Vivienne, you can’t seriously be considering not accepting the trade. Our number one priority is to make sure Derek is safe. Our loyalty is to him. The trade is the easiest way to ensure that he won’t be harmed.”

“Of course you’d be willing to have the portal opened,” Zinnia muttered. “Why wouldn’t you want more vampires coming in to help you?”

Both Vivienne and Xavier glared at her, but both decided to ignore her.

“I don’t think we have a choice, Xavier.”

“The Blood Keep is the Elder’s territory. He is most powerful there. You know what the Elder did to your father, Vivienne. Do you really think we stand a chance against him?”

A muscle on the princess’ jaw twitched at the recollection of the horrible way Gregor Novak had been killed. “I don’t know, but we have to try, Xavier.”

“It’s done then. The hunters and the vampires will work together to rescue Derek and Sofia Novak from The Blood Keep with a witch’s help.” Arron seemed pleased with the results of our discussion. “Seems like we’re creating history right here, folks.”

I stared at him, wondering what his motives were. What’s so valuable about Derek and Sofia? Even though Sofia’s an immune, she’s still mortal. What do they have that the hunters need? “What’s in this for you, Arron? What’s so important about Derek and Sofia that you want them away from the Elder?”

“I think we’ve all established how powerful a duo your daughter and her husband are, Aiden. Why wouldn’t I want them away from the Elder? Besides, I would give anything for a chance to find The Blood Keep and destroy it.”

I couldn’t deny the allure of destroying a place like The Blood Keep to a hunter—especially someone as high up in the organization like Arron.

Before anything else could be asked, Sam and Ashley, two of Sofia’s most trusted allies at The Shade, appeared in the doorway.