A Gate of Night (A Shade of Vampire #6)(25)

“Do you always answer questions with questions?”

I shrugged.

“You are one agitating woman. Do you know that?” He finally let go of my hair, staring at me like I was some sort of oddity he was trying to figure out.

“Agitating isn’t usually the word used. Charming is the more suitable word I think.” I pressed my palms against his chest. The way a muscle on his jaw violently twitched didn’t escape my notice. I pushed him away from me. “Could you get off me now?”

He didn’t budge. “I don’t think you see the gravity of the situation you’re in. Do you not realize how powerful I am?”

“I’ll say it more slowly. Get. Off. Me. Now.”

We had a staredown of sorts before he eventually looked away. He got off me, sitting on the edge of the bed beside me. He ran a hand through his hair, sighing with exasperation.

“Don’t even think of trying to get away. The beast will eat you alive before you get anywhere near that door.”

I sat up, my hand over my bleeding neck. The creature paced near the door. Its yellow eyes were fixed on me. Hungry. Eager to devour. I swallowed hard.

“What is it?” I repeated my question.

“I told you. It’s a beast.”

“What is a beast?”

“You ask too many questions.”

I backed up on the bed, my knees propped up. I was unsure what to do. “I need something for my neck.”

He bit into his wrist and offered me his blood to drink.

I grimaced. “I would rather bleed to death.”

He growled at me, monster that he was, but he didn’t insist. He grabbed a sheet and ripped it. He then began tending to the wound that he’d caused. The way he swallowed whenever he saw my blood intrigued me. I recognized that hunger in his eyes, that struggle to maintain control.

Maybe he’s not as much of a monster as I thought.

“You know how to tend a wound.” I was surprised by how gentle he was.

“You don’t know me. Who I was…”

“Then tell me.”

He looked at the bandaged wound with a satisfied smile on his face.

“You seem awfully proud of yourself,” I said.

He narrowed his eyes at me. “What is it about you, Sofia Novak? How is it that you are so unaffected?”

Right. Me. Unaffected. I fought the urge to laugh. He held my future in his hands. He was capable of taking everyone and everything I loved away from me. How could I be unaffected? I remembered that I’d been in the exact same situation with Derek. Bothered by the thought, I pretended not to hear him.

I gave him a close look as he turned to face me—dark hair, handsome face with lines hardened by time and experience. He had a tired look about him, a stare that told me that those eyes had already seen more nightmares than I could imagine.

“You’re right, you know. I don’t know who you were or even who you are now, but I do know how powerful you are,” I told him. “I’m married to Derek Novak. He was once the most powerful vampire of our time. I know power when I’m around it.”

“And yet you don’t tremble.”

“Is that what you want? For me to shake at the sight of you? Do you really want my terror?"

A muscle on his jaw twitched. He remained silent for a couple of seconds. “The Elder turned my eyes this shade. Blood red. He wanted me to remember how much blood I’ve seen, how much blood I am accountable for, every time I look in the mirror. It was his way of reminding me that I can’t escape from everything that I did. He wanted me to remember that I’m a monster.”

I didn’t know what to do or say. I wasn’t sure how to handle bonding time with the Elder’s son. Was I supposed to reassure him that he wasn’t a monster when I saw one in him?

Or do I? This version of him seemed a lot more human than the monster who took me out of Derek’s dungeon.

I tried to remember how my relationship with Derek had started. Did I at any point see him as a monster? Was he? Was it just by instinct that I knew that there was good in him? I accepted Derek in spite of all the atrocities he’d committed. Even after I’d learned about the history of The Shade, even after he’d ripped out another vampire’s heart right before my eyes, I’d never seen him as a monster. I’d forgiven him. What was it about Kiev that was so different?

“Isn’t he supposed to be your father?” I asked. “The Elder? Why would he do something like that? Why would he want you to always see yourself as a monster?”

“He’s my father because he turned me at the most vulnerable point of my life. Beyond that, the Elder is the most cruel being I’d ever known.”

“Won’t you get in trouble for saying that?”

“Maybe.”

The door swung open and we both jolted in surprise. The beast positioned himself to attack.

Clara appeared. She looked at the beast, grimaced, and ignoring the snarling creature, eyed her brother—in a way that was far from sister-like—before staring at me. “Having a little chat?” she asked. “I have to admit I’m disappointed. I was hoping to walk in on you acting on your attraction toward her.”

Kiev looked agitated. “Why are you here, Clara?”

“Well,” she purred as she sidestepped the beast and slunk toward her brother, running her hand over his torso, “I was getting the juiciest information from my little Abby”—she stared at me triumphantly, seeming to revel in my flinch—“when Father came and asked me to get you.”