A Gate of Night (A Shade of Vampire #6)(32)

“Calm down?” I uttered through gritted teeth, sensing heat creep from the blades of my shoulders down to the tips of my fingers. “I want to see my wife!” A ray of fire burst out of my palms, burning not only the target, but everything else in its path.

I tried to control it, but I couldn’t.

“You have to control your rage!” Ibrahim screamed through the chaos, standing behind me, making sure that he was out of the fire’s way.

“The vampire’s curse kept you cold,” was the Ageless’ simple explanation and nothing else was said after.

That morning, under the blazing heat of the sun, I was half-wishing that I was a vampire again, because nothing I knew to do could make me calm down. The fire was beyond my control.

I shut my eyes and tried to imagine Sofia. Five months was far too long to be away from my bride. I was afraid I would forget her face. I was afraid that… I couldn’t even think about it. Tears began to brim my eyes as visions of her smile, her laughter, her warmth came to me. Her soft kisses back at the dungeon haunted me—the memory, just like the kisses themselves, was both sweet and painful at the same time.

So wrapped up in cherished memories of my beloved, I lost track of what was happening around me and I found myself kneeling on the ground, sobbing.

“That’s it. That’s how you do it.” Ibrahim sounded beyond relieved. He’d probably been afraid that I would burn The Sanctuary down. “You need to learn control.” He snapped his fingers and a strong, cool wind blew the fire away before it could spread.

Just then, the familiar form of the Ageless appeared from the horizon, walking toward us in a slow, steady stride. Sympathy flashed in her eyes when she saw me but that quickly disappeared when she addressed Ibrahim in a curt tone. “How is he doing?”

During my stay at The Sanctuary, it had become increasingly clear that the Ageless was their leader, that she was a mother of sorts to their kind. Beyond that, she was perhaps the most powerful among them. It had become commonplace to see Ibrahim speak to her with reverence.

“It’s proving a little challenging, but there’s improvement.”

“Why must I stay here? Why can’t I train elsewhere?” I snapped at her.

“And have you burn down half the human realm in the process?” Ibrahim laughed wryly, in an attempt to break the ice.

He failed.

The Ageless and I were both glaring at each other. “You know why, Derek.” That infuriating tone made me feel like an idiot. “You need to learn to harness your power. You’re useless to all of us until you learn to control and manage your strength.”

“Do you know where my wife is? What has happened to her?”

“We have time. You need not worry.”

“Time? Time for what? Where is she? Do you know?” I was feeling the rage building up again. I breathed a couple of sighs to keep my temper in check. As a vampire, I’d usually let my temper run amok, but this time, I couldn’t afford to let that happen. “You’ve kept me from Sofia for five months. She’s my wife. How can I not worry?”

“I’m sure she’s safe. If they did anything to her, we would know and we would tell you.”

“Right,” I scoffed, “because you witches are all-knowing and all-useless.”

“Useless?” The Ageless’ nostrils flared. “After everything Cora did for you, I would think you’d be the last person to say something like that. You owe your power and your very existence to our kind.”

I got up on my feet. “I owe her a lot. But did you also know what she did to me? What she put me through at The Blood Keep?”

“I’ve heard. She’d never thought being a vampire would inhibit her powers. Had she known, she never would’ve agreed to the Elder’s deal. Cora was always independent. The centuries she spent under the Elder’s control were hell to her… until you ended it. We are grateful that you ended her misery. You knew Cora and how beautiful, powerful and kind she was before the Elder corrupted her and turned her into Emilia.”

“And yet you did nothing to stop her from getting corrupted.”

Pain sparked in the Ageless’ normally blank gaze. I’d been so caught up in my anger that I’d missed the hint of affection that came with the way the Ageless spoke about Cora.

“What was Cora to you anyway? You cared about her, didn’t you?”

“She betrayed us. She should’ve been loyal to our kind, but she chose to be loyal to whatever feelings she had for you. Everything you are now, you owe to her. She destroyed herself in order to make you indestructible.”

“So I’m right. You did care about her.”

“She was powerful. Had she remained the Ageless, she would’ve been unstoppable, far more powerful than I am now. Everything I know, I learned from her, and my powers have been growing ever since, but she gave all that up. For you. Frankly, I don’t understand why.” She eyed me, unimpressed.

“You could’ve stopped her.” Despite what Cora had turned into, I couldn’t deny the guilt that I felt at the thought of the beautiful witch. There was once a time when I’d seen Cora as my best friend. I hated that her life had to end the way that it did. “You probably should’ve stopped her.”

“Yes. Maybe I should’ve. But I didn’t. I reasoned to myself, out of my own love for her, that she had a choice and she’d made it. I told myself that we had to let things unfold naturally, that we cannot interfere just to undo one disastrous choice or save one life.”