A Gate of Night (A Shade of Vampire #6)(43)

I saw stark terror in the eyes of my mentor as the wizened warlock realized that nothing he did could restrain the power that was escaping from my exhausted body. I was about to implode and nothing seemed to be able to stop it. Giving up on trying to stop me, he formed a force field around himself, the Ageless and Corrine in order to stay safe from the red-hot flames darting out of my palms.

The Ageless glared at Ibrahim first and then looked at me like I was a child who had just disappointed my parents severely. Her calm was unnerving. She didn’t seem to be fazed by anything at all. I could swear she muttered a few curses before shutting her eyes and mumbling incoherently. She began to float from the ground and within minutes, a whirlwind appeared, quenching the flames I’d just created, saving her palace from sure destruction.

She might have quenched the fire I’d created, but she hadn’t stopped the source. No matter how I tried to control it, the fire was building up inside me, threatening to escape.

“Take control!” she screamed at me. The pressure only increased the build-up of fire within me. To my shock, she lunged forward.

“No! Don’t come near me!”

The warning went unheeded. She was coming at me at full speed, her widened eyes letting me know that she knew that what she was asking of me was impossible.

“You can claim control.” This time, her tone was calculated and controlled. Desperate.

“I can’t!” I managed to scream out as charring red fire began to flow through my veins, forming outside my fingertips.

She gulped just before reaching me. She pressed her palms against mine and stared right into my eyes. I wondered if she knew whether what she was about to do would work. I couldn’t help but admire that she did it anyway. An ice-cold sensation seeped from her skin to mine. She was neutralizing my fire with her ice, creating a warm energy between us.

“I can’t…” I seethed. “I can’t…”

For a moment, I thought she was going to give me another pep talk. They kept telling me that I could take control, that I could get myself together and harness the power. Instead, to my surprise, the Ageless nodded, her eyes glazed over.

“I believe you.”

“Sofia. I need my wife. If you don’t bring me to her or bring her to me… if you keep at this, I swear… I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep myself from burning your realm down.”

Her eyes flickered and she slowly nodded. “I think what’s best for you is to stay here, Derek, but we have interfered with your life long enough. Remember, however, that should you choose to leave, the consequences are on you. If your lack of control destroys Earth, then there’s no one to blame but you.”

I clenched my fists, wondering to myself—like many times before—if I was indeed doing the right thing. Convinced that I was, I nodded. “I need to get home.”

“The Shade—or what’s left of it—is waiting for you. Corrine will take you there.”

Corrine’s eyes widened. “I can’t go back. I don’t want to. Please.”

“You will take Derek through the portal and you will not return until his mission is complete. He will need your powers to neutralize his.”

“Please,” Corrine begged, making me wonder what on earth could’ve possibly broken the woman’s spirit. The witch cowered in front of no one. To see her so shattered made for a fearsome omen of what I was about to see.

The Ageless, however, was unmoved. The silver-haired vixen’s shoulders sagged. “There is no other way, Corrine. He will ruin The Sanctuary if he stays here. We can’t help him anymore. You can. Take him back home.”

I was relieved, but I was also confused. The witches were supposed to be the agents of good—maintaining balance, or so they said—but if there was one thing my stay at their realm had taught me, it was that I couldn’t trust them.

Just like all the other realms, they were looking out for themselves and no one else.

I had no idea what had happened to The Shade, how ruined it probably already was, but one thing I knew for sure was that no matter how magnificent the witches’ realm was, it could never be the kind of paradise my true home was to me.

Chapter 25: Aiden

Clara left after promising that she would return “to see us entertain the Elders”. I had no idea what she was talking about, but I didn’t need Eli’s genius to know that we were being set up for trouble.

I slammed my fists against the dining table we now circled. “What do we know about these creatures?” I asked, terrified by the thought that it was one of these “original vampires,” these “Elders”, who was holding my pregnant daughter captive.

Vivienne shook her head. “None of us have ever been in the presence of the Elder. We were never sure if the Elder was even real, but in hindsight, maybe the Elder had something to do with Derek turning over to the dark side.” I could tell by the expression in her eyes that whatever version of Derek had existed at that time, she hadn’t liked it.

“That was Derek at his worst, his darkest,” Xavier explained. “We were loyal to him. We loved him. He was our leader. But we all feared him.”

I didn’t need to know exactly what he’d done to get a picture of just what sacrifices were made to secure The Shade. I knew my history as a hunter and I knew the thousands of lives that were claimed before The Shade disappeared from the maps. Many companies of hunters—brave warriors—had been lost at the island.