A Gate of Night (A Shade of Vampire #6)(44)

The man my daughter had married was notorious for a reason. That was never a secret to me.

“He never said anything about the Elder? Ever? There must be something—anything—that we know about this creature. Even just tall tales and rumors.”

Vivienne shrugged. “As I said, none of us were even sure that the Elder existed until recently, when he started manifesting himself.”

“I’ve encountered him,” Claudia spoke up. “Once. A long time ago.”

All eyes turned toward the blonde vampire.

Claudia shifted uncomfortably on her feet, almost as if she were afraid we would hurt her.

“You’ve seen the Elder?” Yuri asked. Clearly, even he had never heard of this before.

Claudia shook her head. “No. I don’t think anyone ever has. Not even his children. He is a presence sensed. He is absolute coldness seeping into your bones, freezing you. He is pain. He is fear. I…”

Her eyes were wide with horror. I could only imagine what was going through her mind.

Vivienne was getting impatient. “How did you come to have an encounter with him? Why would you even want to go to him?”

“I never went to him, Vivienne.” Her voice came with a hiss as she uttered Vivienne’s name. “You don’t go to the Elder. He comes to you. When he pleases, and often times, he does it to draw blood. I don’t understand it, but he seems drawn to the darkness of one’s soul. We all have it, I think, and that’s what usually draws his presence.”

“He sounds like the devil himself,” Xavier muttered.

“He might as well be,” Claudia said softly, swallowing hard. Her eyes turned toward Yuri. She was crying out for him to reassure her, to let her know that despite what she was about to reveal, he would still love her.

Yuri had become one of my friends at The Shade, and I knew without a doubt that no matter what, he would still love her. Deeply. Nothing was ever going to change that.

An ache formed in my heart at that realization, because in Yuri and Claudia, I’d always seen myself and Camilla. I found myself wishing that they could survive whatever was to come. I wouldn’t have wished Camilla’s fate and mine on anyone.

“It’s all right, Claudia,” he assured her. “Tell us everything.”

“It was me whom the Elder came to in order to get to Derek. He instructed me on how to conjure the darkness in Derek. The first time the Elder came to me was the worst night of my life. I’ve seen evil in many of its forms, been a victim of it. I’ve even been evil myself, but nothing compares to the Elder. I don’t think Derek ever forgave me for bringing the Elder into his life. I…”

A bitter smile formed on Vivienne’s face. “I’m sure he has, Claudia. If he hadn’t forgiven you, I doubt you’d be alive.” She stood to her full height and nodded in resolution. “None of us are strangers to the atrocities that happened here at The Shade. That’s the past. Let’s leave it there. What we need to deal with now is that a force that is completely unknown to us is about to come to our home. The Elder isn’t just a myth like we once thought he was. He exists and he is not alone.” Vivienne shuddered as the implications of what she was saying sank into her—into all of us.

“We’ll survive this.” Liana spoke up. “We have to. I want that cure, Vivienne.” She turned to her husband and clutched his hand. “We’re so close to being human again, living with a family. Normal. Mortal. And Sofia… if she really is pregnant… Derek and Sofia are family to all of us. We’re family. We’ve made it this far for the past five centuries. Together. We need to get through this the same way. Together.”

I was taken aback by what she said. I’d known that Derek wanted the cure in order to become human and be with Sofia, but it had never dawned on me that any of the other vampires wanted it as badly as he did.

With Anna, the only immune apart from Sofia, having been taken to the hunters’ headquarters soon after Derek and Sofia had left, there was no way any of them could take the cure for themselves. For some reason, the cure made the stakes higher. I looked at every person in that room—all of them vampires—and found myself perturbed that I honestly saw each of them as family.

I’d be a fool to still think of myself as a hunter, I thought, but then again… I thought of Zinnia and Julian and other comrades I’d made as a hunter, and I saw them as family too.

Liana’s pep talk seemed to have the desired effect on all involved. I had to give it to these vampires. They were resilient. Practically unbreakable.

“We’ll make it.” Cameron nodded.

“You don’t look convinced, Vivienne,” I said.

Vivienne forced a smile. “All I know is that if any of us are going to make it—together or otherwise—we need to know what we’re up against. Claudia, we’ll need you to tell us in detail everything you know about the Elder. Your encounters with him. What he did. What he put you through. That may be painful to relive, but it’s necessary for us to know.”

Claudia nodded. “All right. I’ll try to remember.”

“Good, but before that, Yuri, I need you to look through all the texts your brother has kept over the years. All the information about the original vampire. Legends, stories, rumors… I don’t care what it is. Find it. Ask Ashley to help you out. She’s already worked with Eli before when they were trying to figure out the hunters.” At that, Vivienne gave me a side glance, almost as if to apologize.