A Gate of Night (A Shade of Vampire #6)(55)

Genuinely grateful for Eli and his support, I knew I had several things to figure out and soon. Can I really trust Kiev?

The fact that he hadn’t taken advantage of me was, to me, a sign that there still was a flicker of good inside of him, but I was uneasy. Eli was right. Something was wrong. Something about Kiev suddenly wanting to help me didn’t sit right with me, but I couldn’t afford not to take this into consideration. I had to at least see if Kiev meant it, if Kiev could possibly provide me a way out.

I owe my children that possibility. I can’t deprive myself of that chance.

Deep inside, however, I knew that this wasn’t me. I was being selfish, putting my own needs before the people around me, but as hard as it was for me to admit it, I no longer cared.

Chapter 32: Vivienne

I’d never thought that my heart could break for Claudia the way it did that night. As Yuri—or at least the monster within him—dealt her another punch, I couldn’t help but cringe at the way she looked at him, the love in her eyes, pleading with him to overcome whatever it was that had taken over him.

Yuri’s eyes, on the other hand, remained pure black, sometimes flashing a bright red when Claudia’s blood splattered all over the floor. I couldn’t even imagine the pain Yuri was going through. I whispered more prayers than I ever had in my entire life, hoping that he wasn’t conscious, because as much as it pained Claudia to be beaten up by the man she loved, I knew Yuri enough to know that even if he had been possessed by this dark spirit, he would still blame himself.

I looked across the makeshift arena the Elders had several of the humans put together. It was a large circle, lined with thick ropes, and was situated right smack at the middle of the Catacombs. Sam and I were chained together on one side. Ashley and Xavier stood on the other side. Ashley had her hands planted on her waist, eyes shifting from a pure yellow at one point to a powdery white at another. Xavier, on the other hand, had his arms crossed over his chest. His eyes were just a pure black. His brows furrowed. He didn’t seem to be having any fun at all.

Based on body language, the Elder who had grabbed hold of Xavier seemed to be higher in position than the rest of them. I stared at him, my heart aching.

Is he still there? Does he see what’s happening? What’s going on inside his mind right now?

“Princess, look.” Sam nudged me on the side.

Liana bit into the neck of one of the humans. I wondered why on earth Sam would want me to watch my best friend drain a human dry, but it quickly became evident that Liana wasn’t killing the human. She was turning him.

“They turn the humans to vampires. Why is that necessary?”

“I think it’s because they can only use vampires as vessels.” I was barely able to squeak my theory out.

I looked away from Liana, wondering how she felt about almost killing Cameron moments ago. When they’d stopped her from ending Cameron’s life, I’d been so relieved. It would destroy her to know that her beloved had died at her hands. When the Elders had revealed that they’d stopped her from ending Cameron’s life only because they intended to make him give Derek a message—me in exchange for him—all the relief I’d felt quickly faded away. While the idea that Derek was on the island gave me a shred of hope, the recollection that he was human once again, devoid of the power he’d once wielded as a vampire, quickly made me wish that he hadn’t shown up at all.

I would rather die than be the reason for my brother’s death. I told myself that he was the only family I had, but remembered that this was no longer true. I have Sofia, and now that she’s pregnant, I’ll be an aunt. I’d never thought I could ever think of a hunter as family—the notorious Aiden Claremont especially—but he had become family too.

Are they enough to replace losing my brother? I caught the thought, surprised that I could even think it. There was a time when I would’ve readily given my life for my brother’s, but if I were to be honest with myself, at that moment, I wished that things would change. I knew that Derek would give his life for me, but I’d never wanted him to until that very moment.

I realized that I wanted what he had. I want the chance that he got. I want to experience falling in love, getting married, going on my honeymoon, raising a family. I’ve only done one of those. I fell in love. With Xavier. As I stared at the shell that he’d become when the Elder took over his body, I realized that I wanted to become human and I hoped that he wanted that too, that he wanted to be the father of my children, and that we could live finite, mortal lives together.

That was why I was hoping that Derek would indeed give himself up for me. For the first time in my life, I was actually dreaming of a future that I truly loved and desired.

“Enough!” Xavier screamed, clapping his hands as he gave Yuri an approving nod.

That jolted me to attention. My heart dropped. Claudia lay in the arena, unconscious, bruised black and blue, barely able to move. I immediately checked her chest, watching for it to heave and sigh, wondering if we had lost her. I was never too fond of Claudia—apart from Yuri, none of us were—but she had only begun to live out the second chance that Yuri’s love had allowed her. I didn’t want to see her meet this kind of end.

I held my breath when it seemed that she was no longer breathing.

Yuri was standing over her. His claws retracted. Blood dripped from his fists. A cold sneer was on his face, manic and disturbing, almost as if the grin had been pasted on his face. I searched for a sign that he actually found pleasure in what he’d just done and found none.