A Gate of Night (A Shade of Vampire #6)(57)

“Stop this madness right now!”

Chapter 33: Sofia

“What’s bothering you, Sofia?” Kiev tucked a loose strand of my hair beneath my ear.

We were in my bedroom. I was on the bed, sitting with my back against the headboard. He had taken the liberty of resting his head on my lap before, after hours of telling me one morbid story about his past after another, he knelt on the bed, facing me, and asked me that question.

“Nothing,” I lied. “Why would you think that something’s bothering me?”

“I don’t know. You haven’t spoken much for the past hour or so.”

That’s because you’re doing all the talking. Frankly, I wish I could unhear the things you just told me. Hearing stories from a vampire who’d spent hundreds of years serving the evil that was the Elder didn’t exactly make for a peaceful night’s sleep.

I shrugged. “I just don’t have much to say. That’s all.”

“I appreciate that you listened.”

He was being kind. It was terrifying to be around this version of him. I was always on my toes, wondering when he was about to burst out in fury over the slightest mistake.

To worsen my already bundled-up nerves, he began rubbing my belly. “Are you excited to meet them? Have you decided on names?”

During our honeymoon Derek and I had playfully talked about the children we were going to have. We’d always fought over what to name our child should we have a girl, but we’d both agreed on what we would name our son. Benjamin.

There was no questioning that. Ben deserved that honor.

Not knowing what had become of Abby, and having been strictly ordered never to inquire about her again, I said the first thing that came to mind. “Ben and Abby, I guess.” I was bothered by how curious Kiev seemed to be when it came to my children. Since his plan for escape, he’d been fawning over me almost as if he were the father of the children I was bearing.

Though it unnerved me, I had to run with it if I were to have any chance of compromise with my captor.

So, whenever he was in one of these moods, I plastered a smile on my face, pretending that I was flattered—even delighted—by his attention.

Kiev stared at me. “Ben and Abby? That’s sweet, but just so you know, it would be an honor if you named your son after my father. Serghei.”

I gave him a look, wondering if he was joking. “His name is Ben.”

A flash of anger crossed his face, but he reeled it in.

What is going on? I wanted to believe that this was a sign of goodness in him, but I’d never felt more unsettled by him than I did at that moment.

“Kiev…” I spoke up tentatively. “Are you really going to help me escape?”

His eyes darkened to a bloody crimson. I could sense his suspicions rising. “Why do you ask?”

“I’m in my third trimester. I would really like to not have to bear my children here at The Blood Keep and you mentioned that you would…”

“Just be ready. I don’t need to tell you about my plans. You just have to go along with what you are told to do and everything will be okay.”

“Can you not give me a hint or something? Anything? I just really want to be able to hold on to some sort of assurance that…”

He grabbed my jaw and forced me to look into his eyes. “I’m your assurance. Drop this subject, Sofia. Or I will make you bleed.”

I nodded. “Fine,” was my curt reply.

He let go of my jaw, took a deep breath, stared into blank space for a few seconds then began caressing my hair gently. “You’re going to be all right.”

He’s a madman. Eli is right. How can I ever trust him? His mood swings were so erratic, I couldn’t keep up with them.

Silence took over the room. I asked myself what I would’ve done had I been with Derek. I remembered how I’d coped through everything at The Shade.

I did it through laughter. All those times I’d spent with Derek, cutting through the tension between us by making him watch movies or pulling him to the music room and charming him to play me some music.

I was intrigued by whether the approach I’d used on Derek would work on Kiev. I was sick of always feeling like I was at the edge of my nerves when around Kiev.

If there’s any hope of Kiev ever coming to the light, of ever embracing goodness, then this has got to work.

Without thinking things through, I moved over the edge of the bed and got on my feet. Facing him, I took both his hands in mine and met his questioning gaze with as joyful an expression as I could conjure.

“Dance with me, Kiev.”

“What?”

“Come on, don’t you miss dancing?”

“Seeing as I’ve never danced in my entire life, no. I don’t miss it.”

“Seriously?” My eyes widened. “You’re what, fifteen thousand years old?” I teased him. “And you don’t know how to dance?”

“Why would I ever want to dance?”

I should’ve known that Kiev’s sense of humor would leave much to be desired. I rolled my eyes. “Why are you so devoid of joy?” He lives at The Blood Keep, Sofia. What’s there to be joyful about?

“How is dancing supposed to give joy? Only fools find pleasure in flailing their arms around, swaying to music and acting like complete fools.”