Chapter 2
Corvinus
The clock ticks slowly as we get through one agenda item after another on the very long list. Each item is discussed and voted on.
I listen patiently, waiting until the matter of the warriors is up.
Descallia gives me a nod of acknowledgment as he begins to address the topic of most importance to me.
My whole fucking life and future, although not one of the masters knows it at all.
They know nothing of the time and effort Overmaster Descallia and I have put into the strategy behind the newly revised group to protect the vampire community.
And none of them are in danger of losing their positions…
Because none of them are sleeping with the woman they’re supposed to be protecting, have been trusted as the sexy little vampire’s charge.
The best friend of our new queen of all people.
Destiny got it right when she gave me Embry, but with a fucked up little twist of being absolutely forbidden for someone in my position, which now hangs darkly over my head.
Descallia clears his throat, and I tune back in. “I was just asking if you want to tell them your plan for the warriors. We need that group up and running fast, Corvinus.”
I’m not about to let a little pressure stand in the way of getting the job done. Job or no job in the end, I’ll get it done. The vampires need this, but I’m keeping the girl no matter what the fuck they say.
I clear my throat. “Now that I’m back from Romania and Embry is safe here in Chicago, I’ll be putting all my efforts into bringing the warriors back together.
That means interviews, and quick time frames.
While my assistant will be respectful of your time, we need to clear the way so we can get interviews, trial sessions, and the like done quickly and efficiently. We have very little time.”
A rustle among the masters not happy at all with the potential of having to move things around in their own regions causes Descallia’s gavel to come down hard. “Enough! We need this. You heard Corvinus. When you get the call, clear your calendars or I’ll clear them for you.”
Eyes go wide, because while Overmaster Descallia is not known for his patience he’s usually not half this brisk.
He looks to each of us. “Lastly, I’ve asked that the recruitment efforts we started before Corvinus left be doubled.
You’re going to be seeing some of the most elite lords and vampires in your regions get invitations to apply.
” He looks pointedly from one master to another.
“Do not interfere with this work. I won’t say it twice.
It’s for the good of the vampires around the globe that we have the right people on that team.
If that means you lose a valuable team member regionally, consider it a sign that your person is highly skilled. ”
A few exhales of breath can be heard, and it’s not hard to realize it’s coming from the masters who know they have some of the best fighting soldiers around tucked away in their regions. But knowing how to fight isn’t the biggest asset we need.
That’s where we went wrong the last time. We let brawn and skill with the steel come before testing loyalty. We thought the vampires in our communities were all loyal to us and were determined to make a better way for the entire community, vampires and humans alike.
Instead, some did our bidding, but took their place on the warriors only to serve a group of rogue vampires who want to send us back to the dark ages where vampires kill innocent humans for their blood and leave their ravaged bodies lying in the street.
Well fuck that. We’ve fought against it for a long time and we’re going to be ready the next time rogue vampires, the bastard shifters, or anyone else wants to take our place.
We’re not going back to the dark ages. We’re moving forward, and this time, we’re going to have the most loyal and fearless group of vampires around.
I tune back in as the gavel comes down. Overmaster Descallia’s eyes meet mine, and a hand gesture of his tells me to stay behind after the other masters shake hands with me and then take their leave.
The buzzing phone in my pocket catches my attention. I quickly read message after message from Embry. Across the room, Descallia doesn’t have to tell me he’s getting the same messages as me. That look on his face says it all.
I’m already moving to meet him as he stands. He nods toward my phone. “Did Embry tell you Devora and the witches were at your estate? We should probably transport. The ladies are drinking, trying to decipher the shadow books and Embry is fit to be tied.”
She found out Devora was messing with her mind, and now she wants to wring the witch’s bloody neck. Can’t say that I blame her but we’re going to need to calm her down and decide how to put those fucking witches in their place. I’ll let the masters know.”
It takes less than a few minutes to round up the guys.
We transport back to my estate without another word but in the back of my mind I’m wondering exactly why he told me we’re going to need to calm her down.
He did assign me to go and get her, keep her safe, but that’s the extent of my relationship with the off-limits Embry as far as the fearless master knows, and I’d like to keep it that way, at least for a little bit.
Just until we get to the truth of the shadow books, because after giving it more thought on the way over, something deep down tells me that Embry needs this win.
She needs to do something that makes her feel challenged, needed and successful, all while finding out about her heritage too perhaps.
Figuring out the secret of the sacred land and the pacts between the witches and vampires so many years ago could be that thing.
Something she can give the vampires while making use of her special gifts.
The minute we arrive in the great room of my estate, I see exactly why Descallia was worried.
The witches have long since gone, and he’s madder than hell, ranting and raving about what he plans to do to Devora and her witches.
While I’m more interested in what’s going on in front of us.
The ladies have been busy. The witches’ shadow books are lying open, and bottles of booze and margarita glasses are strewn all over the table.
My eyebrows lift as Embry feels me enter the room. Her eyes are bright purple, filled with a mixture of mischief, rebellion, and anger. The other people in the room may not know she’s mine to calm, to take care of, but she is and I’m not about to let them get in the way. Meet me in the kitchen.
Her eyes flash. You’re not the boss of me, vampire.
I smirk; this is going to be more fun than it should be. Kitchen now. You are mine for a year.
I turn to the others who are all talking at once filling them in on what the witches tried to do.
“If you’ll excuse us for a few minutes, I’m going to get an update from Embry and grab some snacks and stuff.
Pretty sure these ladies could use something in their stomachs besides alcohol.
Make yourself at home to the Descallia Red at the bar, or anything else you want.
” I give all the ladies a meaningful look.
“If the ladies haven’t consumed it all by now. ”
I get sheepish grins from them and smirks from the masters as they head to the bar and the ladies continue talking at once trying to bring everyone up to speed, but I’m only interested in learning the story from one female, and right now, she’s in a very volatile mood.
She leans over the long black marble kitchen island, her cheeks flushed and breathing faster than normal.
I take a stool on the other side of the island, unable to keep my eyes from lingering to the creamy swells of her breasts exposed in the v neck cut of her light purple sweater.
“Tell me what’s got you in a spin?” I ask.
Her eyes flash. “It’s just my entire life,” she whisper hisses. “The witch books basically say everything that I know about my gramma is a lie.”
I scowl. “How so? What did it say exactly?”
Embry throws her hands in the air as a sign of disgust. “How about everything? That the “vampire lover” tried to get them burned alive, that the vampire lover tried to interfere in areas that didn’t belong to her, and that she was born of another world, not witch, not vampire but something that should be sent back to the depths of hell. ”
Her voice raises. “The witches were my great great gramma’s enemy.
Clearly hated her. Probably hated every one of us down the line including and especially me.
It makes perfect sense now that they would try to lure me into the forest and try to get me to spill any of my gramma’s secrets.
The fucking little bitches. Who do they think they are? ”
My jaw tightens. This is deeper than even I thought.
Especially if she’s a target for some reason, perhaps their hatred for her grandmother.
“Then is Lucianna right? Do you think between the two of you that you have the power to do something extraordinary, break through the secrets that have been locked away so many years?”
She doesn’t say anything, so I continue, treading carefully because I already know how much this means to Embry.
“Clearly that’s probably why they want to control your movements, your whereabouts.
You know the old adage, hold your friends close and your enemies closer?
Is this one of those times? Perhaps that’s all they’re doing.
We might have done the same historically. ”
Embry sighs. “I honestly don’t know. There are so many rumors.
What makes one true over the other? Take the one about the vampires.
The rumors of yesteryear say vampires don’t have a heart.
The purebloods’ hearts beat just as soundly as the humans’, only our hearts will turn dark, death taking over if left without sustenance, and left to that, we’ll be just like the rogues.
Killing and maiming for any sources of blood they can get their hands on.
Do you think that’s true? Will at some point our entire fight be for a lost cause?
And what if Isala and Lucas are back? My mind just will not shut off.
Lucianna thinks it’s a real strong possibility. ”
I round the island, scoop her into my arms, and place her on one of the bar stools facing me.
Her eyes go wide as I stroke a finger down her creamy skin.
“When I said you were mine for a year, that meant all of you, your body,” I tell her, stroking a finger over the tips of her breasts straining against the gauzy fabric of her sweater, “your emotions,” I tell her, caressing just over her heart, “and. . .” I pause, leaning down to graze my fangs against the gentle beat of her pulse on the creamy column of her neck.
“And your hot wet little pussy, the one I can smell from here,” I tell her, sliding a finger underneath her skirt and beneath the lacy material of her panties.
Her head tilts back as my fingers sink deep, two sliding in and out so slowly that it almost drives her mad. “Faster, vampire,” she moans softly.
It’s hard not to smirk. “You’re no longer in charge of your pleasure, love.
You’ll squirm on the end of my finger, my tongue, or my dick for as long as I want.
Understand, because I am the boss of you.
For an entire year, mine to do exactly as I please.
Remember the deal?” I ask, dropping to my knees.
She stifles a moan and grabs my hair as I rub the length of my tongue against her pretty pink pussy, inhaling her scent as I stroke over that sensitive little nub. Not giving her a moment to breathe until the door opens and Overmaster Descallia’s voice booms into the room.