Chapter 15 Corvinus
CORVINUS
Igaze out over the Chicago skyline, lit up and sparkling across the Lake Michigan shore. Damn Embry’s ability to read my fucking mind. It’s impossible to shield her from worry when she reads me so clearly. Even focusing hard to block her abilities seems an impossibility some days.
Descallia gives a rap on my door and walks into my penthouse office, one I use as seldom as possible far preferring the office at home. I walk around the long sleek black desk and extend a hand before he takes the visitor’s chair. “Glad you could make it and thanks for coming this way.”
He nods, ever thoughtful. “It sounded important, and I’d rather not worry Lucianna anymore than she is already. The only thing that has her cheered is the fact that Embry is back in Chicago. She’s on the phone constantly with the other ladies trying to come up with things for them all to do.”
I settle into my office chair and close my laptop so I can face Overmaster Descallia. “I’m sure in time she’ll love getting together with the ladies,” I tell him, although I’m also certain Embry’s going to need far more time than Lucianna and the other ladies want to give but time will tell.
Descallia clears his throat. “You wanted to meet here; I take it it’s not something you wanted Embry to hear?”
I shake my head. “Actually no. I’d be quite comfortable with Embry being here in terms of trusting her with the information, absolutely, but I don’t want her hurt again. She did nothing wrong, nothing to be ashamed of, yet she is to this day.”
Descallia’s eyes redden. “And you didn’t know how I would react if you brought her?”
I lay my hands out on the table. “We were friends long before I took this position. If I can’t tell you that, who can?”
His sigh is long and drawn out. “That’s fair, I suppose.
Embry is welcome here anytime she can let bygones be bygones.
Everyone did what they had to do to make sure the vampires were kept from ruin.
We have all told her that we’re sorry in one way or another, yet that’s not enough.
At some point, she’s going to have to accept that it’s in the past and get on with life.
Now, bring me up to speed but I swear if those pesky witches… ”
My eyes narrow, ready for his long speech about pesky witches but he heaves out a deep breath.
“Fine…” he says. “Go on … tell me what I want to know.”
“You told me that Embry’s grandmother was instrumental in helping the vampires. And that if she had not been killed you would have allowed her to be turned. What powers did she have exactly? Can you remember?”
Descallia’s face turns thoughtful. “She was a psychic. A damn good one too. She could rival any of those witches and their potions and spells to help us learn things about our enemies. She could not only warn us of impending danger but could see far into the future.” He looks up and his dark eyes meet mine.
“And beyond too. She could see and speak with the deceased.”
“That would explain a lot,” I tell him, thinking back to the multiple conversations about Embry seeing and speaking to her gramma.
“Embry has been talking with her gramma. Not just I see her and then she’s gone type of talks, having very real meaningful conversations that for some time Embry thought were actually real. That she no doubt wanted to be real.”
Descallia nods. “It is the way of her grandmother. I always knew she’d reach out when it was time.”
I shift in my seat, interested in Descallia’s relationship with this non-vampire from so long ago. “Time?”
“Embry’s grandmother told Lucas long ago that she’d watch over the vampires. We’ve had a long and bloody battle with the rogues, just finally got some peace from the witches, and after everything that happened with Embry, she never appeared, made herself known?”
I guess now is about as good a time as any to tell him. “Maybe she did. She told Embry the witches put a curse on Lucas, that he wasn’t a traitor to you or our kind. Even while they were outwardly helping us against the rogues, were they manipulating things from behind?”
His eyes go wide. “You saved that bit to tell me now instead of the minute I walked in the fucking door?”
I shrug. “Thought I’d just ease into it. I know how close you two were and what a huge betrayal it was to you along with the others from the warriors. I hoped it would ease your mind.”
Descallia rocks back and forth slightly on the edge of his chair.
“It would make sense, except that he basically told us how long he had been planning on taking over the purebloods, wanting to turn us back into the bloodsucking beasts of our olden days. He thirsted for the time when humans were taken for their blood and left as empty vessels out on the street, Corvinus.”
“Yeah, it took us all by surprise. I don’t know what the answer is, but as you can imagine it’s got Embry shook. She won’t admit it, but I know it’s bothering her. How can it not?”
Descallia is as no nonsense as always. “No matter what happened, the Lucas we know is passed. We all saw the changes. Whether gradual or sudden, we saw them in our own way, and whether it was from a betraying heart or a witch’s curse, the damage done is water under the bridge. The vampires look onward.”
“Even if the spell could be reversed?”
His eyes grow dim. “How many times have we been down this road with the witches, hoping we could make a difference, convince them to reverse a spell, or find a reversal of our own, only to learn that we were looking for something that didn’t exist. They play games with our minds, Corvinus.
You know that I know that. Regardless, after what happened, Lucas would want to be left to rest in peace. ”
I can’t argue with that and don’t feel the need to. If Descallia as his best friend and closest confidant for so many years feels that way, it’s good enough for me. “Let’s hope this perspective gives Embry some peace of mind.”
Descallia nods his agreement. “Lucianna’s powers are strong and when she was with Embry, she said she felt a calm within her that she hadn’t felt for a very long time in her friend.
Good work, Corvinus. It put Lucianna’s mind at ease and that’s all I care about right now.
I want our new queen safe and happy, so we can focus on getting the warriors back in place again and important work that needs to be done.
I need you here in Chicago, running the helm on that. ”
My eyes meet his. “And the special ops team? Where are we going with that?” I ask, knowing the decision he makes on the team Embry loved and was very much a part of will impact my future far more than he knows.
And the fact that he doesn’t answer the question causes me even greater concern.