AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter
One
Iwalk into The Descallia, one of the busiest clubs in the most southern tip of Italy, tugging on the ends of the crisp white sleeves beneath my black suit coat. The greeter gives me a nod of recognition. I weave in and among humans and vampires alike, any of whom could be part of the well-orchestrated cue intended to bring the vampires to our knees. The same fuckers who will pay the ultimate price when we find the rogue shifters who have evaded us until now, along with their traitorous leader, Isala
The lounge is pulsing with a throbbing, seductive music. The music is almost too loud to even hear myself think. It doesn’t seem to bother the couples conversing at the tables, the couples making out on the couches to the rear of the room, or the ladies gently swaying on stage one little bit.
Even under the dim lights it's not hard to spot our warriors strategically posted around the perimeter of the club. We may have assimilated over the years, but that doesn’t mean everyone approves of the vampires living among them and the warriors are ready to intervene at the slightest hint of trouble. It seems there’s always some type of discord when all the factions mingle.
The bartender, who I’ve known for centuries, gives me a nod as I take a seat in front of the long black marble bar. "Descallia Red."
He brings a bottle of the imported blood wine mixture from below and pours me a healthy glass. "Master Calabrea, Overmaster Descallia asked me to let you know that he may be running a few minutes late for his meeting with you this evening, sir."
I swallow down half the drink in one long swallow, letting the mixture of blood and wine take the edge off the storm swirling in my mind. “Thanks for letting me know,” I tell him, settling in at the bar to wait.
The feel of war is heavy in the air…
My thoughts swirl with all the trouble the rogue vampires have brought to our doorstep, century after century. They’re smarter than we gave them credit for, and their hatred of our leader and the community he has built fuels their determination to send us back to the dark ages. Even after days of scouring the countryside, we’re no closer to finding them or Isala.
If given half a chance, the combined forces will destroy the reputation and respectability Overmaster Descallia has built for the vampires in this day and age, and much more. They will do everything they can to discredit us, take our power, and then revert to snacking on humans when they're least expecting it.
Then, and only then will the villainous rogues ever quiet their thirst for revenge.
A hand taps my shoulder and pulls me from my reverie. "Calabrea, thanks for meeting me. I know you have much to do, but it’s prudent I speak to you in private before the others join us this evening. Should we have a seat; I could use a drink?" Overmaster Descallia asks.
We get to the table where a reserved sign is always present for our leader, the owner of the Descallia Resorts and Clubs allaround the globe and Overmaster to all twelve of the consulate masters. Each, responsible for a region of the globe where vampire history is entrenched the most.
A dancer with long creamy legs, a burgundy and silver pair of skimpy panties and nothing else on graces the stage and begins to sway to the sound of the seductive and rhythmic beat as we take our seats slithering closer to give me a smile while her fangs hang seductively over the bottom of her lower lip. The females see our suits and sense authority and power in the room, and this one is the worst.
A server appears and pulls my attention back to the table. Overmaster orders a Descallia Red. I place a hand over my glass, still almost full. "Thank you, though," I tell the young woman who flashes me a bright smile before she hurries back to the bar.
Overmaster Descallia clears his throat. He's not a man of many words, doesn't usually waste them and doesn't do it now. "There are a few things you should know before we bring the others up to speed on the logistics of finding Isala.”
He scans the bar, taking in the four warriors who I spotted when entering the top floor of the club. "We haven’t told many, but Dragos wasn’t the only one who defected from the warriors and went to work with Isala. I'm intentionally keeping things quiet for now, hoping to flush any remaining traitors out of the woodwork. Since we can’t use them in the capacity we’re used to, I’ve brought in a special operations team. It’s critical you be prepared to work with them and also understand why the secrecy around the team.”
"I see."
The server brings his drink. Overmaster Descallia tastes it, still observing me. "And you're not sure how you feel about me making that decision without the masters being fully apprised?"
“It’s not that I don’t trust you, because I do. But something about the secrecy rankles being one of the masters who isn’tgetting the same level of information that we’re used to as of late. The entire purpose of the consulate is to deal with and make decisions that impact us all. Why else bring twelve different vampire masters together, rulers of the regions where the richest and richest of vampire history comes from?”
He nods. “I don’t disagree. I’m the one who set the consulate up to create checks and balances in the decision making to ensure that we were always focused on the greater good of the vampire community, yet now I decide what the masters know and what they don’t?”
He doesn't give me time to respond, just keeps talking. "It's okay, Calabrea. It's nothing I haven't thought about long and hard or haven't discussed at length with Luciana and Lucas. It hurts me not to be able to share this with all the masters. The entire structure we created for the vampire community depends on each of the global regions providing input to guide the group as a whole. I believe in the structure, wholeheartedly. That’s why I kept myself as Master of my region, instead of putting someone else in in charge. Keeping twelve instead of thirteen.”
I nod, taking a drink of the mixture that is blended to perfection but doesn’t feel like quite enough tonight.
“I realize the secrecy goes against the strategy laid out and which we live by, but as Overmaster, it's also my responsibility to look ten steps into the future and intercept anything that could harm us. We need to remove the traitors that have gotten into the folds of the warriors before we can open up communication the way we once had it.”
A waitress stops in to check on our drinks, and both of us decline another. "That's why you brought in the special ops team? They have the combat skills we need?" I ask after she moves on.
Overmaster Descallia takes a long pull of his drink and sets the glass down with a thud, lowering his voice even furtheras a young couple with their arms wrapped around each other pass by our table. “Yes, they’ve been hand-selected for their skill sets and sworn to secrecy by me. Darius can hack into or build systems comparable to those used by the FBI.”
My eyebrows raise in admiration. Now that’s a skill set that I don’t think we have, even with the warriors. “Sweet.”
“Troy and Marcus have been focused on tracking and travel paths to this point. I don’t want one place the rogues have stopped and sought help, refuge, or curried favor to go unchecked. We may not have time to deal with all the traitors now, but mark my words, we will come back for them. When we do, they will pay the ultimate price for their betrayal to the vampires.”
“I understood you told Isala you have a source near this area? One from the special ops team?”
