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“No, it’s not. It’s very different, and we have instinct on our side that humans just don’t have. At least not to the degree that we have it,” he tells me, looking around the surroundings.
It will take me a little time to get used to the differences, that’s for sure. “His eyes were yellow, and he was growling under his breath. He was going to eat me, or at least rip me to shreds. It’s hard to train for that, but it won’t cause me to freeze with fear again. Not like in the bathroom. I appreciate you stepping in, but you can expect me to pull my weight from here on out.”
She may have very capable skills when it comes to the sword and martial arts, but she hasn’t seen even a sliver of what the underworld can deliver. Not that it would matter, because I’ve already come to realize that whether Tansia can take care of herself or not, I want that job. The need to protect her is almost finely knitted into my DNA now, but still, pride in her abilities settles in my chest. “I never doubted it for a moment.”
The warning that this could be a trap still floats in the back of my mind. It’s way too quiet, and if Isala were truly here, they would never leave just a couple guards. I listen carefully for any others but hear no one or any other sounds that would tell me that they were here. They've either lured us here for a reason or are waiting for something, but what, alludes even me.
I sniff the air, once, twice, and then a third time, concentrating to filter out everything other than the mangy scent I mean to hunt. The minute their putrid stench hits my nostrils,I know they’ve answered the sounds of the scream, come to help their brothers, and that no one else is here.
A trap…
One that I’ve been prepared for and am not falling for. I transport us back to my estate and to the great room. It’s clear, the wolves strategy tonight has been to lead us into a trail, probably away from Isala, and with daylight getting close, it’s time to gather the others and strategize with what we’ve learned.
The drapes have been pulled, and a delicious scent of bacon wafts through the air from the kitchen. I shed my outerwear and my weapons, placing them in the closet. Tansia does the same, and I place hers next to mine. The doorbell rings as Tansia and I get seated at the table next to each other.
My jaw tightens as the estate manager shows Roman in through the kitchen door. “Roman. Come in,” I tell him, gesturing to a seat across from mine.
His dark eyes are serious and concerning, but yet he says nothing as the head cook begins to serve our breakfast. “We were just getting ready for breakfast. Would you like to join us?”
Roman smiles, but his eyes aren’t looking at me, but at Tansia. “Thank you. It smells great,” he says as the wait staff goes to bring another plate. He feels the heat of my stare and turns his face from Tansia and onto me, clearing his throat. “The reason I’m here. I learned a few things from my men last night.”
“Tell me.”
I pour Tansia a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice from the glass carafe on the table and pass it to across the table to Roman before pouring myself a glass of whole blood. His eyes shift from the drink in my hand to his plate. Perhaps I shouldn’t drink it in front of him, but there’s something about the way he looks at Tansia, a longing or some elusive emotion that drives me to make damn certain he knows exactly who he’s dealing with in me.
Roman takes a long drink of his juice and sets the glass down. “The three members of the family I thought may be part of the cue to have the vampires overthrown are putting the full weight of their power into convincing the other heads to do the same. “Fortunately, the agreements the families have with your community are, should we say, more than lucrative. These three might want to cut off the hand that feeds them, but the others do not. These three aren’t going to stop with a simple no. I’m not sure what’s motivating them or what Isala has on them that they don’t think the other families or I already know, but whatever it is, it’s working. They were madder than hell when they left that meeting.”
I contemplate what he’s said. This is exactly the kind of situation that Overmaster Descallia was hoping to avoid. One that would put the entire future of the vampires at risk with the humans. If Isala has already been able to turn some of the syndicate heads against us, it’s just a matter of time before they find a way to turn the rest to their way of thinking. When that happens, they’ll find a way to justify fighting for territories, starting wars that they don’t have a chance of winning except by making us villains and bloodsucking demons in the eyes of other humans who have come to accept us in their midst.
This is just the beginning of something far greater than what the surface suggests. “Have you contacted Overmaster Descallia yet? He should be made aware immediately.”
Roman nods. “He’s not returning my phone calls. I’ve tried three separate times.”
He will answer my call no matter the reason, knowing I’d only call him in the event of something urgent. “Excuse me for a moment. Finish your breakfast; I won’t be long,” I tell him and Tansia, already sliding my cell from my pocket before I’ve even reached my study.
Overmaster Descallia answers on the first ring. “Descallia.”
I close the door for a little more privacy. “Tansia and I kicked up the pack of wolves intended to lure us into the trap you were warning us about. We’re back at the estate regrouping. We’ve met with the head witch in this area, Matilda. She wasn’t able to give us as much information as I was hoping, but we ran into Sheba who helped us get rid of a few of the mangy shifter bastards.
“Always a good thing,” Descallia says. “And Sheba, how is he holding up?”
“He’s offered to help find Isala. I’m sure he wants to stop her as much as we do to stop the loss of bleeding from his packs.”
Descallia clears his throat. “Indeed. My understanding is that Isala is recruiting them from under his very nose. Soon he’ll have no one left. It’s the lure of power and status that attracts them. What they don’t understand is that she is no one in the underworld without the vampires.”
I couldn’t agree more. She was nothing until Overmaster Descallia took her under his wing. She owes him for every bit of power and prestige she has.
“True, but we must give credit where credit is due. She has been adept at reinventing herself. Sheba had business to take care of and then will hook back up with us. Tansia and I came back to the estate to wait for you and the others, but Roman stopped by. He said the syndicate heads met, and three of the heads are advocating to distance themselves from you and our community. They want to start a war, don’t they?”
I can almost imagine him contemplating over the question I’ve posed. “The rogue vampires are behind this. I’ve felt it in my bones since the very first-time trouble arose, but things always pointed back to the syndicate and others, and now Isala. I believe she’s being used too. They’re playing on her need for power and position. Allowing her control of the underworld she grows beneath her, as long as she follows their orders. Their goalwill be the same as it always has: to destroy all the vampires, or turn them back into the savage bloodsucking creatures that used to roam the streets, killing innocent humans at will.
“What do you want me to tell Roman? He’s sitting at my table at the moment.”
Descallia is silent on the other end of the phone for a few minutes. “Do nothing. Let him help in any way that he wants. He’s a good man, even if we don’t see eye to eye on everything. He’s not going to jeopardize the relationship, one for his sister’s sake, but more importantly probably because if he does the cash cows we control and that the syndicate have all been living from will dry up.”
I start to intervene, but he keeps right on talking as though needing to get it out of his system.
“If Roman wants to stay close to the situation, let him. No harm in that, Calabrea. In fact, why don’t you have him stay at your estate today. As soon as it gets dark, me and the rest of the crew will meet you there. I’ve been tied up with loose ends here or would have answered your calls and gotten there sooner.”
