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I respect the distance she’s put between us. We’ll talk about things when we wake up. Hell, maybe Roman’s right. She’s known Angel for years and perhaps talking to her would help shed some perspective on our relationship for Tansia. The whole thing is moving so fast that maybe that’s exactly what she and I both need. Some exploratory time. Time to talk about this attraction that seems to have ignited the moment we met, and about the real issues around our differences.
It takes longer than usual to fall asleep, but when darkness comes there is a bright light of jade glimmering in the distance. I follow it down a tunnel, but the farther I walk the more distant it appears. My chest pounds as a cloak of warmth wraps around my body. “Calabrea, it just wasn’t meant to be. I have needs, human needs that you will never be able to satisfy, my love.”
The blood races through my veins at an unprecedented rate as Roman enters my dream. He gives me a toothy smile, as he takes Tansia’s hand and leads her away toward a city of light, out of the darkness and away from me.
An ominous feeling causes me to wake. A dark death cloud over a bright shining light of jade. I wake with a start, glancing at her side of the bed, only to find it already dark and her gone. Mychest tightens, but I’ll be damned if I stop her from doing what she wants to do. That will do neither of us any good at all.
I get dressed and head downstairs. No one is around, not that I expected Tansia to be sitting in the dark waiting for me at this time of the night. Not when both of us have so much to think about if she’s having concerns. I head to the lower-level gym to burn off some frustration. The punching bag hangs from a rafter off to the side of the gym. I don some gloves, hitting it over and over, letting every bit of emotion pour into every single hit.
I should feel better. A life together would be difficult, we both know it, but instead my chest feels tight and heavily burdened with the thought of life without Tansia.
The head chef is at the sink when I return upstairs after a quick shower. “Did you see Tansia or Roman today?”
He nods nonchalantly as he continues rubbing spices on large pieces of steak. “Roman asked if he could use the library to work. I told him that was okay and set him up in there a couple hours ago. I was going to see if he wanted a drink as soon as I got done prepping the meal for later.”
“And Tansia?” I ask, frustration and a feeling of loss tightening in my chest without even really knowing that she’s left for good. But, why wouldn’t she. Maybe talking with Roman helped her see that life with a vampire may not be all sex and fun. Especially when you have to fight for everything you have in a world that she doesn’t even yet fully understand.
The head cook’s brow knits. “No, I haven’t seen her. I assumed she was still upstairs with you, Master Calabrea.”
The doorbell rings, and I turn to go and answer it myself, more for a distraction than anything else. Not that I hoped it was Tansia, but still, I’m disappointed to see Trentino and Angel standing outside my door and not the woman with magical jade eyes who has managed to wind herself around my heart sointricately that even thinking of her with another makes it hard to breathe.
Angel breaks the awkward silence. “Hi, we hope we’re not too early. I was hoping to spend some time with my brother while you guys strategize and do your thing,” she says.
I try to shake it off and regain some semblance of norm. “It’s more than okay. Come on in. “Edwardo, would you see Angel to the library, please?” I ask, passing the house manager.
“Most certainly, sir,” he says, guiding her down the marble hallway toward the library at the other end of the home while Trentino follows me into my study.
I gesture to the seat across from my desk, slide into my chair, and turn the computer monitor toward Trentino so that he can see it too. “The shifters were heading this way.” I show him the path they took on the layout. “Marcus and I have been working on this for the last couple of hours. He’s been plotting all the points where the shifters have been seen. They’ve run out of places this far south of friendlies. We can deduce that they’re going to be making their way north into Master Campania’s territory. I’ve sent him a message to see if he wants to join us as we venture that way.”
Trentino whistles. “Good sleuthing. And if we follow them along this orange path, we make our way toward one of the other witches haven’s in that territory,” he says.
We both look at each other at the same time. “Coincidence?” he asks.
I shake my head. “Matilda wasn’t lying when I talked to her about the wolves and Isala. She’s lost a lot of witches to Isala and is more than willing to help us get them back. It seems some of hers were taken in broad daylight. According to her, they just vanished. One minute they were convened on a sidewalk after doing a little shopping, and the next they were gone.”
Trentino scowls. “Isala isn’t a witch, though.”
I shrug. “I questioned magic too, but your guess is as good as mine at this point. Matilda thought it could have been transferred power, someone else who has the magic pulling the strings, but we’re not going to know for sure until we get to Isala. Descallia told me to focus on her and bring her to him alive. I’m about tired of chasing across the globe and ready to run a stake through her black heart.”
Trentino nods. “I don’t blame you. I’m going to find a restroom before the rest of the group gets here, if you don’t mind,” he says.
“Down the hall, first door to the left,” I tell him, still concentrating on the maps and plot points of the shifter sightings when there’s a sound at the door a short while later.
Angel stands at the door looking unsure if she should come in or not. “Sorry to bother you, Master Calabrea. I was looking for Trentino.”
“Please, come in and take a seat.” I gesture to one of the two chairs across from me. “Trentino will be back shortly.”
“Thanks. I was hoping to spend more time with Roman, but he had to leave suddenly. He got a call from one of his men and went to meet with him at one of the local bars. Hopefully it’s better news than he’s had the rest of the week. Day after day it’s been one thing or another. I wish sometimes he had what we have.”
My brows knit. “How so?” I ask, wondering what it is she thinks that we have that the almighty don of the syndicate lacks because from where I sit he seems to have the world by the ass.
“A community, a real brotherhood. The syndicate used to be that way, at least that’s what I recall growing up before our parents were killed. It’s all changed, though. Everyone is out for themselves, to gain more power, more territory, more money. Sometimes I wish he were one of us the same way Tansia wants that for herself.”
I look up and into her knowing eyes. Angel may be quiet, but she sees much, not only in this world but into the other side as well. Her powers of sight and ability to speak with the deceased passed from one generation to the next until they reached her. She seldom says things without intent, at least from the little I’ve heard about from others who know her better.
“Why do you say Tansia wishes to be one of us?”
Angel smiles, a bright genuine smile that even reaches her eyes. “Because that’s what she told Roman. My brother said Tansia told him that she would give anything to fit into our world, to transition to our side, because otherwise she was certain that the vampire community would never accept her. There would be too much adversity to overcome. Too much that you would have to give up in order to keep her as a mate.”
