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I’ll never get that chance again…
Calabrea shakes me, coming to me in my dream. "Tansia, you need to listen to me and listen well. We only have a few moments to do this. If you can hear me, tell me you understand, becauseonce I do this, there is no going back. You will be one of us, you will live in our world, be my charge for the rest of eternity. Is that what you want, Tansia?”
I try to speak but nothing intelligible comes out, try to nod my head but nothing moves, and the only thing I can do is squeeze the hand of the man I love for the very last time, hoping against all hope that he understands with that tiny gesture that I want what he has to offer more than anything in the world.
Even if it’s only a dream…
My world goes pitch black, sending me into a void, unable to see two feet in front of me, but knowing that someone or something is in the dark of the night, waiting and watching, because I can feel them, sense them, and smell them in the air.
Like spirits coming for me and taking me away from the man who I was destined to be with, until I left him.
Chapter
Seventeen
The urgency in Descallia’s voice lets me know even without words that she’s been hurt and that time is of the essence. I transport to the club, growling, pushing people, chairs, and everything out of my way as I make my way to Tansia.
Lucianna is standing over Embry who is laying on Tansia’s chest crying. I move her with one hand and kneel by Tansia’s side, my heart pounding with fear and rage all at the very same time.
I shake her slight body gently because there are no minutes to waste. "Tansia, you need to listen to me and listen well. We only have a few moments to do this. If you can hear me, tell me you understand, because there is no going back. You will be one of us, you will live in our world, be my charge for the rest of eternity. Is that what you want, Tansia?”
She doesn’t move, her body already having lost so much blood that it will take nothing for me to remove the rest and replace it with my own, but only if I hurry. I look to Embry quickly, who knows her cousin the best and would have turned her if she were male and had the ability. “Do it; it’s what shewants. She wants to be with you and be one of us,” she says, tears flowing down her cheeks.
“She is needed in our world, Calabrea,” Lucianna says, but all I can think about is the tiny feel of Tansia’s hand trying to squeeze my own. Telling me in her own way, the only way that she can.
I push her hair from her face and sink my fangs into her throat, sucking deep, capturing every last drop of her essence so that new life can be restored. Her pale body turns paler, and it won’t be long now before she crosses over without replenishment. The window of opportunity only stays open for such a very short time.
I slit my wrist with my smallest dagger, tilting her head so the blood can flow more quickly into her mouth. When I’m done, I lift her gently into my arms and transport us back to my estate, into my bedroom, and lay her gently on the bed, both of us covered from head to toe in her blood.
That was the easy part…
Now, the real test will come. Whether Tansia is strong enough to cross into our world will be up to her. She will need to fight to get into our gates, and it will not be easy. The ghouls and demons will battle her with all of their forces. Tansia will need to be victorious against armies before entering, and no one can help her with this outside of her determination and skill.
My heart pounds with rage, wishing I had thought about the possibility that Sierra might be lying in wait for her. I know how violent and what a jealous bitch Sierra can be. Something like this should have been Tansia’s choice, an approval by the masters, a formal turning and then a transition ceremony. Instead, it happened on a public bathroom floor.
I kiss her gently on the forehead and cover her as her temperature begins to warm and the onset of the fever sets in.“Fight, Tansia. Come back to me, love,” I tell her, covering her body up to her shoulders with a warm blanket.
I walk into the kitchen, and Overmaster Descallia hands me a quart of blood from the refrigerator. When I’ve downed that one, he hands me another. “Thanks,” I tell him, pulling out a plate of cold cuts and cheese and a pitcher of blood to put on the table. “Where’s my staff?” I ask, looking around at the solemn eyes of our friends.
“We told your head cook to take the night off. He left a ton of stuff in the refrigerator for us. Elda, one of my house staff and Angel are going to stay with Tansia while we’re out. Angel knows exactly what it’s like to go through the transition, having gone through it herself, and Elda will help with anything they need,” Embry says,
“She’ll need to be cleaned up; the fever has already set in. I want the guards doubled around the perimeter of the house. Can you let them know while I go get ready?” I ask Trentino, trying to shake the guilt of being unable to stay by Tansia’s side while she fights the demons of her life.
If she makes it through, I vow to prove to her that it was worth changing for me, every single day of her eternal life. But first, she has to be formidable enough. She must overcome the same fears that not so long ago sent her heart racing and shock to her system. When she wakes up, she will either have been welcomed through the gates of our world or sent to find another home among the stars. Tansia is a fighter, and it's up to her to show the underworld what she’s made of, that she’s worthy of our world.
I will spend every day of the rest of eternity making her know that I am worthy of that sacrifice. One that far before Sierra took her choice away, she wanted to make willingly to me. And that’s all that I can think about as I get prepared to go after those who would destroy the world she now fights to enter.
By the time I’ve showered, changed, and donned my weapons, Trentino has brought Overmaster Descallia, Lucianna, Angel, Embry, and Lucas up to speed on the plans for the night, and we’re ready to go. There’s a knock on the door, and Overmaster Descallia and Lucianna exchange a look. “It’s probably Silver. I hope you don’t mind, but I asked him to come along,” she says.
I shake my head as Elda passes by to go and answer the door. “Of course not. I asked Master Campania to join us as well. He plans to meet us at the edge of his territory when we arrive.”
Overmaster Descallia looks down at his buzzing cell and pounds out a message. Lucianna’s eyes narrow as she watches her mate.
He puts his arm around her. “Nothing to worry about, at least for now. Just more issues with the syndicate,” he says. Angel and Trentino have become used to people downscaling their talk about the syndicate around them. We may trust Trentino and Angel implicitly, but the less they know, the less likely it will be for them to say something unintentionally that would give our position on multiple things away accidently to the syndicate. It has to be a hard pill for Trentino to swallow, but looking at the two of them, I think it’s a sacrifice he’s willing to make if it means keeping Angel and remaining on the consulate with us.
Elda walks into the room with a spiky haired young man, announcing Silver to the group. I extend my hand. “We haven’t been formally introduced, but we’ve heard good things about you and your companions. I’ve been working with some of the other members of the special ops team too. Marcus on some of the plans, and Terrence and Clay will meet us at the edge of Campania territory, along with Master Campania.”
Lucianna nods. “That’s great thinking, Calabrea. Silver and I went out to the old, abandoned house that you and Tansia were at earlier, and you were right. It was a trap, and you were alsocorrect in thinking that whatever was planned for you at the house was not the end. Isala is so smart that it’s almost scary. She won’t settle for anything but an elaborate ploy to draw us in and suck the life out of us. When Silver and I were there, though, a witch’s presence kept floating in and out of my mind.”
