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Good. She knows exactly what I’m saying. “The spell Raven cast will ensure that you tell the truth if you answer. Obviously, answering is up to you, though. I turn to the big metal barrel in the corner and burst its contents into a blazing fire with the heat of my eyes.
The witches swallow hard. The leader of this traitorous group doesn’t need to be told the consequences if she doesn’t give Romano and me the information we need, because she will get a firsthand taste. She rattles her chains in an effort to get loose, but she could try all night and they’d never break free.
I take a seat in a folding chair in front of her, biding my time. “Vampire traitors, we’re looking for those of our brothers who were working with Isala, along with anyone in the underworld working with the rogue vampires.”
The witch doesn’t say a word, while the rest of the witches listen closely to see what she will or will not say. My patience is not what it used to be. “Perhaps the burn barrel wasn’t enough of a demonstration.” I walk to the end of the line of witches. The witch's grow wide and spin erratically. Momentarily a tinge of guilt tightens my chest. The gesture reminds me of Willow and what she’ll think of me when she learns the methods of the interrogations of her sister witches.
Romano looks at the leader who seems about ready to speak. “Tell us what we want to know so you can go home unharmed. We don’t wish to hurt you, but we need the information whatever the method.”
I grab the end witch by her hair and let her and the others see the reddening of my eyes and my full set of fangs. The witch who seems to be leading this group relents without delay. “Fine, I’ll tell you what I know. Then you let us go, vampire.”
I don’t tell her that she’s in no position to make demands or that promises have been made that make her request impossible. The information is too valuable, and a deal between underworld leaders is a deal that should not be broken. At least not without starting a war the likes that we have not seen in centuries. When they tell us what they know, they will be returned to Devora, just as promised.
“The warriors, you have some of them, but Bradius and Larthew are still on the inside and working with the defectors. They’ve been told to stay with the warriors for now as a way to gain inside information about the vampires even though they’ve told the leaders that you’ve pretty much stopped using the warriors for now.”
I nod. “It seems you know much more than you should. Are any of the vampire masters traitors along with these two?”
Her keen eyes narrow. “Not that I know of, but I’m not likely to know everything as much as you want to believe otherwise.”
“Who are the leaders working with the rogues? The ones working at the top. Tell me that, and you can be on your way.” Of course, I don’t tell her where she’s going, only giving her the hope that she’ll be leaving our warehouse; which, of course, she will.
She sucks in a breath. “Purebloods! Always trying to control everything. It’s not enough that you have most of the land, the humans have accepted you into their world. You have to control everything on the streets too. The rogues are right, vampire. Things were better for the witches when you and your kind weren’t so powerful. At least then we had respect, and the land in Romania that belongs to us was safe.” She stares down the line of witches chained to the wall. “You are gobbling up all the land. That land has been in our possession for more years than you can remember, vampire, and it will be ours until the end of time. You won’t get your hands on it!”
I glare at the insolent witch. “Enough about this long ass feud you’ll never win. The land was never yours to begin with, whether Devora thinks it was or not! Tell me what I want to know, or burn in the fiery pits of hell, witch!”
She shrinks back from my wrath, but her eyes continue to swirl. “A few syndicate members are working with the rogues, but there are also shifters. A lot of the mangy mutts. They work as soldiers for the syndicate when they want things done in the underworld, and they’re working for a couple of pack brothers who defected from Sheba.
I don’t tell her that we already know about the brothers. She obviously doesn’t know anything else about the men at the top, or Raven’s spell would have her singing like a canary. I don’t plan to let her off too easy, though. “Who were you working for directly? Who recruited you away from Devora?”
“Isala.”
Nothing I didn’t already presume, but I was hopeful perhaps she was recruited by someone else, someone who could lead me to all the players. It is curious why this group of witches chose to defect when the others were put under a spell in order to comply with Isala’s wishes. “Why would you choose her over Devora?”
She shrugs, gauging her ability to walk out of here without telling me what I want to know. Her chances aren’t good, and a flash of my eyes and a threat I intend to keep if she doesn’t help me settles her mind. “I want the answer now, or I will burn every last one of you to ashes.”
“Follow the shifters, pureblood. They will eventually take you to the rogues. You’ll get to them if you follow the packs swarming their way.”
“And the other witches who’ve joined their effort? Are they with them now?” Important to know if we’re to walk in on a mix of under dwellers.
She smiles. “Many, many witches. Devora doesn’t want to acknowledge how many witches believe that she’s lost control and have left her rule in this area for one reason or another. I don’t know where they are, but if you follow the shifters, you will find all of your enemies, vampire.”
I turn toward the door, and a soft cackling begins, growing louder until it’s like a shrieking that rings in my ears. “Good luck, pureblood! You’re gonna need it.”
Chapter12
Willow
The hallsof the Descallia estate are massive and covered in Italian marble. Lucianna guides the three of us to the great room where music is playing overhead. Embry tosses some of her gear off, placing it on a large wingback chair in the corner by the shelving filled to capacity with books of all shapes and sizes before heading to the bar.
She walks around the other side of it and leans down, coming up with bottle after bottle of water which she places on the marble topped bar. “Drinks are on the house,” she says, laughing. She turns one of the bottles caps off and takes a long drink, emptying almost half of her bottle before setting it back down. “It’s not tequila, but it will have to do for now. At least until we know we’re safe from those mangy shifter bastards.”
I look from her to Lucianna who’s joined her at the bar and takes a bottle of water and hands it to me, and then hands one to Raven. “Why are so many shifters defecting? I only know the rumors that I’ve heard but it sounds like the shifters are jumping ship by the hundreds at a time?”
Lucianna nods. “Million-dollar question. Sheba has been trying to get that group under control, but Isala promised them so much more than Sheba can ever give them. Prestige and power and a place at the top of the food chain. Sheba has kept them prosperous, but many were greedy. The ones who defected from Sheba have historically been nothing more than soldiers for the syndicate, and now it would seem for the rogue vampires too. They haven’t been accepted by the humans, and until they are, they will remain obscure and never have any true power.”
I nod. “It’s kinda of the same story for the witches, but to a lesser degree. If I’m being honest, it’s probably what leads to the animosity between the witches and vampires too. Power, it’s an almighty aphrodisiac, and those with it want to keep it ,and those without want to take it.”
Raven takes a sip of her water, just listening to what I say, but her eyes swirl every once in a while, telling me something is bothering my fellow witch. I turn to her. “Have you heard anything else about the shifters? Devora showing up here in defense of the vampires was huge. She never would have done that unless the witches and vampires are burying the hatchet, or if the shifters not besting the vampires was somehow good for the witches. Her showing up here means it was not in the best interest to the witches for the shifters to do harm to either you or Overmaster Descallia.”
