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Raven needs no further prompting; she points her wand at the shifter who looks sullenly up at us with yellow eyes as they approach. “Where are the rogue vampires?”
He doesn’t answer; he just stares at her and then grins. Very much like my sweet little enchantress, Raven has another side, one that comes out when protecting those she loves. “Tell me what I want to know, shifter, or I’ll put a spell on you and then curse you for causing me the trouble.” The other witches laugh, cackling with joy at the turn of the tides in their favor.
Raven gives him about a minute, and when it’s clear he’s not going to give her what she’s asked for, she swings that magical wand, chanting low in a tongue that to date I’ve never heard. When she finishes, she steps back, assessing him, seemingly satisfied, and then turns to me. “Ask him anything that you wish. He’ll not only have to answer but will need to tell the truth.”
It’s pretty handy having a little magic in your back pocket. It saves us a lot of time and trouble. I glare at the shifter who I’d rather kill for what they’ve done to my love. “If it were left up to the vampires, you’d be chained to the wall of a warehouse and telling us what we want to know while in the worst pain of your life. Where are the rogue vampires hiding? I want to know specifically where they’re at, and I want to know right the fuck now, understand?” I say, shifting Willow in my arms.
The insolent eyes tell me everything that I already know. The shifty bastards heard every word. He’s probably processing what it means for him in the future because telling us his secrets will surely cost him his life, and the rogues are not known for killing their victims without pain and suffering. No, they have a reputation for leaving them tortured and completely without blood for all to see what happens when you cross an evil vampire in the middle of the night. The tradition they want us all to return to and that the Masters of the Consulate fight so hard to avoid.
My eyes flare with anger at the still quiet shifter. “Speak!”
He digs one of his hairy paws into the sand, still unsuccessful in his attempts to sit up in his constraints. “They have a villa on Sardinia.”
My chest tightens. We’ve been stomping around all of mainland Italy for how long only to find they’re north and then just to the west on an island of Sardinia. It may still be part of Italy, but they have rules of their own when it comes to vampires, witches, and shifters.
Descallia appears by Lucianna’s side, and her eyes glow green with emotion at having her mate safely returned. I gesture toward the shifter laying on the sand. “The shifter said the rogues are holed up on Sardinia.”
Our fearless overmaster looks to the shifters and then to Silver and the others. “Can you clean this up and take them to the warehouse, the ones in the house too? I’ll reach out to Sheba and give him the courtesy of dealing with his own. Do you want to get ahold of Sardinia and ask him to meet us in Rome?” He looks at Willow and doesn’t need to ask what happened. He gives me no lectures about witches and vampires or about seeking permission from the consulate before turning her. “We’ll give her a few days to transition which will allow us to get a plan in place to raid the rogue’s estate for good this time.”
“Thank you.” As much as we want to find and end the rogues, especially after what they’ve caused to happen to Willow, Overmaster Descallia is right, as usual. We need a plan to ensure we contain each and every one of those bastards, because if even one gets away they’ll continue to rise up and come after us again.
Every century they seem to get stronger and even more cunning; this time they were smart enough to engage other factions of the underworld and the people closest to us. It needs to end for good, to keep order and peace not only in the vampire community but to keep the humans from becoming the rogue’s prey when they want a snack to replenish their need for blood and seize all the power.
My arm snakes around Willow protectively, thankful that I was able to get to her in time and hopeful that she will be fully recovered and back by my side where she belongs in no time at all. “I’m going to take Willow home, and I’ll connect with Sardinia and have him meet us at the consulate on Friday.”
Descallia nods, his face grim. “We do not let the bastards get away this time. Our plan needs to be foolproof. We don’t have the warriors feeding information back to the rogues now. I have no doubt that even as careful as we were, word of our intentions leaked through thin walls or various ways and got back to the rogues.”
He looks around at all of us, his trusted crew. “We can make a difference, hit them with a surprise assault, as long as we keep the shifters here under wraps until after we attack.”
“Very good.” Silver and the others are gathering the shifters. “Everything looks to be in great order here. I’ll see you in Rome in three nights. We can head due west from there to Sardinia.”
I cradle Willow in my arms, transporting her bloody and war-torn body to my estate where she will be given the best of care until she awakes.
* * *
Willowand I stand on the balcony of my bedroom overlooking the sea right in the middle of the Campania region that I rule. The stars and moon are in full force, and everything in my world is beginning to come together. I cradle Willow’s face between my hands, thankful she was strong enough to fight the protectors of our gates, come through the transition, and has already embraced her new life and role on this earth.
She looks up at me with those swirling eyes. I didn’t know just how much she’s come to mean to me before seeing her in danger. I crush her to me, and she hugs me tight. “How did you find me so far away and with no trail or scent to follow?”
I caress her cheek. “The Vade Mecum says vampires will always be able to connect with their soulmate, not only in this life but for an eternity. I kept trying to connect, and when our hearts knew that we were meant for each other, I could connect with you immediately.” I lift her chin and kiss her lips gently. “I’m sorry I ever doubted you, ever said what I said, and most importantly didn’t trust what I was always feeling in my heart for you, enchantress.”
Willow melts against me. “I’m so sorry I didn’t handle the whole situation differently, didn’t speak to you about it in private, and ended us before we even got a real chance to start. When I thought I’d never see you again, I died a thousand deaths.”
Her eyes sparkle, and her heart beats fast as I capture her lips for a kiss that leaves us both breathless and resolute in our feelings for each other. “I love you, enchantress.”
She looks up at me with hazy bedroom eyes. “I love you too. So much that my heart tightens every time you’re not near. Do you believe in love at first sight, fated mates?”
I stroke a finger down her cheek. “Never before now; a long-term relationship was the furthest thing from my mind. Until you, I was perfectly happy with the single life of a bachelor, with a string of beautiful women on my arm, but no one to love.”
Willow’s eyes flash, and sparks fly from her fingernails. “That woman you spoke with in the hall at the club.? I’d like to poke her eyes out!”
I smirk at my jealous little enchantress, because no one could ever light a candle to her, yet she’s completely unaware of her charms.
“There’s no one but you, but perhaps I should show you, no?”
Chapter24
Willow
