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All eyes turn to me. “Whose Willow?” Tuscano asks.
Descallia looks from him to the rest of the group who are staring with curiosity. Descallia clears his throat. “Might as well get this over with if she’s coming with us on the next assignment. Willow was one of the academy witches until recently. She and her friends moved out of the school and have been living separate from their coven, trying to fit in with all of the under dwellers and humans. Campania and she have been together ever since.
All eyes look to me, some with approval and some with quiet reproach. Raven may be proving herself loyal to the vampires, but it will take more than that to overcome centuries of seeing the witches as the enemy for more than one of my brothers.
“In the recent battle with the magical shifters, she was injured beyond return in any other way than turning her. Campania would not have done so without our approval, but as we’ve said previously, this matter should be discussed at greater length. Perhaps the day has come to give the masters more leeway with this decision making, let them alone decide when it is in the best interests of the community and them personally to turn someone who they will ultimately be responsible for the rest of eternity.”
Tuscano raises his hand. “Without regard to the female being a witch?”
Romano gives him a glare. “What if Delilah were a witch? It’s been rumored that she is. Would you vote against it then? Perhaps it’s better to let each master make that call.”
Tuscano is quiet and thoughtful for a few minutes. “If it were Delilah, and she were a witch, no matter, I would have still turned her and would continue to love her for eternity. My vote is yes.”
My eyes go from one of my brothers to the other, each giving a nod of approval for the new vote that will allow us freedoms that we have not had in quite some time.
There is much to overcome in order to carve the way for a future with Willow. There’s no love lost between the witches and vampires and probably won’t be for a very long time, if ever. No matter the differences, there is a clear path forward. Romano and Raven found it, and so will we because in my heart, I know we were destined to be together, to live as one for the rest of time.
I clear my throat. “Overmaster Descallia has left up to this group to determine my fate in taking Willow as my mate. I’m asking for the same situation as Romano and Raven have been given. Allow a year, and then a decision can be made on whether I should be allowed to stay on in the master’s role mated to a witch. If not, I will not hold any ill will, but will take my mate and make a new life for us helping the vampire community in other ways, as Romano plans to do if the decision not to allow him to mate Raven at the end of the year.”
Every single one of my brothers nods their consent, and Descallia brings the gavel down hard. “Now, onto our next mission. He looks to Sardinia. “Campania has given you a full briefing of all the details. This is your region we’re heading into next. I’m going to ask you to take the lead on it; gather your lords and soldiers. We will need every extra man and woman that we have.”
Descallia looks to all of us. “As you’ve no doubt heard, we’ve had more warriors move into the rogue camp leaving us with very few to serve the needs of our community. In the coming months, we’ll need to develop a new network of soldiers ready to do combat for us at a moment’s notice, but until then, we have a very special team, all with elite skills who have been serving our needs, but we are going to need more, many more than we have at the present time.
The masters begin pounding out messages to the lords who work beneath them in each of their regions, to gather themselves and the soldiers and be on standby in case needed as Descallia goes over the plan to get make the trip west from Italy and onto the island of Sardinia, where the wealthy and elite have homes tucked away in the mountains with fantastic views of the Mediterranean from all angles.
Somewhere, in one of those fancy homes, are the rogues, who could not possibly have managed to get there without the help of powerful people with influence. We will find the rogues, drive a stake right through their dark hearts, and bury them in a bed of ashes right along with anyone helping them from this point forward.
Descallia waits patiently until everyone has gotten off their phones and have their lords and soldiers lined up to help, before starting to painstakingly go over the entire plan. When he’s finished, he looks to the group. “There’s no time to waste; we leave right now. Grab the ladies, and let’s get moving while we still have night to spare.”
* * *
