Page 9 of Master Bistrita

I give Lucianna a nod of thanks, leaving her to continue with her conversation while I check in on the others. Who knows what will happen when the Benzini brothers come face to face with a shifter who probably helped in the attack on their sister and most definitely was about to kill her friend. They will murder him on the spot, and all hope of getting useful information out of the rotten traitor will be gone.

I know enough about the Benzinis. They take care of their own just like the vampires. Natalia and Chara seem as close to sisters as they come. No one is going to get away with what they’ve done unscarred, and the vampires will see to it, but first, we need answers, detailed info that maybe only they are privy to.

I reach them just in time, grasping the gun in Marcus’s hand and pointing it to the floor. “First they talk, then we shoot.”

I watch the yellowed eyes of the shifter on the floor looking up at me. “You’ll do yourself no favors by keeping the rogues’ secrets anymore. From what I hear, they kill anyone dumb enough to be captured to ensure you can’t reveal their secrets. Give us information, and you’ll at least have a chance for a merciful death.”

The wolf with a bloody slit just under his eye is the first to speak. He knows the words I speak are true. “They took over the central cavern of the mountain range. There are a lot of tunnels, but if you follow the wall of the cavern to the right, curving with it, staying right when it parts, you’ll find them at the end of it. They have guards all along the corridors, and by the time you reach them, they’ll know that you’re coming. If the lookouts up top haven’t already warned them of your climb or picked you off and left you for dead.”

I nod, trying to determine whether I believe him, because he sure as hell didn’t put up much of a fight before giving out some very detailed information. “Why did you leave Sheba’s pack?”

His wounded and defeated eyes narrow. “Isn’t it obvious? Everyone wants power. They offered it to the shifters and there’s not a shifter in the forest that doesn’t believe we should have it.”

It’s hard to feel sorry for the power-hungry shifters. “Is that what Isala and the others promised the shifters that defected from Sheba’s camp in exchange for keeping them safe and killing for them?”

The wolf growls under his breath. “That’s what they promised. All we ended up being were a bunch of mercenaries working for a bunch of bloodthirsty vampires. All we’ve gotten in return is a mass number of casualties and nowhere to return for those of us who survived. Sheba will never take us back, and now that we’ve been captured, Lucas will have us tortured to within an inch of our lives to make sure he knows what we’ve shared.”

“You had the power before but never knew it. Sheba’s pack carried a great deal of respect throughout the underworld. At one time, you were part of that. You’re right, Sheba will never take you back, ever.” My mind hums with the options for the shiesty shifter because he’s already proven himself untrustworthy, but I also want to get as much out of him as possible before his demise. “Because you told us what we need to know, you will not die at the hands of Lucas or from torture of any kind at our hands.”

Marcus glares at me, but Michael narrows his eyes at his brother before giving me a nod. A mutual agreement of leadership respect flashes between us. We may not always see eye to eye, but we are coming to learn each other’s ways, and both want what is best for his sister and her friend and our respective livelihood and communities.

Roman joins the group, speaking in low voices with Michael who catches him up on what the shifters tried to do. Roman knows from personal experience all about losing a human sister to the eternal life of a vampire, so it doesn’t take him long to get up to speed.

“Then you’ll let us go?” the shifter asks.

I consider it for a moment, but that’s not going to work. “No, you’ll be held captive until we know what you say is true. Because if you are leading us into another of your traps, shifter, then you will deal with the wrath of a vampire who you will fear more deadly than Lucas. I hope for your sake you were telling the truth.”

I turn my back, ready to return to the beauty upstairs. The one trapped in a war that she was trying to warn us against. I walk off, leaving the shifter to think about what I’ve said, knowing that he’ll come clean in no time at all, because a merciful death is a much better deal than wrath of a vampire, no matter the kind, rogue or righteous pureblood.

Gregor catches up to me, slightly winded. “The club patrons have all been sent home. I put closed signs on the doors. We’ve opened up all the private rooms upstairs for the masters and their mates. I have a private suite reserved for you, next to Overmaster Descallia and Oradea’s.”

“Very good.”

He keeps pace with me as I walk. “I also took the liberty of having clothes brought in, although the witches gave us a little help in that area. They also seemed to have whipped up a feast in the upstairs lounge, so feel free to help yourself.”

“Thanks, Gregor. I’m going to get washed up, and then I’ll find some food while we decide our next moves. Where did you put Chara and Taylen?”

“I assigned them a suite together in the private masters’ area, but I haven’t seen either of them yet. I hope you don’t mind me giving them one of the masters’ suites, but everyone else was paired up and on this level. I didn’t think you would want them downstairs by themselves, and there was one private suite left.”

“Very good arrangement, Gregor.”

He takes my short response as what it is, a dismissal. I find my suite, get a shower and dress, but food is hardly what I have on my mind. Not once since I left the sassy little human have she and my rules for her not been on my mind. And no matter the length of my shower, her scent is still on my skin, and the way the softness of her skin felt hasn’t left my mind for a second.

Once done, I walk with purpose down the halls, glancing into the empty windows of the playrooms, which are normally filled with sounds of couples engrossed in a multitude of sexual acts, obscured only by a pair of blinds, but now sit dark and empty as I pass by.

While the floor below the main level is reserved for those who belong to Club Descallia and rent special suites and playrooms, the private playrooms on this level are reserved only for the masters and very special guests. And Chara, by definition, is a very special guest of mine.

Others can use the public dungeon downstairs in the lower levels, although that comes with a high price tag as well. Because Club Descallia only caters to the elite, only distinguished by how elite.

I reach the end of the hall and her scent draws me straight to her. I already know this is another bad idea. It was a terrible one to take her to the playroom, it was an even worse idea to talk about my rules, and going to her now is just one more to add to the long list of things that I should not do, but plan to do just the same.

At no time have my rules been extended to someone so young or to a human. The chemistry between us may be off the charts, but still there are too many variables at play. She’s far too young for me and a human. But still, her scent draws me forward as though destiny has already made the call and has paired us regardless of everything that society says should keep us apart.

We’re both adults, no matter the age difference, and she is an innocent to the vampire world and the sexual world that is woven into the very fabric that I breathe. Yet, she let me lead her to the cross, put her trust in me, and in her mind already had visions of more.

Destiny is surely at play…

I take in a breath, already knowing that if I open this door, it may not close. Chara is different, she’s so different that it’s hard to find the words to describe it, and that should give me even more reason for pause, knowing that my life may never be the same.

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