Page 19 of Master Bistrita

Overmaster Descallia nods in agreement, and pretty soon I see the consensus of the masters and their mates. “We are still in power of the underworld. Instead of hunting the rogues, we start luring the fuckers out with what they want. We say where, and we say when.”

Everyone cheers, including the witches. Not one of us disagrees. I inhale deeply. The key has always been the secret. They know the one they found in Rome at the museum is a decoy, and they want the real one. They’ve always been two steps ahead of us; why wouldn’t we know that? I just wish the thought had formulated sooner.

Overmaster Descallia nods, as Lucianna’s eyes begin to glow. Our fearless leader looks from one of us to the other. “Thank you all for the work that has gone into this. I think we have a good plan to draw the fuckers out. It's no secret the witches won’t give up the same land we claim as ours. Devora and the other witches will continue to claim it as their own, and we will do the same. Perhaps destiny wanted it to be a shared land for some reason unbeknownst to us yet.

“This entire Carpathian mountain range is split right down the middle of our lands, and in the heart of that range lies the central reason for feud among the two factions for centuries. If we can agree to put this thing to rest for good, I’m sure everyone would be happy, vampires and witches alike. Then we’ll only have to worry about the rogue vampires, and we will draw them out and send them to a fiery grave,” he declares.

The masters nod in solidarity with our leader. I don’t miss Raven slipping her tiny hand into his, and him giving her a squeeze of reassurance in exchange. The vampires and witches have come a long way. We may never agree over that central part of the range, where only we know what is hidden there, but we can agree that we will fight to the death to defend it from our joint enemies.

The key, gold, money, and jewels worth more than one person could fathom. More than one hundred kings and their royal arms could squander in a century if they tried. Those are what the rogues want. Those are what require the well documented golden key that has been with the righteous vampires for centuries. But the rogues will not get the key. We will all battle to the death to ensure that it is preserved for eternity. It will stay buried with only a few who know components of the passage that can lead one to the area deep within the mountain that holds the secret of the real key, and not the multiple decoys placed strategically across the land, if not the jewels themselves.

Lucianna’s eyes glow. “Making Overmaster Descallia and the masters look guilty of abducting the women could have won the rogue vampires a place with the humans. It could have gone exactly as they planned: take the girls, and have the humans believe it was us, the masters and purebloods who would actually do anything to protect women. At the time, as a detective on the force, I honestly believed the vampires were guilty.”

Destiny has sent our future queen on quite a journey, through the humans and then to us, and she does not take her place in our world lightly. Her eyes narrow as the stones of the witches begin to glow, and she steps toward Raven. “Do you mind? If I touch it?”

Raven nods, lifting it from her chest as it glows brighter. Lucianna places it in the palm of her hand as she speaks. “The witches’ stones know that we’re on the right path. Destiny is speaking to us through them. My mind floats back to exactly when their plan to have us branded as women stealers backfired because it wasn’t just the rogues who wanted our power. The Benettis wanted to oust us just the same, using Lazareth to help with that effort with his connection to the witches.”

Willow’s eyes swirl purple and blue. “Devora wasn’t aware she was aiding him in that way.”

Lucianna nods. “I know, Willow, and I genuinely felt her regret about the situation, but it was through the witches that the rogues got their information about the vampires’ plans and secrets at the time, the information that allowed for them to take Delilah, Tuscano’s mate, and other humans. They used it to make it look like it was Overmaster Descallia and the masters who were guilty of the atrocities and to start this battle.”

“It almost worked,” I say.

Her eyes glow. “Indeed, it did. In my state as a human, even I thought the vampires were guilty at first. The rogues did many things meant to discredit the masters and the vampires they protect today. The intent of taking the women was to discredit vampires who had developed a genuine relationship with the humans and were living side by side as equals. The rogues had to give the humans a reason for needing them to come to the rescue and save the day.”

Sardinia scoffs, “If we had allowed the humans to be duped like that, the rogues would have settled into power and then begun their reign of terror all over again.”

Lucianna nods. “Hence, changing the allegiance of the humans from the masters to the rogues while working to get the shifters, witches, and syndicate to support them. The rogues always knew that they must not only discredit the masters and get the humans and other factions to want them to take over, but they must have the means and capital to take over. In order to get that, they need the key to our treasure. We’ve always known that; it’s always been about that for centuries and centuries.” She looks to Overmaster Descallia. “But the key will always be safe since Overmaster Descallia has safeguarded it time and time again.”

We’ve always known they were after the treasure, how else would they get and keep the power, but they’ve been smart this time. They kept us busy with finding the women, then Lazareth, the rogue shifters, and then the traitors they kept throwing in our way, all in an attempt to take their seat at the table amongst the other factions, at the same time trying to goad us into leading them right to the key.

My anger with the rogues and how they’ve manipulated the entire underworld grows by the second, and it only fuels my resolve to put a stop to their evil. “They have been baiting us all along. With every sure-footed step we took in finding them, they were a step ahead. Because of traitors, to be assured, but that’s exactly what they wanted, what they planned, and the rogues used one reason after another to bait us into grabbing our treasure and going to ground.”

All eyes look to me, and I see the dawning of the same realization that came to me only hours ago. I can see the masters calculating their steps in retrospect. I clear my throat. “From one catastrophe and hunt to the next, all planned by the rogues, orchestrators as we used to call them in the day, many centuries ago. But even with differing names and changing tactics from century to century, they want what we have, what was placed so deeply buried that no one will ever find it, unless of course, we unknowingly take them to it. Our treasure would become their power, and without it, they lose time and time again.”

Overmaster Descallia growls. “They may have thought it was smart to divide factions and try to start a war between us all, but it will be the demise of them all. We would have taken them down on our own eventually, but they’ve given us even more power. We have the backing of Devora and the blessing of the high priestess and aid of the witches amongst us to go after the rogues and end them for good!”

I observe each of our small team as all eyes flare with heat and preparation to do battle and win. I give Master Oradea and the others a nod of comradery because piece by piece we have made this century’s battle together, each leading our regions and dealing with the areas our strengths and skill sets match. Overmaster Descallia is a good and insightful leader. He gives me the nod to give the order as the one he’s placed in charge. My chest heaves with pride and the need to put these bastards in the ground. “We’re sick of doing the chasing. Light will be upon us soon. We will hunker down, and at first night, tomorrow, now that most of the enemies are dead, we will dangle our key and let the fuckers come to us!”

Chapter 14

Chara

I lean against the headboard, staring at the detailed list of rules and the research spread out before me. Hours and hours of research on humans transitioning into vampires are in neat notes. I’ve been awake for hours thinking about ways to solidify our relationship that aren’t on his list of rules. All while waiting for him to text and let me know that he has made it through the night without getting killed.

I reread the passage that holds my deepest interest, yet my wildest fears.

You will submit to being mine… Ownership.

I slink down in the soft down covers as if they will protect me from my thoughts. I will belong to Master Bistrita, like a pretty possession to own, not the human that I am. Nowhere in the list does it say anything about love. I mean, how could it? Maybe the feelings are all mine; maybe the love word is something only humans need to hear over and over again to feel secure in relationships and in their partners. How can I feel what I feel having known him for barely a moment in time?

Fated mates…

I sigh and give my pillow a few punches before resting my head while contemplating what he’s doing at this very moment. The sun will be coming up in a few hours.

Perhaps he’s been hurt, had a rough night, is exhausted from hunting the rogues all night and just wants to go to bed without me asking him a gazillion questions about his lifestyle.

I do a quick search in answer to some of my questions, bound and determined to understand why I’m irresistibly drawn to the beast after barely getting to know him at all. Animalistic attraction? If so, maybe we should just go to bed with each other until the desire runs its course. But belong to him? For how long does he want to own me and make me obey all of the detailed rules? And those are only for purposes of giving me a foundational knowledge. He said we would take it slow, create them together. How many more rules are there without love?

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