Page 18 of Master Slobozia

My fangs descend and my growl is fierce. “Fuck you.” I’ve had far more than enough of male egos and issues tonight. I don’t have to stand around and take this from him. I turn to walk away, having said probably more than I should when he grabs my hair from behind and yanks me backward. I spin out of the hold easily, and turn to deliver a blow, but Slobozia already has him suspended in the air by the throat. “Let him go,” I tell him, embarrassed to be seen as a female needing someone to rescue her, especially Slobozia.

“Sure,” he says, loosening the hold he has on the vampire’s throat and watching him fall to the floor. I expect him to get up and hightail it away, but before I can move, his eyes flare fire red and he lets out a stream of heat-seared power that slices Slobozia in the chest before racing away.

Slobozia roars with rage, growling ferociously at the burn in his chest while closing the distance between the two, flying through the air, and pinning the bastard to the wall. He turns him around roughly and leans heavily against his throat, his hands strong enough to crush his airway if he wanted. “Say sorry to the lady.”

I don’t care what he said to me but that burn does not look good. “It’s fine, Slobozia.”

He ignores me, clearly planning to make a point no matter what attention he draws to himself or to me. Doesn’t care that everyone is looking, every single one of the masters who will surely now know that I can’t defend myself and need the great Master Slobozia to do it for me. “Enough,” I say, but still, it falls on deaf ears until finally when I think the vampire is going to die, Slobozia drops him to the floor. “Get him out of here,” he says to the bouncers who’ve finally joined us. “And revoke his membership to the club,” he adds.

Slobozia walks toward me, and there’s a part of me that wants to just turn away from him, frustrated and angry beyond belief at the attention he’s called to us, but there’s another part that knows deep down that he was protecting me, and that he wouldn’t do that, in this crowd, unless he cared. And I almost succumb to the protector, almost let myself be duped again, before the blonde races across the room and throws her arms around his neck, kissing his face and his lips, and caressing his wound with a painted nail.

I swallow down a wave of emotion lest I be sick, and turn away, only wanting to make it to the door, to the outside, where I can catch some night air because right now I can barely breath. It’s clearly far too late to protect my heart because I fear the pain in my chest may not heal for a very long time, already shattered beyond belief after knowing him for such a very short time.

I walk fast, and then faster, transporting into the night without rest, without nutrition and without a sense of what I’ll do or even if I’ll come back. Destiny got it wrong. I don’t belong with him, and now, I don’t even know if I belong with the warriors.

Chapter 18

Slobozia

Maybe I handled it all wrong. What the hell do I know about dealing with the emotions of a woman whose been hurt before? No matter that I wanted to do the right thing for everyone involved, somehow unintentionally, I’ve managed to screw everything up and do the one thing I swore not to do. Stand in the way of her chances at the warrior group.

I slam the phone on my desk down in frustration. She can’t have just disappeared into the fucking abyss. Somebody in her region has to know where she’s at. I pull out my cell, and call both Master Bistrita and Oradea for the gazillionth time since Taylen disappeared a week ago. Finally someone answers my fucking call on the first ring. “This is Oradea.”

“Any word?” I ask more gruffly than I should, but days without sleep are wearing my patience threadbare.

“Natalia says she hasn’t heard from Taylen. How about if I call you if she hears from her?”

“The way you say that, it makes me think she’s contacting her and you know it, but you’re not going to say anything because Natalia didn’t tell you herself.”

Oradea doesn’t say anything for a long minute. “Fuck, Slobozia. Natalia, Chara and Taylen have all been talking, and she’s been staying with a different friend each night, okay? She’s fine, just severely pissed. She and the ladies are close friends, and Natalia’s my mate. I shouldn’t be telling you anything at all after what happened at the club. Taylen has every right to be pissed at you. What were you thinking? She thinks every master on the consulate knows that you’re a thing and that they will think she needed you to protect her. How’s she supposed to get a job defending vampires if she needs one to protect her? What were you thinking?”

My growl is fierce. “She didn’t need me to protect her. She was doing it all by herself, would have done it all by herself If I hadn’t have needed to be the one to protect her, to defend her from that asshole. There’s a fucking difference,” I growl.

“Look, this woman has clearly gotten to you but from what Natalia said my friend, it’s over. Taylen is moving on, not looking back. She’s going to apply for the position whether she gets it or not. If she does, she’ll leave for training and if she doesn’t, she plans to apply with one of the other combat divisions in another region. Far away from you is what I hear, and you’re not supposed to know that my friend. So do me a favor and keep it to yourself. I need no problems with the females.”

I hang up without replying. This can’t be the end. Not after all we’ve been through, not knowing how we feel about each other and how we connect. I refuse to believe it’s over, but taking charge and stepping in will drive her away again. I glance out the window and the trees sway in the darkness of the wind, ghouls who protect the estate flying around the perimeter as I wonder what she’s doing right now and contemplate what I plan to do.

The fact that she’s been hurt is not going to go away easily with her past. But I meant every word I said. I have no desire foranyone but her, she should know that, feel it, the way deep down inside that I feel it about her. This connection we have is deep, but her wounds have left her scarred, and they may be deeper than even destiny’s meddling can heal.

I watch the wind as it swirls, and slowly the storm of the night brings clarity to my plight. As though the answer was there all along, just waiting for the right moment to be put into perspective and then applied.

I slide into my leather chair and open my laptop, sending one email and then another, and then settle back to contemplate my plan. It will work. It has to work, because if it doesn’t, my whole world is about to shift without her by my side. Something I find absolutely un-fucking-acceptable and will not allow.

Chapter 19

Taylen

The wind blows my freshly done hair as I make my way through the heavy ornate doors of Club Descallia. One week since Slobozia ruined any chance in hell of me getting accepted to the warriors. The ladies are already convened at the table by the stage, reserved for Overmaster Descallia and his guests. Lucianna sits in his normal seat, her eyes alight with mischief. “Were your ears burning?” she asks as I slide into the seat between Chara and Natalia.

My eyebrows arch, looking around at the women who are quickly becoming fast and solid friends, and many I have not met. “Should I be worried?” I ask, taking a glass of water from the wait staff with a smile.

Lucianna laughs. “No, quite the opposite. We’re glad you made it. We just weren’t sure if you’d find some excuse not to come. Let me make introductions. I honestly don’t know who you’ve had a chance to meet or not, yet.” She starts at her right. “This is Delilah, Tuscano’s mate, Angel, Trentino’s mate, Raven is Master Romano’s mate, Alessia is Master Catteneo’s mate,Tansia is Master Calabrea’s mate and Embry’s cousin. You know Willow and her mate Campania, Madria and Master Sardinia, but may not know Catina or her mate Botosoni, and you’re friends with Chara and Natalia so obviously know their mates, Oradea and Bistrita.”

I give them all a smile. “Thanks for the introduction. It’s nice to meet everyone. I appreciate the group letting me come along on the hunt for Lucas. It was great to see him taken down for what he’s done to the vampires. I do feel bad for Embry, though.”

Lucianna looks around and sighs heavily. “I was really hoping Embry would make it tonight, but she’s taking everything with Lucas pretty hard.”

Tansia takes a sip of her drink. “Harder than I’ve ever seen her take anything. She blames the entire battle on herself, as though she should have known what the slimeball was up to. I tried to tell her that it’s not her fault, but she’s just not ready to hear that yet. It may be a while.”

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