1
CORVINUS
Ipace the length of the great room of my estate in Chicago, counting the moments until I’ll be with Embry again. How I’ve managed to let that little wisp of a female get beneath my skin is a mystery to me, but destiny has ways of entrapping people in her little matchmaking games.
Bernard, my house manager for many centuries, walks in with a crystal decanter of Descallia Red, a mixture of blood and wine made in the vineyards of Italy around one of the Overlord’s homes overseas. “I’ll leave this on the bar for you and your guest when he arrives.”
“Thank you.” My jaw tightens with frustration as he leaves the room. I’ve just managed to convince myself that Overmaster Descallia is not going to show for our meeting when he appears without warning right in front of my face. The tightness of his jaw lets me know he’s about as happy with being out in the night as I am to be in Chicago without my feisty little charge in tow.
Descallia’s dark eyes meet mine as his black cape settles behind him. “I asked you to go find Embry and even stay with her as she tries to sort out her history with the witches, maybe to use the information to our advantage.” His face looks grim, and he heaves a heavy sigh. “The dark lords are getting restless,Corvinus. They need the warriors put back in place to protect their regions and we can’t do that with their future leader traipsing across the countryside. It was supposed to be a quick job; it should have been a quick job. Bring her back here to Chicago.”
My eyebrow raises but still I hold my tongue. Better to let Descallia get his frustration out first, then give him the worst of it, because he hasn’t heard anything yet.
The fearless overmaster of the pureblood vampire community pauses for a moment. I almost think he’s done, but I should know far better than that having been with him for centuries. This time his voice booms. “I knew the minute she hit that fucking Mystic Forest things were going to turn to shit.” He heaves out a sigh. “I should have warned you, Corvinus.”
I try to keep the surprise to myself. That wasn’t expected at all, but it will sure as hell make things a lot easier with all that I have to explain, because I’m not innocent in any of this by a long shot. He should at least know some of it upfront no matter the consequences. “I followed Embry into the Mystic Forest because your request was to find her, keep her safe, and bring her home. It meant going into the forest, and unknowingly into one of the witch’s caverns as you learned not long ago. What I should tell you though is that Embry is bound and determined to actually go into the witch academy lower levels. She doesn’t just want to learn about the shadow books the witches keep, she actually wants to breach the academy, Descallia.”
He runs a hand through his dark hair. “I swear that woman has been a pain in my ass since the day we met, but no matter the trouble her meddling in the witches’ affairs will cause, the truth is, we owe her our lives. I believe if she had not gone after Lucas that night and distracted him that he had some plot or another to cause the vampires greater harm. Years ago, her grandmother distracted the rogue vampires and saved us from certain doomin the very same way. No matter that I didn’t see it earlier, I see it today.”
My jaw tightens with irritation knowing the pain Embry has suffered feeling as though not one person in the vampire community believed in her, trusted her, or would give her the benefit of the doubt when it came to her loyalty to the vampires after that night. Never have I questioned our overmaster, but for Embry I do. “And did you tell her this? Did Lucianna tell her this?”
He growls ferociously, his fangs descending and his eyes turning bright red. “Like I said, I didn’t see it right away. Afterwards, we were never given the chance. The minute the ceremony was over, Lucianna and I planned to talk with her but she fucking ran, Corvinus.”
My jaw tightens. “She was innocent but treated like an enemy, worse even by some. She left so the vampires could get on with their lives. It was admirable really.”
Descallia’s eyes flash. “I’m trying my best to have patience with her but it’s hard to explain to the vampire masters, the dark lords, and the rest of the vampires in their regions that she’s innocent and that her loyalties lie to us when she turns her back on us and leaves, vanishes into fucking thin air with nothing left for her closest friend but a fucking note.”
A low growl boils from my chest. My protective instincts are hard to keep in check even with my broody boss standing in front of me in challenge. “Embry told me she explained that she just needed time away. I took that to mean she hadn’t abandoned the vampires but would be back when she had worked through things herself, given the space. Which she needs.”
His eyes turn brighter red as he paces the room. “Lucianna was devastated and blames herself. I won’t have her crying her eyes out night after night plagued with the guilt of thinkingEmbry is out there somewhere all alone and that it’s her fault when it’s not.”
It’s probably not the time to tell Descallia that Embry is far from alone and that the dark lord and right-hand man, the very one he trusted to take care of Embry has been keeping her company and quite busy in his bed every night. That will need to remain our secret because she’s not ready to commit and I’m sure as hell not about to throw away my position with the vampires for a female who doesn’t know what she wants or needs yet. Only time will tell.
But I’ve got a year to make her see things my way. Embry agreed to my sordid deal and I’m going to use every sinful trick in the book to make her forget everyone, except for me. Even if I have to drag destiny’s ass back into the fold to make Embry see things my way.
Descallia paces my marble floor and I head to the bar to pour us both a Descallia Red to take the edge off and settle our nerves. He takes the glass from my hand and drains the entire glass in one long swallow. “I want you to go to the lower level of the witches’ academy with her. If they catch you, you deny that the vampires ever knew you were there.”
What the fuck. The last thing I need or want is to delve into the secrets of the witches, their shadow books, history, or anything more. One glance at Descallia and it’s clear he’s serious as hell. Clearly this is somehow my lot in life though. If I’m to have Embry for my own, and that is not even a choice since destiny decided to involve me in her little matchmaking game, this is what I must do to keep her safe and help the vampires get information at the same time.
It may be risky, but with everything that has transpired since Embry and I arrived in Romania, it’s clear the witches are up to something and they don’t want us to know a thing about it. I give him a nod of agreement. “I’ll do it. I can’t let her go in alone andit may be our only chance to get a look at them and truly find out what they are up to besides their usual no-good nonsense.”
Overmaster nods, seemingly happy that it’s settled. “Good, then it’s settled. I’ll make sure the masters are aware of it at the next consulate meeting, but outside of that, no one else is to know. If you need immediate help, Master Romano will be your go-to since you and Embry will be staying with him and Raven. I want a report on the daily though. Get in, get out, and then come back home. We have much to do to restructure the warriors. You never know when the rogues will attack.”
Descallia could have sent anyone to find Embry when she left the safety of the vampire haven. But of all the vampire lords, as his right hand for some time now, he and his new queen Lucianna chose me. They trust me, and I’ll get the job done. But their trust in me with Embry, not so much, because as much as I want to honor that trust, instead, I’m going to destroy Embry for anyone else and in the dirtiest of ways.
This is not going to end well for either one of us. I’m not walking back on my deal with Embry just because it’s forbidden to take a mate who is your charge. And even though the new warrior members are not yet decided, she was special ops. I’m in charge of putting them together, and there’s no way this won’t be seen as a huge-ass impropriety of authority.
I blame destiny and her meddling. It may have been me that made the deal with Embry, offering the chance to spend a year with me, in my bed and sullying her for an entire year. But what I didn’t expect was her counteroffer, or Descallia’s wishes. Agreeing to snoop with her on the witches at the academy and dig into the shadow files. Fucking hell.
I haven’t thought with anything but a rock-hard dick and protective instincts since I first caught a whiff of Embry’s scent. The minute I tracked the purple-haired creature with evendeeper purple wide eyes she permeated every fucking one of my senses. Of course I’m going to do it.
Damn destiny and her timing all to hell. I was perfectly content as a single bachelor, had even made my peace with being alone for so many years. And then the five-foot five little sprite of a woman with that sassy little mouth threw all of my plans to hell.
I may not have wanted a mate, may not have ever thought fated mates existed, but I swear from the moment I met Embry, she was going to be mine. Even if she’ll only agree to a year, I’ll make her see that beside me is where she belongs. She won’t have a chance in hell of denying me, no matter what emotional baggage her past boyfriends have caused, because I’ve already decided to claim her for my own. And I don’t just want her body, or mind, I want her fucking soul.
2
EMBRY
