“I’ve had your favorites prepared. It will be served in the dining room at your normal time. Let me know if you need anything else,” he tells Corvinus.
“Thank you,” I tell both of them, feeling more than awkward. It’s not like I’m unaccustomed to the wealth after spending so much time with Lucianna, the masters and Lucas, but the way Corvinus takes care of me is something I’ve never once experienced in my life. It makes butterflies absolutely dance in my belly and until this very moment, I’ve never experienced that either.
I glance up at Corvinus who’s gazing at me in question. “You okay?” he asks, sliding a finger underneath my chin so he can look directly in my eyes.
The emotion makes my throat hoarse. “It’s more than fine. Thank you for making me feel so welcome, and”—I let out a sigh,—“for taking care of me. I haven’t really been the same since finding out about my gramma.” I pause. “And Lucas. I appreciate your kindness.”
His eyes narrow and he draws me close. “There’s nothing to thank me for, love. Come, I want to show you the rest of the house.” My cheeks flush as desire between us floats in the air. “And the bedroom, where do you keep that?”
I sit up on an elbow,still naked in bed a couple hours later, watching him dress. “What do you think Overmaster Descallia will say when you tell him what Gramma told me about the shadow books and Lucas?”
He outright avoids looking at me as he continues dressing. My eyebrow arches in challenge. “You can’t just ignore the question because you don’t want to answer it, Corvinus.”
His dark eyes meet mine. “I don’t think he’s going to be very fucking happy about any or all of it if I’m being honest, but the faster we tell him, the better it will be for all of us.”
Mm-hmm. “I know what you’re really thinking, vampire.”
He walks to the bed and kisses me gently on the lips. “I need to go. Descallia will be at my office shortly. I won’t be long, love.” My eyes narrow at the handsome but deep-in-thought beast. He may not have said a word, but I can hear his thoughts racing as though he were talking just to me. I straighten his tie, stand on tippy toes and give him a kiss. “You’re just keeping the fact that our whole fucking existence may depend on what you learn tonight a secret?”
15
CORVINUS
Igaze out over the Chicago skyline, lit up and sparkling across the Lake Michigan shore. Damn Embry’s ability to read my fucking mind. It’s impossible to shield her from worry when she reads me so clearly. Even focusing hard to block her abilities seems an impossibility some days.
Descallia gives a rap on my door and walks into my penthouse office, one I use as seldom as possible far preferring the office at home. I walk around the long sleek black desk and extend a hand before he takes the visitor’s chair. “Glad you could make it and thanks for coming this way.”
He nods, ever thoughtful. “It sounded important, and I’d rather not worry Lucianna anymore than she is already. The only thing that has her cheered is the fact that Embry is back in Chicago. She’s on the phone constantly with the other ladies trying to come up with things for them all to do.”
I settle into my office chair and close my laptop so I can face Overmaster Descallia. “I’m sure in time she’ll love getting together with the ladies,” I tell him, although I’m also certain Embry’s going to need far more time than Lucianna and the other ladies want to give but time will tell.
Descallia clears his throat. “You wanted to meet here; I take it it’s not something you wanted Embry to hear?”
I shake my head. “Actually no. I’d be quite comfortable with Embry being here in terms of trusting her with the information, absolutely, but I don’t want her hurt again. She did nothing wrong, nothing to be ashamed of, yet she is to this day.”
Descallia’s eyes redden. “And you didn’t know how I would react if you brought her?”
I lay my hands out on the table. “We were friends long before I took this position. If I can’t tell you that, who can?”
His sigh is long and drawn out. “That’s fair, I suppose. Embry is welcome here anytime she can let bygones be bygones. Everyone did what they had to do to make sure the vampires were kept from ruin. We have all told her that we’re sorry in one way or another, yet that’s not enough. At some point, she’s going to have to accept that it’s in the past and get on with life. Now, bring me up to speed but I swear if those pesky witches…”
My eyes narrow, ready for his long speech about pesky witches but he heaves out a deep breath.
“Fine…” he says. “Go on … tell me what I want to know.”
“You told me that Embry’s grandmother was instrumental in helping the vampires. And that if she had not been killed you would have allowed her to be turned. What powers did she have exactly? Can you remember?”
Descallia’s face turns thoughtful. “She was a psychic. A damn good one too. She could rival any of those witches and their potions and spells to help us learn things about our enemies. She could not only warn us of impending danger but could see far into the future.” He looks up and his dark eyes meet mine. “And beyond too. She could see and speak with the deceased.”
“That would explain a lot,” I tell him, thinking back to the multiple conversations about Embry seeing and speaking to her gramma. “Embry has been talking with her gramma. Not justI see her and then she’s gone type of talks, having very real meaningful conversations that for some time Embry thought were actually real. That she no doubt wanted to be real.”
Descallia nods. “It is the way of her grandmother. I always knew she’d reach out when it was time.”
I shift in my seat, interested in Descallia’s relationship with this non-vampire from so long ago. “Time?”
“Embry’s grandmother told Lucas long ago that she’d watch over the vampires. We’ve had a long and bloody battle with the rogues, just finally got some peace from the witches, and after everything that happened with Embry, she never appeared, made herself known?”
I guess now is about as good a time as any to tell him. “Maybe she did. She told Embry the witches put a curse on Lucas, that he wasn’t a traitor to you or our kind. Even while they were outwardly helping us against the rogues, were they manipulating things from behind?”
