26. Chara

Chapter 26

Chara

I let out a breath, a half sigh of relief watching the rogues burn from afar, but the feeling of being watched makes my heart beat with anxiety and a sudden life-sapping dread. The minute I hear the crunch of brush, I know my attacker has launched into the air, but my senses are quick now too.

I turn just as the bastard rogue shifter's front paws hit the ground in front of me, teeth snarling and jowls dripping with drool as he levels me with that pathetic yellow gaze.

Battles with shifters, rogue vampires, and ghouls have been fought as passage to get into this life, and I will not let a yellow-eyed shifter ruin one damn thing. "Your work is done. There are no more rogues to defend. Whatever promises they made to you and your kind, they were empty unless they won the war, and as you can see, they lost. Go back to the others and tell them. The masters are the only purebloods in this land."

Taylen comes out from the tree behind the shifter, her sword out and ready to swing, but another shifter jumps from the tree behind her. She is far quicker than I, or him; she already knew he was there lurking in the dark. Taylen turns the full length and weight of her long sword onto the ferocious beast, severing his head from his neck.

The other shifter keeps her busy, while my keen ears focus in on the heartbeat of another, a thudding beat of increasing anger and despair. I search the canopies above, my eyes slowly acclimating until I see the outline of the lone vampire with a cape drawn around him, standing way overhead and looking down while leaning against a trunk that almost allows him to blend perfectly into the night.

Lucas…

And he wants Taylen or me as a last fuck you and revenge to the masters and the syndicate, even after all he has already done. Because without the syndicate joining sides, we may not have won the war, and he is not ready to go quiet into the night without a fight or without the girl.

My feet leave the ground at full force, surprising even me at the speed in which I reach him. My short blade is already drawn, but the anger and demonic rage in his eyes causes my chest to pound with unprecedented fear. "Taylen!" I yell, hoping against hope that my voice isn't carried away by the wind and she heeds my warning of danger and runs the other way.

The minute he grins and laughs that evil high-pitched sound that sends chills snaking down my spine, I know that I've played right into his hand. I've brought Taylen to him instead of sending her away. He thinks he's won, and that's exactly what I let him think while I gather my grit and my balance on the branch that threatens to sway beneath my feet with every move I make.

Lucas beelines from his place next to me and dives for the ground, trying to grab Taylen into his arms in one fell swoop, but she is faster than him, and I am more determined than most. She has her sword out, going steel to steel with the evil bastard, while I circle him from behind and get in a stance, ready to run him through the minute he turns around.

His eyes glow deep red, and his fangs glint bright white in the night as he swings his sword in the air, causing Taylen to jump majestically into the air. She flanks her prey but not before the monstrous beast swings his long sword, causing hers to fall with a dull thud on the ground as he circles, fangs bared, ready to dive into the meaty flesh of her neck.

I raise my sword high above my head and throw. It flies through the air, end over end, and would have landed dead center in his chest, if the devilish beast had not moved. "Damn it!" I cry, running flat out now to get between him and Taylen, who's been injured by his sword and leans against a tree.

"Get out of the way, Chara," she orders, but there is no way my friend is going to die at the hands of this beast without both of us going down.

I take flight from my position on the ground, but the vampire's strengths knock me away. At least it pulled his attention from Taylen for a moment. It gives me time, along with Taylen to catch my breath and begin to recover. I look to Taylen and give her a sign. On my three. I put up one finger, and then two, ready to lunge and take him out, but a streak of purple flies through the sky, with a red-hot glowing steel stake headed right for the dark heart of the evil beast.

Lucas growls, so ferociously that animals and birds screech everywhere, causing the trees to rustle with their escape from yet another safe haven. "We're far from done! I'll be back for you, and then everyone will wish they had sided with me!" Lucas yells, taking flight with a purple-eyed Embry hot on his trail before disappearing into the night.

Descallia, the masters, their mates, and Lucianna appear from the darkness of the shadows, so stealthily that not even a bird moves in the trees. Bistrita takes me in his arms and holds me close as the others settle in by his side.

The witches watch as their stones glow in the night. Willow and Raven look to Lucianna. "Did you and Overmaster Descallia know that Embry wasn't a traitor?"

Lucianna's eyes soften toward the ladies. "She is my closest friend in the world. I knew. Deep inside, where it really counted, just like all of you, I knew."

Raven wipes a tear from her eye, and Willow swallows through her emotion before turning to Silver. "What about you? Did you know?"

Silver runs a hand through his spiky hair. "Anyone who knew Embry well knew she wasn't responsible. It was just a matter of proving it. I respect the fact that we had to do that in order to keep all of the vampires safe just in case she had swapped sides."

Raven's eyebrows raise. "You and Embry? A thing?" she asks, ignoring the look of chastisement her mate gives her for her matchmaking efforts.

He laughs. "Embry and me? We are friends, great friends, nothing more, nothing less. She may have tried to get under Lucas's skin by making him think there was a little more to it than that, and I may have played along just to show him what he was giving up when he started being an ass, but no, Embry and me, we're going to be friends for an eternity."

The light of the full moon shines as I look into the gentle eyes of Bistrita. "They're gone. Shouldn't we have gone after them?"

He smiles and squeezes me to him. "Lucas will be exactly where we want him now. He was after one thing. Power. They tried to make the humans, syndicate, and shifters turn against us, but even if he had succeeded, it was never going to be enough long term. Long term, you need the money to support the power, and you need the treasure that he does not have but seeks."

Descallia grins. "And once Magnus showed his hand, it was easy to determine exactly where Lucas would go. He'll go to the place he believes that I hid the key after it was stolen the last time. When Magnus helped me keep it safe from Cyrus, he helped me kill off the very rogues who sought it so that he and Lucas could take their place. The bastards!"

The witches' eyes all go wide and swirl at the very same time. "The key! If he knows where the key is, no one—not the vampires or the witches—will be safe. It's more than treasure; its gems, secrets, potions and all."

Lucianna rests a hand on Raven's shoulder. "Not to worry, my dear. Devora is fully aware that Lucas and others will be heading toward the center of the mountain range, right into the sacred land where he believes the key to be hidden."

Taylen's eyes narrow to slits, but then her lips spread into a wide bright smile. "The hunger and greed to find our key will be his demise and not his reward."

Overmaster Descallia nods, looking far into the night. "First light will be here soon. He'll hunker down to avoid Embry's wrath, and then we'll find him searching for the key at first sign of night, tomorrow."

"What about Embry?" Willow asks.

Lucianna laughs. "I'd hate to be Lucas trying to find cover from Embry tonight."

Master Slobozia grimaces. "If he's headed for my region, we'll find him. There's nowhere he can go there that will keep him safe from me and my lords."

Taylen shakes her head. "I should be with Embry right now, fighting my own battles, not waiting until tomorrow."

Master Slobozia turns his gaze to my fiery friend. "You have caused enough trouble today. If you had stayed where you were supposed to stay, Lucas would not have found you or gotten away."

Taylen's eyes flame red. "I did not move from where I was told to be. He came after me, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let him get away, just to please the likes of you!"

Overmaster Descallia clears his throat. "A night of rest. Embry will be fine. She will look for him until she gives up and then hunker down and find us tomorrow. In the meantime, we go to the cavern in the center of the mountain. We'll bed down there for now."

Willow and Raven's eyes go wide. "You're taking us with you? To the sacred place of the vampires, for the night?"

Overmaster Descallia looks all of the witches over with a sweeping glance. "You have proven yourselves brave and trustworthy. You will accompany us to the hallowed ground where our treasures are rumored to be buried."

Taylen nods. "I agree. They have fought by our side through thick and thin. They can come with us."

Master Slobozia's eyes narrow at Taylen. "You're not going. You need to be tucked away somewhere safe until all of this is over."

Taylen's eyes blaze red, and her fangs descend. "Like hell, you egotistical asshole. I'll not be kept prisoner in a safe room that isn't safe again. Lucas wants me? Let's see if Lucas is up to the challenge of me."

Master Slobozia growls his disagreement, but it's clear that Taylen is not going to back down, nor are the two going to see eye to eye on things anytime soon.

I step forward and try to mend the peace. "Time and time again he's come for me, Natalia, and Taylen. He's not going to stop until one of us is in the ground, so he can feel he got even with the syndicate for the side they took with the masters and not the rogues. We're safer with you and the others than we are left alone with guards. He's too smart. This time, instead of keeping us safe, we need to be used to draw him out, so that we can put the evil bastard in the ground, once and for all."

The witches' stones light with a glowing purple color, as Lucianna's eyes flash green, spreading a kaleidoscope pattern that illuminates from here to the very center of the Carpathian Mountain range.

Our future queen gives a nod. "We go as one, united in our fight. Destiny agrees and is showing us the way."