5. Bistrita

Chapter 5

Bistrita

The journey to the base of the mountain is the easy part. As long as the syndicate and their soldiers have the city surrounded and don't let any other wolves into the area, or anyone out, we have a sealed and contained battlefield, in which the vampires intend to win.

Master Romano holds up a hand as we make our way through the dense shroud of the night, navigating the terrain where animals of the night often make their beds. The scurry of critters running for safe haven can be heard in the distance, the dried leaves from the trees creating a crackling sound as they make their way over their brittle surfaces in their attempt to be somewhere that we're not. I hold the others back, not liking the look on Romano's face. I gesture to the gem around Raven's neck. "The stones are starting to dim."

Raven strokes hers and shakes her head. "It's no use. Something or someone is either blocking the powers, or it isn't the right path to take. Everything has to be precise for things to align with destiny. We'll know when the time is right, and that's when the stones will lead us to victory."

My jaw tightens with aggravation. First one thing and then the other to deter us from our goals, but if living among the witches in Bistrita has taught me anything, it is that there is truth and things we simply do not understand in their powers, whether we like it or not. "Then we have patience and wait until the timing is right to battle. But that does not mean we sit idly by and waste our time. We use the time to gather information and explore."

Lucianna's eyes glow and Overmaster Descallia puts an arm around her, drawing our future queen closer to his side as the sound of someone making their way through the forest captures our attention. Lucianna lets out a breath. "Silver."

The young man with piercings glances around, taking in the fierce looking group, the vampire masters all wearing dark black turtlenecks and leather vests, with dark jeans and big black boots, leaving nothing to stand out or attract attention except the glint of their swords.

Silver looks around. "I've walked the perimeter. The syndicate are in place along the lower roads, and nothing looks out of place, but yet, something is very off. I can feel it." He looks to Lucianna. "I just can't figure out what it is."

Lucianna walks toward him, her eyes kind and questioning. "You were looking for Embry?"

His eyes meet hers. "I was."

Overmaster Descallia scowls at the young psychic vampire whom his mate has taken under her wing to mentor. "If we find her, we find Lucas. That is the goal. You found nothing?"

Silver shakes his head. "Not a thing, just…"

Willow's eyes begin to swirl, as Natalia's phone buzzes. Overmaster Descallia scowls, clearly frustrated with disruption after disruption and no forward movement in finding Lucas.

Natalia's eyes burn bright red. Master Oradea is by her side in a second, sensing that something is very wrong. She reads the screen of her phone. "It's my brother, Michael."

I know Descallia's temperature will cool if he has even something that will help us find any of the rogues, knowing that they may take us to Lucas. "Does he have information?"

Natalia's chest heaves with angst. Willow and Raven's fingers snap with electricity. Natalia finds her voice to answer my question, but it's just barely above a whisper. "The shifters are at Club Descallia, in Oradea. My brothers and Chara are trapped. They'll die."

The masters don't need to be told what to do. They gather their females, wrapping them in the protection of their cloaks, and quickly transporting to defend our club and everyone in it. The mangy, yellow-eyed shifters know exactly what they're doing. They're not looking to hurt the patrons, just using them to lure us in.

The fuckers…

The customers don't know that, though, and some of them look scared to death. The vampires trying to protect them seethe with anger, impatiently waiting for us to arrive so they can hunt and kill the wolves who dared to break through those doors.

Chara, the red-haired beauty, stands behind the bar as my brothers descend on the others. A mangy wolf growls down at her from the top of the bar with teeth bared and jowls drooling onto the marble below.

Michael has a gun pointed at the wolf in a standoff, but the minute he fires that gun, it's going to set off a chain reaction, and he and his brothers are smart enough to know that someone, possibly one of their own or the ladies, are going to be caught in the crossfire. And even as trigger happy as the Benzinis are, they're not going to endanger their sister's friend, Chara.

I don't even need to give Gregor a nod. He knows exactly what I want him to do, the minute I need him to do it. He lets a round of his Glock fire at the wall on the other side of the club, causing just the distraction my brothers and I need to transport across the room. The wolves are not as quick as they'd like to think, their agility worn down by battle after battle with the vampires who will not quit until we've found and killed every single one of the rogue traitors.

I position myself between the beauty and the snarling beast above, and with one blaze of my eyes singe his hair with fire before slicing his head with one arc of my long sword. His head bounces on the floor, rolling past us as I take the beauty's hand and guide her out of harm's way while my brothers and the syndicate boys make quick work of the wolves who've now lost the element of outnumbering our own.

The minute the wolves are subdued, Natalia races to Chara and pulls her into her arms. "I'm so sorry. We should have taken you with us!" She looks to her brother, who puts another round in the mangy wolf at his feet for good measure. "Fucker," he says.

Natalia smiles at her brothers. "Not too bad for mere mortals."

I growl at Michael's show of strength. He and his brothers couldn't protect Natalia, and they can't protect Chara either. They aren't vampires and don't fight with the senses of vampires, witches, and shifters of the underworld. They should learn this before anyone else they care about gets killed. Stubborn fuckers. "Your men didn't see them coming?"

"They attacked some of our guys and got past the patrol outside. Sneaky fuckers. That should be the end of it, though."

My chest still pounds. "Don't count on it. We'll send some of our own to help with the perimeter." Silver clears his throat, saving me from dealing with the syndicate boys and their reasons for not wanting our help. They're getting it whether they like it or not. "What is it Silver?" I ask.

I don't know him well, but I've heard of his powers of sight, almost as strong as Lucianna's, they say. His eyes are homed in on the ceiling. "It's not over. They're coming back. There's a wall of fury heading our way, right now."

Lucianna leaves her place by Overmaster Descallia, surveying the carnage. "I can feel it too, Silver," she says, softly, observing all the blood spilled upon the floor.

Raven rubs the stone hanging around her neck, one of the three matching stones that are said that at one point will help us find the rogues. Her gaze finds Lucianna's. "Are you sure?" she asks our future queen.

Willow looks to the other witches and their stones and then to Lucianna. "We're not getting that vibe either. I think we're clear of danger, but that's not to say that they aren't nearby. They're going to already know that you got the best of the wolves. The rogue vampires won't chance coming here to meet the same fate, knowing you'd be lying in wait for them."

Whether they would or wouldn't, I'm not about to leave the club until I know for sure. "If we're certain the stones will help guide our path, then it seems prudent to wait." I don't tell them that I'm not certain of any such thing. Waiting here is as good as any place. And it has nothing to do with the fact that the creamy skinned, red-haired beauty is here either. "Let's move some of our men more interior and have them surround the club. If anyone comes within fifty feet of this club, they will not survive.

I give Gregor a nod. "Would you take these two and see if you and your men can get some information from them? Silver, can you work with Raven and Willow and see if you can home in on where the rogues may be? Michael, you and your brothers want to help Oradea find out how they got into the perimeter, and make sure no one else can get through or out?"

Overmaster Descallia nods, sending an appreciative glance. "Good thinking, men. Maybe we can get information from some of the shifters. This should be the last of the mangy traitors. Sheba will be happy to know we've caught more of the rogues who left his pack."

My eyebrows raise, but I don't say a word. Sheba is going to need to start at square one, rebuilding his pack and empire within the underworld. Nothing is going to be easy about that for the leader who once commandeered the entire forest of wolves.

The red-haired beauty whispers to Natalia, but my keen ears hear every word. "Now that I know you're safe, I can't stay here. I'm going to go home. Taylen will hang out for a while and make sure no one needs anything. She speaks vampire."

I hover toward Chara, Natalia, and Taylen. "I'm afraid I can't let you leave."

Her friend, Taylen, steps between us. "She needs time. They flew in here so fast all we could do is hit the panic button. The safe room was out of the question. We know how to use it, but we didn't have time. It scared the hell out of all of us, but she took the brunt of it. They know she's friends with Natalia and didn't waste any time getting to her. I'm just sorry I couldn't do more to get in the way of it."

Chara places a hand on her friend's shoulder and gives her a weak smile. "It's okay, Taylen." She scowls up at me, though, her colorful lips pursed with displeasure. "I appreciate what you did."

"You don't look one bit appreciative."

She looks around at the bloody bodies being dragged from the room and then back at me, more as though she blames me for what happened. "I am not part of this war. Like hell do I plan to stay here with all of this." She gestures around at the carnage.

I start to say something, but it's going to fall on deaf ears anyway, so I save my breath for when she calms.

She barely sucks in enough air before continuing her tirade. "I came by earlier to warn you, but the big, bad vampire didn't want or need my help, and now all of a sudden…"

Chara just ruined any good intentions that I had. I've heard all that I plan to listen to from the sexy but sassy little human. In one fell swoop, I've captured her in my arms and have transported her upstairs to one of the playrooms only reserved for the overmaster and master vampires who own the club, and their VIP guests.

She looks around, her eyes wide with surprise as she takes in the spanking benches strategically placed around the large private room, and the wall of paddles, floggers, and other implements hanging from the walls.

"I'm afraid you won't be leaving Club Descallia anytime soon. It's not safe for you outside of these walls."