13. Oradea

I strokethe sides of her creamy shoulder, keeping my innocent enchantress spooned against me as she sleeps. Not wishing to ruin the moment, to keep it painted to memory for centuries to come. The way she chose me to be her first, the certainty that it was what she wanted and the trust to be her very first. I cover us both with the light blanket, as though that will protect us from the outside world and allow us to remain sheltered from everything and everyone else.

What I should be doing is trying to figure out a way to make amends with her brothers, find Lucas and the Rogues once and for all, and give her back to her brothers. Maybe not fully intact, but not worse off by any means. Still alive, with a beating heart, one that can be promised to another sometime in the future. But I already know nothing of the sort will ever come to be, because I'm not giving her back.

My eyes start wide open with the realization that's been playing around in my mind since meeting her, no matter what the masters, the rules of our code of ethics, her brothers, or the syndicate elders say. Natalia won't be going back to the syndicate boys. I draw her close. "Sleep, enchantress. I will keep you safe from anything and everyone who wishes to do you any harm. They will need to send me to the death in order to get to you."

She purrs in her sleep and rubs her butt into my front. I stroke her cheek with a smile. "Mine." I slip quietly out of bed, knowing there is much to be done before I sleep for the day. I get dressed and find the lower level quiet and devoid of guests. Hopefully they've all adjourned for a deep sleep because when the next darkness falls, we will all have much to do if we are to find the traitors and keep them from running us into the ground.

Michael answers on the first ring. "We need a favor. We need your soldiers to put their ears to the ground and see if your men hear anything about the whereabouts of Lucas. Descallia is looking for boots on the ground in a five-hundred-mile radius, and we know your reach is far and wide, and that we can trust you when we can't say that right now about our own. We want him alive, so no heroics, but we will compensate your men handsomely; whatever the price we will pay."

"You are protecting our sister. They dragged us into this damnable war by threatening Natalia. If you threaten one of us, you threaten all of us. I'll have my men let their soldiers know to spread out and keep me posted. How's Natalia?"

"Thanks. We appreciate the assistance. Natalia is good. She's settled in, has been making friends with some of the masters' mates, learning a little bit about our culture and is doing very well, actually," I tell him, leaving out that she's also learned a lot more than that, because that is likely to start a completely different war, and I only have time to deal with one contentious battle right now.

"Good. Send her my love. I'd like to stop by the estate and see her. Oh, and Chara, her best friend, wants to come too. It will be good for her to have a little company."

"That's no problem at all. I'll have her call you and make arrangements. In the meantime, I'll clear your arrival with the security gate. You shouldn't have any problems getting through whenever you want to stop by and see your sister."

"Sounds good. See you sometime tomorrow or the next day most likely," he says, disconnecting, leaving me to ponder just how that meeting will go. But right now, there's still much more to do to find Lucas. While covering bases is always important, I'm not convinced that the Benzini soldiers will hear anything before someone in one of the factions of the underworld.

The next call is to Trentino. "Oradea," he answers, "I was expecting your call." My brow furrows.

"Did someone else already call you about setting up some conference calls for all the masters instead of meeting in person?"

He laughs. "No, I just happen to have my own little psychic who told me that you'd be calling." I nod, recalling vividly being introduced to his mate and seeing Angel at the transition ceremony and at a couple of the more recent consulate meetings when dealing with the witches and syndicate. That's probably why I could tell Natalia had powers of sight right away. Still, my curiosity about how that relationship works gets the best of me. "She's been very helpful to the vampires. No issues with allegiance to her brother, Roman, over the vampires?"

I don't need to have a crystal ball like his mate to know he's trying to pick his words carefully. I would feel the same if constantly having to defend my mate, but there is no delicate way around this. I need to know, for a variety of reasons, and time is of the essence. "I mean no disrespect. I just need to know, brother to brother, that her allegiance is sealed with the vampires before I ask you for a favor."

A low growl dissipates on the other end of the line. "She has more than proven it to me, to Descallia, to all who sit on the consulate, and to her own brother. I will not be asked this of Angel again!"

I can certainly understand his anger, but it's misplaced in me. "Look, you don't have to worry about me asking again. If you say she's good, then we're good. So this meeting. We need the special ops team to set up the conferences in a secure way so we're not hackable."

"I can have them work on that. You want to ask them to work with the other masters' schedules and get something on the calendar?"

I nod. "Yep. As quickly as they can. There's one more thing. It's about Angel, but don't get heated about it. This question is personal."

Trentino is quiet on the other end of the line. "What is it?"

"Angel was a psychic, not a witch, right? I mean, before her transition."

He clears his throat. "That's right. Not a witchy bone in her body, but a psychic extraordinaire she is. Her grandmother was too. They can speak to people who have crossed over and communicate in ways that we can't. She knew the phone was about to ring and that you were on the other end. Her powers got stronger when she crossed over into our world."

"And you would love her regardless, whether she was a witch or not?"

He laughs. "Without a doubt, my friend, without a doubt."

"I know it's on the agenda for the consulate meeting, but what's your take on Embry? The ladies here are irate and not quiet about their feelings at all. Embry's comfortable enough in my lower level, being catered to and such. The ladies are pushing for her release, but I don't think Descallia's in a position to budge to do anything of the sort until we know for certain."

Trentino sighs heavily. "It's not just the ladies with you. All the ladies are heated over it. Angel is badgering me constantly to call Descallia on Embry's behalf, but he's doing the right thing. She stays where she is, well taken care of and comfortable until we're certain. We have the entire community of vampires to think about. Overmaster Descallia is doing the right thing."

I sigh. "I don't disagree, my friend, but it's a tough one to swallow knowing she's down there all alone with the exception of my staff. I have a couple more things to do, so I'll let you go for now. Thanks for the help."

A high-pitched scream comes from the second story of my estate. I race to the top of the stairs, almost tripping in my hurry as I turn and run down the hall toward my bedroom and burst through the door only to find Natalia is sitting upright in my bed, big tears running down her face.

I close the distance between us. "What's the matter, Natalia, you're having a bad dream?" She shakes her head, sobbing uncontrollably and visibly shaken, by whatever has taken its course.

I pull her into my arms and stroke down the side of her face, brushing her silky hair away from her face, just holding her against my chest and waiting for her to calm. When she's had a moment, she looks up at me with a myriad of emotions passing through those expressive eyes. "I'm not sure what I saw, but it was real, like one of those dreams that you have and think nothing of at the time but then maybe a week, maybe a month, maybe even a year later the same thing happens, and it's just like this déjà vu."

"Okay, I believe you, Natalia. Tell me, what did you see; what do you think happens in the future?"

She sniffs. "I saw you killed, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn"t stop it. I couldn"t get them away from you." She sobs softly.

I tilt her chin with my finger. "Listen to me. It was a dream. I'm not going anywhere, understand? No amount of wishing me dead on the part of the rogues will make that come true." I tell her this, but yet, I'm not the psychic one between us. Natalia is, which gives me significant reason for pause.