23. Oradea

I transportto my study where Descallia is scouring a multitude of maps with Lucianna and Magnus after dealing with the shifters. Descallia glances up. "Oradea, you did well on the battlefield." He stifles a low growl. "It kills me not to be on the field with you and the others, but we must all keep split up to ensure our future. They would love nothing more than to kill us all in one fell swoop." Descallia gestures to Magnus. "You know, Magnus, Oradea has been leading our hunt for Lucas in the region and has been able to purchase not only this land but much in the surrounding area. We keep accumulating, little by little, and soon we will once again have the upper hand in gaining more land than the witches."

Magnus stands and extends a hand. "Nice to see you again, Oradea. Overmaster Descallia has been filling me in on everything that's transpired as of late, while you were out with the shifters. Any new information?" he asks.

My jaw clenches with frustration. "Not one of them would give up anything on Lucas or the others. It's like they've all been brainwashed into believing that somehow, if they end us, they will gain power they've never had before. They're high on the ideal of it all."

Magnus shakes his head. "It's hard to fathom how Lucas could turn on his own. We've been together for centuries, he's fought by our side in battle after battle with the rogues, yet now he's one of them?" Magnus looks to Descallia and then to me. "And we're certain it's not a spell or some such thing that would explain it, fix it, make it go away?" he asks.

I shake my head. "I saw it with my own eyes. The actions are one thing, but I watched tonight for some sort of emotion that would have to be stoking a turn of this nature, and it's there. Of that, there is no doubt." I nod to Descallia. "I'm still trying to dissect everything I heard him say to Natalia and then said to me. He told her, ‘Everything was taken from us! Everything! We will have our revenge. We will right the injustice that was done to the vampires."

"What injustice was he a part of? Then he said, ‘You think you are a vampire? You are nothing! You will learn some parlor tricks. Maybe your life essence is blood, but your soul is not pure; you are not worthy to be one of us, just a shell of a life that wants to be someone we are not. We rule the earth with fear, devour anyone in our way. We do not sit across the table from corporate members of the boardroom making deals with the same humans who slayed and burnt us years ago. The world Descallia and Lucianna create is not one that we accept, nor be part of!'"

Descallia roars, "The rogues have wanted to run us into the ground from the very start. They are proud of their bloodthirsty ways. Them not wanting us to evolve in the world and sit at the table with the humans makes perfect sense to me. They don't want us in that position because the humans respect us, have learned to depend on us in many business respects, and as long as they do the rogues are left out in the cold. That's why they tried taking human women and blaming it on the vampires. They wanted the vampires to lose credibility in the eyes of the humans, and even more importantly, the syndicate. If they could use people's fear and hatred to get rid of us and get the syndicate to start relying on them instead, which they did with a few, they would have a foothold into developing a reign of power of their own."

Lucianna's eyes glow a bright crystalline green. "We have come so very far. Overmaster Descallia has created a place of pride and self-worth for the vampires of our day. We will not allow Lucas and the rogue vampires to tear it down with their words or actions; we will fight them to the death if that must be."

Our future queen is full of conviction and passion. She is already formidable and well respected by the vampires but will make a formidable queen ruling by Overmaster Descallia's side. But, even still, she's not going to like what I have to say. "I went to see Embry tonight because she reached out to me. It was innocent enough. She wanted to plead her case and tried to get me to release her."

Descallia's eyes darken like the night. "Tell me you didn't release her, Oradea!" he demands.

I shake my head. "Of course not, but while I was down there talking to her, because the bitch drew me to her with thoughts of Natalia being in danger, Lucas was drawing Natalia out of the protection of my estate. The cameras caught her sneaking right behind the guards, who have already been fired. Freshly turned, she outsmarted them when their only job was to keep her safe."

Magnus slowly begins to shake his head. "All this time Embry and Lucas?"

Descallia contemplates the question. "Embry has known Lucas for a lot of years. Her grandmother helped Lucas in a fight for his life and was a great ally to our cause back in the day, but things can change. She didn't appear at the Descallia looking for work until after the women had begun disappearing. Son of a bitch! Did you mention this to any of the females?"

I scoff, "And start a riot? No, they think Embry walks on water, no matter that she's been with Lucas from the very start of this and he's turned out to be the biggest traitor to our cause." Descallia paces back and forth, just like I've seen Isala do so many times before at his estates over the centuries. "I think it's time we had a little heart to heart with Embry," he says.

I glance at Magnus and back to Descallia. "And if she won't take us to Lucas?"

Overmaster Descallia sucks in a deep breath. "Let's hope for all of our sakes that she cooperates, because if she's conspiring with Lucas, and he's left her here, that means her usefulness to Lucas here at the estate is not done. Otherwise, Lucas would have come for her himself.

My jaw locks tight. "The little traitor. There's only one way to know how this is going to go. We go ask the little traitor face to face." Magnus slides a hand to the back of his pants and checks his weapon. I do likewise, making sure the dagger I carry at my ankle and the short stake is in its place in my vest while Overmaster Descallia prepares himself.

We transport to the lower level, right outside the door to where Embry was placed. "Ready?" I ask, before I unlock the door. "Embry?" I glance around the empty room and walk into the ensuite bathroom which is just as empty as the bedroom. I drop to the floor and check under the bed. "Son of a bitch… It looks like Lucas came for her after all."