8. Taylen

Chapter 8

Taylen

T he minute his lips touch mine, all thought of anything, even the air that I breathe, is gone. It's only him and me, lost in the passion of a kiss that transcends the very depths of time. His hand snakes around my nape, keeping me held close, sending mind-numbing tingles down the length of my spine that spread down my belly and right to my center. When he finally allows me to come up for air, his eyes penetrate me with the heat of his desire. Two dark souls connecting with each other, destined to be together, no matter the denial on either of our part.

Master Slobozia strokes a finger down the length of my cheek but firmly breaks our kiss before pushing a piece of hair from my face. "Now your heart is beating for all the right reasons, love."

He turns and walks back down the hall, leaving me on my own, left with a million thoughts running through my mind. Did I imagine the passion between us, when it was only a kiss to get my adrenaline refocused? The rumors about him at the club run rampantly through my mind, muddling already with conflicted emotions about being with someone like him.

I watch as he disappears from sight. I catch my breath and let my overheated desire calm. All the women at the club. All the women who vie for his attention if just for an hour or so, but no one gets close to the elusive and cold master Slobozia. No, maybe you're lucky enough to have him choose you to play with at the club, but the minute the session's over, rumor has it, he's out the door. Back to his estate high on the hill overlooking the region that he loves.

I didn't even get that. Am I just not good enough for the master? It's not like I was going to trust him with my heart, but a little play, that could have been nice, although I already know it's far more than that, whether I want to deny it or not.

I didn't want anything more from the formidable beast anyway. Not one damn thing. I slide a hand over my waist and down my hips to straighten my clothes, before heading back to the group, walking toward them with purpose. I certainly don't need or want anything else from the jerk. Maybe after this mission is finished up, we'll be lucky enough not to cross paths again.

Silver, Terrance, and Clay are moving Lucas when I return to the group. I join the ladies who are in deep conversation about the cavern. "It's a shame it has to be destroyed," Willow says, glancing around at the impressive cave laden with gold and marble, shimmering all around us as though pouring from deep within the walls of the sacred mountain range.

Lucianna nods. "Standing around, contemplating the loss of the cavern is like déjá vu. I read a passage some time ago in the Vade Mecum . It's as though I've gone through it before but instead have just read the history over the centuries. It's a strange feeling, like I've done this very same thing before, right in this very same spot," she says, looking around at the cavern as though committing it to memory.

"It has to be destroyed?" I ask.

Lucianna nods, adjusting the arm lying gently across Embry's shoulders. "Overmaster Descallia will have it destroyed once we leave. It's not safe not knowing who Lucas may have told about its whereabouts. A safe haven is only safe if the enemy doesn't know where to find it."

Willow's eyes lower, and then she looks up through veiled long lashes. "Could it be that he doesn't trust the witches? No matter how much we've helped, that the stones led us directly to where he was at the very time that allowed us to save Embry, still it's not enough for him or the other masters?" she asks, saying what the others probably feel but are not willing to say aloud.

Embry shifts uncomfortably but doesn't say anything, still war torn and battle scarred from her time with Lucas. Lucianna's arm stays loosely around Embry's shoulder, keeping her friend close and protected after all that she's been through. After a moment, Embry's eyes flash as purple as her hair. "Lucas wasn't in contact with any of the witches while I was with him. He was alone after you killed the rogue shifters and Magnus. I doubt that Magnus was a real loss to him, a means to an end probably. Lucas isn't the same person I once knew."

Lucianna nods, her crystalline green eyes connecting with her dearest friend. "Something changed in Lucas at some point. It's just hard to believe that he was always the maniacal manipulator just waiting for the right time to destroy everything that he's fought side by side to build with Overmaster Descallia for centuries. I think we're all still dealing with the betrayals."

Embry swallows through her emotion. "How could he be that cunning and calculating that I wouldn't even know it? I should have sensed it, but I loved a vampire who wanted nothing but to ruin me, us, our entire way of being." Embry does not cry, not one tear does she shed but the tinged color around her eyes hints at the grief that she feels, and sentiments that she's not willing to let out for everyone to see, at least not today. "I'm not looking for pity. I have an eternity to live with the guilt. It's just going to take time and probably lots of it," she sniffs.

The ladies gathered do not push, or tell her it's not her fault, or that she certainly couldn't have known what he was up to, or anything of the sort. They are all just supportive in their silence, letting their friend absorb all that has happened as the man she thought she would spend her entire existence with is rolled up in a dark black drape.

My eyes meet Slobozia's from across the cavern for a long minute. I turn away first, the heat of his stare burning deep into my skin. Maybe I do want the beast, clearly after my lack of restraint just moments ago, but I refuse to be anyone's plaything. If I wanted that, I would have taken many of the vampire masters, lords, and warriors up on their offers over the years tending bar at Club Descallia to go and play in the dungeons and playrooms in the lower level. But I didn't, and I'm not going to do it for the fine ass of Master Slobozia.

If I want to be taken seriously as a candidate for one of the warriors' positions, I can't be viewed as a plaything for one of the masters, simple as that. I suck in my breath, confirming my resolve, solid on my goals and my path forward. One that does not include lying beneath the muscly vampire as he claims me for his own and brings me to orgasm after delicious mind-blowing orgasm the way he does in my dreams. But no one can take my dreams away, even destiny, who seems to be minding everyone's business but her own these days.

The feel of Slobozia's eyes draws me toward him as Lucianna leads me and the other ladies from the cavern. His eyebrows raise as we pass them as if to challenge every conviction I've just solidified. I huff internally, conflicted with a desire that I fear will not pass until I'm back in my own neck of the woods and far, far away from the notorious womanizer that is Master Slobozia.

I narrow my eyes at the cocky beast, pretending that powerful body has no effect on me whatsoever, just like I've done with so many other overconfident vampires at the club. But that was different, because with the others, saying no was easy. Every neuron in my body and brain wasn't clawing with this insanely thick desire to mate with the powerful beast.

The dark vampire master is intense, causing me to turn away lest he see far more than he should about the jumbled mess of my emotions. I swallow through the adrenaline of the battle and this gnawing desire, quickening my pace to follow the ladies. But still, the heat of his stare follows me as we make our way into the darkness of the night.

Lucianna and the others encircle Embry, consoling her, knowing it can't be easy for her to accept or deal with the treachery of his betrayal, deceit, or demise.

I shyly join them, but Raven pulls me into the midst, brushing away my unease. "While we have lost some that we love, we are victorious in our battle." She raises my hand. "A fearless warrior, one who has proven herself worthy to best the worst we've ever done battle with. Three cheers for Taylen," she says, laughing as the others all begin to chant and cheer.

Embry doesn't chant, and she doesn't cheer, but the look in her solemn eyes when they meet mine tell me everything that I need to know. Thank you.

I give her one nod. You're welcome.

Embry smiles at us all as the ladies talk, but it does not reach her eyes. They see her lips moving and all the right words falling from them, but deep inside, my soul can hear hers crying for the life that could have been and will never be. Part of her heart and soul has died with Lucas.

I glance again at the vampire staked and being carried by the others not far from us, the evil of his essence ebbing out of the shell of his body even through the tarp, tainting the very sanctity of the secret crevice deep inside the mountain range. One that should have remained a secret, a place where only the masters and very few others knew existed, one among many, yes, but still, now one more secret will be known and as a result needs to be destroyed.