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Catina
My mind spins with the magnitude and swiftness of the thoughts running through Botosoni’s mind. I glance down at our hands, still joined, a connection allowing the passages of sight to deepen and become stronger than I’ve ever experienced with another human being or spirit from the other side.
All eyes are on him, the energy amongst everyone swirling in the air, mingling with the emotions of betrayal, impatience, and anger at the rogues for threatening their way of life.
Botosoni gives my hand one last squeeze under the table and encompasses the water glass in front of him with both hands. “We don’t go after them. They’ve been two steps ahead of us all this time. They know where we are, know that we’ll figure out the clues. I say we do the opposite of what they expect. We refuse to let them draw us in. They had the guts to brazenly walk in our club and then disappear to draw us in. Well, we’re here now. We turn the tables, let them come to us, on our own territory. Right here at the Descallia, we have the advantage. Right now, they’re waiting for us to step into their trap. While they wait, we set one of our own.”
Overmaster Descallia nods slowly at first, but then steadily. He looks to Lucianna whose eyes are glowing a bright green. “And we draw them away from the mountain range, away from the secrets they wish to find. We know they’ll come because whatever they want aside from burying us in the ground will never come to fruition without the stones that the ladies here wear around their necks.”
Botosoni’s eyes narrow. “Exactly. But we’ll need something enticing to draw them in.” He looks to the other men, who already have angst and agitation rolling from their essence that I can pick up from here. “We’ll need the ladies and their jewels as bait. There’s no way around it.”
Campania puts both hands on the table and growls. “Develop a different plan.”
The energy swirls with male testosterone, mixed with anger, denial, and defiance. Botosoni takes it all in stride, ever the cool and collected one who has been charged with leading this mission in his region. Overmaster Descallia gives him a small, curt nod of approval and encouragement to go in what will most likely be a heated controversy between him and the other masters around the table.
Botosoni looks around the club, taking in the layout. “The gilded cages that hold dancing girls on many of the nights can be used if we can configure them not to unlock. We’ve had auctions at the club before, only in the lower level. This time, we do it on the main floor, but by invitation only. We put on a show to auction off a lady and a gem. Only, we use more ladies than Raven, Willow, and Madria. We have ten cages, we use ten ladies. Ladies who are battle prepared and ready for this fight.” Raven strokes Romano’s arm and looks lovingly into his eyes. “It’s a good plan. We can take care of ourselves. I love that you worry, but we’ve survived for an eternity, okay?”
Romano doesn’t answer, and the and the others look far from convinced that using their women is the way to move through the dilemma the vampires find themselves in. Overmaster Descallia is going to need to weigh in on this because I can feel the anger and fear boiling in the other masters from here as they contemplate using their mates as a piece of sexy bait to lure their enemies.
They’re not wrong; the witches are strong, have powers, and can protect themselves with hexes, curses, and a wave of electricity that flies from their fingertips. I have nothing to offer the group or Botosoni in a way that can help in any real value when it comes to actually battling the rogues and the shifters, except vision of sight. I may be able to take care of myself among humans, my own people, but not in a world filled with different factions of the underground.
Botosoni needs a strong woman, his equal, like Lucianna and the others bring to the table. I look to one of the chairs across the table where everyone has unbelted their weapons while waiting these rogues and shifters out. I may be able to toss a dagger, a trick learned on the road, but a long sword, no. It would probably drag me to the ground with its considerable weight. Besides, even if I learned, we’re still incompatible. Humans aren’t immortal and don’t vampire mate for eternity. How does that even work between a human and vampire?
I calculate the difference between us. My father and brothers will have a fit, but not because of the age gap. If they thought some old traveler would take me as a wife, they would sell me off in a minute. But a vampire? No, they would never be able to recover from the shame of that.
Willow stands and gestures to Raven, Madria, and Lucianna who stand beside her in unity. “Using us is the only thing that makes sense. We can ask Embry to join us. With all the vampires in the region, surely Master Botosoni can identify some more who are trustworthy and willing to take up the fight?”
I stand and feel the heat of Botosoni’s gaze. I don’t look down, but instead across the table at the ladies who took me under their wing with no questions asked, made me feel part of the group and not an intruder, and have never once questioned my abilities or value to the hunt. “I stand with the ladies, but mind you, my proficiencies with weapons are a far less skillful than my visions of sight.”
Overmaster Descallia takes it all in, acknowledging my gesture and nods his agreement. “Lucianna, Delilah, Angel, Raven, Alessia, Tansia, Willow, Madria, Catina, and Embry. None of the master’s will be happy when I call them and enlist their help and that of their mates, but the plan is good, and we know that each of the ladies are trustworthy. We cannot be cautious enough.”
All of the masters are grim, but they don’t dispute that Botosoni’s plan is a good one or that of Descallia’s decision to use the mates of the masters in a concerted effort to draw the rogues away from the mountain range, into the city, and directly into the club.
Lucianna sends a text and then pockets her cell until it buzzes again. She smiles and responds. “Embry and Lucas will be here in a few minutes; they aren’t far away. She’s in.”
Overmaster Descallia narrows his eyes at Lucianna, but she isn’t fazed by it at all. She gives him a roll of her eyes and grins. “You can tell the rest of the masters. I only told Embry.”
His eyebrows raise, but it’s not hard to see the faint trace of a smile or the soft spot he has for his mate. “It’s settled then. I’ll give the rest of the masters a call. In the meantime, we clear the club out after tonight, get the word into the right ears, and have everything set for Friday night?”
“That’s not very far away,” Sardinia says, not outright questioning our leader, but it’s clear from his tone that he’s not confident that’s enough time or that he’s completely sold on the plan.
Overmaster Descallia’s eyes are hard and unrelenting. “I’m not waiting for another minute while they continue to destroy our good name and taint everything they touch. We draw them in and end as many of them as we can. I want each and every one of them to feel their immortal souls drawn into hell as those stakes go in? Understood?”
Botosoni stands, placing his hand on my lower back while looking across the table at the other masters. “Can the three of you work out a plan for the perimeter? “Catina and I will go and check on provisions downstairs while you do that and make the calls. Are we agreed that we don’t bring outside help in, that we take them ourselves; all masters united in the cause to ensure the plan isn’t leaked to the rogues as everything else seems to have been?”
Every male around the table gives a curt nod. Botosoni clears his throat. “It’s a solemn reminder that we can trust no one but ourselves in this game of war that has gone on for far too many centuries. It will come to an end soon, though, because reversed tables in this game will be a bitch for the rogues. They won’t see what hit them far before they lay their hands on one of our mates.”
Descallia raises a glass of water. “Good, then we might as well start whispering news of the auction to our patrons in the lower level. There’s no better way to get the word out than to let the people with enough money to buy anything they want know that there’s an auction going on that they don’t have tickets too.”
Botosoni grins. “They’ll be connecting with everyone in the underworld to get hands on them, and that will get the word spread faster than any other conventional ways we could think of. I know how the high rollers work in my region, and the dark net will be lit up like Christmas with everyone clamoring to get their hands on tickets by tonight.”
Descallia looks thoughtful. “Good. I’ll reach out to Roman. If we’re going to put Angel up in a cage, there’s no way he won’t bring every one of the men he trusts to have the interior secured to help keep her and the others safe, no matter the differences between us and the syndicate. We don’t cross lines where family is concerned.”
The cell in my pocket buzzes, and I pull it out, rereading the message twice before gathering the courage to address the group. “We may have a problem. My father and brothers just left the coffee shop where I set up to tell fortunes. Aleah told them that Master Botosoni carried me out, and they have not heard or seen from me since.”
Botosoni growls. “I’ll deal with her family,” he says, and that’s what worries the hell out of me because when he learns the real truth, and what I haven’t told him, nothing will ever be the same.
Chapter 14
