by Emily Bex
“Alec, this is Raven, one of my finest. Rogue killer extraordinaire. Don’t let his size or his flair for the dramatic bother you, warrior has the speed of a damned bullet.”
Alec scanned Raven from head to toe. He wasn’t very tall for a vampire; very slender build, hair to his waist, androgynous. If he added some lipstick and heels and got rid of his facial hair, he could easily pass for a bitch.
“Yeah, okay... can we just get back to civilization, please? And the faster the better.”
Raven stood and bowed to Alec. “Let’s rock and roll, brother.”
Shade roared, laughing as Alec growled at him and the two of them took off. Yeah, Alec, this will be the longest fucking trip you ever took back home! Still laughing, Shade headed back to bel. It was time to wake up his mate and see how she faired this night.
69
Kate awoke slowly, turned on the light and was momentarily confused as she looked around the guest room. Then memories from last night washed over her. Shade was gone from their bed, but she remembered he held her close all day. She had felt him stroking her hair and her back, even as she slept. She remembered that he had cleaned himself up in the shower first and then, ever so gently, he stripped her of the clothes she had worn and carried her into the shower where he proceeded to bathe her, wash her hair, and dry her off, then he carried her here. He had come for her, and found her crouching on the floor, after that... that thing climbed through the window. And he’d sent Luca away. She’d heard the cold emotionless tone in his voice when he spoke to Luca. She sat up in bed. He knew now. He’d figured it out and this was not how she’d wanted him to learn about all the training. They should have told him sooner, on their own terms. She needed to tell him, explain to him. She knew Luca would shoulder all the blame when the fault really lay with her. It was time to find Shade and put an end to the secrets.
Shade stood outside the door listening until he was sure she was awake. He had no idea what condition she would be in, but if he felt she was strong enough to talk to him, he needed answers to how, why, and when. Pushing the door open slowly, he stuck his head in and smiled. “Buonasera, mi amore.”
She looked up as he entered, his voice warm and gentle, his smile soft, and he melted her heart. “Lover, I’m always a little confused when I wake and find you have left our bed. But I felt you holding me as I slept, I felt you keeping me safe.”
He sat on the bed and she curled up in his arms. “I will always keep you safe, at least, give it all I have, I will give my life for you.” He sighed. “I’m sorry, mi amore, for last night, so very sorry. I never expected an ambush, and for that matter, never did I expect Luca to leave you. I need to go speak with him, and it cannot wait until later, this needs to be done now. Will you be all right until I am done?”
“Shade, I need to ask you, please. This conversation with Luca. There is much that needs to be said, much you need to hear, but I ask that you hear it from both of us. Please.”
He stood and walked to the window. He wasn’t sure if she should hear what needed to be said to Luca. He wanted to handle them separately. Turning, he looked at her and his face showed concern. “Bel, are you up for that? What I’m going to say to him you may not want to hear. This is an extremely serious matter.”
“Shade, I feel your anger with him, your disappointment, and I know him. He’ll shoulder the blame, and accept it all to protect me. But he doesn’t own the blame, and he’d never tell you that. I carry the blame. You need to hear it all. I have lived with these secrets long enough.”
Growling, he looked at her. “Secrets? Then si, you will come as well.”
His mind began to spin, and he wasn’t sure, after her words, what he was facing, but he worked to control his temper as it rose fast. Secrets, they have secrets now! Oh, this will be another night I won’t soon forget! “You need to get dressed. I will call Luca to come to the house. It is time both of you faced the music and let me in on your… secrets.”
She left the bed and walked to him. He was angry already and they hadn’t even started this conversation, but she’d been prepared for that. “Lover, I just ask that you listen. Hear what we have to say. Know that I found the only path that would lead me out of the darkness after the baby died. Please, find Luca, and I’ll get dressed, then we will talk, all of us.”
He looked down at her, heard her plea and knew she was right. “I’ll give you both that chance, mi amore. Go, I will send for Luca.”
“That’s all I ask of you.”
She left the room and walked back to their bedroom. The door was closed, and she opened it slowly, stepping inside and looking around. It was spotless as if nothing had happened here last night. That thing was gone. The blood was gone. Theresa and Gi had worked their magic as usual. She quickly got dressed and headed down the stairs. She could hear Luca and Shade in the living room. When she walked in the tension could be cut with a knife.
Shade turned as she came into the room and watched as she stared at Luca and he just stared back. This wasn’t going to be easy for any of them.
“Please sit down. I have a few things to say before we begin. I agreed to have this conversation with bel included, not exactly what I was planning, but it is what it is. First of all…” He locked eyes with Luca and didn’t let him look away. “You did two things that broke the rules of a protector. One, you left her alone. Two, you disobeyed my direct order. As your master, I could kill you. I could take your position from you, send your ass packing back home, dishonored and banished from my coven, and your family as well. I hope you fully understand the impact of that. No other master would ever have a thing to do with you. But I am a fair master, I have always been so, do you agree, Luca?”
Luca bowed his head. “Yes, master, you have always been fair, and I accept complete responsibility for my actions. As I said last night, if it is your wish for me to step down from my position, I will accept that decision and the dishonor that goes with it.”
Shade nodded his head. “Good, I have not yet decided on your punishment.” His eyes went to bel. “Mi amore, I know you need to trust Luca as your protector, you need complete trust in his abilities and skills, but when you tell me you have secrets between you, my mind goes places that are dark and deep and extremely evil. I have heard and consented to your plea to explain to me, your master and eternal mate, the events that led to last evening. Do you agree to divulge the truth about everything that is going on in my own house?”
She looked at him with solemn eyes. “Yes, I’ll tell you everything. And it’s my burden, not Luca's. It started after we lost the baby. I was so lost. We were both so lost. You had your own pain and I had mine. I couldn't lay my pain at your feet when you were carrying so much of your own, and you needed me to be okay. So, I pretended I was okay. When you were home, I wouldn’t speak of our baby. But as soon as you would leave the house, I would retreat to the nursery, lie on the nanny's bed and sleep, because my dreams were the only place where I could see him, my little warrior.
“I went there for weeks. I couldn't even remember what it felt like to not feel broken. And you, lover, you hid your pain from me as well. You came home covered in blood. You started showering in Luca's suite before you came to me so I wouldn’t see. I felt trapped with nowhere to put all this pain. But Luca came to me every day, made me talk, slowly pulling me back. And every day, when I walked past that nursery, I felt its pull. It called to me, and I knew it had to go. So, Luca and the rest of the staff helped me to remove everything from the nursery and it was carried out to the fields. Luca poured the gasoline, and I lit the match and I watched it all burn.
“It was our baby's future... his life and I had to let go. I had to release its pull on me. But the anger, I was so angry at losing him. I felt so helpless, and it was my fault. Getting pregnant, not understanding. I wanted to hit something. Kick something. I had such rage inside and nowhere to put that, and I asked Luca to train me. He didn’t want to do it. It wasn’t his idea. I really had no idea w
hat the training would involve. I just knew it would be physical, that it might provide an outlet for the anger. I really never expected to learn all that I learned. And one more thing... He calls me Kate because I insisted. So please, your anger needs to reside with me, not him. And last night? When he left me? He left because I asked him to. I threatened to leave the room and go to you, so he agreed to go check the monitors. Me, Shade. It was all me. Not Luca.”
As he listened, he fought back the tears that burned his eyes. Her pain was visible as she spoke and it all came back to him, that death, those nights, her suffering. He listened as though living it through her eyes and his heart ached that she suffered so deeply. How could I have not known this? In the meantime, she had turned to Luca instead of him. He should have seen it. He should have been the one she came to for comfort, but he had been so lost in his own grief and his own secrets, that he couldn’t see she needed him more than he ever could have imagined.
“Bel, none of this is your fault. I have only myself to blame for putting you in that position. I drove you to Luca because I was lost in my own selfish agony over our son's death. I too was lost, and I will never forgive myself for being absent from your pain. Not being able to help you through. As for Luca, he is a warrior and although he knows to take orders from you, he also answers to me. I gave a direct order. Luca knows how to say no very easily, mi amore.”
Swinging his eyes to Luca, he nodded his head. “Anything you want or need to add to this? Here is your chance, lay it on the table, Luca. I’m listening.”
Luca locked eyes with him, he wouldn’t look away. “Yes, master. She tries to carry the full burden, but I understand my role all too well. Everything she speaks of about the baby is true, the nursery, the burning, and the training. I was reluctant to start her training, but I understood why she was asking, and I also saw something else. She has a warrior’s heart, but not a warrior’s head. I watched as she attacked that feeder, with no regard for the fact that she was mortal and the feeder immortal. She attacked with raw emotion and no skill, but she showed me, at that moment, her warrior’s heart. It played a part in my decision to train her because I knew then that, if she was threatened, if those she loved were threatened, she would stand and fight, and with no skills, it would mean her certain death.
“I told her when we started this was no game. If she wanted to train, we would train, but I would take no shortcuts, and if she was going to learn these skills, she was going to work like she never worked before. I thought she would tire of it, but she didn’t. Your blood, and her spirit, master, they have made a very powerful combination. You should know she has mastered swords, she couldn’t hold her own against a vamp with a sword because she doesn’t yet possess the strength, but once she is turned, it will be another story. She mastered the longbow, but her goal was the crossbow. And I think you saw for yourself her skill level.
“And another thing... her gift? Even she doesn’t know this, master, as I haven’t discussed it with her. I think it will be animalism. I’ve never seen it in my lifetime. Perhaps you’ve seen it in yours. It’s the rarest of gifts among vampires, and I’ve only read about it. She killed a large ten-point buck with a single shot to the heart, but it broke her. She marked her face with his blood and called upon his spirit. I questioned then whether she would ever be able to kill. Now the animals speak to her, are calmed by her. Once she is turned, she will calm the wildest beast, and have them do her bidding. When you heard the horses last night? It was she they were responding to, her fear. Had they not been stabled, they would have come to her. Impavido, Bravado and Meile, Angelo said they kicked out the walls of their stalls and tried to break free of the barn.
“As for last night, my intention was to check the monitors and then return to her, let her know you were okay. But while I was there, the additional rogues dropped in. You were fighting nineteen. I knew you could take out the four with no problem, but the nineteen had you surrounded. My thought was, if they took you down, there would be no way I could hold them off and protect her. And the best way to protect her was to help you. It was my lack of experience, master. I assumed you were their target. I know now she was their target all along, and everything else was just a diversion. That’s my failing. And there’s nothing my lady can say that lifts the burden from my shoulders. I stand ready to accept your judgment.”
Shade listened as Luca answered him from the heart. He knew this was no ordinary warrior in his ranks, but his Luca. And both of them were vital in his life. So, this situation lay on his head, as much as theirs. He could put no blame on either of them. It had been all judgment calls and blind faith... also, love. He saw a lot of love and pain that pushed them beyond their limits, to help each other survive as a family.
“I am not punishing you, Luca, in any way, but you must learn from this ambush. You never know the true goal of your enemy. I asked you to stay with her, and you left her for me. Remember that, because you may need to let me die the next time if that is what it takes to save her. I understand why you did what you did. I am honored that you took bel, taught her the skills you have been taught in the ways of my familia. And I know as well, she has the heart of a warrior. She has proven that, beyond any doubt, to all of us. My intention was to train her personally, once turned. It is my responsibility as her master, and her maker. I’m only angry with myself now because I understand the reasons behind it.”
He beckoned for bel to sit on his lap. He waited while she curled into him then gently caressed her hair.
“So, you now have warrior skills, and you have made two kills, one of them distinctly more important than the other. Cuerpo is the warrior you killed, and he was one of the deadliest of the immortal world, mi amore. I had made a deal with Alec, as masters do, whoever took out this so-called "Angel", he or she would be rewarded. Alec has seen the head, agreed to pay you and he will do that in time. Your first kill... the deer... you felt his spirit? You are showing your gift already? Very unique indeed, bel. I have one thing to ask you. I leave this decision entirely up to you. Do you still wish for Luca to be your protector? Whatever your decision, it will be mine as well, si?”
With her head against his chest, she lifted her eyes to him. “Lover... we are family. We are bonded like family, and I trust him completely. I want him to stay. He is loyal to both of us, and I’m afraid I’ve placed him in compromising positions when my requests did not always align with yours. He tries to please you, and he tries to please me. He has been caught in the middle. Please don't send him away. Besides, then I’d have to break in a brand-new protector and who knows what trouble I’d get into.”
He laughed out loud and hugged her tight. “Si, none of us truly knows what may fire up in that crimson head of yours, but I would have you no other way, mi amore. No other way. Luca, speak to me, are you torn between us? Do you wish to stay as Kate's protector? I must say, I am impressed with what you tell me so far in her training. Do you still wish to protect the love of my life, my eternity... your Queen?”
He stood from the chair and bowed on one knee. “Master, there is no greater honor. I have already pledged my life for her, and nothing has changed. I would die for this familia.”
Watching as he honored them both, Shade whispered softly in Kate’s ear, “You need to go to your protector and raise him from his knees. It is the proper thing to do and he won’t move until you do so. Go.”
Kate slid from Shade’s lap and went to Luca. She had known her requests had put him in a difficult position but she hadn’t understood just how difficult. She placed her hand on his shoulder and asked him to rise. Doing so, he towered over her. She stood on tiptoe and kissed each cheek. “You are like a brother to me, Luca.”
Watching, he saw their bond and Shade knew deep in his heart, these two would never be separated. “Mi amore, there is a black box in that armoire behind the books, will you please take it out and hand it to me?”
She looked at him questioningly but went to the armoire and pushed the books
aside to find the box he referred to and brought it back to him.
Taking the box from her hand, he held it and looked to Luca. “Luca, I have held on to this a very long time. I was waiting for the right moment to present it to you, but I can think of no better time than this. I’m grateful beyond words for the things you have given me; your life, your skills, your loyalty, and your love. You have made me proud, made Kate proud as well, and I know we both would be at a great loss without you.” He handed the box back to bel and asked her to give it to Luca. “I hope you will accept this gift of appreciation from me to you, for what you have given me. Accept this from us both in appreciation for her protection that rivals my own.”
Kate presented him with the box then returned to Shade’s lap, curious to know what was in the box.
Luca accepted the box from her, his face as puzzled as hers. He opened the box to find official documents with seals. They were old and yellowed, so he lifted them gently from the box. It was a deed to his father's land, his father's house. It had all been lost when he died. What does this mean? He looked up at his master. “Master, I don’t understand.”
Shade nodded to him. “It’s very simple, Luca. Your padre owed much on your family lands and home, and it was forfeited to pay off his debt when he died. I retrieved it, and have maintained it since recovering it. I’ve held it for you for a long time. You were too young when I obtained it to appreciate its meaning and worth, but now you are a grown man, a warrior your padre would be proud of. The debt has been paid and your family name honored and in good standing with the Council, and you being his only heir, now own that property. It is yours, Luca, that deed bears your name now, not my own.”
Luca bowed his head to him, to honor Shade and to hide his tears. His family had lost everything, and master had honored his commitment to Luca’s father to raise him, to make him a warrior. And now he had restored all that was his father's legacy. There was no way to repay him for all he’d done for him, other than to serve him for all eternity. With his head still bowed, he answered him.
