Page 27 of Embers in the Wind
“It doesn’t matter. I just thought, hoped, that it was my gramma, that somehow, she had drifted across that divide and could communicate with me. Because our powers are so strong. It made sense in my head. Maybe not so much now.”
Raven commiserates with me, listens and gives me a different perspective to look at. “It’s hard losing someone you love. My own mother is gone, too, but we do communicate. It’s different with witches.”
“Thank you for being here and for everything you did, Raven.”
Her eyes sparkle with the mischievousness that I’ve missed for a little while as she grabs me and hugs me so tight I can barely breathe. “Of course. You’re one of my dearest friends.”
“Yeah, well, I’m sure I’ve crossed a major line. I mean, having me here is one thing, but a vampire in the Mystic Forest, and staying in the cavern? Your Auntie Devora is going to be furious when she finds out that Corvinus is here, too. Maybe she won’t find out until I’ve learned what happened to Gramma and leave.”
Raven’s eyes begin to swirl and her fingertips spark with an electrical energy I’ve seen before. I follow her eyes, high in the air and gasp at the green line of fury streaking across the sky.
“I’m afraid it’s far too late for that, Embry.”
Chapter 22
Corvinus
The minute Romano tells Raven that Embry is here, she glares at both of us, her eyes sparking and flashing but not saying a word as she disappears into thin air.
Romano shakes his head and grins. “That little witch is more than I can handle some days, but I wouldn’t trade the life for anything. I used to curse destiny’s name, and now I thank her every day. Even at times like this.”
I smirk, not yet ready to thank her, but I am much closer to believing that she has a plan for our future that might not work out so badly for me. If we can get through this rough patch, and if I don’t get demoted for having an affair with a warrior, or ex-warrior, when my job is to oversee the entire regrouping of their team.
Romano sits and crosses his foot over his knee. “You know Raven went to see Embry. Those two are probably cooking up something just and painful for the two of us. Paybacks are hell, especially witch style.”
It’s hard not to grin.
“If it helps, Master Tuscano and I were both in the hot seat over what the masters considered a taboo relationship at the time. It’s not an easy climb my friend.”
“You’re not wrong.” Just another reason a relationship with Embry should be off the table. I should insist on keeping an arms distance, for a half dozen reasons, but I already know it’s far too late to take back the actions that have crossed their stringent lines of conduct now.
“Do you mind if I use your office? I should give Overmaster Descallia a call while I have cell reception. Once I get back into that damn Mystic Forest there’s nothing but wild creatures, witch caverns, and absolutely no digital communications. It’s like the whole place has reverted back to the stone ages.”
Romano laughs. “You can use my study. The reception here is good, and now that Raven knows, and Descallia will know all the details, there’s no reason that you and Embry can’t stay here. We have plenty of room and Raven would love spending time with Embry. It might help her,” he adds.
It definitely might and keeping her to myself just for personal reasons would be a shit ass thing to do. “I appreciate the offer and will talk to Embry once I get back. That is if I still have the job after talking with Descallia.”
He nods. “Yeah, make sure to tell him that Devora already knows about Embry and was giving her a little time. Didn’t want to cause any waves. Maybe that will settle things down a little, but my guess is Devora is going to get on that broom of hers as soon as she learns you’ve been stomping around in what she believes to be her forest. Probably better that you stay here now, anyway come to think of it.”
I close the door behind me and sink into Master Romano’s leather desk chair before connecting with Descallia’s phone.
“Descallia,” he answers gruffly.
“This is Corvinus. Embry’s safe. It took a while to track her. She’s very good at evasive maneuvers and had a lot of friends in the forest covering her tracks and trying to keep me off her trail. She’s doing exactly what she said in the note she left. Taking time to process.”
There’s quiet on the other end. He doesn’t even need to ask the question aloud. I know exactly what he’s thinking. We’ve always worked like that and in this case, the only forest we’ve fought over for years, is exactly where she went. “The information you received was accurate. I tracked Embry into the Mystic Forest. She’s been staying at a cavern in the woods.”
I pull my ear away from the phone as his growl reverberates in my ear. “What is she doing there?”
The need to protect Embry, even in this is almost primal. “She was drawn to this place by a story her gramma told her years ago, about a place of refuge if she ever needed to be by herself, seek shelter, or was in danger.”
Descallia roars his protest. “And she thought she was in danger here? We’re the ones protecting her, we always protect our kind. The purebloods stand together in everything for an eternity. She knows this yet she runs to the forest, to the witches and at a time we’ve just called a truce?”
I inhale a deep breath, ready for his wrath because it’s sure to come. “I haven’t told you everything.”
He sighs heavily into the phone. “At least she’s safe. The rest we’ll deal with. Lucianna has been beside herself with grief since she opened Embry’s letter. What could be worse. Tell me.”
Here goes. “Embry sought shelter in one of the old witches’ caverns. Abandoned quite some time ago but furnished with all the necessities and updated amenities. I personally don’t think it was abandoned for long, or if so, recently updated.”
