He tossed the glass across the bus and watched as it smashed into the bullet proof glass of the windows. Growling, he looked at Mateo. "What are you looking at?"
Mateo had been with this campaign since the beginning, with and without Rissa, and it was obvious this campaign was going downhill, and Canton had no one to blame but himself this time. He’d been watching Canton's reaction to voters, as well as his mood off camera. What he’d discovered was very simple, the mighty master had finally realized he missed his mate, and his goal of the Presidency was slipping further and further away. Mateo had watched as Alec’s anger reached a boiling point.
As the glass shattered, and the Midnight ran down the window, Mateo turned to him. “Was it worth it?"
Alec was out of his seat with his hand around Mateo's neck, pushing him hard against the door. He was nose to nose with him, speaking through gritted teeth, "Don't you challenge me, warrior. You know nothing of a master's life. You were born to serve. You take orders. Or have you forgotten?"
Braden was immediately at his side, pulling him back. "Alec. Calm down."
Mateo growled back at Alec, as his eyes glowed red and his fangs were bared. "You gonna throw my ass down some stairs too?”
Alec hissed at him. "Get out of my face. In fact, get off this bus! You’ve crossed the line, warrior. How I handle my affairs is not your concern. You’re not here to judge me. Go. Now!"
Spinning on his heels, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed Shade as Mateo teleported out.
Shade had just arrived in camp when his phone rang. Looking at the caller ID, it was Alec. What in the hell is he calling about? Just as he went to answer the call, Mateo appeared at the doorway.
Puzzled by the unexpected appearance of Mateo, he answered the phone. "Medici."
Alec immediately started in, "You need to teach your warriors some manners, brother. I just sent Mateo packing. Since when is it okay for a warrior to challenge a master? Is that what you're teaching them?"
Shade hit the speaker, so Mateo could hear the conversation. Shade's eyes lifted to Mateo as Mateo telepathically told him what went down. "What I teach them is how to keep you alive, so tell me what in the hell you want me to do."
"Send me someone who knows how to keep their mouth shut and their opinions to themselves. I don't need the judgment of any warrior. You’re paid handsomely for this service, brother, and I think I deserve a little respect. Send me Hyde."
Mateo rolled his eyes and Shade signaled him to leave. "Look, brother, Hyde isn’t available right now. I’ll meet with Marcello, we will find someone who can take the assignment, and I’ll deal with Mateo. Alec, you know you have all the masters in an uproar, not to mention the Council. This campaign, now Rissa’s very public death, you’re playing with fire. If this goes south, you’re going to have to go underground. You understand that?”
Alec dropped down into the seat and waved his hand for Braden to leave. Braden stepped into the private bedroom on the bus and closed the door, giving Alec his privacy.
“Listen, brother, between you and me, things aren't going well. I don't know how this is going to turn out. I'm down in the polls. Every day looks worse than the last. Braden still thinks we can turn it around, but I'm not so sure. I can see it in the mortals’ eyes. They feel pity, and they don't feel confident anymore. If this falls through, I don't have a plan B. The possibility of not winning wasn't even an option. Look, just send me somebody, brother. We have to keep going here."
Shade could hear the defeat in Alec's voice, something he’d never heard before. "Relax, brother, keep doing what you have to do, I will have someone there in the morning. You need warrior protection, more than you think. The masters see you falling, everyone is watching you, been watching. I don’t need to tell you when a master falls, it doesn’t take long for the predators to move in. Get some rest. I got your back, brother."
Alec tossed his phone on the table and covered his face with his hands. For the first time in almost 800 years, he was wondering what he’d do about his future.
94
Dante had taken Cory to Madison's apartment to pick her up for the flight to California. Dante waited in the car while Cory went inside to help her. Cory was excited. He knew his mom was eager to meet Madison. He just hoped the two women liked each other.
He carried her luggage to the door, and watched her scurry around, double checking to make sure everything was turned off.
Madison had watered the plants and informed her landlord she’d be gone for two weeks, and to please collect her mail. She’d packed and repacked in preparation for the trip. She was even more nervous about meeting Cory's mom than she was about going to Florence. "Okay. I think I have everything."
She looked nervously around the apartment, wiping her sweating palms on her long skirt. She grabbed a coat from her closet, and threw her purse over her shoulder, and with one final glance around, she turned to him and said, "Let's go."
Cory laughed and kissed her quickly as he carried her luggage to the car. Dante helped Cory load the luggage, then they all piled back into the car, and took off for the private hangar. Cory could sense her nervousness. "Don’t be nervous, Maddie, my mom’s really nice. She lives in a simple house. She could have had anything, Dad would have given her whatever she wanted, but she chose something simple to accommodate her. She’ll like you."
Madison twisted her hands. "I hope so, Cory. I mean, I know we don't need her approval or anything, but I know you love her, so it's important to me. And she knows everything, right? About the... you know, the vampire stuff?"
Reaching over, he took her hand in his. "Yes, she knows, she was at Bel Rosso, she knows everything about Shade and Kate. She’s a mortal who fed a vampire for several weeks when she was much younger. She used to go to the vampire clubs. A lot of mortals are attracted to the clubs and allow the vampires to feed from them. Just don’t judge her, Maddie, she did the best she could for me, but I wasn’t exactly normal."
Madison laid her head back against the seat. "Cory, none of us are normal. I don't think normal exists. We make our own normal, okay?"
Cory looked out the window, he’d never known normal. "You’re my normal, Maddie. You’re as close as I’ve come to ever feeling normal.”
"Well, life with you won't be boring, that's for sure."
Dante pulled up to the private hangar and the staff appeared from nowhere to transfer their luggage to the plane. Madison looked at the sleek jet as Dante boarded. "You know, it doesn't take long to get used to this."
She laughed as she took his hand and they boarded the flight. The flight attendant greeted them at the door.
"Welcome aboard, Cory, Miss Barnes. My name is Carolyn. You may remember me from the Florence flight."
Madison smiled at her. "Of course, I remember."
Carolyn helped them get situated and as soon as they were airborne, she brought a glass of wine for Madison and a Midnight for Cory. "Please let me know when you're ready for your meal. The flight will be about four hours."
Madison looked out the window as the ground dropped away beneath them, and she could see the Blue Ridge Mountains getting smaller and fading into the distance as Cory held her hand.