The Dresdan Coven Trilogy

by Amber Ella Monroe

  Elaina had formulated another plan during their courtship. She wanted to expose District 5, and he had agreed to help her.

  They’d run out of time when Master Vampire, Russo, had sent out a band of his Soldiers to capture Vicq. Rather than risk Elaina’s life along with his, they’d parted ways. One week later, he’d escaped from the cell of the Dresdan prison with Leo. Because of the blood bond Vicq shared with Elaina, he was able to find her after she’d been labeled AWOL by her organization. He’d discovered that she had made a new life for herself and had been safe from the District and his world. His conscience would not let him interrupt what appeared to be the normal life that Elaina had always wanted. The one she’d always talked about when they would walk the streets at night. So he’d remained in the shadows...until now.

  Elaina’s snoring fell silent as she hitched in a deep breath. She shifted on the seat, and then her eyes fluttered behind her lids before she settled back down.

  Vicq knew Elaina had love for him, but he’d seen the doubt in her eyes, as well. He was still a killer. And blood had always been his favorite main course.

  Chapter 11

  Vicq pulled into a battered parking lot and a cinder block warehouse came into view. This would be the last pit stop they made to change cars. For the most part, Vicq had taken over the driving, but during daylight hours they switched. The routine reminded her of when she’d left District 5 and joined Vicq. They’d always had each other’s back. He’d protect her from the dangers of the night, and she’d cover for him when he was most vulnerable, during the day. If he ever needed to venture out into direct sunlight for any reason, his age and strength would allow it, but he wouldn’t be able to withstand it for very long.

  Elaina peered out through the windshield into the darkness. If it weren’t for the two luxury cars parked out front, Elaina would have thought the place was abandoned.

  “How do you know this guy?” Elaina asked, as they rolled to a stop.

  “Emory is a friend of mine.” Vicq exited their truck and shifted toward the other side to help her down.

  “Is he Dresdan?” She couldn’t help but ask. It was always best to prepare before meeting one of them. It didn’t matter if they were friend or foe. She needed to know what she was dealing with or, unfortunately, going up against.

  “Last time I checked...he wasn’t.”

  Something told Elaina that there was more to that story.

  They headed toward the double doors, making do with what little light the one street lamp provided. Smoke billowed above them from the old paper mill they’d driven past on the way here. The smell seriously reeked, reminding her of how she missed the fresh ocean air from closer to the coast.

  “So, how do you know him?”

  “A few years back he got laid off from his job as a computer technician. Somehow, he got connected with the wrong crowd, began chopping cars, and ended up in prison. He was released a year ago due to criminal overflow at the facility where he was being held. He still has a thing for cars, and so do I. I tell him what I want. He finds it.”

  While they’d roamed the streets, Vicq’s addiction to fast, exotic cars and motorcycles had become just as great as his craving for blood. They would race up and down the interstates dozens of times, moving from city to city. Every few days, he’d change rides. Of course, the high-profile, top-of-the-line cars, he only kept for a day. Bringing attention to himself while on the run and with a warrant out for his capture by Master Russo would have been just plain stupid. He couldn’t indulge like he used to anymore. He was no longer regarded by his Master as a high-ranking member of the Dresdan Court. A Superior was what he’d been called. Made by a former Master, he possessed enough strength and power to uphold such a ranking. The title had been stripped from him, but his willpower to survive and carry on with his purpose had not been.

  “He’s expecting us,” Vicq said.

  He opened the doors to the warehouse, and the smell of leather and car polish disrupted her thoughts.

  They were greeted immediately by a raven-haired man looking to be in his thirties, who Elaina assumed to be Emory, and a very young, tall, blond woman wearing a red bodysuit.

  “Emory.” Vicq nodded in greeting and then shook the other man’s hand.

  “Long time, no see.” Emory smiled. “I thought you’d cut me off.”

  “I’ve been keeping a low profile.” Vicq placed his hand in the small of Elaina’s back. “This is Elaina.”

  Emory regarded her slowly, taking in every inch of her before saying, “How does it feel?”

  Elaina shook her head. “Excuse me?”

  Emory laughed. “My apologies.” He held his hand out. “Nice to meet you.”

  She accepted his hand and they exchanged a quick handshake.

  “That’s Paige,” he said.

  The blond behind him held her palm up and gave a short wave before backing away and then moving to the other end of the warehouse where some suitcases were sitting atop a table. It looked like she was counting cash or engrossed in something else that was clearly more important than exchanging greetings with them.

  Elaina’s attention was diverted when Emory motioned for them to follow him to the back of the warehouse. They moved between about a half dozen luxury cars of different brands parked with only a couple of feet of space between each one. The exteriors were so flawless, immaculate, and glossy that she could see her reflection against the panels as she passed. She also noticed the shelves of car parts and buckets of wax and paint flanking each wall.

  They were led behind a wall of glass enclosing where there was a desk and file cabinets set up. Emory opened up the safe sitting out on the desk.

  “I’m glad I could be of assistance again,” Emory handed Vicq a set of keys. “This barely puts a dent in the debt that I owe you, but—”

  “Consider it paid in full.” Vicq pocketed the keys.

  “I owe you my life. Don’t be a stranger. If there is anything else you need...”

  “I’ll send word out to you if I do. Elaina and I will reach the sanctuary in a few days. You’re still welcome.”

  Emory’s expression turned solemn before his gaze shifted to Elaina once again. “I like to hold on to a little bit of my humanity while I still have it.”

  That was when Elaina saw it. A flash of fang as Emory bit his bottom lip while studying her. They were small and sharp. Far from the noticeable and larger fangs that Vicq had. Nonetheless, they were still there. She narrowed her eyes, countering his stare, and saw swirls of ruby red within his irises.

  “You told me that he wasn’t a Dresdan,” she addressed Vicq, but never took her eyes off of Emory.

  “He’s not. Yet. He’s like you,” Vicq replied.

  “You, too?” Elaina’s lips parted slightly and her mouth became dry. She didn’t think it likely that she could be the only one capable of carrying the vampire infection, and in the past, it had dawned on her that others like her were living free from the clutches of District 5, but now with physical evidence, she found herself actually surprised.

  Emory nodded. “How long have you been infected?”

  “For months,” Elaina said. “By Vicq. And yourself?”

  “Sit, please.” Emory gestured toward the chairs.

  They took a seat with Emory sitting behind his desk facing them.

  “I’ve been infected about six months. The dealings that landed me in prison are ironically the same ones that led to my infection. It seems many vamps have a thing for fast rides. I got in way over my head when I tried to help out someone who I thought was just another innocent man trying to turn his life around after exiting the PEN. He turned out to be a Dresdan. A hungry one at that. He drained me until I was certain I was dead. During the fight to escape him, I must have come into contact with some of his blood, which I believe was what infected me. And it spread quickly. My body felt like it had frozen, my muscles were on fire. Without enough blood inside me, I was too weak to move, and in pain, but
I just wouldn’t die. I prayed for death to come. It didn’t happen. Morning came and my skin burned like a wildfire. If it weren’t for bags of trash being thrown over my body throughout the day, I probably would have fried to death. Salvation came to me that night.” Emory paused to exchange glances with Vicq.

  Elaina turned to Vicq. “You saved him?”

  “I don’t know if saving him is the appropriate phrase,” Vicq replied. “I could have put him out of his misery quickly, but he had not an ounce of blood left for me to siphon. I’m not sure what sparked my sympathy for him that night. I just couldn’t bring myself to end his life with my bare hands...so I gave him what was taken from him. I figured he’d either expire or change eventually, but his body remains in stasis.”

  “You knew immediately that I was infected too. How?” She asked.

  “It takes one to know one,” Emory said.

  “Why couldn’t I tell?”

  “You should learn to embrace who and what you are. If you never acknowledge your true nature, you will never see past your own disguise. Nor will you be able to distinguish your own kind. Dresdan. And those like myself who are infected,” he said. “You would have known earlier that Paige and I carry the infection if you had paid attention.”

  Elaina was silent but knew that what Emory spoke was the truth. She was ashamed because she had become something she’d once been against. District 5 had fed her lies about the Dresdan. “Why haven’t you crossed over then?”

  Emory grinned. “I’m stubborn. But unlike you, I embrace both sides. My human and Dresdan side. When was the last time you looked at yourself in the mirror, Elaina? I mean, really, truly took a good long look at what you are.”

  There had never been any mirrors on her houseboat. She never so much as took more than a few seconds to glance at her reflection in a car window or her rearview mirror to make sure she was presentable before work. “I didn’t really want to see.” She shook her head. “Back then was different. I wanted it then because I knew it was the only way that I could truly be happy with Vicq.”

  Vicq turned in his chair. “You know that’s not true. I’m happy with you no matter what you are or become. I’ve told you that many times.”

  “You missed the point. I won’t be happy until I know that I can provide for you without failure.”

  Vicq grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently. The corners of his eyes wrinkled and his forehead creased. He wanted to say more but didn’t want to have the discussion in front of Emory. She could tell because the expression was reminiscent of what he projected when he meant to argue his point.

  Emory sat back in his chair, lifted his legs up on the desk, and crossed his ankles. “New love is a beautiful thing.”

  “Yes, it is,” Vicq said softly, and his eyes began to cloud over in red lust.

  Elaina shyly looked away and made a mental note to carry on the conversation when the two of them were alone. “How come you have fangs and I don’t?”

  Emory chuckled, showing his sharp pearly whites once again. “I take vampire blood regularly. I’ll drink from rogue vampires, and sometimes Dresdan, when I can dominate one, but I find that lesser species of vampires are much easier to trick. I take just enough to get me by from day to day. If I don’t drink at all, I’m as good as dead. If I drink too much, I risk crossing over sooner rather than later.”

  “And crossing over is not something you want to do alone,” Vicq added.

  “Then you’re deliberately postponing your change,” she said.

  “Exactly.” Emory smirked. “I’ve considered succumbing many times and joining Vicq’s coven.”

  “The offer has been on the table for months,” Vicq replied.

  “I won’t join you while I’m still human,” Emory said firmly. “I have respect for what you’ve established, and I refuse to be a weak link while there.”

  Vicq nodded. “Fair enough.”

  “Where do you get the Dresdan blood from if you’re not already a part of Vicq’s coven?” Elaina asked.

  “I hunt them down,” he said. “I stick to the ones who are driven to kill without reason. I call it my payment to society for being a menace during my criminal days.”

  “Emory walks on the wild side. He lures them in with the promise of blood, and then he takes theirs instead.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Clever, but I can see how that could earn you a death sentence.”

  “It’s not my first, and certainly won’t be my last,” Emory replied. “The rush is amazing. They’re amped up because they think they have hit the mother load.” He licked his lips. “The blood is more savory when those emotions are high.”

  “And you gain more powers from feeding on vampires rather than humans,” she recalled.

  Emory cocked his head to one side and winked. “You should try it.”

  “I’m content.”

  “I see...you run with a Superior.” Emory gestured toward Vicq with his hands. “I can understand why you have no desire to take from another’s veins. When you cross over, I imagine your strength will be vast.”

  “How do you figure?”

  “I suspect you’ve taken blood countless times from Vicq, who is a Superior of the Dresdan Court—.”

  “Was,” Vicq corrected.

  “Your bloodline doesn’t lie. You were created by a Master and are the only Superior in the Court who can say that.”

  From what Vicq had told her, the Superiors were the next level down from the Master himself. Often, Superiors were elder Dresdan who’d proven themselves, risen in the Court ranks, and were delegated certain privileges. It was rare that a Master created any more vampires after taking the title. If he did, he risked being challenged, or worse—his powers stripped. In the Dresdan world, it was left up to the Superiors and Soldiers to create.

  Just as she was about to ask another question, Vicq rose from his chair. “We should move out.”

  Emory stood immediately and led them out of the office. When they turned the corner right outside of the office, Elaina immediately sensed that something was wrong. That was when she saw the blond in the red bodysuit laying lifeless on the floor and the Dresdan creatures that stood over her.

  “What the fuck?” Emory exclaimed.

  Her breath caught in her throat as Vicq teleported away from her, meeting the Dresdan in the center of the floor. There were five of them. Their skin pale and bones protruding as if they hadn’t eaten in days, yet their lips were red from Paige’s blood. Their eyes were glossy red. As they circled Vicq, they hissed and flashed their fangs.

  Elaina reached into the inside of her coat and grabbed the hilt of her dagger. She licked her lips, tasting cold anticipation in the air.

  The first Dresdan rushed Vicq and met death swiftly by a roundhouse kick to the head that broke his neck. The others folded in for close combat. Fists pounded flesh. Kicks snapped bone. Angry growls and protests rang out as the vampires sparred.

  Elaina’s veins stretched and tightened as blood filled them. Up until now, her feet would not move. She was hungry for a kill. It had been months since she’d last fought a Dresdan. She pulled her dagger and took a step forward.

  “Don’t move!” Emory warned, putting his arm out to stop her. “We got this.”

  Her eyes trailed up from where his forearm brushed against her abs to his face. Before she could voice her protests, he was gone. He joined Vicq in the fighting, throwing punches and dropping kicks to the head. All of them, Emory even, moved with inhuman speed and strength. Most of the lights overhead had burst as a result of the rapid and careless movement. Had they not paused to spar between the shifting and transforming, she wouldn’t have seen a thing. Before long, blood was shed and the sparring became more gruesome.

  Vicq grabbed another Dresdan solider, body-slammed him onto the hood of a truck, and gutted him.

  Emory bashed his opponent’s head into the cinder block wall, and the Dresdan slithered to a heap on the floor.

  All the while, the last t
wo took that chance to hone in on Elaina.

  The dagger was still grasped in her palm when they approached her. They were both covered with what could have been a mix of their own blood, Vicq’s, and Emory’s. She didn’t plan on having her blood added to the amalgam. Their feral red orbs told her that they had nasty motives.

  “A human female. Lovely,” one of them said, his voice low and strained. “You would be a nice snack.”

  They flashed fang, and saliva foamed at their mouths.

  “You want a snack?” Elaina shrugged off her long trench coat and let it fall to the floor at her ankles. The chilly air washed over her exposed skin, smelling of sulfur and death. “Work for it.”

  “Elaina,” Vicq warned, but it was too late.

  Her survival instincts had taken over. Ripe hunger consumed her, and her stomach rolled over. It was a type of hunger that she had never experienced before.

  They attempted to capture her, grasping at thin air as she thwarted their attempts. Her kicks weren’t powerful enough to land a deathblow, but they were strong enough to weaken. Not one time did she have to use her dagger. She didn’t let them get that close to her. As she swung left and right, she felt her knuckles connecting with cold vampire flesh and bone. They were beginning to get angry. She could sense this from their enraged hisses and panicked attempts to grab her.

  There was no escaping a Dresdan once one got ahold of you. Death was the only outcome. Theirs or yours. And she would never welcome death.

  The more aggressive of the two Dresdan shot toward her. She leapt into action, drop-kicking him in the face then straddling him on the ground. Without hesitation, she sliced the blade of her dagger cleanly across his jugular. His hands went to his throat, but it was too late. The blood spurted upward, gurgling in his mouth, and choking him to death.