The Dresdan Coven Trilogy

by Amber Ella Monroe

  “I came to check on you,” he said.

  “I’m fine.”

  “I went out,” he said, inching closer. “Me and the guys. We fed.”

  “Good for you,” she replied.

  “I overfed, actually. You can take all you need.”

  “Why?” She sat upright in the tub and glared at him. “I’m not going on the raid, so why do I need to feed tonight?”

  “Elaina…” He sat on the edge of the tub. “I’m trying to do the right thing here, or at least what I think is right. I never wanted you in danger anyway, and this is for the best. Even if I had an alternate choice, I would never have sent every member of my coven on a mission like this. If the whole coven gets wiped out, that’s the end.”

  “And what if that does happen?” she asked. “You’ve got District 5 headquarters to take on, and Russo and his Soldiers to ward off. What happens if you go in and never come out?”

  “Then you, Leila, Leo, and Melrose will take over the coven,” he replied. “But that’s not going to happen. I have someone to live for now, and that person is you. I just need you to trust me and trust my process, and we will find peace.”

  She sighed deeply and sank back into the hot tub.

  Vicq took the sponge from her and poured a little body wash over it. She withheld any further protests as he smoothed the sponge across her tense muscles.

  “When this is all over, we’ll relax together. No more running. No more worrying about who’s after us,” he said.

  She wanted that type of life with Vicq, and although she felt blindsided by his recent change of heart, she knew he had her best interests in mind.

  “Do you trust me to keep you safe?” he asked.

  She couldn’t stay angry at the man she loved and needed.

  “I do.”

  But not five hours later, after they’d made love and slept in each other’s arms, Elaina woke up alone in bed with her wrist chained to the headboard.

  The only source of light was from the moonlight streaming through the curtains.

  Thinking the worst, she shot up in the bed and fought against the handcuffs. She screamed at the top of her lungs, and only then did Leila and Leo burst in from the adjoining room.

  “Elaina, you’re up,” Leila came to her side. “Everything’s fine. We just—”

  “Why am I chained to the bed? Vicq did this, didn’t he?”

  Leila nodded.

  “I’m going to kill him. I’m going to kill him with my bare hands.”

  Leila couldn’t even make eye contact with her as she said, “Vicq…your father…they had to take precautions.”

  “They’re gone, aren’t they?” Anger rose in Elaina’s throat as she looked for Vicq’s bags.

  Leo came to the bedside with a set of keys. “Yes, we had to make sure you weren’t going after them. We were given orders to let you out, but only if we have your promise not to leave the Refuge hotel.”

  Elaina clenched her fists and drew in slow, steady breaths. “Like hell I won’t. I can’t believe they would lie to me.”

  Leo stood and pocketed the keys.

  “Just unlock the cuffs, honey. They’re long gone by now,” Leila took Leo by the hand, urging him.

  Leo shook his head. “I made a deal. Unless she promises that she won’t follow them to District headquarters, I can’t let her out. If something happens to her, Vicq will have my head.”

  “No, he won’t,” Elaina said.

  “Don’t you think we all want to succeed?” Leo asked. “My sister is trapped in there, remember? Of course I’d like to go in and find her myself, but we all have a part to play in this. I have no doubt that Vicq and the others will do whatever it takes to shut everything down and set the innocents free. I trust the process. Even though this isn’t what you expected, you should, too.”

  “Elaina, please,” Leila exclaimed. “Both teams will handle everything. Everyone knows the plan from here on out. We all have a part to play in this, and you can’t risk getting tagged.”

  “You don’t understand. For months, I’ve been planning to do this, now I’m expected to just sit by and wait. I doubt Vicq is even coming back. He said so himself. That he’d leave everyone behind after the raid.”

  Leo and Leila exchanged knowing looks.

  “Unlock me,” Elaina demanded.

  “I need your word that you won’t flee Refuge,” Leo replied.

  “I can’t give you my word, because I’ll only break it. You’re right. Everyone here has a part to play, and it just so happens that I have my own mission,” she told him.

  Leo stepped back. “Then I can’t release you.”

  Chapter 22

  Another hour passed before Elaina heard someone fumbling at the door again.

  She released a deep sigh of aggravation. Without looking up, she said, “Not again, Leo. If you’ve returned to get me to swear to you that I won’t try to escape, it’s no use. Once I find a way out of here, I’m gone.”

  “I’m not Leo.”

  Elaina looked up to see Melrose entering the room with one of the Refuge guys right behind her.

  “Melrose, what are you doing here?”

  “I was ordered to stay behind too, remember?”

  Elaina rolled her eyes. “Well, at least you’re not cuffed to your bed.”

  Melrose tilted her head and bit her bottom lip as she took in Elaina’s predicament. She laughed. “Hmmm, you look pretty tempting tied up like that. Did Vicq ever tell you that this is how they keep female blood Donors in the Court?”

  Elaina pressed her lips together and narrowed her eyes. “Very funny.”

  Melrose turned to address the guy. “Will you give us maybe five minutes or so? Girl talk.” She giggled. “Maybe we can hook up later, though.”

  The guy smiled and nodded. “Sure. I’m going to run down the hall. I’ll be right back.”

  “Later.” She waved her hand.

  When the guy was gone, Elaina said, “Melrose, please…get me out of here.”

  Melrose produced a key from behind her back. “Why wouldn’t I?”

  Elaina sighed deeply, letting the tension roll of her shoulders. “Thank God.”

  Melrose unlocked the cuffs and helped Elaina out of them.

  “How did you get the key?”

  Melrose grinned. “Leo left for a bit. And that guy—”she chucked a thumb back at the door—“was on break. I added in a little persuasion, sex appeal, and a little bit of grab and snatch action. He was an easy target.”

  Elaina chuckled. “You’re bad.”

  “Oh, don’t I know it.”

  Melrose looked behind her at the door. “We can’t go back through there. We have about five minutes to jet out of here.”

  “I fought like hell to break through those cuffs and drained just about all my energy. They must be vampire-proof or something. I can’t shift anywhere.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ve got you.” Melrose offered her neck.

  Elaina swallowed, but every moment she hesitated equaled wasted time. They only had a few minutes. She found Melrose’s jugular easily and took what was offered. Recent memories of Melrose worrying about her and devising a plan to her out of the room flooded her mind, but there was no time to delve any deeper. When she detected a surge of powers igniting within her again, Elaina pulled back.

  “Thank you. You know we’ll both be in a heap of trouble for this, don’t you?”

  “Yes. Are you afraid?” Melrose asked.

  “Of the trouble we’ll be in. No, but…”

  “But, let me guess…you’re afraid of joining the raid on District 5.”

  “I know I have to do this, but yes, I am.”

  Melrose looked confused. “Why?”

  “My human emotions.” She shrugged. “They surface every time. Isn’t that what you said when we first met?”

  Melrose grinned. “You remembered.”

  “I haven’t learned to suppress them yet, but I think that’s a good thing. Fear
has always been the one thing that’s kept me alive.”

  “I get it.” Melrose nodded. “And I’m with you. Always.”

  Elaina held out her palm, and Melrose took it, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze, forming an alliance that would never be broken. Together, they used their combined strength to shift away from the Refuge.

  Chapter 23

  Elaina’s anticipation rose as she maneuvered the big eighteen-wheeler off the interstate and onto the main highway. Where had she gotten the guts to steal a big rig and drive it more than ten miles up the road? Even in her human days, she hadn’t been much of a driver. But she craved answers, and not just the one’s her father or Vicq had given her. Plus, she’d worked for this moment over these past several months, fantasized how she could serve destruction to every District 5 Head responsible for the death of innocents. Finally, that time was here. Tonight was the night she’d unleash all fears, any doubts, and rain terror down the halls of the District headquarters. In search of answers and those in need of help.

  On the passenger seat next to her, Melrose hitched two daggers into the loops on her belt and peeled out of her tall overcoat. She pointed up ahead. “You’re gaining on your dad’s crew. They left in the Hummer right after Vicq and the team.”

  “Good. We’ll follow the Hummer through the gates. You ready?”

  “Been ready,” she said and then slid out of her seat to help Elaina strap on her bulletproof vest. “Try to stay out of the line of fire. I’ve got you covered. Same plan, right?”

  “Yeah, same plan. I’m not getting in the way of Vicq and his team. Not if I don’t have to. By the time we reach the admin offices, D5 security will have shifted all of their attention to the area under attack by both teams. My hope is that no one will suspect you and I slipping through the side door while the team is holding up the front end.”

  Just as planned, after confirming that Vicq and his team had breached the entrance, Elaina drove the eighteen-wheeler through the security gates.

  A handful of men were already laid out on the ground when she and Melrose arrived on the scene. Gunfire and screams could be heard coming from the inside of the lobby. So much gunfire and no way to tell if the people she loved were okay.

  “Elaina?” Melrose urged her forward. “We have to keep moving. Vicq can take care of himself on that end.”

  Elaina swallowed down the lump of panic in her throat and rushed for the side door. Someone, either on her dad’s side or Vicq’s side, must have had the same idea because the door was already propped open and a dead guard lay bleeding out beside it.

  They moved into the admin offices, flanking each other and anticipating any harmful threats. Whoever had reached this side of the hallway first had already done the utmost damage and had left a line of armed security personnel as their victims along the hallway.

  “Hey!” someone shouted at them from behind and opened fire.

  Elaina shifted out of the way just in time as a spray of bullets lit up the hallway. She pulled her Beretta and aimed for the gunman’s lower half. The bullet caught him in the feet just in time, and he was brought to his knees. Before he could lift his revolver again, Melrose approached from behind and snapped his neck.

  “Let’s go,” Elaina called out.

  She moved into the next room, which turned out to be a storage closet of some sort. Boxes of office supplies lined the wall, and reams of paper were stacked high alongside a printer.

  “It’s clear,” Melrose said after circling the room.

  They moved on to the next room, but the door was locked. They kicked it in and were greeted by a pair of screaming women.

  They held their hands up and huddled together under a desk. “Please don’t kill us.”

  “We’re not here to kill you,” Melrose said. “Get up and against the wall. Put your hands out in front of you and keep them that way.”

  They complied with Melrose’s demands as they checked the room from top to bottom.

  “What do you two do here?” Elaina asked one of the women.

  “We’re secretaries to the VP,” one of them said. “We just answer calls and sort mail for him. That’s all we do. We’ve got nothing to do with the other stuff.”

  “Where are the HR files?” Elaina asked.

  The women glanced at each other apprehensively.

  Elaina closed the distance between them. “Where?”

  “Out the door and turn right. The last room down the hall. In the owner’s suites.”

  “When I leave, I want you to close the door, and don’t come out until the police show up.”

  The women nodded.

  Melrose and Elaina proceeded down the halls until they reached a larger room labeled suite 500. The current owner’s name was engraved on a plate on the door.

  “Mr. Stewart Reynolds,” Melrose read. “Have you met this guy?”

  “No. I was never allowed past this point,” she replied.

  Elaina kicked the door open, instantly taking in her surroundings. At first, the suite appeared to be unoccupied, but then they noticed some movement coming from a dark conference room in the back corner. She drowned out everything around her and refocused her sense of hearing. Sure enough, she picked up on the heartbeats of one panicked soul.

  “Hear that?” Elaina mouthed to Melrose.

  Melrose nodded and pointed her gun toward the right side of the conference room where Elaina had first seen the shadowy movements.

  The person in the room fired a gun, shattering the glass dividing the room. Elaina and Melrose ducked out of the way as shots were fired haphazardly from the conference area.

  Melrose made a sign for Elaina to stay behind and shifted into the conference area. Clashing and tumbling noises erupted only moments later before gunfire began again and a woman’s screams sliced through the room.

  Elaina vaulted inside just in time to spot the red laser aimed at Melrose’s head. She reacted just in time, pushing Melrose from the direct line of fire, only to catch a bullet in her right arm instead.

  Elaina swung around to face the gunman, who had a hostage shielding him.

  “Shoot and she’s dead,” the man said.

  “Can’t you fight your own battles?” Elaina asked.

  “Two vampires against a human?” He chuckled. “I’m not stupid.”

  “Well, then…that means you’ve already lost, so why are you wasting our time?”

  He tugged the woman closer to his chest, pushed the gun deeper into her side, and she squealed in fright.

  “This won’t end well,” he mumbled. “You might as well run while you can. My men are coming.”

  “End well for whom?”

  “The both of you. All of you vampires who dare raid my company.”

  “You sure about that?” she asked.

  He grimaced. “Do you know what we do to you creatures?”

  “I’m aware. Who are you?”

  “Does it matter?”

  “It’s him, the owner. Mr. Reynolds. The girl said his name already,” Melrose exclaimed.

  Elaina grinned. “You’re just the man I want to see, Mr. Reynolds. Have a seat so we can talk.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know you.”

  “Well, you should,” Elaina said. “And I’m getting ready to rectify that.”

  “You can start with your name,” he stuttered.

  “No, you don’t get to make demands. I’m running the show here. I’m going to give you ten seconds to drop the gun, let the girl go, and have a fucking seat.”

  “Who do you think you are? Coming up in h—”

  Elaina lifted her Beretta and aimed. “Ten. Nine…”

  Mr. Reynolds backed up and fumbled for something in his pocket with his free hand. A cell phone dropped from his pocket, and a voice came through on the other end. “Chief Reynolds? Mr. Reynolds? You still there. We’re getting picked off…”

  The voice faded away.

  “Five, four…”

  “If you shoot
, she’s dead.”

  Elaina fired the weapon. The gun Mr. Reynolds was holding clamored to the floor, and he dropped to his knees and cried out in pain.

  The woman raced to the other corner of the room. Melrose grabbed hold of her, preventing further escape.

  “Why are you doing this to me?” Mr. Reynolds wailed.

  “That wasn’t even a major artery, Mr. Reynolds. Or should I call you Chief?” Elaina laughed.

  “Look, I’m sorry. I’ll let all the vampires go,” he proclaimed, holding his hands up in defeat. Blood dripped from the bullet wound in his arm onto the floor.

  “It’s too late for that, and you had plenty of time to right your wrongs. Now get up and go sit,” she said.

  Mr. Reynolds stumbled a few times before he made it across the room. He pulled out a chair and slumped down into it.

  “My men are coming for me, ya know,” he said. “You’ll never make it out of here alive.”

  “Let them come.” Elaina opened up her vest. “I have enough bullets for all of them.”

  Mr. Reynolds visibly swallowed, and his gaze shifted to the door as if he expected someone to come save him at any moment.

  “What do you do here?” Elaina asked the girl, keeping an eye on Mr. Reynolds.

  “I just started last month. I’m Mr. Reynolds’ personal assistant.”

  “Really? You use your personal assistant as a shield? I never really got to know you, Mr. Reynolds, but that’s pretty lowdown and dirty.”

  Mr. Reynolds frowned.

  “And your name?”

  “Monica.”

  “Monica, do you have access to the file vault over there?” Elaina said, pointing to the opposite end of the wall where a bookcase had been slid aside to reveal a filing cabinet built into the wall.

  Mr. Reynolds rose from his cheer. “No!”

  Elaina fired her Beretta and Mr. Reynolds nearly toppled over backward in his chair.

  “Stay,” she said.

  He sat down.

  “Well, do you,” Elaina asked.

  Monica nodded.

  “Open it,” Elaina demanded.

  Melrose nudged Monica toward the vault. The girl then turned back around to study the disapproval on Mr. Reynolds’ face.