The Dresdan Coven Trilogy Read online

  The Dresdan Coven Trilogy

  Amber Ella Monroe

  Contents

  Newsletter

  The Dresdan Coven Trilogy Summary

  Prelude

  Preface

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Epilogue

  Donor

  Preface

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Epilogue

  Requiem

  Preface

  Interlude

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Epilogue

  Dresdan Coven Glossary

  Shifter Paranormal Romance

  Also By Amber Ella Monroe

  About the Author

  Copyright

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  The Dresdan Coven Trilogy Summary

  Her blood, his addiction…

  A deadly attraction…

  Brought together by betrayal, vampire rebel Vicq and his mortal enemy Elaina find a passion that breaks all the rules. Elaina was sent to execute him, but she fell for him instead. Now they’re both being hunted–and their forbidden love could be the only thing keeping them alive long enough to learn the truth. Danger is encountered from every angle, and they can’t seem to stay away from each other.

  An unrelenting bond…

  Elaina and Vicq know where their loyalties lie—with each other. But there’s a fine line between love and the will to live. Together, they’ll face many obstacles and will make a choice that will change their eternal future.

  *This volume contains the following parts: Prelude, Donor, & Requiem*

  Prelude

  Preface

  No river can return to its source, yet all rivers must have a beginning.”

  Proverb

  Prologue

  “Vida o muerte?”

  "What?" the dying man croaked, confusion marking his face.

  “Life or death? Which do you choose?”

  Vicq’s Maker had given him this choice long ago. Not one ounce of hesitation consumed him as he extended the same options to the infected and wounded man lying on his back on the pavement, coughing up blood and struggling to stay alive.

  The fact that a Dresdan had drained a human within a few short miles of his coven alarmed him. When Vicq had set up his coven near the foothills of the Black Mountains, the territory had been vacant of any vampires. Was Master Russo getting close to finding his sanctuary? Had he sent another army of Dresdan Soldiers to track him down? Or was it mere coincidence that this man was left here to die?

  “I’m already dying, aren’t I?” the man asked, sputtering up blood.

  “You’ve been drained by a vampire—a Dresdan. Sí…eventually you will.”

  “Well, why don’t you finish me then, vamp?” he spat. “I’m too weak to move, and the sun has burned me to a crisp. Put me out of my misery…please.”

  “You’re alive because you were infected with Dresdan blood before you were drained. What did you do? Try to square off with one of us?”

  “Yes,” he hissed between clenched teeth. “I didn’t know he was a dirty, stinking vamp.”

  Vicq shook his head and tapped the roof of his mouth with his tongue. “Careful. It’s a miracle that you still speak. Based on the amount of blood dried up around you and your current state, I don’t expect you to live more than a half hour. If you’re not dead by then, the sun rises again in five hours, and that’ll surely kill you. Whoever drained you and left you for dead wanted your passing to be slow. You can wait just another half an hour for death, can’t you?”

  The man grumbled but couldn’t lash out due to his weakened state.

  Vicq continued to speak, “To the north, there’re mountains. To the west, more mountains. To the east, we have valleys. You’re out in the middle of nowhere here, and miles from any hospital.” Vicq waved his arm to illustrate the landfill just a few yards behind him. “What’s a human doing out here, anyway?”

  “I was…delivering a car. A Ferrari. Top of the line. The vamp betrayed me. He took the car and left me.”

  “You don’t have much blood left. Decide quickly. I can give you more time, but, of course, you’ll be forever changed.”

  “You’re one of them. One of those bloodsuckers who did this to me. I don’t know if I can trust you.”

  “When I feed from humans, I don’t get messy.”

  “If…” The man coughed. “If I take your blood, will I become like you?”

  Vicq’s intuition told him that the man was worth saving or turning. And he had learned long ago that listening to his initial hunches was beneficial.

  “Depends… Life or death?”

  Creating a vampire and then leaving him alone to fend for himself was against the Dresdan code.

  “Life, of course.”

  Vicq lifted the injured man, bringing him to a sitting position. He brought his wrist to his fangs, split his vein, and offered the man his arm. “Drink, but not too much. You might feel a little drowsy afterward. There’s a motel five miles up the road from here. I’ll get you there to recover after this, but I suggest you stay inside for at least three days.”

  “Will I be normal again?”

  “What do you think? You’ve been bitten by Dresdan. Enough with the questions, human. You won’t be the same, but you won’t be a vampire either.”

  “Why should I trust you?”

  “You shouldn’t.”

  The man looked at him apprehensively. “What will I owe you?”

  “When I’m in need of a car, I'll come to you.”

  He didn’t miss the light sparkle of hope in the man’s eyes.

  “Cómo se llam
a?” Vicq asked.

  “Emory,” the man whispered. His lips had turned ashen white and his eyes virtually soulless as he struggled to hold on to what little life force was left in him.

  “When you’ve had enough of being a human on the edge of insanity with a taste for blood instead of food, and you’re ready to cross over, remember my name. Vicq.”

  The man cupped Vicq’s wrist in his hands and tipped it to his lips.

  He’d chosen life. Vicq wasn’t surprised. Most any human would choose their life over uncertain death.

  Most any human…but not him.

  Life or death.

  When Vicq had been given the choice by his Maker over sixty years ago, he’d chosen death because life, as it was back then, was both uncertain and unjust.

  Chapter 1

  Two and a half months later…

  Elaina Arakelian turned her wrist over and glanced at the time on her watch again. 8:01AM. She had less than an hour to reach the District 5 base for scheduled training, yet all the tables at The Pancake Hut were occupied. The eatery was busy, as was expected during the breakfast rush. It was the only diner within a fifteen-mile radius of the base. This place had been here for years, even before the District set up shop, yet they refused to add takeout service. She was hungry and extremely low on fuel. So, she’d wait. From here, it would only take her fifteen minutes to reach base. If she timed it just right, she could get there on time.

  When Elaina looked up again, she noticed that many other District 5 members were here to grab breakfast before training started. Among them were full-fledged trackers—just like her—and recruits. She wasn’t on a first-name basis with any of them—yet. Her priorities were simple. Train, complete assignments, and collect her paycheck and monthly stipend. Upon recruitment, they’d been told not to use their legal names. They weren’t allowed to hold on to any fragments of their past lives. They were basically dead to the rest of the world. They’d pledged their life to the mission. Even in death, they would all become the property of District 5.

  It was too early in Elaina’s contract to forget her family and friends. She didn’t know that she would ever forget them, but it was her duty now to remain at a distance and protect from the shadows. She still had many memories. Her memories were her own and no one else’s. Nobody could take that from her. But that didn’t change the fact that she was still bound to District 5’s mission.

  “Ma’am?”

  Elaina’s attention shifted to the server, standing to the right of her.

  “We have a seat for one,” the server continued.

  She followed the server to an empty stool near the serving bar. Three cooks manned their individual stations directly in front of her. They seemed to be working quickly despite the number of order tickets the waitresses threw at them.

  Eggs were being cooked on the griddle, sunny-side up. Sausage and bacon sizzled. Steam floated up from the pancake tray. This was the closest she’d get to a home-cooked meal.

  Elaina looked down at her watch again just as a waitress approached her. 8:07AM. From the looks of it, she’d have just enough time to pig out. She ordered the breakfast platter that was chock-full of protein. She’d need it. This was the last training session of the season for trackers. If she passed with flying colors, the District 5 heads would be more likely to hand her an assignment worthy of her skills.

  For the past few months, all she’d been doing was knocking off the occasional rogue or wayward vampire. Those assignments were getting too easy for her. She was getting bored…and curious about the other, inner workings of the District—an organization whose mission was to prolong the existence of mankind by capturing, destroying, and salvaging vampires.

  Elaina worked from the shadows at night and trained and rested during the day. Whenever she or one of her colleagues knocked off a rogue vampire, they were ordered to collect the blood. In very rare cases, if they could capture one, they were ordered to bring it to the labs. The District 5 lab techs were interested in vampire blood the most. The older and more powerful the vampire, the better.

  To date, there had been under two dozen accounts of vampires being held captive and taken in. Likewise, there had been several dozen accounts of District 5 recruits and trackers being murdered by vampires while on assignment. It was a dangerous job…but Elaina was being paid to do it. She didn’t get a thrill from killing vampires, but she did gain a sense of achievement from killing vampires who slaughtered humans mercilessly and without reason.

  Of course, there were vampires who slipped out at night, fed, and kept their donors alive, but those numbers were small in comparison to the rogues who killed to feed. During training, recruits were told to presume that if a vampire revealed itself, he or she was there to kill. Elaina didn’t need to test that theory. Even though she had sacrificed her life to become a member of the District, she wanted to live.

  However, she wanted to be more than the recruit who took orders and followed her superiors without asking questions. One day, she wanted to be a leader who gave orders. She wanted to make a difference, and she wanted to stand for something greater than she could ever imagine.

  Her father always told her, “Be careful what you crave. Sometimes, your cravings can turn out to be your worst nightmare.”

  Other than the occasional bruise to her ego after losing a fight or two or letting a rogue vampire get away, she hadn’t experienced any nightmares. Yet. Something told her that she should still heed her father’s warnings; but so far, she hadn’t done so. Some of her cravings were just too persistent. Sooner or later, Elaina would find out that one relentless craving could change her life forever.

  Chapter 2

  “I can see that District heads are still hiring and promoting girls ‘round here.”

  The statement came from Danny, a colleague in Elaina’s unit. He was more than a colleague, actually. He’d recently been selected as the leader of her work unit. She may be required to follow his orders, but she certainly wasn't keen on putting up with his bullshit comments.

  Elaina lowered the chilled bottle of water she was chugging down and gave him a quick glance. He grinned smugly and used the hand towel around his thick neck to wipe sweat from his face.

  “I’m not your optometrist. I’m not the one you need to convince that you can see,” she said and moved to the other side of the courtyard.

  Her unit was only five minutes into a break after two and a half hours of grueling physical maintenance drills. Danny had followed her, but her idea of rest didn't include talking to a guy she couldn't stand.

  "Why'd you walk off like that? Can't I have a chat with you?" he asked.

  "Just because we're in the same unit and you've been assigned as my superior, doesn't mean that I want to engage in small talk with you."

  Danny shrugged. "Why not? If we're going to be working together for the next few months on assignments, you've gotta learn to love my influence around here. Especially now that you've been promoted as next in line under me."

  "Influence?" She almost laughed. "I don't have to like the people that I work with, and that includes you."

  "Girl, who's fucking you the wrong way for you to carry such an attitude day in and day out?" he asked.

  "You keep calling me girl, but does it bother you that I've beaten every one of your scores since we started training together?"

  Danny's grin disappeared. "It doesn't matter. You're still under me, and you'll always be. You've beaten my training stats but when we're in the real world, fighting those vamps, can you apply the same skills, girl? Or will you watch from the sidelines as your partners take them out? Those cold-hearted scumbags don't have a taste for tits and ass like half of these men out here who've been distracted by the women training beside them do. Pretty women like you, flaunting your assets all over the training field. The vamps are interested in blood. They kill to drink and nothing distracts hunger."

  "You're so sure of yourself," she shot back. "It also sounds like you're frustr
ated because you don't get laid at all. Too bad. But if you want to put your money where your mouth is, our next session includes hand-to-hand combat. I've been yearning for something bigger and meatier to punch in the face, and these women don't measure up."

  Danny scoffed. "You're delusional."

  "Scared?" she taunted.

  "D-33!" One of the drill instructors yelled her number from across the field.

  Without another word, she turned and jogged over to him to acknowledge her presence. "Here."

  "Injection time. Report to Level E, Station B1."

  As part of her employment contract with District 5, Elaina was required to receive a drug injection on a periodic basis to ward off vampire infection. Humans had been known to die after coming in contact with vampire blood, which was said to be poisonous to humans if not taken directly from a vein.

  One of the missions Elaina was bound to undertake was to fight and execute vampires, so coming in contact with their blood was likely. During her unit’s training period, they'd been presented with numerous accounts of District 5 trackers perishing after failing to undergo the injections.

  On her way to Level E, Elaina walked slowly through the corridors. Recruiters and trackers weren't given many opportunities to explore the entire District headquarters, which was at least two football fields long and had seven levels, two of which were underground. The underground levels were completely off limits to unauthorized staff, mostly because they contained captured vampires, both dead and alive. Well,…they were all dead. But the vampires that had expired were kept on ice for further testing.

  The other levels of District 5 required controlled access, but the District operations were so complex that Elaina had yet to uncover all of the inner workings. She was a vampire tracker, and her duties never crossed over to the business or operations side of the organization. She was hired on purely to assist with tactics. But what person wouldn't be grossly interested in other areas of an organization they'd signed their life over to?