Inescapable : The Hexborn Series Book 2

by Cara E Holt

  “Holy dragon breath!” I exclaim, as I hastily try to untangle myself from Cort.

  He groans. “Quit panicking.”

  I glare down at him as he looks at me through those chocolate brown eyes. “Why am I in your bed?”

  He offers me a lazy wink as he rolls onto his back and stretches his arms. “You invited yourself into my room last night trouble,” He chuckles. “A drunken Elara is quite amusing.”

  Glaring at him, I look down at the t-shirt I have on and realise it is his. “Did we.., did we...?”

  “Have sex?” he finishes for me, his mouth twitching in amusement. He was loving every minute of this. “No, although you offered quite a few times. As well as telling me I am ripped and have a nice arse.”

  I groan, lowering my face into my hands. “Mother goddess save me, I must have been really wasted to have wanted sex with you.”

  Cort cocks a brow as if to call bullshit. “Just so you know, I don’t take advantage of girls when they are steaming drunk.”

  “We never talk of this again, okay?” I tell him rather than ask.

  Cort grins and bobs his head side-to-side. “I don’t know, I think I might like to bring it up time and time again.”

  “Gods, you’re an arsehole of the worst kind,” I tell him with a sigh. He would never let me live this down.

  He sits up and I scramble off the bed to create distance between us, which just makes him chuckle again. “Get dressed. We need to head down to the gym and train.”

  “Say what?” I ask, wincing at the pain in my head.

  Cort grabs a towel and looks back at me. “Training Elara. I expect you in the gym in fifteen minutes.”

  “But my head feels like a dragon has been sitting on it all night,” I moan and pout my lips at him.

  He shakes his head. “You get no sympathy. This is self-inflicted. Fifteen minutes.”

  I dress quickly whilst he is in the shower and make my way back to my dorm room. I enter as quietly as I can but freeze when I see Vellity sat up in bed reading. Flipping great!

  Vellity takes in my appearance and grins. “Looks like someone got lucky last night.”

  I grumble and make my way to my drawers. “No, someone got blind drunk and ended up crashing elsewhere. There was no getting lucky, trust me.”

  I head straight into the bathroom to avoid any more questions from her and have a shower. I feel slightly more human after washing and then brushing my teeth. I look at my watch and realise I have only five minutes to spare. I throw on my training clothes and with a quick goodbye to Vellity; I use my vampire speed to get down to the mess hall and grab some food. I needed hangover food. I needed bacon, eggs, beans, hash browns, the works. I spot Rafe sitting with Renna and Jun and head over to them.

  Rafe chuckles as I take a seat opposite him. “Feeling a little rough today, are we?”

  I roll my eyes in response. “Go on, take joy in my suffering.”

  Renna doesn’t smile though. Instead, she reaches across the table and puts her hand over mine. “Are you okay? After you know, the news report.”

  I stiffen and not giving her eye contact; I nod. “I’m fine. New day, new start and all that jazz.”

  I look up and see Rafe and Renna share a look that tells me they don’t believe me. I’m just tucking into a piece of bacon when Renna looks behind me. “Uh-oh, someone doesn’t look happy.”

  Before I can turn around I am yanked up off the bench and thrown over a firm shoulder. “What the hell!”

  “I told you fifteen minutes,” Cort barks as he walks us through the mess hall.

  “Put me down now!” I demand pummelling my fist on his back. “I haven’t finished eating.”

  Cort remains silent and I quietly seethe as he strides through the compound with me hanging over his shoulder. When we reach the training rooms, he drops me unceremoniously on a training mat.

  “Up,” he orders as he swings his arms, loosening them up, and ready to get started.

  Giving him a death stare, I stand on my feet. I am going to kick his ass today, big time.

  “Let’s go,” he barks, giving me his back and striding across the gym.

  “Where are we going?” I ask puzzled as I hurry to catch up with him. He doesn’t answer me but he types a code into a keypad beside a door and when it swings open I gawp in surprise.

  “Whoa! What is this room?” I follow Cort inside and look around me, taking in every detail. The room was long and narrow and dark. All the walls were black, as was the soft flooring underneath my feet.

  “Stand in the circle,” Cort orders and I do so without question as my curiosity gets the better of me. He walks over to a screen that comes to life and he taps various buttons and a computer-generated voice starts to countdown from ten. “Use all your elements and spells, and your vampire speed and senses.”

  I give him a quick nod and then jump slightly when a robotic voice counts down from five. The narrow tunnel before me lights up and then darkens again and then a ball of fire hurtles my way. I quickly call on my water element and blast the fire ball with it. A man jumps down from above, baring his vampire teeth, and I reach into my holster and pull out my iron stake. It was of course not an actual person, but computer generated. He charges me and I duck and roll just before he reaches me and use my vampire speed to turn and stab the stake into his back.

  I turn back to face the tunnel, and a fae walks forward. A female, tall and deadly looking. The fae, like witches, can command the elements and I study her, waiting to see what element she will try to attack me with. However, she surprises me by producing an iron spear and she sends it careering towards me. The best thing about being half vamp is that I have enhanced vision and speed. Just as the spear reaches me I grab it with my hand and stop it dead. I spin it and whisper a spell, sending it hurtling back towards her, flaming with fire. She attempts to back-flip but is not quick enough and it hits her in the stomach and she evaporates before my eyes.

  For the next twenty minutes I am constantly tested. At one point I have two wolves and a witch attacking me at the same time and I really have to call upon both my witch and vamp skills to take them all down. By the time the programme ends I am dripping with sweat and exhausted. I had been so engrossed in the training that I had forgotten all about Cort. He offers me a towel as I walk back over to him and he smiles.

  “You did well for your first time.”

  “Thanks.” I am surprised by his praise and it actually means a lot that he thinks I did well.

  “Tomorrow we’ll up the difficulty.”

  I nod and follow him back out to the main gym room. “Are you still coming tonight?”

  Cort sniggers. “Were you hoping I’d changed my mind? I’m still coming. Someone needs to make sure you do nothing stupid.”

  “I am perfectly capable of looking after myself. Besides, I’m meeting Dagen. I’m perfectly safe with him.”

  “It’s not him I’m worried about, it’s the people in the club who will do anything for money.” He sits on the bench and beckons me over. “Come on and feed.”

  With a reluctant frown, I sit myself on his lap and take what I need from him. I finish and I heal his wound and jump straight off his lap.

  Cort looks at me with glazed eyes for a second, before clearing his throat and striding past me. “I need to go but I’ll meet you at 1am.”

  Giving him a weary nod, I take myself off to my dorm and throw myself on the bed and sleep for the most of the day. I was never drinking again.

  UNEXPECTED VISITORS

  At just before one, I sneak out of my dorm room and head to the library to meet Rafe and Cort. When I arrive they are both already there waiting for me. Cort wears all black, in ripped jeans, a leather jacket and black boots. He looks dark and deadly.

  “Just to be clear,” Cort tells me stepping in front of me, halting my steps. “I go through first and check that all is clear.”

  I roll my eyes. God, he was annoying at times. “We will portal straig
ht into his office today. He doesn’t know you, so I suggest I go first, unless you want to be pinned to the wall by a furious vampire lord.”

  The portal opens and using my vamp speed I rush around Cort and go through first. Dagen is sitting behind his desk with a glass of bourbon in his hand. He looks every inch the vampire lord tonight, dressed in his immaculate grey shirt and black trousers.

  A lazy warm smile crosses his face as soon as I step through and he looks surprised when he sees not just Rafe, but Cort stepping through.

  “Your harem is growing princess,” he comments. He leans back in his seat and studies Cort. “How’s things Cort?”

  “Dagen,” he grins, stepping forward and shaking his hand like they were old friends.

  Dagen tips his head in greeting at Rafe. “Are these your body guard’s princess?”

  “He’s a friend,” I gesture to Rafe. “That one’s a pain in my backside.” This earns me a deadpan look from Cort. I drop in to a seat opposite Dagen’s desk. “Let’s not waste time. Did you find anything?”

  Dagen chuckles. “Always so damned impatient.”

  Dagen pulls open his desk drawer and drops a file in front of me. “It took some digging, but I discovered that the Mortensen family owned several estate houses and quite a bit of land. One of which is one that belonged to his mother’s side of the family and has been in a state of disrepair for many, many, years.” He flicks through the pages in the file until it stops on a photo of a sizeable estate house. “The property is situated in the rolling hills of the welsh countryside. It’s nice and secluded and far away from human inhabitants and others from our community. It would be the perfect place to lie low.”

  I study the photos of the house and its grounds. “This has to be it.”

  Cort leans over from behind me and studies the photos. “We’d need to do some reconnaissance first. Observe the place, see if we notice anyone coming or going.”

  “I’m ahead of you on that one. I had two of my guy’s head over that way. They have been watching the estate. Someone is definitely there. They have seen the odd car driving in and out of the estate, and deliveries of food, and so on.”

  I look up at Dagen, my eyes full of hope. “We can save Norah and stop him.”

  Dagen’s expression sobers. “There are rumours that the Mortensen coven is alive and well but that they work with dark witches. Elara, dark witches are nothing like you will have ever come across. They are pure evil.”

  Cort nods in agreement. “We stormed an abandoned warehouse once were we had heard some hybrids were being kept. Dark witches were involved. Their power was phenomenal, and it was sheer luck that we made it out of there with some hybrid slaves.”

  I nod, thinking through what I have just been told. “Maybe rather than attempt an attack and rescue we need to approach this situation another way. My father has reached out to me, leaving messages with the bodies of those he has drained. I could pretend that I have been searching for him, wanting to reunite with him.”

  “It’s too dangerous,” Cort states in objection.

  “My going in there will allow me to suss the place out, find out entries and exits, how many vamps and witches we are dealing with, etc.”

  Cort scoffs. “Good luck convincing Merrick of this one.”

  “My coven and I will help,” Dagen announces.

  I look over at him, surprised. “Why?”

  “Because, I don’t agree with what he is doing. Draining witches is not okay. It is damaging to the reputation of the vampire community.”

  I look from Dagen to Cort. “We need to convince Merrick. You think he’ll form an alliance with Dagen’s coven?”

  Cort shrugs. “Merrick will work with someone if he believes it will help the cause and showing the world that the threat was in fact a rogue vampire and not a deranged hybrid would help our cause.”

  The next day I sit nervously in front of Merrick, waiting for his response. He sits in silence for a few minutes, stroking the stubble on his chin, looking deep in thought.

  “I’ll need to meet with Dagen before I can agree to him working with us on this.”

  My mouth falls open. “You’re in agreement?”

  Merrick holds up a hand. “I’ll consider it. I’m still not sold on the idea of you going in their first. I say we storm the place, but let me meet with Dagen and we will go from there.”

  I am bouncing in my seat in excitement that this could be happening. “You can trust Dagen. I would trust him with my life. He is honourable and a man of his word.”

  ‘Intruder Alert,’ says a robotic voice over the tannoy system as a loud alarm sounds.

  “What’s that?” I ask when I see everyone in the room tense.

  “Someone has breached our grounds,” Cort informs me and I hastily follow him and Merrick as they cross the hall into the comms room.

  “What do we have?” Merrick asks one of the guys running the security cameras on the perimeters.

  “Over on the east side. It looks like three of them.” He points to the screen to his right and sure enough there are three heat signatures. “They have avoided the cameras but our magic sensors have picked up on them using magic to shield themselves from view.”

  “Get a team down there right away and send another squad to the front of the compound and the back.” Merrick looks up and addresses Cort. “You go with them to check it out.”

  Cort gives a curt nod and takes off.

  We wait in anticipation. Our eyes glued to the screens. “All clear,” a voice announces over the comms system.

  “I’m just checking the south perimeter,” Cort’s voice announces. “Jun take the right side, I’ll take the left.” Seconds later we can hear raised voices and the sound of elemental fire. “Intruders found and contained.” Cort reports in. “We’re bringing them in now via the back entrance.”

  I follow Merrick and a group of armed soldiers in the lift to ground level and we wait in front of the large metal doors that lead to the rear of the compound. The doors groan open and Cort and his squad walk inside with three captives, held in cuffs with their heads covered with hessian hoods.

  “They used concealment spells to get through undetected.” Cort wipes some blood from his mouth. “They didn’t put up much of a fight though. It was like they wanted to be caught.”

  Cort shoves the one he is holding down to his knees and Jun and Nero do the same with the two they are holding captive. Merrick gestures to them with his head and they all lift the hoods off at the same time.

  “Drayce!” I take in a sharp breath as I recognise all three of the captives. Drayce’s eyes snap to meet mine at the sound of my voice. Next to him on his left is Thorin and Meara is on his right. My legs move of their own volition until I’m kneeling down in front of him. It was him. He was here in the flesh in front of me.

  “Hey raven,” he says as he studies my face, searching me over.

  One part of me is so relieved and overjoyed to see him and I throw my arms around him and I hug him tightly. He was here in the flesh. Then the other part of me remembers that he betrayed me and is engaged to someone else, and I pull back and slap him across the face. The sound echoes around the walls of this vast space.

  Drayce winces, but then grins at me. “Does that mean you missed me or not?”

  I look from him to Meara and Thorin. Meara smiles widely at me when our eyes meet.

  “What on earth are you guys doing here?”

  “We’re here for you, raven. We have been searching everywhere for you,” Drayce informs me. His eyes hold mine for a second and I look away, torn between warring emotions of joy at seeing him and hurt for what he has done.

  I clear my throat and stand to my feet and step back, standing back beside Merrick. “You shouldn’t have come.”

  They all blanch at my words. I can feel Drayce’s eyes burning into me.

  “Meara.” Rafe comes rushing to a stop beside me and his eyes drink her in. He doesn’t hesitate, he skids to his kne
es in front of her and cups her face in his hands and studies her. “It’s you,” he says before he presses his lips against hers and kisses her deeply. Rafe looks back at his father. “Dad, they aren’t a threat. We can release them.”

  Cort sniggers. “They are all elite witches. They broke into our compound uninvited. Excuse me if I don’t roll out the welcome carpet.”

  “We’re not a threat,” Drayce states. “I came to find my fiancé.”

  I flinch at him referencing me as his fiancée. “I think you’ll find your fiancée is back at the academy.”

  Drayce holds my eyes with his. “That was just a front raven. To make my family think I had let you go.”

  I fold my arms and look away and address Merrick. “Rafe’s right. They’re not a threat.”

  Merrick nods his head as he studies them. “Welcome to the HDS compound. I am Merrick, leader of the organisation. We will take you to somewhere you can freshen up and rest and we will talk later.” He gestures to the Cort and his team and they pull them to their feet and move past us to take them to one lift. As Drayce passes me, our eyes meet and his try to convey a thousand words. I look away, unable to deal with all the emotions I am feeling right now.

  Rafe stops Jun in his steps and kisses Meara on the head. “I’ll come and check on you soon okay?”

  Meara nods, smiling at him before Nero guides her out of the room.

  “Dad, we can trust them. They don’t share the beliefs of their own people,” Rafe tells his Dad firmly. “They came here of their own volition to find us.”

  Merrick nods, his gaze following them as they step into the lift. As the lift doors close Drayce's eyes find mine and he smiles in warmth at me, making my stupid heart thump in my chest. God, I had missed him these last couple of months. He looked as good as I remembered.

  “Elara. You’re awfully quiet,” Merrick observes as we take the other lift back down into the compound.

  “I’m in shock, I guess,” I reply with a sigh. “Rafe is right though. Drayce knew my hybrid identity before anyone else did and he protected me from the word go.”