Page 92 of Soul Sucker

She got herself some coffee and stared at the slowly filling cup. But hadn’t Mari said something about a mate being able to share the physic burden too? Ella thought she just meant the memories she stole—which was after all, the whole point of the bonding exercise. She hadn’t realized Vadim might be able to accesseverythought. It made her far too vulnerable.

She picked up the coffee, jammed a lid on it and went back to her office. There was a light blinking on her phone and she dialed her passcode to receive messages. An unfamiliar voice filled the room.

“Hi, Ella, long time no speak. It’s Trini Yamada here!” Ella froze. “I just wanted to touch base with you. I’m staying at the Bay View Hotel on Embarcadero and I was hoping you might want to get together with me to celebrate.”

The door to Ella’s office flew open and Vadim stood there, his gun out, his expression lethal. She put a shaking finger to her lips as Trini gave a light laugh.

“Thanks so much for inviting me to your birthday party, Ella! It’s mine too! Isn’t it great!”

There was the sound of whispering and then Trini giggled. “Sure, I’ll tell her. The Siren says he can’t wait to see you either, so come on over! Bye for now!”

The phone went dead and Ella just stared at Vadim, who jerked his head in the direction of the door. “Let’s go.”

“She wasn’t supposed to be next, Morosov. What the hell is going on?”

Ella checked she had her weapon, and followed Vadim out into the hall. Alexei appeared in the doorway of the conference room and fell in behind them.

“Do we need transport to get there?” Vadim asked as they ran into the lobby.

For a second Ella stared at him. “I…don’t know. I don’t know where that hotel is.”

“Alexei? Can you find it?”

“Yes, it’s about a twenty minute walk or I could get us there sooner if I use magic.”

“Are you okay with that, Ella?”

She nodded. The next moment both men grabbed her hands, there was a flash of light, and they were outside the neat brown façade of the Bay View Hotel. Ella fought to control the nausea magic always gave her and started up the steps to the hotel.

At the small reception desk, a young man dressed in a smart suit was tapping away at a keyboard. He greeted Ella with a smile.

“Welcome to the Bay View Hotel. Do you have a reservation?”

“No, I’ve just come by to meet a friend of mine, Trini Yamada. Is she here yet? Can you give me her room number?”

“I’m afraid I can’t give you that information, ma’am.” Vadim leaned past Ella and smiled charmingly at the receptionist. “Is it possible that Ms. Yamada left a message for Ms. Walsh? She is definitely expecting her.”

“I just came on shift. I’ll check.” The man looked flustered and searched through the various sticky notes that adorned the desk and the computer screen. “Oh, yes, there’s something here!” He read the note. “If I could just see some ID, Ms. Walsh, you can go on up.” Ella gave him her driver’s license and waited another interminable minute before he gave it back to her. “Ms. Yamada is in room 209.” He lifted the phone receiver. “I’ll call up and let her know you’re coming.”

“Don’t worry about that. We want to surprise her.” Alexei leaned across, took the receiver and put it back down. The receptionist didn’t say a word, his gaze caught in the Fae’s, his will already under Alexei’s spell.

Ella was already moving across the lobby, Vadim at her side.

He touched her shoulder. “I’ll come up the stairs with you.”

He pushed the door open and followed her, his weapon drawn, his barriers high. When they emerged onto the second floor, Vadim made her stop.

“Do you want me to go in first?”

“No, he’s expecting me. I’d rather you stayed back.”

His expression darkened. “I’m not sure if I can do that.”

“You have to.”

“I know, but something inside me doesn’t want to let you out of my sight.”

“How sweet.” She patted his cheek. “Well suck it up, buttercup. I need to do this alone.”

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