Donovan grabbed the metal ring. It took him three tries before he found the right key and the lock clicked open. Still holding his gun, Donovan grabbed the knob with his free hand. I took up a position on the opposite side and nodded at him. The detective nodded back. He threw open the door, and we both cautiously peered into the room, weapons up and ready, just in case there were more guards stationed inside.

But the room was empty - except for Callie.

She slumped on a bed in the far corner, right underneath a picture window covered with silverstone bars. She raised her head at the sound of the door opening. One of her eyes had started to blacken, and I noticed several cuts and bruises on her hands and arms, but other than that, she seemed to be in good shape. At least the skin on her neck and wrists was unbroken and not littered with bite marks like Vanessa's had been. No doubt she'd struggled with the giants who'd kidnapped her, and Dekes had probably smacked her around a little more to get her to sign over her property to him, but the vampire hadn't sunk his fangs into her.

Of course he hadn't. Callie wasn't an elemental, so she didn't have any magic he could steal. Dekes probably thought his palate far too sophisticated to sully it with mere human blood. It was a small favor that he hadn't bitten her, but I'd take what I could get.

"Callie!" Donovan cried out, and rushed over to her.

Callie's eyes widened at the sight of him, and she scrambled up off the bed. "Donovan! Oh, Donovan! I knew that you'd come for me! I just knew it!"

Tears streamed down her face, and she pressed her lips to his. Donovan hesitated a moment before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close.

I wondered if the detective was thinking that he hadn't really come for his fiancee after all - I had. If Donovan could have had his way, he would have knocked on the front door and one of Dekes's giants probably would have put a bullet through his head a minute later.

But because I wasn't a total bitch, I let them kiss for a few seconds before I cleared my throat. The two of them broke apart and looked at me, Callie with fear and wariness, and Donovan with guilt.

"Come on," I said in a harsher voice than I would have liked. I wasn't jealous of Callie, not really, but the detective had never looked that relieved to see me before - something that still hurt, despite all this time. "The reunion's over. We've still got two more women to find and rescue. "

Donovan nodded. He took Callie's hand and led her out of the room without a word. He didn't look at me when he passed. He didn't want to see the cold, mocking anger in my eyes.

Couldn't blame him for that.

Chapter 22

We rejoined Owen in the hallway. While we'd been rescuing Callie, he'd grabbed the guard's cell phone and was listening to the crackles of conversation on the other end.

"Any sign of more guards?" I asked. "What are they saying?"

Owen shook his head. "Nothing much. I heard some footsteps and some shouts, but none of them seem to be headed in this direction. From the chatter on the phone, most of the guards are on the other side of the house, trying to figure out what's going on, who's in the mansion, and how they can stop them. I think that's where Dekes is too, although I can't be sure. They haven't said anything about Vanessa or Victoria. "

"That's because the two women are probably somewhere secure already. I bet that Dekes keeps them under lock and key the whole time, except for when he needs Vanessa to make an appearance for his friends. After all, it just wouldn't do for Dekes to lose his elemental meal tickets," I said.

I pulled my own cell phone out of my vest. "Callie's secure," I said. "Repeat, Callie is secure. "

"Roger that," Finn responded a second later. "Still searching the first floor. No sign of the other two women yet. "

"Keep searching. We'll do the same up here. "

I put the phone back in its slot on my vest, and we moved away from the door and the dead giant. We eased through the halls, looking and listening, but we didn't encounter any more guards. Finn and the others had killed four already, and I'd put another one down. That made five. I didn't know how many men Dekes had on his staff and how many might actually be in the mansion at the moment, but I was willing to bet that we'd put a good dent in their numbers.

We made it back to the crossway and started down the only other hall I hadn't explored yet. I led the way, followed by Donovan, then Callie, with Owen serving as the rear guard. We didn't pass any more of Dekes's men, but we started to hear faint shouts, screams, and scuffles. The hoarse sounds grew louder the farther we walked down the hall, peppered here and there with the sharp sting of gunfire.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Looked like Finn, Bria, and Sophia had run into some more giants. The gunshots didn't bother me, though, because they told me that the three of them were still alive and fighting. I would have been more worried if I hadn't heard any noise at all. Besides, every once in a while, Finn's triumphant shouts drifted out of the cell phone in the pocket of my vest, telling me that they were okay.

Eventually we reached another hallway that led to a dead end. I peered around the corner again, and just like before, I spotted a giant standing guard outside a door. Only this time he had two buddies with him. Jackpot.

I drew back before they saw me and looked at Owen. "Three of them, two of us. Care for a little tag-team action?"

Owen grinned and twirled his staff in his hands. "With you? Always. "

I looked over at Donovan. "You stay here with Callie and watch our backs. We shouldn't be long. "

The detective nodded and made Callie stand against the wall beside him.

I palmed a second knife and turned my attention back to Owen. "Same rush job as before, with me in the lead, drawing their gunfire. On three. One . . . two . . . three!"

Tags: Jennifer Estep Elemental Assassin Fantasy
Source: readsnovelonline.net