Pulled to the Dark (The Siriena Series) by Julia P. Lynde Read Free Book Online Page A

fright," I said.
    "You're fine," Petra said. "I'm sorry, I just can't stand sweatshirts for anything other than sweating in."
    She walked over and grabbed my arm, pulling me towards the door. Andrea grabbed my purse and followed behind, closing up the apartment. She caught up and took my other arm. "Your car," she told Petra.
    We took the elevator down then exited the building. Petra led the way to her car. Andrea held the front passenger door for me, so I climbed in and she closed it before climbing into the back.
    "Is there a coffee shop?"
    I pointed. "Around the corner, take a left, it's on the right. They have a drive through."
    "Excellent," said Petra.
    Petra put the car in gear and drove to the coffee shop. "Mocha, Felicia?"
    "I love them, but the calories."
    "Three large mochas," Petra ordered. "No silly bean on top, please make sure they are a drinkable temperature." She paid for the coffees and handed them out. Mine was perfect.
    Petra pulled away from the coffee shop.
    "What are you showing me?" I asked them.
    "You'll see," Petra said.
    We rode in silence. I was out of things to say and couldn't bring myself to make small talk. I was also a little overwhelmed that they were giving me so much personal attention.
    We pulled into the parking lot of a very expensive-looking high-rise apartment building. Then she turned towards the building, opened her window, retrieved a card key, and ran it past the scanner. There was a pause before the parking garage door under the building began to open.
    She drove in and pulled into a spot that was marked with her name.
    "You live here."
    "Yes."
    We climbed out of the car carrying our coffees. Mine was half gone. Petra took my free arm. We took the elevator up one floor and got out in the lobby. There was a guard desk with computer monitors on the desk. We stepped up to the desk.
    "Hello, Samuel," Petra said.
    "Hello, Ms. Darkangel ," he replied. He nodded to Andrea. "Ms. Benson."
    "Samuel, this is Felicia Conner. We're going to show her around. Would you show her the security monitors?"
    "Of course," he said. "Ms Conner, if you would care to step over here."
    Petra nodded to me, releasing my arm, and I walked around the guard's desk. On the monitors were several video camera feeds. One appeared to be the entrance to the parking garage. Where were several in the garage itself, two elevators, two of the lobby, and a variety of empty corridors.
    He tapped some buttons. All the images on one of the monitors disappeared and were replaced with one large image of the garage entrance. "This is when you arrived," he said. There was a car in the image and I could see Petra and me sitting in the front seat. "You can also barely see Ms. Benson in the back." He pointed. Then he tapped more screens and the images shifted, following our progress into the building, all the way to the security desk.
    "We have cameras and motion sensors in all public parts of the building," he said. Then he gestured to the front doors. "Two inch glass and steel doo rs," he said. "Bullet proof. It will stop all hand gun rounds and most hunting rifle rounds. It won't, however, stop concentrated, military grade fire. Entrance to the building requires the guard's permission."
    "Petra used a card key for the parking garage."
    "That was for identification," he said. "I still had to tell the computers to open the door. I also had to tell the computers to allow the elevator to descend. The front doors work the same way."
    "Thank you, Samuel," Petra said. She held out her hand and I returned to her. She took my arm and we turned back to the elevator. We rode the elevator to the eighteenth floor and got out. Petr a pulled me to the right and we walked to an apartment door. She slid a card key through the lock and opened the door.
    "Did that require the guard as well?" I asked.
    "No," she said. "Just the main entrances. Once you're inside and on the first floor or above, everything works the way you would expect." She stepped