Elaine Dupes Ramirez

"Elaine Mallory?" he asked. "Tall, pretty, smart, and nearly as charming as myself?"

"That's the one," I said. "What do you know about her?"

"Far as I know, she's straight," he said. "Moved to town five or six years ago, college in San Diego, and working for an investigative agency out here. She's got a decent grounding in thaumaturgy from somewhere, but when I ran her through the standard tests, she didn't score quite high enough to be considered for Council membership." He was quiet for a second, before saying, in a tone of forced cheer, "Unless we keep on losing people to the vamps, in which case I guess we might lower our standards."

[...]

"Elaine," I said. "I thought you told me you were going to lie low until you were ready to come out to the Council. "... The friendly, teasing expression on her face faded into neutrality. "Is this relevant right now?"

"Yeah," I said. "If we're going after him together, yes, it is. I need to know."

She frowned at me, and then shrugged. "I had to do something. There were people all around me getting hurt. Being used. Living scared. So I borrowed a page from your book."

"And you lied to the Warden who came to check up on you."

"You say that like you've always told the Wardens everything."

"Elaine..." I began.

She shook her head. "Harry, I know you. I trust you. But I don't trust the Council and I doubt I ever will. I certainly did not care to be impressed into service as a brand-new foot soldier to fight their war with the vampires - which I would have been, if I had put my full effort into Ramirez's tests."

White Night Chapters 17 & 19, Pages 164 & 182