of hope that he might have survived whatever the hell had happened at the military base he’d helped the Immortal Guardians blitz.
“Are you sure?” Cynthia asked.
“Yeah.”
“What if she calls again?”
“Ignore it.” Emma would return her call tomorrow.
“Okay.” Cynthia patted her shoulder. “Can I get you anything before you go back to sleep?”
“No, thank you.”
“Okay.”
Fortunately, oblivion claimed Emma before more tears could fall.
“Emma?” Cynthia said, jostling her shoulder again.
She jerked awake. Damn it! “What?” she growled, squeezing her lids closed. Why wouldn’t they just let her sleep? If she slept, she didn’t have to think about—
“I’m sorry to wake you again, but Kate has called three times in the past hour and now she’s at your front door.”
Emma’s eyes flew open. “What?”
“She’s here. At the door. I’m surprised you didn’t hear the doorbell ring.”
She hadn’t heard the doorbell ring because she had been blissfully ensconced in sleep.
Why would Kate come here?
Emma would ask how the woman knew where she lived, but working so closely with Mr. Reordon, Kate probably knew everything he did. And Chris Reordon knew freaking everything. He’d even known Emma and Cliff were seeing each other.
Pain sliced through her at the thought of Cliff.
Throwing back the covers, she rolled out of bed and stomped up the hallway to the living room.
Todd stood across the room, one arm on the open door, the other on the doorjamb, barring Kate entrance.
As Emma approached, he lowered his arm and stepped aside.
Kate stood on the porch, bathed in the warm light that spilled out of the pretty fixture Cliff had installed. Her face lit with relief when she saw Emma. “He’s alive,” she blurted.
Emma stopped short and sucked in a breath. “What?”
“Cliff’s alive,” Kate repeated. “I’m sorry to bother you at home. But you weren’t answering your phone and I thought you should know that he made it, that Cliff survived the battle.”
All breath whooshed out of Emma’s lungs as she staggered a step.
Todd hastily reached out and grabbed her elbow to brace her.
Shock rendered her speechless. Cliff was alive? How could that be? He’d looked so determined to end it, his face so full of despair when he’d said, I can’t be like this anymore, Emma. She had been sure when he left that she would never see him again.
“Where…?” It was all she could manage to force out.
“He’s at network headquarters. Mr. Reordon and a couple of Immortal Guardians brought him back about an hour ago.”
Emma’s heart began to pound in her chest.
Cynthia stepped up to her side and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Is he okay?”
Kate nodded. “We believe so, yes. He’s quiet and seems a little dazed the way he often does after a break—”
“He had a break?” Emma asked. That would be three in one day!
“No. Mattheus—one of the immortals—said Cliff did exactly what Seth asked him to do. He led them through the base and got them all past the fail-safes unscathed.” She bit her lip. “He was injured quite badly while doing it. But his wounds had already healed by the time the dust cleared. Mattheus got him out of the base before the explosion.”
There was an explosion?
“But he lost track of him in the chaos that followed. The general belief is that Cliff stumbled into the forest, came across one of the fleeing mercenaries, and drained him.” She shrugged. “Since those mercenaries were helping Gershom and trying to kill the Immortal Guardians and network special-ops soldiers, everyone’s fine with that.”
More tears filled Emma’s eyes. “So he’s really okay?”
Kate smiled. “He’s really okay. Although I should mention that he has no memory of the battle.”
Emma frowned. Why would he have no memory of the battle if he hadn’t had a psychotic break? “Can I see him?”
Kate shook her head, her smile slipping into an expression of regret. “I’m afraid not. There’s just too much going on at network headquarters right now. It’s locked down in case Gershom had a plan B waiting in the wings. I wouldn’t have been allowed out myself if I didn’t have the highest clearance. And I doubt even I could get you back in with me. We’re still working on making sure everyone is accounted for and…” She waved a hand as if to cut herself off. “Well, I won’t go into all that. Cliff is sleeping deeply right now anyway. Mattheus said Cliff was hit with darts he was pretty sure were loaded with the tranquilizer. So he’ll probably sleep for quite a while. Dr. Machen is keeping