Was that Bastien, coming after Joe? She couldn’t see clearly for all the dust and smoke and bodies ahead of her.
Someone stumbled into Emma.
Dropping her heels to the floor, she turned around.
Light and sound exploded above her. A roar filled the hallway. Screams erupted. Pain struck as something fell on Emma’s head and back, so heavy it forced her to the ground. Agony shot through her arm. Dust filled her mouth and nose.
Darkness.
Chapter Three
Cliff ground his teeth in his apartment. He should be out there. He should be helping. But no way would Reordon allow it with so many civilians in the vampires’ paths.
The French immortals fought the mercenaries aboveground. Bastien started summoning reinforcements while Melanie helped the injured.
“Cliff,” Bastien said.
“I’m here,” he called. “How bad is it, because it sounds fucking cataclysmic.”
“It’s bad.”
“Dr. Lipton’s okay?”
“For now. Cliff, you up for a fight?”
“Hell yes, man. Let me out and I’ll help you kick some serious ass.” From the sounds of it, they were critically outnumbered. There were a hell of a lot of mercenaries topside.
“Me, too,” Joe added. “I’m a little out of it from the drug, but I can hold my own against humans.”
Cliff’s pulse picked up as he paced, dodging the debris that cluttered his formerly pristine apartment, eager to get out there and do something. He wished for the thousandth time that his kitchen were outfitted with a nice set of knives, but the network balked at providing the vampires with sharp implements.
Bastien engaged in a quick argument with Melanie that he ultimately lost when she refused to evacuate with the others. Cliff wasn’t surprised. Melanie was the kind of person who always placed the needs of others above her own. As a doctor, she wouldn’t leave until every wound had been tended. And Linda had already evacuated so she could tend the wounded on the other end of… whatever means they were using to evacuate people. Reordon had always been hush-hush about that during the drills, as if he didn’t want the vampires to know.
Speaking of Reordon… Chris joined the crush of people out in the hallway.
“Étienne and Lisette are up on the ground,” Bastien shouted to the human. “David will be here any minute. Richart is fetching Roland, Sarah, Marcus, and Ami.”
“Why the hell is he bringing Ami here?” Reordon yelled back.
“We have a plan! I’ll fill you in later! Right now you need to let the vampires out to play!”
“Now I know you’re crazy!”
“They want to help! And we need all the help we can get! It’s going to take all of us immortals to handle the human firepower. We need the vamps to keep the damned building from collapsing until the rest of you can evacuate! Let them out! I’ll take full responsibility!”
“Which doesn’t mean shit! Because once Seth hears you put Ami in danger, he’s going to kill you!”
Cliff sure as hell hoped not. But Seth did love Ami like a daughter. Even the vampires knew that.
“What other choice do we have?” Bastien countered.
“You’d better be right!” The volume of Chris’s threat increased as he neared Cliff’s door, passing Stuart’s. “You’re dead, motherfucker!”
“He didn’t know they were tracking him!” Bastien yelled.
“You won’t kill me if I help, right?” Stuart asked. “You aren’t going to let those guys capture me again, are you? I mean, I can help, right?”
“Yes,” Bastien answered while someone swiped a card and entered the security code outside Cliff’s door. “Help the humans get their wounded to the tunnel.”
Cliff stood just inside his door. After a clunk, it swung open to reveal Bastien and Chris Reordon. Behind them, dozens of men and women adorned with soot, powdery bits of rubble, and bleeding wounds limped toward the far end of the hallway. Cliff stepped out and glanced in that direction.
A hole had been blown into the wall, revealing a long tunnel through which the wounded filed.
He met Bastien’s gaze. “I can help up on the ground.”
Bastien shook his head. “I don’t want to risk your being tranqed.”
Reordon moved on to unlock Joe’s door.
Joe stepped into the hallway, eyes glowing a vibrant blue.
“Help with the evacuation,” Bastien said, face grim. And a feeling of nostalgia rolled over Cliff. It felt so much like old times—when Bastien would issue orders and Cliff and the rest of his vampire army would follow them—that he might’ve smiled if circumstances weren’t so damn dire. “Check the upper