“I’ll come back for Emma. I promise.” Lifting her frail body into his arms, he swept her down to the mouth of the evacuation tunnel.
An Immortal Guardian he recognized as Marcus and a petite redhead stood beside it. Was she Ami?
As soon as he saw Cliff racing toward them, Marcus stepped in front of the woman and raised his weapons.
Shit. He wouldn’t attack Cliff, thinking he’d escaped, would he?
Melanie finished tending an injured man nearby and hustled over to place a hand on Marcus’s arm. “Wait.”
He scowled at her. “Is that—?”
Cliff skidded to a halt.
Melanie addressed the woman. “Ma’am? Are you hurt?”
The woman shook her head. “The ceiling collapsed. I was trapped and couldn’t move until this young man freed me. I told him I could walk, but—”
Cliff lowered the woman to her feet. “I said I could walk faster.”
The woman nodded, her expression slack with amazement. “He could.”
Cliff took a step back and sent Marcus a cautious glance. Then, after nodding to Melanie, he shot back toward the elevators and returned to sublevel 1. Stuart and Joe had already dug two men out from under the wreckage. They had also uncovered the bodies of three who didn’t make it.
Cliff looked around for the woman he’d seen helping the others and saw no sign of her. Swearing, he tore through the wreckage in search of her. An explosion took out more of the ceiling. Rubble rained down on the other side of the pile he dug through. “Come on,” he whispered. “Where are you?”
A moan reached his ears, followed by a cough.
Leaping toward it, he grabbed slabs of concrete and flooring and tossed them aside, reducing the pile until he found her.
Dust coated her like ash, powdering her braid and turning her smooth brown skin a grayish white. She blinked up at him. Her forehead glistened with blood that oozed from a gash on one side.
“It’s okay,” he told her. “I’m here to help. Don’t be afraid.”
Her chin dipped in a brief nod.
Another explosion hit what was left of the ground floor.
Cliff swiftly leaned over to shield her as flaming bits rained down around them.
As soon as it stopped, he knelt beside her.
“Y-Your eyes are glowing.”
“It’s okay. Don’t be afraid. I just want to help. Are you injured?” He swept his hands over her in a quick, impersonal search for injuries, concerned by the splotches of blood that marred her clothing.
“Th-there’s a woman,” she said. “Sadie. Sh-She’s old. She can’t make it down the stairs.”
“I already got her to safety. Are you Emma?”
Surprise lit her dark brown eyes as she nodded.
“I think your arm is broken, Emma. I need to bind it.” Tearing a strip of cloth from his T-shirt, he wrapped it around a deep gash on her arm. Then he tore another and—preternaturally fast—fashioned a sling.
She moaned.
“Sorry,” he said, knowing every movement caused her pain.
Nodding, she gritted her teeth. Her lips pressed tightly together as he lifted her into his arms, spawning even more pain.
“I’m sorry,” he said again as he dashed over to the elevator shaft.
She looped her free arm around his neck and looked over his shoulder. Her hold tightened.
“It’s okay,” he said. “Don’t be afraid. I’ll keep you safe.”
“Mercenaries,” she whispered in his ear, her warm breath sending a shiver through him.
Mercenaries? Behind him?
Well, shit. He couldn’t fight them and protect Emma at the same time.
It took mere seconds to jump down to sublevel 5 and ferry her to the tunnel opening.
Melanie hurried over to him.
“Her arm is broken and bleeding.” Cliff carefully lowered the woman to her feet. “And she has a gash on her head.”
As soon as Melanie nodded to him, Cliff returned to sublevel 1.
A dozen mercenaries crept through the wreckage.
Joe suddenly appeared at Cliff’s side.
The mercenaries hadn’t noticed them yet. Smoke and dust and fragments that steadily rained down from the ground floor obscured their vision too much.
But Cliff and Joe could see just fine.
“Kill them,” Cliff murmured. “Quick and quiet.” The immortals battling above sure as hell weren’t taking prisoners, so Cliff felt no need to hold back.
He and Joe flew forward.
The first mercenaries to fall didn’t even see them coming. The rest saw them too late. The vampires might not have the blades Immortal Guardians wielded or the weaponry of the mercenaries, but a punch backed by preternatural strength could kill a man in seconds, as could a swift twist of his head.