Worried that this level would soon collapse as well, Cliff nodded to Joe, and the two of them dropped down to sublevel 2 to evacuate more employees. They took out a few more mercenaries and shuttled multiple injured employees down to sublevel 5.
Cliff waited while Joe handed off another wounded man to the guards at the mouth of the tunnel. “We’re both pretty banged up,” he told his friend. “Let’s stop off and get some blood before we go back.”
Joe nodded.
Cliff didn’t need the blood. He’d only acquired a few scrapes and bruises here and there and felt fine. But Joe was looking a little ragged. He’d suffered some gashes, two of which weren’t healing. The scent of blood was every-freaking-where. And Cliff wasn’t sure what effect killing the mercenaries might have on Joe, who’d already been struggling before the attack. Cliff worried the strain of everything would send his friend over the edge. If Joe replenished the blood he’d lost though, it might help him maintain control.
Cliff gave Marcus a nod, unsurprised when the large warrior didn’t nod back.
The Immortal Guardian radiated fury and looked ready to rip everyone to shreds as he stood sentinel in front of the petite redhead. Ami’s eyes were closed, her brow furrowed as if she concentrated very hard on something.
Maybe she was an immortal with one of those cool gifts. All of the male Immortal Guardians he’d encountered had black hair. But maybe there were some redheads among the females.
Joe made his silent way to the lab. Dr. Lipton kept a special refrigerator stocked with blood in there.
Cliff followed. The crowd in the hallway began to thin.
A hell of a lot of explosions continued to rumble overhead. And quite a few humans were still trapped on sublevel two, so this thing was far from over.
A few steps inside the lab, Joe stopped short.
Cliff bumped into his back. “What is it?”
Joe didn’t answer.
Cliff stepped around him and felt his heart drop into his stomach.
The new vampire was down on the floor with Dr. Lipton in his lap, his fangs buried deep in her neck.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Cliff bellowed and rushed forward.
Stuart raised his head and snarled something.
Dr. Lipton lay still, eyes closed, blood trailing down her neck.
Cliff lifted her with care, then backhanded Stuart, sending him flying across the room to shatter the already cracked Sheetrock on the far wall.
“Dr. Lipton?” Fear filling him, he placed his hand on her neck to try to staunch the flow of blood. “Melanie?”
Joe watched with wild eyes. “I can’t hear a heartbeat.”
Neither could Cliff. He’d like to think it was because there was so damned much other noise going on, but…
She was pale. And her lips held an alarming bluish tint.
Come on, come on, come on. Don’t die. Please don’t die.
“What happened?” Stuart asked, slumped across the room.
Joe turned blazing eyes on the vampire. “You killed her! You fucking killed her!”
“Wait!” Cliff shifted his warm, bloody fingers on her neck. “I-I-I think I found a pulse. She’s not dead yet.” But she was completely unresponsive.
“Yet,” Joe repeated and backed toward the doorway.
Cliff frowned. “Joe? What are you doing? Get help.”
But his friend just kept moving, his head rocking back and forth. “I can’t do it.”
“What?”
“I can’t do this. Not without Dr. Lipton. Not without Melanie. I can’t be here.”
“She isn’t—”
“You know what they’ll do to us! They hate us! They’ll blame us! They’ll kill us!”
Cliff gaped as his friend disappeared through the doorway.
Stuart didn’t even seem to notice. His wide-eyed gaze remained fixed on Dr. Lipton. Crimson liquid trailed from the corner of his mouth. “I did that?”
“Yes!”
“I didn’t mean to!”
Cliff could believe it, but… Shit! Joe was on the run. Dr. Lipton’s heartbeat was faltering. He had to do something. Fast. “If you didn’t mean it, get your ass over here.”
Stuart scrambled forward.
Cliff passed him Dr. Lipton and hoped like hell he was doing the right thing. “Keep pressure on her neck. I’m gonna go for help.”
Stuart nodded. He should be flushed from feeding, but his face was pale as death.
Cliff took one last look at Melanie, then bolted from the room. Down the hallway toward the elevator he raced, moving so fast he would probably kill a human if he bumped into one. “Bastien!” he shouted.
Up through the roof of the elevator he jumped.
“What?” Bastien called back from somewhere outside.
Cliff leaped up two floors, grabbed the edge, and propelled himself up two more. “Melanie needs you!