Cliff studied the floor tiles carefully, then the walls of the hallway. Who would’ve thought all those years of playing video games that required you to run gauntlets riddled with booby traps might someday come in handy? “I don’t see anything in the floor that looks pressure sensitive, so there must be motion-activated sensors in the walls that trip them.”
He darted forward at preternatural speed. Pain pierced him when two blades impaled him. Grunting, he stopped and yanked them out. Yep. They were definitely motion activated. But… “These weren’t designed to stop humans. They were designed to stop us, or at least to slow us down.”
“How do you know?” Seth asked.
“Watch.” Hoping like hell he was right, Cliff walked up the hallway at ordinary human speed.
Triumph filled him when no more blades struck him.
“Shit,” Zach murmured behind him. “They are for us.”
“Gershom must have had them modified,” Seth agreed.
In the next instant, Seth’s voice filled Cliff’s head, pushing the gruesome ones aside as he addressed the group telepathically. We’re going to teleport ahead. Follow as quickly as you can at mortal speed, but leave every hallway guarded and search every room. We’re going after Gershom.
They nodded.
Gripping David’s shoulder, Seth teleported to Cliff’s side. He caught and held Cliff’s gaze. Guide them.
Cliff nodded. I’ll get them through safely, he vowed, hoping Seth could hear him over the clamor in his head. You won’t lose a single immortal tonight.
Seth looked at something behind Cliff, then teleported away with David.
The other Immortal Guardians strode toward Cliff at a normal pace.
Cliff’s nerves jangled. He didn’t doubt that every single one of them knew he was a vampire. They might have even overheard him confessing to Emma that he’d nearly killed Liora. And they were supposed to follow him?
The big guy in the lead was one of the immortals who had been impaled with a fail-safe dagger. He caught and held his gaze. “You’re Cliff, the vampire.”
“Yes.” The voices in his head surged, balking at being the object of so many piercing stares.
“I’m Mattheus. It’s an honor to meet you.”
The greeting stunned him. “It’s an honor to meet you, too.” He looked at the others. “All of you. But time is short. Seth has tasked me with getting you through the fail-safes, so if you’ll follow me at a distance—”
Boots clomped beneath the wonk wonk wonk of the alarm.
Cliff whirled around just as three soldiers swung around a corner up ahead.
Swearing, the soldiers opened fire.
Cliff shot toward them. Blades flew from the walls, slicing his flesh, two embedding themselves in his side. Bullets peppered him.
Growling, he dove at the soldiers and slew them all.
Pain inundated him.
Gritting his teeth, he turned toward the immortals and motioned them forward. “Move forward at mortal speed.” He drew the blades out and dropped them to the floor.
Mattheus was the first to reach him. “Let me go through the next one.”
“No. I can guide you through safely.” Three doors opened onto the hallway. Cliff nodded to them. “We should check those so we’ll know if the rooms have fail-safes, too.” It only took seconds, and none did.
“Okay. Follow me.” Cliff headed up the hallway.
Behind him, Mattheus ordered two immortals to remain behind and take out any guards they encountered.
At the next intersection, Cliff called a halt. This was taking too long. He needed to find the damn sensors so they could pick up the pace.
Guards at the far end opened fire but only managed to hit Cliff twice before an immortal teleported behind them and snapped their necks.
Cliff darted forward with enhanced speed. Pain struck. He jerked to a halt. Something whizzed past his front, missing him by a hair’s breadth.
He looked down. What looked like a tranquilizer dart—much larger than the compact ones the network had developed—stuck out of his shoulder.
He plucked it out.
Mattheus and the others caught up to him.
“What is it?” Mattheus asked.
A slight lethargy drew Cliff’s notice. He shook his head. “I think it’s the tranquilizer.”
“You think?”
He nodded. “The virus fuels me with so much energy and aggression now that one dose hardly affects me.” He pointed at the hallway at the far end of this one. “Don’t go down that without me doing it first.”
He returned to the primary corridor while Mattheus again assigned men to search the rooms.
“I can see the sensors now,” Cliff announced with relief. They were ingenious, blending seamlessly with the rest of the wall. But now that he knew about where they should be situated and