Cliff’s Descent by Dianne Duvall

Chapter Two

“Hey!”

Emma jumped, then scowled at the woman who’d poked her head in the doorway. “Don’t do that! You scared the crap out of me.”

Grinning unrepentantly, Cynthia strolled inside and sank down in the comfy chair on the other side of Emma’s desk. “Kinda jumpy tonight, aren’t you?”

“Not until you shattered the quiet with your near shout.”

She laughed. “My mom has complained all my life that I was born lacking an indoor voice.”

Emma smiled as she leaned back in her chair, content to take a break. “You leaving early?” Both women worked the night shift at network headquarters, and dawn wasn’t far away.

“Thinkin’ about it. But that’s not why I’m here.” Eyes brightening, she leaned forward. “Did you hear the news?”

“What news?”

“Sebastien Newcombe brought in a new vampire.”

Emma’s eyebrows rose. “Really?”

“Yes. A buttload of guards went down to sublevel 5 earlier to beef up security.”

“Todd told you that?”

“No. I had to take some paperwork up to Mr. Reordon’s office and rode back down on the elevator with some of them.” She shook her head. “Damn, they look good when they’re all decked out for war.”

Emma had to agree. Both the network guards and the Immortal Guardians garbed themselves in all black. And there was just something about it—as well as the confidence and general badassness with which they conducted themselves—that made even the least attractive of them freaking hot.

Which was likely what had first attracted Cynthia to Todd.

Emma narrowed her eyes playfully. “You didn’t start dating Todd because he works on sublevel 5 and can give you all the juicy gossip, did you?”

“No.” Her friend laughed. “Welllllll, maybe in the beginning. I was just so damn curious.”

They all had been. No other network headquarters had housed vampires who presumably wished to work with the Immortal Guardians instead of against them.

Hell, as far as she knew, no network headquarters had ever housed vampires who didn’t wish to work with the Immortal Guardians. This was new territory.

“And you know I used to have a thing for bad boys,” Cynthia went on.

Emma shook her head. “Until Todd charmed your socks off?”

“Yes.” She smiled. “He’s such a sweetheart.”

He really was. And the two of them were adorable together. Emma envied them. “So what do you know about him?”

“About Todd?”

“No!” Emma said on a laugh. “The new vampire.”

“Oh right. Well, Todd said he seems really young.”

Emma sobered. “He’s a kid?” No one knew how the virus would affect a vampire who wasn’t fully grown when infected, if he or she would age or remain forever trapped in the body of a child.

“No. Todd just thought he seemed… I don’t know… naive, I guess? Like he hadn’t seen or experienced much before his transformation. But he’s definitely college age. Chloe was charged with digging up everything she could on his background.”

Emma sent her a wry smile. “While you peered over her shoulder?”

Cynthia laughed. “Only until she told me to bugger off. Apparently his name is Stuart. He’s from a large family that rarely had enough money to keep their bellies full, poor guy, and was going to college on a scholarship when a vampire transformed him. I tried to pump Todd for more information, but he and the other guards are trying to stay out of sight while Dr. Lipton and Dr. Machen show Stuart around. He said the kid was really nervous. But Cliff is helping out, trying to ease Stuart’s fears and make him feel more comfortable.”

That didn’t surprise Emma. Everything Todd had told Cynthia about Cliff indicated he was a good guy. She hoped like hell the network would be able to cure him or at least prevent him from losing his sanity. Cliff was the only vampire of the three Seth had initially brought in who hadn’t yet had a psychotic break.

He was also the only brother in the mix. And incredibly good-looking. Cynthia had badgered Todd into snapping a pic of the vampires a few months after they’d arrived, then shown it to Emma. Cliff had been laughing at something Vincent, the Latino vampire, had said. As had Joe, the blond vamp. The three men had looked so happy and carefree. Now Vince was gone and Joe was struggling.

Emma spent far too much time thinking about that photo. And Cliff.

What must it be like for him to watch his friends succumb to insanity and see firsthand what awaited him? Did he still harbor hope that the network could spare him that fate? Did he still smile and laugh as he had in that photo?

If so, it said much about his character, his strength, and his courage.

“Hello? Earth to Emma.”

She blinked. “What?”

“I said I’m going to try to get Todd to snap a pic of Stuart.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “You’re going to cost that poor man his job one of these days if you aren’t careful.”

“No I won’t. Who’s going to know?”

“Everyone in this building who has preternaturally sharp hearing.”

“Oh. Damn it! That’s right. I keep forgetting.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Do you think the vampires heard me?”

“You know whispering won’t help, right? Even four stories below, they can still hear everything that happens up here.”

She grimaced. “Sheesh. I hope they can’t hear everything. I love Todd’s spicy veggie soup, but he insists on putting both broccoli and cabbage in it.”

Amusement filled Emma. “Kablammo.”

“Exactly. You know your man truly loves you when he doesn’t complain about his cooking making you super farty.”

Emma laughed.

A thunderous boom pierced Emma’s ears and seemed to vibrate through her at the same time the floor and walls shook.

Starting violently, she grabbed her desk and held on when her chair started to roll away from it. Her pen and pencil holder tumbled over the side and hit the floor. Dust and pieces of Sheetrock fell from the ceiling.

Cynthia yelped and held on to the arms of her chair.

Silence fell as they stared at each other with wide eyes.

“What the hell was that?” Cynthia whispered.

Emma’s heart slammed against her ribs. “I think it was an explosion.” Her mind raced, seeking a possible explanation. Had the new vampire smuggled in a bomb or something?

“An explosion?” The light color Cynthia’s Latina heritage lent her leached away. “What—?”

Another explosion rocked the building, this one so violent—or perhaps so close—that Emma’s chair rolled out from under her, landing her on her ass. Her computer crashed to the floor on the other side of the desk. Her lamp, too. Paper rained down amid more Sheetrock.

“Emma!” Cynthia cried.

Grabbing the edge of her desk, Emma pulled herself up onto her knees and peered over it. Cynthia still sat in the chair, expression terrified.

Darkness swallowed them.

Dimmer reserve lighting flared to life.

An alarm began to blare. Wonk! Wonk! Wonk!

“Code red! Code red!” Mr. Reordon shouted over the building’s intercom system.

“Oh shit.” Emma scrambled to her feet. During the drills, Mr. Reordon always said he would only issue that order if the network fell under attack.

Cynthia stared at her, frozen in fear.

Emma hurried around the desk and grabbed her friend’s arm. “We have to go. Now!” Yanking Cynthia up, she propelled her out into the hallway.

More explosions rocked the building. Screams and shouts filled the voids between. A crush of bodies flooded the corridor as employees stumbled out of their offices and headed for the elevator and stairwell at the far end.

“Go with the others!” Emma shouted over the noise that now included rapid gunfire as well. She gave Cynthia a push in the right direction, then turned away.

Cynthia grabbed her hand. “What are you doing? You have to come with us!”

Emma shook her head. “I have to get Sadie!” The elderly woman treated everyone under the age of sixty as if they were her grandchildren. She even baked them cookies. And though her mind and wit were sharp, her body was frail.

Understanding dawned in Cynthia’s expression. “I’ll come with you!”

“No. We’ll catch up. You go! Check on Jasmine and Chloe on the way!” Both women were hugely pregnant.

Eyes widening, Cynthia gave a jerky nod. “I’ll get them out! Be safe!”

“You, too! And take the stairs, not the elevator!” Though she was sure the elevator must have some kind of emergency brake, Emma thought it best not to take any chances.

Cynthia disappeared from view as the flood of employees carried her away.

Emma squeezed over to the wall, then forced her way against the tide until she reached Sadie’s office. Someone bumped into her, sending her stumbling inside.

Debris cluttered the office, which appeared empty.

Good. She must have already evacuated. But just in case… “Sadie!”

A head adorned with a gray chignon dusted with bits of Sheetrock popped up behind the desk. “Emma?”

Swearing, Emma hurried toward her, staggering as the building shook again. “What are you doing? Mr. Reordon issued a code red. You’re supposed to evacuate!” She helped the woman to her feet.

“I forgot.” Looking frazzled, Sadie shook her head at herself. “In my day, when you heard an alarm like that, you were supposed to duck and cover.”

Emma didn’t think duck and cover was going to help with this. It sounded as if someone was dropping freaking bunker-busting bombs on them. “We have to get down to sublevel 5.” Nerves jangling over the slow pace they had to maintain, she ushered Sadie over to the door.

Maybe she should just hoist the woman onto her back and try to piggyback her?

When they reached the hallway, Sadie turned left instead of right.

“No. It’s this way!”

Sadie shook her head. “We have to get Wayne and Lloyd!”

Crap. She’d forgotten they had offices down here. Both men were as old and frail as Sadie. “I’ll get them!” she shouted over the booms. “You head for the stairs!” Once she found Wayne and Lloyd, Emma would have to haul ass to help Sadie down the stairs, a task that might actually necessitate that piggyback ride.

She glanced around frantically. “Miles!”

The portly blond looked around, squinting his eyes.

Emma pushed her way over to him. “Miles!”

“Emma?”

“What happened to your glasses?”

“I don’t know! Somebody knocked them off!”

She had intended to ask him to help Sadie navigate the stairs. But Miles was so nearsighted she worried he might take a tumble himself.

After urging him along with the others, she shouldered her way farther back and sighed with relief when she saw Lloyd and Wayne shuffling along with the rest of the crowd.

“Where’s Sadie?” Lloyd called.

“Up there!” Emma stood on her toes and pointed to the dusty chignon bobbing ahead. A blur of motion at the far end of the hallway caught her attention. As she pushed Lloyd and Wayne ahead of her, she caught a glimpse of glowing blue eyes.

Oh shit. Had Vampire Joe escaped?

She lost sight of him.

Then glowing amber eyes appeared.

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.