Dana thought they stood a little straighter when they spied the immortals approaching them.
“Sirs,” one of them said with a respectful nod to both men. “Ma’ams,” he said to Heather and Dana with equal respect.
She smiled.
“Sublevel 5?” he asked.
“Yes,” Aidan confirmed.
Turning to the elevators, the guard pressed a button. The doors swished open.
Aidan drew Dana inside. Once Ethan and Heather joined them, the guard stepped inside, too.
The doors swished closed.
As Dana watched curiously, the guard removed a plastic card from his pocket and swiped it in what looked like one of those high-tech security gadgets she’d seen in movies.
He punched in a code, then pressed a button that said S5. A familiar weightlessness struck for a second as the elevator began to descend. The guard took up a position in front of the doors.
Dana eyed his weapon and the pockets that bulged with extra ammo. Were the guards at the network there to keep their enemies out or to keep the vampires in?
She glanced up at Aidan. “How many vampires live here?”
Aidan pursed his lips. “Seven, I think. Or is it eight now, Paul?”
“It’s seven, sir,” the guard replied.
Seven vampires with superstrength and speed who were afflicted with varying stages of insanity?
Yeah. The guards must be there to keep the vampires in.
The elevator eased to a halt. A bell dinged seconds before the doors swished open.
More guards—a lot more—clustered around a desk in front of the elevator and stood sentry before a door to a stairwell. Several more manned doors down a long white hallway.
One of the guards strode forward. “Sir.”
“Todd,” Aidan greeted him. “Is Cliff in his apartment?”
“No, sir. He’s in the lab. The last I checked, he was running on one of the treadmills.”
Aidan’s look turned grim. “We’ll be teleporting out with him shortly.”
“Yes, sir. Mr. Reordon already informed us over the walkie.”
Dana squeezed Aidan’s hand as he led her down the hallway. What is it?
Vampires usually sleep all day, he told her telepathically. If Cliff is on the treadmill, it means the voices are so loud he can’t rest and needs something physically strenuous to do to help quash his desire to commit violence.
That wasn’t good.
Dana found her stomach fluttering a little with nerves as she followed Aidan inside the lab.
The huge room seemed to be divided into segments. A lot of medical instruments and gurneys occupied one area. Four desks, each boasting a computer, formed a square in another. A large shelving unit full of patient folders like those she saw in her doctor’s office took up one wall while doorways provided glimpses of smaller rooms that boasted MRI machines, X-ray machines, and more. One room seemed only to house huge refrigerators that contained she didn’t want to know what. Blood? Tissue samples?
Not snack foods, she would guess.
Treadmills, exercise bikes, and weight benches sporting more weights than she thought five Mr. Universes could lift took up one end of the room.
The lab was currently empty save one occupant. An African-American man ran on one of the treadmills, his legs and feet moving so swiftly that they were only a blur while his upper body remained mostly stationary.
It was a weird effect.
Upon seeing them, he stopped running.
Odd. He wasn’t even sweating.
Dana studied him as he stepped off the treadmill.
Sadness filled her. He looked so young, like a junior or senior in college. His skin was smooth milk chocolate. Dark dreadlocks fell past his shoulders, tidy despite his run.
His handsome face did not lighten with welcome as he approached them. A muscle flexed in his strong jaw as though he was grinding his teeth. His eyes glowed bright amber as they met and clung to Aidan’s.
He appeared to be exactly what he was: a man perched upon a precipice, trying like hell not to tumble over the edge.
Aidan tightened his grip on Dana’s hand. Huddle up, he instructed mentally. We need to go now.
Ethan and Heather moved forward and placed their hands on Aidan’s shoulders.
As soon as Cliff came within reach, Aidan gripped his arm and teleported them all away.
Blinding sunlight bathed them.
Ethan and Heather darted away.
Dana blinked against the sudden brightness and threw up a hand to shade her eyes as she glanced around.
She, Aidan, and Cliff stood on a neatly mown lawn about the size of a football field. Tall evergreen trees rose around its edges, a playground for the birds she could hear but couldn’t see.
Aidan released her hand. “Ethan, are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” Ethan responded.
Dana swiveled around and spotted Ethan and Heather standing on the shaded back porch of a one-story house that was roughly thirty yards away. She thought Ethan’s skin might be a little pink, but the extra color swiftly faded.
The house that sheltered them was pretty, painted a pale gray with white trim. The porch stretched the entire width of the home and boasted two comfy, cushioned chairs and a swing upon which the immortal couple soon settled.
She knew this place. Knew that swing. She and Aidan had curled up on it and enjoyed the evening breeze once after he had cooked dinner for her. This was Aidan’s home.
Lowering her hand, she glanced at Aidan and Cliff as her eyes adjusted to the brightness.
All of Aidan’s attention remained focused on the young vampire.
Dana wasn’t sure if she should stay or go join his friends on the porch, but felt reluctant to leave him.
Cliff’s tense shoulders slowly relaxed. The fingers he had curled into fists loosened and fell open. The tic in his jaw ceased. His eyes lost their amber glow and darkened to a warm brown as the crease between his brows smoothed.
A long sigh escaped him as he looked at Aidan. His lips curled up in a faint smile. “Thank you.”
Aidan smiled back, keeping his hand on Cliff’s arm. “Sorry I missed you yesterday.”
Cliff shook his head, his manner almost easygoing now. “You have a lot on your plate.” When he shifted his gaze to Dana, his smile grew. “Are you Dana?”
She nodded, her nerves settling now that he seemed less like someone who could attack at any moment.
He offered his hand. “It’s really nice to meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you, too.” Returning his smile, she shook his hand… and had to fight not to recoil as images of violence filled her head. All took place at night, the shift from bright daylight to darkness and back to daylight making her dizzy. But she steadfastly kept her smile in place as she released his hand.
Had she not gone hunting with Aidan and his friends the previous night, she likely would have stumbled backward and freaked out the way she had the first couple of times she’d had visions of Aidan engaged in battle.
“Sorry about that,” Cliff said, his smile shifting into an expression of regret. “I hope I didn’t scare you.”
“Not at all,” she lied.
Aidan cut her a glance. Did he know her so well that he saw through the untruth?
“Yes, I did,” Cliff responded, “but I appreciate your not wanting to hurt my feelings.”