Though several more vampires now resided on sublevel 5, Stuart was Cliff’s favorite.
Bastien sighed. “And I believe that’s Chris and Seth striding up the hallway, so…”
A hasty rustle of clothing ensued, making Cliff wonder just how far Bastien had managed to coax Melanie into going. He grinned, imagining how red her face must be a moment later when Chris Reordon and Seth entered.
“You need to add a quiet room down here,” Bastien drawled.
Yes, they did.
“Why?” Chris asked. “For interrogation purposes?”
“Okay,” Bastien replied, voice bland.
A moment passed. Then… “Oh hell no,” Reordon blurted. “I am not spending tens of thousands of dollars to soundproof a room down here so you two can have sex without the vampires hearing you.”
“You want the vampires to hear us?”
Cliff and the other vampires laughed.
“No,” Chris sputtered. “I mean, I don’t want you having sex! Not while you’re both on the clock. Melanie is supposed to be working—”
“She is.” Bastien defended her, an edge entering his voice. “Long hours.”
“And you are supposed to be serving as guard. Seven vampires live across the hallway. What are you going to do if a couple of them have psychotic breaks and try to escape while you two are having a quickie?”
“Chase them down bare-ass naked and give the human guards an eyeful.”
That was one hell of an incentive not to escape.
“I don’t know about you,” one of the new vamps said in his apartment down the hallway, “but I’m pretty sure even total mind-fuck madness wouldn’t make me risk that guy chasing me down and tackling me while he’s naked and has a hard-on.”
Every vampire and immortal laughed.
“What?” Chris asked, unable to hear the vamps.
“Nothing,” Bastien said. “Forget I mentioned it.”
Cliff doubted that. Reordon never forgot anything, especially if it pertained to Bastien.
“Ready?” Bastien asked, then his voice softened with affection the way it often did when he spoke to Melanie. “I’ll see you later.”
“Be careful,” she said.
Good. Maybe now Cliff could hit the treadmill and—
A perfunctory knock sounded on his door.
He stuffed the last bite of sandwich into his mouth, leaving only a few crumbs behind.
A clunk sounded. Then his heavy door swung open, revealing Bastien.
Swallowing, Cliff slid off the barstool and smiled as his friend entered. “Melanie is so going to kick your ass when you get home tonight.”
He chuckled. “Not if I’m busy kissing hers.”
“Damn it, Bastien!” she said from across the hallway.
Cliff laughed. All amusement died away, however, when Seth entered the apartment behind Bastien. Shit. Cliff immediately banished all thoughts of Emma.
The moment he did, the damned voices inundated him, calling for violence.
He ground his teeth.
Seth was a good man. Or immortal. A good immortal. He was the reason Cliff was still alive today. He had even healed Cliff on multiple occasions in an attempt to stave off the madness and repair some of the progressive brain damage the virus caused. Then Joe had begun to accuse Seth of stealing his thoughts. And Cliff had met…
Don’t think of her. Just kill them all.
Kill them all.
Nearly growling in frustration, he beat the voices back.
Bastien had ultimately told Seth he simply made the vampires too uneasy and increased their agitation, so Seth had stopped coming.
Cliff wasn’t the only vampire housed here who felt uncomfortable around the Immortal Guardian leader. They all did. But Cliff had been infected the longest. He struggled the most with the oncoming madness. And he hated that Seth could see the ugliness that now writhed inside him.
This is not who I am, he told himself again as he forced a smile and greeted Seth. “Hey.”
Seth nodded. “Good evening, Cliff. How are you?”
“Fine, I guess.” Was the ancient immortal even now scouring his thoughts and seeing the horror he fought so hard to suppress? Why was he even here? Did he know about—?
Don’t think about it. Think about something else.
Yes. Think about killing them. Kill them all! Fuck them up!
No, damn it! Shut the fuck up! Cliff looked at Bastien. “What’s up?”
“Feel like taking a trip?” his friend asked.
A trip? As in… leave network headquarters? With Bastien and Seth?
Alarm bells rang. He swallowed. “Now?”
Bastien nodded.
He knows, the damned voices announced with glee. Seth knows. He’s in your head right now. He knows and wants to put you down. He knows everything. Every loathsome thing you’ve imagined doing. Every grisly act you’ve envisioned, painting your hands and the network with blood. The monstrous impulses. The sickening—
Shut up! Fuck you! That isn’t me! That isn’t who I am! This is not who I am!
Fighting down a surge of panic, Cliff asked, “Aren’t you on guard duty?”
Bastien shook his head. “Sean is on his way over to take my place. He’ll be here in a few.”
Shit. Bastien was always on guard duty this time of night. Were the voices right? Was… was this it? Though he tried to hide it, everyone knew Cliff struggled. Even now he had to fight to remain still and had been counting the minutes until he could hop on the treadmill and run until he was too physically exhausted to act on the violent urges rising within him.
“Oh. Okay.”
Had Seth and Bastien come to… put him down?
That’s right, the voices hissed. They’re here to put you down like a rabid dog.
I’m not a rabid dog, he growled.
But isn’t that what you’re destined to become? A mindless killer?
Yes, damn it. Had he reached the point that they’d begun to fear he might hurt Melanie? Or had they merely decided the kindest thing they could do was kill him now, before his mental state deteriorated further, in order to spare him?
Cliff kept his expression blank as he bent down, retrieved a pair of sneakers from beneath the sofa, and donned them. Straightening, he wiped sweaty palms on his jeans. “Can I say goodbye to Melanie first?” He wanted to hug her one last time and thank her for everything she’d done for him, make sure she wouldn’t blame herself for not finding a cure in time.
“Bye, Cliff!” Melanie called merrily from across the hall.
He failed to find a response. Did she even know what they planned? Had Bastien opted not to tell her? Did he intend to watch Seth decapitate Cliff, then say it was some kind of accident after the fact? Maybe let her believe Cliff had tried to escape?
Though it rankled, he supposed that was the nicest way to deliver the blow.
“Shall we?” Seth asked.
Cliff wanted to say, No, I’m not ready but lacked the time.
Without waiting for a response, Seth touched their shoulders.
Everything around Cliff went black as a feeling of weightlessness engulfed him. Seconds later the darkness lessened, broken by the moonlight that fell upon them.
He glanced around as Seth released him and stepped back. The three of them now stood in a field beneath a sky that sparkled with stars. No structures lay in sight. Only lumpy, uneven ground covered by grasses and weeds that swayed and rustled in the breeze. Nevertheless, Cliff recognized the place and was so surprised that the voices retreated momentarily.
Bastien’s home had once stood here. Or his lair, depending on who you asked. As Cliff surveyed the area, a feeling of peace suffused him along with nostalgia. “I never thought I’d see this place again.” He drew in a deep breath. “Or smell it. Damn, it smells good out here.” It had been so long since he’d been outside, inhaled fresh air, and felt the wind on his skin. He sup
posed if it was his time to go, this was a far better place to do it than strapped to a table in network headquarters like Joe.
He studied the ground around them. Not even a cement slab remained. “The old place is gone, huh?” He couldn’t help but be saddened by the sight.
“Yes,” Bastien said, “as are the caverns we constructed beneath it.”
“Wow. All that work…” Vampires might be stronger and faster, but they’d still had to work their asses off to create the labyrinth that had resided beneath Bastien’s home.
“I know.” Smiling, Bastien tossed him a duffel bag. “This is for you.”
Cliff caught it easily. When the two immortals watched him expectantly, he unzipped it.
Inside lay black fabric.
No, he discovered as he shifted it around. Not fabric. Clothing: black cargo pants, a black shirt, and a black coat identical to Bastien’s.
Metal gleamed at the bottom of the bag.
His heart stuttered when he pushed the clothing aside and revealed beautifully crafted weapons.
Cliff looked from the contents of the bag to Bastien. “What’s this?”
Bastien clapped him on the back. “You’re going hunting with me tonight.”
Cliff stared. There was no way in hell Seth would allow Cliff to hunt. Not in his current state. Not with the fucking voices urging him to do things that made him sick to his stomach.
It’s a diversion, the voices whispered, rearing their unwelcome heads as if just thinking about them had issued them an invitation. So you won’t see the blow coming.
His hands tightened on the bag.
Bastien’s smile lost some of its brightness. “I thought you’d be pleased.”
The chirping of crickets sounded abnormally loud in the void that fell.
“He thinks we’ve brought him here to execute him,” Seth said softly.
Bastien lost his smile. “What?” He looked at Cliff. “Why the hell would you think that?”
Cliff glanced at Seth.
The stoic leader looked at Bastien. “Because the violent thoughts are growing louder and harder to ignore, and he knows I can hear them.”
A stricken expression washed over Bastien’s expression before he hastily replaced it with a frown. “Why would I give you a bag full of hunting clothes and weapons if I intended to kill you?”
Cliff tried but couldn’t muster a smile, so he shrugged. “I thought maybe it was like people getting their dog all excited about going for a ride in the car so he wouldn’t realize they were taking him to the vet to have him put down.”
Bastien stared at him with what appeared to be very sincere consternation. “That’s fucked up.”
“Yeah.”
“Cliff,” Bastien said earnestly, “when the time comes, I’ll either take care of it myself like I did with Vince, or Melanie will sedate you and drain you as she did with Joe. Either way, it will be on your terms.”
His heart began to pound when Seth nodded.
Had he really misread the situation so badly?
“And,” Seth added, “the hope remains that Melanie will discover a treatment before it comes to that.”
Damn the voices! They had done this! They had made him think…
Swallowing hard, Cliff nodded and looked down at the bag of goodies. “So… this is real?” His eyes met Bastien’s as dread succumbed to burgeoning excitement. “You’re really taking me hunting with you?”
Bastien smiled. “Yes.”
Cliff glanced at Seth, still afraid to believe it. “And you’re okay with this?”
Seth nodded. “You’ve proven yourself to be a valuable member of our family. We could use another good hunter.”
Elation rose within him. He wasn’t a monster. He was a valuable member of the Immortal Guardians family.
He grinned big. “This is so cool!”
Seth smiled. “I’ll leave you to it then. Enjoy your hunt.”
As soon as the Immortal Guardians leader vanished, Cliff stripped down to his skivvies and donned the hunting garb. Black pants. Black shirt. Black coat outfitted with numerous pockets and sheaths. He both looked and felt like an Immortal Guardian and loved it.
“Will the coat be a hindrance to you?” Bastien asked. “You aren’t accustomed to fighting in one.”
Cliff picked up a couple of daggers and flipped them end over end, catching them with a flourish, then performed several experimental swings, kicks, twirls, and thrusts at preternatural speed. “No. I’m good with it.”
He was also very good with weapons. Chris Reordon and the other humans at the network would probably crap their pants if they knew Bastien didn’t just sit on his ass and play video games when he visited Cliff. He trained him. And he’d been doing so regularly ever since the night Bastien had injected himself with an untested antidote Melanie had created to see if it would counteract the sedative. Afterward he’d told Cliff to attack him in earnest, and boy had it taken the edge off. So the two had secretly begun sparring on a regular basis.
Cliff was now almost as good a fighter as Bastien.
“Shall we go then?” Bastien asked.
Cliff nodded eagerly. “Where to?”
“I thought we would see what’s happening at UNCG tonight.”
Sounded good. “Wanna race?”
Bastien shook his head. “Let’s save that for the end of the night if you still have the energy. I’ve got a car parked through there.”
Cliff followed him through the trees to a Chevy Volt. Once he tossed the bag into the back, he settled himself in the passenger seat. Cliff smiled. “It smells like Melanie in here.”
Bastien nodded. “It’s her car.”
Cliff raised an eyebrow. “It also smells like sex.”
He winced. “Yyyyeah. Melanie and I sometimes…”
“Go at it like teenagers?” he supplied helpfully.
Bastien laughed. “Yes. Just don’t tell her I told you that.”
She would blush every time she saw him if he did.
Cliff peered through the windshield, eagerly devouring the beautiful countryside he hadn’t seen in so long as Bastien started the engine and headed for UNCG. Rolling down the window, he drank in the fresh air and absorbed the night sounds that eluded him at network headquarters, drowned out by six floors full of activity.
How he’d missed this.
He wished the drive would last longer, but they weren’t that far from the university. So in no time at all, Bastien parked the car.
“I’m glad you two found each other,” Cliff commented, his mind circling back to Melanie.
“Me, too.”
It felt almost like old times as the two of them strolled onto the quiet campus. They had spent a lot of time together and become close friends before Bastien’s army had grown so much that monitoring it consumed almost every waking hour.
Bastien had tried so hard to help them all. To protect them. To save them.
“Do you still feel like you don’t deserve her?” It had been a common complaint when Melanie had made it clear that she was attracted to Bastien.
“All the time.”
Cliff had suspected as much. “Well, you do,” he said. “Deserve her, I mean. You’re a good guy, Bastien. I wish you could see that.”
Bastien looked at him askance. “You aren’t going to get maudlin on me, are you?”
Cliff laughed. “No, I just wanted to put that out there in case I don’t have a chance to say it later.” In case his mental state deteriorated to the extent that he couldn’t say it later. Or in case a future hunting trip should end the way he’d thought this one would—with Seth or Bastien decapitating him. “I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me. You’ve been a good friend.”
Bastien stopped. “Cliff, if you’re thinking of running, I’ve been ordered to—”
“I’m not,” he assured him. “I don’t want to hurt anyone. I don’t want to torture and kill inno
cents the way other vampires do.” And he trusted Bastien and the others to keep him from doing it.
“Joe didn’t either,” Bastien said somberly, “when he surrendered and sought the network’s help. But he wouldn’t have hesitated to run if I’d taken him hunting with me.”
Sadly, it was true. “I’m not suffering the paranoia that struck Joe. I just have… violent thoughts.” It shamed him to admit it. “Really ugly violent thoughts.” But Bastien deserved the truth. “It’s getting harder and harder to not act upon them when I’m around Dr. Whetsman.”
Bastien snorted. “Hell, I have violent thoughts when I’m around Dr. Whetsman. Even Chris has violent thoughts around Whetsman. He’s a total prick.”
Cliff smiled, his mood lightening. “I still laugh when I think about the time you got all up in his grill about talking down to Melanie and giving her a hard time. I thought for sure he was going to wet his pants.” As Emma would say, that moment had been priceless.
Bastien grimaced. “I almost wish he would’ve. Whetsman doesn’t wet himself when he gets nervous. He farts.”
Cliff laughed. “I know. Melanie has a hell of a time keeping a straight face when he’s around us vampires. You know we terrify him.”
Now Bastien laughed, too.
A cool breeze toyed with Cliff’s dreadlocks. “Wow, you smell that?” Tilting his head back, he drew in a deep breath. “The three B’s: bad breath, BO, and blood. Ahhhhh. It’s like we’re back in your lair again.” While Bastien had ensured his vampire followers were well fed, he hadn’t succeeded in getting them all to maintain good hygiene.
Bastien shook his head with a smile. “Let’s go check it out.”
When he started forward, Cliff stopped him with a hand on his arm. “Wait. What’s my role here? When you said I could hunt with you…” What did that mean exactly? Tag along and watch?
“I meant you could help me locate and kick some vampire ass.”
Releasing him, Cliff grinned. “Seriously? I get to join the fight and everything?”
“Absolutely.”
“Awesome! Let’s go!”
Just like the old days, the two of them shot forward. Except this time, instead of hunting nefarious humans with revolting intent, they tracked down two vampires feeding on a couple of female students in the shadows between two buildings.
Cliff's Descent Page 10
