Chapter Eight
“What do we do now?” Reyna asked. “What’s plan B?”
Meghan shook her head. “There is no plan B.”
“What the hell kind of plan is this?” Jodie asked.
“Look, I don’t know what happened, but we still have time to get to our rendezvous spot. We have two more flights of stairs and an exit to get to. We can do it. We have to.”
“Then let’s move,” Reyna said.
The other woman agreed, “No way am I going back.”
The stairwell door burst open beside them.
A flood of people filled the staircase, responding to the alarm.
Meghan grabbed Jodie, and Reyna followed suit as they hauled her up the flight of stairs.
Reyna tucked her chin to her chest. She didn’t know how many people knew that she had been held captive below Visage, or if any of them would even recognize her face, but she’d rather be safe than sorry.
“Christ, I hate these drills,” one woman said at Reyna’s shoulder.
“Tell me about it,” the man next to her agreed.
“Someone said this isn’t a drill,” another man added. Reyna tensed, waiting for someone to blow their cover. “That the boss himself is going to be waiting to speak with all of us and give us all permanents.”
Reyna blew out a breath. They didn’t know what the alarm was for. They thought that, instead of rotating blood escorts every couple of months, they were all going to get permanent live-in blood escorts—what she had been to Beckham.
“I thought only senior officials were getting them,” the woman said.
“Now that the Census is finished in the city, they can begin to transition the humans to us.”
“I don’t want a human to live with me permanently,” the first man grumbled. “How invasive.”
“Don’t you miss the good old days?” the woman intoned.
Reyna bit her lip and tuned out the rest of their conversation.
After the second floor, Meghan maneuvered them through the crowd and toward the door. When they reached the door, however, a guard stood there, impassable.
“No exit, ladies,” the vampire said with a smile and a discreet look at her chest.
Meghan leaned in and fluttered her eyelashes. “Look, I don’t want to take this girl through all these people. She has that pesky illness that’s going around. Can’t we pop out the door and take her the long way?”
“Sorry. Boss’s orders. Everyone up to the top level for assessment.”
“I know. I know,” Meghan said, biting her lips. “But do you really want me to bring her up there? She’s not an employee. And she’s sick.” She emphasized the last word until he glanced down at the “sick patient.”
The vampire narrowed his eyes. “The blood thing?”
Meghan agreed. “Yeah. Severe case.”
He took a step back. “It’s contagious. What is she even doing in the stairwell?”
“It was supposed to be cleared for us. It’s already ravished her body. Look at her.” Meghan pointed at the woman’s skinny arms and narrow waist. “I don’t want this to continue to happen. It’d be easier if we could avoid all of this entirely.”
“Maybe I should radio down…” He trailed off as Meghan stepped closer.
“Plus…the sooner I’m finished, the sooner I’ll be free for lunch.”
His eyebrows rose. “Lunch?”
She was shameless. She tilted her neck sideways as if in invitation. “I know a great place.”
He laughed. “Okay. Go on ahead. But be quick. I’ll meet you up front at noon.”
“Can’t wait,” Meghan said with a girly giggle before shoving both of them through the open door.
She blew out a heavy breath as their trio tried to seem unhurried. When they turned the next corner and disappeared from the guard’s view, they took off at a faster clip.
“That took forever,” Reyna said.
“We’re late,” Meghan said. “I can’t think about it.”
The rest of the trek was tense. None of them knew if the cameras were working or if they were being followed already. They kept expecting someone to jump out at them and steal them back to the basement…back to hell.
None of them dared to speak. Reyna found she was even holding her breath, as if one exhale would threaten everything they’d worked for.
Her gut was twisted up in panic and anticipation.
She never stopped hoping they’d make it out, but she couldn’t think beyond that.
There was only this one moment and then the next.
Putting one foot in front of the other and facing down the dark alley.
“We’re here,” Meghan whispered as they approached a giant black double door. She whispered a silent prayer and then entered her code. It flashed red. “No. No. No.” She typed it in again. Again…red.
“Meghan,” Reyna hissed.
“It won’t open.” Her eyes darted around the hallway wildly.
“Try one more time.”
Meghan swallowed and input the code a third time. Red. A fourth time. Red.
“We need to get out of here,” Jodie said. “Entering the password that many times is going to be a red flag. We can’t get out this way. We need to find another.”
“There isn’t another way,” Meghan said.
“Then we fucking find one.”
“Hey!” Reyna cried, shutting them both up. This couldn’t all be for nothing. “This isn’t helping anything. Let’s try one more time, and then we’ll find a different exit.”
“You try it,” Meghan said, pushing Reyna toward the keypad. Reyna poised her finger over it and nodded. “0-7-1-5-0-1-1-0-9-2-1-5-2-1-7.”
Reyna’s finger moved to press the enter key, praying that the code would work this time, when the door suddenly slid open on its own. All three women jumped back. Then an Asian human man with thick dark hair peeked his head around the corner.
“Tye,” Meghan said, launching herself into his arms. “I have never been happier to see you.”
“You took too long,” he told her, pulling back and opening the door farther. He was about average height, wearing a black uniform similar to a delivery driver. “Xavier didn’t want me to come look for you.”
“Bastard,” she hissed. Then she collected herself. “We need to get moving.”
Meghan ushered Reyna and Jodie forward, and Tye took stock of the fact that there was an additional person. “Pick up a stray?”
“That a problem?” their stray asked.
“Not at all,” he said with a bold smile.
They all passed through the door and into a giant loading dock that was empty save for an enormous delivery truck.
“Get in,” Tye said, opening the doors. “Xavier is driving.”
All three vaulted into the back of the truck, which was freezing and chock-full of blood.
“What the…” Reyna whispered.
“Move to the front,” Meghan directed them without explanation.
Bypassing all the blood and supplies, they reached the front and found two sets of dark coveralls bearing the same logo as the truck waiting for them.
“What do I wear?” Jodie asked.
Meghan frowned and then grabbed a bag. “Sorry to do this.”
“You’re putting me in a body bag?”
“Temporarily.” Then Meghan turned to Reyna. “I think it might be safer if you’re in one, too. I’m sorry.”
Both of them looked at her in horror, but Tye yelled, “Meghan?”
“Coming,” she called. She stripped out of her nurse uniform and pulled on the coveralls as Reyna and Jodie unzipped the body bags and shimmied inside.
Meghan jumped out the back, and the truck doors slammed shut behind them, casting them into total darkness.
Reyna took a deep breath and closed the bag over her head.
She heard Jodie grunt as she slid into the bag next to her.
Only their breathing could be heard before the rumble of the truck’s engine roaring to life drowned it out.
Reyna’s heart began to pound. A body bag. She was being transported out of here in a body bag. She wasn’t usually afraid of small spaces or the dark, but these weren’t usual circumstances. She couldn’t believe they’d even made it this far.
“Hey,” Jodie whispered.
“Hey.”
“Thank you for doing this.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” Reyna whispered. “We still have to get out of here.”
“But still…thanks.”
Reyna smiled, even though Jodie couldn’t see it. “You’re welcome.”
The truck rumbled forward. Reyna clenched her hands at her sides and tried to breathe slowly. This would all be over soon.
Only it was much too soon for the truck to stop again.
“Why are we stopping?” Jodie asked.
Reyna had no idea, and she strained to listen to what was happening in the front cab.
“We’re right on schedule,” a male voice said from the driver’s seat. That must be Xavier. The one who’d wanted to leave them.
Someone must have responded, because Meghan piped up. “We’re all set here, boys,” she said in the flirtatious tone she’d used with the guard. “Have all the samples secure.”
Another voice entered the mix. “You’re going to need to open up the back. We’re on a high-security breach.”
“Oh no!” Meghan gasped. “And you think somehow we’re part of the breach? Aren’t we on your schedule?”
A rustling noise and then a grunt. Maybe that meant yes.
“Open the back.”
Reyna could practically feel the tension rolling off their rescuers. Of course they couldn’t deny them access to the back of the vehicle. That would raise more flags than complying. But if they complied, would the guards open up the body bags?
A door opened up front, and someone got out. Reyna didn’t so much as breathe. Jodie had gone completely still beside her.
This was it. This was life or death. This was freedom or captivity. This was the end.
The back door opened.
She could hear voices at the far end of the truck. A foot stomped on the bumper, and a body hoisted into the cavity. The truck rocked at the extra weight.
Reyna balled her hands into fists to keep from trembling.
“What’s in that?” a gruff voice asked.
“What do you think?” Tye asked in an easy, joking tone.
“Didn’t have bodies on the report.”
“They were on ours.”
“Blood illness,” Meghan said, joining them. “It’s going around and extremely contagious. We’re taking them to be disposed of. Too dangerous to do it on-site.”
A foot stepped right by Reyna’s head.
The bag rustled as he reached down to take a look.
The zipper dragged down, and cold air hit her face.
She remained perfectly still and tried to look like death.
Her eyes were closed. She could see the light from his flashlight through her eyelids.
Her lungs constricted as they demanded air, but she held on longer. They were so close. So damn close.
“Didn’t you hear me?” Meghan asked. The zipper stopped moving, leaving her shoulders exposed. “It’s a blood illness. If you get any closer, you could catch it. Vampires aren’t immune. It’s killing them off, too.”
“Fine,” he spat. The zipper snapped back into place, covering her once more, but still she didn’t dare move. Her blood pounded in her ears, demanding oxygen. “But let me double-check your report. Everything else looks in place.”
“Of course,” Tye said.
A rustling of papers, and then the doors were slammed shut once more. Reyna released a breath at the same time as Jodie. Neither of them said a word, but Reyna was glad that Jodie was with her. Even though she couldn’t see her, she still felt less alone.
It was a few minutes before the truck came to life again.
“All good to go,” someone said from the front.
Xavier put the car in gear, but a voice stopped them in their tracks again.
The gruff vampire said, “Wait!”
Reyna closed her eyes. No. They were so close. So close.
“You forgot to sign for it.”
“Of course,” Xavier said.
A final, interminable pause. A garage opened noisily before them, and then they were out. Reyna couldn’t see it for herself, but she knew. She could tell by the truck’s acceleration and Meghan’s whoop of excitement.
They were finally free.