Page 118 of Fall into Place

“I don’t see him,” Flora responded. “Joni, do you?”

“Nope.”

“Okay,” Tess said. “Then where should I go?”

“Elevator bank,” Flora said. “There’s a vamp trying to get upstairs.”

“Copy.” Tess rushed back into the service hallway and headed toward the elevators—but she only made it halfway there before everything suddenly fell into darkness—she heard cheers and applause rising from the lobby.

“What’s going on?” she called.

“The lights went out.” Joni sounded worried. “People think Lirio is here.”

“Can you get to Konstantin?” Flora asked.

“I don’t know.” Joni strained. “I can’t see anything.”

Tess burst through the doors by the elevators—the room was pitch black—with the noise and the crowd, it was absolute pandemonium. Someone started a chant: “LI-RI-O. LI-RI-O.”

Then Tess heard a scream—a real one, blood-curdling and terrified.

“What was that?! Are you okay?”

“A vamp is feeding,” Flora said. “I can get to him!”

Tess looked around in a panic—

“We can’t let anyone get hurt!” she cried. People were starting to shove and get restless—the lights weren’t coming back on—

“This isn’t working,” Tess said. “We have to get these people out of here.”

“How?!” Joni asked.

Tess backed against the door she’d just come through, then felt along the wall—

“I know it’s here somewhere,” she muttered.

“What’s here?” came a low voice, and Tess looked up and saw the outline of a man hulking over her.

“Look at your hood.” He flicked it. “Little red riding bitch.”

He smiled, and she caught a glimpse of his fangs in the dim red light from the exit sign behind her.

“Does that make you the wolf?” Tess hissed. “You know how that story ends, right?”

The vampire moved quickly, a hand around Tess’s neck—he was strong, and she couldn’t breathe, but she didn’t panic—she grabbed a stake from her pouch and jabbed it forward. He was too tall to hit his heart from this angle, but the stake plunged into his stomach, and he staggered back—

“You shouldn’t have missed,” he snarled. He was about to come for her again, but Tess had enough time to reach for the wall beside the door, and this time she found what she was looking for.

She pulled down hard on the fire alarm, and sirens started blaring as water rained down from the ceiling.

The vampire was momentarily startled by the noise and the sprinklers, and that was all Tess needed—she grabbed another stake and lunged forward, driving it directly into his heart. He seized up and slumped to the ground—there was no bar to prop him against here, so Tess just left him and ran back into the service hallway.

“Tess!” Joni was yelling in Tess’s earbud. “Tess, are you okay?!”

“I’m good!” Tess heaved forward, breathing hard, bracing her hands against her thighs. “What’s happening out there?”

“People are pissed, but they’re leaving,” Joni answered.