Simon and Liz finished shoving the heavy oak desk behind the filing cabinet, and I was finally able to step away from the door. The pounding continued, but it seemed like the blockade would hold, for now. Based on the muffled conversations I was catching, there must be at least 4 people outside now. I turned back to the ubarae,

“So, there wouldn’t happen to be another way out of here, would there?”

“No, that door is the only way to leave this office,” Liz bit her lip. “But, you have my gun, we could…”

“We are absolutely not shooting any innocent people,” I cut off that line of thought. “Vicki, sure, if we have to, but not her thralls, this isn’t on them. That does remind me, though, where did you even get a gun in the first place, you aren’t supposed to be armed.”

Liz cleared her throat uncomfortably,

“Well, with everything going on, I thought I might need the protection. I borrowed it from a friend a few days ago.”

“Do you know how to shoot it?”

“I know you pull the trigger.”

“Fantastic. Maybe I will keep hanging on to that, for the time being.”

A jumpy, untrained civilian with a gun was only going to make my problems worse.

“We could call the others for help,” Simon offered.

“They wouldn’t get here in time,” I shook my head. The door would never hold that long.

I walked over to the windows along the back wall, looking down at the four-story drop to the parking lot. It might not be a fatal fall, if I landed right, but it was likely to injure me enough that Vicki and her people would easily finish the job. There had to be other options. I moved closer to the window, there was a decorative ledge running around the building, under the windows, maybe a foot wide. That was promising. If I remembered correctly from when we arrived, to the right should be… I pressed my face against the window and saw the roof of the shorter section of the building, a flat expanse of gravel with air handling units set up for ease of access. Perfect.

“Ok, if we go out this window, we can cross the ledge over to that lower section of roof. With any luck, we can access the fire stairs from there and get down to the parking lot.”

“Are you crazy? Cross the ledge? We are four stories up.”

“I know. Trust me, the fall will hurt less than what Vicki has planned for us. So, I would recommend taking off your heels and giving it your best shot.”

Elizabeth looked to Simon, who only shrugged.

“You know that window doesn’t open, right?”

“I kind of figured,” I raised her gun. “You might want to cover your ears.”

I fired two shots into the pane and watched the tempered glass pebble. Hearing the shots, the pounding on the door stopped momentarily, but when it became clear that I hadn’t been firing at the door, they redoubled their effort. I grabbed a trophy off the bookshelf and used it to clear a nice sized hole, then gestured for them to step through. Simon stepped hesitantly to the window and looked down, then took an instinctive step back.

“You might want to hurry; they know we are up to something. Oh, and try to brush away some of the glass with your shoe. Elizabeth here is going to need to do this in stockings.”

Glancing back at Liz, Simon nodded firmly and stepped out onto the ledge. I kept the gun trained on the shuddering door, prepared to hold them off in case they breached it. Liz stepped up to the gap next.

“This is crazy,” she murmured.

“Well, it isn’t going to be much saner with someone shooting at you from the parking lot, so get going before they figure out what we are doing.”

The succubus swallowed hard and climbed out onto the ledge, her shoes in one hand. As she did, I heard the sickening crunch of metal on wood; it seemed someone had found a fire axe. After a few swings, I saw the blade protruding through the door. Eventually, they would open up a hole large enough to crawl through. I needed to be gone before that happened. I turned back to the window. Simon was almost to the roof and Liz was about halfway there, edging sideways with her back as close to the building as she could manage. She was moving too slowly, and we were out of time, so I was just going to have to hurry her along, personally. The wind blew my hair back as I slipped through the hole in the glass and out into the fresh air. The ledge, truthfully, was wide enough to walk on normally, so I caught up with Liz in only a few moments. I leaned in, so I could be heard over the wind,

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“You need to pick up the pace, they will be through the door soon, and…”

I was interrupted by the appearance of a man below us in the parking lot. He shouted something I couldn’t make out, and gestured excitedly upward. Then, he drew a pistol. Shit.

“Run, now!”

Liz turned and ran for the relative safety of the roof. Only a step away, a shot struck the wall just behind her, startled, she half turned towards the sound and her foot slipped from the ledge. I saw her hands flail, and the heels she had been holding tumbled from her hand, falling to the asphalt below. I was too far away to do anything but watch, helplessly, as she teetered on the edge. And then, Simon’s hand closed on her wrist, and he dragged her onto solid ground. Breathing a sigh of relief, I quickly darted across the distance myself, as another bullet struck the ledge below me.

“Everyone alright?” I panted, now that we had gained the cover of the roof.

“I think…” Liz looked quickly at Simon. “You saved my life, thank you.”

“Yeah, good work,” I clapped Simon on the shoulder. He blushed slightly at the praise. “Now, let’s get the hell out of here. Which car is yours? Maybe we can still get to it.”

Liz pointed out a white Lexus partway down the lot. The distance was farther than I would have liked. The car we had come in would be closer, but they also were certainly watching it. Of course, by that logic, they were probably watching the doctor’s car, also.

“Change of plans,” I announced.

“Again?” Liz sounded exasperated, this probably wasn’t how she imagined her day going when she got out of bed this morning.

“Neither car is going to be safe for us at this point, so we are going to have to do something they don’t expect,” I pointed to the busy street running behind the office building. “We take the fire stairs down the side of the building, when we reach the ground, head for the shopping mall across the street, get inside, lose yourselves in the crowd. Whatever happens, do not stop, just run. If we get separated, we’ll meet in the coffee shop on the north side, then get a car from there. Understood?”

They both nodded mutely.

“Great,” I handed the gun back to Liz. “You might need this. Just… be careful where you aim it, alright? Ok, let’s go. And hurry, before they figure out this is where we went.”

We scrambled down the rusty ladder that led to the stairs, which zig-zagged across the side of the building. The alley was quiet, and I thought we might get away clean. But, when we were about one story from the ground, I saw a gunman round the corner underneath the stairs. I cursed under my breath. We were too exposed up here, it would be like shooting fish in a barrel. As he raised his weapon, I figured I only had one viable option.

“Remember, don’t stop,” I shouted over my shoulder, then I vaulted the railing and dropped.

The man with the gun had not anticipated this possibility, and didn’t even manage to squeeze off a wild shot before I landed on him, crumpling him to the pavement. Fortunately, he broke my fall nicely. I rolled off and checked his pulse. Still alive, but unconscious. I grabbed his gun and was about to run, when I heard the clapping behind me. I raised the pistol and spun to see Vicki Carter, or at least as much of her as was visible behind her human shield, consisting of 4 thralls, each with a gun of their own.

“I would have been happy with any member of the Organization, but it really is delicious that it is you, Rayna,” she purred. “I wasn’t sure I would get an opportunity to see you again, after our date ended so abruptly.”

“A real shame, that,” I edged behind a pillar, gaining some measure of cover, but I was pretty sure running would mean a bullet in the back. I didn’t have a lot of options, here. “Out of curiosity, were you always Domini, or are you just a convenient attack dog they could unleash to take care of their problems?”

“I am nobody’s attack dog,” she snarled, which I found a bit ironic.

“So, not one of the inner circle, then?” I smirked.

“Perhaps not, but does it matter? I don’t need to be in charge, they are already building the world I want,” she smiled brightly. “Soon enough, people like you won’t exist, and I will be free to… indulge. After all, why shouldn’t I be able to live my best life? Why should I have to stifle my desires just for the sake of a prey species?”

There was no point arguing that with her, she would neither understand nor care that human lives had meaning beyond her pleasure, so I kept my mouth shut. I tightened my grip on the gun in my hand.

“Ah, ah, ah, none of that,” Vicki chastised. “You might as well put that gun down. You won’t use it anyway.”

“And why is that?”

“Oh, Carmine told me all about you. I know you won’t shoot any of my boys,” she reached out and stroked the face of the man nearest to her, “just to get to me. It’s odd, the last time we met, you were so bold with your own life. Why so timid with the lives of others? That isn’t how the game is supposed to be played, darling. You are only hobbling yourself. ”

“I wonder what that says about you, then? Seeing as I put you in the hospital, the last time we met.”

“Everyone gets lucky sometimes. But not today, Rayna,” she stepped towards me, and her bodyguards moved in unison. She was right, I couldn’t get a clear shot through them. “Now, where did the traitor and the good doctor get to?”

“I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“I know you think you are being very brave and selfless, but this pointless resistance will not stop the Domini. It is already too late. Why not help yourself?”

“I think we both know you are going to have them kill me, no matter what I say. So why would I give you the satisfaction?”

“Fine, then, if you are going to waste my time, I might as well just kill you and look for them myself,” Vicki huffed.

She nodded to the man on the far right, who took a step towards me, raising his gun. I turned to make a run for it, but the sound of crunching metal brought me up short. I spun back to see not Vicki and the thugs, but a white Lexus, which had evidently backed into the wall between us. For a moment, the only sound was the gentle clicking of pieces of taillight falling to the pavement. Then, a door popped open, and a hand waved frantically at me,

“Get in!”

I didn’t need to be asked twice. Keeping my head low, I scrambled into car and slammed the door. The engine revved and the car peeled away from the building, as gunshots rang out from behind.