Lupi 06 - Blood Magic

pointless that might be. Neither was someone he expected to see, or anyone he'd seen before. Maybe that meant they were who they appeared to be. One was an older man with dark hair and skin, in khakis and a short-sleeve shirt; the other was also male and wore a navy suit with a name tag. Both smelled human. They didn't speak to each other or make the small gestures that acknowledge a friend or acquaintance.
    Just to be sure, Rule kept the elevator doors from closing until he saw which way they went - straight to the nurses' station, where the suited man was greeted as doctor somebody and the man in khakis asked about room 421.
    He let the doors close and punched the button marked B.
    The elevator was slow. It creaked to a stop on the third floor, where a young candy striper got on. She was blond and perky and smelled human... and interested. She glanced at the buttons and gave him a flirty smile. "I'm headed down for lunch, too. Want some company?"
    "That would be delightful," he said as the doors closed again, "but I'm afraid I'm taking food back to some friends, so I won't be eating in the cafeteria." The elevator lurched into motion. I'm fine, he told himself.
    The girl's smile didn't diminish. She had dimples. "Any of those friends female?"
    He smiled back. He had to place a firm but gentle no in their exchange, but she was sweet and pretty and she smelled delightful. How could he not let her know he appreciated her?
    "One of them is, yes. Though she is just that - a friend - my fiancee will be - "
    The lights went out. The elevator jolted to a stop. A siren sounded, and the candy striper screamed.
    "We'll be all right," Rule said soothingly, even as his heartbeat jumped into panic mode. Trapped - he was trapped -
    "Th-that's the fire alarm," the girl said. One small hand connected with his arm and gripped it. "There's a fire. We've got to get out. There's a fire."
    She was right. Standing in the pitch blackness of the tiny box, his senses heightened by fear, Rule smelled the girl's panic - and smoke. The smoke-scent was faint. With no electricity, the fan in their hanging prison wasn't drawing in air.
    There's enough air, he told himself firmly. Plenty of air.
    "There's an escape hatch, isn't there?" she said, clutching him tightly. "I can't see. I can't reach it. There's supposed to be light, emergency lighting, but I can't see anything!"
    "Shh." Rule patted the small hand clutching him and tried to ignore the wolf's panic. The man had to be in charge now. "We'll be okay. I need to think a moment."
    Could the flirty candy striper be the killer? As soon as the thought occurred to him, he dismissed it. He wasn't the target. Cullen was, and no sensible killer would trap himself in an elevator away from his target. No, he'd be on the fourth floor already, or heading for it on the stairs.
    But the fire...
    He frowned. Why a fire?
    It didn't make sense. Why would an assassin who could wander around unnoticed knock out the electronics and start a fire to get to his target? Did he plan to pick off Cullen as he evacuated?
    If so, he was stupid. There were a dozen easier ways to go about it for a killer who could look like anyone. Unless the whole situation was an illusion? Was such a thing possible?
    "Can you get it open?" the candy striper repeated, her voice rising. "They say to stay in the elevator if there's a power outage, but I don't want to. I don't."
    He would have to proceed as if the fire, the stuck elevators, all of it was real. Otherwise he'd be frozen, more trapped than any stuck elevator could be. "We need to get out, yes." Rule managed to keep his voice calm. His forehead was damp, but she couldn't see that. "I'm going to open the doors and see where we are. I'll want both my arms for that."
    "Oh. Oh, of course. The doors." Her laugh was shaky, but she let go of him. "The doors will open, right?"
    Was the smell of smoke growing stronger?
    "I think so." He gripped the edges of the doors and pried them open on darkness, smoke, and noise. With the doors open, he could hear people calling out - the stairs, over here, keep calm, where's Maria, get the wheelchair, Maria!, hurry up, stairs, oh God, oh God, help me, please someone...
    He looked up. Not that he could see anything, but his nose told him the smoke was coming from that direction. Looking down, he saw equally little. The electricity was out everywhere, then, and the gathering smoke didn't help. He began feeling the wall exposed by the opened