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He didn’t peek, but he looked. He let out a soft whistle. Zerbrowski said, “Je-sus.”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“Is it in there?” Dolph asked.

“I think so.”

“You’re our expert. Why don’t you sound sure?” Dolph asked.

“If you would have asked me if a vampire could plow through five feet of silver-steel with crosses hung all over the damn place, I’d have said no way.” I stared into the black hole. “But there it is.”

“Does this mean you’re as confused as we are?” Zerbrowski asked.

“Yep.”

“Then we’re in deep shit,” he said.

Unfortunately, I agreed.

18

THE VAULT LOOMED UP before us. Pitch black with a crazy vampire waiting inside; just my cup of tea. Ri-ight.

“I’ll take point now,” Dolph said. He had the second guard’s gun in his hands. His own gun was tucked out of sight. He had silver bullets now; he’d go first. Dolph was good about that. He’d never order one of his men to do something he wouldn’t do himself. Wish Bert was like that. Bert was more likely to promise your first-born child, then ask if it was alright with you.

Dolph hesitated at the open mouth of the vault. The darkness was thick enough to cut. It was the absolute darkness of a cave. The kind where you can touch your eyeballs with your fingers and not blink.

He motioned us forward with the gun, but he went past the darkness, farther down the hallway. The bloody footprints entered the darkness and came back out. Bloody footprints going down the hall, around the corner. I was getting tired of corners.

Zerbrowski and I moved up to stand on either side of Dolph. The tension slid along my neck, shoulders. I took a deep breath and let it out, slowly. Better. Look, my hand’s not even shaking.

Dolph didn’t roll around on the floor to clear the corner. He just went around back to the wall, two-handed aim, ready for bear.

A voice said, “Don’t shoot. I’m not dead.”

I knew the voice.

“It’s John Burke. He’s with me.”

Dolph glanced back at me. “I remember him.”

I shrugged; better safe than sorry. I trusted Dolph not to shoot John by accident, but there were two cops here I’d never met. Always err on the side of caution when it comes to firearms. Words to survive by.

John was tall, slender, dark complected. His short hair was perfectly black with a broad white streak in front. It was a startling combination. He’d always been handsome, but now that he’d shaved off his beard, he looked less like a Hollywood villain and more like a leading man. Tall, dark, and handsome, and knew how to kill vampires. What more could you ask for? Plenty, but that’s another story.

John came around the corner smiling. He had a gun out, and better yet, he had his vampire kit in one hand. “I came ahead to make sure the vampire didn’t get loose while you were en route.”

“Thanks, John,” I said.

He shrugged. “Just protecting the public welfare.”

It was my turn to shrug. “Anything you say.”

“Where’s the vampire?” Dolph asked.

“I was tracking it,” John said.

“How?” I asked.

“Bloody bare footprints.”

Bare footprints. Sweet Jesus. The corpse didn’t have shoes, but John did. I turned towards the vault. Too late, too slow, too damn bad.

The vampire came out of the darkness, moving too fast to see. It was just a blur that smashed into the rookie, driving him into the wall. He screamed, gun pressed to the vampire’s chest. The gun was loud in the hallway, echoing in the pipes. The bullets came out the back of the vampire like they’d hit mist. Magic.

I moved forward, trying to aim without hitting the rookie. He was screaming, one continuous sound. Blood sprayed in a warm rain. I shot at the thing’s head but it moved, incredibly fast, tossing the man against the other wall, tearing at him. There was a lot of yelling and movement, but it all seemed far away, slowed down. It would all be over in a matter of moments. I was the only one close enough with silver bullets. I stepped in, body brushing the vampire, and put the barrel to the back of its skull. A normal vampire wouldn’t have let me do it. I pulled the trigger,