Page 26 (1/2)

"Let o back and sit down You’re very tired Maybe a nice nap will do"

"Yes," Mavis " She was asleep before she sat down, her head hitting the desk with a thump that made Cynthia wince in sy at him suspiciously

"Si suddenly, wrapping an ar hissirabbed his arm to steady herself

"Ready?" he h into the next rooht

"Shit!" Cynthia swore softly when she saaited on the other side It was a warehouse, all right A huge warren of stacked boxes and shelves that was nearly as deep as a football field was long, with no line of sight on the ground for ht feet in any direction Raphael put a hand on her arm for silence, then nodded ahead, seconds before Cyn heard footsteps co toward them

"Mavis?" a man’s voice called out "That you, Mavis?" he repeated more sharply

Cynthia drew her Glock and stepped sideways between ts of shelves Raphael took a step back and si shadows around him where he stood

The ht He was ed, puffy with fat and probably tooin and out so loudly that even had he tried, he could not havecenter chest between the bare shelves

The man frohen he saw the empty hallway, the closed door His eyes darted fro with slow deliberation, he passed right by Raphael without seeing hi vampire’s arm snaked out to hook around his neck, then twisted sharply The crack of the man’s spine was loud in the silence Even louder was the un as it fell to the concrete floor froun fall, then raised her eyes to lea him ahere he stood shrouded in his own darkness She stepped cautiously over to the dead ain into the depths of the warehouse

At first, they siht line, or as near as possible Eventually, the sound of raucous laughter and loud voices could be heard in the far corner, near ould be the alley side of the building With a wordless glance, they shifted direction, ly rando to toys As the voices grew louder, they slowed, Raphael co up on Cynthia’s left

The source of the noise caht and they paused There were a dozen or athered around soe roll-up doors An enormous, wide screen television stood in one corner, the announcer’s voice bouncing off the concrete floor, a steady beat against the hters pu audience There was a small office to one side She could see an ee of a desk, but couldn’t tell if anyone was in the roo he had a way of co with Duncan and the others, because they sure as hell were going to need so breath to whisper, when a voice shouted froot visitors, boys!"