‘Is it the police?’ Claire asked. She felt a little short of breath, suddenly, because if it was, there didn’t seem to be an easy way out of this place. Defensible, but limited retreat. And they couldn’t fight their way out, not against regular human police. It would be wrong on every level, even if they weren’t guilty.

‘No,’ Pete said. There was an odd tension in his voice, and he stepped back from the door, opened it, and said, ‘Get in, quick.’

It happened fast – one second he was standing alone on the doorstep, and the next … the next, there were three people crowding the hallway with him. Two supporting a limp, maybe unconscious third.

As Pete slammed and locked the door, Claire bolted forward. So did Shane.

And Eve let out a strangled little sound that was half glad cry, half sob.

She and Jesse were supporting the dead weight of a very pale, very still Michael Glass.

With a wooden stake in his heart.

‘Christ, is that guy dead?’ Pete blurted out, when he saw the stake. Shane ignored him, grabbed Michael’s weight by the shoulders, and helped Jesse carry him over to the couch. Eve followed, and Claire hugged her hard when she paused to try to catch her breath. She was shaking all over.

‘He’s okay,’ Claire said, and rubbed her back. ‘Eve, it’s okay, it’ll be okay …’

‘Pull it out,’ Shane snapped at Jesse, who had crouched down beside the couch to stare at the stake in Michael’s chest. ‘Hurry up, he’s too young, it could really hurt him.’

‘Stop! Don’t touch it. It’s spring-loaded,’ Jesse said, and pointed to a symbol burnt into the side of the wood. ‘I know this mark. It’s a Daylight Foundation inventory sign. It’s got a silver payload built in. If you try to remove it, it’ll flood his heart with silver. It’ll kill him.’

Shane had reached out for the stake, but now he pulled back, eyes narrowed and simmering with fury. ‘Who the fuck is the Daylight Foundation?’

‘Trust me, nobody you need to screw around with,’ Jesse said. ‘There’s a method for disarming this thing, but we need to be very careful. I’ve got some experience. Let me handle it.’

‘What the hell happened out there?’ Shane demanded. No one answered him, not even Eve; she was staring down at Michael, her face ashen. Claire held on to her, because it seemed that, after having made the single-minded effort to get Michael to safety, Eve had completely lost all strength to keep herself upright. She wasn’t crying. She wasn’t doing anything, except … waiting, with a kind of fatal, desperate patience. The ruby wedding ring flashed and trembled on her clenched left hand. ‘Claire. Claire. Go check the door, make sure nobody’s coming after them.’