“Not a hope in hell,” said Happy. “We have to find a way out of here!”

“Keep calm, man,” said JC. “Panic never solved anything.”

“It’s always worked for me!” said Happy.

JC produced his monkey’s paw and activated the Hand of Glory. The others stared at the thing, fascinated.

“Where the hell did you get that?” said Melody, genuinely shocked.

“Yes, JC,” said Natasha. “Where did a Goody Two-shoes like you get hold of a forbidden artefact like that?”

“Could you get me one, too?” said Erik.

“A Hand of Glory can reveal hidden doors and exits,” said JC, waving the Hand this way and that. “But unfortunately . . . it seems there aren’t any. What you see is what you get; and they’re all full of blood.”

“I need some of my pills,” said Happy.

“Could I have some, too?” said Erik.

Melody lost her footing and fell, slipping under the rising blood. Happy surged forward, blood splashing up against his chest. He thrust an unerring hand beneath the surface, grabbed Melody, and hauled her back up onto her feet again. She clung to him, hacking and coughing, soaked in blood. Happy held her until she got her second wind, then she pushed herself away from him, and he let her go.

“Thanks,” she said roughly.

“Try not to be so sentimental” said Happy. “Oh God, I’m going to smell of this blood for months, I know it.”

“Hold it!” Natasha said abruptly. “Listen . . .” They all stood very still, listening. The roar of the inrushing blood seemed to swamp everything else.

“What is it?” said JC.

“There’s something in here with us,” said Natasha, looking quickly around her. “Can you feel it, Happy?”

“Yes,” he said slowly. “There’s something . . . in the blood. Something hungry.”

They all turned this way and that, but the dark red surface of the blood was all but impenetrable. JC bent forward and stuck his face right next to the surface. And perhaps it was his new eyes, but he thought he saw large dark shapes, moving in the blood . . .

“Get back-to-back!” Erik yelled suddenly. “Don’t let them sneak up on us!”

“What is it?” said Melody. “You think we’re under attack by sharks?”

“No! Vampires! There are vampires swimming in the blood!”

As though in answer to his naming them, several of the creatures leapt out of the blood, showing themselves to their new prey. The vampires of the blood ocean had shape-shifted into a new hunting form, long sleek shapes with all of a shark’s brute power. They had great lashing tails, pale grey scales, and two long arms with clawed hands, to stuff food into the wide mouths that took up most of their blunt heads. They had flat black eyes, without a single human emotion in them, and their mouths held row upon row of cruel, jagged teeth.