“Useful.”

“Yeah. That’s what I thought at the time.”

Tony steered clear of the shadows as they hurried toward the back of the building. He told himself that skulking through them would scream “people up to no good” should a cop car or the private security hired by the industrial park happen to pass by. Two guys walking to the back door, well, that was obviously two guys who were there for legitimate reasons. That’s what he told himself, and it was an accurate enough observation. But it wasn’t why he was staying out of the shadows.

“Don’t codes get changed on occasion, to prevent this very thing?” Henry asked as they reached the door.

Tony flipped up the cover on the keypad. “Yes.”

“And if they have?”

“Then we’re screwed. Unless you can climb up onto the roof, go down a ventilation shaft, and open the door from the inside.”

Henry looked at his watch. “In less than twenty minutes? I’d rather not.”

“Then I guess it’s a good thing they haven’t changed the code.” He pulled the door open, slowly and carefully, and only far enough for them to slip inside.

“Does Lee Nicholas know the code?”

Frowning, Tony paused, the door almost shut. “I doubt it.”

“Then you’d better leave it unlocked. He’s going to have to get into the building and it would be better for all concerned if he did it quietly.”

Arra hadn’t been entirely certain where the gate would open.

“It was a big empty room when I arrived and I wasn’t in the best condition. It was closer to the offices than the back wall, but that’s all I can remember. I suggest you wait until Lee arrives and follow him. The shadow will know exactly where the gate is.”

“Who knows what gates lurk within the heart of CB Productions. The sha . . .” Tony broke off as both Arra and Henry turned to stare. “You were thinking it, too,” he grumbled.

The jar of potion shed enough light for Tony to find an alcove that would hold them both, giving them a clear line of sight to the door and along the closest thing to a central aisle the soundstage had. Once inside, pressed shoulder to shoulder, Henry tucked the jar in under his coat.

The darkness was nearly absolute, the dim red of the exit sign barely enough for Tony to orient himself. “He’d better make some noise,” he murmured, “or we’ll never see him arrive.”

“I will.”

“Oh . . . yeah.” The darkness was nearly absolute to human eyes.

Tony tried not to fidget, but he’d never been much good at waiting. “Henry? Are you still going to try and stop that shadow?”

It took so long for the vampire to answer, Tony began to think he hadn’t been heard. Which was stupid because Henry could hear his heart beating. Although, at the moment, it wasn’t so much beating as pounding.

“Yes.”

“How?”

“I don’t know. The wizard may be right; now that the Shadowlord has found this world we have no chance, no hope, but I choose to think differently.”