“No,” said Eph. “It was gone.”
“Gone?” she said.
“Apparently he’s not badly injured. Not slowed down much at all. And—this is weird, but there were some strange drawings on the wall down there, spray paint—”
“What do you mean, someone putting up graffiti?”
Eph patted the phone in his pocket, reassuring himself that the pink phone was still there. “I got some video. I really don’t know what to make of it.” He pulled the phone away for a moment to swallow more beer. “I’ll tell you, though. The city—it’s eerie. Quiet.”
“Not here,” said Nora. “There’s a little bit of a lull now that it’s dawn—but it won’t last. The sun doesn’t seem to scare them as much now. Like they’re becoming bolder.”
“That’s exactly what it is,” said Eph. “They’re learning, becoming smarter. We have to get out of there. Today.”
“Setrakian was just saying that. Because of Kelly.”
“Because she knows where we are now?”
“Because she knows—that means the Master knows.”
Eph pressed his hand against his closed eyes, pushing back on his headache. “Okay.”
“Where are you now?”
“Financial District, near the Ferry Loop station.” He didn’t mention that he was in a bar. “Fet has a line on a bigger car. We’re going to get that and head back soon.”
“Just—please get back here in one human piece.”
“That’s our plan.”
He hung up, and went rooting underneath the bar. He was looking for a container to hold more beer, which he needed for the descent back underground. Something other than a glass mug. He found an old, leather-jacketed flask, and, in brushing the dust off the brass cap, discovered a bottle of good vintage brandy behind it. No dust on the brandy: probably there for a quick nip for the barkeep to break the monotony of the ale. He rinsed out the flask and was filling it carefully over a small sink when he heard a knock at the door.
He came around the bar fast, heading for his weapon bag before realizing: vampires don’t knock. He continued past Fet to the door, cautiously, looking through the window and seeing Dr. Everett Barnes, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The old country doctor was not wearing his admiral’s uniform—the CDC was originally born of the U.S. Navy—but rather an ivory-on-white suit, the jacket unbuttoned. He looked as though he had rushed away from a late breakfast.
Eph could view the immediate street area behind him, and Barnes was apparently alone, at least for the moment. Eph unlocked the door and pulled it open.
“Ephraim,” said Barnes.
Eph grabbed him by his lapel and hauled him inside fast, locking up again. “You,” he said, checking the street again. “Where are the rest?”
Director Barnes pulled away from Eph, readjusting his jacket. “They are on orders to keep well back. But they will be here soon, make no mistake about that. I insisted that I needed a few minutes alone with you.”
“Jesus,” said Eph, checking the rooftops across the street before backing away from the front windows. “How did they get you here so fast?”
“It is a priority that I speak to you. No one wants to harm you, Ephraim. This was all done at my behest.”
Eph turned away from him, heading back to the bar. “Maybe you only think so.”
“We need you to come in,” said Barnes, following him. “I need you, Ephraim. I know this now.”
“Look,” said Eph, reaching the bar and turning. “Maybe you understand what’s going on, and maybe you don’t. Maybe you’re part of it, I don’t know. You might not even know. But there is someone behind this, someone very powerful, and if I go anywhere with you now, it will certainly result in my incapacitation or death. Or worse.”
“I am eager to listen to you, Ephraim. Whatever you have to say. I stand before you as a man admitting his mistake. I know now that we are in the grip of something altogether devastating and otherworldly.”
“Not otherworldly. This-worldly.” Eph capped his brandy flask.
Fet was behind Barnes. “How long until they come in?” he asked.
“Not long,” said Barnes, unsure of the big exterminator in the dirty jumpsuit. Barnes returned his attention to Eph, and the flask. “Should you be drinking now?”