Thomas had often patrolled with Eddie in companionable silence; however, tonight this silence seemed full of tension. Eddie’s breathing was uneven, and Thomas could hear his heart beating erratically. As if something were bothering him. Thomas tried to ignore the feeling of uneasiness and concentrated on his task: watching the people around him.

His senses were alert and sharp as always. For several hours, they wandered through the Castro, first through the commercial area, then the residential one, then back again to the area that was filled with bars, shops, and restaurants. The shops had closed now, but the bars were hopping.

“It’s a bust,” Eddie said next to him.

“Sometimes finding nothing is a good thing.”

Eddie shrugged but didn’t reply.

Thomas continued to survey the area, turning into a side street—it was a dead end. There was a boarded-up shop in the middle of a block, a restaurant to one side, and next to it, at the end of the block, there was a construction site: the frame for the three-story apartment building was already up. A Porta Potty stood in front of it, a tool shed next to it. A retaining wall about twelve feet high framed the other side of the street. Thomas glanced up and down the cul-de-sac and was about to turn back, when he saw a movement in the shadows.

He laid his hand on Eddie’s forearm and turned to him, motioning him to be silent, then pulled him into an entrance way. From their hiding place, Thomas peered out to the spot where he’d seen the movement. Had he imagined it or was somebody there?

He held his breath and waited, Eddie by his side.

A few seconds later, another shadow moved, and this time Thomas could clearly see the person. His aura identified him as a vampire, and the light that shone onto him from a streetlamp confirmed that he wasn’t anybody Thomas knew. He could be one of the newcomers Gabriel had mentioned.

Next to the strange vampire, another one appeared. They looked around, then moved toward the boarded-up building, when two more joined them. The first vampire pried one of the boards away from a window facing the construction site, then squeezed inside. The other three followed.

Thomas glanced at Eddie. “Ever seen those guys before?”

“No.”

“Let’s check them out.”

Carefully, they advanced on the building. Thomas checked his boot, where a silver knife was hidden in a protective sheath. Then he stuck his hand into his inside pocket, verifying that the wooden stake was where it was supposed to be.

Waving Eddie to follow him, he walked to the other side of the boarded-up house the four vampires had entered. Without making a noise, he walked around it, Eddie on his heels. All windows were nailed shut with sheets of plywood, but as he reached the back of the home, which opened to a small garden that was filled with building materials, he noticed an open door.

He approached it with caution, then pressed himself to the wall next to it and peered inside.

He heard voices.

“ . . . without the boss’s approval.”

“But that one’s ripe for takeover,” another tight voice said.

“I’ll advise him of it. If it fits into our plan, we’ll take it.”

Thomas strained to hear their low voices and felt a strange stirring in him. The dark power in him seemed to be awakening without any provocation, drawn out by the aura of the four strange vampires. He closed his eyes for a moment to try to push it back down.

“Never mind that. Whatever we can get, we’ll take it. The more we take, the stronger we’ll be when the time comes,” the second voice replied.

A sound behind him echoed in the night. He swiveled his head. A board on the heap of building materials Thomas and Eddie had passed closely only moments earlier had shifted and caused the noise. His gaze collided with Eddie’s, who motioned to the open door.

From inside, the voices suddenly stopped. The four strange vampires had heard the noise too.

Grabbing Eddie by the sleeve of his jacket, Thomas dragged him away, jumping over the low fence into the adjacent property. They were behind the construction site, facing another retaining wall.

“Shit,” he hissed under his breath. There was no way out from the back. They’d have to make their way through the partially constructed building, where they would be seen by the other vampires.

At the sound of footsteps, Thomas whipped his head to the side. The four vampires were already approaching, though he couldn’t see them yet. Which meant they couldn’t see him and Eddie yet either.

One thing was clear: the vampires would suspect that they’d been overheard. And they wouldn’t look at them kindly. “Gotta fight them,” he whispered to Eddie.