Page 93 of Edge of Darkness (Night Prowler 4)
Fireworks exploded behind his eyes. He staggered, and the ground came up hard to catch him.
Then there was only blackness, and the sound of satisfied laughter, quickly fading to silence as Dante was swallowed by the dark.
The sound of a ringing phone dragged Ember from the restless sleep she’d finally fallen into just after sunrise.
She lifted her head, blinking against the bright sunlight that spilled through the tall windows along the east wall, and yawned, looking around. She was in Christian’s vast, sumptuous bed, alone; he was nowhere to be seen.
The phone rang and rang and rang. She finally spied it, an old-fashioned black rotary model on a desk across the room. She called out Christian’s name and waited, but heard only the shrill ringing of the phone in answer.
She was nude—her pajamas were probably still shredded on the floor of the library—so she pulled the sheet from the bed and wrapped it around her as she crossed the room. Feeling a combination of anxiety, dread, and ambivalence, she laid her hand on the receiver and stood there debating with herself as the phone continued to ring.
Should she answer it? Should she go back to bed? Should she pretend to be the maid to whoever was calling?
Her mind seized on that idea and curiosity got the better of her. She decided that yes, she would be the maid and take a message for whoever was on the line.
She picked up the phone. Just as she was about to say hello, Christian’s curt voice came on the other end.
“Yes.”
He’d answered it from somewhere else in the house. They’d picked up at the same time. She was just about to hang up when she heard a masculine, accented voice, very similar to Christian’s, but darker, much more tense.
“A goddamn answering machine wouldn’t be too much to ask!”
“I was outside in the garden. Watching the sunrise. It took me a minute to come in.”
Christian’s voice was calm and unapologetic, and for some bizarre reason, Ember was proud of him, standing up to whoever this arrogant caller was without even getting ruffled.
The arrogant caller made a disgruntled sound that also managed to sound full of fondness. “Watching the sunrise? How terribly romantic. Going soft in your old age, brother?”
So this was Christian’s older brother, Leander. Ember’s fingers tightened around the phone. She had the sense to press the mute button, so no sound could be heard on her end. There was no way she was hanging up now.
“You have no idea,” replied Christian.
There was a pause as Leander absorbed that. Then he said, “I got your message. So you found the son of a bitch.”
Ember’s heart screeched to a stop inside her chest.
Christian softly exhaled and made a noise of agreement.
“Tell me everything.”
There was a command in Leander’s voice, gentle but absolute, with a note of assumed compliance. Clearly, this was a man used to being obeyed.
“I caught the scent purely by accident. I’ve been near the spot before, but the wind was right last night, and I got lucky. They’re in an abandoned bunker complex in the hills above the city.”
“Bunker?” Leander sounded surprised.
“A remnant from the Spanish Civil War.” Christian’s voice turned grudgingly admiring. “It’s perfect, actually. Good visibility from within, well-concealed from the outside, easy to protect. There are probably hidden exits all over the place, too. And, from what I was able to gather from the Internet, the network of tunnels and chambers beneath those bunkers are extensive. There’s plenty of room for them to grow.”
“But how are they keeping out of sight? A place like that seems like it would be crawling with tourists, history buffs—”
“The government cordoned off the whole area with barbed wire decades ago. Apparently there are unexploded land mines all over the place, left over from the war. They don’t have enough money to do the necessary clearance and cleanup, so they just blocked it from public access.”
“Jesus,” said Leander. “How long can a land mine stay live?”
“Not sure. The government’s plan is just to leave the area untouched until all the mines are defunct, but in the meantime—”
“It’s a perfect hiding place for a nest of rats,” Leander finished, his voice hard.
