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appeared impossibly long, impossibly sharp.

    David grabbed the edge of the door and pulled it closed— or he would have if his foot wasn’t still positioned dead center with the door, keeping it from popping shut. He pulled his foot back.

    Taksidian’s fingers circled around the edge of the door.

    David felt the door slipping away from his grasp. He tightened his grip and pulled. Before Taksidian could get his other hand on the edge and yank with the power of both arms, David did the first thing that came to his mind. He shifted his legs under him, rose to his knees, and sank his teeth into Taksidian’s fingers.

    The man howled. David opened his mouth, and the fingers flashed away through the opening. He yanked at the door, closing it.

    A warm, scentless breath came up from the floor, down from above, circling around from the sides of the pantry, washing over him. Darkness came with it. The floor under his knees vaporized. For an instant, he felt as though he’d been dropped off a cliff. Then solid ground formed under him. Not so solid, actually: it was the gravelly bones of the chamber. They crunched beneath him.

    “David!” Toria yelled.

    The flashlight beam shined in his face.

    “What just happened?” Keal said.

    David sprang up and reached for the man. “Get me outta here!” he said. “Don’t let me fall back!”

    Keal grabbed him and began hoisting him through the opening.

    Wind swirled behind David, whipping through the hair on the back of his head, fluttering his shirt. He glanced back and saw what he had only imagined earlier: a vampire, its face and hands ghostly white drifting out of the darkness toward him.

    But it wasn’t a vampire— “Taksidian!” David screamed, scrambling to get his legs over the wall, clawing at Keal’s shoulders to pull himself out.

    Hands clasped over his ankles, yanking him back a few inches.

    “Hey!” Keal yelled. Squeezing David tighter, he threw himself backward.

    David felt like the rope in a tug-o’-war. Then his feet slipped through Taksidian’s grip, and he flew through the opening. He felt long, bony fingers on his calves, squirming over them, trying to sink into them. David pulled his legs up, felt the fingers slide over his ankles and heels, snag the top of his sneaker, and slip away. He fell on top of Keal, who landed hard on his back.

    Keal tossed him aside. David rolled, looking back to see Taksidian half out of the opening, his body bent over the remaining wall. He was still reaching, clawing for David. The man snapped his twisted face toward Keal. Taksidian’s eyes flashed wide, then narrowed into a squinty glare. He looked between David and Keal, as though figuring out whether he could still get David, determined to do it regardless of anything else.

    Keal leapt up, the sledgehammer miraculously in his hands. He hoisted it back.

    Taksidian jerked sideways. The hammer struck the blocks beside him, kicking up sparks and dust. Keal pulled the hammer back. As he swung it, Taksidian pushed off the wall, back into the chamber. The hammer cracked against the wall. A block disappeared into the blackness beyond. Keal hefted the hammer back again and waited. He reversed a step.

    “Come out of there!” he yelled. “Hands first! Show me your hands.”

    Nothing. Not a sound. No movement.

    Keal waited. Finally, he said, “David . . . ?”

    “I got it,” David said. He rose and took the flashlight from Toria. Shining it into the opening, he stepped closer.

    “Careful,” Keal said.

    One more step, then up on his tiptoes. He raised the light, moved the beam around through the opening. “He’s gone,”

    David said.

    “Maybe,” Keal said. “Maybe not.”

    David moved closer. “I can see the back wall and the floor.”

    “Okay, come here.” Keal held the sledgehammer out to him. “Trade with me.”

    The hammer was heavier than it looked, and it looked heavy. David pushed it up over his head, as though it were a barbell.