Darkest Night - Smoke and Shadows Part 12

Once in the hall, Tony headed straight for the elevator but Henry paused, turned, and said, "The spell you put on Tony, the one that took away his memory?"

"Yes," she answered warily, unsure of where the question was.

"It only lasted one night. I'm just wondering if maybe it failed because you didn't want it to last."

"You think I wanted to be threatened in my own home?"

"I think that, deep down, you wanted other people to know what was going on."

Her brows rose. "So you're a psychiatrist now? You have no idea what I want, Nightwalker!"

And the door slammed shut.

Tony parked Lee's motorcycle in its usual spot, pulled off the helmet, and stared at the cinder-block building that housed CB Productions. It was dark, deserted looking, but since the greater portion of it was windowless, that was hardly surprising. The exterior security lights around the office windows made it hard to tell for certain if anyone remained in the building.

At only 10:50, it was highly likely that the geeks in post were still at their consoles and entirely possible that at least some of the writing staff were hanging around the bull pen- although Tony wasn't entirely clear about what the latter might be doing at that hour besides drinking CB's coffee.

Chester Bane, the man himself, might be a problem. Rumor had it that he wandered the sets at night, in the dark."Blocking out new shows?" Tony asked.

The writer shook her head, bloodshot eyes flicking from side to side. "His last divorce really wiped him out; we think he lives in Raymond Dark's apartment."

"There's no bed. Raymond sleeps in a coffin."

"Your point?"

Not entirely believable, considering the source, but CB on set, for whatever reason, would be a problem.

One they'd have no choice but to deal with, Tony acknowledged as Henry parked his BMW in Mason Reed's reserved spot. Still, if worse came to worst, Henry could always do the vampire mind whammy on him.

"There's a door in the back," he said quietly as Henry came up beside him holding the jar of potion in both hands. "It's got one of those electronic security locks on it, but I know the code." Catching sight of Henry's expression, his face illuminated by the light coming off the liquid, Tony smiled tightly. "No, I'm not supposed to have the code, but I watched the key grip open up one morning and it kind of stuck in my head."

"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 pa.s.s 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 wasnt 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 wasnt 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."

"Because no one messes with what's yours?"

He could feel Henry's smile in the darkness. Knew how it would look, sharp and cold like a knife.

"Something like that."

A sudden line of gray below the exit sign warned them that the door was opening. For barely an instant, a body stood silhouetted against the night, then an arm reached in and around to the right. Way up above the heavy steel grids where the grips hung the heavy kliegs, banks of low-level fluorescents came on.

It made sense. Shadows needed light to survive.

Tony shrank back into the alcove as Lee hurried by. He looked like he had when he left that afternoon and that was a good thing. Probably. It meant the shadow was still there, but it also meant it had done no visible damage. He let Henry slip out first, knowing the vampire could stay close without being spotted-standard operating procedure for Raymond Dark and his sidekick. When Lee and Henry disappeared around one of the walls defining Raymond Dark's office, he followed, eventually catching up to Henry by the video village on the edge of the new living room set.

Lee stood near the couch, looking up toward the ceiling and trembling.

There was-although had Tony not known what he knew, it would have been easy enough to convince himself he wasn't seeing it-an arc of shadow rising up above the actor's head.

"The shadow's separating," Henry murmured, mouth close to Tony's ear. "But it seems to be taking some time."

"Yeah, it took some time getting in. Henry!" He'd set the potion on the seat of Peter's canvas chair and was walking across the set. "Where are you going?"

Henry stopped an arm's length from Lee and leaned forward, nostrils flaring. The possessed actor didn't move, didn't twitch, didn't acknowledge his presence in any way. "The separation seems to be keeping all senses occupied."

"It wasn't like that going in. Except..." Tony frowned, remembering. "Except that going in took most of the afternoon."

Henry glanced up. "If the gate's about to open, it doesn't have that kind of time. Nor, when leaving, does it need to fit itself into a complex template."

"Yeah, whatever." Tony glanced up as well. He swept his gaze across and back, up and down, over and out but couldn't see anything resembling a gate. He could see ... "Henry.

What destroys shadow?"

"Light."

He pointed.

"Arra's people would have tried something like that."

"Maybe." His lips pulled off his teeth in a pseudo smile, a smile he'd learned from Henry as it happened. "But they didn't have one of those babies." Not really caring if Henry thought it would work, he ran for the light board.

Sorge, the gaffer, and the key grip had completed a rough setup for the next day's shoot. The script called for a meeting in this living room on a bright, sunny afternoon.

Bright sunny afternoons in the middle of box warehouses required a lot of light. Most shows would use a couple of 10-K lamps, but at some point CB had acquired a high intensity 6,000 watt carbon arc lamp-speculation among the crew was that he'd won a bet-and the gaffer liked to use it for high contrast between daylight shots and the creature-of-the-night lighting they usually used. The actors hated it since it cranked up the temperature on the set. Lee had been heard to say, "To h.e.l.l with Raymond Dark, I'm about to burst into f.u.c.king flames." But it had been a major contributor to the "look" of Darkest Night.

Critics were split on whether or not that was a good thing.

As it was far too powerful for the enclosed s.p.a.ce, the gaffer had rigged it with its own dimmer; planning on starting low and then cranking it up until Sorge stopped him. His hands sweating so badly that he left damp prints on the plastic, Tony spun the dimmer around as far to the left as he could then hooked one finger behind the switch.

Turning, he could see only the outside wall of the living room. c.r.a.p. "Henry, let me know the instant the shadow's out of Lee."

"I'm not sure ..."

"I am. And you'd better get under cover."

"That had occurred to me."

It wasn't sunlight, but Henry's eyes were sensitive and . . . "What was that?" It felt as though his fillings were vibrating loose.

"I can't see anything, but I suspect it's the gate opening."

"The shadow?"

"Not quite free. Almost."

Needing to act or scream, Tony started counting the pulse pounding in his temples. One- two. Three-four. Five-six. Seven ...

"Now!"He didn't so much flip the switch as bring it along with him when Henry's voice jerked him forward.

Without fill lamps to soften its edges, the light slammed through the set like a battering ram. Even behind the beam, Tony's eyes watered.

Then the soundstage plunged into total darkness.

For a moment, Tony was afraid he'd gone blind. A moment later he realized it was only a tripped breaker and began stumbling back toward the set. Once he cleared the wall-not hard to find after slamming face first into it-the light from Arra's potion guided him to the two men in the center of the fake hardwood floor.

"Get his shoulders up," Henry instructed as Tony dropped to his knees. "We've got to get this down him."

Tony slipped an arm behind leather-clad shoulders and lifted. Lee was heavier than he thought he should be, as though some of the shadow lingered, weighing him down.

Don't be such a dumb a.s.s. He's a big guy, that's all. He looked like h.e.l.l, but that was probably the fault of the light source. Tony didn't need Everett to tell him that green and glowing complimented no one's complexion. Case in point: pouring the potion down Lee's throat, Henry looked demonic.

"Did it work? Did it destroy the shadow?"

"I don't know." Continuing to pour, the vampire managed a shallow shrug. "I wasn't looking into the light."

"Oh. Right."

"It was a good idea, though, something Vicki might have tried."

"Yeah?" Tony felt his ears grow hot and shifted his grip on Lee's shoulders to hide his pleasure. From the first time she'd hauled his fourteen-year-old a.s.s in off the streets, Vicki Nelson had been his hero, a cop who honestly wanted to serve and protect, a friend when he needed one, his entry into Henry's life. He wasn't sure she knew about that first part, the hero bit. He wasn't sure he wanted anyone to know.

Lee coughed and tried to shove the jar away, jerking Tony's wandering attention back to the matter at hand. The jar was about half full. "Does he have to drink it all? I mean, that's one f.u.c.k of a lot of vodka."

"Arra was nonspecific, but I think we should try to get as much as possible into him."

Henry's thumb stroked Lee's throat, coaxing him to swallow. "Good thing he's semiconscious or we'd have a fight on our hands. Vodka has no real flavor and this sort of herbal mix traditionally tastes as foul as it smells."

"He's getting a little more active!" Which was interesting considering the amount of alcohol they were pouring into him. "You don't think he's going to hurl, do you?"

"Hurl what?"

"Puke."

"Let's hope not."

It was taking all of Tony's strength just to hold the actor in place. A line of sparkling liquid ran down his chin, the tiny lights dancing over a hint of dark stubble. He spent a moment wondering what they were going to do in about thirty seconds when the last of the liquid disappeared, taking the light with it-Henry would have to find the panel-then a leather clad elbow caught him hard in the ribs.

"Perhaps we'd better change places.""Good idea," Tony gasped. "Let the guy with super vampire strength take the . . .

Henry?" He twisted around, following the line of Henry's narrowed gaze, to see a circle of light sweep the set behind him. From behind the light came the deep bellow of a familiar voice.

"What's going on in here?"

Chester Bane.

Wonder-f.u.c.king-ful. The rent-a-cop he might have been able to bulls.h.i.t. Looks like it's vampire whammy ti... Strong fingers grabbed his arm, hauled him to his feet, and threw him into the only available hiding place-the triangle of s.p.a.ce between the couch and the far wall.

"But Lee . . ." He protested against Henry's ear as the vampire landed beside him.