Free Falling to Ash by Karen Mahoney

janitor’s belt,’ he replied, flashing me a quick grin. ‘Remember, I’ve been here before – I know a staff pass when I see one.’
    I thought: He isn’t just a wannabe hunter, now he’s a thief. A pick-pocketing, vampire-hunting
thief
. He was even sneakier than me, which was a strange thing to realize. I kind of liked it.
    He operated the key-card and the door opened. ‘After you,’ he said, sweeping me a low bow.
    We ended up in a typical industrial basement. It was huge , badly lit, and smelled of laundry. It was clearly a storage room of some sort, which might mean . . . deliveries! I spotted an emergency exit all the way across the cavernous space before Jace did, my eyes adjusting to the darkness almost immediately.
    ‘Over there,’ I said, barely able to contain my excitement.
    But the very moment I spotted our potential escape route, the door we’d just come through rattled.
    ‘They couldn’t have gotten through here,’ a male voice declared.
    A woman replied, ‘I’ll be the judge of that. Just get it open.’
    I froze, like a rabbit caught in a wolf’s gaze, but Jace herded me over to what looked like a utility closet against the wall. He pulled open the door – thankfully, it swung open on well-oiled hinges – and nudged me inside, putting a finger to his lips before following me into the cramped darkness. The closet was empty apart from a long coat and several uniforms hanging from a rail attached to the ceiling. I wondered if I’d find Narnia if I kept walking.
    Two sets of footsteps marched into the delivery area, just as Jace pulled the door
almost
shut. He left it cracked open, probably to avoid the noise of closing it fully, but also so he could catch a slivered glimpse of what was happening outside.
    I could hear his quiet breathing in the confined space, and for once found myself glad that I didn’t have to breathe anymore. I never, ever believed I’d think something like that about my undead status. I leaned against the metal wall of the closet, trying to stay as far away from my companion as I could. At such close quarters, I became horribly aware of his body heat – and of the blood running through his veins. I was tired, hungry and freaked out by everything that had happened in the last couple of hours. Being so close to human warmth was making me twitchy. A faint silver light began to combat the gloom, and I realized that it was coming from me – from my eyes, as they responded to my hunger.
    Crap
. I quickly closed them and willed them to stop glowing, hoping that Jace hadn’t noticed.
    I felt, rather than saw, him turn to face me. I opened one eye and almost sank to the floor with relief when I didn’t repeat my inconvenient impression of a flashlight. I opened my other eye and we gazed at each other through the gap in the uniforms hanging between us. He didn’t look away – surprising, considering how furious he’d been when I’d somehow managed to slip inside his head earlier.
    Maybe Jason Murdoch was actually starting to trust me. Saving each other’s lives could have that effect, I guess.
    The two voices moved further away. Someone cursed as he – or she – tripped over something, and then the door opened and clicked shut.
    Jace nodded at me after waiting another minute. ‘Let’s get out of here.’
    We bolted from the closet and made for the exit. Jace carefully wiped the key-card for prints and threw it across the room as we pushed our way out into daylight.
    I blinked, grabbing my sunglasses from an inside jacket pocket as the sudden brightness burned my eyes. I could hardly believe they hadn’t been crushed in the fight with Zombie Rick.
    We were in some kind of parking lot. A couple of large delivery vans protected us from potential scrutiny, and beyond them I could see the tops of trees hiding where the main road would be.
    Jace checked left and right, then ducked back behind the shelter of one of the vehicles. ‘So, I guess this is it . . .