Neville:

All around me the world thundered with laughter and energy. It felt like I had a thousand volts shooting through my veins, like me and my boys were all juiced up and ready for battle. Shadows sparked off the polished walls as we descended, luminous in our dark, pretty-pretty cocoons, ready to burst forth, ready to break through the paper-thin walls and earn eternal butterfly wings.

Two more flights and we would be there. Floor 33. The suite that ’sitter shared with his Newbie.

Legs pumping, feet stomping. Dusky, sweet laughter ringing. Soon the stench of decay would be wiped away.

“Heres it is, boss.” Seth held the door open, a raw eagerness in his First-Timer eyes. The boy was a puppy, but he was well trained.

I rewarded him with a grin and a cuff to the head, which the boy easily dodged. Then Seth stopped, cocked his head to one side, lifted a finger to his lips.

I raised my hand for everyone to be silent.

We could all hear it now. Somebody was running down the stairs, a floor or two below us.

I nodded and pointed to Seth. “Go checks it out,” I said. “Then meets us back up on the roof.”

The boy took off, a hound after a fox, loping down the stairs, two at a time.

Then I slammed through the open door, led my boys over carpeted floors.

“Quiet now,” I reminded them. “And loads yur darts. We’s almost there.”