Chapter One Three I was back. Surrounded by darkness, two blurry forms crouched before an open safe, hidden behind a large, hinged bookcase. They breathed heavy, working at a feverish pace to find what they had searched for the past months. One of the men froze, and al movement stopped. He leaned further into the safe, using both hands to pul out a thick, leather bound book. “That’s it. Dear God, that’s it,” Jack whispered. Every corner of the room held a warning. Lit only by the moonlight filtering through the blinds of a single window, antique swords and axes hung on the wal s, bordering hand-painted landscapes of war and death. The air was stale, lacking human lungs to circulate it. I had been there many times before, but my hands stil trembled, knowing the panic would begin soon. It was coming, but I couldn’t stop it. It would play over and over like I was stuck in time, in a bad dream—or in Hel . Jack’s fingers ran over the branded seal in the center, and looked to his friend. “Are you sure you want to do this, Jack?” “Are you sure it’s her, Gabe?” Jack replied. Gabe nodded slowly, and then Jack continued with a sigh, “Then you know the answer.” Hearing what Jack’s human ears couldn’t, Gabe’s