Seize the Night: New Tales of Vampiric Terror by Charlaine Harris, Tim Lebbon, David Wellington, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Dan Chaon, Brian Keene, John Ajvide Lindqvist, Kelley Armstrong, Michael Koryta, Scott Smith, Joe McKinney, Laird Barron, Rio Youers, Dana Cameron, Leigh Perry, Gary A. Braunbeck, Lynda Barry, John Langan, Seanan McGuire, Robert Shearman, Lucy A. Snyder Page A

Kristen said, mock horror in her voice.
    “My apologies. If you’d rather scramble up those rocks and break your ankle, you’re more than welcome to join me.”
    “Chivalry at last.”
    It was hard climbing—he hadn’t been wrong with the word choice of scramble . The slope was steep enough that you had to work sideways at points and keep good momentum, leaning against the mountain at all times to avoid sliding right back down it. By the time they reached the first of the abandoned sites, both of them were covered in dust and dirt and sweat, breathing heavily. Out over the western range, the first thunder rumbled, and the wind that had blown all day had gone flat, the basin beneath them still and silent.
    “We’re pushing it,” Jim said, but those shafts of light were still dappling the mountainside, and he had the chance he’d come for. In the gathering dusk, the rusted remains of time gone by seemed all the more haunting.
    He shot a fast series of pictures, working to capture those light bridges, knowing that they wouldn’t last long, and then moved in for close-ups of the entrance. Sorry, the adit . He’d never heard the term before, but the old-timer had been sure enough about it.
    “How long ago were these active?” Kristen asked. She had tied her shoulder-length blond hair back and he could see trails along her neck where sweat had wiped the dust clean. His own shirt was plastered to his back. It was going to be ripe inside the tent tonight.
    “The thirties, I think. Late twenties, early thirties. A last-gasp effort. No gold, and whatever copper ore they found was costly and difficult to remove.”
    “So they just . . . left.” She moved toward the gate while he paused to change lenses, and his head was down, turned from her, when she gave an abrupt, pained shout. “ Shit! ”
    “What happened?” He looked up to see her holding her right hand under her armpit, fat red drops of blood falling into the dust.
    “Those bars are sharp . I barely grazed it, but it cut me pretty well.” She held up her hand, and the gash down the center of her palm was long and bright with blood. Kristen had a high pain threshold, didn’t like to show when she was hurting, but at the sight of this cut, she winced and turned her face away.
    “That’s going to need stitches,” Jim said, coming closer and eyeing the rusty bars. “And I sure as hell hope your tetanus shot is up to date.”
    “It is. But I’ll need to clean this out and get some butterfly bandages on it. We’ve got those, right?”
    “In the kit. Come on, let’s head down.”
    “No, no. Finish your work. We didn’t hike all the way up here to waste it on a little blood.” Her palm was pooling with it, and she gave her hand a shake, flung the blood through the bars of the adit, dappling the dusty rocks beyond. “I’ll be fine. Finish your work.”
    “We should stick together,” he said, thinking of the stranger who’d helped them with the gas, of that warning that these mountains were the real deal.
    “The tent is right there ,” Kristen said, gesturing with her uninjured hand. And it was. A long way down, but plainly visible.
    “Okay,” he said. “I’ll finish up. But make sure you don’t clean that cut out near the tent. Walk down at least as far as the stream.”
    “You want me to crawl inside the bear bag tonight?” she said, a faint smile rising.
    “This one is no joke,” he said. “Bears can smell blood at unbelievable distances. I’m serious, Kristen.”
    She lifted her bleeding hand, palm out, and gave a solemn nod. “I swear to uphold the bear-country accords, captain.”
    He watched as she began to descend and then thunder boomed again, closer now, and he knew that he was running out of daylight. He finished the lens swap and then turned back to the mine, thinking that her blood would add a nice, creepy touch to an already creepy spot.
    The lens showed no blood inside the iron gate. Jim blinked and pulled his head away