“It’s been around for almost a hundred years,” Latham said. He looked at Cade. “Is it like you? A vampire?” “No,” Cade said. “It’s worse.” “Awesome,” Latham muttered.”

“This is not a man,” Cade said, his voice like a crypt door slamming. “In almost a hundred years, I have seen it shot, stabbed, drowned, burned, decapitated, dismembered and buried. And in almost a hundred years, there’s only been one thing that’s ever been able to kill it.” “What?” Latham asked, his voice squeaking. Cade’s eyes speared every agent in the room as he answered: “Me.”

“Questions?” Cade asked, pointing at the file where Zach had stuffed it into his messenger bag. “Yeah,” Zach said. “Any chance I can go back to D.C.?” “Any useful questions?” “Do you think it’s really the Boogeyman that killed Brent? You think it’s back?” “I sincerely hope not.” “When you say things like that, I start to cry a little on the inside.”

“What did you think of him?" Cade asked."Give me some credit," Zach said. "Guy’s more full of shit than a duck pond.”

“Couldn’t you hypnotize her or something?""It doesn’t work like that.""I thought vampires were all sex gods with the ladies."Cade looked at him. "What gave you that idea?""Uh ... late-night TV, mostly ...""Humans are our food. Do you want to have sex with a cow?”

“Cade seemed a little too sure of his conclusion from too little evidence. “Cade. If you knew something I didn’t, you’d tell me, right?” “I know a lot of things you don’t, Zach. We don’t have that kind of time.”

“And when the man who commanded a nuclear arsenal and the greatest military in history was frightened, it meant that something other than human intervention was required. That, unfortunately, was part of Zach’s job every day now. That was where Nathaniel Cade came in”