'There you are. Back in the land of the living.'

And Blake, trying hard to return to some kind of reality, had said, 'Where am I?'

And Falcone had smiled. 'The end of the world, my friend. There's nowhere else but the Atlantic Ocean all the way to America. Hellsmouth, that's what they call this place.'

He'd started to laugh as Blake lapsed back into semiconsciousness.

Time really had no meaning. His bandaged right shoulder hurt as he sat on the seat, arms tightly folded to try and preserve some kind of body heat, and yet his senses were alert and strangely sharp so that when there was a clang behind him and the grille opened, he sat up.

'Hey, there you are, Dottore. Still with us,' Falcone said.

'And fuck you, too,' Blake managed.

'Excellent. Signs of life. I like that. Out you come.'

Falcone got a hand on the collar of Blake's shirt and pulled. Blake went through the opening and landed on his hands and knees in the corridor. Russo was there, a smile on his ugly face.

'He don't look too good.'

'Well, he sure as hell stinks. Wash him down.'

There was a hose fastened to a brass tap in the wall. Russo turned it on and directed the spray all over Blake's body. It was ice cold and he fought for breath. Russo finally switched off and draped a blanket round Blake's shoulders.

'The boss wants to see you, so be good.'

'Sure, he'll be good,' Falcone said. 'Just like that nice little wife of his in Brooklyn was good.'

Blake pulled the blanket around him and looked up. 'You did that?'

'Hey, business is business.'

'I'll kill you for that.'

'Don't be stupid. You're on borrowed time as it is. Let's move it, the man's waiting,' and he pushed Blake along the corridor.

They climbed two sets of stone steps and finally reached a black oak door bound in iron. Russo opened it, and Falcone pushed Blake through into a baronial hall, stone-flagged, with a staircase to the left and a log fire burning on a stone hearth. Suits of armour and ancient banners hung from poles. There was a slightly unreal touch to things, like a bad film set.