THE LAST VAULT

Chapter 1: The Man Who Should Be Dead The underground harbor trem bled. Jack Mercer tightened his grip on the iron compass. Across the old dock stood Victor Black, holding his black lantern. Beside him was the mysterious older man. Jack couldn't stop staring at him. Clara held the old photograph beside the lantern. She looked at the picture. Then at the man. Then back at the picture. "It's him," she whispered. Sam shook his head. "That's impossible." The photo graph was more than twenty years old. The man in it had been standing beside Edward Mercer and the other original guardians. Yet the stranger standing before them looked almost exactly the same.