We’re so excited to bring you this exclusive outtake from Sylvain Reynard’s The Shadow! This book will be available February 2nd, 2016.

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July 2013

Florence, Italy

Professor Gabriel Emerson stood outside the Uffizi Gallery, staring.

Darkness had fallen on the city of Florence and Gabriel, distressed and perplexed by the theft of his precious artwork from inside the famous museum, was searching for answers.

Inspector Batelli and agents from Interpol had descended on the Gallery like the wrath of God, swarming the grounds in uniforms and dark suits. But they found no signs of forced entry, no indication the security systems had been compromised, and more mysteriously, no fingerprints or physical evidence of any intruder.

Several weeks after the theft the investigators were gone. The Botticelli illustrations of Dante’s Divine Comedy had disappeared without a trace and Gabriel was left standing outside the building feeling angry that he and Julia had been robbed of their prized possessions – possessions that probably would never be returned.

The Uffizi was a multi-storied, U-shaped building. Gabriel stood in the center of the U, his blue eyes assessing. Yes, there were dark alleys near the Gallery, but lights on the sides of the building illuminated the area. There were few entrances, but many windows. Not all the windows could be opened, however.

And there was the terrace.

On top of the Loggia de Lanzi, was a small rooftop terrace that opened from the second floor of the Gallery. Patrons of the museum went to the terrace to admire views of the Piazza Signoria below or Brunelleschi’s great dome that loomed in the distance.

Gabriel moved to the side of the Loggia in an effort to examine the terrace from the ground. One could certainly climb to the terrace, but one would still be faced by locked doors and the security system if one tried to enter the building after hours.

Gabriel walked to the bottom of the U and looked up at the Vasari corridor, which led from the Uffizi, across the top of the Ponte Vecchio, and over to the Pitti Palace, which lay on the other side of the Arno River. The corridor was a possible point of entry into the museum, but it had a security system and was punctuated by a series of locked doors, each of which had a special key. The corridor would not have been a thief’s first choice.

Gabriel gazed down at his shoes and the stones beneath them. There were tunnels and hidden passages beneath the city. The Uffizi was no exception. Most of the tunnels were impassable as well as rat infested. Still, if the thief was working with someone inside the Gallery …

A light breeze lifted from the direction of the Arno, then, in an instant, it was gone.

Gabriel shifted his weight and began to examine his surroundings more closely. Somehow, he felt the weight of a pair of eyes.

He heard music coming from the Piazza Signoria and elected to walk toward it.

Someone bumped into him. Hard.

The Professor went sprawling backward, the air knocked entirely out of his lungs.

Stunned, he looked up and saw a dark figure standing over him. The figure had a familiar face.

“A warning.” The man addressed him in Italian, with a soft and steely voice. “This is my city.”

It took a moment for the Professor to regain his breath, but when he did he scrambled to his feet. “Is your name Florence?”

The man scowled.

“I’ve killed for lesser insults.”

The Professor positioned himself like a boxer, fists raised. “You’ve never faced me before.”

The man laughed. “Such hubris. I know exactly who I am facing. You are alive only because of her.”

The man’s eyes darted to the wedding ring the Professor was wearing. In the light from the Gallery, the platinum glinted.

The Professor’s expression hardened. “Leave her out of it.”

“She will be left alone, provided you abandon your search for the illustrations and leave Florence.”

The Professor opened his mouth to protest, but the man interrupted him. “This is your final warning. The next time I see you, I’ll kill you. Then I will hunt what is most precious to you.”

The dark figure blurred past the Professor and disappeared down a narrow street to the left of the gallery.

Gabriel searched the courtyard for any witnesses.

He was alone.

“Julianne.” Her name was an anguished cry on his lips as he broke into a run, speeding toward the Gallery Hotel Art.

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Sylvain Reynard is the author of Gabriel’s Inferno, Gabriel’s Rapture, and Gabriel’s Redemption, as well as the new Florentine Series, which includes The Prince, The Raven, and the forthcoming The Shadow, which releases February 2^nd.

Sylvain can be found on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and SylvainReynard.com.