I looked at Aidan, hoping for an answer.
“Don’t ask me,” he said, shrugging. “I’m still the new vamp on the block.”
“Fine,” I said. “You’re invited in.”
Aidan stepped forward. The second he walked through the doorway to the main office area, he stumbled and reached for the wall to steady himself. Connor went to him, grabbing his other arm to help.
“You okay?” Connor asked.
The vampire looked a bit weak in the knees. Even his customary fake breathing became labored. The skin on his face and hands looked a little more drawn-out than usual, like a plastic bag that had been overstuffed. He looked up at his brother with bloodshot eyes.
“Crossing the threshold, it was like walking through a windstorm,” he said. “I feel… funny.”
“Even with my invitation?” I said.
Aidan nodded, then closed his eyes as he stood there trying to pull himself together.
Connor looked up at the walls of the office, and my eyes followed. Mystic symbols were carved into the heavy plaster that lined the older part of the office space back here. “Looks like Greater and Lesser Arcana have been earning their keep around here,” Connor said. “Even though you invited my brother in, the protective magic is thick in these walls.”
Aidan looked like he could use a nap. Jane looked worried.
“You think he’s going to be okay?” Jane asked.
Connor’s brother opened his eyes and forced himself back up to a standing position on his own.
“I don’t need your pity,” he said.
I put a hand of warning on his shoulder. “It’s nice to see that your general vampiric disdain for humanity is enough to bolster you,” I said.
“Go easy on them,” Connor said to his brother. “They’re just looking out for all of us. It’s risky bringing you here, more so for us than you. The paperwork alone will eventually kill us.”
I turned to Jane. “Speaking of paperwork, I’m sure Wesker has a metric assload of it waiting for you. You’d better put in at least an appearance with him. I told them you were out of town and I forgot to file the paperwork for you. They seemed to buy my filing ineptitude as an excuse…”
“Nice,” Jane said, leaning over to kiss me. She started off toward Greater & Lesser Arcana, waving to our group. “Good luck with the Inspectre. Let me know how it goes. I’m going to put in a few hours, then head on over to help Nicholas and see if we can crack the computers now that I have an insider’s view.”
Once Jane was gone, Connor turned to me, a look of concern crossing his brow. “You sure you’re okay with this?”
“Hey, if I’m to put any faith in their Encyclopedia Vampirica, I’m the great uniter,” I said, starting off through the office. “Just do your best to play human while you’re back here, Aidan. And keep an eye out for Allorah, Connor. I don’t need her going all Van Helsing on us.”
“You know,” Aidan said, falling into step behind me and speaking in a whisper, “not mocking our sacred books will go a long way to extending your life.”
We walked on in silence through the office. All around us business went on as usual and very few people paid us any attention. And why should they? By now I was well on my way to mastering the art of deception when it came to visiting the Department and Aidan was doing his best to play human. A few well-placed nods and hellos, and the three of us were already heading upstairs to the Inspectre’s office.
When we reached the top of the stairs, I turned to Aidan. “Let us go in there first, okay?”
He nodded.
The Inspectre’s door was open, and when I knocked, he looked up from his desk. When he saw it was Connor and me, he stood up.
“Gentlemen,” he said, nodding. “Connor, good to see you.”
“Hello, Inspectre,” Connor said.
“You’re looking well,” the Inspectre said to him, and it was true. The Connor beside me was much better than the beaten wreck I had rescued from the church graveyard several nights ago. Shaven, clean-cut, even a little chipper knowing his brother was alive. “Vacation suits you.”
“Thanks,” Connor said, looking a little uncomfortable after his long absence from the office.
The Inspectre noticed the lone figure standing in the doorway and peered at Aidan. “Friend of yours?”
“Something like that,” I said, gesturing for Aidan to enter. He came forward slowly. Whether it was from nerves or the effects of the protective runes of the Department, I wasn’t sure. “This is Aidan. Aidan Christos.”
The Inspectre looked at Aidan, then at Connor, his brow furrowed in disbelief. He shook his head.
“My boy,” he said, “we’ve been over this when you presented your case concerning Connor’s mental well-being the other night. Connor’s older brother has been missing for at least fifteen years by now. This fellow looks much younger than…”
The Inspectre stopped himself, taking a step back as the only logical answer hit him full-on.
“Show him,” I said to Aidan, suspecting that what I was about to unveil to the Inspectre was already forming in his own head.
Aidan looked across the desk, pulled back his lips, and, with some effort, popped his fangs.
The Inspectre, seasoned though he was, hitched in a breath of air. “I see…” he said, a bit stunned in his tracks. All things considered, he was remarkably calm.
“As you can imagine,” Connor said, “we’ve had a lot to catch up on.”
The Inspectre nodded, still entranced. “I’m sure you have.”
There was a gentle rapping on the door and all of us turned with a start. Allorah stood in the doorway, a small stack of file folders in her hand. She gave a polite smile to us all when she saw us standing there. “Am I interrupting something?”
Allorah’s smile disappeared in an instant when she saw Aidan’s fangs. Her face became a mask of fear and anger.
“Argyle!” she said, her voice sharp. “What is the meaning of this?”
“Calm down, lady,” Aidan said, rolling his eyes.
She turned to me, her face angry. “You thought it wise to invite a vampire into our ranks, Mr. Canderous?”
I nodded, trying to find the words to tell them about the prophecy, that things would be okay. But before I could speak, I was interrupted.
“This is the one safe haven we have from things like… him,” Allorah fired back. “And you, Agent Canderous, have betrayed that.”
The venom in her voice was thick, but the Inspectre held up his hand.
“Hear the boy out, Allorah,” he said, raising his hands in a calming gesture.
“No,” she said, her eyes darkening as her arms began to shake. “I’ve seen his kind. I know what they’re capable of.”
Allorah dropped her files, reaching for her necklace, but she must not have put it back on after I read off it yesterday, and her hand came away empty. She turned in the doorway, and stormed off toward her lab, leaving her files scattered on the floor. The Inspectre came around his desk, staying clear of Aidan as he went.
“Nice lady,” Aidan said, retracting his teeth so he looked human again.
“God,” I said, turning on him. “Could you be a little less flip? This is a delicate situation.”
He shrugged. “If you’re the so-called great uniter, it shouldn’t matter how I act, now, should it?”
Connor walked over to the file folders and started picking them up. “He’s got a point,” he said.
“Enough out of the two of you,” I said. I turned to the Inspectre, who was already to the door. “Sir?”
“I’ll work on Allorah,” the Inspectre said, pausing to address us. “The three of you? Get out of here while you can.”
There was disappointment in his voice. That hurt me more than anything had over the past few days. Without another word, the Inspectre shot out of the room and headed off down the stairs after Allorah.
“I could stop them,” Aidan offered. “I think. I’m not sure. I still feel… off.”