No one dared move. I looked over at Aidan for a split second. He simply looked stunned. It was the most human reaction I had ever seen on his face. Aidan first looked down at the pile of ashes and bone, then up at me.
I lowered my bat, but didn’t dare let go of it, not without knowing what would happen next. I walked over toward Allorah, but she was already grabbing for one of the larger devices hanging on her belt.
“Put it down,” I pleaded.
“Why should I?” Allorah said, looking at me. “Do you see what you’ve unleashed on this city?”
“I haven’t unleashed anything,” I said. “They’ve always been here. And for all that time, we’ve fought them. But it’s been over two years and you haven’t heard a peep out of them. Did you ever stop and wonder why?”
“It’s clear,” Allorah said. “They’ve been building up resources, biding their time.”
Brandon stepped forward. “My dear lady,” he said, “I assure you. If we wanted people dead, we certainly wouldn’t be stopped.” He paused, then his eyes widened. “I remember you.”
Allorah looked at him with caution. “Sure, pal.”
His face was heavy, his tone falling to somber. “You’re Allorah Daniels,” he said. “The one who killed Damaris. The teacher.”
I thought back to the vision I had had of their meeting twenty years ago. Allorah had never seen Brandon with his human face, only the hideous monster version of it, but when Brandon said the word “teacher,” Allorah’s face went gray.
“You!” she growled and ran for him. She unsheathed a vial from her belt. I wasn’t sure what concoction it might be from her lab, but it was probably bad news. I jumped in her way. She stopped and swung for me. Allorah had twenty years of fighting practice. I had a few years of street fighting and about a year of practical training. The female Enchancellor knocked me on my ass in an instant and I rolled a few feet away. Jane ran over to where I slid to a halt, helping me up.
“Stop it,” I shouted. “Enough fighting.”
This was not working. Allorah was almost to Brandon, who made no move to defend himself. “I accept your punishment,” he said, as if twenty years of penance could suddenly be solved with his death.
I grabbed Jane by the hand. “Follow my lead,” I said and dragged her straight into the eye of the storm, landing us sandwiched right between Allorah and Brandon.
“Move it, Canderous,” she said. “The monster accepts his fate.”
“Listen,” I said addressing the whole crowd as much as I was her. “I’m not really sure how all this is going to go down, but you have to promise me… Whatever happens, talk to each other. I know there’s trepidation… and fear… mostly fear, but you have to believe me. Brandon and his kind are good people. They’ve been building a… new paradigm. You can’t just look at them in black and white, like the old horror movies. Trust me.”
Allorah laughed. “I stopped trusting you the second you switched sides. Now, out of the way.”
“You want to kill Brandon?” I asked. “Fine, but first… Jane! With me!”
I grabbed Brandon’s arm and dragged him away before Allorah could react. As ready to accept death as Brandon was, his body moved willingly with my lead. Jane grabbed his other arm and followed. It was near impossible for anyone to attack with the two of us acting as a sort of human shield to the vampire. I headed for the bank of monitors around the art installation at the end of the hall.
When we reached them, I pressed Brandon against them, took one of Jane’s hands, and put it on a monitor. “Broadcast this,” I told her. Jane nodded and put her hand against my face, connecting us. Then, just as Allorah reached us, I put one hand on Brandon and one hand on the Enchancellor. Pressing my power into both the undead and the living, I knew I wasn’t going to stay conscious for the whole event, but I at least hoped I could put on one hell of a show.
I felt Jane’s connection to the systems of the building, the way she communicated in a symbiotic manner with it. I felt it bent to my will through her, and I forced my psychometry into the pasts of both Brandon and Allorah, showing the gathered crowd everything I had seen of their lives interacting. Their loves, their passions, Brandon’s turn from darkness, the deep belief in their prophecy and even the bond that had been formed between the brothers Christos as a result of Brandon’s machinations. I felt my power waning, but I hoped it was enough as I fell to the floor, loving the cool of the marble against my face.
That coolness caused my eyes to flutter open and I looked around. Everyone I had been connected to was on the floor, slowly getting back up. I struggled to my feet and helped Jane, since I was far more used to these episodes of passing out than anyone else I knew in the Department.
By the time we were standing, Aidan, Connor, and the Inspectre had joined us. The rest of the gathered crowd still looked like they were digesting everything they had just seen.
I turned to Inspectre Quimbley. “I hope you believe me, sir,” I said. “I would never do anything I thought would hurt the Department.”
The Inspectre nodded his head. “I do, my boy.”
I looked over at Allorah, who had just managed to get back on her feet. “Please tell the Enchancellors about all this.”
Allorah looked stunned, but part of that eager darkness in her eyes was gone. They held a glimmer of what I had seen in them twenty years ago-hope. “I will try,” she said, “but I’m not sure how they’ll react to all this. I’m not sure how I’ll react to all this.”
“Then try harder,” I said. “Otherwise, the city streets will run with blood on both sides. We have a chance to stop that. A duty to stop that.”
The Inspectre turned to everyone from the Department. “Stand down,” the Inspectre called out to them. The team still looked a little unsure of what to do with the actual threat of vampires milling about with them.
Allorah turned to look at them now and cleared her throat. I’m sure sounding authoritative was part of the Enchancellor interview process. “By order of the Enchancellorship,” Allorah said, more sharpness in her voice than in the Inspectre’s, “stand down. You heard the Inspectre.”
That seemed to relax everyone nearby a little, but it still left our awkward little circle of mixed company uncomfortable.
“So now what?” I asked.
The Inspectre was first to move. He stepped forward, moving to Brandon, who remained stock-still where he was. The Inspectre offered Brandon his hand.
“I’m Argyle Quimbley,” he said, “with the Department of Extraordinary Affairs and senior officer in the Fraternal Order of Goodness.”
Brandon raised his hand and took the Inspectre’s in his. “A pleasure,” he said, very formal. “I’m Brandon… Walsh.”
The Inspectre cocked his head at him.
“I’ll explain it later,” I said.
“In a detailed report,” Allorah added. “A very detailed report. We may even have to start a division just for creating a report explaining all this.”
I winced. Brandon smiled, then looked at both Connor and me. “This is that red tape you were referring to?”
As Connor started introducing his brother, Aidan, around, Jane ran over to me. “You okay?”
“I think so,” I said. Other than the aches and pains, I was living, so I considered that a mark in the win column.
Jane pulled me off to one side. “You’ve got a little, um… Bea on you.”
I looked down. The bottoms of my pant legs were covered in her dust. My black boots were now gray. I looked to see if Aidan had noticed, but he looked too dazed by the events to be paying attention to me. Connor seemed to be distracting him with the mindlessness of intros.