"I know – it was an operation carried out with military precision. Disabled the alarms, knocked out security, power. Used flash-bangs to startle everyone."
"He told me he has military training."
"He or one of his gang." Ed motions me to my bathroom. "Maybe you want to pack a small bag with your things. If you have nowhere else to go, we can put you up in a safe house."
"I'll call my friend Frances, from school. Maybe she can pick me up from the SCU when we're done. I," I say and glance around. "I can't leave my cats alone for too long – I'll have to get someone to come by and feed them and . . . "
"Don't worry about that now. We'll take care of the details later."
I go to my small bathroom and throw my few things that remain into an overnight bag.
I call Frances when we get to the SCU. She’s also a pre-med student. I'll stay with her rather than go to a safe house. When we arrive back at the SCU, Ed gives me a lecture about safety.
"He may be gone," Ed says, his voice soft. "Or he may still be in the city. If he is, you're not safe. I got the feeling he has a sweet spot for you. Whatever happens, don't let him bite you or in any way taste your blood. If he did that, you'd be tied to him. Don't let any vampire bite you unless it's to save your life. You do and they consider you theirs for life. They taste your blood, and they're connected to you. Word to the wise."
He can’t see my bite? Has Julien compelled him?
"Don't worry," I say. "That's the last thing I want." Of course, it's already too late. I'm his if that's the case. Not Michel's as I want to be. Or, as I thought I wanted to be. After reading the pages Julien gave me, I don’t know if I want either of them.
“He's very dangerous." Ed says, removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes. "But we'll get him, one way or the other." He puts his glasses back on and regards me steadily. "What's your assessment of what's motivating him? What is his goal?"
I put on my most professional face.
"We hadn't really gotten that far in the interview but I'd say he wants Dominion but he also wants to show how much smarter and stronger he is than everyone else."
"Yeah, but the thing is," Ed says ruefully. "He is."
"Do you think so?"
"Like other vampires, he has no fear. He doesn't believe he'll be defeated and he doesn't believe that the normal laws and morals apply to him, so he's free to do whatever he can get away with to achieve his ends. And most of the old ones are very smart. Above average intelligence. Julien? From what I heard he's fought in pretty much every war in the western world since he was made. He isn't stupid at all. Call your friend," Ed says. "Get her to come and pick you up. We'll put a detail on you, watch you in case he tries something else."
"He won't. He told me he was going out of town and wouldn't be back."
"Yeah, like I believe that." Ed leads me out of the interview room. "He'd like us to believe it and get all complacent with you. Then he'd come right back under our noses just to prove that he could and snatch you. Remember, you Adepts are like gold."
A week passes. I’m in lockdown mode at Frances’s apartment. I make two trips to my apartment accompanied by some Council guards assigned to me. The cats go crazy, rubbing against my legs, almost tripping me in their enthusiasm for my presence.
"I'm sorry, kitties," I say as I fill their water and food dish. "I won't be gone for much longer."
Tucked in the corner of my mirror in my bedroom is a card. I open it. One of my guards comes over to me.
"What is it?"
I hand it to him. A card a huge white peony in the center. Beneath it black script.
'Remember me.'
Ed calls me at Frances's place later that afternoon.
"I take that as an indication he doesn't want to forget you," he says. "He must have snuck into your apartment when one of our guys wasn't looking. We're searching your apartment for anything else, a bug or something but so far, nothing's shown up."
"Thanks." I feel strangely violated knowing that Julien had been inside my apartment again. "I think it means he's actually leaving town. Why else ask me to remember him?"
I hang up.
Later, before supper, I go to the window in France's apartment and see the unmarked car on the street – Ed insisted on having the apartment watched 24/7. Frances is at work and isn't due back for an hour or so. I call one of the guards and ask if he'll take me out for a while.
"Where to? We have to call in for our log."