“Well,” Godfrey said, “not that I’ve seen much action in the field other than that whole Fashion Week zombie thing, but I know this. If something acts like a human and feasts on a human, it’s fairly evil in my book.”

As I mulled over his words, the sound of approaching footsteps rose up. Two sets of them, from the sound of them.

“What’s evil?” a familiar voice said from behind me.

I turned to see Allorah standing there, several files folded across her chest neatly in her arms. Next to her stood Thaddeus Wesker.

“Oh,” I said, covering, “no one in particular. We were just having a general discussion on the nature of evil. You know, deep, ponderous thoughts on the universe.”

Allorah looked skeptical, but smiled. “I see. You look exhausted.”

“I am,” I said. “I’ve been putting in a lot of hours and helping out a friend of mine on the side…”

“Just remember,” she said, her smile disappearing, “you’re on salary, and the Department doesn’t pay you for overtime.”

“That was very Enchancellory of you,” I said. The words stung my heart and my wallet. “Thanks for reminding me.” Standing there with Wesker and Allorah, every nerve in my body wanted to scream out VAMPIRES, and I felt like I needed to get out of there… fast. “I should be going. You all probably have business to discuss…”

I went to walk past the two of them as I headed for the stairs, but Wesker held one of his arms out, stopping me. “Actually,” he said, “Allorah was looking for you.”

“Me?” I asked.

“Yes,” Allorah added. “The Inspectre tells me that you are seeing someone from Wesker’s Greater and Lesser Arcana. Jane Clayton-Forrester?”

“God knows what she sees in him,” Wesker added.

My discomfort was immediate. “Is that against the rules or something?”

“Not at all,” Allorah said, pressing her handful of folders into my arms. I took them from her. “But she was the one you were with when that monster attacked you in the grocery store, yes?”

I nodded.

“I’d like to talk to her about the incident as well,” she said. “Get her account of the details. Perhaps there’s something you missed that she caught.”

“Oh,” I said. “I just thought it was easier if I filled out one report on both our behalves…”

Allorah shook her head. “You thought wrong.”

My face fell. Allorah stepped closer to me and lowered her voice. “Just be careful how you conduct yourself while in the office,” she said. “Working for this underfunded department is tough enough without adding constant worry for the safety of a loved one to the list.”

The faraway look in her eyes and the concern on her face told me she was talking about something more than just Jane and me being a couple, but I wasn’t going all After-School Special on her, especially around Wesker.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” I said. “Thank you. By the way, what are these?”

“The rest of the results came back on the lab work I was running,” she said. “There’s something viral in all that drool I sampled off your clothes and I need you to look through these case files to see if you notice anything familiar. There are sketches of some of the potential creatures it could be, a few pictures. I need you to get back to me on it as soon as possible. We’ve got some mobilizing to do if we’re going to isolate this vampiric menace.”

Yer barking up the wrong tree, lady, I thought. The last thing I wanted to do was sit down to discuss vampires with someone who was hunting them, for fear I might get Aidan killed in the process by giving something away. Still, it was some comfort that Allorah was busy being distracted by a hunt for the monster from the grocery store.

Wesker cleared his throat and even though he was hiding his beady little eyes behind his sunglasses like some sort of sinister David Caruso, I could feel them burning into me with disdain. “Apparently, your girlfriend didn’t report back to work after our brunch meeting. You don’t happen to know the particulars of her whereabouts, do you?”

I bought some time by straightening the pile of folders in my hands while I thought of what to say. I couldn’t exactly tell them that Jane wasn’t at work because she had been sucked into a high-tech building’s computer systems while we were doing a little unsanctioned investigation that led to the discovery of vampires, now, could I?

“I haven’t seen her, either,” I lied. “I think she had some personal days coming to her and was catching an afternoon flight to visit some of her family back in Kansas. You know what? Come to think of it, she was having a little trouble sorting out all the paperwork for the time off and I was helping her. My bad, Director Wesker. Dammit if I didn’t leave it sitting on my kitchen counter back at home.”

Wesker stared at me, his eyes boring into me with scrutiny, but I didn’t dare look away.

“You’re lying,” he sneered.

I did my best to look gob-smacked.

“You are!” he said, raising his voice.

“Gentlemen,” Allorah said. She put on her stern Enchancellor voice. “I think it’s best to keep the peace between Other Division and Arcana by playing liaison in getting to the bottom of this.” She sighed. “I hope that I don’t have to waste my time running fools’ errands to maintain Departmental harmony. Mr. Canderous, make sure you file her personal-days request with the proper departments as soon as possible.”

“Will do,” I said, waiting to be dismissed. “Thanks.”

“And see to those files I pulled for you immediately.” Wesker’s wicked smile burned into me. He took a perverse pleasure in my suffering. Some people, even the supposed good guys, were just wired that way. We all stood there in silence for a moment as the rest of the archivists’ world continued working all around us.

“Well?” Allorah said finally, waving me away toward the stairs.

“Of course,” I said and headed off to the surface world again. It was a hotly contested question today as to who was causing me more suffering at the moment-the actual threat of vampires or the threat of what might happen trying to save Jane, Connor, and his brother. One thing was for sure-there was no way I was asking the Department for help, not with Ms. Pokey McStabberson on staff.

I managed to make it out of the Department and the Lovecraft Café without running into the Inspectre. I felt a little ashamed avoiding him, but not enough to actually seek him out. Happy to be out of the Department, I walked down through the Village heading for home and dreading looking through all the files Allorah had given me. Around West Third, my phone went off in my pocket with a short burst.

An incoming text. I flipped it open.

HEY HON, from an unknown number

JANE? I typed back.

WHO ELSE SILLY?

WE FOUND CONNORS BROTHER. HIS FRIENDS ARE WORKING ON GETTING YOU BACK.

IVE SEEN HIM.

THE BROTHER?

YES. THIS BUILDIN IS COMPLEX BUT I CAN TIE IN TO SOME OF ITS VIDEO SYSTEMS.

REALLY?

YES. IVE SEEN YOU TOO. I MISS YOU.

I MISS YOU TOO. WE WILL GET YOU OUT OF THIS.

HURRY. SO TIRED.

TIRED?

HIDING FROM THE SYSTEM IN HERE. IT SEEMS… ALIVE. I THINK IT KNOWS IM HERE. SOMEONE PLANNED THIS. Then, a final TIRED and nothing after that.

I stared at my phone for several minutes, hoping for something more, but found only disappointment.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I closed my phone, overwhelmed by a strong and sudden depression, and hurried home.

I keyed into my apartment and went down the hall to my bedroom. I threw down my shoulder bag and pulled out the red resin heart I had bought Jane right before she had been sucked into the machine world. I sat down and put my other hand to Jane’s pillow. I pushed my psychometry into it, my power crackling to life and pulling me back to the past. I guided myself back in time. A vision of Jane that was as clear as any HDTV picture resolved in my head, the sounds and sensations of her voice talking to me the night before.