"Well, Dr. Fortescue killed a couple of them outside our house. Between that and the creepy concrete possums in front of the Possum's Nest, they declined the honor of rescuing you."
"Hurtful but understandable," I said, nodding. "How did you find me?"
"After we found the ashy blood smear in the Possum's Nest, I got your missed call, and we took the chopper home. I arrived to panic and chaos because you were missing, Fitz was bleeding out, and UERT members were dead. I felt this searing pain in my arms and in my head. I could see the warehouse, what you were seeing. And there aren't that many abandoned warehouses in the Hollow. Between that and the tracker in your phone, plus the information you relayed through your intentional butt-dial, you made it pretty easy for us."
"So that's my vampire power? I can put pictures in other vampires' heads if they're mind-readers?"
"No, I was able to see it because I was near Ben, and he felt it and saw it. I think your talent is specific to each other, like walkie-talkies-which is limited but fun. We can run some nonpainful tests if you'd like."
"I'm almost afraid to ask." I sighed. "But Fitz?"
"Is in surgery. Iris got him to a great emergency vet who was willing to work late. He says Fitz has a really good chance. Now I just have to explain why I used a Council helicopter to medevac my dog to Lexington."
"Oh!" I exclaimed, throwing my arms around Jane. "Oh, thank God. I thought he'd died right in front of me."
Jane stiffened at her first voluntary hug from me. She relaxed against me and patted my back. "This is nice," she said.
"All this because they wanted the quick route to being undead," Gabriel mused, sneering at the lab setup.
"Was it really so hard to find someone to turn them?" I asked Jane, breaking away from her.
Jane shrugged. "Sometimes vampires can sense the desperation in someone, and they don't want to shackle themselves to such a needy, clingy childe. Or maybe the doctor just annoyed most of the vampires he came into contact with, which is just as likely. Maybe he just did it to satisfy his own twisted curiosity.
"The question is, what do we do with it? You two need to decide whether you want that research to be used. Dr. Oxmoor said she would be willing to trash all of her papers. And I believe her. Before she worked for us, she worked for the CDC's committee on medical ethics. She's seen what can happen when research goes wrong."
"Is it really up to us?" Ben asked. "What sort of good could come from more neovamps?"
"An answer to our sensitivity to daylight," Jane said. "Less traumatic transition periods. Stronger, faster, smarter vampires, which in the right hands would be great . . ."
"But with the wrong person," I finished for her, "a vampire who can turn a bunch of people with just a nip and possibly walk around during the day, faster and stronger than other vampires, would be a disaster."
"Exactly."
"Burn it," I said. "It ends with us. There are natural checks and balances that keep vampires in this spot on the food chain. We don't need to mess with that."
Ben nodded. "I agree."
"You know, you'll have to keep what you are a secret from anyone we don't know and trust," Jane said. "For the rest of your lives. You won't be able to tell anyone about your lack of reaction to sunlight. The way you were turned. You definitely won't be able to sire more neovamps."
"We understand," Ben assured her.
"But that doesn't mean that you can't find your purpose in other ways," she said. "Think about it. You can do things that none of us can do. There are things you could accomplish for the Council-secretive, nonevil things-that would be helpful to the entire vampire community. Daytime missions, security, influencing certain human agitators to suddenly move to another hemisphere."
"Like spies?" I guessed.
"Or superheroes?" Ben asked, his eyes alight.
"Something like that," Jane said, nodding. "If that's something that interests you, I'd like to discuss it with some of the more trustworthy upper-level Council reps, to determine where you could be useful, on an as-needed basis. It wouldn't be your full-time gig, just an on-call situation. I would make it a condition that your work would only start after you graduate. I want you two to have your degrees to fall back on. Besides, who knows what sorts of abilities you'll develop over the next few years? You would have to remain under my supervision and work from my office, so you don't have to move away from home. You two have already had enough upheaval in your lives. You're part of my family. And I will not let anyone take advantage of my family. But I'm not about to hold you back from your potential, either. I just want you to reach that potential in a safe, well-supervised way . . . close to me."