"This is not the time to judge my Dramione shipping," I told her. I pointed my finger in her face. Ophelia made a halfhearted snap at it, clicking her teeth together far short of my digit.
Jane's mouth dropped open as she stared at Ophelia. "You having what seems to be a normal, affectionate friendship unnerves me. I am officially unnerved. Anyway, I will also be getting in touch with your friends and family. I will need a list of names and contact info, including your next of kin, so I can notify them." She cleared her throat, picking up her pen. "Also, I'll need a list of those Dramione fanfic Web sites."
Ophelia snickered.
"If they have any clue that I'm down here, my closest friends are probably upstairs, trying to chisel their way through your sunproof doors to get to me," I told Jane. "I have a few other friends on campus, a few Facebook-contact-only friends back home, but no family. You probably noticed that the emergency contact space on my enrollment form was blank."
///
"I thought maybe you were bad at paperwork or being snotty toward your parents or something. So you have no family?" Jane's face softened for a second. "Not even a distant cousin who would count as next of kin?"
"My foster parents made it pretty clear that there was no need to keep in touch after the last check from the state cleared," I told her.
Her lips pursed so hard that she seemed to be clenching them around her teeth. "Do you have any questions for me?"
"Oh, loads of them."
"Can we start with the simple ones?" Jane asked.
"What was that whole ‘Protocol: Jupiter Ascending' thing before? Of all the Channing Tatum movies, you picked the one where he's a space werewolf with magical flying boots?"
Jane snickered. "Oh, as the highest-ranking Council official in western Kentucky, I have the right to name any security protocols I design myself. And I name mine after horrible movie bombs that the actors regret making. You know, because they wish those movies were secret."
I nodded. "I respect that."
"Great. Everything else you're going to have to ask on the drive home, because sunrise is just a little too close for comfort," Jane said. The door opened, and one of the UERT goons carried in my blue suitcase and my laptop bag. My chest constricted painfully at the sight of it, but I tried to write the sensation off as Ben-related heartburn. "Ophelia packed your bag for you. Anything else you need can be shipped to Half-Moon Hollow."
"Can't I say good-bye to Morgan and Keagan?"
"No. For one thing, you're not supposed to be awake yet. And we don't want you biting them, so we can't trust you to say good-bye in person. " Jane told me. "I don't have room in my house for any more accidentally undead coeds."
"Rude."
Jane snapped her notebook closed. "Well, prove to me that you can be trusted around people without biting them, and I won't have cause to make jokes at your expense."
"Meagan, I'll see you soon." Ophelia reached across the table and squeezed my hand, which in the realm of Ophelia gestures was practically a bear hug. "If you need anything at all, you have my number. And I don't give that number to anyone I don't want to talk to."
"She really doesn't," Jane muttered. "It took Jamie's intervention and a court order before I got it."
I stood and picked up my suitcase. Considering how light it was, I wondered if Ophelia had packed anything at all. I unzipped the suitcase and saw that it was crammed full of all my favorite jeans, pajamas, and sweaters. So why . . . oh, right, I had superstrength. That was weird.
"Just one more thing, Jane," Ophelia said. "Can I see your phone?"
Jane lifted an eyebrow but handed Ophelia the device. Ophelia held the phone up to eye level and squinted with concentration. The phone crackled with a loud, staticky zhing noise and a burst of light.
Ophelia smiled brightly and handed Jane the smoking hunk of plastic.
"I see you've discovered your vampire talent," Jane muttered.
Ophelia chirped, "Yes, I have. Jamie was right. I just needed to relax a little bit and focus on something other than Council business and raising Georgie, and it came to me, just in time for me to mess with you. Which is a side bonus."
Jane tossed her smoking phone into a wall-mounted box marked "Hazardous Materials." Her tone was as dry as the cafeteria's toast. "I'm so thrilled for you."
3