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Ms. Nance’s eyes narrowed. They were pale blue, not as pale as Amelie’s, but kind of faded, like jeans left in the sun. “Mr. Glass is in conference with the dean,” she said. “I’m afraid you’ll have to—”
The door at the far end of her office opened, and Michael came out. Claire’s heart practically melted with relief. He’s okay. Michael’s okay.
Except that he closed the door and walked straight past them, a man on a mission.
He walked right past Eve, who stood there flat-footed, mouth open, fear dawning in her expression.
“Michael!” Claire yelped. He didn’t even pause. “We have to stop him!”
“Great,” Ha
It helped that Michael wasn’t actually ru
His blue eyes were wide-open, but he just didn’t see them. He sensed an obstacle, at least, and paused.
“Michael,” Claire said. Dammit, why couldn’t I have tranquilizers? Why? “Michael, you can’t go out there. It’s already morning. You’ll die.”
“He’s not listening,” Ha
“Michael? It’s me. You know me, don’t you? Please?”
He stared at her with utterly blank eyes, and then shoved her out of his way. Hard.
Ha
Claire hesitated, but Ha
The soldier didn’t hesitate. He grabbed the radio clipped to his shoulder and said, “Admin to Morrell.”
“Morrell, go.”
The soldier unclipped the radio and silently offered it to Claire. She took it—it was heavier than the walkie-talkies—and pressed the button to talk. “Richard? It’s Claire. We have a big problem. We need to stop Michael and anybody else . . .” How could she say vampire without actually saying it? “Anybody else with a sun allergy from going outside.”
“Why the hell would they be—”
“I don’t know! They just are!” The image of Officer O’Malley on fire leaped into her mind, and she caught her breath on a sob. “Help us. They’re going out in the sun.”
“Give the radio back,” he ordered. She handed it to the black-uniformed man. “I need you to go with this girl and help her. No questions.”
“Yes sir.” He clicked off the radio and looked down at Claire. “After you.”
She led the way back toward the hallway. As they reached it, there was a crash of glass, and Ha
Michael walked over her. Eve was hauling on his arm, trying to hold him back, but he shook her off.
“We can’t let him get outside!” Claire said. She tried to grab him, but it was like grabbing a freight train. She’d forgotten how strong he was now.
“Out of the way,” the soldier said, and pulled a handgun from a holster at his side.
“No, don’t—”
The bureaucrats scattered, hiding under their desks, dropping their coffee to hug the carpet.
The soldier sighted on Michael’s chest, and fired three times in quick succession. Instead of the loud bangs Claire had been expecting, there were soft compressed-air coughs.
And three darts feathered Michael’s chest, clustered above his heart.
He still took three steps toward the soldier before collapsing in slow motion to his knees, and then onto his face.
“All clear,” the soldier said. He took hold of Michael, turned him over, and yanked out the darts. “He’ll be under for about an hour, probably no longer than that. Let’s get him to the dean’s office.”
Ha
Ms. Nance took one look at them and moved smartly to the door marked with a discreet brass plaque that said DEAN WALLACE. She rapped and opened the door for them to carry Michael through.
Dean Wallace was a woman, which was kind of a surprise to Claire. She’d been expecting a pudgy, middle-aged man; this Dean Wallace was tall, graceful, thin, and a whole lot younger than Claire would have imagined. She had straight brown hair worn long around her shoulders, and a simple black suit that was almost the negative image of Ms. Nance’s, only somehow less formal. It looked . . . lived in.
Dean Wallace’s lips parted, but she didn’t ask a question. She checked herself, then nodded at the leather couch on the far side of the room, across from her massive desk. “Right, put him there.” She had a British accent, too. Definitely not a Texas girl. “What happened?”
“Whatever it is, it’s happening all over,” Ha
Dean Wallace thought for a second, then pressed a button on her desk. “Ms. Nance? I need a bulletin to go out through the emergency communication system. All vampires on campus should be immediately restrained or tranquilized. No exceptions. This is priority one.” She frowned as she got the acknowledgment, and looked up at their little group. “Michael seemed very rational, and there was no warning this would happen. I just thought he had somewhere to go. He didn’t seem odd, at least at first.”
“How many other vampires on campus?” Ha
“Some professors of course, but they’re mostly not here at the moment, since they teach at night. No students, obviously. Apart from the ones Michael and Richard brought in, we have perhaps five in total on the grounds. More were here earlier, but they headed for shelter before sunrise, off campus.” Dean Wallace seemed calm, even in the face of all this. “You’re Claire Danvers?”
“Yes ma’am,” she said, and shook the hand Dean Wallace offered her.
“I had a talk with your Patron recently regarding your progress. Despite your—challenges, you have done excellent course work.”
It was stupid to feel pleased about that, but Claire couldn’t help it. She felt herself blush, and shook her head. “I don’t think that matters very much right now.”
“On the contrary, it matters a great deal, I believe.”
Eve settled herself down next to the sofa, holding Michael’s limp hand. She looked shattered. Ha
“We’ve told all students and their parents that the university is cooperating in a government emergency drill, and of course that all weapons are nonlethal. Which is quite true, so far as it goes. The issue of keeping students on campus is a bit trickier, but we’ve managed so far by linking it to the emergency drills. Can’t go on for long, though. The local kids are already well informed, and it’s only a matter of time before the out-of-town students begin to realize that we’re having them on when they can’t get word out to their friends and relatives. We’re filtering all Internet and phone access, of course.” Dean Wallace shook her head. “But that’s my problem, not yours, and yours is much more pressing. We can’t knock out every vampire in town, and we can’t keep them knocked out in any case.”