“They’re fresh out of the packaging when we all believe in right and wrong, and that we can save the world. Your faith is always shinier before it gets a good test run.”
“But not stronger,” he said.
The comment surprised me from Edward, but I nodded and said, “No, not stronger, just newer.”
“Your cross didn’t go off either, you know.”
“When no one’s cross worked at the door to the station, I didn’t think to draw mine. I might have, but about then he went out the door into the sunlight. I’ve never tried to trap a vampire between a cross’s glow or burning to death in sunlight. I think I’d go for the cross first, if it were me, but once it gets dark the crosses will be the only glow they need to fear. Besides, Damian was right beside me; when some of the vampires are on our side, holy objects are a mixed blessing.”
“If I’d brought my flamethrower, that wouldn’t be true about the glow.”
“You’ve almost burned one house down around us. It’s left me not a fan of your flamethrower.”
“You’re never going to let me forget that, are you?”
“Nope.” I smiled when I said it, but I meant it.
Edward wanted me to go off with one of my people and try to heal my wounds with a little sexual healing before I did anything else. “It will take time for Pearson to get permission for you to do a demonstration to peacekeepers he doesn’t have under his direct charge.”
“How much time?” I asked.
“Make it a quickie, thirty minutes or so; they won’t have everything organized before that.”
“I knew there was a reason we were friends; I like a man who considers thirty minutes a quickie.”
He grinned. “Twenty minutes in a pinch, but you’re not just having sex; you’re trying to heal a wound made by something supernatural. That might take more time.”
I double-checked with Pearson, but Edward was right; it was going to take time to get all the Gardai’s ducks in a row. Apparently someone had recorded us shooting the burned vampire to pieces in the street with a smartphone. It was all over the Internet and it looked pretty brutal, so the upper management of the local constabulary wasn’t sure how much more help they wanted from the Americans. When I pointed out that they’d probably want the Americans on their side come nightfall, he’d said, “No one making this decision saw the vampires in person today. None of them have even walked into a crime scene or seen a victim in person. They don’t want to believe what’s happening to our city.”
“They better believe and fast, Pearson, because we all need to make plans to try to keep Dublin from going up in blood and vampires tonight.”
“I know that, Blake, but I’m not the one ultimately in charge.”
“Are you actually saying that the powers that be may send me and my people home tonight rather than let us stay and help you fight?”
“It’s not a fight, Blake. It’s a crime to solve.”
“We know who’s behind it, Pearson. We just need to find her and make sure she can’t do this again.”
“We only have your vampire’s word that it’s his old master, Blake. We have no proof that we can take into court. We can’t arrest her unless we catch her hurting people personally.”
“Are you honestly saying, with Flannery and his people telling you the same thing that Damian and I are telling you, that it’s not enough to convince your boss’s boss that we just need to find her before nightfall and end her ass?”
“They aren’t comfortable with the American solution.”
“American solution . . . Shit, Pearson, you saw what just one vampire did to your . . . peacekeepers today. What do you think is going to happen when night falls and she can control that many vampires?”
“I can’t prove that will happen, Blake, and neither can you.”
“If they wait until tonight to plan a response, it’s going to be a bloodbath. You know that.”
“I have been very clear about what I believe is happening and will happen tonight, but you have to understand we have never had vampires here. We’re Irish; we can usually make friends with any supernatural element that comes our way.”
“Yeah, just a magical minority. I get it, but, Pearson, the Fey are scared, too. They don’t know what’s happening to Dublin, and they’re worried it’s going to spread from here to other cities.”
“The gentle folk are part of the discussion with my superiors.”
“And they still won’t budge?”
“They’re budging, but not as fast as you are wanting.”
“It’s not what I want, Pearson. It’s what’s needed.”
“Perhaps, but I have to go through channels, Blake, and if you, or any of your people, act without clearance from us, then your likelihood of being escorted out of Dublin and to the airport when we need you most is almost a given.”
“I’d like to say you’re joking, but I know you’re not.”
“We do things differently over here, Blake.”
“All bureaucracies are the same, Pearson. We’ve just had longer to deal with the problem in my country.”
“No, Blake, one of the reasons that we preferred Forrester to you is that even your own FBI hasn’t invited you to lecture and help train their agents. Even your own countrymen consider you more likely to resort to violence. Plus, you are a beautiful woman who is completely comfortable with violence. That unnerves some people almost more than the necromancy.”