"What about guns?" Katie said. "What if the place is surrounded by armed vampires?"

"Thomas has provided us with upgraded Nightingale armor," I said. "It'll stop the bullets."

"I'm gonna look ridiculous in that black unitard," Shelton said with a grumble.

"You can wear it under your clothes," Elyssa said, rolling her eyes. "It's skin tight and nobody will notice."

He groaned. Looked at Meghan. "How long does geek-boy's sister have before—uh—you know?"

Her lips tightened. "Not long. Hours at most, the last time I checked."

"And she's the same crazy vamp who helped kidnap your father?" Shelton said, shaking his head.

"I seem to recall a certain Arcane who tried to kidnap him, too, Shelton. Just before Felicia and her gang showed up."

"Man, you're never gonna let me live that one down, are you?" Shelton shoved the fedora back on his head, and stood up. "Guess I need to go put my bulletproof undies on."

I looked around the room. "Look, it's not the best plan in the world. We don't have any recon on the place, or certainty that Maximus and Barclay will be there. If anyone wants out, I won't blame you."

Ryland grinned. "Why would I want out? This is gonna be fun."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Stacey said.

A chorus of agreement went up from the others.

Elyssa took my hand and held it tight. "Guess we'd better get moving so you can be back in time for your sci-fi marathon."

I couldn't help but laugh.

It was go time.

Chapter 36

We piled into SUVs outside.

"I am pumped!" Ash said.

Nyte bumped his fist and said, "Dude, we're gonna show them what OP is."

Ash grinned. "Totally IMBA."

"What does that even mean?" Elyssa asked, climbing into the passenger seat.

"Gamer stuff," I said, wondering if I'd ever get to play a video game again. "OP stands for 'over powered', and IMBA is 'imbalanced'."

"And you're using this terminology in real life?" Katie said, sliding in next to Ash. "Kind of nerdy." She caught my eye in the rear-view mirror as I adjusted it, and winked. "Then again, I guess I'm surrounded by nerds."

Ash suddenly looked self-conscious as the cute blonde sidled up next to him. "Uh, yeah."

Adam and Meghan climbed in the third-row bench seat, closing the side door behind them.

"Ready," Adam said.

The door opened again, revealing Cinder. "May I ride with you, Justin? I believe my presence may cause discomfort to the others."

Adam slid over. "Come on in."

"Let's kick some ass!" Ash said pumping a fist in the air as Cinder took a seat.

"Woot!" Nyte shouted back, as the two performed a complicated series of fist bumps and handshakes.

I turned on the engine. Shifted into gear.

"Oh, wait," Ash said, a sheepish look on his face.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Can I run in and use the bathroom real quick?"

A few minutes later, we were finally ready to go.

The drive to Edgewood seemed to take forever, though it was only a few miles. We arrived about fifteen minutes before midnight. What used to be a school loomed large in the hipster neighborhood, its Gothic architecture practically shouting, "Vampires R Us." It lurked across the street from a popular bar and just down the road from a number of other popular restaurants.

As usual, crowds of late-night revelers wandered about, some in drunken hazes, while smelly bums and street artists competed for the spare change of passers-by. If anything went wrong, at least the Custodians might be able to convince any eyewitnesses it had been an alcohol or drug-induced hallucination.

The moment I stepped out of the van, déjà vu punched me. Fear gripped my chest. I felt claustrophobic. The memory of straps tightened around my body, of being held helpless to the depravities of Maximus and his ilk replayed in my mind. Never again. A hand touched mine. I jerked. Saw Elyssa's concerned gaze. Only then did I realize how hard my heart beat in my chest. How tight my lungs felt despite my rapid breaths. Her concern softened to understanding, and yet she said nothing. Instead, she smiled.

The weight in my chest lightened, and a deep breath cleared the fear and apprehension.

I smiled back.

My senses tingled. There were vampires nearby, of course, but they weren't the only ones. It didn't take long to spot random people who looked out of place in the buzzing night life, their faces too serious and too sober to be anything but Templars.

"Looks like my father isn't taking any chances," Elyssa said. "This place is surrounded by Templars."

"So I noticed."

Ash and Nyte climbed out, faces somber, eyes nervously glancing around at the crowds. I knew how they felt. Elyssa had inserted red contacts into her own eyes, and braided her hair. Underneath her skinny jeans and a tight long-sleeved graphic T-shirt, she wore the upgraded Nightingale armor like the rest of us.

I was just thankful it didn't bunch up in the crotch.

Even with the armor as a security blanket, I still didn't feel all that secure. I stared up the long driveway at the looming headquarters of Herbert Lipschitz, aka Maximus. Anger and determination filled in the cracks left by uncertainty and slowly overwhelmed the sense of doom. It was time to pay this jackass back for everything he'd put me through. For what he'd done to Felicia. For all the innocent lives he'd taken with the vampling curse in his narcissistic quest to become a big shot.

Bella and Shelton walked across the street to us.

"Put this in your ear," Bella said, handing me something.

I nearly shouted as the thing she put in my hand squirmed. A small worm wiggled in my palm. "Are you kidding me?" I said. "I'm not putting something alive in my ear. Haven't you ever watched horror movies?"

"We thought about going with a standard earpiece," Shelton said. "But when we got here, Bella and I ran a few tests. Maximus has this place warded against electronic eavesdropping."

"Dash Armstrong probably warded this place to the gills," I said. "I guess the magic doesn't go away when you die, huh?"

Bella shook her head. "I know it's undesirable to put a worm in your ear, Justin, but it's quite harmless. It will coil up near your eardrum and stay there and will come out when we're done. We'll be able to communicate with you then."

"It won't control my mind or anything nasty?"

Shelton laughed. "Kid, this ain't no mind-control worm, alright? I save those buggers for people I really hate."

My face wrinkled with disgust as I put the wriggly little dude into my ear. The feeling as it slithered inside was almost unbearably creepy.

"Please don't make me put one in my ear," Ash said.

Nyte's horrified expression indicated his agreement to the sentiment.

"Have one for me?" Elyssa asked.

"We only had time to charm one of these," Bella said, an apologetic expression on her face.

Shelton nodded. "That, and it requires a specific kind of worm." He looked thoughtful for a moment and said, "Although maggots work. I could probably find one in a dumpster—"

"No," Elyssa said, recoiling with a grimace. "I think I'll be fine, thanks."

Bella and Shelton shared amused looks.

"Can you hear me?" Bella said, speaking into her wand as if it were a microphone.

Her voice echoed in my ear at a normal volume. I nodded. "Loud and clear."

She gave me a hug. "Good luck, dear. You're going to need it."

Shelton shook my hand. "Try not to get yourself killed, all right?"

Katie kissed Ash on the cheek. Smiled. "Please be careful, okay?"

Ash looked like he was going to pass out. "Y-yes." He took a deep breath. "Maybe after this is over we can, uh, like maybe see a movie or something?"

A smile lit her face. "I'd love to."

His chest seemed to swell, and pleasure flushed his skin. "Sweet!"

Ash, Nyte, Elyssa, and I walked up to the tall iron gate surrounding the building.

"Hold it there," said a man in a black suit as he came out of the guardhouse. "What's your business?"

"Seeking higher purpose," Nyte said, giving him what I assumed was the pass phrase.

The man looked us over. Motioned for a woman to come out of the gatehouse. "We gotta frisk you."

He approached, pulling on latex gloves as he did. "I will now check non-sensitive body areas." He ran his hands along my arms, chest and legs. "I'm about to touch you with the backs of my hands in the sensitive buttock region," he said, and then proceeded to do so. He stood in front of me. "I will now touch you with the backs of my hands in the sensitive groin area."

Since when did vampires hire politically correct security guards?

Ash snorted, despite his best efforts not to laugh.

Backs of the hands or not, my manhood tried to crawl inside my body at the mere thought of this dude feeling me up.

By the time we made it through the gate, I felt thoroughly degraded, and figured everyone else felt the same way by the disgusted looks going around.

"Those guards are noms," Elyssa said in a whisper as we made our way up the long winding driveway.

I extended my senses and found other male presences nearby, unmasked, and definitely not vampires. Pretending to tie my shoelace, I glanced into the shadows to either side of the unlit driveway. The sight of a pair of night-vision goggles looking back from fifty feet away almost made me fall over backwards. The owner of the goggles held what looked like an M-16 diagonally across his chest with the muzzle pointed at the ground.

As I casually looked around, I spotted more and more such people. "Good god, they've got a small army here," I said, standing and brushing the knees of my pants off.