Incredibly, the massive explosion rattled the school's foundations, but they stayed upright. Vampire Security guards rushed past Gregor, Kyle and I as we huddled in the corridor, Kyle's arm slung over my shoulder as he kept up a steady, soothing rhythm rubbing it.

"You're an idiot," he said, the insult without sting. "You look as if you've just gone ten rounds with a UFC champ. Why did you go in there?"

"I couldn't not," I said. Imagine if Mirac had been one of those kids. When the hairs on the back of my neck stuck straight up, it hit me. This must be what parents are meant to feel—fierce, overwhelming Tiger mother protectiveness towards their offspring. I sent Mirac a silent apology, and hoped he wouldn't begrudge me for the late onset of the maternal instinct in the years to come.

Next to me, Gregor shuffled. Welcome to parenthood.

"What happened in the houses?" I asked Kyle, uncertain if I wanted to hear the answer.

"We destroyed most of the vampires," Kyle said, "and there are a lot of injuries but no fatalities."

Phew. That was something.

"But they got their teeth into one girl, so she'll need to be transferred out. She's fourteen, so it could be worse."

While the laws of Dunrovia now permitted newly converted vampires to stay in the same area as their families, that vampire could not stay at the Garshake Estate thanks to the numbers of unvaccinated children and young people who lived there. Kyle considered it okay to leave home at fourteen. I recalled myself at the same age and knew I would have loathed it.

"I want to find out what they found in the basement," Gregor said as he struggled to stand up, wobbled and fell back down again. We were both still recovering from that massive adrenaline rush

Ross, Keir snuggled tightly in his arms, wandered over and stopped at my feet.

"Aye, well, thanks for all you did."

"No problem," I replied. He looked as if he'd been crying, overcome by the almost-loss of his son.

"I didn't vote for you because the Liberal Life Party is shite and you're too up your own arse," he added. "But maybe I might next time."

And with that, he drifted off.

Gregor's mouth twitched. Kyle's did too.

"Well," Gregor said, "what a fine lesson in how to do a backhanded compliment."

Cheryl marched up to us, her mouth puckering in dismay when she took in our appearance. Outside the school, chanting started up. Libs, libs, libs! Out, out, out!

Oh-oh—that all too popular protest chant. The crowd would blame our government for this, as people attributed the attack to the softening of rules and regulations around state-licensed vampires. Unfair because we treated vampires who did not sign up to the programme the same way the last government had done so, and yet it made no difference to perception.

Loosen the rules around state-licensed vampires. Attacks by unlicensed vampires increase.

A Vampire Security chief, the SIO stamped on his cap, approached Cheryl.

"We've checked the basement," he said, "and found the remains of three blackened bodies."

Those poor kids. That teacher. The silliness of the last few minutes trickled away. When Cheryl and I exited this building, the crowd would turn on us. Who could blame them?

"Any sign of destroyed vampires down there?" she asked. Explosions rarely killed vampires, though heavy-weight masonry scattering everywhere slowed them down, and occasionally you got lucky if railings or metalwork pierced their chests and went straight through their hearts.

The SIO shook his head. "No. The blast blew out a small hole at the rear of the basement and we think they escaped that way. We checked the estate. It is vampire-free."

The chants outside upped in volume. The crowd must have found out how many people had died.

Cheryl rounded on the SIO. "Make sure," she said, her forefinger jabbing him on his chest, "that you appear in my office first thing tomorrow morning with a report about why Vampire Security's response to this incident was so inadequate. You may have the contract for security services here. Do not assume that will last much longer."

He snatched off his cap all the better to glare at her. "Who did you award the building contract for this school to? Not us, even though Vampire Security has years of experience designing public buildings for those who are unvaccinated. My team tells me the lighting in here did not work properly. And that the vampires ripped that basement cover up like it was a sheet of paper."

He stomped off.

Cheryl hung her head. "Oh, God, is he right?"

"No," I said, even as the seed of doubt he'd planted took root. "There weren't enough guards here, and they screwed up the start of the operation. Cheryl, I've been thinking..."

She glanced up again.

"The cure," I said, "doesn't this make it more it more critical we concentrate on picking Lois and Mabel's brains, so that we can produce one and persuade as many vampires as possible to take it? I know the group that attacked today weren't state licensed, but if our community had so many more humans than vampires in it, wouldn't that skew things much more in our favour?"

Kyle's hand on my shoulder stilled. I altered my position so that I could see his face.

"I know you think this is because of Justin. Hand on heart it isn't. As we can't get hold of all the chemicals we need for the vaccine, coming up with a cure might be a lot easier and cheaper, and then we wouldn't need to rely on driving through policies that stop Sunshine Health's control over the vaccine."

Sunshine's Health's budget for lawyers and lobbyists was vast. The company used them to fight us every step of the way we took to strip them of their monopoly power. And while governments had access to decent lawyers too, we didn't have nearly as many of them.

"No," Cheryl snapped. "Look around you! This would not happen in a normal school where the children do not need this level of expensive protection. In the long run, it's far more effective and cheaper to concentrate our energies on a mass vaccination programme. For God's sake, you must understand that."

The flare-up took me aback. My cheeks, already flushed from what we'd gone through earlier, flamed. Cheryl and I had always got on well, me often acting as the broker between her and Kyle.

Her personal assistant wandered over and whispered something in her ear, the words deepening the lines between her eyebrows.

"I have to go. I'm sorry I was short with you, but it's the truth. And in the meantime, there are hundreds of furious parents outside demanding an explanation and reassurance this will not happen again. Persuading them to send their kids to this school in the first place was hard enough. No-one will let their children anywhere near here now."

She pushed back her shoulders and headed outside. The noise of the chants swelled as the doors opened and closed behind her. Above us, the whup-whup-whup of a helicopter cut through the air. Vampire Security or the press. Whoever was in it would enjoy Cheryl's discomfort as she stood in front of the crowd as they yelled abuse at her.

"Cheryl's right," Gregor said. His second attempt to stand up worked, although the trembling in his legs was visible as he straightened up. "Think long term. Vampires have been with us for centuries. They won't disappear overnight."

Amelie, accompanied by Nell, swung into the corridor and raced towards him, flinging herself into his arms, diverting me for a second or so. Was Amelie Angus's mother...?

Over Amelie's shoulder, Gregor's blue-green eyes met mine. Piss off. I'm not telling you. Anyway, do you mind if I leave you to the happy family reunion with Jonathan Dupont. He's of no interest to me.

God. In all the pandemonium of the last hour, I'd forgotten all about our father.

*****

Ryan had tightened his grip on Justin when Cordelia showed up on the phone screen as Justin twisted in his seat, desperate to throw him off, eject him and his bitch boss from the van and drive as fast as he could to the Garshake Estate.

Carly let the film play out for another few minutes. The camera angle showed very little, but the sounds it picked up made him grind his teeth. Thumps, screams and explosions all too vivid. When the screen blanked, it came as a relief, albeit a temporary one.

"What's to stop me going to the authorities and daubing you two in?" he asked. Experience had given Justin no faith in Dunrovia's police force, but if he turned up at a station and told them about two people who'd tried to poison a baby and might have helped trigger an attack by an unlicensed vampire, they ought to take him seriously.

"Excellent question," Carly replied. "But you forget I once worked as the Head of Security Services in Dunrovia. That means I'm well versed in leaving no evidence behind, and how to disappear when necessary."

"And," Ryan jumped in, "we continue to make life as unpleasant as possible for your ex-girlfriend."

He smiled at Justin in the mirror. One head reflected that reminded Justin of those hideous nodding dog toys people used once upon a time as a car accessory. The thick neck, tendons standing out cord-like, indicated regular steroid use. No wonder he was so freakin' strong. One day, though, Justin would...

... destroy him.

But revenge had to wait. For the moment, he would need to pretend to go along with Carly's orders. As he didn't know where Griffin had hidden the chemist and was yet to find a lab for her, he had plenty of time to dream up ways to thwart Carly and Ryan.

"Fine," he muttered. "I'll do what you want."

"Good boy," Carly said, "now how about you drive back to the city so that you can start your mission for Griffin? We're looking forward to hearing all about it."

AUTHOR'S NOTES - thanks for reading! Much appreciated. I hope there is nothing confusing so far, and if there is, please let me know. The next update will be on Thursday 27 May, 2021.