They left the club well before closing and took a taxi across town. Janus was meeting them in his office. Presumably his rituals aren't terribly messy then, thought Aidan, feeling a little bit better about the visit. They were met at the entrance and escorted upstairs in a smooth and silent elevator. Janus himself greeted them at the door of a large conference room. As he ushered them in he gave Aidan a questioning look. “I was given to understand that you would be coming alone,” he said to Lucy.

“I decided to have a friend along, for my own protection. I hope you have no objections?”

“Of course not,” replied the distinguished man with a genteel smile that showed his sharply pointed canines. Aidan gave the man a good looking over. He was tall, in good shape, with dark hair just showing touches of silver at the temples. He was dressed in a neatly tailored suit, his hair was groomed to perfection, and only the fangs themselves gave any hint of his unusual obsessions. And even they weren't terribly large, presumably so that they would be less noticeable in his everyday life.

The “vampire” who’d escorted them thus far was cut from the same mold. Shorter and less handsome, he too was dressed in a dark suit and he too had a set of sharp teeth. That’s just downright creepy, decided Aidan. Blood-sucking businessmen.

“Have a seat,” offered their host. Lucy sat, but Aidan stood behind her chair, not wanting to spread his wings in order to sit. Janus gave him a glance, but said nothing as he sat opposite them. “So, how can I help you?”

“You’re aware of my project?” asked Lucy.

“You are writing a book on modern vampirism, correct?”

“Yes. I want to find out what’s behind this current trend. Vampires are suddenly popular, objects of fascination and even admiration rather than superstitious dread. I want to find out all I can about the people who are today’s vampires. I promise complete confidentiality, of course. I won’t use your name unless you want me to, and I’ll change details of location, appearance and so on so that no one will be able to identify you, if that’s the way you want it.”

“You want my life story, then.”

“Yes. And to see your rituals, if that's possible.”

“And what of your friend here. Will he too keep confidentiality?”

“I have no interest in your story or your rituals,” said Aidan. “I only came because I was concerned for Lucy’s safety. And I have my own reasons for wanting to avoid publicity. I won’t be telling anyone anything I hear from you. It would only draw unwanted attention on myself.”

“Yes,” said Janus, nodding. “I can see that. I admit to a certain curiosity about your nature myself. I could almost believe that those wings of yours are real.”

Aidan remained silent.

“Well,” said Janus, “I have a few more questions about this book of yours, and then I’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have. Firstly, are you working alone on this project, or is it some kind of group effort?”

“It’s just me. The book was my idea and I haven’t actually told anybody else about it, other than a few interviewees like yourself.”

“Ah. Are you a well-known author then, in certain circles, or is this to be your debut?”

“I’ve published a few small stories and an article or two, but this will be my first book. I’m hardly well-known in any circle.”

Janus smiled, and suddenly Aidan had a very bad feeling. “Then it is entirely possible that nobody will ever guess I was the last to see you before you vanished,” he said.

“What?” Lucy jumped to her feet, but Janus’s henchman was blocking the door and he had drawn a gun from a shoulder holster that his tailored suit had hidden. She turned to Janus. “You’re insane! What are you doing?”

“You expressed an interest in seeing our blood rituals. Well, now you are going to have a very intimate look at one of them. After all, it would hardly be appropriate for us to use our own blood in them, would it? I usually find some homeless street bum, but here you were presenting yourself to me so handily, and with nobody who knew where you’d gone. How could I resist?” Turning to the man guarding the door he said, “Shoot the winged freak, we only need one for the ceremony.”

When Aidan heard Janus’s command he spun to face the gunman, ducking as he did to make himself a harder target as he moved toward the armed man. The man, however, was a good shot. Despite Aidan’s sudden movement he still managed to hit him right in the chest. The shot made Aidan stumble, and he went to one knee, the impact writing a soft sound of pain from him, but he was only stunned momentarily. The shooter was already lowering his weapon, thinking his job was done, when Aidan straightened and leaped forward again, moving faster than anything human could have. He had his daggers out now and he was angry. But even enraged as he was he didn’t want to kill, so he hit the man with the pommel leading. The force of the blow was more than enough to drop him in his tracks.

Janus and Lucy were both staring, stunned. “Come on Lucy! Let’s get out of here!” said Aidan urgently.

Lucy quickly shook off her shock and followed the sprinting aerian out the door. Janus too quickly recovered from his surprise. He grabbed a cell phone out of his pocket and Aidan could hear him calling for reinforcements as they pelted down the hall. “We probably shouldn’t take the elevator, let’s find the stairs,” he said. They quickly located the stairwell and soon were dashing down, Aidan leading the way, taking the steps four and five at a time. A door below them banged open and Aidan could hear feet hurrying up the stairs. “Great, they’re ahead of us.” He stopped on the next landing and exited into a hallway. This level seemed to be all offices. At this hour they were deserted, only a few emergency lights illuminating little patches of carpet beneath them. Aidan dashed down the hallway, looking for a second stairwell. He found it, but as soon as he opened the door he could hear ascending footsteps there too.

“We’re trapped,” said Lucy.