“Yes.” I hesitated. “Has the inspector told you what happened?”

His gaze swept the young woman I was half supporting. “She did indeed. The threat has been neutralized?”

“For the moment.”

His gaze sharpened abruptly. “Meaning?”

“Simply that this situation may be a taste of what is to come.”

He relaxed a little. “Let’s worry about that when it happens. Now, young lady,” he added, returning his attention to the other woman, “why don’t you come with me? We’ve a medical unit approaching right now.”

As he spoke, the wail of approaching sirens cut across the night. He took the woman’s arm and led her gently—but firmly—away.

Another agent approached. “The inspector asked me to remind you about the meeting this evening.”

I nodded. “Are we free to go?”

“Yes—as soon as you make your report. A verbal one will do—I’ll relay the information back to base, where it’ll be written up.”

Which was an interesting way to do things, but at least it saved us the hassle of paperwork. I gave him a quick summary of everything that had happened, including both the attack and our meeting with Frederick. Rinaldo might not be pleased, but PIT needed to know the scientists might not only be out of Brooklyn, but in his hands. Once I finished, the agent nodded and said, “Thanks. You can go now.”

I stepped away, then hesitated and half turned around. “What’s going to happen to these people now?”

I knew what would happen, but I guess part of me was hoping I was wrong, that PIT would simply hold them somewhere in the hope that a cure could be found.

The agent shrugged. “It depends on what happens when they go through the change.”

“And if they’re not the sane ones?”

“Then we do what must be done.” His soft voice held little in the way of emotion, but I guess that was to be expected since he’d probably dealt with this sort of situation many times over. “When you are fighting a war, there will always be civilian casualties. It can’t be helped, no matter what we might otherwise wish.”

It wasn’t a war yet, I wanted to say, but the truth was, we were certainly on the brink of one. Because if this virus got out of control, then it would be as much a battle for supremacy and survival as any of the world wars.

I nodded and walked away. Jackson was standing guard over two of De Luca’s get. Both had been stripped, gagged, and roughly bound with their own clothes. They were also furious, if their attempts to get free and their muffled curses were anything to go by. Jackson stepped back as one jackknifed toward him; then he calmly placed a boot on the side of the vampire’s head and held him still.

“Where are the others?” I asked, looking around.