“Because they don’t take vampire abuse very seriously. My men are now stationed outside the building.” The Professor took his hand from his pocket and held up a dark plastic device. “If you even move to hurt me, they’re instructed to slaughter you.”

“Sounds unpleasant for the both of us. Can you suggest any alternatives?”

“Give me a few organs to work with and I’ll let you live. A kidney, a lung, and an eye to start.”

“Can I think about that and get back to you?”

“My time is valuable and I need to get Ford and Cricket stabilized before degradation sets in.”

“In that case, no, I will not let a mad scientist use my organs for evil.”

“Your sense of self-righteousness compromises your already limited intelligence. You’re a stupid girl with a delusional sense of your value to the world.”

That’s when the building rocked and huge boom sounded. I thought it was an earthquake when it started, but the building shaddered from above, not from the ground. The Professor looked around, bewildered.

“I’m not stupid,” I said. “I’m a Miracle of the Saints.” I jumped in the driver’s seat of his car as a second explosion jolted the building. A frightened cat was crouched nearby, and I grabbed it and tossed it to the backseat, slammed the door shut, and turned on the ignition.

The garage gate opened and a few uniformed men stormed inside, and I could see others scrambling around the lot.

“Get me out!” the Professor yelled at me, and then one of the garage walls exploded and chunks of concrete rocketed out. A hunk of cement struck the Professor’s head and knocked him off his feet.

He was a man with too much brilliance and no moral compass. He was a danger to the world and I couldn’t take the chance that the military contractors might save him. I hit the gas and ran over his body, crushing his skull, and I screeched out of the garage.

More explosions sent shattered glass hailing down on the car. I glanced back and saw orange flames blazing out from every level of my prison.

The entrance gate opened for a black SUV turning into the asphalt lot, and I streaked around it, missing it by inches, and careened onto the street and away.

Shots were fired as I escaped, but the car windows were bulletproof, and they spiderwebbed without breaking. A black SUV tore after me, but I could drive in the dark faster than anyone else. Almost anyone else.

As soon as I evaded my pursuers, I returned to the truckasaurus, put the cat in the cab, and transferred Ford and Cricket to the back. I drove the Professor’s car to the bay and sent it over the barrier, watching only for a moment as it sunk in the dark water.