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I had definitely lost sight of my goal. When the words came out of my mouth, I regretted them.

“You will see,” he said firmly.

“I don’t want to see, if I’m tied to Farrell at the time. I am not evil, and I don’t want to die.”

“When was the last time you were in church?” He was issuing me a challenge.

“About a week ago. And I took Communion, too.” I was never happier to be a churchgoer, because I couldn’t have lied about that.

“Oh.” Godfrey looked dumbfounded.

“See?” I felt I was robbing him of all his wounded majesty by this argument, but dammit, I didn’t want to die by burning. I wanted Bill, wanted him with a longing so intense I hoped it would pop his coffin open. If only I could tell him what was going on. . . . “Come on,” said Godfrey, holding out his hand.

I didn’t want to give him a chance to rethink his position, not after this long do-si-do, so I took his hand and stepped over Gabe’s prone form out into the hall. There was an ominous lack of conversation from Farrell and Hugo, and to tell the truth, I was too scared to call out to find out what was going on with them. I figured if I could get out, I could rescue them both, anyway.

Godfrey sniffed the blood on me, and his face was swept with longing. I knew that look. But it was devoid of lust. He didn’t care a thing for my body. The link between blood and sex is very strong for all vampires, so I considered myself lucky that I was definitely adult in form. I inclined my face to him out of courtesy. After a long hesitation, he licked the trickle of blood from the cut on my cheekbone. He closed his eyes for a second, savoring the taste, and then we started for the stairs.

With a great deal of help from Godfrey, I made it up the steep flight. He used his free arm to punch in a combination on the door, and swung it open. “I’ve been staying down here, in the room at the end,” he explained, in a voice that was hardly more than a disturbance of the air.

The corridor was clear, but any second someone might come out of one of the offices. Godfrey didn’t seem to fear that at all, but I did, and I was the one whose freedom was at stake. I didn’t hear any voices; apparently the staff had gone home to get ready for the lock-in, and the lock-in guests had not yet started arriving. Some of the office doors were closed, and the windows in the offices were the only means of sunlight getting to the hall. It was dark enough for Godfrey to be comfortable, I assumed, since he didn’t even wince. There was bright artificial light coming from under the main office door.

We hurried, or at least tried to, but my left leg was not very cooperative. I wasn’t sure what door Godfrey was heading toward, perhaps double doors I’d seen earlier at the back of the sanctuary. If I could get safely out of those, I wouldn’t have to traverse the other wing. I didn’t know what I’d do when I got outside. But being outside would definitely be better than being inside. Just as we reached the open doorway to the next-to-last office on the left, the one from which the tiny Hispanic woman had come, the door to Steve’s office opened. We froze. Godfrey’s arm around me felt like an iron band. Polly stepped out, still facing into the room. We were only a couple of yards away.

“. . . bonfire,” she was saying.

“Oh, I think we’ve got enough,” Sarah’s sweet voice said. “If everyone returned their attendance cards, we’d know for sure. I can’t believe how bad people are about not replying. It’s so inconsiderate, after we made it as easy as possible for them to tell us whether or not they’d be here!”

An argument about etiquette. Gosh, I wished Miss Manners were here to give me advice on this situation. I was an uninvited guest of a small church, and I left without saying good-bye. Am I obliged to write a thank-you note, or may I simply send flowers?

Polly’s head began turning, and I knew any moment she would see us. Even as the thought formed, Godfrey pushed me into the dark empty office.

“Godfrey! What are you doing up here?