As Robert explained it to the little group, Great Britain didn't have a separate anti-terror organisation: every task regarding terrorism fell on the Met. Which was a huge problem in this case, because not only the Met lost a significant number of their trained officers in the last couple of weeks, but most of the remaining members were vampires, hence, they couldn't be used against The Priest.

'Man, that's just fucked up,' said Remy. 'Like, the whole city is completely defenceless right now.'

'Not completely,' pointed out Robert. 'It has us.'

Jenna tried very hard not to scoff. A trainee demon hunter, a Duelist, a guy who can barely do magic, an obviously broken woman and Jenna herself. That's London's best chance right now. She felt like the phrase "God save us all" would fit nicely now.

'We need backup. Like a huge one,' she said.

As the day went by, people started to show up slowly. First Ayana: she caught a flight from Edinburgh and arrived at the Broken Shield before ten. They moved their temporary headquarters to the pub, partly because it was more comfortable, Robert's flat being quite small, but mostly because too many people knew about their secret already.

At some point, Rose pulled Jenna over in a corner. The others were occupied with various activities, or, in Ayana's case, with staring into the middle distance.

'Listen, I don't know if Robert told you, but…'

'Yeah, he did,' nodded Jenna.

'It wasn't serious, you see,' the blond girl explained nervously. 'Kind of a "friends with benefits" situation. It actually ended a while before you came along.'

'It's okay, Blondie, no worries,' smiled Jenna. 'I get it, a girl needs her fun, too. Believe me, you really don't have to introduce me to that idea.'

'I just don't want things to be weird… Well, you know, weirder than they usually are.'

Jenna laughed.

'That ship has sailed long ago, Blondie. But we're cool.'

Robert looked at them from the fireplace with his eyebrows narrowed. Jenna grinned at him. She really wanted to say something like "yes, we are comparing notes" but there were too many people around.

'So… I still feel a little awkward. Whiskey?' asked Rose.

'Whiskey,' nodded Jenna.

'It's not even ten in the morning,' shook his head Luther behind the bar, but he poured them each a glass anyway. 'What is going on again, Jenna?'

The women took two of the tall bar chairs.

'Super top-secret military action,' answered Jenna. 'I cannot tell you. It's so secret-y that I'm forbidden to think about it.'

'So the Commissioner cannot do his job again and you are the ones helping out,' said Luther, looking at Rose.

'Sort of, yes. I assume you still won't interfere?'

The fae shook his head.

'I cannot. I serve rules that cannot be broken.'

'Sure,' nodded Jenna. 'Sure. Very convenient, though.'

Rose kicked Jenna's foot. She kicked back.

Luther didn't answer, but there was nothing to say anyway. They had this very same conversation about a dozen times in the last few months. Jenna never won: apparently Luther was the only man on the planet who was capable of saying no to her. Probably because he isn't human, Jenna thought. Yes, that must have been the reason.

Not long after twelve Martin and Benjamin arrived. They looked like hell.

'I dunno what kinda apocalypse is going on again, but can we have the next one when I'm not hungover?' asked Martin, collapsing into one of the armchairs. His face was sweaty and pale. Benjamin didn't say anything, just sat down and went to sleep immediately.

'When you guys said we are waiting for "backup", I was kinda expecting something… Less pathetic, maybe?' noted Claire. She sat on the couch at the mantelpiece with Robert and was showing him something on a handheld video-game console she just bought along the way.

'Listen, lil' girl, I dunno who you are… Hold up, I know who you are!' Martin's eyes opened wide. 'What the shit? You guys are friends with Claire Penn and you made me hang out with Teodore instead? What the hell?'

'What's wrong with Teodore?' asked Ayana quietly. Her strange, unnerving gaze found Martin's eyes.

'Nothing, ma'am, he is a hoot and a half. Real fan dude,' he answered quickly.

Ayana nodded and didn't say anything. Martin decided to stay silent for a while and Jenna thought that it was a good call. Ayana could creep even her out sometimes, and her job was literally to deal with things like her. Well, sort of: Jenna didn't think that there was another one quite like Ayana.

Luther served lunch to the group, but they barely touched it. Expect for Martin, of course: no amount of deadly threats and no hangover could have possibly ruined his appetite. But as the evening came closer they all became more nervous. The last time they had to face The Priest, they lost badly and nothing implied that this time will be any different.

Marcus arrived some time after two, and he didn't come alone. The Commissioner walked in and he looked like himself again: a grey little man with the aura of unstoppable, raw power. He nodded to everyone then sat down at the bar and started a quiet conversation with Luther. Jenna didn't know that they knew each other, but it made sense: two people that had been around as long as they have must have bumped into one another from time to time.

The other man, as Marcus introduced him, was an agent of the MAGE, called Cornelius Blake. Jenna never in her life developed a crush on someone as quickly as on him: she had to order herself not to undo a few buttons on her shirt (well, basically on Robert's shirt) when the man showed up in the doorway.

He was black, taller than Robert by a centimetre or two, somewhat more athletic but not especially muscular. They even had the same sense of fashion: Blake wore a nice dark blue suit with a white shirt but without a tie. He left his collar open. His hair was thick and black and he let it grow out a little. He also had a goatee or something like that, Jenna wasn't sure what to call it. It enclosed his mouth and chin but continued on his jawline too. It was hard to determine his age, but Jenna guessed him in his late thirties because of his eyes: they obviously saw a lot already. He moved like a predator, slow and casual, ready to explode in every second, but somehow he wasn't as threatening as the Commissioner: his face was kind and sort of sad.

Jenna looked at Rose who turned away from Blake just enough time to nod in an understanding manner. She did take her hoodie off to show the tight tank top under it, but she wasn't in a committed relationship, so might as well, Jenna thought.

'Erm, Jenna… You are staring at that man,' said Robert next to her. The girl didn't even notice when he got up from the sofa.

'I surely do, but don't worry, I'm almost certain that I will go home with you at the end,' she whispered back and turned to Robert. 'Unless… What are your thoughts on threesomes again?’

‘Im strictly against them,' he said.

‘Yeah, yeah, then I was just joking,’ answered Jenna.

Blake sat down by now with a coke and acted like he didn't notice that Rose, Claire and even Marcus were glimpsing at him.

'I don't get it,' Robert frowned. 'As far as I can tell, Marcus is much more handsome.'

'He is, true,' agreed Jenna. 'But there is something in that guy… He is like… I don't know, really. He has a kind of "presence" or whatnot… Kinda like how I’d imagine a real nobleman.'

‘I am a real nobleman,’ replied Robert in an offended voice. 'My father is a lord. An arse, sure, but still a lord.'

‘Sure you are, honey,’ said Jenna, staring at Blake again. 'Sure you are.'

'Anyway,' said Robert loudly, still looking sharply at Jenna, 'can I have your attention, please?'

People stopped what they were doing, and even Benjamin opened his eyes.

'All right. You all know why we are here. I don't like the idea one bit, but we will have to make two teams. One of them will be on patrol in the city, ready to pick the fight with the flesh-golems. The other one goes to Tate Modern, waiting for The Priest. That one team will include Ayana, Jenna, Rose, Mr Blake, Marcus and myself.'

'Agent Blake,' the man corrected him, and Jenna had to fight off a laugh. 'But you all can call me Cornelius, please,' he had a very faint American accent.

'Right. Whatever,' said Robert and Jenna rolled her eyes. 'The Commissioner will be our backup: he will be in a mobile tactical unit full of armed police officers in case things go spear-shaped. Any questions?'

'Why are all the grown-ups going to the same place? Who is gonna be the leader of the other group?' asked Remy.

'If that helps you already dress like a grandpa, mate,' added Martin, looking over Remy's vintage pair of jeans and checkered shirt.

The boy gave him a good "strict grandfather"-type of look, and Jenna grinned. Remy indeed acted like an old man sometimes, a grumpy one at that, and he never even noticed it.

'Please, focus, gentlemen,' said Robert. 'Benjamin is the most experienced but given that he still looks drunk I'd say you, Mr Durant, you will be an excellent leader. I advise anyone to get some sleep: some of us are up since three in the morning. In two hours we will have to leave here and get to work.'

Rose murmured something about payment again, and Jenna poked her in the ribs. Remy looked surprised but determined at the same time. Jenna told him that he was adorable and he would have blushed if he could.

Now the Commissioner stood up and walked in front of the fireplace, taking Robert’s place.

'Just one more minute of your time, if I may,' he said. 'Thank you. I know we weren't in the best terms in the past, and I know we still have our disagreements,' Jenna saw that he looked at Robert at that sentence. 'But our goal is the same: protect the city of London, at any cost. I know that you are here volunteering but still want to give you an opportunity to leave.'

Nobody moved or said anything. Jenna could have sworn that she saw the shadow of a smile on the old man's face.

'I didn't think so,' he nodded somewhat proudly. 'Right. In the name of the Metropolitan Police and the city, I thank you for your help. The city of London is thankful for your help and bravery, ladies and gentleman. May this be the last night we have to work together.'

That was something Jenna could get behind. She had more than enough mess in her life without this whole police misery.

'Is the third team ready?' asked the Commissioner from Jenna after the team broke up into smaller groups. Jenna, Rose, Robert and himself sat around a table in a corner.

'She said she will bring everyone she knows,' answered Jenna. ‘Remember: you guaranteed that they can walk free after.'

The vampire nodded.

'You have my word,' said the Commissioner. 'How big of a team we are talking about?'

'I don't know,' shrugged Jenna. 'She didn't know either, they don't have leadership or something, you see, they are kinda just doing what they think of at the moment.'

'In our situation, everything is a big help,' said Robert.

'Way to lift our spirit,' murmured Rose.

'I'm only being realistic,' answered Robert.

Jenna knew that Robert felt the same pressure she did, the pressure all of them felt: if The Priest really planned on attacking the politicians that must have been because he wanted to stop them from signing the new accord. It was a historical paper, giving rights for vampires all across Europe, the United States and some parts of Asia too, rights they never possessed before.

Of course, that didn't meet everyone's taste. A small but very loud group in the Parliament and in other governments too, were strongly against it, stating that if employers won't have the right to know who was a vampire and who wasn't, they won't be able to make the right decisions.

The Commissioner left them for Blake, Marcus and Ayana: they were talking in another corner.

'I hope they don't have different orders…' said Robert darkly. 'We really don't need the MAGE to mess this up because they had another idea…'

'What do you mean?' asked Rose while frowning.

Robert shrugged.

'There are stories of serial killers, mad scientists, cult leaders and such that never saw justice because the MAGE thought they could use their skills better. I don't know how much of it is true, if any, but I think we should keep an eye on them.'

'One of them is your best friend, Robert,' pointed out Rose.

'My best friend who lied to me for years,' nodded Robert. 'I just say that better be safe than sorry.'

Silence fell over them.

'I wonder who might be the client of that bastard this time,' said Jenna after a while.

'Literally anyone from any conservative political party or movement could be, or even a private person,' spread his arms Robert. 'Even my father, or yours, for that matter.'

'Yeah, my old man doesn't like vampires,' nodded Jenna. 'But I'd like to think that he wouldn't hire someone who kinda tried to kill me.'

She really, really would have liked to believe in that.

'It doesn't really matter now, does it?' asked Rose. 'I mean, that's for the police to find out. We only need to protect the party.'

'I start to believe that the police cannot find out what they had for breakfast without our help,' murmured Jenna. 'But yeah, you are right, that's not our problem. Let's talk about strategy.'

Robert sighed.

'It's very simple. If The Priest shows up, I will evacuate the building while the rest of you hit him with everything you have got. He is extremely powerful, but he cannot defeat the lot of you together, that's for sure.'

'And what if he brings the Goddess?' asked Jenna.

'Then we die,' replied Rose grimly.

'Let that be plan B,' nodded Robert. 'If he brings the Goddess, Ayana will try to trap her in her own body, just like she did with the demons.'

'Now, that's a suicide,' shook her head Jenna. 'Cannot be done. Demons are one thing, but two living souls can't share one body.'

'She is confident that she can control the Goddess,' said Robert. 'And it is only a temporary solution.'

Jenna glimpsed at Ayana. She looked calm, almost cheerful in her strange silent way as she was sitting in a chair, staring into nothing.

‘Let's just hope it won't be needed,' said Jenna.

The Tate Modern was one of the biggest and most famous galleries in London. It laid right next to the Thames, right across the St Paul Cathedral on the other bank and just a minute of walking from the Globe, this round-shaped museum that displayed how magic and the theatre art worked together from the middle ages to recent days.

The building of the Tate Modern itself used to be a power station. It was a huge, robust, ugly building built with red bricks.

'Why are you angry at this place?' asked Jenna from Robert. He looked up the big tower that separated the two wings from each other with mild disgust in his face.

'Beg your pardon? Oh, no, it's nothing,' he shook his head. 'As a wannabe artist, I have my personal issues with the modern arts. I mean, if you go to a museum or art gallery, and you can't decide whether the thing you want to sit on is a bench or a piece of the display, then I'm not sure it can be called art. But that's just my personal opinion, mind you: they had some amazing artwork here. Plus a room full of menthol that will make anyone cry, but apparently that's considered as art, too.'

'Okay that is something I definitely wanna hear more about, Professor,' Jenna grinned. 'But now let's focus. We gotta save some politicians.'

She grabbed his hand for a moment and seized it then walked away, towards the front entrance. She knew that something was wrong before she reached Marcus and Blake at the door: they both looked shocked. Are they late? But the politicians wouldn't even arrive for another hour…

'What happened?' she asked. Marcus just shook his head. He seemed to be on the edge of crying.

'The party was never The Priest's target,' answered Blake. 'It was The Commissioner all along. He attacked the tactical van five minutes ago. There are no survivors.'