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vampires, as a scientific curiosity or a threat.”
    “I…” I faltered. “GO studies … that is, my area of expertise, is not … sociological,” I managed. “I work with blood. I’ve not had enough exposure to Genetic Others to form an opinion one way or another.”
    This seemed to amuse him further. “By a happy coincidence I work with blood also,” he said, which got a nervous laugh from some of the media presence, who were lapping him up, capturing every moment of this on camera. He shook his head in mock disappointment. “But that is a shame, for you not to have been, as you say, exposed … to us.”
    I felt myself flush. In my periphery, Cloves hovered. I dared not look over to see if she was glaring at me or the otherworldly creature stood in the audience. I don’t think I could have moved my head if I tried; his eyes held me trapped like a pinned insect. The part of my brain that never stopped being an analytical science geek, even when faced with supernatural creatures, wondered absently if it was some low level hypnosis. Were the GOs telepathic to some degree? I had never heard as much, not confirmed anyway.
    “If you are to venture an opinion on a subject,” he purred, “… surely you have to know it first, to get under its skin? And please do call us vampires; it’s not a dirty word.”
    His tone suggested, with little room for misinterpretation, that it could be, if the situation dictated.
    A scoff from Veronica Cloves seemed to disagree most strongly. “Your name please, Mr…?” she demanded.
    He didn’t even glance over at her. His eyes still trained on me, as though we were the only people in the auditorium. “I am Allesandro,” he told me.
    What was he doing here? Except possibly trying to get me fired and my career completely destroyed?
    As this thought passed through my head, something unreal happened. I could see his lips moving, addressing Cloves, but his words and the rest of the noise in the lecture hall, were utterly drowned out. It was suddenly as though I was watching a silent movie. His voice appeared simultaneously, right by my ear. As though he were standing right behind me on the stage, close enough to touch, whispering in my ear. “Allesandro,” he repeated. “It’s an old name from the old country, the Italian form of the Latin Alexandrius, in fact – it means defender of mankind. Fitting, no? Given what you were just saying to these fine people, about how we selflessly came to your aid in the wars.”
    His voice was intimate, warm and utterly inside my head. I stared down from the stage, frozen to the spot, watching him engage in some kind of back and forth argument with the member of Cabal.
    “To answer your questions,” his voice murmured inside my mind, sounding faintly amused, “… yes, we do have telepathic capabilities to some degree, amongst others. As you have no doubt figured out by now. You seem as smart as you are striking, Dr Harkness. Also yes, I do agree that the hideous woman you see me speaking to has had expensive work done to lift her face, and no, she did not pay enough for it. And ridiculous as she may appear, she is very, very dangerous. As for what I am doing here, I am here to warn you.”
    “Warn me?” I whispered my lips barely moving, my voice low enough to not carry to the microphone. I felt like a rabbit caught in headlights. A bead of sweat rolled between my shoulder blades and down my spine beneath my suit jacket, like a traced fingertip.
    “Do not confuse the words warn and threaten, Doctor,” the vampire whispered. “I mean you no harm … But terrible things are coming. And we vampires will need someone on your side of things if they are to be prevented.”
    “What things?” I asked, certain now that I wasn’t even whispering, but equally sure that he could hear my words, even inside my own head, if I allowed it.
    Down in the rows of seats, his eyes flicked from Veronica Cloves’ to mine briefly.
    “You will need