Chapter 152 - What Irony

Getting out wasn't that easy, since Nightingale's headquarters were still very much on lockdown. The guards at the main entrance were very determined that no one should go out without a permission. But being an arch-witch had its social benefits.

I had just stepped aside and one of the younger witches, the ones that looked at me like on the top girl of their high school, told me that there was a much less strictly guarded back entrance. She then even lead the way and convinced the besotted with her guard that "Diana was only going out for five minutes, whom would it hurt?". And all for a mere promise to pass a good word with her to Elena.

I found the girl's actions not exactly deserving praise, but since they benefited me… Her name was Yulya Rosova, I wrote that down and promised to myself to mention it if not to Elena, then to someone in the coven as soon as I will have an opportunity.

There were plenty of people patrolling the outside of the headquarters, but I kept an assured gait of a person who was on official business and they assumed I had clearance. After this, it was only five minutes of walking before I found the meeting spot where JJ promised me he and Panda would wait.

Just a couple of days ago, it was a high-end restaurant. Now it was a "temporarily closed" high-end restaurant, but the outdoors tables were still available as long as you were able to step over the symbolic line of rope on the open gates. A tent served as a roof to protect the tables from sun and rain. What's better, they were placed not on the street, but in the alley that crossed it, conveniently somewhat out of sight of the patrols. 

Conveniently, because I didn't want anyone to ask what I was doing here when I didn't have a clearance to be outside. "For my own safety", yeah. Whatever.

I spotted JJ and Panda from afar. JJ looked just as he did when I last seen him, except that he was fully dressed again (sad, sad). Panda, on the other hand… her current attire was starkly different from her usual one—enough that I had to look twice.

Despite the warm weather, she wore an open vest over her T-shirt, one that reminded me of military ones, with many pockets in it. Her pants were, instead of jeans, canvas ones, in the same utilitarian style. She also wore tall boots that must've been boiling her feet right now, instead of something simpler. What caught the most of my attention, though, was a knife holster on the underside of her west when she turned towards me.

"Panda… You look like someone ready for a zombie apocalypse," I said, sitting down on a free seat between her and JJ. I shook my head with a grin. "Which is sort of appropriate, I guess."

Panda gave me a long stare, measured me from head to toe, then smiled back unhappily. "You can't even imagine how."

"I have amazing imagination," I murmured, glancing to JJ. He looked back at me with sparks of laughter hiding in his eyes. "What is this all about? JJ, you told me just the same thing."

Panda let out a long breath. "Diana… you must've seen some videos or photos of what's happening in the middle of the city right now, right?"

"Of course." I eyed Panda warily. "You sent me one of them, too."

"It got deleted by now. The government doesn't want to spread the information, of course. The official news all state that what's happens is a terroristic attack, not what it truly is."

"I didn't watch official news, actually. Though I imagined this is something they would say."

Panda huffed. "I knew you would understand, Diana. But I wanted to say that what happens isn't some alien attack, either, like some people claim. But first, I wanted to tell you how I came to know that…"

"Uh, Panda, the longer you draw that out, the more apprehensive I feel." I leaned back a little, and, just in case, opened my well to scan Panda's aura. To my great relief, she was still a pure human she was the last time I knew.

"Alright. But this will sound very stupid," Panda murmured and took a deep breath. "I'm a vampire hunter, and the giant burning thing that floats through the city is a demon. And yes, vampires and demons are real, and I came to warn you so you could be ready when the real shitshow starts."

Now it was my turn to breathe slowly. "Really?" was the only thing I could say.

Panda found her nails very interesting, though her face still and voice still stayed bland. "I wasn't hiding it from you… It wasn't important then. I wasn't much of a vampire hunter. My parents trained me as one until I went to Petersburg. Anywhere, as long as it's as far from them as possible, or else I'd be roped into actually hunting vampires. And that's just suicidal, you must know. But then this thing," Panda made a vague gesture in the air, "happens, and I have some twice-removed cousin get me into gear, anyway."

"We've met him at the store, too, but he had other business to attend to," JJ said. "A charming man, very dedicated to his vocation."

Well, I understood now why JJ looked like he was ready to burst into laughter at any given moment. "You only learnt about all this just now, too?"

He nodded. "It was a great shock."

"You don't seem to believe me," Panda said, giving both of us a grim look. A wounded look, even.

"No, no!" I furiously shook my head. "It's just. Panda, you… let's just say you weren't the only one with secrets, alright?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, this is funny, actually—"

"Most ironic," JJ supplied.

"Yeah. Because," there, just as I pointed out to Panda before, wasn't a better way to say it than just to pull off the band-aid, and I was way past the point where I could keep this a secret, "I'm a witch."

"And I," JJ grinned with all his fangs, "am a vampire."