Then he takes a deep breath and a fortifying sip of tea and says, "Well, it seems you've solved that problem. What are you planning to do next?"

"--Well, I've been finishing the job, but I suppose if they lied to you I've no reason to kill you in particular. I wonder why they lied, though."

"I doubt I was the only one they lied to. If they've kept doing it all this time and I only just now found out, they would've had to redact the diaries, deceive or recruit the archivists... they might've restricted the information to full Council members, or even senior Council members, and only informed the rest of us as it, ah, came up."

"That seems...somewhat inconsistent with the attitude my Watcher had."

"Oh, Parrish was related to half the senior councilmen, I wouldn't be surprised if he knew ahead of time."

"It wasn't just that, it was--when I confronted him, after, he was willing to take his lumps like a grown-up about messing up the dosage of the knockout drugs, but he acted like I was being unreasonable for objecting to the test itself."

"Yes, well, it was Parrish."

"I suppose."

She sighs.

"I hope I haven't killed too many innocent men and women."

"I would be very surprised if the number was zero. So, again: what are you planning to do next?"

"I was hoping to put off that question as long as possible! I'm a vampire, now, that's why there's a new Slayer--also why it took years after my family died for me to extend my revenge beyond Parrish--and losing my soul lifted the crippling grief but it also made everything boring, it's awful."

"And I suppose you're in no hurry to put it back."

"Oh fuck no. You didn't meet me while I had both a soul and a dead twin, it was--it was bad. It was really really bad."

"Well," he says. "Would you like to meet the new Slayer?"

"Depends. Is she going to try to Slay me?"

"No."

"Then certainly."

"Shouldn't be long." He takes another sip of tea.

"...Given the information I now have, I am sorry I tried to kill you."

"Well, thank you for that."

"You're welcome. Give whatever witch did your protections my compliments, please, those were very nicely done."

"I expect you'll get the chance to tell her yourself."

"Ah. I was going to avoid trying to find out who it was, on the grounds that this might have seemed like a first step towards a very hostile attempt to neutralize them."

"I suppose. But somehow I'm not very worried for her."

He checks his watch.

Right on cue, another teenager walks in. This one is older and more observant; she glances between the librarian, the stranger, and the bystander, pauses a moment, then comes up to the desk.

"Hi," she says to Emily.

"Good afternoon, Eliza. I've just been having a delightfully nonviolent conversation with the former Slayer."