“My car’s outside,” Michael said. “Come on. Let’s get you home.”
“In a moment,” Amelie said, and turned to face them. In that moment, with her hands clasped at her waist, she looked very much like Ada, which gave Claire a severe attack of the terrors. “I’ve made a decision. About the three of you.”
That didn’t sound good. They all exchanged looks.
Claire felt something odd happen inside her, like a flash of heat, followed by one of cold . . . and then the bracelet on her wrist, a constant, heavy presence, clicked, and fell off to roll away on the stone floor.
Claire cried out and rubbed at her wrist. It was dead white where the bracelet had been, and indented with the shape of gold.
“I’ve decided to record you as Neutrals,” Amelie said. “Friends of Morganville. You will be issued special pins, which you must wear at all times. Your names will be recorded in the archives. You are not to be menaced or hunted by any vampire from this point onward. In return, I will require services from you, as I do from other Neutrals, from time to time. You will be listed as employees of the town.”
Even Myrnin seemed surprised, Claire thought. “Generous,” he said.
“Pragmatic,” Amelie said. “Less trouble for me. The four of them are stronger together, and less vulnerable. And I’m well aware that there are those within Morganville who would prefer to split them apart, for their own uses. I can hardly have people with such intimate knowledge of us running around without . . . restrictions.”
Claire licked her lips. “About that—I kind of made a deal with Morley. That you’d let him and his people leave Morganville, or else Eve and Shane get hunted.”
“Why on earth would you do such a thing?” Amelie shook her head. “I can’t protect you from deals made prior to the announcement. If Morley can make a claim, he can register the hunt. It would be legal, according to law. It would be up to you to protect yourselves.”
“But you could let Morley and his people leave, right? That’s all they want. To be set free, to go where they want.”
Amelie was silent for a moment, and then she said, “No.” That was all. No Sorryor Hope you don’t die.
She turned back to the dead computer.
“But—”
Shane shook his head. “Let’s go home. Come on, we have a month. We’ll work it out.”
Claire didn’t think so, but she shut up and let Michael ferry them, one by one, out of the trapdoor and up to the lab. As they headed for his car, Eve’s cell phone rang.
“Hello? Oh, hi, Heather.” Eve sighed. “Don’t tell me, I’m fired, right?”
Heather? Claire remembered, finally, that Heather was the assistant director for the play. It was the last possible thing Claire could think of, importance-wise, but Eve’s face gradually lit up with a smile. “I’m not? Seriously? He didn’t—oh wow. Okay. Yes. I’ll be there. Yes, of course! . . . Oh, sure, hang on.” She handed the phone to Claire. “She says she wants to talk to you.”
Claire carefully put the phone to her ear. “Yes?”
“Claire, look, we need a new Stella. Mein Herr says you’re perfect. He’s already cleared it with your boss.”
“He what?” And how did Myrnin get to make that kind of call, anyway? “I’m not an actress! I don’t know anything—”
“That’s what he likes,” Heather said. “You’re cast. Be at rehearsal tomorrow. Eve will tell you when.”
She hung up.
Claire stared at the dead phone, then handed it back.
“I guess I’m in the play,” she said.
“Good news,” Eve said. “You’ve already got on-camera experience.”
“Yeah, speaking of that, what’s going to happen with Kim? Not that I care,” Shane said quickly when Claire looked at him. “Just curious.”
“I asked,” Eve said. “Chief Moses says they’ll keep her in the nuthouse for a while, see if she gets better. But even if she does, she’ll be in jail a long time.”
“You okay with that?”
Eve took in a deep breath. “Yeah,” she said. “Yeah, I guess I am.”
Claire looked down at the hard drive in her hand, the Sharpie-marked evidence, took it out, and handed it to Shane. “You do the honors,” he said.
One smash against the bricks, and it shattered. He kept on smashing it, just to be sure, and then tossed the remains into a handy trash can at the end of the alley.
“The end,” Shane said.
It wasn’t. Michael and Eve were walking together, but not touching; Claire could see the tension between them. Ada was dead, and that meant the vampires were risking everything, at least for a while. As for Amelie’s “gift,” Claire knew there had to be a catch, and a big one.
It wasn’t the end at all . . . but Claire was content to pretend for now. With Shane warm at her side, and the future stretching out in front of them, she could pretend for today that it was happily ever after.
Of course, tomorrow was another day.
TRACK LIST
In case you want to listen along to the songs I used to help me write this book, here they are! Buy the tracks, please. Don’t be a vampire preying on the artists.
"Ghost Town" Shiny Toy Guns
"Falls Apart" Hurt
"Under the Gun" Supreme Beings of Leisure
"Auditorium" American Princes
"Devil in Me" 22-20's
"John Barleycorn" Traffic
"Glory Box" Portishead
"The Hop" Radio Citizen feat. Bajka
"Roads" Portishead
"My Old Self" Wide Mouth Mason
"I Got Mine" The Black Keys
"C'mon C'mon" The Von Bondies
"Every Inambition" The Trews
"Ladylike" Big Wreck
"Numb" Holly McNarland
"Beauty of Speed" Tori Amos
"Best Way to Die" Jet Set Satellite
"Love Hurts" Incubus
"Little Toy Gun" HoneyHoney
"I Don't Care" Fall Out Boy
"Many Shades of Black" The Raconteurs
"Headfirst Slide into Copperstown" Fall Out Boy
"URA Fever" The Kills
"Manic Girl" Radio Iodine
"Take Me to the Speedway" The Dexateens
"Alsarian" White Rose Movement
"Posion Whiskey" Tishamingo
"Welcome Home" Coheed & Cambria
"Tick Tick Boom" The Hives
"Jockey Full of Bourbon" Joe Bonamassa
"Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" Beck
"The Ballad of John Henry" Joe Bonamassa
"Funkier Than a Mosquito's Tweeter" Joe Bonamassa
"Happier Times" Joe Bonamassa
"Faster" Rachael Yamagata
"Around the Bend" The Asteroid Galaxy Tour
"Slow Dance with a Stranger" Danger Radio
"Ardmore" Cardinal Trait
"Prayer" Lizzie West
"Bounce" The Cab
"Time Bomb" Jessy Greene
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rachel Caine is the author of the New York Timesbest-selling Morganville Vampires series as well as the best-selling Weather Warden series, which includes Ill Wind, Heat Stroke, Chill Factor, Windfall, Firestorm, Thin Air, Gale Force, and Cape Storm. Her ninth Weather Warden novel will be released in August 2010. She also recently started another series, Outcast Season, with the release of the first novel, Undone.
Rachel and her husband, fantasy artist R. Cat Conrad, live in Texas with their igua nas, Popeye and Darwin.
Web site: [http://www.rachelcaine.com] www.rachelcaine.com
Myspace: [http://www.myspace.com/rachelcaine] www.myspace.com/rachelcaine
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Twitter: @rachelcaine
Look for Rachel Caine on Facebook.