FIVE
Being in a vampire stronghold, essentially alone, was horribly unnerving...especially since Claire realized that she'd sneaked out a window, and nobody, not even Shane, knew where she was. That hadn't been the best plan ever, probably.Note to self: in the future, leave an I-know-who-killed-me message. Morbid, but practical, at least in her social circles.
This wasn't the clean, sterile confines of the building where Amelie had her offices--although that was funeral-home creepy--but a different building, a windowless structure that didn't have the chilly elegance of marble and thick carpeting. It was more...functional. Bare walls. Harsh lights. Plain floors.
And it smelled like disinfectant, which was very frightening.
There was a plain wooden desk in the entry hall, and a vampire Claire recognized--one who'd originally had dark skin, but vampire life had lightened it to an unsettling ashen gray. He was blind in one eye, and when he saw her, he smiled, all teeth.
She'd first met him in the library at Texas Prairie University, and he'd tried to kill her. Not a very nice vampire at all, in her experience.
"It's the apprentice vampire hunter," he said. "Good. I was getting hungry. Thanks for bringing me lunch."
"She's with me, John," Myrnin said, and waggled his finger. "No snacking. And, besides, you'd have to ask Amelie's permission first. Which you wouldn't get, you know. You're on probation for your last, ah, incident concerning a Morganville resident with a pulse."
The vampire shrugged and looked disappointed. "Fine. What do you want?"
"None of your business, John. Just do your job and be quiet," Myrnin said, and pulled her along. "This way."
They passed through avery thick steel door, one that slammed shut with a finality that made Claire shiver, and then through a series of barred gates that looked thick enough to discourage even vampires. Some were warped. Some even had fingerprints pressed into the metal where vamps had tried to bend it. Unsuccessfully, it looked like.
They all locked behind her, cutting off any possibility of retreat. Yeah, that note she didn't leave was
looking more important all the time. Claire furtively eased her cell phone from her pants pocket and checked the reception.
Zero bars. Of course. She couldn't even text for help.
Myrnin glanced back at her as they walked down the long, featureless hallway. Well,featureless was wrong--it was meant to be featureless, but, in fact, it had all kinds of scratches, gouges, and chunks torn out of it. Probably by people and vampires struggling to get free. Definitely not design features, because one of the gouges held a spark of red that, as Claire looked closer, became a torn-off, red-painted fingernail tip.
"Are you all right?" he asked her. She nodded, determined not to show him how unnerved she felt. "It's just down here."
He paused in front of just another doorway, one without a knob. It had a keypad next to it, and Myrnin entered some numbers and pressed his thumb to a glass plate. The door popped open with a hiss of air, as if it had been pressurized inside.
No sound at all, other than that.
Myrnin swung it open and stepped inside first--in case, Claire guessed, Jason was waiting with some blunt object, or, knowing Jason, a sharp one. But he needn't have bothered, because Jason was sitting braced against the wall, knees up, on the small, narrow prison bed. He was dressed in glaring white hospital scrubs, stenciled with the word prisoner on the front and, she supposed, the back.
He looked up at them, expressionless. Beneath the tangled mop of dark hair, his face was still and set, his eyes as blank as stones.
"Hey, Jason," Claire said. She sounded nervous. Well, she was. "Is it okay if I sit down?" The only place to sit was on the bed. Jason didn't say yes, but he didn't say no, either, so she sank down on the end farthest from him. "Are you okay?"
He shrugged. It was just a very, very small movement of his shoulders, hardly anything at all. His dead-looking eyes moved quickly toward Myrnin, then back to her.
Jason was dangerous; she knew that. She's seen him hurt Shane; she'd seen him do worse than that, too.If I get up and leave, nobody would blame me, she thought.Not even Eve.
But the thought of Eve, crying and miserable, made Claire find the last, fraying threads of resolve and hang on tight. She looked at Myrnin, who was standing in the corner, near the door. "Would you mind waiting out there?" she asked him.
"Outside of this room."
"Yes."
"You're quite certain."
She wasn't, but she nodded, anyway.It's a sad day when Myrnin is the safe choice, she thought. Apparently, he thought so, too, because he gave her a long, troubled look before pressing his thumb to a glass plate inside the room and opening the door.
After it had closed behind him, Claire looked back at Jason. "Better?"
For a second, she thought she saw a ghost of a bitter little smile, but it was gone before she could be sure. "You think they're not watching?" he asked.
"I'm pretty sure they are. Sorry."
He shrugged again. "Doesn't matter. Why are you here?"
"Myrnin brought me."
"He thought I'd talk to you."
"Yeah, I guess."
Jason slowly shook his head. "Got nothing to say."
"Jason--this is serious. This isn't just something that's going to land you in jail for a while. This ismurder . InTexas. They don't fool around in this state, never mind in this town."
This time, she didn't even get a shrug. Just a blank stare.
"They want to know who put you up to it. Who hired you to steal the blood back from Doug?"
"Who's Doug?"
"The guy you killed," she said, staring him straight in the eyes. "My friend."
That made him flinch, just a little. Barely a shiver, but there. "Sorry," he said. He didn't sound particularly sorry, though. "You've got the wrong guy. Didn't do it."
"They're pretty sure you did."
"They're always sure, but that doesn't mean they know. You think they care who actually did it? Their idea of justice is to haul in the usual dickheads and throw somebody to the wolves. Doesn't matter who it is."
"You're saying you're not guilty."
"I'm the usual dickhead. Claire, you don't understand.It doesn't matter. I'm the one who's going down for it." He shrugged again. "Whatever."
"Whatever?Jason, it'smurder ! I know you're...not perfect--"
He laughed. It was a dry, papery sound, no amusement behind it at all.
"--but I know you've never killed anyone."
"Oh yeah? You know that. You're sure."
Well...maybesure wasn't the right word. "I'm sure you'd tell me if you did it."
"Why?"
"Because you're not afraid," she said. "You're not afraid to freak me out. You'drather freak me out. But you won't lie about it."
"Oh, I lie."
"I know. But you don't lie to me. Not anymore." She leaned forward. The smell of the cell--industrial cleaners, sweat, fear--made her throat ache, or maybe that was just her general tension. "Not since you tried to save my life."
He looked away, and that was a victory, Claire thought. They'd never talked about it, never had the chance, but here, he was a captive audience.
"You knew I was going to die down there in the tunnels. And you went to get the cops, even though you knew it would get you arrested. You tried to save my life when you could have just run."
"Ididn't save your life, though. They didn't believe me. So all I got for it was jail. No good deed goes unpunished, right?"
"It still means something to me that you tried. That's why you'll tell me the truth, Jason. You care enough about what I think that you'll try again."
He gave her a look, one she couldn't interpret. "You think a lot of yourself."
"No," Claire said softly. "Not really. I think you know that, too."
Silence. She thought that it was going to go on forever, that she'd have to get up and leave him here to whatever would happen next, but then Jason said, "I didn't kill him. But I know what happened."
Progress."Okay. So, what happened?"
"All I did was get the killer into the dorm and show him where to find the guy. Your friend. Doug."
"Getwho into the dorm?"
His answer caught her by surprise, but suddenly, the overwhelming vampire response in the middle of the night all made sense, because he said, "I didn't know who he was at first. I mean, he was filthy and skinny and all kinds of crazy."
"Who?"
"That old guy, the one who gave Amelie so much trouble. Mr. Bishop."
Bishop is out.And he was starving. And he was massively pissed off.
And, Claire realized with an icy, horrible, sickening shock, she had just seen him out on the street, going after Myrnin.That was why he'd seemed familiar. The terrifying night stalker out therewas the boogeyman.
No wonder the vampires were panicking.
Once he started talking, Jason had a lot to say. He'd been approached by a guy he knew, somebody on the not-so-legal side of Morganville society, who paid him cash to find out details about a TPU student...Doug. Jason delivered the info, but then was told that to get the rest of his money, he'd have to escort a visitor to Doug's dorm room. That sounded simple enough, until Jason arrived at the tunnel where he'd been told to meet his contact, and discovered that it wasn't just any old vamp waiting for him--it was Bishop. Amelie's vampire father. And the meanest, coldest vampire Claire had ever met. He made that creepy bald guy from the old movieNosferatu look sweet--and a little handsome, even. There was something so icy and wrong about Bishop that it made her shiver to remember him...and she'd thought, honestly, that he'd been executed.
Turns out that if he had,that hadn't gone as planned, either.
"I didn't know it would happen," Jason said, looking down. He'd put his arms around his knees and drew them in, and he looked thinner and younger than Claire in that moment. A scared little boy. "I was standing there when Doug opened the door, and Bishop just--waved his hand. Or that's what it looked like. Next thing I know, Doug is on his back, on the bed, throat cut, and he's bleeding out. Bishop takes something out of his backpack and he says,Did you think you could threaten me? And I book the hell out of there. I didn't care who saw me. I just cared about getting away before he decided to get rid of the loose ends. The look on his face--I thought he might kill everybody in the whole dorm." Jason swallowed. "He was having fun. And he was starving."
Claire thought about the two students on the floor conducting their stereo wars, not even aware of death passing by. Lucky. So lucky. "What did he take?"
"Search me. Looked like a vial of something, and some papers. But it's not like Iwanted to know. I was mostly just getting the hell out. Believe me, I wished I hadn't seen anything and didn't know anything." Jason rested his forehead against his knees. "I don't know where Bishop is. I don't know what he's doing. And, trust me, I don't work for him. It was just supposed to be an introduction, a friend-of-a-friend kind of a thing. I figured he was scoring drugs or something. Once I realized who he was, I should have just gotten the hell out, but I was too scared to run. I knew if I didn't get him where he wanted to go, he'd--"
Claire could only imagine what Bishop would have done if disappointed, and it wasn't good, that was certain. "It's not your fault," she said. "You didn't have a choice." Jason was lucky to be alive at all.
"And I don't have a choicenow , either," he said. "Claire, if they think they can torture some info out of me about where Bishop's new hideout is, they can't. I'd give it up if I had it, in a heartbeat, because, damn, does that thing scare me. But I just don'tknow anything."
She believed him. She glanced up, looking for the cameras, and found a tiny glass eye in the far corner of the ceiling. She stared up at it for a few seconds, wondering who was watching this. Amelie, almost certainly. And probably Myrnin, if he wasn't still lurking on the other side of the door.
"I'm going to try to get you out of here, Jason," she said. "I don't know if I can do anything for you with the police, though."
He shrugged, falling into that silence again. His eyes still looked dead, but now she realized that it wasn't indifference.
It was fear.
She got up and walked toward the door, waiting. The lock disengaged and the door popped open.
"Claire?" Jason said suddenly. She looked back. "If I don't see you again, thanks for trying. Nobody ever tried before. Not even Eve. I mean, she's my sister and I love her, but...I think she always knew I was a lost cause."
That was the saddest thing she'd ever heard. Claire tried for a smile, but she didn't think it was authentic. And Jason didn't smile back.
"You'll see me again," she said. "I promise."
She hoped she wasn't lying, as the door clicked shut behind her and locked with a thick, chunky sound of metal. The hallway was deserted, both directions, just straight lines and scratches on the walls and a sense of despair as thick as the white paint.
And then the vampire from the front desk--John, the one who'd called her the apprentice vampire hunter--appeared in the corridor. Claire stopped dead in her tracks, tense and ready for anything. He stared at her for a second, then beckoned.
She stayed where she was.
"Suit yourself," he said. "I was told to get you out. You want to stay, I can make that happen, girl. I got plenty of open cells."
"I'm waiting for Myrnin."
"You'll be waiting a while," he said. "He's up with the boss lady. You come with me or get in a cell. Your choice."
If Amelie was watching the closed-circuit feeds, she'd see Claire in the hallway and witness whatever might happen. Hopefully John knew that, too. That, and only that, made Claire nod and move toward the other vampire.
He didn't touch her. He opened and closed gates, and finally they were in the last section, barred at one end, thick steel door at the other.
And, Claire realized, there were no cameras right in this particular section.
Oh, God.
John stopped and turned toward her. "I don't forget what you did," he said. He tapped the skin below his clouded, blind eye, eerily silver. "This is on you. You hurt me so bad, it's never going to heal."
Well, she'd done this to herself, trapped with a vamp whoreally didn't like her, knowing she was responsible for his current not-so-great looks. "You were trying to kill me when I did that," she said. "So it's on you. If it helps, it makes you look way scarier than before."
He bared fangs, and the look on his face made her feel painfully aware of the blood running under her skin and the terror that seemed to be growing spikes in her stomach. "You want to say that again?" he said. "How it was my fault you threw liquid nitrogen in my face?"
"Maybe it's shared responsibility," she said. "But that's as far as I'm willing to go. Now open the door."
"Once I'm done," he said. "Eye for an eye. That's what the Bible says."
"I'm thinking you don't live by the commandments too much."
"Oh, I do. I pay special attention to the parts I agree with, same as everybody else. Now, if you stand still, it won't take long." He grinned evilly. "Not saying it won't hurt, of course. What'd be the point if it didn't hurt?"
She took a giant step back. Useless. Close quarters, no place to run, no weapons. Hand to hand with a much bigger, stronger, vampire-type dude, she had zero chance, and she knew it.
But she wasn't going to beg. Even if the screaming voice in her head wanted her to.
Should have left that I-know-who-killed-me note.
And then the door next to her popped open with a harsh buzzing sound. She didn't hesitate. As the vampire lunged for her, she shoved the door open and ran out into the lobby, dodging the wooden desk.
The angry vamp came after her and skidded to a fast stop when he saw who was standing there in his path.
Amelie.
She wasn't a tall woman, but shelooked tall in her carefully tailored silk jacket and skirt and heels, with her pale hair piled on top of her head in a crown. The silk clothes were one shade paler than her skin, giving her a sleek, marble look that was enhanced by the stillness of her body.
"I also believe in an eye for an eye, John," she said. "Quite strongly, in fact. It's one of my founding principles. You'd do well to remember that."
John gave Claire a fast, furious look, and bowed his head. "Yes, ma'am. I will."
"I believe I employ you for a specific job, John. Guarding a very valuable, and possibly very dangerous, prisoner."
"You do, ma'am."
"Then perhaps it might be good for you to return to it and stop indulging your own petty little grudges."
He silently crossed to the desk and sat down behind it. Claire let out a trembling breath. She would have saidthank you , but she didn't think Amelie wanted to hear that, not now.
"You did me good service, Claire," Amelie said, turning to face her. "And now I need your word that you will forget what you heard here tonight."
"You mean about--"
"I meanforget ," the vampire queen of Morganville said, and the force of her personality hit Claire like a wall of cold water. "I can't compel you, but Ican assure you that if you share the information you heard here, I will know. And we've already established how I view betrayals, I believe."
This wasn't Amelie, the one who'd sometimes unbent enough tosmile ...no, this was Queen Amelie, the Founder of Morganville, who never smiled. The daughter of Bishop. The one who'd survived ages and every enemy thrown at her through all those dangerous years.
And Claire never doubted for a second that she meant what she said.
"I won't say anything," she said. "But I need help getting home."
"You'll have it. Myrnin!" Amelie's voice was sharp, brittle, and impatient. "Out here. Now."
A section of the wall opened--one that Claire would never have guessed for a door--and Myrnin leaned out, eyebrows raised. "Then we're finished here?"
"For now," Amelie said. "Take her home. And--"
"Say nothing--yes, yes, I heard you the first seven hundred times," Myrnin said, much too sharply. "I'm ancient. I'm notdeaf. "
Amelie's cold expression deepened, and her gray eyes took on an unpleasant reddish glitter. "Do you think I find this a joking matter?"
"Maybe you should," he said. "And maybe you should have cut off the old man's head when you had the chance. Absolutely no one would have argued with that choice. Merely walling him up, to increase his suffering and create an example--that was unmerciful, and, worse, it was sloppy. I believe that flapping sound you hear is pigeons, coming home to roost."
If Amelie had looked any colder, Claire would have expected frost to form on the floor around her. "Really? Because I believe it's the sound of my patience with your nonsense running out.Old friend. Do remember your limits."
He crossed the room in a flash, standing toe-to-toe with her. He was taller than she was, and gangly, and raggedly just the opposite of her elegance...but there was something about him, something that made Claire catch her breath and hold it. "I am your friend," he said quietly. "I've always been your friend, dear one. But on the subject of your father, you've never been very rational. Don't let him drive you. Don't play with him; he'll always be crueler than you.Kill him when you find him. I'd have killed him for you just now, if I'd been able. But he's fast and strong, and I couldn't afford to let him bite me. He can assemble an army frighteningly fast. You have to find him, and when you do, you must execute him. Immediately."
For a second, Claire thought that he'd reached her--that she was listening to the quiet pain in his voice. But then her pale, strong hand closed around Myrnin's throat andsqueezed. Spots of blood formed where her fingernails dug in. With a single jerk, she pulled him off balance and sent him crashing to his knees and held him there.
He didn't try to struggle. Claire wasn't sure he could; there was a thick, cold wave of menace coming from Amelie that froze Claire where she stood.
Amelie bent toward him very slowly and said, "My hateful father never had a better student than me, Myrnin. And Iwill kill him, but I'll do it in my own time. Don't tell me what to do, or I might find it necessary to remind you thatI am the Founder of Morganville. Notyou ."
"I never forget," Myrnin said in a choked whisper. "Certainly not with your nails in my throat. They're quite an excellent mnemonic device."
She blinked and let him go. As she stepped away, she frowned down at her bloodstained fingernails.
Myrnin rose to his feet in a smooth, effortless motion, and whipped a black handkerchief out of the pocket of his shorts. She took it without a word, wiped away the blood, and gave it back. He cleaned the red from his neck. The wounds had already closed.
"That's the second time I've spilled my blood for you tonight," he said. "I believe I've made my point, and you've made yours, most graphically. So I'll be taking my leave. Oh, and Claire. I'll be taking Claire."
Amelie nodded. There was a slight groove between her eyebrows--the ghost of a frown. As Myrnin and Claire--who'd finally dared to breathe again--headed for the outer door, Amelie said, "You're right. My father's escape has...unsettled me."
"Couldn't tell," Myrnin said. "My advice is sound. Don't punish him. Don't make an example of him. When you find him, kill him quickly and quietly. It's the only peace you can hope for. You can't afford to allow him to become a power in this town again. Someone is working with him, helping him, or you'd have him by now. He wouldn't dare to be out there, hunting. This is going to go bad, quickly.Act. "
She nodded slightly, still frowning.
And Myrnin grabbed Claire's arm and propelled her fast, outside, down the steps, and into the dark. This time, he ordered one of Amelie's cars.
Armored.
The fact that Myrnin had actually been scared enough to be careful with her...that said more about the danger than anything else.