"Claire!" her mother said, sounding a little scandalized. "He's a guest!"
"No, he's my boss, and bosses don't drop in on my parents without an invitation. What are you doing here?"
"Dropping in on your parents without an invitation," Myrnin said. "I thought it would be good to get to know them better. I've been telling them how satisfied I am with the work you've been doing. Your research is some of the best I've ever seen." He really was on his best behavior. That didn't even sound a little crazy; overdone, maybe, but not crazy. "I'm off today," Claire pointed out. Myrnin nodded and rested his chin on his hand. He had a nice smile, when he chose to use it, as he did now, mostly directed at Claire's mother, who brought over a coffeepot and refilled his cup. Oh, good. Not anything red being served, then. "Absolutely. I know you had a full class schedule today," he said. "This is a purely social call. I wanted to reassure your parents that all was going well for you." He looked down into his coffee. "And that what happened before would never happen again." What happened before was code for the bite marks on her neck. The wounds were healed, but there was a scar, and as she thought about it, her hand went up and covered the scar, on its own. She forced it back down. Her parents didn't have any idea that Myrnin was responsible for that; they'd been told that it had been some other random vamp, and that Myrnin had helped save her. It was partly true, anyway. Myrnin had helped save her. He'd just also been the one to bite her. Not that it had really been his fault. He'd been hurt, and desperate, and she'd just been there. At least he'd stopped himself in time. She certainly hadn't been able to stop him. "Thanks," she said. She couldn't really be mad at him, not for any of it. It would have been easier if she could have. "Are you staying for dinner?"
"Me? Delicious as it smells, I fear I'm not one for bell peppers," he said, and stood up with one of those graceful moves vampires seemed so good at pulling off. They moved like humans, but better. "I'd better take my leave, Mrs. Danvers. Thank you so much for your hospitality, and the delicious coffee. Please tell your husband I thank him as well."
"That's it?" Claire asked, mystified. "You came to talk to my parents, and now you're leaving?"
"Yes," he said, perfectly at ease, and perfectly weird. "And to drop this off for you, from Amelie." He patted his vest pockets, and came up with a cream-colored envelope, which he handed over to her. It was heavy, expensive paper, and it was stamped on the back with the Founder's Seal. It was unopened. "I'll see you tomorrow, Claire. Don't forget the donuts."
"I won't," she said, all her attention on the envelope in her hands. Myrnin said something else to her mother, and then the kitchen door opened and closed, and he was gone. "He has such beautiful manners," her mother said, locking the back door. "I'm glad you work for someone so--civilized." The scar on Claire's neck throbbed a little. She thought of all the times she'd seen Myrnin go off the rails--the times he'd curled up weeping in a corner; the times he'd threatened her; the times he'd raved like a lunatic for hours on end; the times he'd begged her to put him out of his misery. The time he'd actually given her samples of his own brain--in a Tupperware container. "Civilized," she repeated softly. "Yeah. He's great." He was; that was the awful thing. He was great until he was horrible. Kind of like the world in general. Claire slit open the envelope with a kitchen knife, slipped out the heavy folded paper inside, and read the beautiful, looped handwriting--Amelie's, without a doubt. In accordance with recent requests, I hereby am providing you with passes to exit and return to Morganville. You must present these to the checkpoints at the edge of town. Please provide them to your party and give them the same instructions. There are no exceptions to this rule. Coordinate with Oliver to arrange your exit time. Claire's breath left her in a rush. Morley's passes! Perfect timing, too; she didn't know how much longer any of them could keep Morley and his people from losing patience, and coming to take it out in blood. They wanted out of Morganville. She could give it to them. She realized immediately, however, as she took the passes out of the envelope, that there weren't nearly enough. Morley's people would need about thirty passes in total. Instead, there were only four in the envelope. The names read Michael Glass, Eve Rosser, Shane Collins, and Claire Danvers. What the hell was going on? Claire pulled out her cell phone and hit SPEED DIAL. It rang, and rang, but there was no answer. She hung up and tried another number. "Oliver," said the voice on the other end. "Um, hi, it's Claire? Is--is Amelie there with you?"
"No."
"Wait, wait, don't hang up! You're on the town council--I just got a letter that has some passes in it, but it's not enough for--"
"We turned down Morley's request for emigration out of Morganville," Oliver said. He had a low, even tone to his voice, but Claire felt herself go cold anyway. "He has a philosophy that is too dangerous to those of us who wish to remain ... What's the phrase? Under the radar."
"But--we made a deal. Me, Shane, Eve, and Michael. We said we'd get them passes."
"I'm aware of your deal. What is your question?"
"It's just--Morley said he'd kill us. If we didn't get the passes for him. We told you that." Oliver was silent for a long second, then said, "What part of I'm aware did you not comprehend, Claire? You and your friends have passes out of Morganville. As it happens, Michael requested leave to travel to Dallas for his recording and concert session. We've decided to allow that, under the condition that all of you travel together. With escort."