He pushed her back to arm's length. "What are you talking about?"
Claire swallowed hard, and said, "I think she's going to kill us. All of us. I think she's going to take the vampires out of here, and destroy the entire town to be damn sure her enemies die here, too."
Eve said numbly, "Nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."
That old movie line usually made them all smile, but not now. Not this time.
Because this time, it was actually true.
Shane let go of Claire and ran his hands through his shaggy hair in a distracted, anxious gesture. "They can't do that. Myrnin - why did he bring you back if you were just going to die all over again? Why would he?"
Claire hated to say it, but she knew the answer, in her heart. "Because he feels something for me, and he wanted to give me a chance to live. Like him. With him. But I refused."
Shane turned and looked at her, a blank expression on his face that turned quickly into . . . something else. Claire was glad Myrnin had gotten out while he still could. "Great," he said. "I knew it."
"It's not like that. He's - " She shook her head in frustration. "It's not like he's in love with me or anything; it's more complicated than that. I don't even think he understands it, exactly."
"Yeah, he only loves you for your mind," Shane said, and smacked his palm down on top of the dining table.
One of the empty but still-blood-smeared vials tipped off the edge of the table.
Claire was at least five feet away, but without even thinking about it, she stepped forward, reached out, and . . .
. . . And suddenly she was holding the vial, and it had dropped only about two inches.
She'd crossed five feet and caught something with perfect coordination in less than a second.
What the hell . . . ?
Shane and Eve had both started babbling at her. She held up her other hand for silence, put the vial down, and tipped it off the table again. She waited as it fell, then willed herself to catch it before it hit the ground.
And then it was in her hand, one inch from the floor.
Nobody could have caught that.
Nobody human.
But she was human - she had blood rushing through her veins, her heart was pumping, she was breathing . . . and she felt more alive than she could remember.
Shane licked his lips and said, "It's the blood."
"What?"
"Vamp blood. It's like the stuff they gave me to drink when I was at the gym, fighting - it's got an effect on you. Makes you faster and stronger, at least for a little while. But when you crash, you crash hard. I know what you're thinking, Claire, and it's not a good idea. Not at all."
"What?" Eve asked anxiously. "What are you thinking? Why is it not good? Please, don't do anything not good - it's been a really awful day, Claire, and honestly, I don't think I can take one more trauma right now." Her voice was trembling, and she looked chalk-pale. "Unless it's about Michael. If it's about Michael, it's a very good idea."
"I can try to find him," Claire said. "Look, what choice do we have? Amelie's not looking for Michael, or for any of them. She's going to pack up and run with however many of her people are left. If we just wait here, we're sitting ducks for the big Morganville apocalypse anyway. Maybe I can find out where they are, and I can get Michael, and Oliver, and Oliver can stop this. He'd rather fight than retreat. He can convince Amelie."
"That's true," Eve said. "He's not really the giving-up type." She blinked back tears and grabbed Claire's hand, vial and all. "Do you really think you can find Michael?"
"Wait a second. Think about it," Shane said. "Eve, that thing that almost got us - that's probably what got Michael, if the vamps are so scared. You want Claire to go one-on-one with it?"
"I won't," Claire said. She already had, and it hadn't ended well. "All I'm going to do is try to find where they're keeping the ones they take. Then once I know where they are, we can get help. I can call - "
Shane was shaking his head. "Phones are dead. Hell, for all I know, she's downed carrier pigeons, too. There's no way for us to find you if things go wrong, Claire, and I can't - I won't let you take that risk."
She put her hands on his face. He looked so serious now, and she ached for him, really, but there was no way that she could hide here. Hiding would get them all killed.
Sometimes, you had to risk everything, and she knew, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that this was the time.
"You will, because you love me," she told him, and kissed him. It was a gentle, sweet, wrenching kiss, and it made her want to cry at the thought of leaving him. "Shane, I'll come back. Be ready when I do, because this is going to get dangerous."
He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to hers for a long few seconds, then stepped back.
"You're not seriously letting her go!" Eve said. "Did Myrnin give you the crazy? Because this is not safe!"
"I know." He let go of Claire's hand. "And she's not going alone. I'm going with her."
Well, Claire couldn't honestly say that she hadn't expected that, but she'd been dreading it. "You can't," she said. "Shane, I'm going to be on foot."
"Even more reason for me to go. Hey, don't worry. I'll carry the heavy weapons."
She didn't want him to come with her. For good reason - she was scared of losing him, and she knew, knew, that what was out there waiting was capable of . . . anything. He'd survived terrifying experiences, she knew that, but this - this was different.
She also knew that there was no way he'd take no for an answer. Just no way at all. He'd follow on his own if she tried to leave him, and that would only put him in even more danger.
Finally, she shook her head and sighed. "Then get the stuff and hurry. We probably don't have long before Myrnin's blood wears off."
"Wait," he told her. "Seriously. Do not move until I get back."
Claire nodded. She thought about bolting while his back was turned, but that wouldn't do any good. He came back in less than a minute, anyway, wearing his jacket with the pockets loaded down.
He handed her a set of blue squishy earplugs. "What?" She stared at them, confused, as he shoved a set in his own ears.
"Trust me," he said. "You may need them."
She pressed them in. They made her own heartbeat sound insanely loud, but blocked out voices pretty well; she had to read his lips to make out that he said, Good to go.
"Eve, we'll be back," she said. "Lock the doors!"
Eve nodded. She looked stressed and anxious, but she had her long fencing epee in one hand, and a silver stake in the other. I'll be fine, she said, or Claire thought she did, anyway.
Claire rushed to her and hugged her, hard. She kissed her on the cheek and said, "Love you, Eve."
"Love you, too," Eve said. Claire heard it, just barely, through the muffling sound barriers.
Then she and Shane set off into the dark of a Morganville they no longer knew.
There were things out there, and Claire realized why Shane had given her the earplugs by the time they reached the area around Common Grounds; there was a sound in the air, something like singing. She couldn't hear much of it, but it made her distracted, anxious, and it made her want to take the earplugs out to listen.
She didn't, only because when she reached for them, Shane grabbed her hand and held on to it, shaking his head.
Right. Whatever these things are out here, the sound is a trap.
Shane dragged her into the shadows next to the awning of Common Grounds, which was closed and shuttered; in the red and green glow of the neon coffee cup in the window, Claire saw a human figure standing on the street corner, under a flickering light.
In between the flickers, she thought it was black, an oily kind of darkness, but in the light, she saw a man. Pale, nondescript, anonymous.
She knew him, and drew in her breath sharply as she pushed back against Shane's warm, steady strength. His arms went around her.
Magnus. That was the man who'd killed her.
He stood on the corner for a few long moments, then turned and walked away into the darkness, heading south. Claire gripped Shane's hand tightly and led him out of the shadows. He pulled her to a stop again. Wait, he mouthed. What?
Follow him!
Shane shook his head. Dangerous.
Of course it was. But she knew, knew that Magnus was the key to all this. He'd killed her for a reason; she just didn't fully understand what it was.