Claire gave her a long, steady look, and said, "Then never mind. I thought you were serious about saving people, but you're not. You're weak. And you're a loser already. There's no point in avoiding the battle because it's already over." She turned her back on Amelie and slapped Shane and Eve on the shoulders. "Come on. This is a total waste of time. At least the humans around here are spoiling for a fight. Let's go talk to Captain Obvious." She glanced back at Amelie, who hadn't moved. It had been a last shot, and not too likely to work, but Claire still felt bad that she'd missed.
Amelie really wasn't going to do anything to stop this.
The three of them made it almost ten feet before Amelie said, in a quietly resigned voice, "Maybe it is the time. Maybe there's no point now in running. So few of us will make it, and the world - the world is much harder, today. Humans more powerful. We are hemmed in by enemies. Maybe it's time to fight, after all."
The relief was so intense that Claire almost stumbled. She got hold of herself and slowly turned around. Amelie was on her feet again, hands behind her back. Not exactly Action Figure Amelie, but at least she wasn't just . . . sitting.
"You said the draug are feeding on those they take. I'm just guessing, but it isn't like vampires, right? They don't make their victims like themselves?" Please tell me Michael isn't becoming one of . . . those things.
"Draug biology, if you can stretch science that far, works differently," Amelie said. "They draw the blood and life from their victims, and it fuels their reproduction, which is more akin to bacteria than to what either of our kind do. A master draug splits himself into two, and then those two may do the same, given enough nourishment."
"And the ones in the pool?" Shane asked. "They're not dead, right?"
"No. Draug prefer their prey living. Water weighs us down, saps us of strength, and it is their stronghold. They will feed on a trapped vampire for weeks, if not months, before they discard him. Humans don't last so long." She was silent for a moment before she asked, "How many did you see in this place?"
"Vampires? Maybe twenty in the pool," Shane said. "A few humans but - I don't think they were alive down there."
"Twenty vampires means that he has spawned at least a hundred of his own."
"Well, if it helps, we killed - " Eve consulted with Shane, whispering fast, and then said, "Maybe ten?"
"A good start, but hardly enough." Amelie suddenly smiled, and turned her head slightly to the right. "You may come out now, if you have anything useful to add."
Claire hadn't had any idea another vampire had been watching them, until Myrnin moved; he'd blended completely into the shadows, which was really odd, because he was wearing a Hawaiian shirt with surfers on it, a pair of ragged blue jeans, and flip-flops.
And sunglasses. Shiny wraparound sunglasses.
"You've described the problem accurately enough," Myrnin said.
"And did you bring what I asked?"
"I'm insane, not forgetful." Myrnin took off the glasses and stuck them up on top of his head. "I thought you were leaving."
"I don't believe that I'm quite ready yet," Amelie replied. She was looking at him very oddly. "What, pray, are you wearing?"
"I thought I might go to the pool," he said. "And I thought I would wear something appropriate. What are you wearing?"
"You knew," Claire said. "You already knew about the pool."
"I suspected," Myrnin said. "I measured their singing and found the largest likely source of water they could use at its center. It is excellent to have a confirmation before I proceeded."
"You," Amelie said. "You were going. Alone."
"I would have asked you before I did," Myrnin said. "But I'm done with running, Amelie. And I'm quite fond of my lab. I'm not willing to leave it. Besides, Bob's still in his tank. I can't just abandon him."
"You were going to fight them." Amelie couldn't seem to wrap her head around it. "You."
He shrugged. "It would be a logical thing to do; taking his food supply of those trapped will stop the reproductive cycle. It will slow him down, and we need to slow him down. He's gotten much too powerful, too fast, for us to make a safe evacuation. That's become all too clear."
"You shame me," Amelie said quietly. "You all do."
Myrnin bowed to her, just slightly. "I'm ever at your service, dear lady. But from time to time, I think you value our lives a bit too much. It's time to stand. I think you see it now."
"Myrnin - Amelie said you couldn't resist the call of the draug," Claire said. "How do you plan on getting close to them?"
Myrnin reached back into the shadows and pulled out a backpack. It looked, Claire thought, familiar, like - "Wait!" she blurted. "Is that mine?"
"Don't worry, I took your books out first," Myrnin said. "Very useful, these backpacker things."
"Backpacks."
He shrugged. "In any case." He smiled at her, a genuine expression of warmth, and said, "I'm very glad you're all right, Claire."
"Yeah," Shane said coldly. "Thanks for helping us get her back. What's in the pack?"
Myrnin pulled out a device, something small but, from the way he handled it, heavy; he flipped a switch, and Claire heard a distant howling rise up on the night air. "Oops, wrong setting," he said, and quickly turned a dial. "There."
Amelie took in a sudden, deep breath, and closed her eyes. "Oh," she murmured. "Oh, that is good. So good. You're certain it will work as we get closer?"
"It will work," Myrnin said, "and I'm frankly offended you should ask such a thing, Amelie. Have I ever - " He thought better of asking that question, Claire saw. "Well. In any case, it will work. My word."
"Your life," she corrected him. "Words will not protect us. That must, at all costs."
"Um . . . what is it?" Eve asked.
"Blessed silence," Amelie said.
"Noise cancellation," Myrnin said at the same time. "To block out their calls."
"Awesome," Claire said. "Weapons?"
For answer, Myrnin took out a pair of black leather gloves, which he put on, and tossed another to Amelie. She frowned at them, then pulled them on.
He tossed her a . . . "Shotgun?" Claire asked. "Okay, I'm not sure that will actually . . ."
"It's a sawed-off shotgun, my dear, loaded with silver pellets," Myrnin said, "and it took me most of the day to acquire the materials, cast them, and load the cartridges. It works best when you stand at least ten feet away to fire. Maximum spread." He dug in his backpack and pulled out a black leather belt with loops. Each loop was filled with a red shotgun cartridge. He tossed it to Amelie, and she put the gun down and fastened it low on her hips, gunfighter-style. Myrnin tossed his over his shoulder, took out his own sawed-off, which he pumped with unsettling enthusiasm. "Let's go hunting, shall we?"
Shane nudged Claire and said, under his breath, "Is this terrifying, or is it just me? Because it might just be me."
"It's not," she whispered back. "God, we're all going to die."
"Well," Myrnin said, just as if they'd said it out loud, "at least we'll go out together, my friends." He rested the shotgun on his shoulder and made an after you bow to Amelie. "I also secured us transportation. I hope you'll like it."
"Oh, this is good," Eve said. "I'm putting down a bet that it's a parade float."
"Not taking that one," Shane said. "Hey, do we get cool shotguns?"
"No," Amelie said, and made a sharp, military gesture. "With me. And stay close."
Chapter Eighteen
AMELIE
There is a certain freedom in giving up all hope. One is no longer bound by the cords of dread or fear; you simply move toward the inevitable without thinking on the consequences.
I knew that we would not escape the draug; that much, history had taught me. I'd seen entire vampire clans vanish - drawn, drowned, drained. I'd seen the mightiest and most clever of our kind brought to ruin; the more vampires fought, the more draug swarmed, until all was lost.
So why was I driving toward what was certainly going to be my doom? Perhaps only to stop running from it. It had been following me a long time - all my life - like a dark and lengthy shadow, and perhaps Claire had been right from the beginning: perhaps it was time to stop and draw a line, and hold it.