The Dead Girls' Dance (16 page)

“Well…yes.'” Oliver took the tea bag out of his cup and set it aside on the saucer, then sipped. “A habit we learned from you, really. Humans are all too ready to slaughter the innocent with the guilty, and if you were older, Claire, you would know this. Joe, I'm sure, is not so naive.'”

Hess smiled thinly and sipped coffee. “Don't talk to me. I'm just the driver.'”

“Ah,'” Oliver said. “How generous of you.'” They exchanged some kind of a look that Claire didn't know how to interpret. Was that anger? Amusement? A willingness to get up and beat the crap out of each other at a moment's notice? She couldn't even figure out what Shane and Michael were thinking, and she knew them. “Is she then aware of the price of your services?'”

“He's trying to get you rattled, Claire. There's no price.'”

“How interesting. And what a departure.'” Oliver dismissed Hess and got back to Claire, who hastily took a sip of her cocoa.
Ohhhhhh
…it just kind of exploded in her mouth, rich cocoa, warm milk, and a spicy edge that she didn't expect. Wow. She blinked and took another sip, carefully. “I see you like the cocoa.'”

“Um…yeah. Yes, sir.'” Because somehow, when Oliver was being civilized, she felt compelled to still call him
sir
. Mom and Dad had a lot to answer for, she decided. She couldn't even be rude to evil vampires who'd caged her boyfriend and were preparing to roast him alive. “What about Shane?'”

Oliver leaned back, and his eyelids drifted down to half-mast. “We've covered this subject, Claire. Quite thoroughly. I believe you might even have the bruises to remind you of my opinion.'”

“He didn't do it.'”

“Let us deal in facts.
Fact,
the boy came back to Morganville with the clear intention of disrupting the peace, at the very least, and more likely killing vampires, which is an automatic death sentence.
Fact,
he concealed himself from us, along with his intentions.
Fact,
he communicated with his father and his father's friends both before they came to Morganville and after.
Fact,
he was at the scene of the crime.
Fact,
he has offered little in his own defense. Need I go on?'”

“But—'”

“Claire.'” Oliver sounded sad and wounded. He leaned forward, braced his elbows on the table, and placed his chin on top of his folded hands. “You're young. I understand that you have feelings for him, but don't be a fool. He'll drag you down with him. If you force me to it, I'm sure I could uncover evidence that you knew about the presence of Shane's father in Morganville, and you had knowledge of their agenda. And that, my dear girl, would mean the end of your precious Protection, and put you in a cage alongside your boyfriend. Is that what you want?'”

Hess put a warning hand on her arm. “Enough, Oliver.'”

“Not nearly enough. If you came to bargain, I think you have nothing to offer me that I can't get elsewhere,'” Oliver said. “So please take yourselves—'”

“I'll sign whatever you want,'” Claire blurted. “You know, swear myself to you. Instead of Amelie. If you want. Just let Shane go.'”

She hadn't been planning to do it, but when he'd mentioned
bargain
it had just taken on a life of its own inside her, and leaped right out of her mouth. Hess groaned and ran a hand over his hair, then covered his mouth, evidently to keep himself from telling her what an idiot she was.

Oliver continued to gaze at her with those steady, kind eyes.

“I see,'” he said. “It would be love, then. For love of this boy, you would tie yourself to me for the rest of your life. Give me the right to use you as I see fit. Do you have any idea what you're offering? Because I would not offer you the conditional contracts that most in Morganville sign, Claire. No, for you, there would be the old ways. The hard ways. I would own you, body and soul. I would tell you when to marry and whom to marry, and own your children and all their issue. I was born in a time when this was custom, you see, and I am not in a charitable mood just now. Is this what you want?'”

“Don't,'” Hess said sharply. He gripped Claire's forearm and pulled her up to her feet. “We're going, Oliver. Right now.'”

“She has the right to make her own choices, Detective.'”

“She's a
child
! Oliver, she's sixteen years old!'”

“She was old enough to conspire against me,'” he said. “Old enough to find the book that I spent half a hundred years pursuing. Old enough to cut off my one and only chance to save my people from Amelie's intolerable iron grip.
Do you think I care about her age?
'” Oliver's friendly courtesy was all gone, and what was left was like a man-sized snake, with a cruel light flickering behind his eyes, and fangs flicking down in warning. Claire let Hess pull her out from behind the table, toward the door. He'd drawn his gun.

“I may not let you leave,'” Oliver said. “You realize that?'”

Hess spun and raised the gun, pointed it straight at Oliver's chest. “Silver bullets washed in holy water, with a cross cast right in.'” He clicked back the hammer. “You want to test the line, Oliver? Because it's right here. You're standing on it. I'll take a lot of shit from you, but not this. Not that kind of contract, and not with a kid.'”

Oliver hadn't even bothered to stand up.

“I take it you don't want your coffee poured to go? A pity. Do watch your back, Detective. You and I will have a talk, one of these days. And Claire…come back anytime. If the hours run thin, and you want to make that deal, I will listen.'”

“Don't even think about it,'” Hess said. “Claire, open the door.'” He held his gun trained on the vampire, un-blinking, while Claire unlocked the three dead bolts and swung it open. “Get in the car. Move.'” He backed out behind her as she ran to the car and dived inside. Hess banged the door to Common Grounds closed, hard enough to crack glass, and slid over the hood of the car in a move she'd only ever seen in action movies, and was in the car and starting it before she could take a breath.

They raced off into the night. Claire checked the backseat, suddenly terrified she'd turn around to see Oliver grinning at her, but it was empty.

Hess was sweating. He wiped at the drops with the back of his hand. “You don't fool around when you get yourself in trouble, I'll give you that,'” he said. “I've lived here all my life, and I've never seen anybody get that out of Oliver. Ever.'”

“Um…thanks?'”

“It wasn't a compliment. Listen, under no circumstances do you
ever
go back to Common Grounds, get me? Avoid Oliver at all costs. And no matter what happens, don't make that deal. Shane wouldn't want it, and you'd live to regret it. You'd live a long time, and you'd hate every horrible second of it.'” Hess shook his head and took a deep breath. “Right. That's the end of the line for you tonight. You're going home, I'm seeing you safe inside, and I'm going home to hide in a closet until this blows over. I suggest you do the same.'”

“But Shane—'”

“Shane's dead,'” Hess said, so quietly and matter-of factly that she thought he meant it, that somehow someone had slipped in and killed him and
she hadn't even known
…but then he went on. “You can't save him. Nobody can save him now. Just let go and watch yourself, Claire. That's all you can do. You've pissed off both Amelie and Oliver in one night. Enough already. A little common sense would be welcome from you right about now.'”

She sat in dull, grim silence the rest of the way home.

 

Hess was as good as his word. He walked her from the car up the steps, watched her open the front door, and nodded wearily as she stepped inside. “Lock it,'” he said. “And for God's sake, go get some rest.'”

Michael was right there, warm and comforting, when she closed the door. He was holding his guitar by the neck, so he'd clearly been playing; his eyes were red-rimmed, his face tense. “Well?'” he asked.

“Hello, Claire, how are you?'” Claire asked the air. “No death threats, right? Thanks for going out in the dark to bargain with two of the scariest people on earth.'”

He at least had the good manners to look embarrassed about it. “Sorry. You okay?'”

“Duh. No fang marks, anyway.'” She shuddered. “I do
not
like those people.'”

“Vampires?'”

“Vampires.'”

“Technically, not people, but then, neither am I, now that I think about it. So never mind.'” Michael put an arm around her and steered her toward the living room, where he sat her down, put a blanket around her shoulders. “I'm guessing it didn't go well.'”

“It didn't go at all,'” she said. She'd been depressed on the ride home, but having to actually report on her failure was a whole new level of suck. “They're not letting him go.'”

Michael didn't say anything, but the light died in his eyes. He went down on one knee next to her and fussed with the blanket, tucking it tighter around her. “Claire.
Are
you okay? You're shaking.'”

“They're cold, you know,'” she said. “They make me cold, too.'”

He nodded slowly. “You did what you could. Rest.'”

“What about Eve? Is she still here?'”

He glanced up at the ceiling, as if he could see through it. Maybe he could. Claire really didn't know what Michael could and couldn't do; after all, he'd been dead a couple of times already. Wouldn't do to underestimate somebody like that. “She's asleep,'” he said. “I—talked to her. She understands. She won't do anything stupid.'” He didn't look at Claire when he said that, and she wondered what kind of talking that might have been.

Her mother had always said, when in doubt, ask. “Was it the kind of talk where you gave her something to live for? Like maybe, um, you?'”

“Did I—what the hell are you talking about?'”

“I just thought maybe you and her—'”

“Claire,
Jesus
!'” Michael said. She'd actually made him flinch. Wow. That was new. “You think banging me is going to make her forget about charging out to commit cold-blooded vampire slaying? I don't know what kind of standards you have on sex, but those are pretty high. Besides, whatever's between me and Eve—well, it's between me and Eve.'”
Until she tells me about it later,
Claire thought. “Anyway, that's not what I meant. I—persuaded her. That's all.'”

Persuaded. Right. The mood Eve had been in when Claire left? Not too likely…

And then Claire remembered the voices whispering to her in the alley, and her blind, stupid assumption of safety leading her into danger. Could Michael do that?
Would
he?

“You didn't—'” She touched her temple with one finger.

“What?'”

“Screw with her head? Like
they
can?'”

He didn't answer. He fussed with the blanket around her shoulders some more, fetched her a pillow, and said, “Lie down. Rest. It's only a couple of hours until dawn, and I'm going to need you.'”

“Oh, God, Michael, you didn't. You
didn't
! She'll never forgive you!'”

“As long as she lives to hate me later,'” he said. “Rest. I mean it.'”

She didn't intend to sleep; her brain was whirling like a tire rim scraping pavement, shooting off sparks in every direction. Lots of energy being expended, but she wasn't going anywhere fast.
Have to think of something. Have to…

Michael started playing, something soft that sounded melancholy, all in minor keys, and she felt herself begin to drift…

…and then, without any sense of going, she was gone.

 

The blanket around her smelled like Shane.

Claire burrowed deeper into its warmth, murmuring something that might have been his name as she woke; she felt good, relaxed, safe in his embrace. The way she'd been the other night when they'd spent it here on the couch, kissing…

All that faded fast when the events of the past day flooded back, stripping away the comfort and leaving her cold and scared. Claire sat up, clutching the blanket, and looked around. Michael's guitar was back in its case, and the sun was over the horizon. So, he was gone again, and she and Eve…she and Eve were on their own.

“Right,'” she whispered. “Time to get to work.'” She still needed to find some kind of viable strategy to break Shane out of that cage on Founder's Square. Which meant research…maybe Detective Hess could tell her something about how many guards there were, and where. Clearly, there was some kind of security process for keeping out the human losers like her, but any security could be broken, right? At least, that's what she'd always heard. Maybe Eve knew something that could help.

If Eve wasn't back on suicide watch this morning, anyway. Claire thought wistfully about a hot shower, decided maybe it could wait, and wandered into the kitchen to put on coffee. Eve wasn't going to be happy, but she'd be even less happy without caffeine. Claire waited while the pot filled, then carried a black mug full of the stuff upstairs. The key to Eve's door was hanging on a hook, with a note taped to it. Michael's handwriting. It read,
Don't let her leave the house
. By implication, of course, it meant Claire was supposed to stay here, too.

As if she could even think about doing that, with Shane's last hours running out. And who knew what was happening to him out there? She thought about the cold fury in Oliver, the indifference in Amelie, her stomach twisting. She grabbed the key, turned it in the lock, and opened Eve's bedroom door.