Rachel Caine - Fall of Night

From the frozen shock on Myrnin’s face when she’d pointed him out, it wasn’t what he’d expected from her, either.

I didn’t love the guy, but I winced and looked away when Anderson kept shooting him. No visible wounds, no bleeding, but the agony was obvious. She was hurting him, and from the cruel, wet light in her eyes, she liked hurting him a whole hell of a lot. I wondered what kind of crush she’d harboured on Myrnin all these years, only to see Claire take her place in the lab, and maybe in the vampire’s affection.

I tried to step in, but Anderson swung around on me, ready to fire, and I was forced to come to a halt with my hands up. ‘Yeah, right, okay,’ I said, and I kept my voice quiet and calm. ‘Lady, he’s down already, he’s down. You can quit now. He’s no threat to you.’

Dr Anderson stopped firing, then, and she got a look on her face like she was sickened by what she’d done – but only for a second. And then it was gone, replaced by that righteous glow I remembered so well in my father. He was all about the cause, and he’d sacrificed everything and everybody for it. Including me, of course.

I wondered what, and who, she’d sacrificed along the way, if this was her cause now. The crazy thing was that Myrnin had still trusted her – had trusted her the same way he did Claire. He’d never suspected that she’d turned on him.

And now Claire had just stuck the knife in, too. Not a good day for Team Vampire.

I didn’t try to go see if Myrnin was okay; it was pretty obvious he wasn’t – just like Oliver, who was rocking and moaning in the corner. And Michael, whom we’d left trembling in Eve’s arms like a scared little kid. I’ve staked vampires, don’t get me wrong; I’m no wilting flower when it comes to doing what needs to be done, when it needs doing.

But what Anderson had done, and was doing … it was cruel.

Claire was chalk-white, and her eyes were huge; I was afraid she might just fall down too, as the enormity of what she’d done hit her, but instead, she lifted her chin and met my stare without flinching. Like she was trying to tell me something. I had no idea what, but maybe, just maybe, Claire had some sort of a plan.

It made more sense than thinking she’d suddenly developed a talent for two-faced betrayal.

Trust her, something in me said. No matter what it looks like. No matter what she says or does, or what anybody else says or does. For God’s sake, trust her . Because that was the lesson I’d learnt so hard over the past few weeks. When everything went crazy, when nothing made sense … Claire made sense. I just had to trust even when I couldn’t see.

I brushed the back of her hand with mine in a silent caress, and tried to make her understand that I was about to play along. I hope she got the message, because after that, the first thing I did was shove her backward. ‘The hell, Claire? He was our only shot at getting out of this! What the hell were you thinking?’

She stumbled, looked stunned, and for a second I thought she’d totally missed my attempted reassurance – but then I knew she hadn’t. I couldn’t even pinpoint how I knew … but she and I were in sync, again, and we understood each other. ‘He wasn’t our only shot, and we weren’t getting out of it,’ she said. ‘And don’t you push me, Shane. Don’t you ever do that again.’

‘Or you’ll what? Get your buddy there to vamp-tase me?’ Anderson was watching us closely, and I made sure I put as much bitterness into it as I might have once felt. ‘You stabbed Myrnin in the back, Claire. I thought you actually liked him.’

‘More than I like you,’ she shot back. ‘I left you, Shane. I left Morganville. I left Myrnin. I came to make a new life and try to be somebody else, and you all followed me ! Why am I the bad guy all of a sudden? She’s not hurting them, she’s just … she’s just disabling them. Like you said. A taser, only for vampires.’

‘Look at them. Look ! You’re sure that it doesn’t have lasting effects?’ I asked her. ‘You’re sure that Michael’s going to get up and laugh it off? Yeah, and even if it is temporary, I’m sure Oliver’s going to take it totally well when he quits crying like a little girl. You just made damn sure they all kill us really, really dead, you understand that? If you wanted to go to war with Amelie, you’ve done it. She’s never going to let this stand.’

‘Amelie will never know,’ Dr Anderson said. ‘Oliver was in exile. She sent Michael to chase down her wayward missing pet madman. If all of them disappear along the way, well. Accidents happen, even to vampires. And no one can possibly swear they were ever even here.’

‘Except Liz, and Pete, and Claire, and Eve and me,’ I said. ‘So I guess we’ll have to take a fertiliser nap in your rose garden, right? Oh, wait, you’re the good guy . Sorry, I was confused for a second.’

‘I can assure you that the four vampires won’t be killed. They’re invaluable lab specimens, so long as we can keep them docile, which this weapon does very well,’ Dr Anderson said. ‘And I think I can persuade the rest of you that it’s in your best interests to keep silent. Liz is a young, impressionable girl. You, Shane – well, if you won’t be convinced, I’m sure I can talk Liz into blaming her abduction on you. You’ll spend half your life in prison.’

‘You don’t have to do that,’ Claire said. ‘He won’t say anything. Shane – listen to me. If we all stick together, if we tell the same story, we can be safe. For the first time in our lives, safe . Amelie won’t come here, it’s too much of a risk. We can stay here, live our lives not afraid of them for a change. We can be happy.’

‘And, of course, if you decide your principles are more important, I’m sure we can still fall back on Option One,’ Dr Anderson said. ‘I admit, it’s not my first choice. I dislike hurting humans. My goal is to make a world where vampires can be contained, constructively managed for their own safety and for ours. If you agree with that, I think we can all get along just fine.’

‘You going to make Eve agree with that, too? With letting Michael be some kind of – of lab rat?’ I demanded. ‘Shit, Claire, you know it’s never going to happen. Maybe you can convince me about the rest of them, but not Michael. He’s our friend. He’s my brother .’

‘I don’t really need four subjects,’ Dr Anderson said then, ready to make the concession at just the right time. My dad would have been proud. ‘Three will do. Michael can be kept safe, but unharmed. Does that answer your concerns?’

What had happened, in the moments since Claire had given up Myrnin, was pretty amazing, because we’d gone from being on the deadly end of the deal to negotiating for favours, and I didn’t think Dr Anderson had even realised she was being played as thoroughly and masterfully as she’d once played Claire. It was impressive. And a little scary. That funky weapon wasn’t pointed at me any more, even vaguely; it was aimed down at the ground. That didn’t mean it couldn’t come right back up again, if I did something stupid, but by focusing my anger on Claire, I’d won some breathing space from the real target. I’d put Claire and Anderson on the same side, and now they were just working out details.

I just hoped Claire wasn’t buying into what I was selling. I couldn’t really tell now. She still looked pallid, shocked, and fragile and I wanted to take her in my arms so bad it hurt … but that wasn’t what would help either of us right now.

‘You’ll have to sell it to Eve, not me,’ I said. ‘But you back off Michael and I might be able to live with the rest of it. Maybe.’