Rachel Caine - Fall of Night

‘You seriously think I might object to that.’

‘No,’ she said, and stepped in closer to take hold of the tie of his robe. ‘But how about this? Any objections?’ She untied one loop of the knot, and hesitated. He was watching her with a strangely vulnerable intensity. ‘Shane?’

‘I love you,’ he said. It came out in a rush, as if he couldn’t wait to get it out. ‘I love you and Jesus, you scare me. Having to give you up was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, Claire; I can’t do it again. Please tell me – please tell me that you’re coming back for good. Or at least, if you leave, let me go with you.’

‘You came with me this time.’

‘I followed you. I didn’t come with you.’ It seemed to be important to him that she understand the difference. And she did, she really did.

‘I needed to be away from Morganville,’ she told him then, ‘and I needed to be sure what it was I really wanted. Do I want what I had back there, for a little while? That normal life? It was nice, Shane, but … but it’s not me. Not any more. It’s too late for me to live that life. But not too late for us to live our life together. If you still want—’

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Yes, I want. If you don’t believe me, untie the rest of the knot.’

She laughed a little, and moved into his arms. The kiss started soft, turned urgent and sweet and damp, and then he walked her back to the feathery hotel bed and stretched her out on the duvet. Everything seemed warm, and in its comfort, in his comfort, she floated.

No. In his comfort, in his warmth, in his passion, she flew .

And when she floated back to earth, he was still there, warm and safe, holding her.

Before she drifted off to sleep, he kissed her hand. No, the ring that he’d given her, that promise of a someday-life together.

After all the grief, all the guilt, all the horror of the night and the day … he was the one thing that held it back.

He was the thing that would always give her that safe, warm space that made it possible to breathe.

In the morning, they started for Morganville.

It took another two solid days of driving, day and night, with brief stops at motels for showers and naps, but finally, they rolled past the familiar, antique faded glory of the WELCOME TO MORGANVILLE billboard. And they were greeted by the flashing lights of a police car, coming toward them at high speed.

Shane pulled over, and Jesse nosed her SUV in behind him on the side of the road. Shane stretched and yawned and said, ‘Damn, I never actually thought I’d be happy to see this place again, but I am seriously missing my bed.’ Michael, behind them, leant over the seat to slap Shane on the shoulder.

‘Me too, man,’ he said. ‘If I have to spend another day in this car wearing hats and tarps to keep the sun off, I think I’m going to need some kind of tranquilliser.’

‘Hey, we had fun,’ Eve said, and pinched his earlobe. ‘In the sense of next to none at all, I mean. Next time, can we at least stop at a mall? Maybe see a movie? Avoid the mass murders of our enemies, maybe?’

‘Promise,’ Michael agreed, but it was an absent kind of comment, and he leant forward to peer out through the dark windows. ‘Is that Sheriff Moses?’

‘Looks like,’ Shane said. He opened the SUV’s door and stepped out as Hannah Moses approached. She wasn’t alone, Claire realised; there were two other men with her, dressed in Morganville PD uniforms. And more police cars coming, lights flashing.

Too many for comfort.

Somehow, Claire wasn’t too surprised when Hannah drew her gun. Shane slowly raised his hands.

‘I’m sorry about this, Shane,’ she said. ‘But laws are laws, and I don’t want you doing anything stupid. You too, Claire, Michael, Eve – all of you, out of the car. Now.’

All the good feelings were gone, Claire thought, and she climbed down from the truck’s cab to stand next to Shane, leaning against the fender. Michael and Eve got out, too. Wind shivered over the desert, and drew icy fingers down Claire’s face. The other police car parked behind the second SUV, and more cops arrived, all pointing guns.

‘What’s the meaning of this?’ Oliver demanded, as he got out of the second vehicle. Myrnin stepped down with him, dark eyes flashing around in restless motion, cataloguing everyone and everything. Jesse joined them, and she held Irene Anderson still as the professor tried to pull away. ‘There’s surely no question of our right to entry!’

‘Not at all,’ Hannah said. ‘But we have something we have to take care of first.’ She stepped up, fastened handcuffs around Shane’s wrists, then Claire’s, then Eve’s. ‘I’ll need that lady over there, too. Paul, put some cuffs on her and bring her over here. Michael, if you would, please stand over there.’ She pointed at Irene Anderson, who was escorted over and handcuffed. Michael went to stand next to the other van.

It was weird and confusing, but there was no reason not to trust her; Hannah seemed the same as she always had. Competent, calm, professional.

It was only as they did it that Claire realised that Hannah had just separated the humans … from the vampires.

And then the cops stepped back, and two others stepped forward with double-loaded crossbows. It happened fast, so fast. Four quick shots, deadly accurate to the heart, and the vampires went down. Jesse first, then Myrnin, then Oliver and Michael almost in the same instant.

Eve screamed. Claire didn’t. It’s wood , she told herself. They’re staked with wood . They’re not dead . But she didn’t know why this was happening, and worse, she didn’t know why Hannah was doing it.

‘Hannah?’ Her voice sounded small and confused, and the police chief looked at her with sympathy, and no small amount of pity.

‘They’ll be all right,’ she said. ‘But they’ll be taken to a safe place. I’m sorry, Claire. I’m sorry for everything. But it’s for the best.’

‘Amelie’s going to—’

‘Amelie’s not in charge,’ Hannah interrupted. ‘ We are. For the first time, the humans have taken complete control of Morganville, with the help of the Daylight Foundation. And the vampires are being quarantined for their own protection.’

‘What are you doing to them?’ Eve cried. She was fighting to get free, to get to Michael, but that wasn’t going to happen.

‘We’re going to help them,’ Hannah said. She sounded utterly sure of what she was saying. ‘We’re going to help them get better.’

All this sounded like what Shane and Captain Obvious and so many others had been wanting for years, Claire thought. A Morganville run by humans, not by vampires.

Then why did it feel so wrong ?

‘We’ll be okay,’ Shane said to her. It sounded like a prayer. ‘It’s all going to be okay.’

Somehow … Claire didn’t think so.

Music gives me the road map for the story, and I hope you’ll take a musical journey with me and explore these songs and artists. Please pay the musicians for their great work, too. They need your support.

‘Too Close’ Alex Clare

‘Let Her Go’ Passenger

‘You Spin Me Round’ Dope

‘The Departure’ Signs of Betrayal

‘Girls in the Back’ White Rose Movement

‘(I’m The One That’s) Cool’ The Guild

‘DLZ’ TV on the Radio

‘Stronger (Piano Mix)’ Fallzone

‘Animal’ Ellie Goulding

‘The Way It Ends’ Landon Pigg

‘Save Yourself’ June Halo

‘’Til The Casket Drops’ ZZ Ward

‘Soulgate (feat. Lilith)’ The Wolf Meyer Orchestra

‘Old Man’ Redlight King

‘The Riddle’ Random Rab