Rachel Caine - Black Dawn

He sighed and nodded. “I’m only warning you that what you’re doing may make complications you haven’t considered. For you all.”

“Don’t care,” Eve said. “We’re ready. And we’re not letting them stop us again.”

Michael was holding Eve’s hand, and although he wasn’t saying much, he was utterly still and solid and there . If he was scared, or worried, it didn’t show at all. He glowed like marble and gold, and for the first time in the light of the candles Claire noticed there were threads of copper in his hair, like his grandfather’s much redder hair. He even looked like Sam just now; Sam, the kindest and best of the vampires, who’d died at the hands of humans.

She hoped that wasn’t some kind of omen.

“Then let’s proceed,” Father Joe said. “Are there rings?”

Shane dug in his pocket and held it up—not the traditional diamond, Claire saw. Eve must have insisted on a ruby. And a skull.

“Then I suppose there’s no turning back. Let us pray,” Father Joe said, and bowed his head.

The door at the back of the church opened, admitting a burst of pure white sunlight, and out of it came four figures. Two were holding umbrellas to shade the others in front, and as they shut the doors behind them Claire recognized the ones in the back as Amelie’s security, dressed in their dark suits and glasses again.

Amelie was wearing white, a blinding white silk suit that tailored itself perfectly to her body. Her hair was up in a pale blond crown around her head, and she wore a ruby pendant in the hollow of her throat.

Oliver was next to her, wearing black leather.

“No,” Eve whispered. “No, not now …”

The vampires walked down the aisle and came to a halt a few feet away. Amelie’s eyes were wide and cool gray, no hints of red, at least. She was wearing white gloves to match her suit.

“What’s this?” she asked in a very neutral tone. “Father?”

“They’ve come before the altar to be joined in marriage,” he said, and for the first time Claire heard strength in his voice. Real strength. “They’re in the presence of God now, Amelie. And not under your control.”

She raised her pale eyebrows and fixed Michael with a stare. He met it without wavering. “And yet,” she said softly, “they must leave this church, and live in Morganville, and I assure you, that is utterly under my control. I put out a call for all those in town to help us restore the town. Yet I find you here.”

“We’ll help,” Eve said. “But first we’re doing this. And you’re not stopping us.” She sounded brave. And very certain. “You can’t.”

There was a little sparkle of red in Amelie’s eyes—or it might have been the candlelight. Claire hoped it was, anyway. “Can’t I? That is … debatable. But I grant you this hour. Enjoy your … respite. Tomorrow begins the dawn of a brand-new Morganville. We will rebuild.”

“Together,” Claire said, and drew that cool, icy stare.

“Perhaps,” Amelie said. “And perhaps that is one of many things that will change.”

Oliver spoke up for the first time. “The next time you do something without permission,” he said, “it’ll be the last. New rules, children. Brand-new rules. Remember that.”

And he escorted Amelie out, trailed by the guards. The doors boomed shut behind them.

Eve let out a shaking breath. “So, that’s … not so great,” she said. “Michael, maybe—”

He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it, looking straight into her eyes. “No,” he said. “No more letting the world tell us what we ought to do. We know, Eve. I know.”

For a moment she didn’t move, and then she smiled, and it seemed to light up the whole church.

“Yes,” she agreed, and turned to face Father Joe. “We’re ready.”

Are we? Claire wondered, but she quickly buried the thought as he began the prayer.

They had to be.

Because now there was no going back.

Music is important to my process of writing. It’s the first thing I do before I start a new book … pick at least ten songs for this track list. Then, as I go along, I search for more music to fill it out and keep the soundtrack in my head going. I think I got some particularly juicy songs for this one! Hope you enjoy them … and please , remember that, like writers, musicians exist on the money you pay for their work. So please pay to play.

“Iron” Woodkid

“Way Down in the Hole” Blind Boys of Alabama

“Two Against One” (featuring Jack White) Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi

“Pumped Up Kicks” Foster the People

“Stranger” Katie Costello

“Me Me Me” Kids in Glass Houses

“Death” White Lies

“Vampires Will Never Hurt You” My Chemical Romance

“With Light There Is Hope” Princess One Point Five

“I Can See Clearly Now” Screeching Weasel

“Heroes” Shinedown

“Little Lover’s So Polite” Silversun Pickups

“We’re Through” Smile Empty Soul

“Back to You” Thenewno2

“Beyond Here Lies Nothin’” Bob Dylan

“Hero” Scarlet Haze

“Preliator” Globus

“Gypsy Woman” Jonathan Tyler & The Northern Lights

“Static” King’s X

“Beating Heart Baby” Head Automatica

“We Want War” These New Puritans

“Bury Me with My Guns On” Bobaflex

“Self Control” Dukes

“Poster Child” Lions

“Blood” Band of Skulls

“Monster” Paramore

“The Sound of Winter” Bush

“Renegade” Paramore