Rachel Caine: Ghost Town

Frank frowned at her. “Why don’t we just all go the same way?” he asked.

“Because the door’s locked on the other side, too,” she said. “I need to unlock it before you can get through. Trust me: this is better.”

“Well, hurry up,” he said. “Getting dark out there. You don’t want to be on the streets at night.”

“Thanks, Dad ,” Shane said. “Great advice. Never would have thought of that on my own, what with all the vampires and crazy people and everything.”

Frank just shook his head and said, “Be careful. All of you. I get the feeling this one ain’t gonna be no walk in the park.”

That, Claire thought, was probably an understatement.

The streets were a mess. People had abandoned cars and left them; they passed the wreck of Oliver’s limousine, too, which, now that Claire took a good look from the outside, seemed even more terrifying. Eve drove with extreme caution, steering with both hands rigidly on the wheel in the driver’s-education-approved ten and two positions. She looked petrified, and that didn’t get any better the farther they got from the Glass House, and the closer to their destination. By the time they’d pulled to a stop where Claire said, next to the entrance to the alley next to the Day House, Eve looked ready to collapse.

Claire looked over at her from the passenger seat and said, very softly, “Eve, are you sure you can do this? You could stay here. In case we need to get away quick.”

“That’s true,” Michael said. “We could use a reliable getaway driver if this doesn’t go well.”

Eve was breathing too fast, and even with the makeup, her face was flushed, but she shook her head. “No,” she said. “No, I can do it. I want to stay with you guys. Besides, Collins might do something stupid if I’m not there to tell him different.”

“Bite me, Goth princess,” Shane called from the back. “Not literally or anything.”

“Maybe you should say that to Michael.”

“Not funny, Eve,” Michael said.

Eve raised her eyebrows and held her fingers up, measuring off about an inch. “Little bit,” she said. Claire smiled. “So. We’re going, then.”

“Yeah, we’re going.” Claire opened her door and got out. The sunset was beautiful tonight, all oranges and deep reds against a dark, endless blue. She stared at it, because the thought crossed her mind that if this didn’t work, if she couldn’t pull this off, it might be the last sunset she’d ever see.

Or any of them would ever see.

This is my fault , Claire thought, as she did about every minute of the day. And it’s my responsibility.

Michael was holding Eve’s hand, Claire saw, or at least, Eve was holding his for dear life. They joined her. Eve still looked petrified. After a second’s hesitation, Michael put his arm around her shoulders. “Hey,” he said, and leaned closer. “You’re going to do okay.”

“Really? How do you know?”

“Because I know you.”

Eve smiled faintly, and then grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him close. They stood that way for a second, Michael staring down into her eyes, and then she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him.

“Whoa,” Shane said. “Really? Now? Seriously?”

Fifteen-year-old Shane was no kind of romantic, Claire thought, and wanted to smack him in the back of the head. Michael and Eve ignored them, and just kept on kissing until finally Eve pulled back and took in a deep breath. The white makeup really wasn’t doing much to tamp down the brightness in her cheeks.

Michael had black lipstick smeared all over his mouth. Eve reached in her pocket and dug out a tissue, and wiped it away. It was sweet and sexy at the same time, the way Michael watched her, as if he couldn’t believe his luck.

“Sorry,” Eve said. “I needed to do that. In case I die or something.”

“It’s okay,” Michael said. “Really. Anytime.” He sounded like he meant it, too.

Shane looked at Claire, and for a second she thought—But no. He said, “Don’t expect me to go all Romeo on you or anything.”

She swallowed a little bubble of disappointment. “I don’t,” she said, and kept her voice cool and level. “Just watch my back.”

“Uh . . . okay.” He sounded a little disappointed, too. What was she supposed to have said? Guys.

“Let’s go,” she said. “We’re sitting ducks out here.”

Shane stuck next to her, and Michael and Eve followed behind, still holding hands. Claire glanced over at him as they walked down the narrowing, high-fenced alley. “You scared?”

He shook his head. “Weirdly enough? Not really. It feels . . . like I’ve done this before. Or like it’s just a dream, and I’m going to wake up. I can’t tell which.” He made a fist and looked at it. “I’m bigger than I feel like I should be. Three years of growth, I guess. I feel stronger. That’s good.”

“Shane, in case we don’t . . . don’t come out of this, I wanted to say . . .”

He glanced over at her, and she felt her whole body warm from it. She remembered that look. It made her feel naked inside and out, but not in a creepy kind of way. In a way that felt . . . free. “If what you say is true, and I guess it has to be, I think I know why we’re . . . together,” he said. “I think I’d fall for you no matter what, Claire. You’re kind of awesome.”

She grinned. “You just like older women.”

“Damn straight,” he said, and spun a stake in his fingers as if he’d been doing it all his life. Which, she thought, maybe he had, really. “So what were you going to say, before?”

She sighed. “Nothing.”

“No, really.”

“I was going to say that I love you.”

He didn’t know what to say to that, she could tell, and for a few steps there was dead silence. “I knew I didn’t just hook up with you,” he finally said. “You know I can’t say it back, right? Because I just met you and everything?”

“I know,” she said. “But I had to say it anyway. Kind of like Eve, with the kissing.”

The shack was up ahead. Once they were inside, there would be no going back. Claire had a terrible premonition, a black, suffocating feeling that this was the last moment for them, that one of them, maybe both of them, wouldn’t come through this alive.

She was going to lose him, and to make it worse, she didn’t really even have him anymore. That hurt so badly it almost made her cry.

Shane suddenly stopped, turned to her, and grabbed her. She didn’t know why at first, and then he bent his head to hers and oh , he was kissing her, and it was tentative at first, and then sweet, and then it was . . . incredibly hot and tender and lovely and it made all those brokenhearted moments vanish like snow under the sun.

He let her go, finally, and stepped back, eyes glittering, lips damp, spots of color high on his cheeks. He didn’t say anything. Neither did she.

Finally, Michael leaned over and said, “If you’re done, shouldn’t we be moving or something?”

“Oh,” Claire said, and almost laughed. “Yeah. Let’s get this over with, because I want to do that again.”

The moment of golden joy that kiss had sparked inside her stayed with her as she unlocked the shack’s door, and even as they started down the steps toward Myrnin’s lab.

It lasted right up until they were about halfway down, and she heard Myrnin say, in a silky, dark voice, “I do believe I have visitors.”

Well, it wasn’t as if she’d expected him not to notice, but there was something alien in his voice, something that made her completely go cold inside. “Keep going,” she whispered. “Spread out. Pretend it’s vampire dodgeball.”

“Oh, now you tell us,” Eve whispered back. Her voice was shaking. “I frickin’ hate dodgeball. Good luck, new girl.”