Fall of Night (31 page)

And Myrnin wasn’t in any position to be choosy; he was still weak and shaky, and the hot red embers in his eyes were flickering faster than before. So he took hold of Shane’s arm and, without any visible change of expression, extended his fangs and bit, hitting the vein with effortless ease.

Shane winced and closed his eyes as Myrnin’s mouth closed over his skin, and she could see the cell-deep urge to pull away boiling up in him. Somehow, he controlled it, though he looked like it took everything he had to stay patiently still. Myrnin, for his part, was polite enough to stop after less than thirty seconds, and even put pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding before stepping back. Not a drop had escaped him, and his mask-like expression never shifted at all. ‘Thank you,’ he said, with perfect courtesy – or at least, it would have been courteous if you didn’t know how he usually said such things. Like his face, his tone was perfectly blank.

Shane, on the other hand, was so easy to read he was practically a flashing neon sign. And what it spelt out wasn’t good, but he nodded in return. Bare politeness minimum, and they both took giant steps back to put space between them.

Guys
.

Claire shook her head, went to Oliver, and presented her wrist.

He gave her a long, narrow look and said, ‘No, thank you.’

‘I’m not good enough for you?’

‘Don’t be a git, blood is blood. But I’m not presently in quite that much need. Don’t worry, I’m sure there will be a further catastrophic disaster for which we will be woefully unprepared, if our luck holds.’

‘Damn, Oliver, that is some industrial strength sarcasm,’ Shane said. ‘I’m surprised. I thought you were saving it for something special, like the Apocalypse, or at least tea time.’

‘I can easily avoid tea time. It’s a perk of being vampire. No one asked you.’

Myrnin held up his hand. ‘I did.’

‘And we won’t ever discuss that again,’ Oliver said. ‘Feeling better?’

‘Pish, I only lost part of my brain. It wasn’t even the most important part.’ Clearly, Myrnin did
not
want to say anything the least complimentary about Shane, or his blood. ‘Yes. I’m restored. Now, let’s go rescue Lady Grey.’

‘Your inability to comprehend the vaguest notion of priorities has always astounded me,’ Oliver said. ‘We attempted a frontal assault last time, as you recall. This time, we shall send a scout to examine the situation, instead of stumbling onward like drunken fools into a cathouse.’

Wow. Oliver really
was
busting out the weapons-grade sarcasm. Which meant, Claire thought, that he was also seriously rattled by events – and maybe by Jesse’s capture, since he didn’t seem to despise her nearly as much as he did most other people. ‘I’ll go,’ Claire said.

‘No, you won’t,’ Shane said, ‘since I’m the logical choice to be doing the scouting. Not afraid of the dark, able to shoot pretty much any kind of weapon, can punch a vampire in the face, have training in scoping out the enemy … and also, I have a pulse, which means I’m not really valuable to the bad guys like one of you might be. So I’ll go.’

Eve held up a hand. ‘You forgot the downsides. Can’t see in the dark, aren’t as bullet-resistant as a vampire, can’t punch as hard—’

‘Hey, I thought you were on my side!’

Eve shrugged. ‘I’d rather you not die.’ She looked down at Michael again, and the implication felt like a dagger in Claire’s guts. She hadn’t, after all, objected to
Claire’s
going. Michael stirred a little, and made a soft, protesting sound, and Eve hugged him tighter. ‘Hush, honey, it’s okay, it’s okay, nobody’s going to die. You’re all right.’

It broke Claire’s heart to see that. It
was
her fault, and Eve was right to be angry … Claire hated herself for bringing this whole situation together. She wished she’d never even thought of the stupid damned device.

But it works
, the cold science-y part of her brain noted.
He’s out of the fight. What if you had it, and pointed it at a vampire attacking you? Any gun can be used in a wrong way, but if you use it the right way it saves lives
…

She didn’t want to hear it, not while she was staring down the barrel of the consequences.

‘I want to go,’ Claire said. ‘Please.’ She must have sounded as wretched as she felt. ‘I need to go.’

They both looked at Oliver, who was definitely the one in charge just now; he’d been a general long ago, and he still had the ruthless clarity of one. ‘Shane goes,’ he said. ‘He’s expendable, in the great scheme of things, and presents less of a temptation to our enemies.’

‘
Expendable
was not the word I was looking to hear to boost my morale, but whatever. Good call.’ Shane was already moving to pick up weapons, including a knife that Myrnin silently produced from within his battered waistcoat and handed over.

‘Wait,’ Oliver said. ‘I’ve not finished. Claire also should go.’

‘Wait a second—’ Shane said, but it was Claire’s turn to nod. She moved in and snagged the knife from Myrnin. ‘Look, if they want anybody, they’d want Claire. She can tell them all about how the device works, right? Doesn’t make any sense to send her in there! I don’t agree about the expendable thing, but at least I don’t have a lot in my brains for them to pick over.’

‘They already know too much – enough to use the device, anyway,’ Claire said, and tested the weight of the knife. It felt heavy and cold in her hand, but it would do. No silver edge on it, which made sense for a vampire’s personal weapon; it would do just as good a job against human enemies, though. ‘And they won’t get me. But I’m not going to let them get you either, Shane. We watch each other’s backs, Morganville style.’

He didn’t like it, but he flashed her a quick, unwilling smile. ‘You can take the girl out of the town, but you can’t take the town out of the girl,’ he said. ‘Outstanding. Let’s do it.’

Claire lowered her voice and shot a glance toward the other human still with them, who was leaning against the wall of the warehouse, head down. ‘What about Pete? Should we take him?’

‘Not sure Pete could handle it, honestly. He’s a good guy but he’s a little out of his depth. Being a bouncer never really required a whole lot of stealth. Kind of the opposite, actually.’

She hugged Shane then, and he hugged her back, and then they spun away to collect other things – a flashlight from Eve, and last, Claire got a clip of bullets from Pete. Pete, she couldn’t help but notice, hadn’t volunteered to mount up. Hadn’t even tried. Shane was right – being a bouncer, even in a reasonably tough bar, wasn’t any kind of prep for the kind of industrial-strength risk-taking that was a typical Morganville afternoon.

And then they were on their way. Liz slept on, curled at Pete’s feet; Michael and Eve stayed huddled together. Myrnin waved forlornly, and Oliver … Oliver looked regal, like a king bidding farewell to troops he never expected to see again.

‘I hate that son of a bitch,’ Shane said, and smiled and waved back.

‘I heard that,’ Oliver said, just loudly enough to be heard.

And then they were out, jogging down the alley. Claire said, ‘He’s sending us as bait, isn’t he?’

‘Yeah,’ Shane said. ‘Really,
scouting
? He’s not even trying to hide it this time. I think we’re the diversion. Fine. Let’s get to diverting.’

Night was starting to give way to the faint and distant suggestion of morning, but the alleyway was still drowning in oddly shaped shadows. Claire used the flashlight carefully, just quick presses to show them the obstacles, and then Shane led the way through. He had her hold up a couple of times, either out of too much caution or because there really still were minions chasing them … and instead of going back to the run-off tunnels – they had no chance of jumping up the way they’d come down, anyway – he took them the long way around, through mostly deserted streets. When a police car cruised by, headlights splashing over them, Shane casually put an arm around her, and she snuggled into him. It also concealed the weapons they were carrying.

The police moved on.

They arrived back at the front entrance to the Library Annex, and Claire had expected that the cops would be all over it – after all, Oliver had shattered the front door getting in. But instead, a neat plywood replacement had already been installed, the glass swept away, and there was no sign the police had been there at all.

‘Your buddies don’t want company,’ Shane said. ‘Which confirms why there wasn’t any alarm. They’d just kidnapped somebody, and the last thing they wanted was the police busting in on them. Plus, there’s that weird bat-thing and Dead Derrick to explain.’ He tried the door – locked, of course. ‘Hang on a second.’

‘Do you need the flashlight?’

‘Don’t need light to pick locks,’ he said cheerfully. She didn’t know how he did it, but about thirty long seconds later, he gave a satisfied sigh, and she heard the padlock that secured the broken doors click open. ‘New personal best. Okay, inside, but go careful. Enemy territory.’

Inside, the building was silent, just as it had been before; she moved past the offices and storage areas to the door of the mechanical closet, which was tightly closed again.

And a voice – Dr Davis’s voice – said, ‘Nothing to find down there, kids. If you’re looking for your friend, she’s in good hands.’

He was standing at the dog-leg end of the hall, flanked by two men with weapons. And yes, the weapons were aimed straight at Claire and Shane, which didn’t surprise her, but did give her heart a little kick-start of fear.

Dr Davis was holding VLAD. He’d been expecting a vampire rescue. She and Shane, alone, were likely a surprise.

Shane kept his hands down at his sides. ‘Can’t we talk about this?’

‘I don’t see why not, but the fact is, your red-headed friend isn’t going anywhere. Where are the other vampires? The males?’

‘Males,’ Shane repeated. ‘I’m guessing you refer to Jesse as
the female
.’

‘Well, yes, clinically; they’re very far from human, you know, though they can certainly simulate it easily enough when they wish. Do you have any concept of what you’re involved in, either of you? How dangerous it is to trust these creatures? You can’t. They will kill you.’

‘You’re the ones with guns,’ Claire pointed out. ‘And you’re the one who killed Derrick.’

‘Derrick was none of your concern, and certainly wasn’t mine,’ Davis said. ‘I don’t suppose taking the two of you as hostages will gain me anything from the immortals. They don’t have any regard for humans.’

‘Sure they do,’ Shane said. ‘They regard us as walking meal deals. But don’t worry, they especially wouldn’t come running to rescue me. My dad was a genuine vampire killer.’

‘Really?’ That got Davis’s full attention. ‘I always suspected that there would be such a thing, with its own lore and skills … Stoker’s novel hinted as much. I assume the business was not passed down. You don’t seem terribly motivated.’

Shane gave him a humorless grin. ‘Oh, I don’t know. I have my days.’

‘You came after Liz to get to me,’ Claire said. ‘Didn’t you?’

‘I like redundancy in all that I do,’ he said, and rested a proprietary hand on VLAD. ‘You developed an object we badly needed in order to keep any captives we managed to secure in line. The immortals are very dangerous, as I’m sure you already know. So, I suppose the answer to your question is yes. Liz was a means to an end, the end being your acquisition for our project.’

‘By immortals, you mean vampires.’

‘It’s the common word for them, but the important thing about them from a biological standpoint is that their tissues simply don’t age. They are – petrified, in a sense. And yet also alive. There are a few other organisms capable of this kind of extraordinary behaviour but—’

‘Not really here for the biology lesson, professor,’ Shane said, interrupting what was sure to be a Myrnin-worthy gush of information. Claire was a little disappointed, actually. ‘We want Jesse released. Now. And that thing you’re holding doesn’t belong to you, so we’d like it back, too.’

Dr Davis and his two minions actually exchanged amused glances before he said, ‘You’re playing well out of your league, boy. Please don’t bluff. It’s just embarrassing.’

‘He’s not bluffing, professor,’ Claire said. ‘Really.’

Shane shook his head. ‘Ah, come on, don’t call him professor, he’s got no right to that. He’s a scumbag who gets college girls to bang him for grades. Right, Claire?’

‘Definitely. By the way, Liz cried all night. In case you were interested,
professor
.’

‘Here’s a tip,’ Shane said. ‘If you leave a girl crying, you’re probably not doing your Don Juan routine right, asshole.’

Dr Davis said nothing, but his expression compressed into an angry mask, and his eyes bored holes into the two of them. His grip tightened on VLAD.

And that was exactly the moment that the two men standing next to him just … vanished. Not literally, in a dramatic puff of smoke, but more of a now-you-see-them, now-you-don’t blur of motion. Davis didn’t even notice for a few seconds, and by then it was too late; Oliver was there, teeth bared, facing him.

Davis’s startled cry and stumbling backward retreat was almost fun to see. Almost … and then Myrnin was behind him, shoving him forward into Oliver’s embrace. Oliver spun the man around, and Myrnin stripped the device from Davis’s hands.

Then Myrnin froze, looking at Claire with a blank, odd expression, and said, ‘Did you build another one already? Because this most assuredly is not the working model.’

And that was the moment when Dr Irene Anderson stepped out from the closed doorway behind them, aimed with the VLAD weapon that
she
was holding, and shot Oliver with it.

The effect was immediate, and drastic. Oliver flung Dr Davis away from him, cried out, clapped his hands to his head, and sank down against the wall, shaking.
Weeping
. He got to his hands and knees, tried to rise, and she shot him again, and this time … this time Oliver didn’t get up.

Claire, open-mouthed, stared at her professor, and didn’t know what to do. What to say.
Maybe she misunderstood, maybe
…