The Morganville Vampires Collection (The Morganville Vampires #1-4) (96 page)

‘Did I tell you to speak?’ he asked, and transferred his attention to Michael again. ‘Your kinsman refused to swear fealty. What say you, Michael?’

‘I’m here,’ Michael said. ‘But I’m not swearing anything.’

There was a long, tense moment, and then Bishop impatiently waved him offstage.

Monica dragged her feet, simpering at the big, bad vampire. ‘What an
idiot
,’ Claire muttered under her breath, and Myrnin chuckled.

‘There are always a few,’ he said. ‘Thankfully.’ The next vampire was already on stage. He was a little more politic than Michael – he welcomed Bishop as a guest to Morganville, but again, no pledges of loyalty. Bishop looked sour. ‘Well, this is taking a turn for the interesting. I wonder how long he’ll tolerate it.’

Not long, it seemed, because Oliver was next. And even though Oliver bowed, there was something forced about it. Something militant. Bishop sensed it.

‘What say you, Oliver of Heidelberg?’

‘I bid you welcome,’ Oliver said. ‘And nothing more.’ He bowed again, mockingly. ‘Your days of
ordering us about are done, Master Bishop. Haven’t you noticed?’

Bishop stood up. So did François and Ysandre. ‘Bring your tribute,’ Bishop said. ‘And walk away, while I allow you to walk at all.’

And Oliver, the coward, dropped Eve’s hand and left the stage. Abandoning her.

Michael, down on the floor, tried to go to her rescue, but Sam tackled him and held him down. ‘Get off me!’ Michael yelled, and the two of them rolled into a table and sent the expensive china and glasses flying. ‘You can’t let him—’

François and Ysandre were closing in on Eve like hunting tigers. And she was standing, petrified, caught in Bishop’s stare.

Shane stood up and took off the dog mask Ysandre had made him wear. He walked over to stand next to Eve, unhooked the leash, and let it fall to the floor in a slither of leather.

‘I’m so done with this crap,’ he said, and extended his elbow toward Eve. ‘How about you?’

‘So done,’ she agreed. ‘Though I do love a good dress-up party. Can I have the collar when you’re done with it?’

‘Knock yourself out.’

They were trying to be cool, but Claire could
feel the menace up there, the hair-trigger violence just waiting to erupt. And Shane couldn’t win. He couldn’t even hurt them. All he could do was get himself killed.

She fought to get out of her chair. Myrnin’s hand crushed her shoulder hard, forcing her down again. ‘No,’ he said. ‘Wait.’

‘They’re my
friends
!’

‘Wait!’

He was right. Amelie stepped forward, between Shane and Eve and Bishop. ‘They belong to me,’ she said. ‘They are not Oliver’s to give.’

‘That argument could be made for anyone in this town,’ Bishop said. ‘Will you deny me any tribute at all?’

She smiled slowly. ‘I never said that. Be careful, Father. You sound desperate.’

Claire saw Bishop’s eyes flare red, then white-hot.

Amelie didn’t back down. She turned her head slightly, and nodded at Shane and Eve. Shane hustled Eve off the stage and down to the banquet-hall floor. François seemed to get some silent message from Bishop, because he backed out of their way.

Sam let Michael up, and in seconds, Michael was across the room to join them as Shane and Eve descended the stairs from the dais.

Sam followed. That made a small group in the no-man’s-land in the centre of the tables on the floor.

‘It’s starting,’ Myrnin said. ‘We’re at the tipping point now. He knows he’s losing. He’ll have to act.’

And John of Leeds said, in that perfectly calm voice, ‘Lord Myrnin of Conwy.’

There was that head-turning thing again. Myrnin got up from his chair and held out his hand to Claire. His eyes were bright, a little too bright. A little too manic.

His smile scared her, and she didn’t think it was just the makeup. ‘Ready?’ he asked.

She didn’t really have a choice. She stood and put her hand in his, and walked toward the last thing in the world she wanted to do.

Going up the steps felt like the proverbial march to the gallows. Amelie stood to one side, glittering like a chandelier, and she was glaring at Myrnin with fierce displeasure.

He took her pale, perfect hand and kissed it. ‘Oh, don’t look so distressed, my old friend,’ he told her. ‘I’m perfectly fine.’

‘No,’ Amelie said. ‘You’re not. And you’re about to be a good deal less so.’ She turned to Bishop. ‘I regret that Lord Myrnin is unwell. He must leave, for his own health.’

‘He looks well enough,’ Bishop replied. ‘Let him come forward.’

‘You fool,’ Amelie whispered as Myrnin did his Pierrot twirl and ended in a dancer’s perfect floorscraping bow. ‘Oh, my lovely fool.’ Claire couldn’t tell
if she was appalled, angry, or sad. Maybe all three.

Bishop seemed amused. ‘It’s been years,’ he said. ‘And how have you fared, Myrnin?’

‘As well as you’d expect,’ Myrnin said.

‘Pierrot. How…odd for you. You’re much more the Harlequin, I should think.’

‘I’ve always thought that Pierrot was the secretly dangerous one,’ Myrnin said. ‘All that innocence must hide
something
.’

Bishop laughed. ‘I’ve missed you, fool.’

‘Truly? Odd. I haven’t missed you at all, my lord.’

That stopped Bishop’s laughter in its tracks, and Claire felt the fear close around her, like suffocating cold. ‘Ah, I remember now why you ceased to amuse, Myrnin. You use honesty like a club.’

‘I thought it more like a rapier, lord.’

Bishop was all done with the witty conversation. ‘Will you swear?’

And Myrnin said, shockingly, ‘I will.’ And he proceeded to, a string of swearwords that made Claire blink. He ended with, ‘– frothy fool-born apple-john! Cheater of vandals and defiler of dead dogs!’ and did another twirl and bow. He looked up with a red, red grin that was more like a leer. ‘Is that what you meant, my lord?’

Claire gasped as hands closed cold around her
throat from behind. She was pulled backward. It was Ysandre holding her, and the vampire woman bent to whisper, ‘Yes, please do struggle. I lost your boyfriend before I could get a taste. I’ll have you instead.’

Claire didn’t hesitate. She reached under her tunic, got out the ancient glass perfume bottle that Myrnin had given her, and thumbed off the cap.

And she dumped the holy water right on Ysandre’s head.

Ysandre screamed in registers so high the crystal on the tables shivered. She spun away clawing at her hair, shedding drops that landed on François, who was moving toward her. He screamed, too. Where the drops touched, they ate away into skin. Claire stared, appalled. She’d hurt them, all right. Badly.

Myrnin laughed, deep in his throat, and took out the thin, sharp knife he’d worn at his side. As Bishop advanced on him, he cut at him, still laughing.

He connected.

It was a minor little wound to Bishop’s arm, barely a nick, but Clare saw the cut on the older vampire’s robes, and a thin film of blood on the knife.

Bishop looked surprised enough to stop to examine the damage to his costume.

Myrnin’s laughter ratcheted higher and higher, and he twirled again, faster, almost a blur.

‘Myrnin!’ Claire yelled. She was backing away from Ysandre, burnt and furious, who was stalking toward her. She tripped and fell flat on her back. ‘Myrnin,
do something
!’

He stopped twirling and looked at the bloody knife in his hand.

‘I told Sam before, you have to know when to let go,’ he said. ‘It’s time, Claire.’ He blew her a kiss, and leapt over the table.

And ran away, shrieking with laughter, still holding the knife. Right out of the hall.

For a few seconds, nobody moved. Claire stared at Ysandre, who seemed just as surprised, and glanced at Bishop.

Who flicked his fingers against the cut in his robe, and chuckled.

‘My fool,’ he said, almost fondly. ‘Madmen are the laughter of God, don’t you agree?’

He sat down on his throne, smiling. ‘Ysandre, leave the child. I’m inclined to allow our friends their small acts of defiance tonight.’

‘She burnt me!’ Ysandre snarled.

‘And you’ll heal. Don’t whine like a kicked dog. It’s no more than you deserve.’

Amelie, Claire realised, hadn’t moved at all. Not even when Claire’s life had been in danger. Now she
did, leaning down to help Claire to her feet.

‘Enough of this,’ she said. ‘You’ve had your fun, Father. End this.’

‘Very well,’ he said. ‘It’s time for the test, my child. Swear fealty to me, and it will all be over.’

‘If I swear fealty, it will never be over,’ Amelie corrected him. ‘I never have sworn an oath to you. Did you really think tonight that would change?’

His cold, cold eyes narrowed. ‘Blood traitor,’ he said. ‘Murderous witch. Do you welcome me to your little town? Do you grant me leave to walk your streets and take your peasants? I don’t think you dare. You know me too well.’

‘I grant you nothing,’ she said. ‘I won’t swear loyalty to you. I won’t give you welcome. I won’t give you
anything
, Father.’ It didn’t seem possible, but as Claire watched her, Amelie seemed…human. Vulnerable. Fragile and waiting to be broken.

‘You will give me one thing if you want to keep what you’ve built here,’ he said. ‘I want my book. The one you stole as you rolled me into my hasty grave,
daughter
.’

She froze, eyes widening. Amelie, who couldn’t be surprised, had been completely taken for a ride this time. ‘The book.’

‘You think I want your pathetic town? Your
ridiculous peasants?’ Bishop’s contemptuous gaze swept over Claire, over the room beyond. ‘I want my
property
. Give it to me, and I’ll leave. There. Now all our cards are up, child. What say you?’

‘The book isn’t yours,’ Amelie said.

‘I took it from the dead hands of a rival,’ Bishop said. ‘That makes it mine. Right of conquest.’ He gave her a cold, slow stare. ‘The same way you took it from me, if you remember, except that I wasn’t quite dead enough. A pity you didn’t make sure, eh?’

It was all going wrong. Myrnin had run away, and he was supposed to stay, supposed to fight. Amelie couldn’t do this on her own; he’d said it himself.

The other vampires were all standing by and letting it happen.

‘Amelie,’ Bishop said, ‘I’ll destroy you if you refuse. Don’t you know that? Haven’t you known it from the moment I came to town?’

Claire moved up beside her. ‘She wants you to leave,’ she said. ‘You need to go. Now.’

Bishop laughed. ‘A threat from a little yapping dog. Will you make me, mongrel?’

‘No,’ said Sam Glass. He jumped from the banquet floor up to the table in one lithe, easy motion, and then down to stand on Amelie’s other side. ‘Not by herself, anyway.’ He’d taken off his Huck Finn straw
hat, but even if he’d been wearing it, his expression was one that demanded to be taken seriously.

Michael joined him, crossing the distance with a leap, while Eve and Shane took the stairs.

There was a second’s breathless pause, and then others began to move. Oliver. Monica. Charles and Miranda.

Claire’s dad came up to take her mother’s hands and lead her off to the side, out of danger.

More kept coming.

The vampires and humans of Morganville stood together, crowding the stage in front of Bishop, Ysandre, and François. Not all of them – but more than half the room.

‘You’re not welcome here,’ Oliver said, ‘
Master
Bishop. This is our town. Our people. It’s time for you to leave.’

‘A rebellion,’ Bishop said. ‘How refreshingly modern.’

He nodded to Ysandre and François. François yanked Jennifer out of her seat on the dais.

Ysandre feinted toward Shane, then grabbed hold of Jason Rosser and sank her fangs deep into his neck.

Pandemonium. Sam and Michael both hit François, bearing him backward as he tried to get his
teeth into a screaming Jennifer, and Claire lost sight of them almost immediately. Bishop was on his feet, struggling hand to hand with Oliver.

Amelie, eyes the colour and hardness of diamond, grabbed Ysandre by the back of the neck and yanked her backward, away from Jason.

‘My property,’ she snapped, and held Ysandre at arm’s length as she hissed and struggled. ‘Boy.
Boy!
’ She bent over Jason, her pale fingers touching his face.

Jason opened his eyes. He was crying, Claire thought, but then she saw his face, and she knew that wasn’t crying at all.

That was
laughter
.

‘Sucker,’ he said.

‘No!’ Claire cried, but it was too late.

Jason took a stake out of the folds of his brown monk’s robe and stabbed Amelie, right in the heart.

Everything stopped.

Amelie staggered backward. The wooden stake in her chest looked unreal, obscene, wrong.

Amelie was invulnerable. Couldn’t be hurt.

A rim of blood spread into the white cloth around the stake, growing before Claire’s eyes.

Sam screamed. He abandoned François as Amelie
fell, and caught her, easing her down to the wooden stage. The look on his face – Claire had never seen that much pain, ever.

Oliver punched Bishop so hard that the old man staggered backward and fell over the side of the throne; then Oliver moved to Amelie’s side.

‘No!’ Oliver snapped as Sam took hold of the stake to pull it out. ‘She’s old. She’ll survive until we get her to safety. Take her!’

And then he turned as Jason lunged at him, crazy-eyed, with another stake. Oliver grabbed him in midair and snapped his arm with an effortless twist, tossing him across the stage to crash into François, who had Michael down on the ground.

‘Mom! Dad!
Get out of here!
’ Claire yelled. Her dad beckoned her to come with them, but she shook her head. She wasn’t leaving her friends behind. Not the way Myrnin had left her.

Her parents got out, all the way out the door. Others were running, mostly the ones who’d elected not to go up against Bishop in the first place. Claire saw Maria Theresa slipping out the side door, tugging her human tribute by the arm. He looked horrified, and he was trying to break free.

Out in the darkness, she heard screaming.

Amelie blinked, pulled in a breath, and whispered something to Sam. He looked up at Claire, and his face was as hard and pale as polished marble. ‘Endgame,’ he said. ‘Bishop’s counterattack.’

Claire looked out and saw that some of those who’d held back were turning on their humans, or attacking other vampires. Bishop had brought his own sleeper agents with him, and it was only a matter of time before they made their way up to the stage. It was going to be a free-for-all.

Michael joined them. His clothes were ripped, and he had a bloodless cut along one cheekbone.

‘Get them out of here!’ Oliver yelled to him. ‘
Now!
’

Oliver lunged for Bishop, drove the older vampire back against the throne, and reached into his scarecrow costume. He pulled out a long, needle-pointed dagger, and shoved it through Bishop’s chest to pin him to the wood.

It annoyed Bishop more than hurt him. Bishop wrenched free and pulled the dagger out, then backhanded Oliver so hard the other vampire went completely off the stage and out into the darkness of the banquet hall.

‘Sam!’ Michael yelled. Sam gathered up Amelie in his arms and jumped off the stage. Most of the others
followed him. Michael grabbed Eve and Shane, and Claire turned to follow as they clattered down the stairs.

Ysandre stopped her.

‘Not so fast,’ she said. Her voice no longer sounded like a purr; it was a growl, low and vicious. ‘
You
I want.’

Claire fumbled for a weapon. She came up with a fork from a fallen place setting, and stabbed it into Ysandre’s arm. The vampire yelped, plucked it out, and fastened her hand around Claire’s throat, bending her back over the table. Claire couldn’t breathe. She battered at the vampire’s iron hand, and tried to twist free, but it was no use.

She was dying.

Oliver hit Ysandre in a flying leap. He knocked her into Bishop, and they both went down. Before they hit the floor, he’d grabbed Claire’s wrist and pulled her toward the stairs. She wasn’t moving fast enough for him. He scooped her into his arms, and the world blurred around them.

Vampire speed.

Screams smeared into noise, and Claire heard crashes and sirens, and then nothing.

Strange, to feel safe in Oliver’s arms.

When she woke up, her head was in Shane’s lap, and he was stroking her hair. She heard the hushed murmur of voices. ‘What—’ Her throat hurt. Hurt a
lot
. And her voice sounded funny.

‘Hey,’ Shane said, and smiled down at her. It didn’t look right, that smile. ‘Don’t talk. We’re home – we’ve got everything secured. It’s OK.’

She doubted that. She could hear sirens outside, racing past on the street. Voices inside the house, lots of them. She tried to sit up, but Shane held her back. ‘Sam’s upstairs with Amelie, in the rec room.’ Which was Shane’s term for Amelie’s hidden lair. ‘The city’s in lockdown. Bishop had a lot of people on his payroll already. Lots of surprises. He’s been busy.’

She mouthed,
Who’s here?

‘Yeah, well, we’ve got guests tonight,’ he said. ‘Couldn’t get them to their own places, so they’re taking refuge here. Your mom and dad are right here—’

And there they were, pushing Shane out of the way. Mom was crying as she stroked Claire’s face. Her dad was more stoic, but his face was flushed and his jaw was tightly clenched.

‘How you doing, kiddo?’ he asked.

‘Fine,’ she whispered, and pointed at them.

‘We’re just fine, sweetheart,’ her mother said, and
kissed her on the forehead. She was still wearing the long white dress, but the angel wings looked battered and off centre. ‘When Oliver brought you in, I thought – I thought it was too late. I thought—’

They’d thought she was dead. Claire felt guilty, even though passing out hadn’t been her idea, exactly. ‘I’m OK,’ she managed to say. She tried to swallow, and found that was not just a bad idea; it was a
terrible
idea. She coughed. That hurt worse.

Pitiful.