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THREE

Over the next three days, Claire didn&039;t go hoot into a problem, and she knew it, but this was so cool She went to the store and bought cartloads of cheap plastic toys, which she spent hours tossing through the portal to an increasingly bored Eve, then Michael, then Shane They had their own supply of toys, too, and pitched theot out of it, for two and a half days, was dust--so much of it that Shane told her she was on perain She knew that he was gru toys back and forth, but also because she&039;d barely seen him for days, except to coru inside of her that was locked on target about this stupid problem, and she couldn&039;t walk away fro worked, or she broke

She didn&039;t break

On the third day, Shane was still on catching duty He was sitting cross-legged on the floor, leaning against the back of the sofa and wearing one of those white cotton breathing ht it in self-defense, he&039;d told her; he didn&039;t want to be breathing in plastic toy dust and coughing up a lung

She didn&039;t blame him, but it did make a funny picture, at least until she&039;d realized the saotten a les Shane now envied her the goggles

"Hang on," she said, after her last atteh had turned it to dust on the other end "I have an idea"

"So do I," Shane said "Movies, hot dogs, and not doing this anymore Like it?"

"Love it," she said, and hed and let his head fall back against the sofa "Sure, whatever"

She really was a terrible girlfriend, Claire thought, and raced across the lab, careful of all of Myrnin&039;s various scattered trip hazards that she couldn&039;t seeerous She arrived at the worktable, where her circuitry (with Myrnin&039;s incomprehensible additions) quietly hummed away

She shut the power off and checked the connections again All of the voltage was steady; there was no reason why the other end would be unstable, unless

Unless it was so, which led to a spring, which led to a co ice-green liquid in a sealed cha It wasn&039;t doing anything, even when she turned the power on She distinctly re that it was supposed to bubble She had no idea why that was i created some kind of pressure, whichdid what?

Exasperated, she thuer

It started to bubble She blinked, watched the whole thing for a while, decided that it wasn&039;t going to blow up or boil over, and went back to where Shane was pretending to snore on the other side of the portal

"Heads up, slacker!" she said, and pitched another neon ball at hiood, and he got his eyes open and hands up at the sarip

Shane stared down at it for a second, then stripped off his ers

"Is it okay?" Claire asked breathlessly "Is it--"

"Feels fine," he said "Daht it It felt exactly the same--not even a little warm or a little cool She threw it back, and he responded, and before long they were laughing and whooping and feeling incredibly giddy She raised the ball over her head and jumped around in a circle, just like Eve would have, and made herself dizzy

She whirled around to an unsteady stop, and Shane caught her

Because he was here, in the lab with her, instead of on the other side of the portal Her brain sent a ood, just about a half second before the logical part kicked in

Claire shoved hi?"

"What?" Shane asked "What did I do?"

"Youyou cah?"

"The ball was fine"

"The ball doesn&039;t have internal organs! Squishy parts! How could you be so crazy?" She was literally shaking now, deeply terrified that he was about to burst into a dust cloud, melt, die in her arms How could he be so insane?

Shane looked a little off balance, as if he hadn&039;t really expected this kind of reception, but he looked back at the portal, the piles of dust, and said, "Oh Yeah, I see your point But I&039;m fine, Claire It worked"

"How do you know you&039;re fine? Shane, you could die!" She rushed at him, threw her ar fast He hugged her, held her while she tried to get her panic under control, and gently kissed the top of her head

"You&039;re right; it was dumb," he said "Stop Relax You did it, okay? You o see the doctor," she said "Du, but she tried to get the old Claire back, the one who could face down snarling vampires But this was different

What if she&039;d just killed hirow back?

Myrnin ca a load of books, which he dropped with a loud bang on the floor to glare at the two of them "Excuse ging?"

"What&039;s snogging?" Shane asked

"Ridiculous displays of inappropriate affection in front ofhere?" Myrnin was genuinely offended, Claire realized Not good

"It&039;s my fault," Claire said in a rush, and stepped away fro his hand "IHe was helping y?" Myrnin crossed his ar a secret laboratory or not? Because if you&039;re going to have your friends drop in anytime they please--"

"Back off,Myrnin with that cold look in his eyes, the one that was a real danger sign "It wasn&039;t her fault, anyway It was mine"

"Was it?" Myrnin said softly "And how is it that you do not understand that here, in this place, this girl belongs to me, not to you?"

Claire turned cold all over, then hot She felt her cheeks flare red, and she hardly recognized her voice as she yelled, "I don&039;t belong to you, Myrnin! I work for you! I&039;m not youryour slave!" She was so furious that she wasn&039;t even shaking any"

"You&039;ll leave when I--Wait, what did you say?"

Claire ignored him and picked up her backpack She led the way up the stairs Three steps up, she glanced back Shane still hadn&039;tMyrnin Still between her and Myrnin

"Wait," Myrnin said in an entirely different tone now "Claire, wait Are you saying you successfully transported an object?"

"No, she&039;s saying she successfully transportednow"

"No, no, no, wait--you can&039;t I must run tests; I need to have a blood sample" Myrnin rooted frantically in a drawer, ca kit, and came toward Shane

Shane looked over his shoulder at Claire "I&039;uy if he tries to stick "

"Myrnin!" Claire snapped "No Not now I&039;et hiet your sample Now leave us alone"

Myrnin stopped, and he actually looked wounded Oh stop it, Claire thought, still furious I didn&039;t kick your puppy

She was alht behind her, when she heard Myrnin say, in a quiet voice that was like the old Myrnin, the one she actually liked, "I&039;m sorry, Claire I never meant--I&039;m sorry Sometimes I don&039;t knowI don&039;t knohat I as could be like they were before"

"Me, too," ClaireShane seen by a doctor was trickier than she&039;d thought Claire couldn&039;t exactly explain to the e with him, so after a complete fail at the ER, she went in search of the only doctor she knew personally--Dr Mills--who&039;d treated her before, and knew about Myrnin He&039;d actually helped create the antidote to the vampires&039; illness, so he was pretty trustworthy

She still didn&039;t explain about the portals, but he didn&039;t push He was a nice guy, ed, a little tired, like most doctors usually seemed to be, but he just nodded and said, "Letht I&039;d say that up front"

Dr Mills laughed "Just the basics, all right? But if Claire&039;s concerned, I&039;m concerned Let&039;s make sure you&039;re healthy"

They walked off toward his office, leaving Claire in the waiting area with piles of ancient azines that still wondered whether Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston would stay together Not that she read that stuff anyway Much

She was still mad at Myrnin, but now she realized that it was mostly because she&039;d been so tired and stressed out He hadn&039;t been any worse than normal, really And how much did that suck? It doesn&039;t , and nobody got hurt She knew they&039;d both been lucky, though It still turned her cold to think what could have happened, all because she hadn&039;t thought to tell Shane not to coh the portal, no matter how safe it seemed

Doctors always see checked out, Claire fidgeted and thought about the progress she&039;d ress that Myrnin had ? It was iiven up the idea of putting a brain--na it up to a co Myrnin would think was not only logical, but somehow helpful

She really didn&039;t want to end up in a jar, like Ada had before her A ghost, slowly going mad because she couldn&039;t touch, be touched, be huh in Ada&039;s case, she&039;d been a vah it with all herthe systems; she&039;d kept the portals open and the boundaries closed, issued alerts when residents tried to flee, probably even done a lot otten less and less sane, and more and more determined to keep Myrnin all to herself, and never anville

And Myrnin hadn&039;t been able to adht a bad flashback of Ada&039;s proper Victorian school- Waiting for Claire to die

Well, I didn&039;t die, Claire thought, and controlled a shudder Ada died And I&039; to stay alive at any cost

She flinched as sorinned down at her "Hospitals freak you out?"

"They ought to," she shot back "You&039;re always ending up in here"

"Not fair You&039;ve had your turns, too"

She had, rabbed her stuff, and saw Dr Mills standing a few feet away He was sht?

"He&039;s fine," the doctor said, in such a soothing voice Claire knew she was looking anxious Or panicked "Whatever he was accidentally exposed to, I can&039;t find anything that&039;s off But if you start feeling odd, dizzy, experiencing any pain or discomfort, be sure to call me, Shane"

Shane, his back to the doctor, rolled his eyes, then turned and said a polite thank-you "How much do I owe you, Doc?"

Dr Mills raised his eyebrows "I see you&039;re wearing Amelie&039;s pin"

Shane was, haphazardly stuck in the collar of his shirt; he&039;d bitched about it at first, but Claire had insisted they all wear the pins, all the time Amelie had promised that they would identify them as a special kind of neutral, free froh she&039;d yet to test out the theory

Apparently, they were also gold cards, because Dr Mills continued "There&039;s no charge for services for friends of Morganville"

Shane frowned, and it looked like he ue, but Claire pulled on his arm, and he let himself be led away to the elevators "Never turn down free," she said

"I don&039;t like it," Shane said, before the doors even closed "I don&039;t like being some charity case"

"Yeah, well, trust me: you couldn&039;t afford his bill anyway" She turned toward hiround floor, and stepped closer "You&039;re okay You&039;re really okay"

"Told you I was" He bent down, and she turned her face up, but they had time for only a quick, sweet kiss before the doors opened and they had to dodge out of the way of a gurney with a patient on it Shane took her hand, and they walked out of the hospital lobby and into the late-afternoon sun

On the way out she caught a glimpse of a face in shadows, pale and sharp and hard An olderhis face

Claire stopped walking, and Shane continued on for a step before looking back at her "What?" he asked, and turned to see where she was staring

Nothing was there now, but Claire was sure of what she&039;d seen, even in that brief flash

Shane&039;s father, Frank Collins, had been watching the, creepy She hadn&039;t seen Frank in a while--not since he&039;d saved her life She&039;d heard that he&039;d been around, but seeing hi

Frank Collins was the world&039;s most reluctant vampire, and besides that, she was sure that he was the person Shane least wanted to see

"Nothing," she said, and focused her attention back on Shane with a slad you&039;re okay"

"So, hoe celebrate o crazy Glow-in-the-dark bowling?"

"No"

"I&039;ll let you use the kiddie ball"

"Shut up I do not need the kiddie ball"

"The way you bowl, I think you erated formal dance pose and whirled her around, backpack and all, which didn&039;t ?"

"Are you insane?"

"Hey, girls who tango are hot"

"You think I&039;o?"

He dropped the act Shane was a s So you tell me What do you want to do? And don&039;t say study"

Well, she hadn&039;t been going to Although she&039;d considered it "How about theto the drive-in anville still has a drive-in theater? What is this, 1960?"

"I know, goofy, but it&039;s kind of cool Soo and fixed it up It&039;s the hot place to take a hot date Well, hotter than the bowling alley, becauseprivacy"

It sounded weird, but Claire thought that in fairness, it did see alley, and less old-folks than ballroo look "Why? You planning on watching the hed He tickled her She shrieked and ran on ahead, but he caught her and tackled her down to the grass of the park on the corner, and for a couple of seconds she kept laughing and struggling, but then he kissed her, and the sensation of his warht out of her It felt wonderful, lying here on the grass, with the sun shining on the in a soft, war in the world could ever ruin this feeling

Until a police siren let out a sharp burst of noise, and Shane yelped and rolled off of her and up to his feet, ready forwhat? Fighting? He knew better Besides, as Claire struggled up to her elbows, she saw that the police car that had pulled up to the curb was--once again--Chief Hannah Moses She was laughing, her teeth very white against her dark skin

"Relax, Shane; I just didn&039;t want you scaring the little old ladies," Hannah said "I&039; to confess"

"Hey, Chief Didn&039;t know kissing was against the code"