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FOUR
Shane drove the hearse--Eve&039;s, a huge, black, vaguely old-fashioned ed funeral curtains still in the back--down Morganville&039;s poorly lit streets, winding through backstreets Claire had never visited even in daylight She saw glints of eyes in the darkness, and if there were any street-lights in this part of town, they were broken or turned off She felt relieved when he made a turn that took theood look Lots of people walking around in the shadows
Not noranville
"Yeah, it&039;s Vamp Central Station," Shane said "Not like Founder&039;s Square--that&039;s where the upper-class bloodsuckers hang out This is where the rest of the around gets much human business after dark Don&039;t worry; we&039;re not stopping"
And they didn&039;t, not even for a light that was shifting froh it
Claire was glad he did Heads were turning to watch the car go by Maybe Amelie&039;s Protection extended out here But she didn&039;t want to risk her neck--literally--on that
Two iant white screen loo up out of the darkness ahead, surrounded by a fence It looked like a parking lot inside, with so stand at the back
Just like in the old ," Claire said Shane pulled up to the ticket stand at the entrance and handed over a couple of dollars--it didn&039;t cost much, apparently Then he drove on in The lot was about half-full, mostly with battered old cars and trucks that anville drove There were also a few heavily tinted late-model sedans--vampmobiles Well, she supposed even vampires loved the movies Who didn&039;t?
"So how does this work?" Claire asked "Hoe hear the sound?"
For an answer, Shane flipped on the radio and tuned it to an AM channel Immediately she was treated to a burst of static, followed by extremely cheesy rand
"Fantastic," Claire said, in a way that meant it wasn&039;t "You know, Eve went to a rave"
"By herself?"
"With a friend She&039;s sort of doing the one, too?"
"No," Claire said, although secretly she thought it reat" Shane looked over at her "Bullshit You think it sucks"
"I don&039;t! "
"Just wait," he said, and smiled "You&039;ll see You want a Coke? Popcorn?"
"Sure" She sighed Shane bailed out and set off for the refreshot out her cell and texted Eve R u ok? She got a reply back in seconds Death by boring College poseurs Yak
Eve always h B safe, Claire texted back Eve sent a picture of herself with her friend, who looked inti herself gone Eve inking The e with it said, Half an hour more tops C u ho her a cup of Coke and a giant bag of popcorn, which she tried to figure out how to balance in her lap The Cokes went into cup holders, at least, and before she could take a handful of the stea popcorn, there was a sudden flicker of color out the front , and the co of popcorn from her, set it carefully in the backseat, and turned the radio down "Hey," Claire protested "How can we hear if--"
He leaned over and kissed her, and kept kissing her, and his lips were so hot and sweet and strong that she just felt herself ainst him He eased her jacket off, and she didn&039;t even think about objecting, because even though it was cold she felt warood Very good
She wasn&039;t thinking, not at all, not about anything except how incredible it felt to be with hi breath, most of her buttons were undone All of his were undone Did I do that? she wondered with a shock, because it really wasn&039;t like her to be doing this out in public, where people could see
But it felt like being alone Deliciously, ically alone Because they were in a crowd of people, but nobody was paying thehtest bit of attention
The movie had started, but she had zero idea what it was about, other than so people Oh, and there was a suy ould probably survive, too With the sound turned down to a whisper, she saw only flashes, and when she closed her eyes, she didn&039;t see anything but sunbursts of light against the darkness
"What&039;s this?" Shane asked, and traced the line of her new bra with his fingertip "Sexy What else you got?"
"I&039;ll give you a hint It s were about to get very interesting--and she wasn&039;t thinking about theClaire yelped and flailed around for it, mostly to shut it off, but Shane sat up, and she squir her shirt closed as she squinted at the display
"It&039;s Eve," she said Shane s wheel and et it?"
"Yeah," he said, not too happily "I guess so But tell her I hate her a whole lot right now"
"You don&039;t"
"Oh, trust me I could not hate her more"
Claire pressed the button and said, "Eve? Shane says--" She was interrupted by the sound of screa that she alht the alarm in her tone, and reached out for the phone "Give," he said She handed it over, shaking, and he put it to his ear "Eve? Eve, can you hear ave Claire a look that ain "Yeah, I hear it Are you safe?"
"Speaker!" Claire said "Put it on speaker!"
He did Screa blasted out of the phone, but it wasn&039;t Eve&039;s; she was trying to talk Only part of it caetcrazyneed help--"
"Hang on, Eve We&039;re co," Shane said, and tossed the phone to Claire as he fired up the hearse&039;s engine, slammed it into reverse, and backed up with a squeal of tires "Try to get an address!"
"I knohere it is," Claire said She gave him the address, clear and sharp in her o on the steps of the Science Building "That&039;s not far, right?"
"Not far," he agreed, and hit the gas, speeding toward the exit past rows of parked cars with fogged-over s "Keep her talking"
"Eve? Can you hear round noise loud and clear "We&039;re okay for now, but we need backup, big-ti on? Vampires?"
"Oh, you&039;d think, but no So up the place They&039;ve been rah half the townOh, shit!" There was a rise in screa and confused sounds When Eve came back, she was out of breath " Now there&039;re vamps And they are pissed"
"Is Oliver there?"
"Didn&039;t stop to read na--Cory! Cory, no, don&039;t--Cory!" Eve&039;s last as a scream of utter horror, and then the phone justdied Claire hung up and tried calling back Eve&039;s cheery voicestraight ahead with an expression as hard as stone He shook his head
"Hurry," Claire whispered She realized her shirt was still open, and quickly buttoned it up with tre hands "Does Eve keep any weapons in here?"
"Probably in the back Wait--check the glove box"
Claire opened it and found two silver-coated, sharp-tipped stakes They weren&039;t her favorite va accessory, only because they weren&039;t so she could use at a distance, but the heavy, cool feel of theht, anxious knot in her sto odd about the way they feltClaire turned the stakes over in her fingers until she sahat that roughness in the surface was, and alhed
"What?" Shane asked Claire showed hiht the silver surface and shone red froed out in fake rubies on it
"She BeDazzled her stakes," Claire said
"Yeah, she would" He almost set his face to relax "Get Chief Moses on the phone; get her to send the marines"
Claire nodded and speed-dialed Hannah&039;s nuuard when she answered "Moses"
"Hannah, it&039;s Claire Eve&039;s in trouble--well, a lot of people sound like they&039;re in trouble You know about the rave tonight?"
"I had so sure the kids didn&039;t get into trouble Except they did, right?"
"Eve calledI think you&039;d better send everybody Just in case"
"Done And, Claire, don&039;t you go running in there" "But Eve&039;s in there! "
"And we&039;ll get everybody out"
Hannah hung up on her "Hannah says not to go there," Claire said
"Well, I like the lady, but screw that," Shane said "Call Michael Eve probably did, but just in case; he&039;d rip my ears off if I didn&039;t let him knoas up"
Besides which, Michael&039;s vaht now Claire tried his phone, but it went to voice e with the address, and texted him, too That was all she had time for, because Shane skidded the hearse around the last corner and onto a street that should have been deserted after dark--well, was deserted most of the time--but was parked up with cars on both sides
There were people boiling out of the doorway of one of the big, rickety warehouses on the left, and Claire had a blurry impression of open mouths and panicked faces as the hearse hurtled toward them
Shane blurted out a curse that normally would have ed not to hit any of the running, screa crohich just parted and flowed around the car, scattering into the dark in all directions Shane threw the hearse in park and took his hands off the wheel They were shaking He stared at therabbed one of the stakes froht with ot out of the car, and she slid out after hirab a black canvas bag "Hope this isn&039;t her makeup," he said as he shouldered the strap and sla out Claire noticed that most of them seemed okay, just freaked-out, but there were a feho seeeneral crowd panic--hard to tell She hoped so She heard the wail of sirens approaching, and had tiry at us, but then it was too late to have second thoughts Shane wasinside, and she&039;d promised to stay with him
She kept her proh the doorway, and he staggered back a step, then grabbed whoever it was and yanked her out into the street
Monica Morrell She looked just as scared as everyone else running fro, and then, as she realized who it ho had hold of her arht Really? Because Shane and Monica s look like besties "Collins," Monica said, and looked back "Jennifer&039;s still in there I thinkI think she&039;s still in there" She was tre, and she looked cold in her red and white minidress
No, it wasn&039;t red and white It hite Claire parted her lips, realizing what all the red was, and looked sharply at Shane He was staring at Monica with a very odd expression--pity, mixed with distaste But mostly pity It was almost concern
"What happened?" he asked She didn&039;t answer, so he shook her, not too gently "Monica, snap out of it What happened?"
"It was all going okay, and then the Epsilon Epsilon Kappa guys showed up They were all drunk and crazy, started yelling about being in a fight and how they kicked somebody&039;s ass They busted stuff up"
Shane went from concerned to pissed "That&039;s it?"
"No! No, theythey were followed" Monica sed She looked pale and shaky "The vaed to one of the worse" She looked down at Shane&039;s hand around her arot a little of the old Monica &039;tude back "Who said you could go all bad-cop on me, Collins? Back your wannabe ass off!"
He didn&039;t let go "Did you see Eve?"
"Little Miss Goth Princess had so chick with her She&039;s--" Monica looked over her shoulder "I don&039;t know Everybody was running I didn&039;t see where she went" Shane let go of her Monica grabbed him instead "Hey," she said "Look for Jennifer I didn&039;t see her coht behind ers," and she did, instantly, stepping back and wrapping her arms around her torso--for warmth, not in defiance Shane looked back and held out his hand Claire took it "Ready?"
"I guess"