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"Watch your back"

The onco, but Claire knew Shane wasn&039;t going to wait She didn&039;t want to, either That had been real fear in Eve&039;s screaed onward, into the warehouse

The place s-insulation se students liked a lot better It hts were still on, cycling through all kinds of colors and patterns, strobing white every few seconds The , too--the deejay had left tracks running and bugged out from behind the console in the corner Claire could feel the vibrations in her bones, and her ears went instantly into shock She could still hear, but it was like hearing through earmuffs

A few people were too scared tobehind the speakers, or pressed against the walls in a huddle, trying to pretend it all wasn&039;t happening The usual Morganville strategy It was hard to hts, but none of theht Well, they&039;d gotten their tuition&039;s worth tonight

There were bodies on the warehouse floor They weren&039;tSome of them had very, very pale faces, and wide eyes, and mouths still open in silent screams Bite marks on their throats

There were also a couple of vampires down--also pale, but with stakes in their chests; that didn&039;t necessarily mean they were dead, just wounded There was one as definitely dead, because--and Claire had to control an urge to retch--his head wasThere was still a stake in his heart, too

She thought she saw the head a few feet away in the corner, but no as she going to go take a closer look She was thankful Shane turned away fro into a hallway that channeled the thundering music into waves It was still too loud to talk In strobe flashes, Claire saw blood on the walls in s rooh here to cover the screa

Shane stopped, zipped open the bag, and pulled out a crossbow He stuck the silver stake he&039;d been gripping into a pocket of his jeans, loaded the crossbow, put another bolt between his teeth, and nodded to Claire to follow She nodded back

When they ca frohtly into a corner,frat dudes ere yelling challenges and s wooden crates over the heads of the vahts in here were di like h-definition, slow- blond hair tied back in a ponytail, wearing a black leather jacket--grabbed hold of one of the frat boys (as, she realized, wearing an EEK T-shirt) and dragged hi, but the slender va up at hiled and tried to scream

Then the vampire said, "You think you can defy us and live? Who do you think you are, meat? This is our town It&039;s always been ours You have to pay for your disrespect"

And then he closed his fist and crushed the boy&039;s big,up a sheet of paper

Shane brought the crossbow up almost as fast and fired The bolt hit the vamp in the back, on the left side, just about dead center in the heart

The two bodies hit the floor together

And then all the vampires turned on Shane and Claire Shane loaded the second bolt and dropped the bag between the two of them Claire didn&039;t need any instructions; she crouched down and groped around inside the bag No extra crossbow, unfortunately, but plenty more bolts, which she took out, and two vials of silvery liquid--silver nitrate Claire handed Shane another bolt to put between his teeth and popped the cap on one of the vials

The vampires didn&039;t look familiar to her, but then, she didn&039;t keep up with every bloodsucker in Morganville; she thought these were probably some of the ones A the new huhts decrees of the town quite so well Well, vae, no doubt about that And they didn&039;t like being challenged

I just saw that boy die, she thought, but then shut that thought off, walled it away, because it wouldn&039;t help to think about it Not at all "Eve!" she yelled "Eve Rosser! "

Froe of the human crowd, she saw a very white face turn toward them under a sleek cap of black hair Eve didn&039;t say anything, but there wasn&039;t any ti for the down one of the five, and as he reloaded, Claire threw the contents of the vial in an arc across the other four Where the silver nitrate hit vampire skin, it hissed and bubbled like acid That stopped at least one, and slowed down the others long enough for Shane to get off another shot It ide as the vaed for them Claire dived one way, and Shane the other; he hit the floor and rolled, caet the vamp square in the chest as it rushed him It still reached him, and Claire uncapped the other vial of silver nitrate, heart pounding, but Shane rolled again, out of reach, and the vamp collapsed on the floor before it could claw hiht oray streaks in her long hair, and a lean, mean face The other looked barely older than Claire herself, with short red hair and a round face that lowing eyes and pointy teeth Both had gotten burned by the silver nitrate, and they weren&039;t in a hurry to get another dose, but Claire realized that Shane was out of crossbow bolts, and she&039;d dropped the rest by the bag, ten feet away

She hing, and kicked the bolts into the far corner, along with the black canvas bag

Claire yanked her silver stake out of the waistband of her pants She was terrified, but she was also angry--angry that Eve had been penned up in the corner with all those people, like so ry for the probably-stupid boy who&039;d just gotten killed right in front of her Angry that this was all happening because sootten hurt

"Hey!" Shane yelled, and tossed his eoing to let her have all the fun? Coo!"

The older vamp turned on him with a snarl, and in one leap was all over hiround hard, on his back, and tried to roll, but the va wide, and Claire desperately threw the silver nitrate at her It hit, but the vanored the burns

A blur flashed out of the hallway and hit the va her completely off of Shane as she tried to bite him Both Shane&039;s attacker and the newcomer hit the far ith a hollow boo

Both vampires

Michael He looked tremendously scary when he was like this, all eyes and teeth, and he looked strong Claire sed hard and focused on the vamp in front of her, the redhead, who had been as surprised as Claire at Michael&039;s furious arrivalbut was getting over it fast

The vaed for her, but ca sound as her head was yanked backward, hard

Behind her stood Eve, both hands in the vamp&039;s hair "That&039;s my friend, you bitch!" Eve said, and--when she was sure Claire was ready--shoved the vamp at her, off balance

Onto the point of Claire&039;s silver-coated, blinged-out stake

The vamp cried out, and for a second her eyes uilt There was terror in those alien eyes, and hurt, and surpriseand then the va the stake with her

The vahter once Soirlfriend Maybe she hadn&039;t asked to be what she was now

Claire felt sick and she wanted to cry, but there wasn&039;t ti her into his arms

"Eve?" he asked "You okay?"

Claire turned her head to look at her friend Eve didn&039;t look okay Her Gothin thick, uneven streams down her face; her dress was torn at the shoulder, and she had long, red scratches down one ar

But it was her eyes that really told Claire how not-okay she was They ide and full of o of Shane and hugged Eve, who hugged her back so hard it hurt Eve was trying not to cry, froasps for breath

"You&039;re okay now," Claire whispered in her ear "We came as fast as we could"

Eve nodded and tried to smile "Guess I can&039;t say you&039;re losers for at least a week, then" Her voice sounded odd and muffled, but she blinked back the tears "Thank you" She kissed Claire&039;s cheek, then Shane&039;s Shane stepped away, clearing his throat "Oh, don&039;t go all boy on me"

"Mikey!" Shane yelled "You&039;d better finish it up! Your girlfriend&039;s trying to kiss--"

He didn&039;t finish, because all of a sudden the fight was over

and Michael lost

It happened so fast Claire hardly had time to comprehend it, but one second, the two vamps were a blur of round, crurinned with her sharp, sharp teeth gleaht, and licked blood from her lips Her eyes looked brilliant and insane, and redder than the blood She kicked Michael&039;s li that creepy juain

Suddenly, there was a cold, still presence standing in front of the the va her down to the floor

Aanville had arrived, and she&039;d done it in force; as Claire looked behind her, she saw at least a dozen va Oliver and a nuht They were all dressed in long black leather coats, like a kind of uniform, with the symbol of the Founder stamped into the leather on every one of the white Pure ice white, alht Her hair was up in a woven crown, nearly as pale as her elegant silk suit

"Do be quiet," she told the fallen vampire "You&039;re a worthless idiot, but I don&039;t want ht Don&039;t make me kill you for what you&039;ve done" Amelie&039;s voice was so cold that it see roorees"Getup"

The other va slowly Claire didn&039;t see Oliverboth the worip behind her "No foolish moves, Patrice," he said "I don&039;t believe the Founder is joking"

"Get her out of ht," Amelie said, and looked at the other fallen vampires The one who&039;d been burned badly by Claire&039;s silver nitrate got up and lihly terrified "This one, too And release those others" She waved a hand at the vampires Shane had nailed with the crossbow bolts One of Oliver&039;s black-coated troopers glided over and pulled the arrows out The tned bloodsuckers, released frohed and sputtered blood

They&039;d live

"Michael," Claire whispered Eve broke free and ran to hi his head into her lap He looked--oh, God--he lookeddead His eyes were open, and he looked so pale, so still; there was a hole in the side of his throat, but not much blood Claire skidded to a stop and put her hands to herto hold in a scream She felt Shane&039;s hands close hard around her shoulders--that was probably his version of feeling the same rush of horror and denial

Then Michael finally, slowly, blinked Eve screamed "Michael? Michael! Talk to me!"

"He can&039;t," A at Michael with a slight softening of her usual cool expression Maybe, Claire thought, because Michael still reminded her of Sam, her lost love Apart from the color of their hair, they&039;d looked a lot alike "He&039;ll be all right once we get some nourishment into him I&039;ll have o with him!" Eve said

"I&039;ry vampires, even ones you knoell, can be very unpredictable I would hate for anything to happen that Michael ret later?" Shane asked under his breath "Oh, right Humans don&039;t count"

Amelie heard hiray eyes on his face "I only , Mr Collins Ms Rosser Explain what happened here Now"

Eve was coh Michael&039;s blond hair, but now she looked up, startled That lasted only a second, though, and then her attitude snapped back in place "Gee, I don&039;t know, maybe a vampire attack?" she snapped "It was a party; then the frat idiots crashed and started boasting about how tough they were; then these freaks showed up to teach us all a lesson That&039;s what they said They wanted to put us in our place"

"I see," A to provoke them?"

"My friend--" Eve&039;s voice failed Claire could see she was trying once again not to cry, and howto have fun That one, the redhead, she grabbed her and justtore her up Cory&039;s dead I saw it happen"

"Oh, man," Shane whispered Claire put her hand on top of his, where it lay on her shoulder "Eve" It sounded like he wanted to say so, but he had no idea what She loved him for that

Amelie waited a moment, and then said in a very low voice, "I am sorry for this experience, and for the loss of your friend All who broke the laill be punished"

Eve&039;s eyes grew brighter, but not with tears With fury "Punished ? What, like little kids going to bed without their blood supper? No TV for a week? Time-out?"

"I can assure you that the punishh!"

Now Ah for h for all of you Do I make myself clear?" She didn&039;t wait for an answer; she turned to Oliver, as standing nearby, hands folded behind hi as the vampire prisoners and humans were herded out "Vaation"

"Of course," Oliver said without turning "And I expect the appropriate punish to the law"

"Sir," called one of Oliver&039;s irl with Claire&039;s stake in her chest "You should see this"

Oliver walked over, frowned, and crouched down to exairl more closely "Silver," his ed on a pair of leather gloves and grabbed the stake, which he pulled out and iirl didn&039;t breathe, htly, and waited, but the va There was a burned patch where the stake had gone in that continued to slowly burn outward

"She&039;s dead," Oliver said "Silver poisoning She ic"

Claire had killed her

And the appropriate punish a vampire was death