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ELEVEN

Eve had ordered so special off the Internet, which had arrived by otten three of the two-inch silver chain chokers around the neck of a guy, especially Shane, proved to be th, dangling it like a dead rat "No way in hell a that"

"Oh, come on, just this once," Eve said "Protects your neck As in your arteries and veins? That&039;s kind of crucial, right?"

"Thanks for the thought, but it doesn&039;t go withto worry about what people think right now?"

"No, I&039; them on Facebook That crap never dies Kind of like you, Mikey"

Michael, straight-faced, said, "He&039;s got a point, because I would definitely take pictures So would you"

Eve had to grin "Yeah, I would Okay, then But you&039;d look glam I could fix you up with silver eye shadow to match"

"Tell you what: you can be Gla manly and heavily armed"

Michael snorted and picked up some wooden--ie, mostly nonlethal--stakes, which he stuffed in his jacket "You guys ready?" "Guess so" Shane gave his s Eve had packed a (for her) huge purse full of stuff The purse, of course, had a shiny yellow happy face on it--with fangs Claire stuck with her unfashionable but useful backpack She&039;d emptied out all of her books and left them stacked on the table She had no idea when she&039;d actually get back to school, but it certainly wouldn&039;t be today

Shane dropped the silver choker to the table, shuddered, and led the way out of the Glass House to the car Michael locked up behind theht about how natural it was for them noatch one another&039;s backs There wasn&039;t even any discussion Shane went first, keys to Eve&039;s hearse in hand; Eve had, of course, called shotgun, so she was heading straight for the passenger side Claire was checking shadows and heading for the back of the long black coach, and Michael zipped down fast and joined her as she opened the back He was the last one in, and snal Shane as he and Claire sat down on the long bench seats in the back

Eve had added so the inside of the roof "What&039;s with the disco lights?" Michael said, rolling down the een the driver&039;s cohtened "You like it? I thought it looked really cool I saw it in a movie, you know, in a limo"

"It&039;s cool," Michael said, and smiled at her She smiled back "Can&039;t wait to lie here and watch it with you"

Claire said, "You don&039;t have to wait; it&039;s working now Look--Oh Never otten that one in the first second Eve winked at her

"Shouldn&039;t you be calling A perlad to be off the hook, andto voiceup when she spotted a parked police car out of the

Hannah Moses was standing alongside it Juststanding Looking around

"Wait," Claire said, and leaned over to grab Shane&039;s shoulder "Stop She can get us in; she&039;s got pero to Founder&039;s Square anytime she wants"

Shane pulled in behind Hannah&039;s cruiser, and Claire got out to talk to her She moved fast, because this wasn&039;t a well-lit area, and everything seeht anyway Even with the hearse&039;s headlights shining, it felt shadowed

"Hannah!" she said "We need soet us in to see Amelie?"

Hannah turned to look at her, and there was soe She seeun in her holster "Who are you?" she asked "Naot it, too"

"Name!" Hannah snapped "Now!"

"Uh, okay, I&039;m Claire Claire Danvers You know anville," she said "I can&039;t be in Morganville I was inI was in Kandahar I was just there" She looked down at her police unifor this I&039;"

"Hannah, you&039;re having aa flashback, that&039;s all You&039;re not a hanistan You&039;re here, in Morganville You&039;re the chief of police, remember?"

Hannah just looked at her as if Claire were crazy

"Look at what you&039;re wearing," Claire said "Police unifore your clothes? What sense does that make?"

"It doesn&039;t," Hannah admitted "None of this makes any sense I need to call in" "Call in where?"

"Toofficer"

"Hannah, you&039;re not in theofficer!"

Hannah didn&039;t seem to hear her this time "They&039;ll think I&039;m AWOL I need to tell theain, and the look in her face was a little desperate "Except I don&039;t knohat happened"

"I just told you! Flashback!"

"This isn&039;t a coured, was now the only way to go "You&039;ve been drugged You have to believe anville You&039;re the chief of police"

Hannah was shaking her head--not as if she didn&039;t believe it, but as if she didn&039;t want to believe it "I&039; up for that"

But you did, Claire started to say, then held it back She didn&039;t knohy Hannah had changed her hanistan, or since she came back from there But whatever it was, in Hannah&039;s mind, it hadn&039;t happened yet

"I know this is hard," Claire said "But we need your help Really All you have to do is call in pero into Founder&039;s Square Would you do that?"

"I don&039;t know you people," Hannah said "And you&039;re driving around in a damn hearse It doesn&039;t exactly make me want to trust you" Her voice trailed off, and she blinked as the hearse&039;s doors opened, and Michael and Eve got out "You&039;reyou&039;re the Glass kid The guitar player I remember you And--" Hannah did an absolute double take, the most surprised Claire had ever seen her "Eve? What the hell did you do to yourself? Have your parents seen how you look?"

Claire exchanged a mute second of stares with her friends, and Eve finally said, "Ah, yeah, they&039;ve seen it I&039;ve been dressing like this for about three years; don&039;t you remember?"

"No," Hannah said, and suddenly sat down on the sidewalk Justsat She put her head in her hands "No, I don&039;t remember that I reie, before heI saw you at the funeral"

Eve crouched down next to her and put a hand on her shoulder "I know," she said "But then you went to Afghanistan, and then you came back, and now you&039;re the head police chick You have to remember that!"

"I don&039;t," Hannah said, and Claire realized with a shock that she was crying silently, tears running down her face "I don&039;t remember that at all" She pulled in a deep breath, wiped her face, and let Eve help her to her feet "All right Let&039;s say all that&039;s true, even if I don&039;t believe it What do you want?"

"Justwe need you to call in to the guard post at Founder&039;s Square and give us a pass to see A She&039;s not answering" And Claire found that she was really, truly worried Not that Aanville without her wasunthinkable She couldn&039;t get the i limp on the floor in Oliver&039;s arms out of her head

Hannah stared at her like she was even crazier than before "We don&039;t ever call the Founder by name"

"We do now," Claire said "I do We all do You have to believe s around here are different now Please, Hannah We really need this if we&039;re going to help people"

Hannah took another look around at the town, at theht," she said "You tellto ot into the police car and found Hannah&039;s cell phone Sure enough, it had all kinds of nuuard station at the entrance to Founder&039;s Square She dialed it for Hannah and held out the phone

"Guard post?" Hannah said, and here, at least, she see did that for you, Claire guessed "This is Lieut--This is Hannah Moses I&039;ve got four kids in a hearse who are cleared for admittance to Founder&039;s Square" She covered the phone receiver and looked at Claire "Anything else?"

"Umthey should let us in to see Amelie"

Hannah took in a deep breath and nodded as she uncovered the receiver "Yeah, and they&039;ll need unescorted access to the Founder&039;s office" She listened, and her eyes widened a little "Great Thank you" She passed the phone back to Claire, who hung it up and put it back in the car "They said they&039;d put you on the list Just like that"

"Thanks, Hannah" On ied her Hannah was a solid block of ed her back "Go ho weird, okay?"

"Hoot no home here"

Well, she probably did, but Claire didn&039;t knohere it was She thought for a second, then said, "Go to Graht?"

"When I was a kid, yeah"

"She&039;ll help you," Claire said "Tell her I said hello"

"She&039;s a tough old lady," Hannah said, but it sounded fond "Yeah, I&039;ll go there But you owe ht, I won&039;t owe them anymore," Claire said "Be careful, okay?"

Hannah sanville," she said "I&039; beside her patrol car, and headed for Founder&039;s Square

The guards looked inside the car, but didn&039;t search; Claire supposed they had no real reason to, with Hannah approving their visit Eve looked nervous, but not too nervous, and having Michael with theuaranteed that the vauards waved the car down the ra area "Da in here"

In the end, she wedged it sideways in two spots, but since the garage wasto complain "Okay, we&039;re here," Shane said "What now?"

"Let&039;s do this smart," Michael said "Shane, you and Eve stay here with the weapons I&039;ll go up with Claire If we don&039;t co"

"You&039;re taking weapons," Shane said

"Just e can conceal," Michael said "If we go in there with crossbows, A it She&039;ll overlook personal defense Not armed assault"

Claire lifted her backpack People were so used to seeing it on her that it didn&039;t matter what she carried inside She knew Michael had stakes on hih "I&039;ll call you if it&039;s okay," Claire prorabbed her hand when she tried to leave the car, and pulled her back for another kiss, a longer one He didn&039;t want to let go, and neither did she, but he finally sighed and nodded, and she opened the back door

"Hey, Mikey? You get her hurt and I&039;ll end you"

"You let anything happen to Eve and I&039;ll do the sa Eve, too "While you&039;re at it, don&039;t get yourself killed, either, bro"

"Ditto And don&039;t kiss me" Claire cocked her head at him, exasperated "Seriously, Shane? Ditto? That&039;s the best you can do?"

Shane and Michael exchanged identical looks and shrugs Guys

"Let ed Claire fiercely She kissed her on the cheek "I love you, CB Please take care of yourself, okay?"

"I love you, too," Claire said, and suddenly her throat felt tight and her eyes burned with tears "I really do"

Shane and Michael watched them with identical expressions of blank bemusement, and finally Shane said, "So basically, it&039;s what I said Ditto"

Michael grinned and headed for the elevator that would take the?"

Claire picked up her heavy backpack and ran to join hi as if so it Michael pressed the button and looked down at her "You okay?"

"Fine"

"Your heart&039;s beating really fast"

"Gee, thanks That&039;s very co that you can hear it"

He smiled, and it was the old Michael, the one she&039;d first met before all the vamp stuff "Yeah, I know it is Sorry Just stay behind me if there&039;s trouble"

"You sound like Shane"

"Well, he did say he&039;d killafter my own neck"

"Liar"

He ruffled her hair, like an annoying big brother, and stepped in front of her as the elevator dinged to a stop, and the doors slid open She couldn&039;t see anything, but evidently the coast was clear, because Michael stepped out and walked down the hallway

"There&039;s usually a guard there," Claire said, peeking around him at the double doors of the council chareed "No reason to guard an empty room It&039;s this way"

He turned at a T intersection and went right down another identical hallway, all paneling and hts It still re except for theon cold All the doors were unmarked, at least to human eyes

"Up there," Michael said Claire nodded She could see a vauard in black stationed outside of one of the doors--the wouards at the council chaazine, but as Michael and Claire approached, she stood up and assumed her usual at-rest position

"Michael Glass and Claire Danvers for Amelie," Michael said

"You don&039;t have an appointment"

"No," Claire said "But it&039;s important We need to see her"

"My instructions are that she isn&039;t to be disturbed," the guard said

"But it&039;s an eency!"

"I have my orders"

"Amelie ant to see us," Michael said

The other vahtly "It doesn&039;t ives the orders Oliver does, and his orders are that she should rest undisturbed Now go or I&039;ll have you removed"

"Maybe we should see Oliver," Claire said doubtfully

That"An excellent idea, but again, you have no appointment Oliver sees no human without an appointot into a staring match

"I&039;m afraid Oliver is not available to anyone at the present time," she finally said "Orders"

"Then we&039;ll just see Auard&039;s hand flashed out and closed white and hard around his wrist, stopping him an inch from the metal "Really? You&039;re sure you want to do it this way?"

The guard s fully now "You&039;re the one pushing the issue, New Guy I told you: go away There&039;s no more discussion--" Her expression suddenly altered, and even Claire felt some kind of force sweep past them, a kind of pressure wave that made both vampires turn toward the Founder&039;s closed door

Claire found she was holding her hands to her head, and couldn&039;t re it She looked up at Michael, who looked just as shaken as she felt The vauard looked just as surprised

"What was that?" Claire asked

"Aain for the doorknob, and the varabbed the vamp&039;s arm above the elboith his left hand, and tipped her over his head in a sudden, shocking movement She should have been down on the floor at the end of it, but instead she twisted in ot her balance, and slaernails at his throat

Claire grabbed the doorknob and plunged inside the office

Inside, it was dark Pitch-dark She couldn&039;t see a thing, and for a second she just stood there, hoping her eyes roped along the wall for a switch, and found one

When she flipped it on, she found A at her ide, ice-gray eyes Claire yelped and flinched back against the door Aainst the wood to the side of Claire&039;s head With her right hand, she reached over and turned the bolt to seal theirl? Some novice vampire slayer who thinks she will free the town and become a hero of the people? Do you really think you have the courage to put a stake in my heart, child?"

Amelie didn&039;t know her At all

Worse, there was another va unconscious on the floor, with blood strea from two puncture wounds in his throat

In retrospect, it was fairly obvious what had just happened; Claire had seen the reverse of it earlier, in the council chaled for control of the town, and Aain, and this tiht in A to think, especially since the thought sounded like Eve&039;s voice inside her head, but soer

"Don&039;tsidewise at Oliver, as showing no signs of"I&039;ve put him in his place As I assure you I will do for you, little slayer girl" Claire sed hard and tried to regulate the racing beat of her heart Showing fear wasn&039;t going to help "My name is Claire Danvers," she said "I&039;m Myrnin&039;s apprentice"

Amelie smiled Not a nice s snack," she said "He&039;s done it before, to those more capable and better loved by him" The smile died "Now Who are you?"

"Claire! My name is Claire! You know me!"

"I do not Nor do I see why I should bother You shouldn&039;t have coirl I don&039;t tolerate these kinds of rebellions"

Claire had no idea why she thought of it, but suddenly, a page froht at the used bookstore flared in front of her brain, clear as if it had been pasted on She could see every detail of the type, even down to the water stains on the paper "But you did," she said "About a hundred years ago You let Ballard Teo free after he took a shot at you on the street"

That surprised Ah to make her cock her head and frown, just a little "Ballard Tee know of Tehter," Claire said "And he was hired to kill you You took his gun away and told hio kill the er"

"These are things you should not know, girl Things that were never e in her anville froer Hanthorn, for about a hundred dollars The first barrier around it wasfence, like a stockade And you used to play the harp People said you played like an angel"

Aone very still, and the bafflement in her face was als"

"Your father was Bishop," Claire said "And you were in love with Sa, but Arabbed Claire by the arhtless rush, and Claire lost the backpack along the way as she tuainst the wall

Things went fuzzy then, and she felt weirdly hot She blinked a few tiht above hers "Who are you?" Amelie said "What do you know of Sam? Where is he? He can&039;t hide from me, but I can&039;t sense him! Who has taken hi, but she didn&039;t think anything was broken There was a hot, throbbing spot on her head where she&039;d hit the wall, though

All of that faded to the background as she realized what Aht Sa

And she thought Claire knehere he was

That was bad, but orse was that there wasn&039;t any good answer What was she going to tell her? Sarave? How horrible would that be? And besides, Amelie would probably kill her for it, even if she believed it, which she probably wouldn&039;t Hannah hadn&039;t believed she was back frohanistan This would be a lot harder to accept

"Well?" Aently into Claire&039;s neck so she could feel the sting "I won&039;t kill you, girl Not yet, and not quickly If you&039;ve done anything to Sam Glass, I will see you destroyed slowly, in the old ways You can save yourself by telling me where to find him, now" Her eyes widened "Was it Oliver who took hio of Claire and whirled to stalk over to Oliver, as just opening his eyes as she bent to grab hi position The wounds on his throat were almost closed "You" Amelie&039;s voice dripped with scorn and venom "Is this how you repay ed me Did you take Sam Glass to ensure your victory this time?"

Oliver blinked, and Claire was sure she saw baffle realization "She doesn&039;t reot her, too"

"So I see," he ain "I can&039;t help you, Claire I can&039;t help either of us"

Claire&039;swith ideas and thoughts and schemes, and the problem was that none of them would save her, and she knew it