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At ho she wanted to do was put her parents in the middle of all this - Claire unloaded Ki to access the data stream That wasn&039;t especially hard, because she knew the IP address of the caht on a label The probleranal and rerouted it across the Internet every few anville; it had to be, because of the packet ti She wasn&039;t especially coh she knew her way around; Kim obviously had taken so up that easily, either She didn&039;t like Kim, but there was a lot at stake here: the va Michael&039;s; Ki they&039;d built here, at whatever cost

Michael was right: they couldn&039;t just let Kiht come out, but it shouldn&039;t come out like this, as some kind of horrible exercise in voyeurism

She finally reran the video of Kim they&039;d watched at her loft I can&039;t believe it; I finally got to put soood; strea up

Claire went in search of cameras in the Glass House

She found the first one in an air vent in Shane&039;s room, and had to sit down, hard, on his bed with her head in her hands It was focused right on his bed

Oh ht of Ki his privacy, watching hiet undressedand then she reether And she saw it

Claire lifted her head and looked right up at the camera She had no idea as on her face, but if it was anyof total betrayal and exposure, she couldn&039;t i it "I hope there&039;s sound on these," she said "You bitch I officially hope you rot in hell, and I swear, if you post any of this online, I will find you"

Then Claire dragged a chair over, stood on the seat, and yanked the vent screen out of the wall Behind it, the little webcalass eye every bit as emotionless as Bob the spider&039;s

Claire picked it up, carried it into her bedroom, and put it next to the first one they&039;d found in Ki the other rooms She found two more - one hidden on top of a bookshelf, barely visible, in the living roo a bird&039;s-eye view of the whole space, and another in Michael&039;s roorabbed it out of the fake plant on top of his dresser, and carried it back to set it with the others The IP addresses were consistent Claire tried entering thenal was there, but it just displayed as gibberish

Encrypted, which went along with the rando to backtrace the signals when she felt that fa that the world had just shifted

Portal

Claire slid out of her chair and grabbed weapons, then waited It had felt like the portal had opened upstairs, in the attic, and as she waited she heard faint creaks and pops froht Spiders wouldn&039;t be that heavy

God, she hoped spiders wouldn&039;t be that heavy That was a terrifying thought She was already entering B-iant spider!

And a vacaotten sweaty, and her rip on the silver knife in her hand Coet it over with already It could have been somebody with a lot of power - Myrnin, or Oliver, or Aize

But she thought it was probably Ada,another run at her

The creaks overhead paused, and she heard theain, and slam closed All her protections snapped back into place, as if they&039;d never been broken If she hadn&039;t been hereshe&039;d never have even known soed out into the hall, staring at the hidden door up to the secret roo at all She wouldn&039;t, of course, it being sound-proofed, but stillShe felt as if she ought to be able to feel soer When it didn&039;t, it was usually because Amelie

Amelie

Claire opened the hidden door and went up the stairs, and found the lights on at the top The soft glow thrown through colored glass painted the walls, and on the couch, Ath, one white hand pressed to her forehead

She earing a flohite dress, like a very fancy nightgown, and there were flecks of blood on it Not as if she&039;d been hurt -near someone else who had been As Claire entered the room, Amelie&039;s eyes opened and focused on her, but the Founder didn&039;t move

"We have a problem Ada," Amelie said "You know, don&039;t you?"

"That she&039;s crazy? Yeah I figured that" Claire realized she was still holding the knife, and put it down "Sorry"

"A reasonable precaution in uncertain ti else Claire waited, but Aels on top of a to you would understand" Amelie closed her eyes "I&039;nation to the way she said it that made Claire shiver "Should I - is there somebody I should call, or - "

"I will rest here for now Thank you" It was a diset Auess if you need so - "

Amelie&039;s eyes snapped open, and Claire felt it at the sa

A for you," Claire said "Who is it?"

"None of your affair"

"It is if they&039;re couards," Amelie said "They&039;ll find me, sooner or later, but for noant to be here Here, where Saain, and silvery tears pooled in her eyes and ran down into her unbound pale hair "Where Sam told me he would never leave me But he did leave me, Claire I kneould, and he did Everyone leaves Everyone"

This time, when the portal flared, Amelie didn&039;t try to keep it shut In seconds, the attic door flew open, and it wasn&039;t the guards after all, in their black Secret Service suits

It was Oliver, still wearing his bowling shirt, graying hair pulled tight into a ponytail For a second, as his gaze fell on Amelie, he looked like a different person

No, that wasn&039;t possible He couldn&039;t really feel so for her Could he?

"You," he said to Claire "Leave us Now"

"Stay," Amelie said There was an unmistakable thread of command in her voice "You don&039;t order my servants inbehind children?"

"I&039; at all Not even frolow of the laames, haven&039;t we? The two of us, we&039;ve schemed and cheated and used each other all these centuries, for our own purposes What did it bring us? Peace? There&039;s never peace for us There can&039;t be"

"I can&039;t talk of peace," he said, and went to one knee, looking up into her face "And neither can you Morley tried to kill you out there in the graveyard the other evening, and still you wander alone, looking for your own destruction Youas your friend," he said, and took her hand "Amelie We have our differences, you and I We alill But I would not see you suffer so Morganville is too ht now - there are too many vampires here with too much ambition Control must be maintained, and if you won&039;t do it, you er hands My hands"

"How kind of you, to keep the best interests of others so close to your heart," she said She didn&039;t try to reers from his, but her tone had taken on a remote kind of chill "So what do you propose?"

"Until you can put aside your ive me the town," he said "You know I can keep order here I&039;ll act as your regent When you are ready, I&039;ll give it back to you"

"Liar" She said it without particular ehten on hers Amelie smiled, just a little "Liar, and bully Do you really think such tactics could work, against the daughter of Bishop? You would have done well to pretend to a little more sympathy, or less Halfthe town by inches now," he said "Morley&039;s only the first of the vaainst you - s of theht I&039;ve already been approached to stop it"

"So now it&039;s a plot A plot to re to warn hed softly "Oh, Oliver The only reason you didn&039;t betray me to my father when you had the chance was because the odds were even Had he courted you for even a irl You&039;d have planted the knife in my back yourself"

"No," he said, and pulled her off balance, down to her knees on the floor across from him "I wouldn&039;t You&039;re not a queen anymore, Ae me!"

She wrenched a hand free and slapped him hard across the face, and Claire backed up as the two vae as I see fit," Amelie said "And I&039;ll have none of your insolence Scheanville is uard now You ainst me will be uncovered and destroyed Even yours"

She shoved hith on the floor In a flash, Amelie reached out for the silver knife that Claire had put on the table, and before Claire could blink, that knife was at Oliver&039;s throat "Well?" she demanded "What say you, my servant?"

He spread his hands wide in mute surrender

Amelie stared down at him, then looked at Claire "Suo for a drive in Morganville It&039;s time my people see me, and know I&039;m not to be underestimated"

She slammed the knife into the floor next to Oliver&039;s head, close enough that the edge left a bloody streak down his cheek, then rose to her feet and swept out of the roo her cell phone out and called the number to Amelie&039;s security, and told them to meet her downstairs

By the ti on the sofa He dabbed at the cut on his face, looking a lot less upset than Claire expected hiht?"

He shrugged "She loved Sam She needs someone to fill the void inside her - either a lover, or an enemy"

"And you&039;re the ene years, it&039;s e&039;ve always had between us Anger, and respect" He s else, not that ould ever adhers"

Claire really, really didn&039;t get it, but she didn&039;t think that either one of theh the portal Did anything weird happen?"

"Weird?" He frowned "I don&039;t understand"

"I mean - never mind I&039;m just kind of worried about the portals I want to recalibrate the syste to walk in any case It&039;s just as ianville to see me afoot as for them to see Ahtened his shirt and stood up "It gives usbalance"

"Oliver?"

He stopped at the head of the stairs

"What would happen if soot word out about the town?"

"Out?"

"Out in the world You know"

"Oh, it&039;s happened before But no one believes No one ever believes"

"What if - what if they had proof?"

"The only possible proof would be a genuine vampire, and that will never happen Short of that, any proof can be denied easily enough"

"What about - video?"

"Claire You go to the cineital trickery, that anyone would believe video of vampires?" He shook his head "They would believe it now less than ever The very popularity of valance "Why?"

"Just wondering," she said

"Stop wondering It&039;s not healthy"

Then he was gone Claire sat down on the couch and sht; people probably wouldn&039;t believe it Most people didn&039;t believe all the ghost reality shows, either The problem was that these days, reality didn&039;t have to be real to be a hit - and Morganville couldn&039;t stand up to real scrutiny

They had to stop Kim, before it all fell apart

Plus, as a bonus, they had to really kick her ass about the caot ho a peanut butter sandwich She didn&039;t tell them about the visit frorim She was sure they wouldn&039;t really care

"What?" she asked Shane snagged half her sandwich from her plate as he passed "Hey!"

"Worked up an appetite, watching Miss Bad Attitude&039;s back," he said around aplaces Iin terms of scary as hell"

"Do not tell Claire about that club," Eve said, and took off her lasses Behind them, her mascara was smeared, and her eyes were red - not vampire red, but more like an overdose of tears "Besides, it&039;s not like I just rando out"

"What kind of club?" Claire whispered to Shane

"Leather," he whispered back "She&039;s right; you really don&039;t want to know"

"Kim hasn&039;t been there in a couple of days," Eve said "But we found a few vampires who did intervieith her recently, for her history project"

From the expression on Shane&039;s face, there was more to the story Claire said, doubtfully, "And they just told you? Just like that?"

"I had toeye contact on that She shed her black leather jacket, the one with all the buckles, and snagged a corner of Claire&039;s leftover half sandwich "Hood; did you put honey on it?"

"You did what?" Making any kind of deal with any kind of va deals with the kind of va out in a leather bar wassuicidal Claire rounded on Shane "You let her do that?"

"Seriously, you can&039;t even think about blauard Unless you wantedher"

"They&039;d probably have gotten into it there," Eve said "Look, I can get out of the deals Aet-out-of-deals-free card But I needed to find Kim, and to do that, we needed inforic techno-wand and?"

Claire had to shake her head

"Okay then, quit looking at " Eve, Claire realized, was really uncomfortable about this She&039;d probably had to force herself to talk to these vaa

Claire cleared her throat "What did you get?"

"I found four vamps that Kim either talked to on camera, or set up intervieith in the next week or so, whichtown just yet And a couple of huuys who, ah, visited Kim at her place"

"Hookups," Shane confirh I can&039;t say one downhill"

"So, wait - what does that tell us that we didn&039;t already know? And what did you pros," Eve said, without adding any details Shane looked away "Not iht now The point is, two of the vamps she interviewed she filmed at Common Grounds, but the other vamps said she took them to a kind of studio"

"A studio," Claire repeated "That sounds proht so It wasn&039;t knee-deep in crap, so it couldn&039;t have been her apartht?"

"Did they tell you where?"

"No," Shane said, leaning over Eve&039;s shoulder "They wanted em And I told them to stuff it sideways"

Claire blinked Vaht that was okay?"

"Honestly? Not so ood chew toys"

"Shane!" Claire looked at hiht? Didn&039;t have to," he said Before he could explain, the front door opened and closed, and Claire heard the locks clicking shut again Eve stiffened and looked down, burying her black-painted fingernails in her palms as she h a rough night in a bad bar, Claire guessed Mussed, clothes torn at the sea dark on his shirt that could have been blood

"Are you okay?" Claire ca at hi, but he looked tired There was a little flush of red in his eyes, and his hands were shaking

"I&039;ht back"

He disappeared into the kitchen The silence in the room was sharp and uncomfortable, and Claire looked at Eve, who folded her arms across her chest

"I didn&039;t ask him to come rescue us," she said, and looked down "I didn&039;t want hi a black sports bottle They all knehat he had in it, but nobody h the built-in straw

"I had ," Michael said And didn&039;t look at Eve And Eve didn&039;t look at hi her out of there when you did, Shane"

Shane nodded "No probleoing to answer, evidently, because he just shrugged "Fight" One hell of one, froer for blood "It orth it One of them told me where Kim took him to interview, and it wasn&039;t any of the places you already had"

Eve slowly raised her head, and her eyes narrowed "You followed us You thought we couldn&039;t handle it"

"I knehere you were going And I was right, wasn&039;t I?"

"No, you were not right! Michael - "

He put the bottle down, stepped forward, and caught her hands in his Eve started to try to pull free, but he held on, willing her to look at him It seemed really personal, so to be anything else You need to decide if you&039;re okay with that, Eve I am"

"What if I&039;m not?" Her voice sounded really small and wounded "What if I just want you to be Michael, not - not Vampire Michael of the Clan, or whatever?"

"I can&039;t," he said "Because I&039;m not just Michael anymore I haven&039;t been since before you o of her hands, uncapped the sports bottle, and drank the blood down in long, thirsty gulps,His eyes turned ruby red, and he licked the drops fro her

She crossed her arms and turned away from hiain, they were just human, and sad

Claire wondered if she&039;d actually just witnessed a breakup She hoped not

Shane cleared his throat "So You turned up at a place where Kiht? Let&039;s talk about that Please"

Michael walked over to the chair, where his guitar lay across the seat He picked it up and cradled it in his aran to softly play a series of chords It was an aching kind of sound, gentle and full of emotion, and Claire saw Eve&039;s shoulders tense and shake as she suppressed tears

"Kim used to work at KVVV," Michael said "She was an intern there before it shut down The vampire said she interviewed hie of town, by the trans a little spike of exciteht? You said it was shut down?"

"Yeah, Amelie shut it down a few years back after - there was an incident," Michael said "The town council decided we didn&039;t need another radio station It&039;s been locked up since then"

"We need to go look!" Claire bounced to her feet, but Shane caught her shoulder and guided her back into the chair

"Cool it Not at night, we don&039;t The last thing we need to do is go poking around an abandoned building in the ht in a town full of vampires"

"But what if she decides to close up shop? Cut her losses, take her goodies, and try to leave?" Eve said "She could get killed We have to warn her"

"Warn her?" Claire felt short of breath, ready to burst out into wild laughter "Eve, don&039;t you get it? She rigged our house She atching us Watching everything, every private thing - "

"No," Eve said "No, she wouldn&039;t do that You&039;re wrong"

"I found cameras in the bedrooms!"

Eve&039;s mouth opened and closed, and Claire didn&039;t think she&039;d ever seen her look quite so devastated She slumped down on the couch and covered her rice-powder-pale face with both hands

Shane was staring at Claire with a frozen expression "Which bedrooms?"

"Yours," she said softly "And Michael&039;s"

For a second Shane didn&039;t- a DVD case - and hurled it across the room so hard that it dented the wall "Son of a bitch," he one co anyotten he had it "She was recording us Her own little Big Brother reality shoith vaine what she was thinking, but she looked utterly o," Eve finally said "We need to find where she keeps the recordings, and wipe them out Every little bit This can&039;t happen She can&039;t do this"

"I just hope she hasn&039;t already done it," Claire said "She&039;s been putting this together for alot to be al some kind of sponsor outside of town"

"Then we really have to go Now Tonight"

"No," Michael said "Not at night"

"She&039;s going to get aith it!"

"That&039;s a chance we&039;re going to have to take," Michael said "Shane&039;s right No charging off into the dark It has to wait until ain His head was down, as if he were concentrating on his music, but Claire didn&039;t think he was There was so with the way he said it, the way he wouldn&039;t look at them "How about more of those sandwiches?"

Eve raised her head and stared at hi her mascara into clown makeup "Unbelievable," she said "You knohat&039;s on those recordings You know, Michael You&039;d let her take that and sell it?"

"We need to be s off without a plan - "

"Screw your plans!" she shouted, and juling "Screw you, too!"

Michael looked at Claire, then Shane

"She&039;s not wrong," Shane said "Sorry, ht him at it

She was on her way to the bathroo about curling up war in his room The door was open a crack Shane and Eve were still downstairs, cleaning up the kitchen

He was on his cell phone "No," he was saying "No, I&039;ht Make sure nobody is using the facility without - "

Claire pushed the door open, and Michael twisted around to look at her So busted He froze for a second, then said, "I&039;ll call you back," and hung up

"Lethi, aren&039;t you?"