'And, of course, if you decide your principles are more important, I'm sure we can still fall back on Option One,' Dr Anderson said. 'I admit, it's not my first choice. I dislike hurting humans. My goal is to make a world where vampires can be contained, constructively managed for their own safety and for ours. If you agree with that, I think we can all get along just fine.'
'You going to make Eve agree with that, too? With letting Michael be some kind of - of lab rat?' I demanded. 'Shit, Claire, you know it's never going to happen. Maybe you can convince me about the rest of them, but not Michael. He's our friend. He's my brother.'
'I don't really need four subjects,' Dr Anderson said then, ready to make the concession at just the right time. My dad would have been proud. 'Three will do. Michael can be kept safe, but unharmed. Does that answer your concerns?'
What had happened, in the moments since Claire had given up Myrnin, was pretty amazing, because we'd gone from being on the deadly end of the deal to negotiating for favours, and I didn't think Dr Anderson had even realised she was being played as thoroughly and masterfully as she'd once played Claire. It was impressive. And a little scary. That funky weapon wasn't pointed at me any more, even vaguely; it was aimed down at the ground. That didn't mean it couldn't come right back up again, if I did something stupid, but by focusing my anger on Claire, I'd won some breathing space from the real target. I'd put Claire and Anderson on the same side, and now they were just working out details.
I just hoped Claire wasn't buying into what I was selling. I couldn't really tell now. She still looked pallid, shocked, and fragile and I wanted to take her in my arms so bad it hurt ... but that wasn't what would help either of us right now.
'You'll have to sell it to Eve, not me,' I said. 'But you back off Michael and I might be able to live with the rest of it. Maybe.'
'There's no maybe, Shane. Maybe earns you prison. So I suggest you think hard about your next answer, yes?'
I let the moment drag out, and then finally nodded. I was trying not to look at Myrnin, because he was curled in a fetal ball on the floor, whispering to himself, and if I'd ever thought he'd looked crazy before, well, I'd been wrong. He looked wrecked now, and I wasn't sure any of those pieces were going back together again. Myrnin had been breakable, and now he looked shattered.
Claire had a dull, hard look in her eyes, one I recognised; she was trying to keep everything inside, to just get through to the next moment without feeling the pain. I knew that look because I'd just about invented it.
'So what do you want me to say?' I asked, and looked at her directly. 'Claire, tell me what you want me to say. You know I'll do anything for you. I always have.'
She pulled in a sharp, shaking breath, and said, 'Just say you'll back me up when I have to talk to Amelie. Tell her you never saw any of them, or any of ... this. Tell her that as far as you know, everything's normal here.'
'What about Jesse? Amelie sent her to watch your boss, here. She's going to be suspicious when Jesse goes missing too.'
'Jesse will be handled,' Anderson said. 'She has pressure points, and I know how to apply them. She'll do what I tell her when it counts, and she's got little love for Amelie anyway.'
I knew all of a sudden exactly what that pressure point was ... Myrnin. Jesse had a special little sparkle when she talked to him; she was fine with Oliver, but extra fine with Count Crackula. Dr Anderson would keep Jesse in line by threatening more damage to Myrnin. And it was all okay, because hell, they were just vamps, right? Didn't matter if they got hurt. Lab rats.
I could feel the ghost of my dad nodding in agreement with that, and it made me feel sick, deep down. 'Thought you and Jesse had some kind of friendship going,' I said.
'We did, once,' Dr Anderson said. 'And you of all people should understand that you can't rely on a vampire for sentimentality. They just don't have the wiring in their heads to really feel the way we do. It's counterfeit, a mask they wear to draw their prey in and keep them close. They're predators, pure and simple. They're just extremely good at it.'
There were sounds in the hallway, and I heard some kind of vehicles pulling up in the parking lot. The fun was over now; Claire had made her play, I'd supported it, and now ... now we'd see if Dr Anderson really believed us.
Patrick Douche Bag Davis appeared in the doorway. 'We've got secured vehicles outside,' he said. 'We can manacle the vampires with silver, they won't go anywhere. What about these two? Are they prisoners?'
I felt the weight of Anderson's stare on me. I was hanging over the fire pit, for sure; she wasn't kidding about getting Liz to blab that I was the one who'd kidnapped her, and that put me in federal prison, doing long time. I was used to Morganville's jail cells, but this was something else.
'I need a show of good faith,' Dr Anderson said. 'So, you're going to show us where you left your friends Michael and Eve. We need to retrieve Pete and Liz, as well. For their own safety.'
That phrase made me grind my teeth, but I tried not to let it show. 'Sure,' I said. 'I'll take you there.'
'Of course you will,' she said. 'Because if you don't, I'll find them anyway, and I promise you, the outcome won't be quite so nice. I want Claire's cooperation and support, and she's clearly willing to offer it. But I don't need yours, Shane. You can go missing just as easily as the vampires, and there are a surprising number of John Does who die in Boston every year. You could be one of them, donating your body to the medical school. Are we clear?'
So clear I could practically see the shine on it. I nodded without bothering to say anything, and when Patrick Davis gestured to me, I followed. Before I got in the blacked-out van, though, I turned around. Dr Anderson was behind me, with Claire next to her.
'Just one thing,' I said to Anderson. 'I owe Dr Davis something.'
She probably knew what was coming, because she didn't make a move, and I didn't wait for permission. Sometimes, it's just better to ask for an apology.
I punched him in the face, and damn, it felt seriously good, all the way down my arm and into my guts. Just a little violence, to let off the steam from the boiling pot.
'That's from Liz,' I said. 'Asshole.'
Dr Anderson laughed. Davis went down hard, cradling his probably broken nose, and someone made a joke about nosebleeds and vampires, and I didn't listen because I swung into the passenger seat, buckled in, and rested my head against the glass. For a second or two, the red haze refused to clear. That's the danger of letting the beast off the chain for a bit; sometimes, he just doesn't want to come back. But by the time the driver was strapped in and the door had slammed shut, I was my old, cheery self again, and I gave him a smart-assed thumbs up.
'You're damn lucky one of us didn't put a bullet in you,' he told me.
'I live a charmed life,' I agreed. 'Head out of the lot and turn left. I'll give you directions.'
Claire and Dr Anderson hadn't gotten in the van with us. I turned my head and watched the two of them standing there with another set of guys in suits, and I hoped like hell that I was doing the right thing, because if I wasn't, if somehow I had gotten all this wrong ...
Then we were all going to suffer for it.
The warehouse looked as deserted as ever. I made the driver park a block down, just in case Michael had recovered enough to give some kind of warning; I ended up at the head of a column of four guys, including the driver. He was a bland, blank sort of guy, but then you put a dark suit on most men and they start blending together. He was African-American, but that didn't make him any different from the others, except the usual height and weight and jacket size variations.
'So what's your deal?' I asked him, as we moved down the alley toward the warehouse. 'You work for some kind of company?'
'Yeah, kid, I'm a vice president at Van Helsing Incorporated.'
'Ha, very funny, yeah, I've read Dracula, surprise.' Jackass. 'What I mean is, are you some kind of true believer or just hired on?'
'You asking if I've lost people to the vampires? Because yeah. We all have. So, shut your mouth and do your job. Let us do ours.'
That answered my question pretty well, actually. True believers. Not great news, considering that I had a lot of experience with those kinds of people. Much better to be dealing with hired guys who didn't have an emotional stake in what was happening.
'I'm Shane,' I said. Step one, try to form a bond. Any hostage negotiator will tell you that's important to stay alive.
'Don't care what your mommy and daddy called you,' he said. 'Now shut up and show us where you left them.'
So much for bonding. I followed instructions, and reached the warehouse's bent siding where we'd crawled in. I pointed to it and indicated he ought to let me go in first. He nodded. I didn't take that as any kind of promise he'd wait, though. He might give me a minute, or he might just come in yelling, guns at the ready.