Claire and Eve stared at him in silence for a moment, and then Eve said, very seriously, "Look. We know Frank Collins - know, hate, whatever. And you need to give up on that evil old loser. You seem like kind of a sweet kid. Pack it in and go away. Get out while you still can."
"It wasn't supposed to be like this," Dean said. "It was supposed to be easy. I mean, the good guys were supposed to win, you know? The vampires were supposed to die."
"And then what, you guys take over and run the town?" Claire sighed. "Not likely. And I've met Mr. Collins. Not a good idea to give him the keys to the city, either."
Dean looked at her like he thought she was crazy, and that it really was a pity. "At least he's not a vampire."
"They're not all bad," Claire said.
For a split second, she thought she saw an altogether different Dean watching her - same guy, same emo haircut, but his eyes were weird. Not vampire weird. Odd weird.
Then he blinked, and it was gone, and she thought it was just her imagination. If you couldn't be paranoid in Morganville, though, where could you?
"Well, that's new to me," Dean said. He smiled, and it was a real smile. A warm one, not at all nervous. "I just always thought the whole bloodsucking thing made being bad a lock."
"What you know about vampires could fit into a mosquito's ass," Eve said, irritated. "All you know is what you grew up seeing on TV. You ever actually meet one?"
Dean didn't answer that, but the tips of his ears grew red and his smile disappeared as he faced Eve directly. "Yeah, well, I'm not some collaborator who's willing to apologize for what these monsters do. Maybe that's the point. Anyway - it wasn't really my choice. I just came because Frank asked, and I didn't have anyplace else to go. My brother was running with Frank, and he was all I had."
Eve's eyes remained watchful. "So where's Big Scary Bro now?"
"Dead," Dean said softly. "He got killed in the fighting. I'm all alone."
Claire stared down at the table, suddenly not interested at all in her mocha, no matter how delicious. The truth was that some of those guys - the foot soldiers, the ones who'd come along to Morganville with Frank Collins as his shock troops - well, some of those guys hadn't fared well, either in the fight or in jail. She didn't know who they were, not by name. Up until this moment, they'd just been labeled in her head as Frank Collins's minions. But they all had names, friends, lives. They all had families. Claire wouldn't know Dean's brother from any of his fellow muscle-bound biker dudes, but that didn't mean Dean didn't mourn him.
That led Claire to a terrifyingly real waking nightmare - Bishop summoning her, telling her that he'd decided to let Shane go. Shane lying there, not moving . . .
"Hey, Claire?" Eve snapped her fingers under Claire's nose, and Claire jerked so hard she slopped coffee onto the table. "Damn, girl. You space so hard, you ought to look into a career at NASA. So. We agree that Mr. Dean here is a terrible excuse for a vampire hunter, is in a whole lot of trouble if he doesn't keep his head down, and he should head for the hills if he knows what's good for him?"
"Sure," Claire said, but Dean was already looking oddly stubborn.
"I'm not going anywhere," he said. "My brother would have wanted me to finish what I started. I told Frank Collins I'd look out for Shane. I'm staying until I know they're okay."
"That's sweet, but how exactly are you going to look out for him, seeing that he's in jail?" Eve said. "Unless you want to look after his girl instead." She winked at Claire.
The tips of Dean's ears turned even redder. "That's not what I meant."
Except that Claire had the funny feeling that he did.
She avoided Eve's gaze for another few seconds, then pulled out her cell phone and checked the time. She had nowhere to be, but this was turning weirdly uncomfortable all around.
"Gotta go," she said, and grabbed up her backpack. She'd had about all the Dean time she wanted.
Eve blinked. "You barely touched the mocha!"
"Sorry. You have it."
"I work in a coffee bar. No. Here, Dean. Knock yourself out."
The last she saw before she ducked off into the crowds, heading for nowhere in particular, was Eve handing Dean her abandoned drink, and chatting like old friends.
Claire really didn't have a lot of ideas about what to do for the rest of the day, but one thing she did not intend to do was go against Michael's instructions. No way was she going anywhere near Vampire Central today. Going home didn't have much appeal, either, but it seemed the safest thing to do. As she walked, she dialed Richard Morrell's cell phone number. It went to voice mail. She tried the new chief of police next.
"Hannah Moses, go," said the brisk, calm voice on the other end.
"Hey, Hannah, it's Claire. You know, Claire Danvers?"
Hannah laughed. She was one of the few people Claire had ever met in Morganville who wasn't afraid to really laugh like she meant it. "I know who you are, Claire. How are you?"
"Fine." That was stretching the truth, Claire supposed, but not according to the standards of Morganville, maybe. "How does it feel to be in charge?"
"I'd like to say good, but you know." Claire could almost hear the shrug in the older woman's voice. "Sometimes being a know-nothing spear carrier's comforting. Don't have to know about how the war's going, just the battle in front of you." Hannah was, in real-world terms, a soldier - she'd just come back from Afghanistan a few months ago, and she was as badass a fighter as Claire could even imagine, outside of ninja TV stars. She might not do the fancy high kicks and midair spins, but she could get the job done in a real fight.
Even against vampires.
Hannah finally said, "I'm guessing you didn't call just because you missed me."
"Oh. No . . . I just . . . Did you know Richard Morrell is missing?"
"All over it," Hannah said, without a change at all in her tone. "Nothing to be concerned about. Let me guess, Monica put you onto it. I already told her it's handled."
"I don't think she believes you."
On the other end of the phone, Hannah was probably grinning. "No shit? Well, she's bad; she's not stupid. But her brother's safe enough. Don't worry. Richard can take care of himself, always has."
"Is something going on? Something I should know about?" Hannah said nothing, and Claire felt a hot prickle of shame. "Right. I forgot. I'm wearing the wrong team jersey, right?"
"Not your fault," Hannah said. "You were drafted; you didn't join up. But I can't talk strategy with you, Claire. You know that."
"I know." Claire sighed. "I wish . . . you know."
"I really do. You go home, and stay there. Understand?"
"On my way," Claire promised, and hung up.
On the other side of the street, college-adjacent businesses were starting to close up shop, even though it was still early. Nobody liked to be caught outside as night approached; it was unsafe during the day, but it was a hell of a lot worse at twilight, and after.
Claire slowed as she passed Common Grounds. The security shutters were still down, the door was closed, but there was something . . . something . . .
She crossed the street, not really sure why she did, and stood there for a few seconds, staring like an idiot at the locked door.
Then she heard the distinct, metallic sound of a dead bolt snapping back, and in slow motion, the door sagged open just a bare inch. Nothing showed but darkness.
I am not going to say, "Hello, is anyone there," like some stupid, too-dumb-to-live chick in a movie, Claire thought. Also, I am not going in there.
I'm really not.
The door opened another inch. More darkness. "You've got to be kidding," Claire said. "How stupid do you really think I am?"
This time, the gap opened to about a foot. Standing well back from any hint of sunlight was someone she knew: Theo Goldman, vampire and doctor.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I couldn't come to you. Will you do me the honor . . . ?"
There were a lot of vampires in Morganville who scared Claire, but Theo wasn't one of them. In fact, she liked him. She didn't blame him for trying to save his family, which included both humans and vampires. He'd done what he had to do, and she knew it hadn't been for any bad motives.
Claire stepped inside. Theo shut the door and locked it securely after her. "This way," he said. "We keep all the lights off in the front, of course. Here, allow me, my dear. I know you won't be able to see your way."