“No, you go. Don’t rob Morganville of the amazing Michael Glass comeback tour.”
“Yeah, like anybody will care,” Michael said, but he smiled in that way that meant he was kind of embarrassed about it. And delighted. “I wouldn’t leave, but it looks like you’ve got a permanent bodyguard already.”
Shane was asleep, too, head down on the edge of her bed. She longed to run her fingers through his hair, but she didn’t want to wake him up.
She didn’t have to. Shane’s breathing changed, and he sat up, blinking, as if he’d gotten some invisible signal. He focused on her instantly. “Hey,” he said, and she saw him relax as relief rolled through him. “Sleepyhead.” He reached out and took her hand in his, then leaned forward and kissed her. It felt warm and drowsy and sweet, like a promise. “Welcome back.”
She felt like she’d never take her life for granted again. “Did you talk to my parents?”
“I did. Man, my ears are still burning. It’s all my fault, apparently.” Shane smiled, but she could see he really did feel that way, about his guilt. “I can’t believe I wasn’t there for you, Claire. I can’t believe I couldn’t get to you—”
She put a finger on his lips. “You’ve always been there when I needed you,” she said. “You’re here now, right?”
“You know what I mean.”
She thought about telling him about Frank, about how he’d saved her. But she wasn’t sure, really sure, that she hadn’t just imagined it.
And if Frank Collins was around, he could show up and tell his son himself.
“I know,” she said. Something Monica said back at Common Grounds haunted her, especially in this weakened state: You know it’s not going to last, right?Things changed. People changed. Even Morganville changed. “Don’t go.” She hadn’t meant to say it out loud. Needy much, Claire?
Shane took her hand and raised it to his lips in an old-fashioned kiss worthy of Myrnin at his best. “I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “Not even to take a shower. And you’re really going to regret that, by the way.”
“Dude,” Michael said. “I already regret it.”
“Shut up, man.”
Michael threw a box of tissues at him. Shane fielded it and fired it back, which wasn’t much of a challenge to Michael’s vampire reflexes.
Eve woke up, wiped drool from her chin, and yawned. “You jerks want to take the Super Bowl outside? Some of us need our beauty rest— don’t say it, Collins.”
Shane caught the tissue box. “Say what?” he asked, and tossed the box underhanded in Eve’s direction. “Fetch!”
She came out of the chair, picked up the tissue box, and whacked him over the head with it. Several times.
Claire couldn’t stop laughing. Tears burned in her eyes, and she loved them so much.
She loved them all so much.
Michael rescued Eve from a tissue paper war and towed her toward the door with his guitar case in the other hand. “I’m calling a truce,” he said, and looked back at Claire from the door. “We’ll come back after the show.”
None of them were letting her stay the night alone; she got that. She supposed later, that might annoy her, but tonight, it just felt . . . great. She loved being looked after.
Then the door shut, and it was just her and Shane.
“So,” she said. “What’s on TV tonight?”
“Hockey.”
“I’m pretty sure there’s something other than hockey.”
“Nope. Just hockey. It’s on every channel. Better complain to the cable company.” He kicked back in the chair and settled in with the remote.
“Jerk.” She sighed. “I’m the one with low blood pressure, here. Shouldn’t I get the remote?”
“I’m thoughtful. Look, I brought you a present.” He pulled a wooden stake out of his pocket and put it next to her hand, on top of the blankets.
“What’s this for?”
“Emergencies,” he said. “Morganville emergencies.”
She examined the stake. It looked like it might have been one of Eve’s, at least originally. “I hate to break it to you, but Dean wasn’t a vampire.”
“Bet it would have worked good on him, too.”
She spotted some writing on the side. “You put my name on it!” Hand-carved. That must have taken a while.
“I had time, sitting around here waiting for you to wake up. Anyway, Amelie just issued a new law. All humans are allowed to carry stakes for self-defense. See? Progress.”
“Or mutually assured destruction.”
“Well, whatever works.”
Claire held up the stake. “Some girls get jewelry. But they’re such losers.”
He reached in his pocket, came out with a small velvet box, and set it next to her pillow. She took a deep, sudden breath, and felt her whole body go a little bit woozy around the edges.
“What is it?” she asked softly.
“It’s . . . kind of for later,” he said. “I just didn’t want you to think I’m not well-rounded or anything.”
He kissed her, and she felt everything melt away. All the pain, the fear, the worry. It was all just going to be . . . okay.
Somewhere, Michael Glass was playing to a packed house at Common Grounds.
Amelie was sitting alone in her study.
Myrnin was writing down secrets in a leather-bound book.
Monica Morrell was sneering at a blushing freshman girl.
And Claire Danvers was . . . happy.
At least for tonight.
TRACK LIST
In celebration of reaching book six, I’d like to share with you a list of some songs that have kept me going through the writing process! As always, if you’ve got suggestions, I’d love to hear them (rachel@rachelcaine.com).
"Bridge to Better Days" Joe Bonamassa
"Believe" The Bravery
"Danger Is Here" Elliot Scott
"The Geeks Were Right" The Faint
"Sister Self Doubt" Get Shakes
"Caravan" (DJ Smash's Smashish Remix" Dizzy Gillespie
"Video" India.Arie
"Hole in the Middle" Emily Jane White
"Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair" (Jaffa Remix) Nina Simone
"Hell Yeah" Rev Theory
"Count to Ten" Tina Dico
"Silence" (DJ Tiesto's In Search of Sunrise Edit) Delerium and Sarah McLachlan
"Let It Die" Foo Fighters
"Gt Free" The Vines
"Violet Hill" Coldplay
"Could've Had Me" Lex Land
"Mercy" Duffy
"Feeling Good" Nina Simone
"Not Dead Yet" Ralph Covert and The Bad Examples
"Burnin' Up" Jonas Brothers
"Let It Rock" Kevin Rundolf and Lil Wayne
"Disturbia" Rihanna
"Hot N Cold" Katy Perry
"Heavy on My Mind" Back Door Slam
"Guess Who" Nekta
"Now You Know" We Are The Fury
"What You Want" Neva Dinova
"Get Back" Demi Lovato
"Sacre Couer" (Live) Tina Dico
"Ghost Town" Shiny Toy Guns
Look for me on MySpace, Facebook, LiveJournal, and Twitter!
www.rachelcaine.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
In addition to the Morganville Vampires series, Rachel Caineis the author of the popular Weather Warden series, which includes Ill Wind, Heat Stroke, Chill Factor, Windfall, Firestorm, Thin Air, and Gale Force. Her eighth Weather Warden novel, Cape Storm, will be released in August 2009. Rachel and her husband, fantasy artist R. Cat Conrad, live in Texas with their iguanas, Popeye and Darwin; a mali uromastyxnamed (appropriately) O’Malley; and a leopard tortoise named Shelley (for the poet, of course).
Please visit her Web site at www.rachelcaine.com and her MySpace, www.myspace.com/rachelcaine.