Midnight Alley

She saw a flash in her peripheral vision, and by the time she looked up, Amelie was taking the bracelet out of her palm, and cold strong fingers were holding her arm.

"It's made for you," Amelie said. "Hold still. Unlike the bracelets most of the other children wear, yours ca

"But — no, I don't want — "

Too late. Amelie moved, and the bracelet seemed to pass through Claire's skin and bone, and settle heavy around her wrist. Claire tried to yank free, but there was no way, not as strong as Amelie was. Amelie smiled and held her still for another second, just to make the point, before she let go. Claire turned the bracelet frantically, pressing, looking for the trick.

It looked seamless, and it wasn't coming off.

"It must be done this way, the old way," Amelie said. "This bracelet will save your life, Claire. Mark me. It is a favor I have given rarely in my life. You should be grateful."

Grateful? Claire felt like a dog on a leash, and she hated it. She glared at Amelie, and the vampire's smile intensified. She couldn't really say it brightened — there was something in it that undermined the whole concept of comfort.

"Perhaps you'll be grateful at a later date," Amelie said, and raised her eyebrows. "Very well. I'll leave you now. No doubt you have studies."

"How am I supposed to hide this from my friends?" Claire blurted, as the vampire walked toward the door.

"You aren't," Amelie said, and opened the door without unlocking it. "Don't forget. You should be well-prepared for Myrnin tomorrow." She stepped out into the hall and closed it behind her. Claire lunged forward and turned the knob, but it refused to open. By the time she twisted the thumb-lock and swung it back, Amelie was gone. The hall was empty. Claire stood there, listening to the clatter of dishes from downstairs, the distant laughter, and wanted to cry.

She scrubbed at her eyes, took a deep breath, and went to her desk to try to study.

###

It was a busy day of classes, quizzes, and discussion groups, and Claire was grateful for the afternoon break when it finally arrived. She felt stupid, dressed in her long-sleeved tee, but it was the only thing she had that could hide the bracelet, and she desperately wanted to hide it. So far, so good. Eve hadn't noticed, Shane hadn't been awake they'd left for school. No sign of Michael, either. She'd gotten desperate last night and tried a couple of ways to break it — scissors, then a pair of rusty old bolt-cutters from the basement — but she broke the blade on the scissors, and the bolt-cutters were clumsy and slid right off the metal. She couldn't do it alone, and she couldn't ask for help.

Can't hide it forever.

Well, she could try.

Claire headed for the U.C. and the coffee bar, and she found Eve harassed, pink-cheeked under the rice powder makeup, all alone behind the counter. "Where's Amy?" Claire asked, and handed over three dollars for a mocha. "I thought she was working all week?"

"Yeah, no kidding, me too. I called my boss, but he's sick and so's Kim, so it's just me today. Not enough coffee in the world to make this easy." Eve blew hair from her sweaty forehead and zipped over to the espresso machine, where she pulled shots. "Ever have one of those dreams where you're ru

"No," Claire said. "Usually mine are about being naked in class."

Eve gri

Claire claimed a study desk and spread out her books, got her mocha when Eve called her name, and yawned as she cracked open Last Will and Testament again. She'd spent most of the night memorizing the symbols, but they were tricky. She'd gotten all of the Egyptian ones down, but these were a whole lot less straightforward, and she had the sense that Myrnin wouldn't be too forgiving of mistakes.

A shadow fell over her book. She looked up and saw Detective Travis Lowe, and his partner, Joe Hess, standing close behind him. She knew both of them pretty well; they'd helped her during that crazy time when Shane's dad had been skulking around Morganville, trying to kill vampires (and succeeding). They didn't wear bracelets, and they weren't Protected; as she understood it, they'd earned some kind of special status. She wasn't sure how they'd managed that, but it had to be something really brave.

"Morning, Claire," Hess said, and pulled up a chair. Lowe did the same. They weren't all that similar in body types — Hess was tall and kind of wiry, with a long face; Lowe was chubby and balding. But the expressions in their eyes were identical — careful, hidden, wary. "How have you been?"

"Fine," she said, and resisted the nearly overwhelming urge to touch her bracelet, fiddle with it. She looked from one to the other, feeling less secure all the time. "What's going on? Is something wrong?"

"Yeah," Lowe said. "You could say that. Look, Claire, there's — I'm sorry to tell you this, but there was a dead girl out back of your house. She was found this morning by the trash collectors."

A dead girl? Claire swallowed hard. "Who is she?"

"Amy Callum," Hess said. "She's a local girl. Family lives just a few blocks from you. Her people are pretty broken up about it." He shifted his gaze toward the coffee bar. "She worked here."

Amy? Coffee Bar Amy? Oh no ... "I knew her," Claire said faintly. "She worked with Eve. She was supposed to be here today. Eve was saying — " Eve. Claire looked over and saw that Eve was still chattering away brightly, filling orders, taking cash. They hadn't told her yet. "You're sure it was our house?"

"Claire — " The two detectives exchanged a look, not a good one. "Her body was stuffed inside of your trash can. We're sure."

Claire felt faint. That close ... she'd put out trash just two days ago, right? Dumped garbage bags into the can. Amy had been alive then. And now ...

"Did you see anything last night?" Hess continued.

"No, I was — it was dark when I got home. And then I studied all night."

"Hear anything, maybe some racket out by the garbage cans?"

"No sir. I had headphones on. I'm sorry."

Shane had been looking out the window, she remembered. Maybe he'd seen someone. But he'd have said, right? He wouldn't hide something like that.

An awful thought struck her, and she looked up into Joe Hess's calm, impartial eyes. "Was it — " Too many people around. She mimed fangs in the neck. He shook his head.

"It's the same as the last one we found," Lowe said. "Can't rule out our toothy friends, but it doesn't fit their style. You know whose style it fits, though?"

"Jason's," Claire said numbly. "Eve's brother. He's still out?"

"Haven't caught him doing anything illegal yet. But we will. He's too crazy to live sane." Lowe studied her. "Haven't seen him, have you?"

"No."

"Good." Like there'd been some signal between them, Hess and Lowe got up from their chairs. "We'd better go tell Eve. Look, you think of anything, you call, all right? And don't go out alone. Protection doesn't cover this." Lowe cast a significant look at her wrist, and she felt herself blush, like he'd guessed what color panties she had on. "You need to go out, you go with one of your friends, all right? Same goes for Eve. We'll try to keep an eye on you, but caution is your best defense."