Fade Out

“I need to be sure,” he said. “Because I don’t want you to think Kim is competition. She’s not. Until today, I hadn’t thought about her twice.”

But, by implication, he was thinking about her now—comparing her to Claire. And Claire couldn’t be totally sure she was wi

“A supersmart apprentice to a bipolar vampire, not to mention just about the only person in town Amelie listens to these days? Yeah. You’re dead boring.” Shane’s warm hands cupped her face and tilted her chin up so he could meet her eyes in the dim light. “There. That’s better.”

“Why?” The word trembled on her lips, a restrained wail of bitterness. “So you can see how ugly I look, compared to Kim?”

“You got some layers of skin burned off,” he said. “Big freaking deal. In a week you’ll have a killer tan, and everybody will be wondering where you got the spray-on stuff. It doesn’t matter. Not even a little. Get me?”

She didn’t want to cry, and for a wonder, she didn’t. She gulped in one hitching breath, held it, and let it slowly out, and that was it.

Then she smiled. “I get you.”

“All right then. Because I love you. Remember?”

Warmth zipped through her nerves and took up a hot glowing spot somewhere just below the pit of her stomach. “I remember,” she said. “I love you, too.”

He kissed the tip of her nose. “Jealous. I kind of like it.”

Hand in hand, they headed for the concert hall.

Mr. Pe

There was something really, unpleasantly wrong about Pe

It was the complete, soulless absence of feeling in his expression and eyes. Even when he smiled, nothing happened in the top half of his face. It was just muscles, not emotion.

“Move,” Shane said, and Claire felt his hold on her hand unconsciously tighten. “Dude, you are not crazy enough to go after us in the middle of neutral ground, in front of witnesses. Right?”

“That would entirely depend on what I pla

“To our seats? Thanks. Don’t need an usher.” Pe

“Oliver would like a word,” Pe

“Now?”

“He is not taking appointments. Yes. Now.”

There didn’t seem to be many options available, but Claire could see that Shane was tempted to tell Pe

It didn’t come to that, and for the worst possible reason.

“Shane? Shane Collins? Are you kidding me?” A girl’s voice came from over Pe

It took a second to put the dyed-black-and-pink hair and voice together, but Claire knew even before her brain supplied the name.

Kim.

Oh, perfect.

And Kim was kissing Shane.

It wasn’t like he was kissing her back . . . more like he was trying to push her off his lips. But still. Her lips. Touching Shane’s.

Even Pe

“Hey!” Claire protested, not sure what she ought to do, but she wanted very badly to grab a handful of that black hair and yank, hard. She didn’t need to. Shane picked Kim up, bodily, and set her at arm’s length—and held her there.

“Kim,” he said. “Uh—hi.”

“How’s it going, Collins? Wow, it’s been a while, huh? Sorry about the family stuff, that sucks, man. Oh, did you hear I’ve got a loft now? I’m selling on the Internet. Very cool.” Kim’s wide eyes were fixed on Shane’s face, and there was a sickeningly delighted expression on her face. “I just can’t believe it’s you, Shane. Wow. So great to see you.”

“Yeah,” he said, and looked at Claire, just a quick (and panicked) glance. “This is Claire. My girlfriend.” He stressed the word. It didn’t seem to register, or if it did, Kim shrugged it off. She barely glanced at Claire at all.

“Cool,” she said. “Hey, you’re the one from the coffee shop. Eve’s friend. Small world, right?”

“Claustrophobic,” Claire said. “What are you doing here?” She knew she sounded angry; she just couldn’t help it. Pe

“I came to hear Michael Glass,” Kim said. “I mean, Eve told me all about it. Michael’s always been the coolest guy in town—present company excepted.” She winked at Shane.

Winked.

Claire wanted to vomit. “I just wanted to show my support.”

“I’m not interested in you,” Pe

Kim blinked and turned to look at the vampire for the first time. Then she reacted as if she hadn’t even known he was there.

Seriously? She got a part in the play?

Because that was the worst reaction Claire had ever seen, outside of really old silent movies. “Oh my God! What the hell are you? I mean, yes, obviously—” She held up two fingers in what Claire thought was a peace sign before realizing it was probably a V—for vampire. “But damn, you’re freaky.”

Pe

Then he said, “You are the historian.”

Kim smiled. “Bingo, dude. I’m the historian. And you’re kinda new, am I right? I have got to get you on camera. Make an appointment, okay? Here. Here’s my number.” She dug in the small black bag strapped to her wrist, came out with some kind of business card, and handed it to him. Pe

While she was talking, Shane took Claire’s elbow and quietly hustled her around Pe

Hopefully.

“Did she do that on purpose?” Claire asked.

“Don’t know,” Shane said. “But I wasn’t about to waste the chance. Call Oliver. Find out if he was really wanting to see us.”

Claire nodded. The crowd in the hall was still buzzing around, and the noise level was high. Nobody would notice her on the phone; there had to be a hundred or more of them glowing like jewels in the tiers of seats as people caught up with their friends, gossiped, made dates.

Claire speed dialed a vampire and got voice mail. Oliver didn’t bother to identify himself, but just told the caller to leave a message, which she did, and then she put her phone on vibrate.

Shane kept looking at the closed doors they’d come through. Claire suppressed the urge to grit her teeth. “You’re worried about her?” she asked, and tried to keep her voice neutral.

“We left her alone with Pe

Well, Kim hadn’t followed them. Claire tried to be more worried, but the best she could really summon up was a dim sense of a