He didn't give them a chance to argue. They walked down the path to the exit from the university grounds. Outside, the street lights were few and far between, and Claire could just feel eyes on her in the shadows. Whether that was real or not, she didn't know, but it made her shake all over with fear. Come on, Claire, get it together. There are three of us, and Shane can kick enough ass for all of us.
They crossed the street and headed over a couple of blocks, then down. It was the straightest shot to the house, and the best lit, but it also was going to take them right by Common Grounds. Somehow, Claire felt even more uncomfortable at the idea that Oliver was going to see them trailing by, in all their not-too-smart glory. They'd had a rough enough night without that.
Although, it was a cheering thought that Monica almost certainly was having a worse one, trying to explain to the cops about why there were more drugs in her house than the Rite-Aid Pharmacy, not to mention the underage drunken orgies and the dead girl in the bedroom.
By contrast, walking home at dark in Vampire U.S.A. seemed a little bit mild.
At least until Eve whispered, 'Somebody's following.'
Claire almost faltered, but kept walking when Shane's hand tightened around hers. 'Who?' he asked. Eve didn't turn her head.
'Don't know, I just caught a glimpse. Somebody in dark clothes.'
Since only Amelie seemed to like colors in the pale winter hues, Claire figured that didn't narrow it down much. She walked faster, tripped over a crack in the sidewalk and nearly went down, if it hadn't been for Shane's steadying grip. But it slowed them all down, and they couldn't afford for it to happen again.
'Crap,' Shane breathed. They were still at least a block from the next burning streetlight, and now Claire could hear slow, steady footsteps behind them. Up ahead, a single open storefront spilled warm yellow light out onto the street. Common Grounds. Neutral territory, at least theoretically. 'Right. We're not going to make it all the way home. We go into Common Grounds, and — '
'No way, I'm not going in there!' Eve blurted. 'I can't!'
'Yes you can, you have to. Neutral ground. Nobody will hurt you there. We can make some kind of deal with Oliver if we have to, temporary protection or something. Promise me — '
Shane didn't have time for anything else, because all hell broke loose. The footsteps behind them suddenly accelerated to a run, Shane swung around and pushed the two girls behind him, and there was a flash of movement Claire couldn't really see. Something hit Shane in the head. Hard. He stumbled and went down to one knee.
Claire screamed and reached for him, but Eve grabbed her and hauled her by force toward the glow of Common Grounds.
'Get up!'
Claire twisted out of Eve's grip and whirled to see that the yell had come from the jerk from the party, the one who'd felt her up and then gotten his ass kicked by Shane. He'd followed them, and he had a baseball bat. He'd hit Shane in the head with a baseball bat and he was getting ready to do it again.
'No!' Claire cried, and lunged back toward them, but Eve grabbed her tight and swung her around toward the coffee shop again.
'Get inside!' she screamed.
'Let go — '
They stopped fighting each other as a shadow stepped out of the alley right in front of them, blocking the way.
A long silver line glinted in the starlight. A knife.
It was Eve's brother Jason, looking as greasy and starved and fevered as he had at the party.
'Hey, sis,' he said, and the knife turned, and turned, and turned. 'I knew you'd be coming this way. Soon as I heard you left the party without your bloodsucking bodyguard, I knew the time was right.'
'Jason — ' Eve let go of Claire and stepped in between the two of them. 'This isn't her problem. Let her go.'
Claire was torn — watch Jason, who was terrifying, or pay attention to what was happening behind her, because Shane was fighting now, fighting for his life, and he was already hurt. She risked a glance back and saw Shane grab the baseball bat from his attacker, hit a home run to the guy's shoulder, and send him spinning into the brick wall. The frat guy went down, screaming, but Shane was clearly not doing well either — he lurched, off balance, and went down to his hands and knees. The bat rolled away.
'Oh God,' Claire whispered. There was blood running down his face, dripping in a wet thread to the pavement. 'Shane!'
Shane shook his head, and the blood flew in a spray to splatter the concrete around him. He looked up, saw her, and blinked.
Then he saw Eve, and behind her, with the knife, Jason.
Shane fumbled for the bat, found it, and climbed to his feet. He stumbled forward, grabbed Claire and pushed her behind him, then yanked Eve away from Jason as well. He set his feet wide apart and took up a batting stance.
He looked pale and shaken and half-dead, but Claire knew he wasn't backing down.
'Leave them alone,' he said. Not a yell, not a threat, just a low, quiet voice with absolute control. 'Walk away, Jason.'
Jason lost his smile. He put the knife in his pocket and held up his hands. 'Sure. Sorry, man. Don't go all Sammy Sosa on me.' He lowered his hands again and stuffed them in his coat pockets, looking casual, but there was an avid glitter to his eyes, and a cruel twist to his thin lips. 'I heard you found a present in your basement. Something girl-shaped.'
Eve groaned, and Claire reached out to steady her when she swayed. 'Jason,' Eve whispered, and she looked awful, like she was going to throw up. 'Oh God, why?'
Shane took a step forward, bat raised and ready, and Jason backed up again. 'Doing it there, that was just fun,' he said. 'But it's not about the girls. It's so I get noticed.'
'Noticed?' Claire echoed faintly.
'Yeah, so they see I'm capable. Ready to be one of them.'
'Oh God, Jase, is that what this is about? You're just some pathetic wannabe vampire making his bones?' Eve sounded so freaked it made Claire's guts knot up. 'You're trying to impress them? By killing?'
'Sure,' Jason shrugged. He looked thin and weedy, almost lost inside that black leather jacket. 'How else do you get attention around here? And I'm going to get lots of attention. Starting with you, Claire.'
Shane yelled — it wasn't even words, just a yell of pure fury — and swung at him.
There was a sharp, loud sound, and the smell of something burning, and Claire stared stupidly at the wisp of smoke rising from Jason's coat pocket.
There was a hole in the leather.
It wasn't until the bat hit the pavement with a noisy rattle, and Shane collapsed to his knees, that she realized that there was a gun, and Jason had fired it.
And Shane had just been shot.
Shane didn't seem to understand it either. He was panting, trying to say something, but he couldn't get the words out. His eyes were wide and confused.
Jason turned and walked away, hands still in his pockets. People were coming out Common Grounds, looking puzzled and alarmed, and at the forefront was Oliver. Oliver's head turned quickly, and he focused on them.
Claire dropped to her knees next to Shane. He looked desperately into her face, and slowly collapsed to his side.
His hands were clutching his stomach, and there was so much blood ...
Eve hadn't moved. She was just — standing there, in her lovely black dress, staring blindly after her brother.
Oliver grabbed her and shook her. Her black hair flew wildly, and when he let go, Eve sank down to a defeated slump against the building's brick wall. Oliver shook his head impatiently and turned to Claire, and Shane.
Claire looked up, mute with misery, and saw Oliver staring down at them.
For just a second, she thought she saw something in him. Maybe just a tiny glimmer of empathy.
'Someone is calling the ambulance,' he said. 'You should put pressure on the wound. He's losing a lot of
