the strongest possible terms that he couldn’t trust him. Not really.
The vampires in the coffee shop had mostly retreated out of the big, front area, into the better-protected, light-proofed interior. Outside of the plate glass windows, there was little to be seen. The fires had gone out, or been extinguished. They’d seen some cars speeding about, mostly official police or fire, but the few figures they’d spotted had been quick and kept to the shadows.
“What are they doing?” Claire asked as she hitched her backpack to a more comfortable position on her shoulder. She didn’t really expect Oliver to reply; he wasn’t much on the sharing.
He surprised her. “They’re consolidating positions,” he said. “This is not a war that will be fought in daylight, Claire. Or in the open. We have our positions; they have theirs. They may send patrols of humans they’ve recruited, but they won’t come themselves. Not after dawn.”
“Recruited,” Hannah repeated. “Don’t you mean strong-armed? Most folks just want to be left alone.”
“Not necessarily. Morganville is full of humans who don’t love us, or the system under which they labor,” Oliver replied. “Some will believe Bishop is the answer. Some will act out of fear, to protect their loved ones. He will know how to appeal to them, and how to pressure. He’ll find his human cannon fodder.”
“Like you’ve found yours,” Hannah said.
They locked stares for a few seconds, and then Oliver inclined his head just a bit. “If you like.”
“I don’t,” she said, “but I’m used to the front lines. You got to know, others won’t be.”
Claire couldn’t tell anything from Oliver’s expression. “Perhaps not,” he said. “But for now, we can count on our enemies regrouping. We should do the same.”
Hannah nodded. “I’m out first, then you, Eve. Have your keys in your hand. Don’t hesitate, run like hell for the car, and get it unlocked. I’ll get Claire to the passenger side.”
Eve nodded, clearly jittery. She took the car keys out of her pocket and held them in her hand, sorting through until she had the right key pointing out.
“One more thing,” Hannah said. “You got a flashlight?”
Eve fumbled in her other pocket and came up with a tiny little penlight. When she twisted it, it gave a surprisingly bright glow.
“Good.” Hannah nodded. “Before you get in the car, you shine that in the front and backseats. Make sure you can see all the way down to the carpet. I’ll cover you from the door.”
The three of them moved to the exit, and Hannah put her left hand on the knob.
“Be careful,” Oliver said from the back of the room, which was kind of warmly surprising. He spoiled it by continuing, “We need those radios delivered.”
Should have known it wasn’t personal. Claire resisted the urge to flip him off.
Eve didn’t bother to resist hers.
Then Hannah was swinging open the door and stepping outside. She didn’t do it like in the movies; no drama, she just stepped right out, turned in a slow half circle as she scanned the street with the paintball gun held at rest. She finally motioned for Eve. Eve darted out and headed around the hood of the big, black car. Claire saw the glow of her penlight as she checked the inside, and then Eve was in the driver’s seat and the car growled to a start, and Hannah pushed her toward the passenger door.
Behind them, the Common Grounds door slammed shut and locked. When she looked back, Claire saw that they were pulling down some kind of steel shutters inside the glass.
Locking up for dawn.
Claire and Hannah made it to the car without any problems. Even so, Claire was breathing hard, her heart racing.
“You okay?” Eve asked her. Claire nodded, still gasping. “Yeah, I know. Terror Aerobics. Just wait until they get it at the gym. It’ll be bigger than Pilates.”
Claire choked on her fear, laughed, and felt better.
“That’s my girl. Locks,” Eve said. “Also, seat belts, please. We may be making some sudden stops along the way. Don’t want anybody saying hello to Mr. Windshield at speed.”
The drive through predawn Morganville was eerie. It was very . . . quiet. They’d mapped out a route, planning to avoid the most dangerous areas, but they almost had to divert immediately, because of a couple of cars parked in the middle of the street.
The doors were hanging open, interior lights were still shining.
Eve slowed down and crawled past on the right side, two wheels up on the curb. “See anything?” she asked anxiously. “Any bodies or anything?”
The cars were completely empty. They were still running, and the keys were in the ignition. One strange thing nagged at Claire, but she couldn’t think what it was. . . .
“Those are vampire cars,” Hannah said. “Why would they leave them here like that?” Oh. That was the odd thing. The tinting on the windows.
“They needed to pee?” Eve asked. “When you’ve gotta go . . .”
Hannah said nothing. She was watching out the windows with even more focus than before.
“Yeah, that is weird,” Eve said more quietly. “Maybe they went to help somebody.” Or hunt somebody. Claire shivered.
They made their first radio delivery to one of the Founder Houses; Claire didn’t know the people who answered the door, but Eve did, of course. She quickly explained about the radio and the code, and they were back in the car and rolling in about two minutes flat. “Outstanding,” Hannah said. “You girls could give some of my buddies in the marines a run for their money.”
“Hey, you know how it is, Hannah: living in Morganville really is combat training.” Eve and Hannah awkwardly slapped palms—awkwardly, because Eve kept facing front, and Hannah didn’t turn away from her post at the car’s back window. She had the window rolled down halfway, and the paintball gun at the ready, but so far she hadn’t fired a single shot.
“More cars,” Claire said softly. “You see?”
It wasn’t just a couple of cars, it was a bunch of them, scattered on both sides of the street now, engines running, lights on, doors open.
Empty.
They cruised past slowly, and Claire took note of the heavy tinting on the windows. They were all the same type of car, the same type Michael had been issued on his official conversion to vampire.
“What the hell is going on?” Eve asked. She sounded tense and anxious, and Claire couldn’t blame her. She felt pretty tense herself. “This close to dawn, they wouldn’t be doing this. They shouldn’t even be outside. He said both sides would regroup, but this looks like some kind of full-on panic.”
Claire had to agree, but she also had no explanation. She dug one of the radios out of her backpack, typed in the code that Oliver had given her, and pressed the TALK button. “Oliver? Come in.”
After a short delay, his voice came back. “Go.”
“Something strange is happening. We’re seeing lots of vampire cars, but they’re all abandoned. Empty. Still running.” Static on the other end. “Oliver?”
“Keep me informed,” he finally said. “Count the number of cars. Make a list of license numbers, if you can.”
“Er—anything else? Should we come back?”
“No. Deliver the radios.”
That was it. Claire tried again, but he’d shut off or he was ignoring her. She pressed the RESET button to scramble the code, and looked at Eve, who shrugged. They pulled to a halt in front of the second Founder House. “Let’s just get it done,” Eve said. “Let the vamps worry about the vamps.”
It seemed reasonable, but Claire was afraid that somehow . . . it wasn’t.
Three of the Founder Houses were piles of smoking wood and ash, and the Morganville Fire Department was still pouring water on one of them. Eve cruised by, but didn’t stop. The horizon was getting lighter and lighter, and they still had a couple of stops to make.
“You okay back there?” Eve asked Hannah, as they turned another corner, heading into an area Claire actually recognized.
