Lord of Misrule

As it fluttered to the floor, she saw that the page was blank. Nothing on it at all. The dense writing that had been on it stayed on her arm—no, under the skin, as if she’d been tattooed with it.

And the symbols were moving. It made her ill to watch. She had no idea what it meant, but she could feel something happening inside, something . . .

Her fear faded away. So did her anger.

“Swear loyalty to me,” Bishop said. “In the old tongue.”

Claire got on her knees and swore, in a language she didn’t even know, and not for one moment did she doubt it was the right thing to do. In fact, it made her happy. Glowingly happy. Some part of her was screaming, He’s making you do this! but the other parts really didn’t care.

“What shall I do with your friends?” he asked her.

“I don’t care.” She didn’t even care that Eve was crying.

“You will, someday. I’ll grant you this much: your friend Eve may go. I have absolutely no use for her. I will show I am merciful.”

Claire shrugged. “I don’t care.”

She did, she knew she did, but she couldn’t make herself feel it.

“Go,” Bishop said, and smiled chillingly at Eve. “Run away. Find Amelie and tell her this: I have taken her town away, and all that she values. Tell her I have the book. If she wants it back, she’ll have to come for it herself.”

Eve angrily wiped tears from her face, glaring at him. “She’ll come. And I’ll come with her. You don’t own jack. This is our town, and we’re going to kick you out if it’s the last thing we do.”

The assembled vampires all laughed. Bishop said, “Then come. We’ll be waiting. Won’t we, Claire?”

“Yes,” she said, and went to sit down on the steps by his feet. “We’ll be waiting.”

He snapped his fingers. “Then let’s begin our celebration, and in the morning, we’ll talk about how Morganville will be run from now on. According to my wishes.”

AUTHOR’S NOTE

I had an especially great track list to help me through this book, and I thought you might enjoy listening along. Don’t forget: musicians need love and money, too, so buy the CDs or pay for tracks.

'On and On' Nikka Costa

'Everybody Got Their Something' Nikka Costa

'Above the Clouds' Delirium & Shelly Harland

'2 Wicky' Hooverphonic

'Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby' Rae & Christian Remix, Dinah Washington

'Enjoy the Ride' Morcheeba

'Hate to Say I Told You So' The Hives

'See You Again' Miley Cyrus

'Feber' Sarah Vaughn, Verve Remix

'Peter Gunn' Max Sedgley Remix, Sarah Vaughn

'Blade' Spacekid & Maxim Yul Remix, Warp Brothers

'Aly, Walk with Me' The Raveonettes

'Hunting for Witches' Bloc Party

'Cuts You Up' Peter Murphy

'Hurt' Christina Aguilera

'Run' Gnarls Barkley

'Electrofog' Le Charme

'Where I Stood' Missy Higgins

'Children (Dream Version)' Robert Miles

'Grace' Miss Kittin

'Walkie Talkie Man' Steriogram

'Living Dead Girl' Rob Zombie

'Saw Something' Dave Gahan

'Boy with a Coin' Iron & Wine

'Fever' Stereo MC's

'Kaybettik' Cadran Ercetin

'Playing with Uranium' Duran Duran

'Staring at the Sun' TV on the Radio

'The Moment I Said It' Imogen Heap

'This IS the Sound' The Last Goodnight

'Juicy' Better Than Ezra

'One Week of Danger' The Virgins

'Wolf Like Me' TV on the Radio

'Poison Kiss' The Last Goodnight

'Beat It' Fall Out Boy

'Old Enough' The Raconteurs

'I Will Possess Your Heart' Death Cab for Cutie

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

In addition to the Morganville Vampires series, Rachel Caine is the author of the popular Weather Warden series, which includes Ill Wind, Heat Stroke, Chill Factor, Windfall, Firestorm, Thin Air, and Gale Force. Rachel and her husband, fantasy artist R. Cat Conrad, live in Texas with their iguanas, Popeye and Darwin; a mali uromastyx named (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.