Bite Club Page 0,116

remembered Miranda facing Gina, knowing she was going to get hit, but also knowing that sometimes a little pain and blood was better than the alternative.

"I won't order you to do anything, Claire," Amelie said then. "It would be a useless exercise. You will do as you wish, and I will do as I must. Let's hope that our wishes don't conflict too badly. Shall we?"

She walked away. She didn't even ask the question.

What are you going to do?

But Claire already knew. She turned back to her friends, and Shane gravitated toward her without even consciously heading in her direction.

"Can we go home?" she asked.

"Seems like a decent plan," Shane said. "I'm on community service four nights a week. But not tonight. I guess she wanted to give me a break." He held up his right hand. "Already got one, though."

Eve groaned and kicked him. "You areso lucky I'm too tired to murder you right now. I amnot putting up with your humor."

"I am," Claire said. She smiled. It felt like something had actually been lifted right off her shoulders. She was going to go home and make a call that was going to change her life, maybe forever. But not for the worse.

"What are you smiling about?" he asked her.

"I'm not going to MIT," she said, and kissed him. He was surprised, but he kissed her back sweetly, then warmly.

"Of course you are," he told her. "As soon as Amelie lets you, you're going. You promised me you would."

She looked up at him and her euphoria faded a little. Shehad promised him that. But now the moment was here, and she didn't want it.

Her cell phone rang, shattering the moment, and Claire gritted her teeth and looked at the caller ID. Of course it was Myrnin, at exactly the wrong time.

She hit the button and said, "Hello, Myrnin." Shane took a step back and looked away. So that hadn't gone away, either, that feeling of jealousy. Of betrayal, even though she hadn't betrayed him at all. This was going to take time. Could she pick a worse time to run off to MIT? No. No, she couldn't do it--that was final.

Myrnin sounded agitated. Not a real surprise. "They've forgotten my delivery again," he said. "I'm completely out of O positive. Stop in and get my cooler, please."

"Now? I'm on my way--"

"Now, or I won't answer for my unpleasant behavior later." Myrnin hung up on her without waiting for a reply. Not that there was anything she could say other thanYes, of course I'll pick up your blood before you go eat someone .

"Side trip?" Shane asked.

"I can go on my own. You guys go home."

"Nope. I'm going with you," Shane said, and hesitated. "I ought to apologize to him, too. I mean, what I said--"

"You didn't say it to him."

"Kind of still need to tell him I'm sorry. He did save our lives."

She wasn't happy with that; Myrnin didn't like Shane dropping in, and then there was the Frank problem. But Frank would have to be crazy to manifest himself with Shane there. Right?

So Shane walked with her to the blood bank, picked up the cooler, and carried it all the way back to the alley and down the steps, into Myrnin's lab.

Same old crazy place. Myrnin was standing stiffly in one place, hands behind him, just behind one of the lab tables. He was wearing that white coat over his Hawaiian shirt, looking like the world's least reliable

scientist ever.

"Hey," Claire said. "We brought it." Myrnin didn't move and didn't speak. She frowned. "Are you feeling all right?"

He twitched slightly, blinked, and said, in a flat voice, "Hungry. Just leave it there."

"Here?" Shane asked, and when Myrnin didn't reply, shrugged and dropped it. "Okay. There's your fast-food delivery. We're going now."

"I thought you wanted to apologize," Claire whispered. Shane's jaw looked tight and set, and he sent her a quick, unreadable look.

"I did," he said. "But now I don't. It's just about maxed me out, not punching him. So let's go, okay? I don't want to feel like this. Not anymore."

"Wait," said a new voice. Female. Myrnin snapped his head around toward it, and Claire blinked as she saw Kim--Kim?--step out of the shadows and walk toward them. "I knew you'd come with her. Hi, Shane."

Shane blinked, clearly as confused as Claire felt. "Uh, hi?" He looked at Claire. "Where did she come from?"

Oh. She hadn't had a chance to explain--Kim, the escape, all that. She'd figured Kim would