you just now, if I'd been able. But he's fast and strong, and I couldn't afford to let him bite me. He can assemble an army frighteningly fast. You have to find him, and when you do, you must execute him. Immediately."
For a second, Claire thought that he'd reached her--that she was listening to the quiet pain in his voice. But then her pale, strong hand closed around Myrnin's throat andsqueezed. Spots of blood formed where her fingernails dug in. With a single jerk, she pulled him off balance and sent him crashing to his knees and held him there.
He didn't try to struggle. Claire wasn't sure he could; there was a thick, cold wave of menace coming from Amelie that froze Claire where she stood.
Amelie bent toward him very slowly and said, "My hateful father never had a better student than me, Myrnin. And Iwill kill him, but I'll do it in my own time. Don't tell me what to do, or I might find it necessary to remind you thatI am the Founder of Morganville. Notyou ."
"I never forget," Myrnin said in a choked whisper. "Certainly not with your nails in my throat. They're quite an excellent mnemonic device."
She blinked and let him go. As she stepped away, she frowned down at her bloodstained fingernails.
Myrnin rose to his feet in a smooth, effortless motion, and whipped a black handkerchief out of the pocket of his shorts. She took it without a word, wiped away the blood, and gave it back. He cleaned the red from his neck. The wounds had already closed.
"That's the second time I've spilled my blood for you tonight," he said. "I believe I've made my point, and you've made yours, most graphically. So I'll be taking my leave. Oh, and Claire. I'll be taking Claire."
Amelie nodded. There was a slight groove between her eyebrows--the ghost of a frown. As Myrnin and Claire--who'd finally dared to breathe again--headed for the outer door, Amelie said, "You're right. My father's escape has...unsettled me."
"Couldn't tell," Myrnin said. "My advice is sound. Don't punish him. Don't make an example of him. When you find him, kill him quickly and quietly. It's the only peace you can hope for. You can't afford to allow him to become a power in this town again. Someone is working with him, helping him, or you'd have him by now. He wouldn't dare to be out there, hunting. This is going to go bad, quickly.Act. "
She nodded slightly, still frowning.
And Myrnin grabbed Claire's arm and propelled her fast, outside, down the steps, and into the dark. This time, he ordered one of Amelie's cars.
Armored.
The fact that Myrnin had actually been scared enough to be careful with her...that said more about the danger than anything else.
Chapter Six
SIX
The ladder was still in place when she got home. Myrnin, in typical Myrnin fashion, delivered her to the base of the ladder, and by the time she'd climbed three steps and looked back, he was gone. Of course. She pulled herself up the rest of the way,carefully , trying not to notice how the ladder shivered and rocked around as she shifted her weight.
Achieving the open window was a massive relief, and she wriggled through and landed with an unbalancedthump on the floor. It was still dark outside, but not for too much longer--another hour and a half, max, from her glance at the glowing digital clock on the bedside table.
God, this wasterrible. Just when she'd thought things in Morganville might be stabilizing, just a little bit...now Bishop was on the loose again. He'd come so frighteningly close to bringing it all down once; he considered Amelie and everyone in town his rightful property. His playthings.
What he'd do this time now that he was actuallyangry ........ Myrnin was right. Claire wasn't one to yell for anybody to die, but for Bishop, she'd make an exception. He needed killing, quickly.
Why was he still here? Why hadn't he blown out of Morganville first thing?
Revenge. He was the kind who lived for it. And what had Jason said that Bishop had said to Stinky Doug?Did you think you could threaten me?
How could a mere human ever hope to threaten Bishop enough to draw his full, personal attention, in broad daylight, in a public place?
Doug had something. The blood--sure, that was bad enough, but he'd had other things. Papers. Bishop had taken them.
Doug had been blackmailingBishop. Not only Bishop, though--because Bishop couldn't be out on his own. He'd have been caught