much so that she almost looked like that ghost Amelie was talking about. "No," she said. "You can't do this. You can't prove anything."
"I am the Founder," Amelie said. "And I don't need to prove anything." She nodded to Mr. Martin. "Take her. I don't wish to look on her face again."
Kim's eyes met Claire's stare. "Help me!" she shouted. "Don't just stand there, bitch! I'm human! I'm one ofyou !"
Claire shrugged. "You're not anything of mine. You knew," she said, "and you didn't care."
Kim looked shocked for a flash of a second, and then she bared her teeth in a white, feral grin. "Yeah?
Well, you know what else I don't care about? Whether Shane was in that building or not. I hope he's dead. I hope he died thinking about you and wondering why youdidn't find him. "
Shane.
She hadn't thought about it at all; she'd just assumed...but he could be in there.
He could be burning.
Claire didn't even think about it. She started to run for the building, which was still belching red flame and black smoke high into the air.
"No," Oliver said, and caught her around the waist, swinging her off the ground. "Not the time for your gallant suicide attempt, Claire."
"He could be in there!"
"Yes," Oliver agreed. "And if he is, you can't help him. Now just--"
That was when someone shot Mr. Martin in the back.
Claire didn't know what had happened; she heard a crack and saw him lose his grip on Kim and pitch forward. Kim didn't hesitate. She broke and ran.
Oliver dropped Claire and jumped for Amelie, taking her down flat. Claire staggered, off balance, and went down, too, which probably saved her life. She heard the crackle of guns--more than one--being fired, and staying down seemed like a good idea all of a sudden. Mr. Martin was lying near her, but he wasn't moving. His eyes were open, and as she looked at him, she saw him blinking.
"Are you all right?" she asked.
"Bullet in the spine. It will take a few moments," he said. "Where is she?"
Claire carefully raised her head. "Escaping."
Kim was running for the cover of the wreckage--not away from the guns firing at them, buttoward them. And they seemed to be deliberately missing her, too. Claire finally spotted a dusty, tan-camouflage jeep parked between two sand dunes. There were two men with rifles using it as a firing platform, and Kim was heading for it, fast. One of Oliver's men went dashing after her and almost made it before a bullet sent him spinning and crashing to the dust.
Kim jumped in the jeep, and it revved its engine and spewed up sand as it raced away. One last shot echoed in the dry air, and then they were gone.
"Get off!" Amelie barked, and Oliver rolled away from her and smoothly to his feet. He offered his hand, but she got up without needing it, looking bone-sharp and very, very angry. She glanced at Claire and Mr. Martin, then out toward where Kim and her rescuers had disappeared. "I misjudged," she said. "Kim didn't make a mistake. She's part of this. Somehow, she is part of it. I should have snapped the little animal's neck long before this, but I was too merciful. Too conscious of responsibility." She glanced down at Claire, but there was no sense of recognition in her eyes; she was too angry. "Get up, unless you're too badly injured to stand."
Oliver didn't evenbother to look down at Claire. Or Mr. Martin, for that matter. It was like they no longer even existed. "They're bold," he said. "And daring. That could have gone very badly for them."
"Yet it didn't," Amelie said. "It appears we have a war on our hands, Oliver."
He smiled. It was a lovely, almost charming smile, and that made Claire feel a little sick. "Finally," he said. "No more diplomacy, my lady. No more half measures. Give me rein and I'll bring you your enemies with their heads decorating my pikes.All your enemies. Humans and vampires."
This was out of control, going too fast. Kim gone, Shane, Michael...Bishop and Gloriana, the fights, Vassily...it was all a big, messy, bloody ball of confusion, and now Oliver was going to wade in and devastateeverything.
Amelie should have said no. Instead, she looked levelly at Oliver, folded her hands in front of her in a formal kind of way, and said, "So be it. War. Bring me their heads."
"Wait," Claire said, and scrambled to her feet. "Wait, youcan't. You can't kill everybody.