He dropped the book, surged to his feet, and was at the bars in about one second flat. His hands curled around the iron, and his eyes glittered wildly until he squeezed them shut.
When he opened them again, he'd gotten himself under control. Mostly.
"Hey," Shane said, as calmly as if they'd just run into each other in the hallway at the Glass House, their strange little minifraternity. As if whole months hadn't gone by since they'd been parted. "Imagine seeing you around here. Happy birthday to you, and all."
Claire felt tears burn in her eyes, but she blinked them back and put on a brave smile. "Thanks," she said. "What'd you get me?"
"Um . . . a shiny diamond." Shane looked around and shrugged. "Must have left it somewhere. You know how it is, out all night partying, you get baked and forget where you left your stuff. . . ."
She stepped forward and wrapped her hands around his. She felt tremors race through him, and Shane sighed, closed his eyes, and rested his forehead against the bars. "Yeah," he whispered. "Shutting up now. Good idea."
She pressed her forehead against his, and then her lips, and it was hot and sweet and desperate, and the feelings that exploded inside her made her shake in reaction. Shane let go of the bars and reached through to run his fingers through her soft, short hair, and the kiss deepened, darkened, took on a touch of yearning that made Claire's heart pound.
When their lips finally parted, they didn't pull away from each other. Claire threaded her arms through the bars and around his neck, and his hands moved down to her waist.
"I hate kissing you through prison bars," Shane said. "I'm all for restraint, but self-restraint is so much more fun."
Claire had almost forgotten that Myrnin was still there, so his soft chuckle made her flinch. "There speaks a young man with little practical experience," he said, yawned, and draped himself over a bench on the far side of the wall. He propped his chin up on the heel of one hand. "Enjoy that innocence while you can."
Shane held on to her, and his dark eyes stared into hers. Ignore him, they seemed to say. Stay with me.
She did.
"I'm trying to get you out," she whispered. "I really am."
"Yeah, well . . . it's no big deal, Claire. Don't get yourself in trouble. Wait, I forgot who I'm talking to. What kind of trouble are you in today, anyway?"
"I'm not. Don't worry."
"I've got nothing to do but worry, mostly about you." Shane was looking very serious now, and he tilted her head up to force her to meet his eyes again. "Claire. What's he got you doing?"
"You're worried about me?" She laughed, just a little, and it sounded panicked. "You're the one in a cage."
"Kind of used to that, you know. Claire, tell me. Please."
"I . . . I can't." That wasn't true. She could. She just desperately didn't want to. She didn't want Shane to know any of it. "How's your father holding up?"
Shane's eyebrows rose just a little. "Dad? Yeah, well. He's okay. He's just . . . you know."
And that, Claire realized, was what she was afraid of - that Shane had forgiven his father for all his crazy stunts. That the Collins boys were together again, united in their hatred of Morganville in general.
That Shane was back in the vampire-slayer fold. If that happened Bishop would never let him out of his cell.
Shane read it in her face. "Not like that," he said, and shook his head. "It's pretty close quarters in here. We have to get along, or we'd kill each other. We decided to get along, that's all."
"Yeah," said a deep, scratchy voice from the other bunk. "It's been one big, sloppy bucket of joy, getting to know my son. I'm all teary-eyed and sentimental."
Shane rolled his eyes. "Shut up, Frank."
"That any way to talk to your old man?" Frank rolled over, and Claire saw the hard gleam of his eyes. "What's your collaborator girl doing here? Still running errands for the vampires?"
"Dad, Christ, will you shut up?"
"This is the two of you getting along?" Claire whispered.
"You see any broken bones?"
"Good point." This was not how she'd imagined this moment going, except for the kissing. Then again, the kissing was better than she'd dared believe was possible. "Shane - "