'I know,' she said, and couldn't look away. She wanted to, but Myrnin's gaze held hers like a magnet. 'I'll miss you too.'
He flew at her and embraced her, a sudden and awkward kind of thing; he was too strong, and too fast, and it drew a startled little squeak from her as her body remembered all too well how it felt to have fangs sinking into her neck ... but then he was gone again, stepping away, turning toward the horizon where pink was painting the hills and scrub brush of the desert. The wind was cold, and picking up speed.
'You should go,' Claire said, and got control of her pounding heart, somehow. 'My parents are on the way. They'll be here any minute.'
'A very poor escort I'd be to leave you out here in the dark, prey for anything,' he said. 'Highwaymen, and all that.'
'Myrnin, there haven't been highwaymen in at least a hundred years. Probably more.'
'Robbers, then. Serial killers. The modern bogeyman under the bed, yes? Bad men skulking in the darkness have always been there, and always will.' He flashed a smile at her, which was made unsettling by the extra-long eyeteeth, but he was still glancing uneasily at the horizon. Myrnin was old; he wouldn't burst into flames with the rise of the sun, but he'd be uncomfortably scorched. 'I'm sure you're familiar with the concept.'
'More than a little,' she sighed, and caught sight of car headlights speeding over the crest of the far hill. Mom and Dad. She felt a little surge of excitement, but it was quickly overwhelmed with a huge wave of sadness and longing. It felt different from what she expected, leaving Morganville ... leaving her friends behind. Leaving Shane. 'They're coming. You should go.'
'Should I not see you off?'
'In that get-up?'
Myrnin looked down at himself, baffled. 'It's most elegant!'
'When you were partying down with Beethoven, maybe, but today you look like you're on your way to a fancy dress ball.'
'So I ought to have worn the casual shirt with it, then?'
Claire almost smiled at the idea of one of his loud Hawaiian shirts thrown on over breeches and boots. 'God, no. You look great. Just not ... period appropriate. So go on, I'll be fine, okay?'
He looked at the car, coming fast toward them, and finally nodded. 'All right,' he said. 'Professor Anderson will be expecting you. Don't forget, you can use the telephone to call me.'
He seemed proud he'd remembered that - modern tech not being his strongest skill - and Claire struggled not to roll her eyes. 'I won't forget,' she said. 'You'd better get in your car. Sun's coming up, I don't want you to get burnt.'
It was. She could see the hot gold edge of it just cresting the hill to the east, and the sky above had turned a dark indigo blue. In minutes, it'd be full daylight, and Myrnin needed to be under cover.
He nodded to her, and gave her a formal, antique bow, which looked weirdly perfect in that outfit. 'Be careful,' he said. 'Not all dangers have a vampire's fangs. Or a vampire's predictability.' He moved fast to the driver's side of his car, opened the door, and then hesitated for one second more to say, 'I will miss you very much, Claire.'
He slammed the door and turned the engine on before she could say, 'I'll miss you too, Myrnin.' And then he was gone, roaring back into Morganville's town limits ...
... He rocketed past yet another car that was going way too fast out of Morganville. Claire's ride was still a couple of miles away, heading in ... this car was heading out, toward her.
And she knew that car very well.
The big black hearse skidded to a halt just at the border of the billboard. In fact, it fishtailed sideways as it stopped, and the passenger door flew open so hard Claire was surprised it didn't break off ... and then her boyfriend Shane was hurtling out of it, heading for her at a run.
'No,' he blurted, and threw his arms around her. 'You don't get to go like that.'
She felt stiff for a moment, with shock and fear of the pain that was coming, but then the familiar lines and planes of his body made her relax against him. Two halves, fitting as if they'd been moulded that way, despite the fact he towered over her. And then she was kissing him, or he was kissing her, and it was wild and hot and desperate and agonising and heartbreaking, and when they finally broke with a gasp she rested her forehead against his chest. She could feel him breathing too fast, hear his heartbeat pounding too loudly. I'm doing this to him, she thought. He's hurting and it's my fault.
But she knew she wasn't wrong about this. She loved Shane, loved him with so much certainty it was like sunrise, but she also knew that he had to see her differently - and she needed to see herself differently, if they were going to last. When he'd met her she'd been helpless, defenceless, and now she needed to prove she was not just his equal, but his independent equal.
Whether he - or she - liked it or not.
Over at the car, Michael had gotten out of the driver's side and was leaning against the fender; he seemed content to wait, but he was also eyeing the horizon, where the sun was rising fast. In minutes, he'd be bathed in light, and at his very young vampire age, that was not good.
Claire put her hand on Shane's cheek, a silent promise, and then dashed over to Michael to throw her arms around him. In the thin dawn light, he looked human again - skin tinted pink, eyes the endless clear blue of a summer sky. He kissed her cheek and hugged her with careful strength. 'You didn't really think we'd let you get away with no goodbyes, did you?'
'No,' she said.
He kissed her forehead, very gently. 'Come back safe, and come back soon,' he whispered to her. 'We love you.'
'Love you too, Michael,' she said, and stepped back. 'You'd better get inside.'