But there was her mother, standing in the kitchen doorway, smiling a fragile, confused smile and looking . . . Vulnerable. Tired.
Mrs. Danvers! Eve jumped in, hurried over, and guided her to the kitchen table. No, no, were just ahmaking some food. You havent eaten, right? What about Mr. Danvers?
Her motherlooking every year of the forty-two she claimed not to beseemed tired, vague, kind of out of focus. Worried, too. There were lines around her eyes and mouth that Claire couldnt remember seeing before, and it scared her.
Hes Claires mom frowned, then leaned her forehead on the palm of her hand. Oh, my head hurts. Im sorry. What did you say?
Your husband, where is he?
Ill find him, Michael said quietly. He slipped out of the kitchen with the grace and quickness of a vampirebut at least he was their vampire. Eve settled Claires mom at the table, exchanged a helpless look with Claire, and chattered on nervously about what a long drive it must have been to Morganville, what a nice surprise it was that they were moving to town, how much Claire was going to enjoy having them here. Etc. , etc. , etc.
Claire numbly continued to rake eggs back and forth in the skillet. This cant happen. My parents cant be here. Not now. Not with Bishop. It was a nightmare, in every way.
I could help you cook, Mom said, and made a feeble effort to get up. Eve glared at Claire and mouthed, Say something! Claire swallowed a cold bubble of panic and tried to make her voice sound at least partly under control.
No, Mom, Claire said. Its fine. Weve got it covered. Look, were making extra in case you and Dad are hungry. You just sit and relax.
Her mom, who was usually a control freak deluxe in the kitchen, prone to take command of something as error free as boiling water, looked relieved. All right, honey. You let me know if I can help.
Michael opened the kitchen door, and ushered in Claires father. If her mom looked tired, her dad just looked . . . Blank. Puzzled. He frowned at Michael, like he was trying to work out exactly what was happening but couldnt put his finger on it.
Whats going on around here? he barked at Michael. Those people out there
Relatives, Michael said. From Europe. Look, Im sorry. I know you wanted to spend some time with Claire, but maybe you should just go on home, and well
He paused, then turned, because someone was standing in the kitchen door behind him. Following him.
Nobodys going anywhere, said the other one of Bishops vampire companionsthe guy. He was smiling. One big happy family, eh, Michael? Its Michael, isnt it?