"But it's something, " Claire nodded. "Congratulations, Eve. You deserve it. You're really good at this. I'll bet you could run the whole thing if you wanted. "
"Me? Manager?" Eve laughed so hard she snorted. "Yeah, like I'd be able to order people around and have anybody listen to me. Get serious. "
"No, I mean it. You're nice, people like you, you know what you're doing. You could. "
Eve shot her a sideways look that was almost a frown. "You're serious. "
"Yep. "
"I don't know if I'm ready for management. Don't you have to wear a tie for that?"
"You've got one, " Claire said solemnly.
"Only one with the Grim Reaper on it. Hey, wait. That could be my management style! Screw up and I'll kill you. " Eve grinned. "They ought to teach that in business school. "
"They probably do here, " Claire sighed.
"What's up with you, CB?" CB stood for Claire Bear, which was Eve's funny nickname for her. Claire didn't think she much resembled a bear, not even the stuffed Gund variety. "You seem really, I don't know, thoughtful. "
"Yeah, well -- " She couldn't talk to Eve about Myrnin. "Homework and stuff. " Yeah, it was just that she'd never had quite this kind of pass/fail pressure before. She'd flipped through the book on Egyptian inscriptions. That was pretty straightforward, though she wasn't sure how actually Egyptian it all was. Interesting, though. The other one, Last Will and Testament, was lots tougher. Tons of symbols in some weird notation she didn't understand. She'd be up all night trying to make sure she remembered even the basics. "Eve ... Has anybody ever broken their contract in Morganville? I mean, and lived?"
"Contract?" Eve shot her yet another look, this one definitely coming with a side order of frowning. "You're talking about a vamp contract? Sure. People have tried everything, one time or another. But not very successfully. "
"What happened?"
"Back in the old days, they got hanged. These days, I think they just throw 'em in jail until they rot, if the vampires don't eat 'em, but hey. Not like you and me have to worry about it, right? Live free or die!" Eve held up her hand. "High five!"
Claire slapped it, without much enthusiasm. She was thinking about the way the pen had felt in her hand, moving across that stiff paper. Signing her life away. And she felt ashamed.