Feast of Fools Page 0,71

great service, and you'll be looked after."

"What about other people?" she asked.

"Which people? Ah, your friends, your family. Yes, of course, they'll be safeguarded, as well, whatever happens."

"No, Myrnin, I mean everybody else! The guy who makes hamburgers at the Burger Dog! The lady who runs the used-clothing store! Everybody!"

He blinked, clearly taken aback. "We can't care about everyone, Claire. It isn't in our natures. We can only care about those we know, or those we're connected with. I appreciate your altruism, but - "

"Don't talk to me about our natures! We're not the same!"

"Aren't we?" Myrnin patted her knee gently. "I'm a scientist. So are you. I have friends, people I care for and love. So do you. How are we different?"

"I don't suck my dinner out of a bag!"

Myrnin laughed. He showed no trace at all of fangs. "Oh, Claire, do you imagine that eating slaughtered and mutilated animals is any less disgusting? We both eat. We both enjoy the company of others. We both - "

"I don't dig brain tissue out of my skull! Oh, and I don't kill," she said. "You do. And you really don't mind it."

He sat back a little, staring into her face. The glow of sincerity took on a harder edge. "I think you'll find I do mind it," he said. "Or else I wouldn't put up with this from - "

"From a servant? Because that's what I am, right? Or worse - a slave? Property?"

"You're upset."

"Yes! Of course I'm - of course I'm upset." She fought to keep it together, but she couldn't; the misery just boiled out of her like steam under pressure. "I'm sitting here debating the future of the human race, and my friends and family are going to that party, and I can't protect them - "

"Hush, child," he said. "The feast. It's tonight, yes?"

"I don't even know what it is."

"Amelie's formal recognition of Bishop. Every vampire in Morganville who is able will be present, all there to swear their obedience, and every one of them will bring a token gift."

She sniffled, sat up, and wiped her face. "What kind of gift?"

Myrnin's dark eyes were steady on hers. "A token gift of blood," he said. "Specifically, a human. You're right to be worried for your friends, your family. He has the right to choose any human offered to him. The gesture is meant to be ceremonial - it's come down to us as a tradition from long ago - but it doesn't have to be."

And Claire understood. She understood why Amelie had forbidden her to come; she understood why Michael had deliberately asked Monica Morrell instead of Eve.

It was chess, and the pawns were people. The vampires were playing with what they could afford to lose.

"You - " Her voice didn't sound steady. She cleared her throat and tried again. "You said that he could choose any human."

Myrnin didn't blink. "Or all of them," he said. "If he so wishes."

"You know he'll do it. He'll kill someone."

"Most likely, yes."

"We have to stop this," she said. "Myrnin - why would she do this?"

"Amelie is not a brave woman. If the odds are against her, she will surrender; if the odds are near even, she will play for time and advantage. She knows she can't defeat Bishop on her own; not even she and Oliver combined can do it. She has to play the long game, Claire. She's played it all her life." Myrnin's dark eyes were glowing again, and he began to smile. "Amelie reckons her odds without me, of course. With me at her side, she can win."

"You want to go. To the feast."

Myrnin straightened his vest and brushed imaginary dust from his sleeves. "Of course. And I'm going with or without you. Now, are you going under those circumstances?"

"I - Amelie said - "

"Yes or no, Claire."

"Then . . . yes."

"We'll need costumes," he said. "Not to worry, I know just the place to get them."

"I look ridiculous," Claire said. She also looked completely obvious. "Can't we do something in, I don't know, black? Since we're supposed to be sneaky?"

"Stop talking," Myrnin commanded as he applied makeup to her face. He seemed to be enjoying himself a hell of a lot more than the situation called for, and she felt doubt once again that his cure was really a cure. There had been a good reason Amelie said he shouldn't be at the feast; there'd been a good reason, too, for leaving him out of her