Ghost Town Page 0,65

do. Unless you're unable to master yourself. Are you, Oliver?" Amelie's tone was sharper than Claire expected, almost . . . angry. It occurred to her, finally, that Amelie was upset, too.

Very bad combination, having both of them on edge, in a confinedspace.

This time, Oliver did flash fangs at her. "You're on dangerous ground, woman. Don't push me." Amelie's guard took a step away from the door. "And don't presume to have your dogs threaten me, either. I've supported your rule in this town. I've even agreed to your experiments and social rules of behavior. But I will not allow you to make us into pale copies of humans. It is not who we are, or who we should be, and you know that better than anyone."

"I take it you will not entertain any alternative plans," Amelie said after a moment. "Then we will leave the program as it is, with a limited number of licenses, and the university remains protected ground."

Oliver laughed. "Are you listening? They won't obey you for much longer. They'll do as they choose, regardless of the law. They're angry, Amelie. You've allowed humans to kill vampires and walk away. If you choose to punish vampires for following their natures, you're as stupid as you were when you thought you could manipulate your way onto a throne as a girl of twelve. You never did reach that goal, did you? I'm sure dying a mere princess never sat well with you. That must be why you appointed yourself queen here."

Amelie stood up, and the room went very, very quiet. Claire no longer felt the urge to try to talk. She felt the urge to crawl under the table. It was as if she, Richard, and Hannah no longer existed, at least to Amelie and Oliver.

"Are you telling me that you no longer want to serve as my second?" Amelie asked him. "Because that is what I hear."

"Amelie . . ." Oliver's voice was full of angry frustration. He, at least, hadn't forgotten the presence of others, and glanced quickly aside at the humans. "Send them out. We need to settle this. It's been a long time in coming."

"Richard and Hannah are equal members of this council. I will not dismiss them like servants."

He laughed, and Claire saw the sharp glitter of his fangs. "Equal? How long have you been deluding yourself like this? You think any of them are ever equal to us? You are ceding control of this town to fools and mortals, bit by bit, and we are all going to suffer for it. Die for it. It cannot go on!"

"Sit down," Amelie said. "Now."

"No. You are destroying us, Amelie, and I can't--I won't permit it to continue."

They froze in place, staring at each other, and Claire hardly dared to breathe at all.

Oliver didn't blink. He finally said, "Your human pets are turning on us. They're turning on you. The boy in the cage down there is proof enough of how much in contempt the humans hold your rules, and you. And they're not wrong, because we are killers, and they are our natural victims. If we let them have control, they will destroy us. They have no choice."

"That's not true," Claire said. She hadn't exactly meant to say it, but now it was out, hanging in the air, and Oliver's attention was on her like a freezing blanket of snow. "It doesn't have to be that way."

He whirled to face her, and she wished she'd kept her mouth shut. "So what is your solution, little Claire? Keep us in zoos, the way you keep other predators who threaten you? Exterminate those you can't control? That's what humans do. We know this. We used to be just as flawed, just as human." Oliver looked back at Amelie. "I'd have wiped all vampires off of the face of the land, in my breathing days. If I could have managed it."

She smiled thinly. "I know very well what you would have done," she said. "You did the same in your day with humans who worshipped differently from you and yours. But not all humans are as genocidally inclined as you."

He hit the table so hard it vibrated. "I did what was right!"

"You did what was right for those who agreed with you, and that is all in the past. We are talking about our future. Oliver, we cannot live as we did. We cannot hide in the shadows and run when discovered, like rats. In this