Kiss of Death Page 0,52

supposed to be our chaperone?" Claire didn't know and couldn't begin to reassure Eve, because there was a creeping sense of doom coming over her, too. Michael wasn't showing up, and neither was Oliver, and that had to be bad. It just had to be, somehow. Oliver, at least, could stand the sun; she'd seen him outside the jail before Morley had made his dramatic entrance. So why wasn't he stepping in? Because you're not important, Claire's little, traitorous voice whispered. Because you're just human. Fast food on legs. No, that wasn't true. Even Oliver had treated them--well, not exactly nicely, but he had developed a kind of basic respect for them. Maybe, in Eve's case, even a little liking. He wouldn't just stand by and watch things happen. Unless he thought he couldn't win, the little voice responded, and ugh, the little voice was way too logical for Claire to argue with. Oliver wasn't the self-sacrificing type, except maybe-- maybe--where it applied to Amelie--and only in little glimpses. But Michael was, and Michael would have shown up unless something had stopped him. Or someone. Claire cleared her throat. "Jacob? Can I ask you something?" Jacob slipped the blood vials into a pocket of his jacket and came back down the aisle of the bus. He swayed gracefully with the motion of the road, not even bothering to check his balance against the tops of the seats, the way a human probably would have. He crouched down next to Claire, bringing them to eye level. "I'm so sorry," he said immediately. "This was not what we'd planned. We never intended to do it this way, but we couldn't get to either the blood bank or the Bloodmobile--they were both well guarded. We had to choose--leave without supplies, or ..."

"Or pick them up at the convenience store?" Claire tried to keep the judgy tone out of her voice, but it was hard. "That's not what I wanted to talk about." Jacob nodded, waiting. "Have you seen Michael?" Jacob's eyes widened. "No," he said, and he was an even worse liar than Claire expected. "No, did he come with you?"

"Jacob, you know he did." Claire said it softly, and hoped that Eve couldn't hear what she was saying. "Did something happen to him?" Jacob stared at her for a few long, sick seconds, then said, "I don't know." He stood up and walked away. Claire bit her tongue on an almost-overpowering urge to yell something after him; it probably would have just gotten her gagged, anyway. Shane was turned in his seat, as much as his bonds would allow, and he was staring at her. He knew, too. Claire risked a glance over at Eve, but she was staring out the window. Not crying, not anymore. She just looked... distant, as if she'd removed herself from everything happening around her. Shane was right. There was nothing to be done now except wait. Claire was bad at it, but she spent the time trying to think through the problem. What would Myrnin do? Probably invent some device made out of fingernails and coat threads that would cut through plastic handcuffs. Then again, Myrnin would be cheerfully chugging down the blood, so maybe he was not such a good example to follow. Sam. What would Michael's grandfather have done? Still a vampire, but he'd never have gone along with this stuff. He'd have stood up for people. He had his whole life, both as a human and a vampire. And he'd have never been handcuffed to a seat, genius, Claire's little voice reminded her. How about Hannah Moses? That was a good suggestion, for once. Claire couldn't imagine how Hannah, who'd been a big-time soldier, would have gotten out of this, but it probably would have involved a concealed knife--which, of course, Claire didn't have. The steady throb of the road was hypnotic, and since the windows were blacked out, there wasn't much to see out there except some passing shadows. The vampires were mostly whispering among themselves, and she could feel their suppressed excitement. It was strange, but the vampires seemed to feel they'd been prisoners in Morganville, too--mostly prisoners of its strict rules of conduct, but Claire knew they hadn't been allowed out of town freely any more than the human residents. It was odd that the vampires would now be feeling that same freedom that she, Eve, Michael, and Shane had felt leaving the town borders. It seemed ... wrong. "Eve?"