Now, Oliver continued once Hess stopped, and Eve was sitting still. Were not technological idiots, Eve. And we do own the telephone providers in this area, particularly the cell phone providers. Shane placed a call from your home to a number that, much to our surprise, we found to be assigned to a device we located on his friend Mr. Wallace. Oliver pointed to the biker. GPS is a marvelous invention, by the way. Were quite grateful for all the hard work humanity has put into keeping track of itself. It makes finding people so much easier than it used to be in the old days.
Shane didnt do anything, Claire said. Please. You have to let him go.
Shane was found at the crime scene, Oliver said. With Brandons body. And I hardly think we can say he wasnt involved, if he was friendly enough with Mr. Wallace to be exchanging telephone calls.
No, he didnt!
Oliver slapped her. She never saw it coming, just felt the impact and saw red for a second. Her whole body shook with the force of how much she wanted to hit him back, and she felt the stinging imprint of his hand on her cheek like a brand.
You see, Eve? Oliver asked. An eye for an eye. Of course, my interpretation is a bit free of the Scriptures.
Shane was screaming around his gag, and now he was fighting, but the vampires were holding him down on his knees without breaking a sweat. Eves eyes were huge and dark, and Hess was holding her down in the chair as she struggled to come after Oliver.
Dont, Claire thought wildly. Because her friends had just told Oliver exactly what he wanted to know: that hurting her would get something out of them.
Oliver, Amelie said. Her voice was soft and very gentle. Is there a question you are posing to the children? Or are you merely indulging yourself? You say you already know the boy called this man. What more information do you need?
I want to know where his father has gone, Oliver said. One of them knows.
The girls? Amelie shook her head. It seems unlikely that someone like Mr. Collins would trust in either of them.
The boy knows, then.
Possibly. She tapped her lips with one pale finger. Yet somehow, I doubt he will tell you. And there is no need for any cruelty to discover the truth, I believe.
Meaning? Oliver turned fully toward her, crossing his arms.
Meaning that he will come to us, Oliver, as you very well know. In order to save the boy from the consequences of his actions.
So you withdraw your Protection from the boy?
Amelie looked at the body lying on the slab. After a moment of silence, she rose gracefully and walked to what was left of Brandon, trailed ghost white fingers over his distorted face, and said, He was born before King John, did you know that? Born a prince. All those years, ending. I grieve for the loss of all that he saw that we will never know. All the memories that can never enrich us.
Amelie. Oliver sounded impatient. We cant allow his killers to run free. You know that.
He was yours, Oliver. You might spare a moment for his loss before you run baying after blood.
Amelies back was to him, so she couldnt have seen it, but Claire did: there was hate in Olivers eyes, hate twisting his face. He got it under control before Amelie turned toward him.
Brandon had his flaws, Oliver said. Of all of us, he was the one who enjoyed the hunt the most. I dont think he ever came to terms with the rules of Morganville. But its those rules we have to observe now. By sentencing these criminals.
Sentencing? What about a trial? Claire started to ask, but a cold hand clapped over her mouth from behind, and she looked up to see Gretchen bending over her, fangs out, holding a hushing finger to her own mouth. Eve was likewise gagged by Hans. Next to them,Detective Hess folded his arms and looked deeply troubled, but he didnt speak.
Amelie looked at Oliver, then past him, at Shane.
I warned you, she said quietly. My Protection can only extend to you so far. You betrayed my trust, Shane. For the sake of kindness, I will not break faith with your friends; they remain under my Protection. She shifted her pale gaze to Oliver, and gave him a slow, regal incline of her head. He is yours. I withdraw Protection.
Claire screamed out a protest, but it was lost against the gag of Gretchens hand. Amelie bent over and placed a kiss on Brandons waxy forehead.
Good-bye, child, she said. Flawed as you were, you were still one of the eternal. We wont forget.
Claire heard someone yell outside the room, and Amelie whipped around so quickly that she was a blur, then movedand something hit the marble pillar next to where shed been and exploded with a sharp popping sound.
A bottle. Claire smelled gas, and then heard a thick, whooshing sound.
And then the curtains exploded into flame.
Amelie snarled, bone white and utterly not people, all of a sudden, and then she was dragged out of the way and down, with a moving bunker of bodyguards crowding around her. Gunfire exploded in the room, and somebodyDetective Hess?shoved Claire forward to the carpet and covered her, too. Eve was down, too, curled into a protective ball, her black-fingernailed hands covering her head.
And then, there was fightinggrunts and smacks and wood being thrown against walls and smashed during struggles. Claire couldnt get any sense of what was going on, except that it was brutal and it was over fast, and when the choking fog of smoke began to clear, Hess finally backed off and let her sit up.
There were two men dead in the entrance of the room. Big guys, in leather. There was one still moving.
Amelie pushed aside her bodyguards and stalked past Claire as if she didnt exist. She glided down the aisle and to the one biker still feebly trying to crawl away. He was trailing a dark streak on the maroon carpet. Claire got slowly to her feet, grateful for Detective Hesss arm around her, and exchanged a look of sheer horror with Eve, on his other side.