Feast of Fools

by Caine, Rachel

  No wonder she defended the vampire who was feeding on her. He was probably the only one who really showed her any kind of affection.

  Claire paused to tuck the blankets more firmly around the girl’s trembling frame before she went into the kitchen to make coffee and toast. As breakfasts went, it was lonely and basic, but the sun was barely up and none of the others were what you might call morning people.

  There were times when signing up for early classes seemed like a really bad idea.

  When the phone rang, Claire nearly jumped out of her skin. She leaped for the extension hanging on the wall by the kitchen door and got it before the second earsplitting jangle. ‘‘Hello?’’

  There was a pause on the other end, and then her mother said, ‘‘Claire?’’

  ‘‘Mom! Hi—what’s wrong?’’

  ‘‘Why should anything be wrong? Why can’t I just call because I wanted to talk to my daughter?’’ Oh, great. Now her mother sounded agitated and defensive. ‘‘I know it’s early, but I wanted to catch up with you before you went off to class for the day.’’

  Claire sighed and leaned against the wall, idly kicking at the linoleum floor. ‘‘Okay. How are you and Dad settling in? Getting all unpacked?’’

  ‘‘Just fine,’’ her mother said, in so false a tone that Claire went very, very still. ‘‘It’s just—an adjustment, that’s all. Such a small town and all.’’

  ‘‘Yeah,’’ Claire agreed quietly. ‘‘It’s an adjustment.’’ She had no idea what her mother and father knew about Morganville by now, but they had to be getting some kind of—what would they call it? Orientation? Morganville was nothing if not efficient about that, she suspected. ‘‘Have you—met some people?’’

  ‘‘We went to a nice getting-to-know-you party downtown,’’ Mom said. ‘‘Mr. Bishop and his daughter took us.’’

  Claire had to bite her lip to hold back a moan. Bishop? And Amelie? Oh God. ‘‘What happened?’’

  ‘‘Oh, nothing, really. It was a cocktail party. Hors d’oeuvres and drinks, a little conversation. There was a presentation on the history of—of—’’ With shocking suddenness, Claire’s mother burst into tears. ‘‘I swear, we didn’t know—we didn’t know or we wouldn’t have sent you to this awful place, oh, honey—’’

  Claire could barely swallow around the lump in her throat. ‘‘Don’t cry, Mom. It’s okay. It’s all going to be okay now.’’ She was lying, but she had to. The sound of her mother breaking apart was just too hard. ‘‘Look, you’ve met Amelie, right?’’

  Sniffles on the other end. ‘‘Yes, she seemed nice.’’

  Nice wasn’t how Claire would have put it. ‘‘Well, Amelie’s the most powerful person in Morganville, and she’s definitely on our side.’’ An exaggeration, but it was the best she could do to describe the situation in simple terms. ‘‘So there’s really nothing to be worried about, Mom. I work for Amelie. She has some responsibility for me, and for you, to make sure we’re safe. Okay?’’

  ‘‘Okay.’’ It was wan and muffled, but at least it was agreement. ‘‘I was just so worried about your father. He didn’t look well, not well at all. I wanted him to go to the hospital, but he said he was fine—’’

  Claire had a cold second of flashback to Miranda saying, Please don’t send me there. You don’t know what they’ll do. . . . She’d been talking about the hospital. ‘‘But he’s okay?’’

  ‘‘He seems all right today.’’ Claire’s mom blew her nose, and when she came back to the phone, she sounded clearer and stronger. ‘‘I’m sorry to lay this on you, honey. I just had no idea—it was so strange to think that you’d been here all this time and never said a word to us about—the situation.’’ Meaning, the vampires.

  ‘‘Well, to be honest, I didn’t think you’d believe me,’’ Claire said. ‘‘And out-of-town calls are monitored. They told you that, right?’’

  ‘‘Yes, they did. So you were protecting us.’’ Her mom laughed shakily. ‘‘Parents are supposed to protect their children, Claire. We’ve done a bang-up job of that, haven’t we? We really thought that it would be so much safer for you here than off in Massachusetts or California on your own. . . .’’

  ‘‘It’s okay. I’ll get there someday.’’

  They moved the conversation to easier things—to unpacking, to the vase that had gotten broken during the move (‘‘Honestly, I hated that thing anyway—your aunt gave it to us for Christmas that year, remember? ’’), to how Claire intended to spend her day. By the end of it, Mom seemed more or less stable, and Claire’s coffee was hopelessly cold. So was her toast.

  ‘‘Claire,’’ Mom said. ‘‘About moving out of that house—’’

  ‘‘I’m not moving,’’ Claire said. ‘‘I’m sorry, Mom. I know it’s going to upset Dad, but these are my friends, and this is where I belong. I’m staying.’’

  There was a short silence on the other end, and then her mother said, very softly, ‘‘I’m so proud of you.’’

  She hung up with a soft click. Claire stood for a moment, tears prickling in her eyes, and then said to the silent line, ‘‘I love you.’’

  And then she picked up her stuff and went to class.

  8

  Days passed, and for a change, there were no further emergencies. Normal life—or what passed for it, anyway—set in. Claire went to class, Eve went to work, Michael taught guitar lessons—he was a lot more in demand since the concert at Common Grounds—and Shane . . . Shane slacked, although Claire thought he seemed preoccupied.

  It finally dawned on her that he was thinking about Saturday, and the invitation. And that he didn’t want to talk to her about it at all.

  ‘‘So what should I do?’’ she asked Eve. ‘‘I mean, can’t he just call in sick for the party or something?’’

  ‘‘You’re kidding,’’ Eve said. ‘‘You think they’d buy an excuse? If you get an invitation to something like this, you go. End of story.’’

  ‘‘But—’’ Claire, who was getting glasses out of the cabinet while Eve put out plates, nearly dropped everything. ‘‘But that means that creepy little bi—’’

  ‘‘Language, missy.’’

  ‘‘—witch is going to make him go with her!’’ That made her blindly furious, and not entirely because of how upset Shane had been before. It was the whole idea of Shane going along with it. Of Ysandre putting those pale, thin fingers on his chest, feeling his heartbeat.

  Shane hadn’t said a word to her about it. Not a single word. And she didn’t know how to help.

  Eve stared at her thoughtfully for a few seconds before she said, ‘‘Well, she’s not the only one who’s going, of course. Shane won’t be all by himself.’’

  ‘‘What?’’

  ‘‘Michael’s going, too. I recognized the invitation when it came in. Didn’t open it, though.’’

  Still, Eve had every reason to expect that Michael would at least ask her to go with him. Claire, on the other hand, was completely shut out.

  Which made her irrationally angry again, and this time for herself. You’re jealous, she realized. Because you don’t want him going anywhere without you.

  She so did not want to be that person, but there it was. And she had no idea what to do about it.

  When she set Shane’s glass of Coke down in front of him, she did it with probably a little too much emphasis; he glanced up at her with a question-mark expression. Eve had already settled into her chair across the table. Michael wasn’t home, but Eve didn’t seem bothered about it this time. Maybe he’d talked to her about where he was going.

  Nice to know somebody’s talking, Claire thought.

  ‘‘What?’’ Shane asked her, and took a drink. ‘‘Did I forget to say thanks? Because, thanks. Best Coke ever. Did you make it yourself? Special recipe?’’

  ‘‘Got any plans for Saturday night?’’ she asked. ‘‘I was thinking maybe we could go to the movies, or—’’

  Too transparent. Shane knew instantly, and Eve choked
on her forkful of microwave lasagna. The silence stretched. Claire poked at her own meal, just for something to do.

  ‘‘I can’t,’’ Shane finally said. ‘‘I guess you know why.’’

  ‘‘You’re going to that ball thing,’’ Claire said. ‘‘With Bishop’s—friend.’’

  ‘‘I don’t exactly have a choice.’’

  ‘‘Are you sure about that?’’

  ‘‘Of course I’m sure—why are we talking about this exactly?’’

  ‘‘Because—’’ She stuck the fork into her lasagna so deep it scraped the plate. ‘‘Because Michael’s going. I guess Eve is, too. And what am I supposed to do, exactly?’’

  ‘‘You’re kidding. Are you on crack? Because I thought you just implied that you wanted to go to the scary vampire thing. Which, by the way, I don’t.’’

  Claire tried not to glare. ‘‘I thought you hated her. Ysandre. But you’re going with her.’’

  ‘‘I do. And I am.’’ Shane shoveled food into his mouth, a blatant excuse to end the conversation, or at least avoid it.

  Eve cleared her throat. ‘‘Maybe I should, I don’t know, leave? Because this is starting to sound like one of those reality shows I don’t want to be in. Maybe you guys want to take turns in the confessional booth.’’

  Shane and Claire ignored her. ‘‘I didn’t tell you because there’s nothing you can do,’’ Shane said. ‘‘There’s nothing anyone can do.’’

  ‘‘Stop talking with your mouth full.’’

  ‘‘Dude, you asked!’’

  ‘‘I—’’ Claire felt a sudden burn of tears in her eyes. ‘‘I just wanted you to talk to me, that’s all. But I guess you can’t even do that.’’

  She picked up her uneaten lasagna and drink and took it upstairs to her room. It was her turn to throw a fit, slam a door, and sulk, and dammit, she was going to do it well.

  She burst into tears the second the door was closed, put everything down on the dresser, and collapsed into a soggy heap in the corner. She hadn’t cried like this in a long time, not over something so stupid, but she just couldn’t—didn’t—

  There was a knock at the door. ‘‘Claire?’’

  ‘‘Go away, Shane.’’ Her heart wasn’t in it, though, and he must have heard that. He opened the door. She kind of expected him to rush to her and sweep her up in a hug, but instead Shane just . . . stood there. Looking like some mixture of annoyed and confused.

  ‘‘Why is this about you?’’ he asked her. It was a perfectly reasonable question, so absolutely logical it made her gasp and cry harder. ‘‘I have to get dressed up in a stupid outfit. I have to pretend I don’t want to shove a stake in this bitch’s heart. You don’t.’’

  ‘‘But you’re going! Why are you going? You—I thought you hated her—’’

  ‘‘Because she said she’d kill you if I didn’t show up. And because I know it’s not a threat. She’d do it. Happy now?’’

  He closed the door quietly. Claire couldn’t get her breath. The hurt in her chest seemed to be smothering her, as if every heartbeat might be her last. She heard herself make a sound, but she couldn’t tell if it was tears or anger or anguish.

  Eventually, the tears stopped, and Claire wiped the wet streaks from her cheeks. She felt sore, alone, and utterly to blame for everything. Her dinner held no appeal, and all she wanted to do was curl up under the blankets with the biggest, fluffiest stuffed animal she could find.

  But she couldn’t do that.

  When she opened her door, she found Shane sitting outside, back against the wall. He looked up at her.

  ‘‘You done?’’ he asked. His eyes were red, too. Not exactly tearful, but—something. ‘‘Because it’s not like this floor’s real comfortable.’’

  She sank down next to him. He put his arm around her, and her head fell against his chest. There was something so soothing about the stroke of his fingers through her hair, the soft rhythm of his breathing. The reassurance of his solid warmth next to her.

  ‘‘Don’t let her hurt you,’’ she whispered. ‘‘God, Shane—’’

  ‘‘No worries. Michael will be there, and I’m pretty sure he’d get into it if she tried. But I want you safe. Promise me that while we’re gone, you’ll go stay with your parents or something. No—’’ Because she was already trying to protest. ‘‘No, promise me. I need to know you’ll be okay.’’

  She nodded, still miserable. ‘‘I promise,’’ she said, and took a deep breath to push all that away. ‘‘So what dumbass costume are you wearing?’’

  ‘‘Don’t ask.’’

  ‘‘Does it involve leather?’’

  ‘‘Yeah, actually, I think it might.’’ He sounded like he dreaded the prospect. She managed a smile, despite everything.

  ‘‘I can’t wait.’’

  Shane banged his head back against the wall. ‘‘Chicks.’’

  Her next visit to Myrnin’s lab brought a surprise. When she descended the steps, she saw the glow of lamps, and her first thought was, Oh God, he’s out of his cell. Her second was that she’d better get the dart gun ready, and she was unzipping the backpack to reach for it when she saw that it wasn’t Myrnin at all.

  The overcrowded, dimly lit lab—which was more like a storeroom of outdated equipment, really—held a chair and reading lamp. Seated in the chair, turning pages in one of the fragile, ancient journals, was none other than Oliver.

  Claire put her hand on the butt of the dart gun, just in case, although she wasn’t really sure what good a dose of antidote would do in this situation.

  ‘‘Oh, relax, I’m not going to attack you, Claire,’’ Oliver said in a bored voice. He didn’t even look up. ‘‘Besides, we’re on the same side these days. Or haven’t you heard?’’

  She came down the remaining steps slowly. ‘‘I guess I haven’t. Was there a memo?’’ Granted, he’d come running when Eve had called about Bishop, but that didn’t necessarily put him in the category of ally in Claire’s books.

  ‘‘When outsiders threaten the community, the community pulls together against the outsiders. It’s a rule as old as the tribal system. You and I are in the same community, and we have a common enemy.’’

  ‘‘Mr. Bishop.’’

  Oliver looked up, marking the place in the journal with one finger. ‘‘You have questions, I’d assume. I would, in your place.’’

  ‘‘All right. How long have you known him?’’

  ‘‘I don’t know him. I doubt anyone does who’s still alive today.’’

  Claire slipped into a rickety chair across from him. ‘‘But you’ve met him.’’

  ‘‘Yes.’’

  ‘‘When did you meet him, then?’’

  Oliver tilted his head, eyes narrowed, and she remembered how she’d once thought he was nice, just a normal kind of person. Not so much now.

  Not so much a person, either.

  ‘‘I met him in Greece,’’ he said. ‘‘Some time ago. I don’t think the circumstances would be particularly enlightening to you. Or comforting, come to think of it.’’

  ‘‘Did you try to kill him?’’

  ‘‘Me?’’ Oliver smiled slowly. ‘‘No.’’

  ‘‘Did Amelie?’’

  He didn’t answer, but he continued to smile. The silence stretched until she wanted to scream, but she knew he wanted her to babble.

  She didn’t.

  ‘‘Amelie’s affairs are none of yours,’’ Oliver said. ‘‘I assume you’ve been listening to Myrnin’s chatter.

  I confess, I find it fascinating he’s still with us. I thought him dead and gone, long ago.’’

  ‘‘Like Bishop?’’

  ‘‘He’s quite mad, you know. Myrnin. And he has been for as long as I can recall, though it certainly got worse in more recent times.’’ Oliver’s eyes took on a faraway look. ‘‘He did so love the hunt, but he was always such a pathetic weeping idiot after. It doesn’t surprise me he wants to blame his own weakness on some—mythical disease. Some peopl
e simply aren’t cut out for this life.’’

  Of all the things Claire had expected, that one caught her off guard. ‘‘You don’t believe there’s a disease?’’

  ‘‘I don’t believe that because Myrnin and a few others are—defective—that it means we’re all declining, no.’’

  ‘‘But—you can’t, um—’’

  ‘‘Reproduce?’’ Oliver said it without any emotion at all. ‘‘Perhaps we don’t wish to.’’

  ‘‘You tried to turn Michael.’’

  Oh, she shouldn’t have said that, she really shouldn’t have; Oliver’s face tensed, and she saw the skull underneath that smooth, pale skin. A flicker of red went through his eyes. ‘‘So Michael says.’’

  ‘‘So Amelie says. You wanted—you wanted your own power base here. Your own converts. But you couldn’t do it. That surprised you, didn’t it? Because all of a sudden you’re—not able to.’’

  ‘‘Child,’’ Oliver said, ‘‘you should think carefully about the next thing you say to me. Very, very carefully.’’

  He followed up with another stretch of silent staring, and this time Claire did look away. She picked at invisible lint on her backpack. ‘‘I should get to work,’’ she said. ‘‘And you aren’t supposed to be in here without Amelie knowing about it.’’

  ‘‘How do you know she doesn’t?’’

  ‘‘There’d be somebody else here watching you if she did,’’ Claire pointed out, and got a small, cold smile in response.

  ‘‘Clever girl. Yes, very well. Are you going to tell me to leave?’’

  ‘‘I don’t think I can tell you to do anything, Oliver, but if you want me to call Amelie—’’ She took her cell phone out, opened it, and scrolled through the address book.

  Oliver thought about killing her. She saw it flash across his face, plain as sunrise, and she almost dialed the phone in sheer reflex.

  Then it was gone, and he was smiling, and he stood up and gave her a nod. ‘‘No need to bother the Founder with such nonsense,’’ he said. ‘‘I’ll be leaving. There’s only so many ridiculous mad ravings one can read at a sitting, in any case.’’