Well, you really made a mess of things, he said. And as a consequence, Amelie has been very clear about my responsibilities. No more Mr. Nice Vampire, Claire. You must work, and work constantly, until we get the last security measure of Morganville running properly again. I can provide you with food and drink, but no rest periods. Personally, I think thats excessively cruel, but no one asked me for my opinion, only for my strict cooperation, which I will provide. How many hours have you been awake so far?
Um . . . Claires brain didnt seem to be working so well. About eighteen, I guess.
Unacceptable. Youll make no significant progress before you collapse or go insane. No one said I couldnt let you rest before you start work. Ill get your dinner, and then off to bed with you. Ill wake you at a reasonable hour. Myrnins expression softened, and he looked genuinely sad. Im sorry for this, Claire. But shes trying to walk a razors edge, do you see? Cruel enough to satisfy Oliver and his growing number of supporters, but providing you with an opportunity to redeem yourself and do good for our community. And should you fail, I think she is providing me an opportunity to He must have been about to say something that he shouldnt have, because he stopped, looked away, and shrugged. With an opportunity as well. In any case. Dinner. Do you prefer hamburgers or hot dogs?
Hot dogs made her think of Shane, and that made her want to cry. She knew how he was taking the news; hed be going crazy, and probably trying to do something stupid that Michael and Eve were trying to stop. Hamburger, she said. I guess.
And french fries? And cola? Young people still like those things, I assume?
She nodded, miserable already. Myrnin reached out and patted her awkwardly on the shoulder. Chin up, little one, he said. I have faith in you. Well, in us, actually. Ill be back in five minutes. His hand tightened on her, and she looked up into his face. I dont have to tell you what the consequences are if you try to flee while Im gone, do I? I dont have to put you in a cage to be sure?
No, she said. Ill stay.
Good. Because if you do manage to escape, Amelie has issued orders that your friends and your parents are to be immediately arrested, to join that unfortunate stupid boy in his doom. Do you understand?
Claires eyes flooded with hot, angry tears. I understand, she said. I wont run.
I didnt expect you would. But I had to tell you.
She hated him a little bit just then, but he patted her on the shoulder, grabbed his flamboyant hat and cloak, and was up the steps and gone in a vampire flash.
Claire sank down on the dark medieval chair and put her head in her hands. She hadnt realized how tired she was, but her muscles ached, and she could feel a fuzziness in her thoughts that told her she was getting close to the end of her energy. Myrnin had been kind, as much as he could be. Rest would help her get through at least another day, maybe two.
Forty-eight hours, max, before shed start losing focus, making mistakes, failing.
She couldnt fail. She couldnt.
The tears came then, even though she didnt really want them. She didnt know how long she cried, lost in a bleak fog of misery, until the smell of french fries made its way into her nose. She sat up, wiping her eyes, and saw Myrnin standing in front of her in that ridiculous pimp hat. Hed left the cloak somewhere.
He held out a paper bag stained with grease, and a gigantic paper cup with a lid and a straw. She took it and sipped the soda first. Pure, sweet, cold Coke. Somehow, it made her feel a little better.
Follow me, Myrnin said. Eat, then rest.
She got up and followed him through the lab, through one of the doors at the back that was normally kept closed with a gigantic, ancient padlock dangling above the knob. He searched through his pockets and came up with a clumsy-looking iron key, which he used on the lock, and then swung the door open with a flourish. He swept off his hat and bowed, which was so ridiculous Claire almost laughed.
Inside was a little room with a little table, and a very plain cot with clean white sheets. There were lamps, and in the dim light Claire made out tapestries on the walls. Hed put some colorful rugs on the floor, too. It looked oddly . . . nice.
Is this your bedroom? she asked, and turned to look at him. Myrnin straightened and jammed the big red floppy hat back on his head. The feathers waved back and forth.
Dont get any ideas, he said. Im far too young and innocent for that kind of thinking.
He backed out, closed the door, and she heard the lock snap shut. Panic kicked in immediately; no matter how nice it was, this was a prison. Myrnin held the key, and she didnt trust Myrnin to remember tomorrow that she was still here. Claire dumped the food and drink on the table and rushed to the door, banging on the wood. Hey! she yelled. I said I wouldnt run! I promised!
She didnt think hed answer, but he did. Its for your own good, Claire, he said. Eat, rest, and Ill see you in the morning.
No matter how much she shouted after that, he didnt answer.
Claire finally ran out of fury, although the fear seemed there to stay. She went back to the table, sat down, and took out the burger and fries. She didnt really feel hungry until the first bite, and then she was ravenous and ate everything, even the pickles. She was getting sleepy even before finishing the Coke, and had time to wonder what exactly Myrnin had done to her drink, then stumble to the bed, before she collapsed and fell into a deep, dark sleep.
SIX
The next day started with breakfast, provided by Myrnin again. He set it on the table while she was still lying on the bed, blinking at the lights. Claire said, You drugged me.
Well, only a little, he said. He was wearing a violent-looking Hawaiian shirt, all pinks and yellows and neon greens, a pair of checked pants that had probably been ugly when checks were in style, and flip-flops. Did you sleep?
Dont drug me again.
It wouldnt be appropriate in any case. You wont be able to sleep, you know. Not until were finished.
Dont remind me. She got up, stretched, and wished she had fresh clothes. These were wrinkled, and starting to smell funky. Not that Myrnin would notice, probably. Whats for breakfast?
Doughnuts, he said cheerfully. I like doughnuts. And coffee.
Claire was doubtful about the coffee, but hed provided some cream and sugar, and the chocolate-covered doughnut helped wash the taste away anyway. She drank it all, with plenty of sugary bites to help; she was pretty sure shed need all the caffeine she could get.
Breakfast didnt last nearly long enough.
She couldnt have said what made her aware that something had changed; shed developed a kind of sixth sense for these things, being around Myrnin for a while. Maybe it was just that hed fallen silent for what seemed like too long. She looked up and saw him standing in the doorway of the room, watching her with big, liquidly dark eyes that seemed . . . wistful? She wasnt quite sure. He could have moods about the oddest things.
He smiled, just a little, and it seemed very sad. You reminded me of someone just then.
Who?
It wouldnt make you feel better to know that.
She could guess anyway. Ada, she said. You had that thinking-about-Ada look.
I dont know what you mean.
You look like you miss her, Claire said. You do, dont you?
His smile faded, as if he didnt have the strength to hold it anymore. Ada was my friend and colleague for a very long time, he said. And there was . . . a great deal of respect between us. Yes, I miss her. Ive missed her every moment that shes been gone, strange as that may seem to you.
He pushed away from the doorframe, as if he was about to leave. She couldnt stand to see him walk off with that lost expression, so Claire asked, How did you meet her?
That brought him, and the smile, back. It seemed less wistful this time. I heard of her first. She was brilliant, you know. Brilliant and charming and well before her time. She understood the concept of computing machines from the very beginning, but not only thatshe was a student of a great many things, including people. That was how we met. She spotted me in a crowd one night in London, and the next thing I knew she was demanding to know what I was. She could tell, you see. It fascinated her. No surprise, because her father and his friends were the original Gothic crowd, you know. Claire must have looked blank, because he sighed. Really, child. Lord Byron? Percy Shelley? Mary Shelley? John Polidori?
Um . . . Frankenstein?
That would be Marys work, yes. Dr. Polidori became famous for a similarly dark work of fiction . . . about a vampire. So Ada was much more perceptive than one would have thought. And terribly persistent. Before long, we were . . . He stopped himself, looked sharply at her, and said, Close friends.
Im not five.
Very well, then; call it what you like. We became intimate, and well leave this discussion there, I think. He cleared his throat, looked away, and said, Thank you.
She was gathering up her grease-stained doughnut bag, and stopped to stare at him. What for?
For making me think of that, he said softly. I do miss her. I really do. He seemed a little surprised about it, then shook out of it with visible effort. Enough. Let me show you what Ive accomplished while you were out getting yourself in so much trouble.
I didnt
Claire. He gave her a long, reproachful look, and put his finger to his lips. Silence while I am speaking. We dont have time for you to quibble.
He did have a point, sort of. She nodded, and he led her over to the nearest lab table, which held undefined lumps of things under a gray canvas. Myrnin whipped the canvas off like a magician unveiling a trick, complete with, Ta-da!
It looked worse than it had when shed last been here. It looked like a completely insane, random collection of parts, cobbled together without any sense of reason. Wires went everywhere, looping into snarls, and hed used so many colors of wire that the whole thing had a strange rainbow look to it that made even less sense.
There really wasnt much to say, except, What is it?
Oh, Claire, its my latest attempt to bring up the barriers around the town; what do you think it is? Look, I added vacuum pumps here, and here, and a new gear assembly, and
Myrnin, stop. Just . . . stop. She closed her eyes for a second, thinking, Im going to die, and finally forced herself to look at him again. Lets start from the beginning. Wheres the input?
You mean the point at which energy enters the system?
Yes.
Here. He touched something in the middle of the device, which made even less sense. It looked like a funnel made of bright, shiny brass. In fact, it looked almost like a horn.
And then where does the . . . ah, energy go?
Isnt it obvious? No? I weep for the state of public schools. He traced two wires, one that split off into a tangle of tubes, and one that went into what looked like a clock, only there were no numbers on the dial. It draws power during the daytime hours, but its at its most powerful at night, under the influence of the moon, which is why Ive made certain parts of it from elements that resonate with the lunar cycle. I tried to balance the effects of the different elements, day and night, to achieve a perfect oscillation. Its obvious.
If you were insane.
Claire sighed. We need to start over, she said. Just start from scratch and build it again. One thing at a time, and you explain to me what it does, okay?
Theres no need to start over. Ive been perfectly
Myrnin, Claire interrupted. No time to quibble, remember? Its going to take all day to tear this thing apart, but I need to understand what youre doing. Really.
He considered it, looking at her for the longest time, and then grudgingly nodded. Very well, he said. Lets begin.
Autopsying Myrnins mad-scientist machine was weirder than anything Claire had ever done in Morganville, and that was definitely a new record. Some of the parts were slippery, and felt almost . . . alive. Some were ice-cold. Some were hotso hot she burned her fingers on them. Asking why didnt seem to do any good; Myrnin didnt have explanations that she could follow, since they drifted out of science and off into alchemy. But she methodically broke down the machine, labeled each part with a number, and made a diagram as she did of where each thing fit.
For a device that was supposed to establish a kind of detection field around the town limits, and then a second stage that would physically disable vehicles that werent already cleared for exit, and then a third stage that selectively wiped memories, it was . . .
Incomprehensible, really. She could see pieces of what Myrnin was doing; the detection-field part was simple enough. She could even follow the purely mechanical part of how the machine broadcast a shutoff of a vehicles electrical systemwhich led into the more complicated problem of how to rewire peoples brains. But it was all just so . . . weird.
It took hours, but all of a sudden as she was drawing the plug-in for a vacuum pump that felt as if it was radiating cold, although she didnt know how, Claire saw . . . something. It was like a flash of intuition, one of those moments that came to her sometimes when she thought about higher-order physics problems. Not calculation, exactly, not logic. Instinct.
She saw what he was doing, and for that one second, it was beautiful.
Crazy, but in a beautiful kind of way. Like everything Myrnin did, it twisted the basic rules of physics, bent them and reshaped them until they became . . . something else. Hes a genius, she thought. Shed always known that, but this . . . this was something else. Something beyond all his usual tinkering and weirdness.
Its going to work, she said. Her voice sounded odd. She carefully set the vacuum pump in its place on the meticulously labeled canvas sheet.
Myrnin, who was sitting in his armchair with his feet comfortably on a hassock, looked up. He was reading a book through tiny little square spectacles that might have once belonged to Benjamin Franklin. Well, of course its going to work, he said. What did you expect? I do know what Im doing.
This from a man wearing clothing from the OMG No store, and his battered vampire-bunny slippers. Hed crossed his feet at the ankles on top of a footstool, and both the bunnies red mouths were flapping open to reveal their sharp, pointy teeth.
Claire grinned, suddenly full of enthusiasm for what she was doing. I didnt expect anything else, she said. Whens lunch?
You humans, always eating. Ill make you soup. You can eat it while you keep working. Myrnin set aside his book and walked into the back of the lab.
Dont use the same beaker you used for poisons! Claire yelled after him. He waved a pale hand. I mean it!
She looked back down at the machine. The flash of intuition was gone, but the excitement remained, and she started in on the screws holding the next part.
She was exhausted, and she had no idea what time it was. Time didnt exist in Myrnins lab; the lamps were always burning. There were no windows, no clocks, no sense of how long shed been standing here over this table, tinkering. Days, it felt like. The only time shed been able to sit down was when she had to go to the bathroom; even Myrnin admitted he didnt think Amelie had meant for her to be denied restroom privileges.
He kept bringing her cups of things. Soup, when she was hungry. Coffee. Sodas. Once, memorably, a glass of orange juice that tasted like sunshineat least, as far as she was able to remember sunshine.
She was so tired. She could hardly hold on to her tools anymore, and her hands were clumsy and aching. Her back was on fire. Her legs trembled with the effort to stay standing. She couldnt work sitting down, as high as the table was, and when she tried to stop and sit for a moment, Myrnin was always there.
This time, as she inched toward the stool, he suddenly made a furious sound and knocked it away, and halfway across the lab, where it hit and rolled with a shocking clatter. No! he barked. Stay awake. Do you think I like this?
I cant do it! she cried, and felt tears stinging her eyes. Myrnin, Im so tired! I need to sit down; please let me sit down! Amelie wont know!
She will, came a voice from the shadows, by one of the storage room doors. Claire blinked and focused, and there was Oliver, leaning against the wall. You will always have observers, Claire. You chose this punishment, and now you have to survive it. Personally, I think thats unlikely; I believe youll collapse long before you finish the work, and we both know that Amelie cant afford to be seen as merciful to you. If you fail, all the better. I never agreed with this compassion nonsense. He sounded dismissive, and still angry that she wasnt in a cage in the middle of Founders Square, waiting for a bonfire. She felt a surge of hate so hot it shocked her. If shed had a stake, shed have used it on him, and never mind the consequences.
She went back to work. She didnt know how, but she did, focusing so fiercely that every part was etched in her mind, every gleaming metal surface.
It could have been minutes later, or hours, but she became aware that Oliver was gone, and that Myrnin was, too. Hed moved all the chairs, and the distance of a few feet seemed too far away to try to walk. She wasnt sure shed be able to make it, even if she dared.
Myrnin was pacing on the other side of the lab, head down, arms folded. He looked agitated. Her weariness painted strange lines around him, jagged patterns of color that seemed to flow like oily rainbows.
He was muttering something. She had to concentrate to hear him.
I never meant it, he was saying. Never meant it to happen. Cant stand it, seeing her suffer. Must do something, do something . . . What do I do? What can I do . . . ?
Claire thought he was talking about her, but just then, he stopped and pulled a small golden locket out of his pocket. He opened it and stared down at the picture. His face looked drawn and tortured, and shed seen him like this before, her weary brain insisted. Back in the bad old days, before hed gotten well, hed had episodes like this.
It wasnt about her at all.
It was about Ada.
So sorry, Myrnin whispered to the picture in the locket. I never meant it to happen. I never meant to hurt you. But you were so sick. And it was so easy.
Claire tried to move, and her legs threatened to collapse. She reached for the edge of the table for balance, and knocked over a glass beaker, which rolled off and smashed on the stone floor.
Myrnin whirled, and his fangs came out.
This is what happened to Ada, she thought, and felt a terrible sense of inevitability to it all. She got sick and weak, and he couldnt help himself. Just like he cant help himself now.
As Myrnin stepped toward her, though, she saw realization come back into his eyes, driving out the alien energy shed seen there. He looked appalled. And frightened. Claire?
Im working, she whispered. Im just so . . . I dont think I can do this. I really dont.
He hesitated, then came to stand beside her. Myrnins cool hand closed around her wrist, drawing her attention back to him. Focus, he told her quietly. You can do this. Were close. Very close.
They werent. They couldnt be. Shed thought she understood, but she was so tired, and everything was jumbled and confused and her eyes hurt and her back hurt and she couldnt feel her feet at all. . . .
Here, Myrnin said, his voice still gentle and low. Amelie said you had to work. No one said you had to work alone. He picked up the next part and slotted it in, took the screwdriver from Claires numbed fingers, and fastened it with a couple of deft, fast movements. Ill be your hands.
She wanted to cry, because it was sweet, but it wouldnt do any good. She couldnt think anymore. Even all her meticulous labeling and drawing just looked like so many puzzle pieces jumbled up in a box. Shed understood how it all fit together, how amazing and beautiful it would be when it was finished, but . . . but now it was just noise in her head.
She felt her vision start to go gray, and her heart was pounding loud and fast.
Myrnin caught her around the waist. Claire hadnt even realized she was about to fall. Focus, he told her. You can finish this. Youre close. He sounded a little desperate. Dont do this, Claire. Dont make me see you like this. Its too easy for me to . . . forget who I should be.
She swallowed hard and triedtried really hardto stand on her own. How long has it been?
Forty-nine hours since you started, Oliver said from the shadows. Myrnin, I dont believe Amelie meant for you to actually hold her upright.
Myrnin let go and stepped back, guilty relief flaring on his face. He nodded and moved away, out of reach.
Oliver watched him with a dispassionate kind of calm. I admit, youve done better than I would have expected. You can still choose to have one of your friends take your punishment for you. I wont protest the change.
That steadied her; the thought of Eve or Shane or Michael having to suffer for heror worse, her mom or dadmade her find the last little dregs of strength she still had. Forty-nine hours? The longest shed ever stayed up before was thirty, and that had felt like dying.
She was still on her feet, still working, still thinking. That was some kind of victory, right?
Myrnin hovered near her, not trusting her balance, but she hardly noticed. Claire focused down on the machine, on the few parts remaining. She had to figure this out. She had to.
It was as she slotted one of the last pieces in place that she saw what was missing. Wiring, she said slowly. Her voice sounded thick and strange. From here to here. She pointed at the contact points. Should carry the current into the output.
Myrnin bent over, frowning, and squinted at the place shed pointed. He grabbed an enormous magnifying glass and looked closer. I think youre right, he said. Hold on, Claire. Were almost there.
She nodded and grabbed the edges of the table. Her body felt like it weighed five hundred pounds. Her legs were numb. She didnt dare try to shift at all, or she knew shed fall.
Myrnin was back in seconds with a ball of black insulated wire and a soldering gun. He nearly burned his hair with it, since he was bending so close, but he got it right.
Claire grabbed the last two partsa clockwork mechanism that fastened on top, and a wiring assembly that connected it to the vacuum tubesand slotted them into place. Myrnin finished fastening them.
And that was all of it. The machine stretched out in an endless, dizzying series of loops and whirls and weird mechanisms, sprouting wires like tree roots. It didnt look real to her. Neither did Myrnin, as he turned to her with a barely concealed red glow in his eyes.
I think its done, she said. May I please sit down?
Yes, Oliver said. I think youd better.
She fainted.
She came awake to the sound of a cell phone. She knew that song. It was the ringtone shed assigned to Shane.
She tried to reach for her cell, but her hand felt like a balloon, and a million pounds heavier than it should. She was lying down in Myrnins cot again, blankets pulled up neatly to her chin, and as she fumbled for the cell the door opened, and Myrnin zipped in and grabbed the phone. He put a cool hand on her forehead and said, Sleep. Youre fevered.
Thank you, she whispered. Thank you for taking care of me.
He looked at her for a long moment and smiled. Its nice to not be on my own, at least for now, he said. Im sorry about earlier. I was . . . not myself. You understand.
She did; shed seen it often enough. She even understood what had pushed him close to the edgehed been forced to stand by and watch her grow weak and exhausted and afraid, and the predator in him had woken up. Just as it had with Ada, once upon a time.
Shed fared a little better than Ada, but she wondered now whether that was because Myrnin had stopped himself . . . or whether Olivers presence had warned him off. Either way, it had been a near miss.
Are you feeling sick? she asked. She hadnt meant it to be quite that blunt, but she was too tired to be diplomatic. I mean, like you were before?
I can control myself. I just get in moods. You know that.
Youd tell me if you were in trouble.
He smiled, and it didnt look right somehow. Of course I would, he said. Rest now.
She wanted to talk to Shane, but she wasnt sure she could keep her eyes open long enough. Myrnin didnt wait for her to answer.
She was plummeting deep into sleep again as she heard the door close and lock.
The next time she woke up, she felt better. Fragile and hollow, but clear, and oh, God, she needed the restroom. Luckily, Myrnin had one very small toilet closet in the room; she got out of bed to head for it and groaned, because her legs felt like theyd been dipped in fire. The muscles were still trembling. She walked very carefully, bracing herself when she could, and while she used the toilet she took stock of how she felt otherwise.
Weak, sure. But it was so good to feel completely awake again.
Oh, and she also felt completely filthy. She needed a shower, a change of clothes, and about another week in bed, she decided. But since none of that was going to happen right at the moment, she splashed water on her face, finger-combed her hair, and went out to try the door.
It was unlocked.
The lab lookedwell, exactly the same, except that there were more people there than usual. Myrnin, of course. Oliver had hung around, or come back; he was standing off to the side, arms folded, frowning with that convince me look on his long, sharp face. She recognized another vampire, too, although she didnt know his name; he sometimes stopped in to visit Myrnin, and Myrnin had never introduced him.
On the other side of the worktable stood Amelie, immaculately dressed in a sky-blue suit and high heels. Her hair was up in the braided crown again.
Claire felt even grubbier.
They all stopped what they were doing as she came out of the door, and for a few seconds, no one spoke. Then Myrnin smiled widely and stepped aside, and she saw that the machine theyd built was glowing with a soft, blue light.
Her eyes widened. Its working?
It is indeed working, Myrnin said. Very good work, Claire. Ive connected it to the interface. Look! He turned a computer screen around toward her, and her artsy, steampunky interface showed in rust browns and golds. Claire came forward to look closer. All the readouts shed built in were measuring within normal levels.
She reached out and touched the STATUS button. A crisp computerized voice said, Morganville barriers are activated and within normal parameters.
Butwait. I didnt program it yet, Claire said. The hardware is one thing, but you have to program it.
Oh, I did that, Myrnin said, still smiling. Technically, you accomplished the goal Amelie set you. I saw no reason to torment you further with some simple instructions.
But . . . it needs to be tuned to a specific vampire brain, and you told me that
It has been, he said. Its been tuned to mine. Just as a template, mind you. Ill improve the programming as we go forward.
Myrnins brain. Myrnins brilliant, fiery, half-insane brain. Claire blinked and looked at Amelie, who was doing her best chilly ice-princess impression.
Myrnin is the logical choice, Amelie said. He has the greatest natural talent of any vampire in Morganville for influencing humans, although he rarely elects to use it. He wont be directing the machines actions, only providing a type of baseline reading on which it will base its own calculations and decisions.
Claire wasnt sure how to feel about any of this. Myrnin wasnt a programmer, and basing anything on Myrnins brain seemed hinky to her. Still, the computer seemed pretty definite. Everything was working. The barriers were up. All the readouts were normal.
She was . . . finished?
It should have felt like a victory, but it felt instead like shed missed something. Like something wasnt right, but she didnt know what it could be.
It was the voice, the computer voice.
It reminded her of . . . Ada. And that was extra creepy. It occurred to her that maybe Myrnin had done that deliberately to bring her back to him just a little bit.