Morganville Vampires 04: Feast of Fools by Rachel Caine

Author:Rachel Caine [Caine, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2010-03-01T05:00:00+00:00

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

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