All The Queen's Horses {Myrnin, Morganville Vampires}

Myrnin's or Oliver's Pet?

If the shock on Myrnin's face had been evident when I told him my plan, it was doubly so, as Oliver stared at me, with his mouth slightly open. I met his gaze firmly, determined with my course of action.

He seemed to gather his senses and clicked his mouth shut, as he looked to Myrnin, silently questioning our highly unusual arrangement. Myrnin's face was purposefully smooth. He did not offer any comment on the matter.

"Well, I can see you are...taken care of...then. Regardless of the hour, contact me immediately when you have results." Oliver looked back to me, opened his mouth and must have decided against saying whatever he had on his mind, because he closed it and just nodded on the way out of the door.

..........

Two weeks had gone by - and we were no closer in determining what contagion we were fighting, let alone creating a way to stop it. I had barely left the lab, only going home for short periods to shower and sleep, before returning back to work.

Time was running out.

Three of the vampires had slipped into comas. Maybe it was a welcome relief, because the pain had gradually increased over time to excruciating levels.

I raked a brush through my hair a bit too harshly in my haste, to finish getting ready and then pulled it up into a fast ponytail. It had been my style of choice, every day, since the unknown sickness of the vampires began. It didn't really matter because no one saw me anymore, other than my roommates and Myrnin. I had quit going to class after my first day. There simply wasn't time when we were fighting - what seemed to be - a losing battle.

And all necessities were delivered to me. Oliver made sure of that. Shortly after I revealed that Myrnin would not be drinking anyone else's blood, a transport had arrived with food - not for Myrnin, but for me. The deliveries had continued every day since. Oliver obviously put some thought into it, because I noticed the meals and snacks were all extremely well balanced and high in the nutrition I would need to sustain Myrnin. I felt a bit like someone's pet, being taken care of like that. I wondered briefly whose pet that made me - Myrnin's or Oliver's? I frowned, but couldn't focus on that because, for now, it was necessary.

I made my way down the stairs and into the kitchen. Shane was seated at the table, with an open box of Cocoa Puffs and a gallon of milk. I smiled, wondering how many bowls of cereal he had already gone through. His usual was three to four.

He grinned back at me, "Hey beautiful."

Eve perched on the edge of the counter, sipping from a monster sized coffee cup: pink with a sparkly black skull on the side. Perfect. Eve was our resident Goth chick, whose personal taste in clothing, hair and make-up bordered on close-to-extreme undead. Today was no exception. Her make-up was done to perfection with almost white rice-powder, dark kohl eyeliner and a beautiful shade of purple lipstick.

"Where's Michael?" I asked.

Eve's expression faltered for the tiniest of moments before replying, "He is with the rest of the team Oliver assembled, to search for whoever is behind this."

"He's going to be okay," I reassured her, "Oliver won't let anything happen to him."

"I know," she sighed. "It's just that...if it could happen once, then it could happen again..."

I understood her worry. Eve's husband, Michael, was a vampire. I pictured his beautiful blond hair and blue eyes. It hurt me to imagine him lying in a coma like the other vampires - his body still, waiting for - what? What was the outcome of this poison? I didn't want to think about the answer.

"Would that be so bad?" Shane interjected. "I mean, of course not to Mikey, but a little vampire population thinning might not be such a bad thing."

I cringed every time Shane began his vampire-hate speak. It wasn't that he didn't have good reason. Vampires had killed his entire family. But I saw them as individual people. Some were evil, but others were good and certainly didn't deserve the pain I had seen them go through over the last two weeks.

Apparently Eve wasn't in the mood for his prejudice today, because she jumped down from the counter and hissed, "Ass. Hole," as she walked out the front door.

"What did I say?" Shane looked up at me. The sad part was Shane really didn't understand what was wrong with his statement.

I ignored him. I didn't have time to run down the merits of good-natured vampires right now. Instead I said, "I need to get to work."

He quickly stood and pulled me into a hug. "Are you sure you have to? Couldn't you take just one day off?" he pleaded.

I felt bad. I knew that he had barely seen me and missed me. I kissed him in reassurance. "Not yet...but hopefully soon."

Shane's mouth found mine again and I felt the hunger that coursed through him. "Are you sure you can't just take twenty minutes to spare?" he spoke huskily. "I promise to make it worth your time."

I shivered in anticipation. I had missed our personal time together since the vampires had gotten sick. The vampires. My mind was quickly brought back to reality and I whispered, "I'm sorry...I can't right now...I have to go."

Shane's eyes were hard as he released me and turned around. "Shane, please...you have to understand. They need me."

He spun back around to face me. "No...he needs you! Isn't that right?" he spat.

I recoiled from his anger, but shot back, "Yes! He needs me, because he is the one working to solve this! I am sorry that you can't see the good I am trying to do or support me in it. I have to go," I spoke as I walked into the living room, toward the portal wall.

"Claire, wait!" Shane followed me into the other room. "I'm sorry. I'm...trying. It's just that...I know how he looks at you..."

"How he looks at me?" I stared at Shane in confused annoyance.

"Yes...it's the same way I look at you. He has feelings for you," Shane spat.

"Of course he cares for me, we are friends," I told him, exasperated to be having this conversation one more time.

"Claire, you might be friends. But I promise you, it is more than that for him. I'm a guy and I can tell. You need to be careful around him."

I was getting more and more impatient. People's lives were on the line! I had to go. "Duly noted," I replied as I walked through the portal into Myrnin's lab.