DEDICATION
Time for Turnes, who encouraged me to move ... And for P. N. Elrod, who knows why.
THANKS
It could not have happened without Sondra Lehman, Josefine Corsten, Sharon Sams, and my friends at LSG Sky Chefs. I also thank Lucienne Diver and Anne Bohne, without whom. . . well, you know!
A LONG HISTORY ...
Claire Danvers was going to Caltech. Or perhaps MIT. She wanted the big schools ... but his parents were a little concerned about sending a girl sixteen years of age without notice due to high pressure in the world. So they agreed and sent to a safe place for a year - Texas Prairie University, a small school located in Morganville, Texas, just an hour or more of your home.
One problem: Morganville is not what it seems. It is the last safe place for vampires, and that makes it not very safe to humans who work or study. The rules of the vampires in the city ... and all who live there.
Claire's second problem is that it is surrounded by enemies, large, human and vampire. Now she lives with her roommates Michael Glass (recently a vampire), Eve Rosser (always Gothic), and Shane Collins (whose father is a vampire killer). Claire is normal ... or she would be, except that it thoroughly understands the secrets of Morganville. She became an employee of the Founder, Amelie, and friend of the most dangerous, even more vulnerable vampire Myrnin.
And just when she thinks things can not get worse ... they are.
Amelie's father is coming to town, and he is not happy.
When Dad is not happy ... nobody is happy.
THERE IS A BIG PARTY IN THE CITY, AND FOR SOME, IT MAY BE THE LAST!
A
It was hard to imagine how Claire was the day - even with the standards of Morganville - could be worse ... and then the vampire that made her hostage wanted breakfast. "Coffee?" Claire repeated blankly. She glanced in the window of the room, just to prove to herself that, yes, it was still dark outside. Totally dark.
The three vampires looked at her. It was bad enough that kind of attention the two that she had not been properly presented - man and woman, very beautiful - but when the cold eyes of the old Mr. Bishop focused on her, made her want to run and hide.
She held his gaze for about five seconds, then looked down. She could almost feel him smiling.
"Coffee," he said softly, "is something to be eaten in the morning. Mornings are not controlled by vampires dawn. And I like eggs. "
"Scrambled or hard yolk?" Claire asked, trying not to sound as nervous as she felt. Do not say hard yolk. I do not know how to make egg yolks hard. I do not know why I said it. Do not say yolk lasts ...
"Scrambled," he said, and Claire was relieved breath. Mr. Bishop was sitting in the comfortable chair in the room that Michael usually occupied while he was playing his guitar.
Unlike Michael, Mr. Bishop made him look like a throne. Part of the reason everyone is standing - Claire, with her boyfriend, Shane, who was on his side preocau\u00e7\u00e3o, Eve and Michael for a short distance, shaking hands. Claire risked a look at Michael. He looked ... contained. Angry, sure, but under control, at least.
Claire was more scared about Shane. He had a well documented history of acting before thinking, at least when he was supposed to be personal safety of the people he cared about. She took his hand, and he sent him a quick, dark, unreadable glance.
No, she was not sure about it at all.
Mr. Bishop's voice pulled his attention back to him with a cold wave. "You told Amelie that I got, girl?"
