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"Yes," she managed to say. She'd been intending to throw the blood to him, but somehow it didn't seem right. She picked up the first one and held it out.
Myrnin walked slowly toward her - deliberately slowly, making sure she got used to the idea - and took the plastic pack from her hand without so much as brushing her skin. He even turned away to bite into it, and although the sucking noises made her uncomfortable and a bit sick, when he turned around, there wasn't a speck of blood on him, or in the plastic packaging, either.
Claire held up the second one. He shook his head. "No need to stuff myself," he said. "One is plenty for now." Which was odd, too, because Myrnin was usually - how could she put it without making herself feel nauseous? - a hearty eater.
"I'll put it back," she said, but before she could move, Myrnin had taken it from her palm. She hadn't even seen him move this time.
"I'll do it." She shivered, listening and watching, but he was already gone into the shadows. She heard the creak of the massive refrigerator door open and close, and then suddenly he was back, strolling slowly out of the darkness. Arms crossed over his chest. He leaned against the wall across from her.
"So?" he asked. "Do I seem insane to you?"
She shook her head.
"You wouldn't tell me even if I was, would you, Claire?"
"Probably not. You might get angry."
"I might get angry if you lied," Myrnin said. "But I won't. I don't feel angry at all right now. Or hungry, or even anxious, and that never seemed to leave me the last few years. The drugs you gave me, Claire, I think they're taking hold. Do you know what that means?" He flashed across the empty space, and when she was able to focus on him again, he was kneeling next to her chair, one pale hand gently resting on her knee. "It means my people can be saved. All of them."
"What about mine?" Claire asked. "If yours get well, what happens to mine?"
Myrnin's face went carefully still and blank. "The fate of humans isn't really my area of responsibility," he said. "Amelie has worked hard to be sure Morganville is a place of balance, a place where our two kinds can live in relative harmony. I doubt she'd change all that based on the outcome of this experiment."
He could doubt it all he wanted, but Claire knew Amelie better. She'd do whatever was best for her own first, humans second. In fact, Claire wasn't altogether sure, but she suspected Morganville was the experiment - and an experiment would be ended when an outcome was achieved.
If this was the outcome - what happened to the lab rats?
Myrnin's dark eyes were glowing now with sincerity. "I'm not a monster, Claire. I wouldn't allow you to be hurt. You've done us a great service, and you'll be looked after."
"What about other people?" she asked.
"Which people? Ah, your friends, your family. Yes, of course, they'll be safeguarded, as well, whatever happens."
"No, Myrnin, I mean everybody else! The guy who makes hamburgers at the Burger Dog! The lady who runs the used-clothing store! Everybody!"
He blinked, clearly taken aback. "We can't care about everyone, Claire. It isn't in our natures. We can only care about those we know, or those we're connected with. I appreciate your altruism, but - "
"Don't talk to me about our natures! We're not the same!"
"Aren't we?" Myrnin patted her knee gently. "I'm a scientist. So are you. I have friends, people I care for and love. So do you. How are we different?"
"I don't suck my dinner out of a bag!"
Myrnin laughed. He showed no trace at all of fangs. "Oh, Claire, do you imagine that eating slaughtered and mutilated animals is any less disgusting? We both eat. We both enjoy the company of others. We both - "
"I don't dig brain tissue out of my skull! Oh, and I don't kill," she said. "You do. And you really don't mind it."
He sat back a little, staring into her face. The glow of sincerity took on a harder edge. "I think you'll find I do mind it," he said. "Or else I wouldn't put up with this from - "
"From a servant? Because that's what I am, right? Or worse - a slave? Property?"
"You're upset."
"Yes! Of course I'm - of course I'm upset." She fought to keep it together, but she couldn't; the misery just boiled out of her like steam under pressure. "I'm sitting here debating the future of the human race, and my friends and family are going to that party, and I can't protect them - "
"Hush, child," he said. "The feast. It's tonight, yes?"
"I don't even know what it is."
"Amelie's formal recognition of Bishop. Every vampire in Morganville who is able will be present, all there to swear their obedience, and every one of them will bring a token gift."
She sniffled, sat up, and wiped her face. "What kind of gift?"
Myrnin's dark eyes were steady on hers. "A token gift of blood," he said. "Specifically, a human. You're right to be worried for your friends, your family. He has the right to choose any human offered to him. The gesture is meant to be ceremonial - it's come down to us as a tradition from long ago - but it doesn't have to be."
And Claire understood. She understood why Amelie had forbidden her to come; she understood why Michael had deliberately asked Monica Morrell instead of Eve.
It was chess, and the pawns were people. The vampires were playing with what they could afford to lose.
"You - " Her voice didn't sound steady. She cleared her throat and tried again. "You said that he could choose any human."
Myrnin didn't blink. "Or all of them," he said. "If he so wishes."
"You know he'll do it. He'll kill someone."
"Most likely, yes."
"We have to stop this," she said. "Myrnin - why would she do this?"
"Amelie is not a brave woman. If the odds are against her, she will surrender; if the odds are near even, she will play for time and advantage. She knows she can't defeat Bishop on her own; not even she and Oliver combined can do it. She has to play the long game, Claire. She's played it all her life." Myrnin's dark eyes were glowing again, and he began to smile. "Amelie reckons her odds without me, of course. With me at her side, she can win."
"You want to go. To the feast."
Myrnin straightened his vest and brushed imaginary dust from his sleeves. "Of course. And I'm going with or without you. Now, are you going under those circumstances?"
"I - Amelie said - "
