“The water treatment plant,” Claire interrupted. “They haven’t had time to move him anywhere, and they can’t, because Myrnin closed off the pipes. They can’t leave there, not easily.”

“I’d never say can’t when it comes to these bastards. They supposedly couldn’t get here at all, but here they are.” Hannah made a decision of some kind, and holstered her weapon, though she kept her eyes on Claire. “What’s your plan?”

“Go get him.”

“Honey, that is not a plan. That’s what we in the military call an objective.” Hannah said it compassionately but firmly. “You don’t know he’s even still alive.”

“Actually,” said a voice from the shadows by the stairs, “we do.” Michael emerged, along with Eve.

He had Myrnin by the throat, and Myrnin was not looking good. In fact, he was looking like he’d gone ten rounds with Michael and lost.

He looked … beaten.

Michael shook him, his face tense and hard. “Tell them what you told me.”

Myrnin made a choking sound. Michael let go, and the other vampire fell to his knees, coughing. “I meant no harm,” he whispered. “I was trying to save you. All of you.”

“Just tell her.”

Myrnin’s head was bowed, his dark hair hiding his expression. “He may yet be alive.”

Hope wasn’t a peaceful thing; it was painful, a jagged white-hot explosion that ripped through her and forced her heart into overdrive. Claire heard herself say, over that heavy hammering, “You lied.”

“No. No, it’s true, he’s gone, Claire. When the draug take humans, without exception, they die. It’s just—vampires last for a long time, humans for a much shorter one, and humans seem to … dream. They don’t suffer as vampires do. It’s easy for them. They slip into … visions.” He looked up then, and she honestly couldn’t figure out what was in his face, his eyes, because her own were shimmering with tears. “It’s kinder to leave him in them. He’s dying, Claire. Or dead. But either way—”

“He’s alive right now,” she said flatly.

“Yeah,” Michael said. It sounded like a growl, and his eyes glowed dull red in the shadows. “He lied to us. And we’re going to get Shane. Right now.”

Myrnin looked down again. He didn’t even try to speak this time. He just … shook his head.

Claire couldn’t begin to think of how much it hurt her for him to do this, so she just … didn’t. She turned to Hannah. “We’re going.”

“You still don’t have a plan.”

“Yeah, we do,” Michael said. “They came after us because we were attacking weak points in the system. Attacking them directly. We’re not doing that this time. We’re just going in after him, and they don’t really care about humans; they care about vampires. They hunt us.” He let that fall into silence before he said, “They’ll care about me. I’ll make them care. I’ll go a different way and lead them off. That lets everybody else get to Shane.”