“Unless it’s take- your- shotgun- to- work day, I’m going to get

noticed,” Shane said. “Not that it isn’t a great late birthday present, though.”

Hannah looked around the other stores on the block, and

grinned. “I can fix that.”

And she did.

“I hate this,” Shane complained, and sneezed. Turned out he was

allergic to roses. And he was carrying a thick bundle of them to

conceal the shotgun. It was kind of bizarrely clever, because no-

body thought a guy carrying roses was dangerous in the least, did

they? Especially one who was sneezing.

Claire could tell from how hard he was gritting his teeth that

he really did hate it. A lot.

They walked quickly but calmly the short distance to Found-

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er’s Square. Hannah must have thought ahead, because they went

to one of the side entrances; it was guarded by a police officer, but as Hannah got closer, she locked stares with the woman and said,

“Get on the right side, Gretchen. Semper Fi.”

Gretchen— a trim woman with thick white- blond hair—

nodded, gave them all a quick glance, and swung the gate open. “I

never saw you, boss,” she told Hannah.

“Affirmative.”

And then they were in, approaching from the side. There was a

school choir onstage, singing something that it took Claire a mo-

ment to realize was “Here Comes the Sun.” They weren’t very good.

“That’s a little on the nose,” Shane said. “I think maybe ‘Black

Hole Sun’ might be more appropriate.”

He was right, of course. The audience Fallon had gathered,

though, seemed entranced; they were swaying to the music, holding

hands, looking for all the world like they were having a religious experience.

Amelie, Oliver, and Morley were still motionless on the stage,

blistering and steaming in the sun. It must have been agonizing,

waiting for their chance. Claire wondered why they hadn’t done it

already, but then she realized they were waiting for word that the

vampires in the mall had been rescued.

It was up to her, and Shane, to let them know.

She spotted Eve and Michael. They were sitting in chairs on-

stage next to Fallon, pretty much held there by the two Daylighter

guards standing behind them. Maybe that was another reason why

Amelie hadn’t moved; Eve and Michael would be the first in dan-

ger if she did.

The choir was still singing when the vampires began to arrive

at Founder’s Square.

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Some were covered by blankets, coats, whatever they’d been

able to scavenge along the way from the mall. Some, the older

ones, had made do with a hat or some kind of cap. They came over

the walls in a silent stream, landing quietly in the bushes and moving forward to gather at the edges of the crowd. It was done very

calmly. Nobody threatened. Nobody attacked.