depository lifted up off the floor and smashed hard into the in-

truder’s chest. He yelled in surprise, but it didn’t do much damage; he grabbed it and flung it off to the side, into the parlor, then came after the two of them with murder in his eyes.

Claire felt the equally furious surge of energy rising up— out

of the floor beneath her, swirling in from the walls, down from the ceiling, a thick but invisible cloud of power that raised goose

bumps and tingles all over her body.

And then the coffee table from the parlor upended itself and

body- slammed him into the wall, hard enough to leave cracks in

the plaster. He dropped the baton and staggered.

An old, weirdly shaped vase in a particularly unpleasant shade

of brown flew off a shelf and smashed into bits against his head.

And then he was down, sagging down the wall. Groaning.

The house seemed satisfied with that— Claire felt the surge of

triumph and knew it hadn’t come from her or Miranda. She scram-

bled up, moved the coffee table out of the way (it was heavier than she remembered), and kicked the sharp pieces of the vase aside as

she picked up the riot baton.

The construction worker looked up at her woozily through

bloodshot eyes. She stuck the bulldozer keys in her pants pocket

and said, “Are you okay?”

He mumbled something that sounded rude, so she just as-

sumed he was, and looked outside. Jenna’s car was screeching to a

crooked halt at the curb ahead of their police cruiser; she must

have sensed the house’s distress, or Miranda’s. The fight on the

lawn was still going, but it was just about over, and as Jenna got

9780451414274_Daylighters_TX.indd 338

7/17/13 9:02 AM

22318

Daylighters

3 3 9

out of her car and strode over to help Shane to his feet, the remaining construction worker raised his hands to signal surrender.

“Okay, okay,” he yelled, as Michael and Eve paused, fists raised.

“Enough already. They don’t pay us enough for this!”

“Surprise,” Jenna said crisply. “They aren’t paying you at all

for this. If you think the Daylight Foundation is writing you a

check, you’re in for a surprise. They just shut their doors for good.”

He must have been the foreman, Claire thought, because he

just looked disgusted. “Well, crap,” he said. “I ain’t paying for that broken fence, lady. I had my orders.”

“Let’s call it even,” Eve said. “I never did like that fence, any-

way. What do you think, Michael? Something Gothic, like

wrought iron? With spikes?”

“Spikes are good,” he said, and grabbed her to look her over.

He ran a thumb over her chin. “You’re going to have a bruise.”

“Jeez, I hope so. Didn’t do my part if I don’t.”

He kissed her, looped an arm around her shoulders, and walked

her toward the house.

Shane was limping, but when he got to the door with Jenna, he