gave Claire a reassuring grin. “It’s a bruise; I’ll shake it off,” he said. “You might have to kiss it better later.”

She rolled her eyes. “Dream on,” she said, but she reached up to

push back the sweaty, thick hair from his face. “Look at that. Still handsome.”

“Damn straight.” Shane nudged the bulldozer guy with his

foot. “Hey. Want to get the hell out of our house, fool? Don’t

make me tell you that you’re not welcome. Bad things happen.”

No kidding, Claire thought. The house was practically vibrating, it was so upset. She shook her head, helped the guy up (seemed like the least she could do, really), and pushed him out the door

9780451414274_Daylighters_TX.indd 339

7/17/13 9:02 AM

22318

3 4 0

Rachel Caine

into his foreman’s arms. “I think you’d better call it a day,” she

told him.

He nodded. “You got it, kid. It’s beer o’clock.”

Claire dug the keys out of her pocket and tossed them to him.

“Then get that thing off our lawn.” She hesitated, holding his

stare. “You understand that if you even think about putting it in gear the wrong direction . . .”

“Oh, I get it,” he said. “Trust me. Far as I’m concerned, this

damn house can stay standing until the whole town falls down

around it.”

That seemed like an acceptable way to look at it, but Claire

checked her friends to be sure. Miranda nodded gravely, and

hugged Jenna tight. Michael raised his eyebrows at Eve, who polled

Shane, and then spoke for all of them when she said, “Sounds

good. Oh, and I’d get your friends checked out at the hospital just in case.”

“Them? What about me?” He rubbed his jaw. “You kick like a

mule, Mrs. Glass.”

He retreated with his two weaving, staggering buddies.

Eve smiled and relaxed against Michael, who wrapped his arms

around her. “We’re home. I like the sound of that,” she said, and

looked up at him. “Wait, weren’t we talking about a wedding be-

fore all this?”

“We were,” he said. “Let’s go discuss it. In private.” He grabbed

Eve’s hand and towed her off down the hall. Eve waved back toward

the rest of them, and all the Goth makeup in the world couldn’t

have concealed the blush in her cheeks.

“We should go,” Miranda said to Jenna, in a very businesslike

tone. “Because they get weird about me being here when they’re,

you know.”

9780451414274_Daylighters_TX.indd 340

7/17/13 9:02 AM

22318

Daylighters

3 4 1

“I’ve been thinking that maybe we should make you a bed-

room at my house,” Jenna said. “I’ve got a spare room. You’ll

have to visit here to keep your connection, but you’re welcome

anytime.”

Miranda’s eyes widened, and she looked so bright and hopeful

that it almost hurt Claire to look at her. After all the kid’s misery, maybe things were starting to finally, finally look up. “Yeah, that sounds okay,” she finally said, and managed to make it sound teen-indifferent, even though she definitely wasn’t. “Can I bring my