“Actually,” Oliver said, “I sent Pennywell. It seemed to me he would be the one of us you and your friends would be least likely to argue with.”

Pennywell laughed. “There you are wrong.”

“I never said it would be easy.” Oliver slammed the door on that conversation, and focused back on Claire. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, and she tried not to be intimidated. “Myrnin and I wish to ask you about Amelie.”

“Amelie.” Claire stared back at him blankly, and then she felt the first tinglings of alarm. “What about her?”

“That display of foolishness last night. How did you know what she was doing? I didn’t.”

“I think it’s the bracelet. I don’t know. Maybe—” Maybe it’s Ada, she thought, but didn’t say. Myrnin stared at her thoughtfully through half-lidded eyes and blew smoke in a cloud at the roof. “Maybe she wanted me to know. Deep down. Maybe she wanted someone to stop her.”

“Was she surprised to see you?” Myrnin asked. Claire slowly nodded. “Then she didn’t summon you, consciously or unconsciously. Interesting.”

“Theories?” Oliver asked.

“Not at present.” Myrnin shrugged; then he spoiled his cool by catching sight of something outside of the limousine windows and brightening like a three-year-old with a new toy. “Oh, an all-night drive-through! I could murder a cheeseburger. Don’t you just love this century?”

“Focus, you fool,” Oliver growled. “What is Amelie up to? Is she fit to remain in control?”

“What makes you think she is in control?” Myrnin asked absently, then shot Claire a frown. “What happened to your face?”

“You,” she snapped. “Remember?”

“I certainly did not order you to stand out in the sun. What possible good would that do?”

“Box? UV bomb? Ringing any bells?”

“Oh.” Myrnin considered this carefully, then sighed.

“Yes. Quite my fault. So sorry. What were we talking about?”

“Amelie,” Oliver said, almost growling. “Is she fit to lead?”

Myrnin stubbed out his cigar in the wineglass. “Careful, my old friend,” he said.“You come very close to saying something you would regret. I’m not your creature.”

“No,” Oliver agreed. “You’re her creature to the bone. You built her this madhouse of a town. I would assume you could destroy it, if you chose.”

Myrnin’s attention seemed to be focused on crushing the cigar into submission. “Your point?”

“Amelie said herself that Morganville was built as an experiment, to see if it was possible for vampires and humans to live openly, and in peace. Well, I think that after all this time, we know the answer to that question. The only way to control humans is through fear, intimidation, and appeals to their greed. This exercise hasn’t made us stronger; it’s made us weaker.”

“We were dying already,” Myrnin said. “Out in the world.”

Pennywell, who hadn’t spoken since entering the limo, let out a derisive laugh. “Some of us,” he said. “And some of us were killing.”

“Any fool can kill. It takes genius to create.”