Rachel Caine - Last Breath

To Claire Wilkins, Griffin, and Gareth.

I know Big G will always be with you.

Love.

For all their amazing encouragement:

Cat

The Pats (all three of them!)

M

Jim

ORAC

The Time Turners, collectively and separately

The lovely people at Goodreads

Joe Bonamassa

The Smart Chicks

Charlaine Harris

The Incredibly Awesome team of A.J., Wendy, & Molly

My above & beyond travel agent, Susan Godwin

Rosanne Romanello (Go Ro!)

Susie Dunlop and the A&B team

Anne Sowards, for being awesome

Lucienne Diver, for so, so much

Charles, David, & Tommythanks for the faith and...

Breana Blan from El Paso!

If youre new to the Morganville Vampires series, welcome!

And sorry, because its Book 11, and you may be kicking yourself right about now, but dont worry. Ill catch you up quickly once you start to read.

For those faithful Morganville Residents whove been with me the whole way, Im trying something new this timean extension of what I started in Book 10, Bite Club. So in the pages of Last Breath, youll venture out of Claires point of view (the typical way the other Morganville novels have been told), although youll stay with her for the majority of this book as well. But youll get to view the story from a few other important perspectives: those of Amelie, Shane, Michael, and Eve.

So just make sure to look at the header at the top of each chapter to know from whose perspective youre about to read. Each point of view comes with its own chapter.

Thank you for coming along on the ride, and I hope you enjoy Last Breath!

And yes . . . there is a Book 12.

And no, I wont tell you what happens. Yet.

WELCOME TO MORGANVILLE. You must be new here. Thats fine; we welcome new blood to our town . . . but you need to know the rules. Dont stay out after dark. Dont break our laws. And, whatever you do, dont get on the bad side of the vampires.

Yes, vampireswe said it and we meant it. Theyre everywhere in this town . . . and theyre the people youd least suspect. But most of them just want to live their lives in peace. Oh, there are a few troublemakersarent there always?but Morganville is all about harmony and cooperation. Theoretically.

Youll probably need to find yourself a vampire Protector. That means one wholl ensure the safety of you and your family, for the low, low price of a percentage of your income and regular donations at the blood bank in his or her name.

If you dont want to go with a Protector, well, its your funeral. Some have done it, sure. But most arent around to endorse the practice, if you get my drift. Talk to the residents of the Glass House: Claire, Shane, Michael, and Eve. Theyll tell you all about your chances of survival.

And remember: welcome to Morganville! Youll never want to leave.

And even if you want to . . . well, you cant. Sorry about that.

Shanes lips felt like velvet against the nape of her neck, and Claire shivered in delight as his breath warmed the skin there. She leaned back against him with a sigh. Her boyfriends body felt solid and safe, and his arms went around her, wrapping her in comfort. He was taller than she was, so he had to bend to rest his chin on her shoulder and whisper, You sure about this?

Claire nodded. You got the overdue notice, didnt you? Its this or they come to collect. You dont want that.

Well, you dont have to be here, he pointed outnot for the first time today. Dont you have classes?

Not today, she said. I had an oh-my-God a.m. lab, but now Im all done.

Okay, then, you dont have to do this because youre tax-exempt.

By tax-exempt, he meant that she didnt have to pay . . . in blood. Taxes in Morganville were collected three ways: the polite way, via the collection center downtown, or the not-so-polite way, when the Bloodmobile showed up like a sleek black shark at your front door, with Men in Blackstyle technicians to ensure you did your civic duty.

The third way was by force, in the dark, when you ventured out un-Protected and got bitten.

Vampires. A total pain in the neckliterally.

Shane was entirely right: Claire had a legal document that said she was free from the responsibility of donations. The popular wisdomand it wasnt wrongwas that shed already given enough blood to Morganville.

Of course, so had Shane . . . but he hadnt always been on the vampires side, at the time.

I know I dont have to do it, she said. I want to. Ill go with.

In case youre worried, Im not girly-scared or anything.

Hey! She smacked his arm. Im a girl. What exactly are you saying? That Im not brave or something?

Eeek, Shane said. Nothing. Right, Amazon princess. I get the point.

Claire turned in his arms and kissed him, a sweet burst of heat as their lips met. The lovely joy of that released a burst of bubbles inside her, bubbles full of happiness. God, she loved this. Loved him. It had been a rough year, and hed . . . stumbled, was the best way she could think of it. Shane had dark streaks, and hed struggled with them. Was still struggling.

But hed worked so hard to make it upnot just to her, but to everyone he felt hed let down. Michael, his best (vampire) friend. Eve, his other (nonvampire) best friend (and Claires best friend, too). Even Claires parents had gotten genuine attention: hed gone with her to see them twice, with exit permission from the vampires, and hed been earnest and steady even under her fathers stern cross-examination.

He wanted to be different. She knew that.

When the kiss finally ended, Shane had a drugged, vague look in his eyes, and he seemed to have trouble letting go of her. You know, he said, moving her hair back from her cheek with a big, warm hand, we could just blow this off and go home instead of letting them suck our blood. Try it tomorrow.

Bloodmobile, she reminded him. People holding you down. You really want that?

He shuddered. Hell, no. Okay, right, after you. They were standing on the sidewalk of Morganvilles blood bank, with its big cheerful blood-drop character sign and scrupulously clean public entrance. Claire pecked him lightly on the cheek, escaped before he could pull her close again, and pushed the door open.

Inside, the place looked like theyd given it a makeovermore brightly, warmly lit than the last time shed been in, and the new furniture looked comfortable and homey. Theyd even installed a tank full of colorful tropical fish flitting around living coral. Nice. Clearly, the vampires were trying to put forth their best efforts to reassure the human community, for a change.

The lady sitting behind the counter looked up and smiled. She was human, and sort of motherly, and she pulled Claires records and raised her thin, graying eyebrows. Oh, she said. You know, youre entirely paid up for the year. Theres no need

Its voluntary, Claire said. Is that okay?

Voluntary? The woman repeated the word as if it were something from a foreign language. Well, I suppose . . . She shook her head, clearly thinking Claire was mental, and turned her smile on Shane. And you, honey?

Collins, he said. Shane Collins.

She pulled out his card, and up went the eyebrows again. You are definitely not paid up, Mr. Collins. In fact, youre sixty days behind. Again.

Ive been busy. He didnt crack a smile. Neither did she.

She stamped his card, wrote something on it, and returned it to the file, then handed them both slips of paper. Through the door, she said. Do you want to be in the room together or separately?