Claire's POV

Claire came too slowly, and made an inventory of everything that hurt. Her head hurt from hitting it on the floor. Her wrist hurt from Myrnin's teeth and Amelie's nails. Her heart was beating like hummingbirds wings and she felt dizzy and sick.

It really wasn't the best feeling in the world.

She opened my eyes, blinded a little by the bright fluorescent light directly above her, and blinked, slowly assessing her condition from the expressions of her friends.

Eve-pale, but hey, what's new? A little shaken, but generally okay. Claire supposed she wasn't dying.

Michael- completely unreadable, as if he was thinking really hard. But he still flashed her an angelic smile and took her un-bandaged hand.

Shane…angry? Claire frowned slightly at him, meeting his eyes, hoping to convey how sorry she was for putting him through this. Shane knew her; he knew that she wouldn't let him get bitten. In this, at least, she could protect him.

He shook his head slightly at her, and took her other hand so very gently. Claire wanted to kiss him right then, but the door opened and Dr. Mills came in.

"Ah, I see you're awake. You had to have a transfusion and stiches in your…cuts" Shane winced at that, pain in his eyes. Claire squeezed his hand to comfort him.

"Take it easy for a few days, and you'll be fine. I've asked Amelie to grant you leave from your job for a few weeks. Sometimes things like this have…consequences." Dr. Mills trailed off towards the end, as if he wanted to say more, but didn't know quite how to say it. Claire thanked him and he left.

Pandemonium ensued.

"Oh my God, Claire don't ever do that to me again! It was just so-"

"Eve."

"-horrible watching them drain you, and there was nothing I could do-"

"Eve."

"-because Amelie had you, and Oliver was holding Michael and Shane had four vamps on him-"

"Eve. Seriously, she just woke up. Maybe less doom and gloom, please." Shane snapped, and then cringed. "Sorry, it's just…Myrnin…"

Eve and Michael seemed to take that as a valid reason, and Claire was beginning to wonder just exactly what had happened while she was unconscious.

"Um…so, what happened to make you guys so tense?"

Eve looked at her as if she'd lost her marbles. "Oh, I dunno, maybe my friend just got bitten." She said, her voice oozing sarcasm. But it sounded…fake. As if Eve was trying too hard. It made Claire wonder what she'd missed.

She raised her eyebrows at Shane questioningly, hoping to shame him into spilling the beans.

It worked, and Claire almost wished it hadn't.

"Myrnin was here. Claire, I know you don't like to admit it but he definitely has feelings for you, and yeah, that creeps me out. He ate the last girl he 'loved' didn't he?"

Claire opened her mouth to say something, but Shane cut across her, in full jealous boyfriend mode.

"I don't want you to see him for a bit. Please, Claire. Look, even Dr. Mills doesn't think it's a good idea. You've got the week of work, so use it. I feel like I barely see you anymore because he's always dragging you there. Just…think about it. Please."

Claire didn't know what to say to that. She wanted to deny Myrnin's feelings for her, because she knew they were a lot more complicated than Shane saw them to be, and that Myrnin would never act on them. In the end she said nothing, because she couldn't think of a way to say it without upsetting Shane. With all the crazy going on, he was one mistake away from landing himself back in the newly resurrected cage in Founder's Square.

Claire listened to Eve's funeral plans for any vamp who ever touched Claire again, and planned the week of activities for 'Claire's Epic Week Off' as Eve dubbed it. There really wasn't that much to do, but somehow, Eve and Michael managed to compile a list of ideas that wouldn't be potentially fatal or result in a prison sentence. Claire still wasn't too sure about the whole paintballing thing, but Shane was all for it.

In the end though, it didn't really matter.

Amelie arrived with a nurse who checked Claire over whilst Amelie talked. It was a very short conversation.

"Dr. Mills has approached me and requested you be allowed leave from your work. I have agreed to two days, but no more-"

"Hey, Claire had two days off anyway! And it isn't safe for her to be around him with frickin' holes in her wrist!"

The Founder gave Shane a cool stare at his outburst. "I assure you that Claire will be just as safe as she has ever been, if not safer, in Myrnin's care."

Shane opened his mouth to argue further, but Claire squeezed his hand. Amelie wasn't in a tolerant mood, she could tell, and it could all go south very quickly.

Shane glared venomously instead, and offered no further comment.

"Claire, I suggest you use the portals to travel directly to and from the lab- you also, Michael. I don't want you to take any unnecessary risks until we have caught whoever was responsible for this."

Amelie's voice was hard and her eyes looked dark and intense. She was, at that moment, the Founder, and it was terrifying.

Even Shane didn't argue when Claire was discharged and they were escorted home by a car full of vamp guards. Claire felt watched, the way she imagined big celebrities to feel as they walked down the street surrounded by bodyguards. It wasn't a nice feeling, but that was probably because she needed them.

When Claire got home, Shane took her straight to bed. He said it was because he needed to talk to her about something. From the way that Eve and Michael reacted, it was probably something that they both already knew about, and didn't like.

Claire went to her room to get changed out of her bloody stained clothes. Shane was in his own room for the while, giving her some space. She loved that he could still do that, give her space. She didn't like to be coddled, and he respected that. It made her feel all warm to know that he loved her enough to think of her first. It made her wish he hadn't after all.

In the end, it was a good thing.

As Claire climbed into her bed, she found the small folded piece of paper on her pillow, her name handwritten on the front in black ink. She knew Myrnin's handwriting instantly, and it made her sweep a glance around the room just to check he wasn't still here. Creepy, much.

Claire suddenly felt guilty, simply because Myrnin had been in her room, and Shane didn't know. Granted she hadn't been there, but it wasn't something Shane would take kindly to, not at all. Where Myrnin was concerned, Shane's feeling fluctuated between protectiveness and jealousy, and Claire really didn't want to spoil tonight. She would tell him in the morning.

She still hadn't read the note. Slowly, she unfolded it, revealing only two words written in the centre in what she knew to be Myrnin's best handwriting-not the illegible scrawl he usually labelled things with at the lab.

Thank you.

Claire folded it back up and put it in the draw of her bedside table, where Shane wouldn't find it. She felt automatically guilty about hiding it from him, but it wasn't a big deal, really? It wasn't like it was a love letter or anything. Claire put her tangled thoughts to the back of her mind as Shane came into her room, and before long she'd forgotten all about the note as Shane kissed away all her worries.

Shane's POV

Claire was asleep in my arms, breathing softly. I held her tightly, as if some small part of me still believed that someone would take her away.

Because I knew that they'd try, that he'd try the hardest of them all. I grinned savagely. If they thought that Claire was going to let them, they had another think coming.

Promise me you'll marry me, I'd said.

Claire sighed in her sleep and wriggled closer to me, making me glow inside, a little.

I was ready now.

Myrnin's POV

I sat in my lab surrounded by Claire's scent. If I closed my eyes, I could almost pretend she was here. I didn't know why I needed her more now. I'd needed her before, but now I felt as if, when she wasn't here, I shouldn't be either. As if I needed her with me to exist.

It was nonsense really, that a small insignificant human, intelligent though she may be, could own my heart so completely. And she didn't even know.

Never before had I wanted to kill her boy so much. He had sent me away from her, bid that I couldn't stay by her side and be with her when she awoke. There had been so many words inside of me then, and I couldn't tell her any of them. I knew what happened when I let people fall in love with me.

My fingers slid over the necklace I had once given Ada. It was a sapphire pendant, set in gold on a gold chain. I had made it with some of the properties that had been placed in the Founder's bracelet for Amelie- so that if Ada had ever been hurt, I could find her, save her. It had tied her life to mine, so that I would keep her alive, in a way. Trapping her soul the way the Glass House had held Claire's when Magnus had killed her. I ached a little in remembrance of the pain that that had caused me.

But Ada was gone now. And I was alone, save Claire. I couldn't lose her again; not without losing myself as well.

I gently place the pendant in a small black velvet box, explaining how I'd made it to Bob. I wanted to tell Claire, but she wasn't here. I feared that Amelie had taken her away from me for the while. I didn't like that.

I wanted to tell her…everything. I wanted to see the way her entire world lit up when I taught her, I wanted to show her the deepest secrets of the world she lived in, and I wanted it forever. I wanted to tell her how much she meant to me, wanted her to know, and share, my feelings for her.

I couldn't bring myself to write it down on the note, so I'd simply thanked her. I couldn't be sure that she would be alone when she found it, and I couldn't risk them taking her away from me.

I wouldn't get all that I wanted. I knew she thought she loved the boy, and that she would never leave him for me. A part of me didn't even want her to, because despite his flaws, the boy would give his life to save Claire's, and that was beneficial for me.

I held the little box in my hand, deliberating when the best time to give it to her would be. In two weeks, Claire would be eighteen. I supposed that then would be the most obvious time to give her a present, make it seem less…well just less, to her friends.

So, for two weeks, I would have to make sure nothing happened to Claire. She had refused the bite, but the necklace would ensure that I would be able to turn her if anything untoward happened. I would be able to keep her, to make her mine. It would have to be me; it was my blood that was forged into the metal. I felt a fierce joy that Amelie wouldn't have any hold on her anymore, that I would be her sire.

That Claire would be mine.

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