Hallie didn’t have much luck locating Ilana and eventually had to return to the tavern shrugging sadly at Claire as she retook her seat and went back to waiting on her next customer. Hours later, Claire had just finished in her office after closing that night and was starting down the stairs to head home. Just as she reached the bottom of the stairs, the saloon doors swung open once again as a pale young dark-haired woman entered.

“We’re closed for the night I’m afraid” Claire offered as she stepped off the bottom stair and gave the woman a curious smile, as not many women even came into the place at all during regular business hours.

“You’re Claire?” the woman greeted her with surprise as she took another step, her nearly black eyes traveling over Claire’s tiny frame in the pretty purple corseted dress she had worn that night.

“I didn’t know I was famous” Claire smiled sweetly as she took another step toward the woman. Her steps and her smile then faltered as she took a moment to assess the woman’s aura and found that she was mortal, but filled with more than a bit of rage. “Do I know you?” she asked with a bit of wariness as her green eyes moved over the woman cautiously.

“You know, I came in here with a certain plan” she began as she moved around Claire, regarding her from a safe distance, but with curiosity marring her otherwise determined look, “but you are definitely not what I expected.”

“What exactly were you expecting, or planning, when you came into a closed tavern?” Claire returned as she regarded the woman as well, but with continuing caution.

“Not some pretty little tiny girl” she scoffed as she continued to move around Claire, her hand on the holster she now had slid on over her worn and plain dress. Not that it was rare to find every customer who entered the place to be armed, but this woman did not resemble Claire’s typical customers either.

“Thank you, I think” Claire stated as her eyes moved from the gun back to the other woman’s face, “you’re not representative of the usual gunslinger yourself” she had to add pointedly.

“Representative of?” she scoffed as she repeated the words mockingly, “so you’re not only a rich bitch but one with a fancy vocabulary too?”

“Well, I am originally from the northeast; and I spent a great deal of time in England as well. I suppose I don’t share a lot of vocabulary with most forty-niners” Claire referred to the nickname given to the gold-seekers of the last decade, though she still spoke in the same even tone as she continued to watch her, “you have me at a bit of a disadvantage though; you know my name…”

“A disadvantage?” she scoffed again, “more fancy talk I see” she added as she shook her head, “and it’s Ilana; not that that ever mattered much to any rich folks I ever met” she finished pointedly.

“I guess I’m not your typical rich bitch” Claire retorted as she continued to watch her, “now how can I help you, Ilana?”

Ilana scoffed again, “you mentioned the gun, so you obviously noticed it, yet you don’t seem all that worried. Don’t know where you could hide your own gun in a dress like that though, so you must be a real good actress.”

“I have spent some time on the stage” Claire agreed, “and I’ve never felt the need to carry a gun” she added with the same confidence, vigilant though her eyes remained.

“Well, as I said, I came in here with a certain plan, but now that I see you here all alone and unarmed and such a tiny little thing… I just can’t help wanting answers for all the questions I’ve always thought about asking you” Ilana stated as she took a seat at the nearest table, placing the pistol atop it, the barrel pointed directly at Claire as she kept her hand on it.

“You need a gun to ask me questions, then? And always?” Claire had to add pointedly.

“You may not like the questions” Ilana told her coolly, struggling to maintain her harsh tone with Claire despite the magnetism that was chipping away at the rage that made her enter the saloon that night. “May as well sit though, since you seem to be real good at acting like you’re not nervous.”

Claire sighed as she took a seat at another table and crossed her legs as she turned back to the other young woman, “so how is it that you’ve always had questions for someone you’ve never even met?”

Ilana shook her head again and allowed a wry smile, “nerves of steel you’ve got; do you have matching balls under that pretty dress too?”

“Is that your first question?” Claire replied, her impatience coloring her tone.

Ilana allowed a chuckle then, “you know you’re funny; I might like you if you weren’t you” she added as her tone darkened at the end of the sentence.

“Again, since we’ve never even met, why is it that you don’t like me, Ilana?” Claire returned, her tone as cool as Ilana’s then.

“You seem to have missed the part where I said I’d be the one asking questions” Ilana returned with a scowl.

“Well, maybe if you’d get to those questions already” Claire retorted.

“I think I see those balls peeking out from under your dress. You do know I have a gun pointed right at you, don’t you?” Ilana returned with an angry shake of her head.

Claire sighed heavily, “either shoot me or ask me your questions, Ilana. It’s getting rather late” she added as her eyes moved to where the clock in the corner showed that it was nearing 3:30am already.

“You got some kind of death wish or something, bitch?” Ilana growled.

“Do you?” Claire couldn’t help returning smartly.

Ilana scoffed with further disbelief, “you’re threatening me when I’m the one with the gun?”

“I just asked you a question; does that make you feel threatened?” Claire returned with feigned concern.

“You really are a bitch” Ilana returned angrily as she gripped the gun tighter.

“Says the woman who came into my tavern after hours with a gun calling me a bitch to my face. Your vocabulary is rather lacking isn’t it?” Claire replied sarcastically.

Ilana shook her head with more angry disbelief, “I could blow a hole right through those pretty tits, and you’re insulting my intelligence right now? You really do have a death wish, don’t you?”

“Like I said, either shoot me or ask your questions; whichever it is that you really wanna do” Claire shrugged as she leaned back in the seat with another heavy sigh.

“You really don’t give a shit if I do shoot you, do you?” Ilana asked as she just stared back at Claire’s reactions that were nothing resembling what she had imagined they would be.

“What was your first clue?” Claire stated with another quiet sigh as she finally moved her eyes from the woman before her to the floor instead. That was when Claire’s mind easily remembered every bit of blood that had covered that floor in years past and she found herself wondering if there really would be more added to it tonight; be it her own or Ilana’s.

“You’re not running. You’re not screaming. You’re not begging for your life. You just really don’t care, do you?” Ilana asked as her volume finally lowered and she continued to watch Claire, shocked by all lack of fear or even any attempts at self-preservation.

“I am curious though” Claire stated distantly, “why do you wanna shoot me anyway? How did I wrong you? I’d like to know that at least” Claire asked, her voice more sad than anything else right then.

Ilana continued to watch Claire, not able to grasp this reaction to her threats at all. She had truly come into the saloon with the intention of making Claire pay for the state of her own life. But now that she saw Claire, it wasn’t just the magnetism and beauty that stalled her hand; it was so much more than that then.

That was when Ilana finally recognized what it was that she was seeing in Claire. It was the same thing she saw when she looked in the mirror. “You’re just completely broken aren’t you?” Ilana stated that realization in a whisper.

That did finally cause a dent in Claire’s composure as she forced back tears at how easily a complete stranger made that observation within ten minutes of meeting her at all. “Will you tell me why you want me dead at least?” she asked once more, her green eyes still locked to the floor to fight back those red tears that she couldn’t let any unbound mortal see, despite how broken she indeed was; she couldn’t put Sean in danger by letting her true nature be known. After all, he was the one thing she did actually still care about. She had no choice in that.

Ilana sighed as she continued to watch Claire who still did nothing but stare blankly at the floor between them. She then finally answered, “it’s your fault my entire family are dead and I’m wanted for murder” she admitted in an emotionless tone.

Claire was a bit caught by that, but forced her eyes to remain downwards. She finally sighed and spoke; “if that’s true then you really should shoot me” was her only response.

Ilana scoffed as she gave Claire another look of disbelief, “but if you don’t even care about my killing you… then I don’t know how that would even make anything better, would it?”

“Death never seems to make anything better, does it?” Claire murmured as she just kept those eyes on the floor.

“I guess not” Ilana agreed as she looked down as well, “but I at least wanted my vengeance; and you even took the pleasure of that away now too.” And with that, Ilana picked up the gun, re-holstered it and stood. Just as she was about to move back toward the door, she looked at Claire once more. “I do still have one question for you.”

Claire swallowed and found her voice in light of the last cutting statement, “what’s that?”

“So if you’re this broken, and you care this little about whether you live or die… then why haven’t you put a gun to your own head?” Ilana asked her plainly.

“I guess because other people still depend on me to be here for them. That’s about the only reason I can think of” Claire returned quietly.

“What other people?” Ilana asked thoughtfully.

“My employees, my friends, my husband” Claire answered with another sad shrug.

“Your family?” Ilana restated.

“I guess you could call them that” Claire agreed in the same near whisper.

“Hmm” Ilana returned as her thoughtful expression then turned to a smile. Though she said no more as she turned on her heel and left without another word.

When Claire returned to her and Sean’s bedroom before dawn, she was still wearing a rather somber expression. Sean watched her warily as she removed her boots and he lifted the sheet for her to join him. “Don’t tell me it was another bloody night at the saloon” he stated worriedly.

“Only if you count the drinks… and the threats” Claire added the second part more quietly as she slid under the sheet with him.

“Threats? You mean drunks accusing each other of cheating at cards and the like?” Sean asked with continued concern as he pulled her back against him and wrapped her in his arms.

“Not exactly” Claire mumbled as she closed her eyes and buried her face against the pillow.

“You know, when you give vague answers, it makes it very hard to…”

“Someone came in after I closed and accused me of being responsible for their entire family’s death as well as a murder charge against them” Claire blurted out, though still did not open her eyes or lift her head.

“That’s new…” Sean stated with confusion.

“Not really” Claire mumbled.

“Pardon?”

“I was responsible for the death of almost everyone in Kristofer’s family as well as him killing his own wife; so no, it’s not all that new” she replied bitterly, still refusing to look back toward Sean.

Sean sighed heavily against her dark locks, “haven’t we already had this conversation?”

“Exactly” Claire returned in another bitter mumble.

Sean just shook his head, “instead of repeating my arguments on that subject again; what did happen tonight?”

Claire sighed, “I don’t know. There was a gun pointed at me. I asked why. That’s the only answer I got” she stated simply.

“No other explanation?” Sean asked skeptically.

“I didn’t think they needed many more excuses after that” Claire shrugged as she continued to bury her cheek against the pillow.

“Someone accused you of being responsible for things like that and you don’t even question it?” Sean asked with concern.

“Why should I?” Claire replied with another shrug.

“So, you’re just taking this person’s word as fact? You didn’t even try to find out what they were even talking about?” Sean restated once more.

“It’s not that hard to believe that I got more people killed; so why should I doubt that it’s true this time too?” Claire mumbled.

“Just about anyone on the planet who was confronted with accusations like that would want to know more” Sean stated plainly.

Claire just shook her head, “it doesn’t matter anyway; she changed her mind about shooting me.”

“She?” Sean asked, and then continued, “and you mean you changed her mind?”

“No, I told her to go ahead and shoot me if it would make her feel better. Then she didn’t” Claire stated with a quiet sigh.

“You told this woman to go ahead and shoot you?” Sean exclaimed as he pushed himself up to his elbow to look down at Claire worriedly.

“Not like it would kill me” Claire added in the same mumble.

“But it would sure as hell hurt, not to mention break the Masquerade” Sean returned with upset over more than just that second reason.

“Only if she stuck around to see me heal” Claire added with another shrug.

“But she would think… And she could have…” Sean wasn’t finding much luck finishing either of those sentences. He then changed pace, “and I’m not sure what I should ask first; why you told her to go ahead and shoot you, or what convinced her not to!”

“She wanted vengeance. When she saw that I didn’t care if I lived or died… she didn’t feel like it would actually give her any closure after all” Claire offered with the same lack of feeling.

Sean was quiet for a long moment as he sorted through what little details Claire had provided. He then had to ask, “so why didn’t you care?”

“I’m dead anyway” Claire stated simply.

“I hope you’re only referring to the fact that you’re Kindred” Sean returned with further worry.

“If that’s what you have to tell yourself I meant” Claire sniffled, but their conversation was cut short once more as the sun came up over the sea outside.