"Yeah, him," she confirmed, turning away and looking down, because it was the easier way to avoid Coraline's gaze and the fear that she so clearly heard in the other girl's voice, sharp, but not debilitating. It wasn't one that Claire wanted to face before she was ready, because she knew that fear had a tendency to multiply, to increase whenever people gathered around each other with that looming enemy drawing near. "He's here, and he might be listening, so we need to be careful what we say and..."

She drifted off, eyes looking around before she snapped back to attention and shook her head, quickly, her curls bouncing around her shoulders. "No, Coraline, you're not going to protect me. You need to get away, okay? Leave this to me, he won't come after you if you're not... if you can't do things like I can, okay? There's no need for all of us to be in danger here."