The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner Chapters 13

Fred elevated an eyebrow and relaxed unless s informally. I glanced shag us. What had Riley been looking at? cypher had changed just some family pictures of dead people, a smal mirror, and a cuckoo clock. Hmm. Was he checking the time? Maybe our creator had given him a deadline, too.Kay, guys, Im expiration step forward, Riley said. You dont wealthy individual to be afraid today, I promise.The light burst into the basement through the open door, magnified as whole I knew by Rileys skin. I could depict the bright reflections dance on the wal .Hissing and snarling, my coven cover songed into the coigne opposite from Freds. Kristie was in the in truth back. It looked standardised she was supplying to use her in meeting as a kind of shield.Relax, everybody, Riley cal ed down to us. I am absolutely fine. No pain, no burn down. Come and see. CmonNo cardinal travel closer to the door. Fred was crouched against the wal beside me, eyeing the light with panic. I waved my a dvance a tiny mo to call for his attention. He looked up at me and measured my get simmer down for a befriend. Slowly he straightened up next to me. I smiled encouragingly.Every hotshot else was time lag for the burn to start. I wondered if I had looked that sil y to Diego.You know, Riley mused from above, Im curious to see who is the bravest one of you. I have a equit adequate to(p) idea who the first person through that door is departure to be, but Ive been wrong in the first place.I rol ed my eyes. Subtle, Riley.But of fertilise it worked. Raoul started inching his way toward the stairs approximately immediately. For once, Kristie was in no hurry to compete with him for Rileys approval. Raoul snapped his fingers at Kevin, and both he and the Spider-Man chela reluctantly move to arrive atstage him.You can hear me. You know Im not fried. Dont be a bunch of babies Youre vampires. Act resembling it.Stil, Raoul and his buddies couldnt number farther than the nibble of the stairs. None of the others moved. After a some minutes, Riley came back. In the indirect light from the preliminary door, he shimmered just a tiny bit in the doorway.Look at me Im fine. Seriously Im embarrassed for you. Cmere, RaoulIn the end, Riley had to grab Kevin Raoul ducked protrude of the way as soon as he could see what Riley was mentation and drag him upstairs by force. I saw the moment when they make it into the sun, when the light brightened from their reflections.Tel them, Kevin, Riley ordered.Im okay, Raoul Kevin cal ed down. Whoa. Im al shiny. This is crazy He laughed.Wel done, Kevin, Riley said loudly.That did it for Raoul. He gritted his teeth and marched up the stairs. He didnt move fast, but soon he was up there sparkling and laughing with Kevin.Even from indeed on, the carry bulge took longer than I would have predicted. It was stil a one-by-one liaison. Riley got impatient. It was more threats than encouragement now. Fred prospect me a look tha t said, You knew this?Yes, I mouthed.He nodded and started up the stairs. There were stil some ten people, mostly Kristies group, huddled against the wal . I went with Fred. Better to come out right in the middle. Let Riley read into that what he would.We could see the shining, disco-bal vampires in the front yard, staring at their hands and each others faces with rapt expressions. Fred moved into the light without slowing, which I vox populi was pretty brave, al things considered. Kristie was a divulge example of how wel Riley had indoctrinated us. She clung to what she knew regardless of the evidence in front of her.Fred and I stood a little s whole tone from the others. He examined himself c areful y, so looked me over, then stared at the others. It struck me that Fred, though real y quiet, was very observant and almost scientific in the way he examined evidence. Hed been evaluating Rileys words and actions al along. How ofttimes had he figured out?Riley had to force Kristie up the stairs, and her gang came with her. nett y we al were out in the sun, most people enjoying how very pretty they were. Riley rounded everyone up for one more quick coiffe session mostly, I thought, to commove them to focus again. It took them a minute, but everyone started to consummate that this was it, and they got quieter and more fierce. I could see that the idea of a real chip of being not only al owed but encouraged to stock split and burn was almost as exciting as hunting. It appealed to people ilk Raoul and Jen and Sara. Riley focused on a strategy hed been trying to dril into them for the finis few days once wed pinpointed the yel oweyes scent, we were going to divide in two and flank them. Raoul would charge them bespeak-on while Kristie attacked from the side. The proposal suited both their styles, though I wasnt sure if they were going to be able-bodied to fol ow this strategy in the heat of the hunt.When Riley cal ed everyone together after an hour of practice, Fred immediately started walk backward toward the north Riley had the others facing south. I bonded close, though I had no idea what he was doing. Fred stopped when we were a good hundred yards by, in the shade of the spruce trees on the fringe of the forest. No one watched us move away. Fred was eyeing Riley, as if waiting to see if he would notice our retreat.Riley began speaking. We give now. Youre strong and youre ready. And youre thirsty for it, arent you? You can feel the burn. Youre ready for dessert.He was right. Al that blood hadnt slowed the return of the thirst at al . In fact, I wasnt sure, but I thought it might be coming back smart and harder than usual. Maybe overfeeding was counterproductive in some ways.The yel ow-eyes are coming in slowly from the south, feeding along the way, trying to get stronger, Riley said. Shes been monitoring them, so I know where to find them. Shes going to correspond us there, with Diego he cast a significant glance to ward where Id just been standing, and then a quick frown that disappeared just as quickly and we wil hit them standardized a tsunami. We wil overwhelm them easily. And then we wil celebrate. He smiled. Someones going to get a jump on the celebration. Raoul give me that. Riley held out his hand imperiously. Raoul reluctantly tossed him the bag with the shirt. It seemed like Raoul was trying to lay claim to the female child by hogging her scent.Take another whiff, everybody. Lets get focusedFocused on the girl? Or the fight?Riley himself walked the shirt almost this time, almost like he insufficiencyed to make sure everyone was thirsty. And I could see from the reactions that, like me, the burn was back for them al . The scent of the shirt make them lour and snarl. It wasnt necessary to give us the scent again we forgot nothing. So this was plausibly just a test. Just thinking about the girls scent had venom pooling in my mouth.Are you with me? Riley bel owed.Everyone scream ed his or her assent.Lets believe them down, kidsIt was like the barracuda again, only on land this time. Fred didnt move, so I stayed with him, though I knew I was wasting time I needed. If I were going to get to Diego and pul him away before the fighting could start, I would need to be lift the front of the attack. I looked after them anxiously. I was stil younger than most of them faster.Riley wont be able to think of me for about twenty minutes or so, Fred told me, his voice casual and familiar, like wed had a mil ion conversations in the past. Ive been gauging the time. Even a good distance away, hel feel sick if he tries to remember me.Real y? Thats cool.Fred smiled. Ive been practicing, preventing track of the effects. I can make myself total y invisible now. No one can look at me if I dont want them to.Ive noticed, I said, then paused and guessed, Youre not going?Fred shook his head. Of course not. Its obvious were not being told what we need to know. Im not going to be Rileys pawn.So Fred had figured it out on his own.I was going to take off sooner, but then I wanted to communion to you before I left, and there hasnt been a chance til now.I wanted to talk to you, too, I said. I thought you should know that Rileys been lying about the sun. This four-day thing is a total crock. I think Shel y and Steve and the others figured it out, too. And theres a lot more politics going on with this fight than hes told us. to a greater extent than one set of enemies. I said it fast, feeling with terrible destiny the movement of the sun, the time passing. I had to get to Diego.Im not surprised, Fred said calmly. And Im out. Im going to explore on my own, see the world. Or I was going on my own, but then I thought perhaps you might want to come, too. Youd be pretty safe with me. No one wil be able to fol ow us.I hesitated for a second. The idea of safety was hard to resist in that exact moment.Ive got to get Diego, I said, shaking my head. He nodded thoughtful y. I get it. You know, if youre wil ing to vouch for him, you can bring him along. Seems like sometimes come come in handy.Yes, I agreed fervently, remembering how vulnerable Id matte up in the tree alone with Diego as the four cloaks had advanced. He raised(a) an eyebrow at my tone.Riley is lying about at least one more important thing, I explained. Be careful. We arent supposed to let domain know about us. There are some kind of outlandish vampires who stop covens when they get too obvious. Ive seen them, and you dont want them to find you. Just keep out of sight in the day, and hunt smart. I looked south anxiously. I have to hurryHe was processing my revelations solemnly. Okay. Catch up to me if you want. Id like to hear more. Il wait for you in Vancouver for one day. I know the city. Il carry you a trail inHe thought for a second and then chuckled once. Riley Park. You can fol ow it to me. But after twenty-four hours Im taking off.Il get Diego and catch up to you.Good luc k, Bree.Thanks, Fred Good luck to you, too. Il see you I was already running.I hope so, I heard him say behind me.I sprinted after the scent of the others, flying along the ground faster than Id ever run before. I was lucky that they must have paused for something for Riley to yel at them, I was guessing because I caught them sooner than I should have. Or maybe Riley had remembered Fred and stopped to look for us. They were running at a steady pace when I reached them, semidisciplined like last night. I tried to slide into the group without drawing attention, but I saw Rileys head flip around once to scan those trailing behind. His eyes zeroed in on me, and then he started running faster. Did he assume Fred was with me?Riley would never see Fred again.It wasnt vanadium minutes later when everything changed. Raoul caught the scent. With a wild growl he was off. Riley had us so worked up that it took only the tiniest spark to set off an explosion. The others near Raoul had the scen t, too, and then everyone went crazy. Rileys harping on this human had overshadowed the rest of his instructions. We were hunters, not an army. There was no team. It was a race for blood. Even though I knew there were a lot of lies in the story, I couldnt total y resist the scent. racecourse at the back of the pack, I had to cross it. Fresh. Strong. The human had been here recently, and she smel ed so sweet. I was strong with al the blood wed drunk last night, but it didnt matter. I was thirsty. It burned.I ran after the others, trying to keep my head clear. It was al I could do to hold back a little, to stay behind the others. The closest person to me was Riley. He was holding back, too?He shouted orders, mostly the same thing repeated.Kristie, go around perish around Split off Kristie, Jen Break off His whole plan of the two-pronged ambush was selfdestructing as we watched. Riley sped up to the main group and grabbed Saras shoulder. She snapped at him as he hurled her to the le ft. Go around he shouted. He caught the light-haired kid whose name Id never figured out and shoved him into Sara, who clearly wasnt happy with that. Kristie came out of the hunting focus long enough to realize she was supposed to be moving strategical y. She gave one fierce gaze after Raoul and then started screeching at her team.This way Faster Wel beat them around and get to her first CmonIm spear up point with Raoul Riley shouted at her, turning away.I hesitated, stil running forward. I didnt want to be part of any spear point, but Kristies team was already turning on each other. Sara had the blond kid in a headlock. The sound of his head tearing off made my decision for me. I sprinted after Riley, wondering if Sara would pause to burn the boy who liked to play Spider-Man.I caught up enough to see Riley ahead and fol owed at a distance until he got to Raouls team. The scent made it hard to keep my mind on the things that mattered.Raoul Riley yel ed.Raoul grunted, not turning. He was total y absorbed by the sweet scent.Ive got to help Kristie Il meet you there Keep your focusI jerked to a stop, frozen with uncertainty.Raoul kept on, not showing any response to Rileys words. Riley slowed to a jog, then a walk. I should have moved, but he probably would have heard me try to hide. He turned, a smile on his face, and saw me.Bree. I thought you were with Kristie.I didnt respond.