THEY EMERGED ONE BY ONE FROM THE EDGE OF THE FOREST, A DOZEN meters apart. The first woman in the clearing fell back immediately, allowing another woman to take the lead, aligning herself behind the tall, dark-haired woman in a manner that made it clear who led the pack. The third was a man; from this distance, all I could see was that his hair was blazing red.
They closed ranks before they continued cautiously toward Edythe's family. It was like a wildlife show—a troop of predators exhibiting natural respect as it encounters a larger, unfamiliar group of its own kind.
As they approached, I could see how different they were from the Cullens. Their walk was catlike, a gait that seemed constantly on the edge of shifting into a crouch. They were dressed in ordinary backpacking gear: jeans and casual button-down shirts in heavy, weatherproof fabrics. The clothes were frayed with wear, though, and they were barefoot. Their hair was filled with leaves and debris from the woods.
The woman in the lead analyzed Carine as she stepped forward, flanked by Eleanor and Jessamine, to meet them, and she straightened out of her half-crouch. The other two copied her.
The woman in front was easily the most beautiful. Her skin was pale but had an olive tone to it, and her hair was glossy black. She wasn't tall, but she looked strong—though not strong like Eleanor. She smiled easily, exposing a flash of gleaming white teeth.
The man was wilder. His eyes darted restlessly between the Cullens, and his posture was oddly feline. The second woman stayed unobtrusive in the back, smaller than the leader, with bland brown hair and a forgettable face. Her eyes were the calmest, the most still. But I had a strange feeling that she was seeing more than the others.
It was their eyes that made them the most different. They weren't gold or black like I was used to, but a deep, vivid red.
The dark-haired woman, still smiling, stepped toward Carine.
"We thought we heard a game," she said. There was the hint of a French accent in her voice. "I'm Lauren, these are Victor and Joss."
"I'm Carine. This is my family, Eleanor and Jessamine, Royal, Earnest and Archie, Edythe and Beau." She pointed us out in groups, deliberately not calling attention to individuals. I felt a shock when she said my name.
"Do you have room for a few more players?" Lauren asked.
Carine matched Lauren's friendly tone. "Actually, we were just finishing up. But we'd certainly be interested another time. Are you planning to stay in the area for long?"
"We're headed north, in fact, but we were curious to see who was in the neighborhood. We haven't run into any company in a long time."
"No, this region is usually empty except for us and the occasional visitor, like yourselves."
The tense atmosphere had slowly subsided into a casual conversation; I figured Jessamine was using her strange gift to control the situation.
"What's your hunting range?" Lauren casually inquired.
Carine ignored the assumption. "The Olympic Range here, up and down the Coast Ranges on occasion. We keep a permanent residence nearby. There's another permanent settlement like ours up near Denali."
Lauren rocked back on her heels slightly.
"Permanent? How do you manage that?" There was honest curiosity in her voice.
Why don't you come back to our home with us and we can talk comfortably?" Carine invited. "It's a rather long story."
Victor and Joss exchanged a surprised look at the mention of the word home, but Lauren controlled her expression better.
"That sounds very interesting, and welcome." She smiled. "We've been on the hunt all the way down from Ontario, and we haven't had the chance to clean up in a while." Her eyes moved appreciatively over Carine's clothes.
"Please don't take offense, but we'd appreciate it if you'd refrain from hunting in this immediate area. We have to stay inconspicuous, you understand," Carine explained.
"Of course." Lauren nodded. "We certainly won't encroach on your territory. We just ate outside of Seattle, anyway." She laughed. A shiver ran up my spine.
"We'll show you the way if you'd like to run with us—Eleanor and Archie, you can go with Edythe and Beau to get the Jeep," Carine casually added.
Three things seemed to happen at the same time when Carine finished. A light breeze ruffled my hair, Edythe stiffened, and the second woman, Joss, suddenly whipped her head around, scrutinizing me, her nostrils flaring.
Everyone went rigid as Joss lurched one step forward into a crouch. Edythe bared her teeth, coiling in front of me, a feral snarl ripping from her throat. It was nothing at all like the playful growls I'd heard her make before; it was the most menacing sound I'd ever heard. Chills ran from the crown of my head to the back of my heels.
"What's this?" Lauren asked, shocked. Neither Edythe nor Joss relaxed their aggressive stance. Joss feinted slightly to the side, but Edythe had already shifted to answer her move.
"He's with us," Carine said directly to Joss, her voice cold.
Lauren seemed to catch my scent then, though less powerfully than Joss, and understanding lit her face. "You brought a snack?" She took a step forward.
Edythe snarled even more harshly, her lip curled back high above her bared teeth. Lauren stepped back again.
"I said he's with us," Carine snapped.
"But he's human," Lauren protested. She didn't say it with any aggression, she just sounded surprised.
Eleanor leaned forward, suddenly very there at Carine's side. "Yes." Her eyes were locked on Joss.
Joss slowly straightened out of her crouch, but her eyes never left me, her nostrils still wide. Edythe stayed tensed in front of me. I wanted to pull her back—this Joss vampire wasn't messing around—but I could guess exactly how well that would go over. She'd told me to stay still, so I would… unless someone tried to hurt her.
When Lauren spoke, her tone was soothing—trying to defuse the sudden hostility. "It appears we have a lot to learn about each other."
"Indeed." Carine's voice was still cool.
"But we'd like to accept your invitation." Her eyes flicked toward me and back to Carine. "And, of course, we will not harm the human boy. We won't hunt in your range, as I said."
Joss glanced at Lauren in disbelief and exchanged a brief look with Victor, whose eyes still flickered edgily from face to face.
Carine measured Lauren's sincere expression for a second before she spoke. "We'll show you the way. Jess, Royal, Earnest?" she called. They gathered together, blocking me from view as they converged. Archie was instantly at my side, while Eleanor moved more slowly, her eyes locked on Joss as she backed toward us.
"Let's move, Beau," Edythe said, low and bleak. She gripped my elbow and pulled me forward. Archie and Eleanor stayed close behind us, hiding me from whoever might still be watching. I stumbled alongside Edythe, trying to keep up with the pace she set. I couldn't hear if the main group had left yet. Edythe's impatience was almost tangible as we moved at human speed to the edge of the forest.
"I'm faster," she snapped, answering someone's thought.
Then we were in the trees and Edythe pulled my arm around her neck while we were still half-jogging forward. I realized what she wanted and, too shocked still to feel self-conscious, climbed into place. We were running before I was set.
I couldn't make my eyes close, but the forest was pretty much black now anyway. I couldn't see or hear Eleanor and Archie running alongside us. Like Edythe, they moved through the forest as if they were ghosts.
We were at the Jeep in seconds. Edythe barely slowed, she just spun and whipped me into the backseat.
"Strap him in," she hissed at Eleanor, who climbed in next to me.
Archie was already in the front seat, and Edythe revved the engine. She swerved backward, spinning around to face the winding road.
Edythe was growling something so fast I couldn't tell what she was saying, but it kind of sounded like a string of profanities. The jolting ride was much worse this time, in the dark. Eleanor and Archie glared out the side windows.
We hit the main road. The Jeep raced faster. It was dark, but I recognized the direction we were headed. South, away from Forks.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
No one answered. No one even looked at me.
"Is anyone going to tell me what's happening?"
Edythe kept her eyes on the road as she spoke. The speedometer read one-oh-five. "We have to get you away from here—far away—now."
"What? But I have to go home."
You can't go home, Beau." The way she said it sounded kind of permanent.
"I don't understand. Edythe? What do you mean?"
Archie spoke for the first time. "Pull over, Edythe."
She flashed him a hard look and gunned the engine.
"Edythe," Archie said. "Look at all the different ways this can go. We need to think this through." There was a warning in his voice, and I wondered what he was seeing in his head, what he was showing Edythe.
"You don't understand," Edythe nearly howled in frustration. The speedometer was at one hundred and fifteen. "She's a tracker, Archie! Did you see that? She's a tracker!"
I felt Eleanor stiffen next to me, and I wondered what the word meant to her. Obviously it meant a lot more to the three of them than it did to me. I wanted to understand, but there was no opening for me to ask.
"Pull over, Edythe." Archie's voice was harder now, steely.
The speedometer inched past one-twenty.
"Do it," he barked.
"Archie—listen! I saw her mind. Tracking is her passion, her obsession—and she wants him, Archie—him, specifically. She's already begun."
"She doesn't know where—"
"How long do you think it will take her to cross Beau's scent in town? Her plan was already set before the words were out of Lauren's mouth."
It was like a punch to the gut. I couldn't breathe for a second as what she was saying finally made concrete sense. Up till now, it had all felt like something abstract, like a word problem in Math. It didn't seem to connect to me in any real way.
I knew where my scent would lead.
"Charlie," I gasped. And then I yelled. "Charlie! We have to go back. We have to get Charlie!"
I started ripping at the buckles that held me in place, until Eleanor grabbed my wrists. Trying to yank them back was like trying to pull out of handcuffs that were bolted into concrete.
"Edythe! Turn around!" I shouted.
"He's right," Archie said.
The car slowed a tiny bit.
"Let's just look at our options for a minute," Archie coaxed.
The car slowed again, more noticeably, and then suddenly we screeched to a stop on the shoulder of the highway. I flew against the harness and then slammed back into the seat.
"There are no options," Edythe snarled.
"We're not leaving Charlie!" I yelled.
She ignored me completely.
Eleanor finally spoke. "We have to take him back."
"No."
"She's no match for us, Edy. She won't be able to touch him."
"She'll wait."
Eleanor smiled a cold, strangely eager smile. "I can wait, too."
Edythe huffed out a breath, exasperated. "You didn't see! You don't understand! Once she commits to a hunt, she's unshakable. We can't reason with her. We can't scare her off. We'd have to kill her."
This didn't bother Eleanor. "Yes."
"And the male. He's with her. If it turns into a fight, Lauren will side with them, too."
"There are enough of us."
"There's another option," Archie said quietly.
Edythe turned on him, furious, her voice a blistering snarl. "There—is—no—other—option!"
Eleanor and I both stared at her in shock, but Archie didn't seem surprised. The silence lasted for a long minute as Edythe and Archie stared each other down.
"Does anyone want to hear my idea?" I asked.
"No," Edythe snapped. Archie glared at her.
"Listen," I said. "You take me back."
"No!"
"Yes! You take me back. I tell my dad I want to go home to Phoenix. I pack my bags. We wait till this tracker is watching, and then we run. She'll follow us and leave Charlie alone. Then you can take me any damned place you want."
They stared at me with wide eyes.
"It's not a bad idea, really." Eleanor sounded so surprised, it was an insult.
"It might work—and we can't just leave his father unprotected," Archie said. "You know that, Edythe."
Everyone looked at Edythe.
"It's too dangerous—I don't want her within a hundred miles of Beau."
"She's not getting through us." Eleanor was very confident.
Archie closed his eyes for a second. "I don't see her attacking. She's the kind that goes around, not through. She'll wait for us to leave him unprotected."
"It won't take long for her to realize that's not going to happen," Edythe said.
"I have to go home, Edythe."
She pressed her fingers to her temples and squeezed her eyes shut for a second. Then she was glaring at me.
"Your plan takes too long. We've got no time for the packing charade."
"If I don't give him some kind of excuse, he'll make trouble for your family. Maybe call the FBI or something if he thinks you've… I don't know, kidnapped me."
"That doesn't matter."
"Yes. It does. There's a way to keep everyone safe, and that's what we're going to do."
The Jeep rumbled to life, and she spun us around, the tires squealing. The needle on the speedometer started to race up the dial.
You're leaving tonight," Edythe said, and her voice sounded worn. "Whether the tracker sees or not. Tell Charlie whatever you want—as long as it's quick. Pack the first things your hands touch, then get in your truck. I don't care what Charlie says. You have fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes from the time you cross the doorstep or I carry you out."
A few minutes passed in silence, other than the roar of the engine.
"Eleanor?" I asked, looking at my hands.
"Oh, sorry." She let me loose.
"This is how it's going to happen," Edythe said. "When we get to the house, if the tracker is not there, I will walk Beau to the door. Then he has fifteen minutes." She glared at me in the rearview mirror. "Eleanor, you take the outside of the house. Archie, you get the truck. I'll be inside as long as he is. After he's out, you two can take the Jeep home and tell Carine."
"No way," Eleanor broke in. "I'm with you."
"Think it through, El. I don't know how long I'll be gone."
"Until we know how far this is going to go, I'm with you."
Edythe sighed. "If the tracker is there," she continued grimly, "we keep driving."
"We're going to make it there before her," Archie said confidently.
Edythe seemed to accept that. Whatever her problem with Archie was, she didn't doubt him now.
"What are we going to do with the Jeep?" he asked.
Edythe's voice had a hard edge. "You're driving it home."
"No, I'm not," he said calmly.
The unintelligible stream of profanities started again.
"We can't all fit in my truck," I mumbled.
Edythe didn't seem to hear me.
"I think you should let me go alone," I said even more quietly.
She heard that.
"Beau, don't be stupid," she said between clenched teeth.
"Listen, Charlie's not an imbecile," I argued. "If you're not in town tomorrow, he's going to get suspicious."
"That's irrelevant. We'll make sure he's safe, and that's all that matters."
"Then what about this tracker? She saw how you acted tonight. She's going to think you're with me, wherever you are."
Eleanor looked at me, insultingly surprised again. "Edythe, listen to him," she urged. "I think he's right."
"He is," Archie agreed.
"I can't do that." Edythe's voice was icy.
"Eleanor should stay, too," I continued. "She definitely got an eyeful of Eleanor."
"What?" Eleanor turned on me, looking betrayed.
"You'll get a better crack at her if you stay," Archie agreed.
Edythe stared at him incredulously. "You think I should let him go alone?"
"Of course not," Archie said. "Jess and I will take him."
"I can't do that," Edythe repeated, but this time she sounded defeated. The logic was working on her.
I tried to be persuasive. "Hang out here for a week"—I saw her expression in the mirror and amended—"a few days. Let Charlie see you, and lead this hunter on a wild-goose chase. Make sure she's completely off the trail. Then come and meet me. Take a roundabout route, of course, and then Jessamine and Archie can go home."
She was beginning to consider it.
"Meet you where?"
"Phoenix."
"No," she said impatiently. "She'll hear that's where you're going."
"And you'll make it look like that's a trick, obviously. She'll know that you'll know that she's listening. She'll never believe I'm actually going where I say I am going."
"He's diabolical," Eleanor laughed.
"And if that doesn't work?"
"There are several million people in Phoenix," I informed her.
"It's not that hard to find a phone book."
"It's called a hotel, Edythe."
"Edythe, we'll be with him," Archie reminded her.
"What are you going to do in Phoenix?" she asked Archie scathingly.
"Stay indoors."
"I kind of like it." Eleanor was thinking about cornering Joss, no doubt.
"Shut up, El."
"Look, if we try to take her down while Beau's still around, there's a much better chance that someone will get hurt—he'll get hurt, or you will, trying to protect him. Now, if we get her alone…" She trailed off with a slow smile. I was right.
The Jeep was crawling slowly along now as we drove into town. I could feel the hairs on my arms standing up. I thought about Charlie, alone in the house, and my knee was bouncing with impatience.
"Beau," Edythe said in a very soft voice. Archie and Eleanor looked out their windows. "If you let anything happen to yourself—anything at all—I'm holding you personally responsible. Do you understand that?"
I stared at her eyes in the mirror. "Ditto, Edythe."
She turned to Archie.
"Can Jessamine handle this?"
"Give her some credit, Edythe. She's been doing very, very well, all things considered."
Can you handle this?"
Archie pulled his lips back in a horrific grimace and let loose a guttural snarl that had me wincing into the seat.
Edythe smiled at him. "But keep your opinions to yourself," she muttered suddenly.