Edythe left before Jules arrived. I tried to convince her that all this was just plain stupid—refusing to even be in the same house at the same time—but to no avail.
"It's just easier this way," Edythe said from the door. "For both of us. Trust me, this much cooperation between our kinds is quite a leap in and of itself—one step at a time. Don't worry, I won't go far."
A mischievous look came into her eye then, and her hand still holding mine pulled me closer. She pressed her face to my neck, then let out a long breath, chilly against my bare skin. Goosebumps rose on the back of my neck.
"I'll be back soon," she murmured, then laughed, amusement glittering in her eyes.
I frowned as I watched her turn and head toward the trees, wondering what was so funny.
Shaking my head, I turned back to the kitchen to get started on the dishes. Before I even had the sink halfway full, the doorbell rang. It never failed to startle me how fast Jules could be—faster than her usual reckless driving in her car.
"Come in!" I called over the rush of the running tap. I poured a squirt of dish soap in the water, then started grabbing dishes to set down in it.
"Hey," Jules said from right behind me, making me jerk in surprise.
"Do you always have to do that?" I said, frowning at her. "Just because you've got the silent-stalking-wolf thing going on now doesn't mean you have to go around scaring people."
Jules shrugged. "Sorry. I guess I don't think about it. I'll try to be loud next time I go into a room with you in it. I'd hate to give you a heart attack."
I rolled my eyes. "Don't you have a job to do? Like going around smelling things?"
Jules grinned and suddenly stood stiff, saluting. "Yes, sir, right away, sir." She relaxed. "So where do you think the scent's the worst?"
"Probably my bedroom. That's where they were, whoever they are."
Jules's eyes narrowed, and she didn't look happy at that. "I'll be back in a minute." She turned and disappeared up the stairs.
I methodically scrubbed the plate in my hand. All was quiet but for the scratching of bristles against ceramic. I listened for something from above, the squeak of a floorboard, the click of the door.
"Yeghh!" complained a voice inches behind me. The plate I was holding splashed in the sink, splattering the front of my shirt with soapy water.
"You are doing that on purpose," I accused, turning my head to glare at Jules, who was standing behind me again.
"Maybe you're just not paying attention." She added, "Here, let me help with that." Jules snatched up a towel and grabbed the plate I'd picked up again, and held it under water before rapidly drying it off. She set it in the drainer, ready to be put away.
"The scent was easy enough to pick up," she said. "Your room absolutely reeks—though I guess part of that's your vampire girlfriend you keep in there."
"If you're going to be like that, you can go and sit in the other room."
Jules grabbed the next dish from me and washed it off. "I'll be nice," she promised.
We worked in comfortable silence for a few minutes.
"Hey," Jules said as she set a bowl in the drainer. "Can I ask you something?"
"That depends if you're keeping your promise to keep it nice."
"I'm not asking to be rude or anything. I'm just kind of...morbidly curious."
I sighed. "What is it?"
She paused, staring down at the plate she was polishing. She eyed the milky reflective surface. "What's it like...having a vampire for a girlfriend?"
I snorted. "What kind of question is that?"
Jules looked at me. "I mean it. It really, honestly never bothers you? Never creeps you out?"
I shook my head. "No, it doesn't."
"Huh," she muttered, frowning. "And...do you, like...kiss and stuff?"
I snorted again. "She's my girlfriend, what do you think?"
Jules wrinkled her nose and shuddered. "What about the fangs, though?"
I shoved her hard with my shoulder—only succeeding in giving myself a bruise. "Oh, shut up. You know she doesn't have fangs."
"Close enough," she muttered.
We were silent again for a minute.
At last Jules asked softly, "One more?"
Something in her tentative tone kept me from answering with a sarcastic remark. "Yeah?"
Jules stared hard down at a boning knife I'd handed her, rotating it over as she held it under the running water. "You said...after graduation. When exactly?"
I eyed her warily, worried I might set her off. "Very soon," I answered in a low voice. "We haven't decided an exact day yet." Soon enough that Sulpicia wouldn't have time to get edgy and send someone down here to check on us, but Edythe also wanted to get married before then.
"So soon," Jules breathed. Her fingers curled unconsciously around the handle of the knife and she stared down into the reflective surface, a deep slash forming between her brows.
When she noticed me watching her from the corner of my eye with some concern, she suddenly grinned.
"Hey," she said. "Let me show you something."
Holding her hands over the sink, she carefully pressed the flat side of the blade to her palm, staring down with concentration.
"Hey," I began nervously. "Careful, that knife is—"
Jules suddenly jerked her other hand back, slicing a bright angry line of crimson right through her palm.
My shout of horror drowned out Jules's slight gasp of pain, and I dropped the plate I was holding. I scrambled to find something to cover the wound, all the time stuttering out half-finished exclamations of panic and outrage.
"Are you crazy, you—I can't believe you just—what were you trying to—"
"Stay here, you idiot," Jules called after me as I finally located a clean white towel. "Look."
I didn't want to look. I smelled the wound and I was already feeling queasy and nauseous.
"Just hurry and wrap it up," I insisted. "That's a bad cut—it'll probably need stitches now. Look, I don't care how upset you are, I don't want you to ever—"
"Stop having a fit over there, I'm fine. Look."
I still didn't want to, but I thought it was better if I assessed the damage, to see how hard I should insist we go to the hospital. However, as my eyes flickered down to her outstretched palm, I did a slight double-take, then frowned.
"Was it that hand or the other hand?"
Jules rolled her eyes. "This hand. Look." She raised it a little higher.
I took her hand between mine and examined it. There was a pink, puckered line where I was sure the cut had been, a wound that looked weeks old.
"How..." I began slowly.
"Werewolf thing," Jules said casually. "We heal fast. I told you that before, remember?"
I stared at the scar for a long minute, and my frown deepened, quickly turning to a scowl. My eyes suddenly flickered back up to Jules.
She seemed to be studying my reaction very closely, and though her smile was easy and full of careless bravado, her eyes were wary, apprehensive.
"What?" she said. "Don't tell me you're freaked out now." She tried to make her tone offhanded.
"You shouldn't play around with stuff like that," I said severely. "For all you know, using that fast-healing power or whatever takes years off your life every time you use it. It could be draining your life force."
Jules stared at me for a second, then burst out laughing. "Life force?" she snickered. "Let me break out my Magic The Gathering cards."
I didn't smile. "It's not funny."
"Beau, there is no exchange, years off our lives or whatever. Healing is just something we do. In fact, I'll probably outlive any normal person by a lifetime or two, if not more. Didn't I tell you that? We don't age, at least not while we're regularly phasing into wolves."
I grumbled. "I don't care if you are some kind of super-human werewolf, don't hurt yourself for no reason. That's stupid."
Jules put up her hands in surrender. "Sure, sure. Swear not to do it again, all that."
I kept grumbling to myself as I checked to make sure no blood had gotten onto the floor, then looked into the sink. I quickly turned on the faucet and used the rag to scrub the spatters of blood. I tried to work quickly, not breathing in. Then, seeing I had no more dishes left to do, I reached down and pulled the plug to let the dirty water drain.
Jules watched in silence. However, as I draped the now clean rag over the faucet, she said at last, "Can I ask you one more question? This is the last one, I promise."
I sighed.
Jules glanced down, eyes on the linoleum tiles. "Does it...ever creep you out? Having a best friend who's a werewolf, I mean."
I laughed in surprise, and when she looked at me, I was grinning. "Well, now that you mention it, you do kind of freak me out."
Jules was half smiling, but her eyes were uncertain. "Do I?"
I nodded. "But, considering you freaked me out when you were still all human, I don't think that's got anything to do with the wolf thing. Sorry. I guess you're just a freak."
Jules shoved me lightly with her shoulder, then suddenly laughed. "If I'm a freak, what does that make you?" she asked, grinning.
"The freak's apprentice?" I suggested.
Jules laughed. "You really are a closest Magic The Gathering player. I bet your closet's stacked with boxes of cards."
Jules was happy now, and she threw an arm around my shoulders. However, when she started to turn her head toward me she suddenly gagged and pulled away. She put a hand over her nose and mouth and said in a muffled voice, "Ugh, what a stench. You have no idea. You need a shower in the worst way."
I remembered the crafty look in Edythe's eyes when she'd breathed on my neck, and I was pretty sure she had planned that. I sighed.
"Neither of you smell bad to me."
Jules grinned. "No offense, but you don't have the best sense of smell in the world. Or the best sense, period."
She backed up a step, glancing in the direction of the door. "Well, I guess I better get going. She's outside, waiting for me to go. I can hear her...and smell her." She wrinkled her nose.
"You're never going to get over that, are you?"
"Nasal assault is something you don't get over."
She started to turn for the door, headed toward the back way, but then she paused again and glanced back.
"Hey, by the way, we're having a bonfire tonight. Kind of a celebration thing. Think you could come? That would be awesome. Elliot's gonna be there. And Quil. She's so ticked that you were in on the gig before she was, let me tell you."
I laughed at that. I could just imagine Quil raging at having some dweeb buddy of Jules palling around with the werewolves while she was still clueless.
I shrugged, hesitant. "I don't know, Jules. Things are kind of tense right now."
"Come on, you think someone's going to get past all—all six of us?" She stuttered over the words at the end. I wondered if, even now, sometimes she had trouble saying the word werewolf aloud.
She folded her hands in an over-the-top plea.
I smiled a little. "I'll ask, but I really doubt it."
"I could kidnap you again," she suggested brightly. "You have to make a statement. Let her know you aren't going to let yourself be controlled. Or you'll be on her leash the rest of your life. I saw a special on manipulative, abusive relationships recently."
I folded my arms, scowling. "Correction, Edythe and I will discuss it, and I'll see if she convinces me if it would be a good idea or not."
Jules grinned. "You're good. Great way to euphemize it."
"I thought you were leaving?" I growled, squaring my shoulders in preparation to run her off.
Jules laughed. "See you, Beau. Hope to see you tonight." And she disappeared through the back door before I could say anything more. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair.
Barely seconds after she was gone, Edythe appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. Rain had darkened her bronze hair, the drops glistening in the strands. Her eyes were wary.
"What happened?" she asked slowly. "Is everything all right?"
I beamed when I saw her. "Hey," I said. "You're back." I put my arms out and Edythe obligingly stepped into them, winding her arms around my back. I pressed my face into her hair, breathing in deeply. Definitely did not smell bad.
"Yeah," I said. "Everything's fine. Why?"
"Well," Edythe began, pulling back from me and frowning a little, "I was wondering why there seems to be evidence of an attempted murder."
I followed her gaze to the counter next to the sink, and realized I'd missed the bloody knife. "Shoot. I forgot about that."
"Do you need me to cover anything up for you? When it comes to bloody murders and removing the trace evidence, I have some experience."
I grinned and leaned down so I could kiss her on the cheek. "Would you cover up a murder for me?" I asked.
Her eyes glittered. "Oh, definitely. Especially if it involved a werewolf."
I went to the counter to start cleaning up the mess. "Actually, she did it herself. I thought it was some kind of morbid self-penitence, emo thing at first, but I think she was just being a dork."
Edythe sighed, shaking her head. "Wolves," she muttered. She reached inside her jacket. "By the way, I got your mail." She casually tossed a large envelope on the counter.
I eyed it suspiciously. She was suddenly looking way too pleased.
"What is it?" I asked.
Edythe shrugged. "Come take a look."
I finished up with the knife and put it away, then slowly approached the letter as if it might have a bomb.
I saw it was a legal-sized envelope, which Edythe had folded in half. I had to use both hands to smooth it open—the paper was the heavy, expensive kind. My eyes went to the address.
"Dartmouth?" I said in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding."
"I haven't opened it, but I'm sure it's an acceptance," Edythe said. "It looks exactly like mine."
I stared down at it for a long time, then my eyes went back up to Edythe. "Okay, murder or blackmail?"
Her brows contracted. "What?"
"Murder or blackmail," I repeated. "Because the only way you could have gotten me in was either you murdered someone in a key position and filled it with one of your own people, or you found some pretty heavy blackmail on someone somewhere. I want to know which it was."
Edythe rolled her eyes. "Beau, you're being ridiculous."
I shook my head. "It doesn't matter. You know I couldn't afford the tuition, and there's no way I'm letting you just throw away that kind of cash just to pretend I'm going to Dartmouth next year."
"It doesn't have to be pretend," she said. "One more year wouldn't make a difference. You might be surprised to find out you actually enjoy it. And think how excited Charlie and your mother would be..."
Before I could stop it, a flicker of an imaged played through my head. Charlie and my mom would be proud—I could imagine Charlie going completely out of his usual element and telling everyone he knew, and probably half of Jacksonville would know before my mom was through. It would be embarrassing beyond words, and yet, I couldn't escape the fact that I did like the idea of thrilling my parents like that. And going to classes, learning new things, meeting new people, all with Edythe there, right at my side...
I shook my head, trying to clear the image from my brain. "I'm sure Sulpicia would be happy about that," I noted.
Edythe wrapped an arm around me again, reaching out to take my hand. "Don't worry about Sulpicia," she insisted. "She might have said after graduation, but this isn't going to be a priority for her, especially not right now."
I frowned. "What do you mean, not right now?"
Edythe sighed. "You know that newborn vampire, causing trouble down in Seattle?"
I nodded slowly.
"Normally the Volturi would have stepped in by now. But from what Archie can tell, Sulpicia is preoccupied with another threat in Europe, and she doesn't want to spare anyone."
I frowned. "Why don't they just take care of the threat and go back to their normal business?"
Edythe shrugged. "Archie can't see everything. But it seems like whoever is heading up this particular rebellion knows what he's doing. Sulpicia will likely outmaneuver him eventually, but it will probably take time."
I thought about that. However, I shook my head. "I'm mailing what's left of the contents of my bank account to Alaska tomorrow. That's all the alibi we need. It's far enough away Charlie won't expect a visit until Christmas at the earliest, and I'm sure I'll be able to come up with some excuse by then." I shook my head, smiling a little. "You know, this whole secrecy and deception thing is kind of a pain."
Edythe's brow furrowed and she looked at me very seriously. "It gets easier," she said quietly. "After a few decades, everyone you know is dead."
My gaze dropped. We were both silent for a long minute. At last, I felt Edythe's cool hand on my cheek and she gazed up into my eyes.
"Won't you consider waiting?" she asked softly. "If I can get this all resolved, and Archie can satisfy us that Sulpicia's not coming for a while?"
I shook my head. "It's better not to procrastinate."
"When it's something that will completely alter your life as you know it, perhaps rob you of your soul, maybe it is."
I pulled away from her and went to the sink. Wanting to change the subject, I picked up the washrag I'd used to clean the sink and held it up. "Can you still smell blood on this? Maybe I should run it through the wash."
Before Edythe could answer, I suddenly remembered something.
"By the way, did Archie do something with some of my stuff? He didn't take half my clothes to be professionally washed and pressed somewhere, did he? Because I'd like to have them back. I've been wearing these jeans for two days."
Edythe frowned slightly, confusion in her eyes. Then she looked at me sharply. "Are you saying some of your things are missing?"
"Well, yeah," I said, confused by the sudden intensity in her expression. "I guess he cleaned up my room, and did some laundry. But not with our washing machine. I think he must have taken it back to your place, then forgot about it."
"You noticed this right after you got back from our house?" she asked.
I nodded slowly. "Yeah. I was kind of looking for them when you came over and noticed—"
I froze, and I suddenly understood why Edythe was looking at me with such alarm.
"What exactly was taken?" she asked sharply.
I tried to think. "Um...some things...my pillow...clothes laying around my room...and a bunch of dirty clothes from the hamper."
"Things you touched," Edythe whispered, pale. "Things you slept on...used. Archie didn't take anything from your room, Beau. It was your intruder. He was gathering things—things with your scent."
I shook my head. "But why? What could he want with that?"
I felt Edythe's arms around me again, holding me to her. One of her hands touched the back of my head, pressing my face to her shoulder. "I don't know," she murmured. "But I swear, Beau, I will find out."
We stood like that for a moment longer, before I heard the buzz of Edythe's phone in her pocket, feeling the vibration in her jacket against my side.
Edythe drew it out and checked the ID, then put it to her ear.
"Carine? I'm glad you called, there's something—" She broke off, listening. "I'll look at it. Yes, I agree, I think we will have to do something...And that's not our only problem." She explained about my missing clothes, but Carine didn't seem to have any guesses either, as her reply was short before Edythe said, "Maybe I can go...No, on second thought, let's leave it until later. Don't let Eleanor take off on her own, just tell Archie to keep an eye on things. I'll talk to you again soon."
She snapped the phone shut and turned to me. "Did Charlie throw out today's newspaper already?"
"I think so, why?"
"Give me a second." Edythe disappeared, and for a moment the patter of the rain outside grew louder as the door opened, and before I could say a word, Edythe was back again, damp newspaper in hand.
She spread it out on the table, quickly scanning the contents of the front page through narrowed eyes.
"What is it?" I asked, leaning over her shoulder.
The headline of the Seattle Times read: "Murder Epidemic Continues—Police Have No New Leads."
I could tell immediately it was a continuation of the story Charlie had been complaining about a few weeks back. With only one difference—this time the numbers were significantly higher. The death toll was escalating.
"It's gotten very bad," Edythe murmured. "Completely out of control. This can't be the work of simply one newborn. Whoever they are, either they are ignoring the rules, or they simply haven't been informed. But who could be so careless...? The creator has to know he'll be executed the moment Sulpicia steps in..."
I swallowed, as I pictured an entire enclave of new, blood-crazed vampires wreaking havoc on Seattle. People were dying...innocent people. Left and right.
"What can we do?" I asked hoarsely.
Edythe continued to stare down at the paper, brow furrowed. "We will have to intervene soon. It's possible that if we can speak to the young ones, explain the rules, then all can be resolved peacefully..."
I stared down at her. "Do you think so?"
Edythe sighed. "More likely any attempt to reason with any of them will fall on deaf ears, and it will come to a fight. That's why it will be better if we don't step in until absolutely necessary, at least until we have a better picture of exactly what's going on. Depending on how many of them there are, it could be dangerous. It would better if Sulpicia took care of it."
"Will she?" I asked. "If this gets worse than whatever it is going on back in Europe?"
Edythe sighed. "I don't know. Archie will keep watching her, but she hasn't shown any sign of dispatching anyone, though she is aware of the situation." Edythe shook her head. "In a way, I'd almost rather she didn't send anyone. Coming this close to us...She might decide to send someone to see us. And she might decide to find a way to impose her will where you're concerned."
I shrugged. I didn't say anything, but as far as I was concerned, that was fine by me. It wasn't safe for anyone in my family or the vampire world for me to remain human. That much Sulpicia and I could agree on.
"So if it does come to a fight, you could be in danger?" I asked.
"It's unlikely," Edythe said. "We are all older, experienced fighters, and our abilities also give us an advantage. So even if there are as many of them as there are us, we shouldn't have a problem. But they are also very strong, so a moment of carelessness around them can be fatal. So, if we do end up in a fight, I'll be glad we have Jessamine on our side."
"Jessamine?" I said, frowning. "Why?"
Edythe smiled darkly. "Jessamine is, how shall we say, something of an expert when it comes to young vampires."
I stared at her a minute, nonplussed, but instead of explaining, Edythe said, "So. Didn't you have something you were going to ask me?"
I frowned. "Did I?"
Edythe's eyes glittered. "That is, I thought you were going to discuss with me the possibility of going to spend the evening amidst a pack of werewolves, and see if I would convince you it was too dangerous or not."
I stared at her. "What—were you listening to our entire conversation?"
"Just the last part," she said. "The very end."
I glanced down. "Actually, I wasn't going to ask you. I figured you have enough on your plate to stress out about right now."
Edythe bent slightly, looking up into my face. "Do you want to go?" she asked.
I shrugged. "It doesn't matter. This isn't really the best time."
"I don't want you to worry about that," Edythe said softly. "Just tell me what you would like to do, disregarding Seattle and everything else. I told you before, I'm not going to be your jailor anymore—I'm your partner, so if there's something you want, then I want to help you."
I stared down at her. The truth was, I did want to go down to La Push. It was a dumb thing to want, to just hang out around a bonfire with a bunch of reckless teenage girls, goofing around and trying to act tough, when things were really getting serious with attacks and deaths down in Seattle, and other possible dangers besides. But Jules had a way of making even the most terrifying things seem trivial, and what I really wanted right now was to relax and have someone make me laugh.
I shook my head, trying to shake it off. I didn't want to run off and be worrying Edythe right now of all times.
Edythe slipped her hand into mine. "I told you, I'm going to trust your judgment. And I know a pack of werewolves will be more than enough to keep you safe for one evening, no matter who that intruder might have been."
I didn't know what to say. "Are you sure?" I said at last, slowly. "I mean, I don't have to go."
Edythe squeezed my hand. "I'm only happy as long as you're happy."
"Well...okay, then." I smiled tentatively back, but I was still uncertain. I studied her face for signs or worry or anxiety, but I saw none.
She leaned up and kissed me gently, affectionately on the cheek.
When I told Charlie my plans for the evening, he approved, and seemed almost enthusiastic. "Have fun, kid," he said with a smile. "Stay as long as you like."
When I called Jules to let her know, I could almost see her fist pump on the other end as she congratulated me on my persuasive skills, and wanted to know how much threatening and manipulating I'd had to do.
Edythe was going to drive me down to the border, and Jules was going to pick me up, as the both of them agreed that until all this was taken care of, I shouldn't be alone even for a moment. Edythe told me to think of it as being an important personage, like the president of a country, who had to have bodyguards around him at all times. Instead, it made me think of when I was a kid, and my mom would pass me off to Charlie for the summer. I felt like I was seven years old again.
Still, I couldn't argue how dangerous things were right now, especially with the unknown intruder apparently specifically targeting me for some unknown reason, so I didn't complain, and quietly took the cell phone Edythe gave me, so I'd be able to let her know when to pick me up.
It also occurred to me that now would be a good time to return my motorcycle to its home in La Push. The time I wouldn't need it anymore was fast approaching, and I still felt like Jules ought to profit from her work somehow.
When I told Edythe what I wanted, she didn't seem surprised. She only said mildly, "I thought you would want to take it back there eventually." However, even though she was smiling as she said it, I thought I caught an odd note or resignation in her voice.
When we went to retrieve the bike from where I'd stashed it in the garage, I found that someone had cleaned it up from that muddy day on the road, even cleaning out the tread on the tires so it looked almost like new—or as new as it had ever looked for a bike made half with scavenged parts from the dump. However, I noticed there was something sitting on top between the handle bars, conspicuously red and round.
I picked it up and stared at it. "What is this?" I asked, eyes narrowed.
"Please," was all Edythe said.
I turned the helmet around, and I tried to imagine what I'd look like wearing it. It wasn't a pretty image. "Come on, Edythe...seriously? Do you know how stupid I'd look?"
"What would look stupid is if you cracked your head open on the pavement because you were afraid of not looking cool."
I turned the helmet over again. Like I ever looked cool. "Okay, I'll wear it," I muttered.
"And take this," Edythe said, pulling something black and shapeless from a box nearby. It looked like some kind of padded jacket.
"It's a riding jacket," she explained. "I hear road rash can be very uncomfortable."
Sighing, I shoved on the helmet and stuffed my arms in the sleeves of the jacket. I fumbled for a minute with the zipper before Edythe finally took pity on me and did it for me. Then she stepped back to examine her triumph.
I folded my arms across my chest. "Be honest. I look like a dork."
Edythe pursed her lips, considering. "No...actually, it looks good on you. Very tough-guy. I think you're ready to join a biker gang."
I snorted. "Yeah, right. You don't have to lie. I'll wear them anyway. You're right, to have survived vampires and werewolves all this time only to get my head bashed in would be kind of embarrassing."
Edythe laughed, then leaned up to kiss me on the cheek. "You know," she said. "I was thinking of getting a motorcycle."
I gaped at her for a moment. And I realized I had no trouble imagining her on one. Probably something big and silver that moved like a bullet. Black helmet with a full-faced visor over her head, bronze hair whipping out behind her, gray jacket rippling in the wind.
I stared down at my sad little bike, and it was a formidable image.
"Oh," I said.
Edythe studied my expression.
"But, I decided against it," she said. She smiled ruefully. "I realized this is something you do with Julie Black, and no one else."
I didn't know how to answer.
Seeing my expression, she smiled, a real smile this time, showing her dimples. "Thanks for wearing the helmet," she said, and leaned up to kiss me.
Edythe drove me down. At about the halfway point to La Push, she rounded a corner and I saw Jules leaning against the side of the red Volkswagen she'd built herself out of scraps. Her expression was smooth and even, devoid of emotion. However, when she caught sight of me, her mouth split into a huge smile.
Edythe parked the Volvo thirty yards away, then we got out to get the bike and my new gear—I almost couldn't believe it had all fit in the truck, but Edythe had managed it somehow without much effort.
Jules watched us carefully, her expression wary now, her dark eyes hard to read.
The bike stood near me on its kickstand and I set the helmet on top and laid the jacket across the seat.
Edythe leaned close and said softly. "Be careful. Call me when you're ready to come home."
"Sure," I said. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."
I felt Edythe's delicate, cool hand brush my cheek, and she leaned up. I thought she was going to give me a light goodbye kiss, like she often did, but to my surprise, she suddenly wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me down to her, and I felt her cold lips against mine. I reacted before I'd consciously given my brain the command, my arm locking around her waist, my other hand going to her cheek.
It lasted longer than Edythe normally allowed, before she finally pulled away from me, her eyes glowing. She laughed quietly at something. I grinned back like a dork.
"See you later," she said softly, holding my hand. "Have fun."
I nodded, then started to turn away, my hand pulling away from hers as I took a grip on both handle bars of the bike and kicked off the stand. However, just before I'd turned away completely, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flicker of a new emotion in her eyes. Something like panic.
However, when I turned back around to look, she was already getting back in her car, and I figured I must have imagined it. I turned away, and pushed my bike toward the invisible vampire-werewolf treaty line to meet Jules.
"What's that?" Jules called, eying the bike warily.
"Just putting something back where it belongs," I said, then smiled.
Jules considered that for a second, then her face split into a grin even broader than before.
I knew exactly when I crossed the boundary line, because Jules pushed away from her car and loped over to me easily.
"So, you made it," she said, beaming as she took the motorcycle from me, and hit the kickstand. Then her eyes flickered to the Volvo behind me and her grin suddenly turned crafty. Without warning, with one arm she suddenly pulled me into a hard hug, temporarily cutting off my air supply.
The Volvo's engine gave an ominous growl.
"Hey," I said, trying to shove her off. I could almost see Jules grinning at the Volvo over my shoulder. "Cut it out!"
Jules laughed and let go, and I spun around, but the silver car was already disappearing around the curve in the road. I glared at her.
"Why don't you just pull your eyelid down and stick your tongue out next time?" I asked. "Seriously, what are you, five? She's trying to be nice, you know."
Jules looked at me, exasperated. "Oh, come on. She was being just as immature as I was, and you know it. Why am I the one who gets the lecture?"
"Because," I grumbled, knowing full well I sounded like a parent when they didn't have a good answer.
"That's what I thought."
I rolled my eyes as Jules pushed my motorcycle over to the Rabbit and started loading it into the spacious trunk.
"Let's just go," I muttered.
Jules's dark eyes were twinkling. "You'll cheer up in a minute. I think you're going to like it."