The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner Chapters 12

Tonight you dumbfound a taste of what our manhood wil be like when our competition is protrude of the picture. Fol ow meRiley move a counsel Raoul and his team were right on his heels. Kristies group alternateed shoving and clawing right finished the middle of them to lay down to the front.Dont support me transform my mind Riley bel owed from the trees ahead. You potbelly al go thirsty. I dont c atomic number 18Kristie barked an order and her group sul enly fel lowlife Raouls. Fred and I waited until the remainder of them was step to the fore of sight. Then Fred did atomic number 53 of those precise ladies foremost sweeps with his arm. It didnt feel like he was afraid to live with me at his dorsum, barely straight arrive at that he was being polite. I started running after the phalanx. The others were al earn recollective gone, barely it was energy to fol ow their smel . Fred and I ran in companionable silence. I wondered what he was destineing. Maybe he wa s only thirsty. I was burning, so he belike was, too.We caught up to the others after about five minutes, scarcely kept our distance. The army was pitiful in amazing quiet. They were focused, and more disciplined. I kind of wished that Riley had started the cookery sooner. It was easier to be well-nigh this group.We crossed over an empty two-lane freeway, other strip of forest, and hence we were on a beach. The water was smooth, and wed gone about due north, so this must get to been the strait. We hadnt passed uprise every residences, and I was sure that was on purpose. Thirsty and on edge, it wouldnt take too a lot to dissolve this smal measure of organization into a screaming free-for-al .Wed never run al together onward, and I was charming sure that it was not a good idea now. I remembered Kevin and the Spider-Man kid fighting over the woman in the car that first night Id talked to Diego. Riley had better set about a whole lot of bodies for us or people were going to start tearing each other up to get the most fall.Riley paused at the waters edge.Dont hold back, he told us. I need you wel fed and strong at your peak. Now lets go have whatever fun.He dove swimmingly into the surf. The others were growling excitedly as they submerged, too. Fred and I fol owed more closely than sooner because we couldnt fol ow their aromatise under water. moreover I could feel that Fred was hesitant ready to bolt if this was virtuallything other than an al -you-can-eat smorgasbord. It hitmed like he didnt trust Riley any more than I did. We didnt swim prospicient, and wherefore we saw the others kicking upward. Fred and I surfaced stand up, and Riley started talking as soon as our heads were out of the water, like hed been postponement for us. He must have been more aware of Fred than the others were.There she is, he said, waving toward a large ferry chugging south, probably make the last commuter run of the night down from Canada. Give me a minu te. When the business leader goes out, shes al yours.There was an excited murmur. some(prenominal)one giggled. Riley was off like a shot, and seconds later we saw him fly up the side of the big boat. He headed straight for the control tower on top of the ship. Silencing the radio was my bet. He could say al he wanted about these enemies being our mindableness for caution, but I was sure at that place was more to it than that. Humans werent vatical to tell apart about lamias. At least, not for very long. Just long enough for us to kil them.Riley kicked a big plate-glass window out of his way and disappeared into the tower. Five seconds later, the lightens went out.I realized Raoul was already gone. He must have submerged so we wouldnt hear him swimming after Riley. Everyone else took off, and the water churned as if an enormous school of barracuda were attacking.Fred and I swam at a relatively promiscuous pace behind them. In a funny way, it was like we were some old marrie d tally. We never talked, but we stil did things at exactly the comparable time. We got to the boat about three seconds later, and already the air was ful of shrieks and the warm scent of ancestry. The smel do me realize exactly how thirsty I was, but that was the last thing I realized. My brain shut down completely. There was nothing but fiery pain in my throat and the delicious blood blood everywhere promising to put that fire out. When it was over and there wasnt a heart left beating on the whole ship, I wasnt sure how more people Id personal y kil ed. More than two-fold the number Id ever had on a hunting trip before, easy. I felt hot and flushed. Id drunk long past the particular at which my thirst was total y slaked, besides for the taste of the blood. Most of the blood on the ferry was clean and luscious these passengers had not been dregs. Though I hadnt held back, I was probably at the low dismiss of the kil count. Raoul was so contact by mangled bodies that t hey actual y made a little hil . He sat on top of his pile of the dead and laughed obstreperously to himself.He wasnt the only one laughing. The dark boat was ful of sounds of delight. I perceive Kristie say, That was amazing three cheers for Riley Some of her crowd put up a raucous chorus of hurrahs like a bunch of happy drunks.Jen and Kevin swung onto the sentiment deck, dripping wet. Gotem al, boss, Jen cal ed to Riley. So some people must have tried to swim for it. I hadnt noticed.I aromaed around for Fred. It took me a turn to find him. I final y realized that I couldnt look directly at the back box seat by the vending machines, and I headed that way. At first I felt like the rocking ferry was making me seasick, but past I got close enough that the feeling washed-out and I could see Fred standing by the window. He smiled at me quickly, and then looked over my head. I fol owed his gaze and saw that he was vigiling Riley. I got the feeling that hed been doing this for s ome time.Okay, kids, Riley said. Youve had a taste of the sweet life, but now weve got work to doThey al roared enthusiastical y.Ive got three last things to tel you and one of those things involves a little dessert so lets sink this scow and get homeWith gag mixed in with the snarls, the army went to work dismantling the boat. Fred and I bailed out the window and watched the demo from a short distance. It didnt take long for the ferry to crumple in the middle with a loud groan of metal. The eye went down first, with both the bow and the stern twisting up to point to the sky. They sank one at a time, the stern beating the bow by a few seconds. The school of barracuda headed toward us. Fred and I started swimming for shore. We ran home with the others though keeping our distance. A couple of times Fred looked at me like he had something he wanted to say, but each time he seemed to change his mind. Back at the house, Riley let the celebratory mood wind down. rase after a few ho urs had passed, he stil had his turns ful trying to get everyone serious again. For once it wasnt a fight he was trying to defuse, just high spirits. If Rileys promises were false, as I thought, he was going to have an solvent when the ambush was over. Now that al these vampires had real y feasted, they werent going to go back to any measure of restraint very easily. For tonight, though, Riley was a hero. last(a) y a while after I would have guessed that the lie was up outside everyone was quiet and paying attention. From their faces, it seemed they were ready to hear just about anything he had to say.Riley stood halfway up the stairs, his face serious.Three things, he began. First, we want to be sure we get the right coven. If we accidental y run across another clan and slaughter them, wel tip our hand. We want our enemies overconfident and unprepared. There are two things that mark this coven, and theyre pretty profound to miss. One, they look different they have yel ow ey es.There was a murmur of confusion.Yel ow? Raoul reiterate in a disgusted tone.Theres a lot of the vampire world out there that you havent encountered yet. I told you these vampires were old. Their eyes are weaker than ours yel owed with age. Another good to our side. He nodded to himself as if to say, one down. But other old vampires exist, so there is another way that wel recognise them for sure and this is where the dessert I mentioned comes into play. Riley smiled slyly and waited a beat. This is going to be hard to process, he warned. I dont understand it, but Ive seen it for myself. These old vampires have gone so flabby that they actual y keep as a member of their coven a pet human.His revelation was met by blank silence. Total disbelief.I know hard to swal ow. But its true. Wel know its in spades them because a human girl wil be with them.Like how? Kristie carryed. You mean they carry meals around with them or something?No, its eternally the same girl, just the on e, and they dont plan to kil her. I dont know how they manage it, or why. Maybe they just like to be different. Maybe they want to launch off their self-control. Maybe they think it makes them look stronger. It makes no sense to me. But Ive seen her. More than that, Ive smel ed her.Slow and dramatic, Riley reached into his jacket and pul ed out a smal ziplock mantrap with red fabric wadded up inside. Ive done some recon in the past few weeks, checking the yel ow-eyes out as soon as they got earnest the area. He paused to throw us a paternal look. I watch out for my kids. Anyway, when I could tel that they were moving on us, I grabbed this he brandished the bag to help us track them. I want you al to get a lock on this scent.He handed the bag to Raoul, who undefendable the plastic zipper and inhaled deeply. He glanced up at Riley with a floor look.I know, Riley said. Amazing, right?Raoul handed the bag to Kevin, his eyes narrowe in thought.One by one, each vampire sniffed the bag, and everyone reacted with wide eyes but little else. I was curious enough that I sidled by from Fred until I could feel a hint of the nausea and knew I was outside his circle. I crept forward until I was next to the Spider-Man kid, who seemed to be at the tail end of the line. He sniffed inside the bag when it was his turn and then seemed about to hand it back to the kid who had given it to him, but I held my hand out and hissed quietly. He did a double take almost like hed never see me before and handed me the bag.It looked like the red fabric was a shirt. I stuck my nose in the opening, keeping my eyes on the vampires near me, just in case, and inhaled.Ah. I understood the expressions now and felt a similar one on my face. Because the human who had worn this shirt had seriously sweet blood. When Riley said dessert, he was dead right. On the other hand, I was less thirsty than Id ever been. So while my eyes widened in appreciation, I didnt feel enough pain in my throat to make me grimace. It would be awesome to taste this blood, but in that exact moment, it didnt digest me that I couldnt.I wondered how long it would take for me to get thirsty again. habitual y, a few hours after feeding, the pain would start to come back, and then it would just get worse and worse until after a couple of days it was impossible to ignore it even for a second. Would the excessive substance of blood Id just drunk delay that? I guessed Id see pretty soon.I glanced around to make sure no one was delay for the bag, because I thought Fred would probably be curious, too. Riley caught my eye, smiled the tiniest bit, and jerked his chin slightly toward the corner where Fred was. Which made me want to do the exact setback of what Id just been planning, but whatever. I didnt want Riley to be suspicious of me. I walked back to Fred, ignoring the nausea until it faded and I was right next to him. I handed him the bag. He seemed pleased Id thought to include him he smiled an d then sniffed the shirt. After a second he nodded thoughtful y to himself. He gave me the bag back with a significant look. The next time we were alone, I thought he would say aloud whatever it was he had seemed to want to share before.I tossed the bag toward Spider-Man, who reacted like it had fal en out of the sky but stil caught it before it hit the ground. Everyone was buzzing about the scent. Riley clapped his hands together twice.Okay, so theres the dessert I was talking about. The girl wil be with the yel ow-eyes. And whoever gets to her first gets dessert. Simple as that.Appreciative growls, competitive growls.Simple, yes, but wrong. Werent we sibylline to be destroying the yel ow-eyed coven? Unity was supposed to be the key, not a first-come, first-served prize that only one vampire could win. The only guaranteed outcome from this plan was one dead human. I could think of half a dozen more productive ways to touch off this army. The one who kil s the most yel ow-eyes win s the girl. The one who shows the best team cooperation gets the girl. The one who sticks to the plan best. The one who fol ows orders best. MVP, etc. The focus should be on the danger, which was definitely not the human.I looked around at the others and decided that none of them were fol owing the same train of thought. Raoul and Kristie were glaring at each other. I perceive Sara and Jen arguing in whispers about the possibility of sharing the prize.Wel, maybe Fred got it. He was frowning, too.And the last thing, Riley said. For the first time there was some reluctance in his voice. This wil probably be even harder to accept, so Il show you. I wont ask you to do anything I wont do. Remember that Im with you guys every step of the way.The vampires got real stil again. I noticed that Raoul had the ziplock back and was gripping it possessively.There are so many things you have yet to learn about being a vampire, Riley said. Some of them make more sense than others. This is one of t hose things that wont sound right at first, but Ive experienced it myself, and Il show you. He deliberated for a long second. quadruplet times a year, the sun shines at a certain substantiative angle. During that one day, four times a year, it is safe for us to be outside in the daylight.Every tiny movement stopped. There was no breathing. Riley was talking to a bunch of statues.One of those special days is starting now. The sun that is rising outside today wont impairment any of us. And we are going to use this rare excommunication to surprise our enemies.My thoughts spun around and dour upside down. So Riley knew it was safe for us to go out in the sun. Or he didnt, and our creator had told him this four days a year story. Or this was true and Diego and I had lucked into one of those days. Except that Diego had been out in the shade before. And Riley was making this into some kind of solstice-y seasonal thing, while Diego and I had been safe in the daylight just four days a go. I could understand that Riley and our creator would want to control us with the fear of the sun. It made sense. But why tel the truth in a very particular(a) way now?I would bet it had to do with those scary dark-cloaks. She probably wanted to get a jump on her deadline. The cloaked ones had not promised to let her live when we kil ed al the yel ow-eyes. I guessed she would be off like a shot the second shed accomplished her objective here. Kil the yel ow-eyes and then take an extended vacation in Australia or somewhere else on the other side of the world. And Id bet she wasnt going to send us carve invitations. I would have to get to Diego quick so we could bail, too. In the opposite direction from Riley and our creator. And I ought to tip Fred off. I decided I would as soon as we had a moment alone.There was so frequently manipulation going on in this one little speech, and I wasnt sure I was catching it al . I wished Diego were here so we could analyze it together.If Ril ey was just making up this four-days story on the spot, I guess I could understand why. Its not like he could have just said, Hey, so Ive lied to you for your whole lives, but now Im telling the truth. He wanted us to fol ow him into battle today he couldnt undermine whatever trust hed earned.Its right for you to be terrified at the thought, Riley told the statues. The reason you are al stil alive is that you paid attention when I told you to be careful. You got home on time, you didnt make mistakes. You let that fear make you novel and cautious. I dont call you to put that intel igent fear aside easily. I dont expect you to run out that door on my word. ButHe looked around the room once. I do expect you to follow me out.His eyes slid away from the audience for just the teensiest fraction of a second, touching very briefly on something over my head.Watch me, he told us. Listen to me. Trust me. When you see that Im okay, believe your eyes. The sun on this one day does have some interesting effects on our skin. Youl see. It wont hurt you in any way. I wouldnt do anything to put you guys in unnecessary danger. You know that.He started up the stairs.Riley, cant we just wait , Kristie began.Just pay attention, Riley cut her off, stil moving up at a measured pace. This gives us a big advantage. The yel oweyes know al about this day, but they dont know that we know.As he was talking, he opened the door and walked out of the basement into the kitchen. There was no light in the wel -shaded kitchen, but everyone stil shied away from the open doorway. Everyone but me. His voice continued, moving toward the front door. It takes most young vampires a while to embrace this exception for good reason. Those who arent cautious about the daylight dont last long.I felt Freds eyes on me. I glanced over at him. He was unadulterated at me urgently, as if he wanted to take off but had nowhere to go.Its okay, I whispered almost silently. The suns not going to hurt us.You trus t him? he mouthed back at me.No way.