He was processing my revelations solemnly. "Okay. Catch up to me if you want. I'd like to hear more. I'l wait for you in Vancouver for one day. I know the city. I'l leave you a trail in..."
He thought for a second and then chuckled once. "Riley Park. You can fol ow it to me. But after twenty-four hours I'm taking off."
"I'l get Diego and catch up to you."
"Good luck, Bree."
"Thanks, Fred! Good luck to you, too. I'l 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 I'd 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 Riley's 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 wasn't five 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 scent, too, and then everyone went crazy. Riley's 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 couldn't total y resist the scent. Running 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 we'd drunk last night, but it didn't 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! Move 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 Sara's shoulder. She snapped at him as he hurled her to the left. "Go around!" he shouted. He caught the blond kid whose name I'd never figured out and shoved him into Sara, who clearly wasn't 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! We'l beat them around and get to her first! C'mon!"
"I'm spear point with Raoul!" Riley shouted at her, turning away.
I hesitated, stil running forward. I didn't want to be part of any "spear point," but Kristie's 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 Raoul's 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.
"I've got to help Kristie! I'l meet you there! Keep your focus!"
I jerked to a stop, frozen with uncertainty.
Raoul kept on, not showing any response to Riley's 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 didn't respond.
Chapters 14
"I heard someone get hurt - Kristie needs me more than Raoul," he explained quickly.
"Are you... leaving us?"
Riley's face changed. It was like I could see his shifting tactics written on his features. His eyes widened, suddenly anxious.
"I'm worried, Bree. I told you that she was going to meet us, to help us, but I haven't crossed her trail. Something's wrong. I need to find her."
"But there's no way you can find her before Raoul gets to the yel ow-eyes," I pointed out.
"I have to find out what's going on." He sounded genuinely desperate. "I need her. I wasn't supposed to do this alone!"
"But the others..."
"Bree, I have to go find her! Now! There are enough of you to overwhelm the yel ow-eyes. I'l get back to you as soon as I can."
He sounded so sincere. I hesitated, glancing back the way we had come. Fred would be halfway to Vancouver by now. Riley hadn't even asked about him. Maybe Fred's talent was stil in effect.
"Diego's down there, Bree," Riley said urgently. "He'l be part of the first attack. Didn't you catch his scent back there?
Did you not get close enough?"
I shook my head, total y confused. "Diego was there?"
"He's with Raoul by now. If you hurry, you can help him get out alive."
We stared at each other for a long second, and then I looked south after Raoul's path.
"Good girl," Riley said. "I'l go find her and we'l be back to help clean up. You guys have got this! It might be over by the time you get there!"
He took off in a direction perpendicular to our original path. I clenched my teeth at how sure he seemed of his way. Lying to the end.
But it didn't feel like I had a choice. I headed south in a flatout sprint again. I had to go get Diego. Drag him away if it came to that. We could catch up with Fred. Or take off on our own. We needed to run. I would tel Diego how Riley had lied. He would see that Riley had no intention of helping us fight the battle he'd set up. There was no reason to help him anymore. I found the human's scent and then Raoul's. I didn't catch Diego's. Was I going too fast? Or was the human's scent just overpowering me? Half my head was absorbed in this strangely counterproductive hunt - sure, we would find the girl, but would we be ready to fight together when we did? No, we'd be clawing each other apart to get to her.