"Riley won't be able to think of me for about twenty minutes or so," Fred told me, his voice casual and familiar, like we'd had a mil ion conversations in the past. "I've been gauging the time. Even a good distance away, he'l feel sick if he tries to remember me."

"Real y? That's cool."

Fred smiled. "I've been practicing, keeping track of the effects. I can make myself total y invisible now. No one can look at me if I don't want them to."

"I've noticed," I said, then paused and guessed, "You're not going?"

Fred shook his head. "Of course not. It's obvious we're not being told what we need to know. I'm not going to be Riley's pawn."

So Fred had figured it out on his own.

"I was going to take off sooner, but then I wanted to talk to you before I left, and there hasn't been a chance til now."

"I wanted to talk to you, too," I said. "I thought you should know that Riley's 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 there's a lot more politics going on with this fight than he's told us. More than one set of enemies." I said it fast, feeling with terrible urgency the movement of the sun, the time passing. I had to get to Diego.

"I'm not surprised," Fred said calmly. "And I'm out. I'm going to explore on my own, see the world. Or I was going on my own, but then I thought maybe you might want to come, too. You'd 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.

"I've got to get Diego," I said, shaking my head. He nodded thoughtful y. "I get it. You know, if you're wil ing to vouch for him, you can bring him along. Seems like sometimes numbers come in handy."

"Yes," I agreed fervently, remembering how vulnerable I'd felt in the tree alone with Diego as the four cloaks had advanced. He raised an eyebrow at my tone.

"Riley is lying about at least one more important thing," I explained. "Be careful. We aren't supposed to let humans know about us. There are some kind of freaky vampires who stop covens when they get too obvious. I've seen them, and you don't want them to find you. Just keep out of sight in the day, and hunt smart." I looked south anxiously. "I have to hurry!"

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?"