BY THE TIME THE STRANGERS ENTERED THE CLEARING, THEIR FACES were already so well known to me that it felt as though I were recognizing them rather than seeing them for the first time.
The smaller, ill-favored male started in the lead, but he quickly fell back in a practiced maneuver.
He was focused on our numbers, singling out the threats. He assumed we were two or possibly three friendly covens, meeting for the game. He was very aware of Emmett, hulking beside Carlisle. And then me, obviously agitated; it was strange for a vampire to twitch in anxiety. None of them knew what to make of my cadenced tapping.
For the smallest part of a second, I struggled with the feeling that something was missing in his tally, but there was too much for me to concentrate on to have time to track down that impression.
The male in the lead was tall and handsomer than average, even for a vampire. His thoughts were very confident. His coven meant no mischief here; though, naturally, this large grouping of covens was surprised to be approached by strangers, he was sure we would work it out quickly. He, too, reacted to Emmett’s size and my tension, but was then distracted by Rosalie.
I wonder if she’s mated? Hmm, they do seem to be even in numbers.
His eyes skipped over the rest of us, then settled on Rose again.
The female with the vivid red hair was tenser than any of us, her body nearly vibrating with anxiety. She had a hard time keeping her intense glare off Emmett.
There’re too many. Laurent is a fool.
She’d already catalogued a thousand different routes for escape. Currently, she felt her best chance was to sprint due north to the Salish Sea, where we couldn’t follow her scent. I wondered that she wouldn’t opt for the much nearer Pacific coast, but I couldn’t see her reasons if she didn’t think of them.
I found myself hoping the jittery female would break for cover and the others follow, but Alice didn’t see that.
The redhead was watching the plainer male, waiting for him to run first. Her eyes danced to Emmett again, and she moved reluctantly as she followed the others closer.
The two males seemed unable to keep their eyes off Emmett for long, either. I found myself appraising my brother. He seemed even bigger than usual tonight, and there was something unnerving about his taut stillness.
Still the leader, Laurent, was sure of his plan. If our covens could get along with each other, then we could get along with his. Everyone would calm down and then we could all play. And he would get to know the glowing blonde.…
He smiled in a friendly way, slowing his approach and then stopping as he got within a few yards of Carlisle. His gaze flickered to Rosalie, to Emmett, to me, then back to Carlisle.
“We thought we heard a game,” he said. He had a faint French accent, but his internal voice came to him in English. “I’m Laurent, these are Victoria and James.”
They didn’t appear to have much in common, this urbane traveler from the continent and his two more feral followers. The female was irritated by his introduction; she was almost consumed by the need to escape. The other male, James, was a little amused at Laurent’s confidence. He was enjoying the unpredictable nature of this encounter and was keen to see how we would respond.
Vic hasn’t split yet, he was thinking. So it probably won’t come to anything.
Carlisle smiled at Laurent, his friendly, open face momentarily disarming even the frightened Victoria. For one second, they all focused entirely on him instead of Emmett.
“I’m Carlisle,” he introduced himself. “This is my family, Emmett and Jasper; Rosalie, Esme, and Alice; Edward and Bella.” He gestured vaguely in our direction as he spoke, not drawing attention to me individually or Bella behind me. Laurent and James were reacting to the information that we were not separate tribes, but I wasn’t entirely paying attention.
In the second that Carlisle said Jasper’s name, I realized what I’d been missing.
Jasper—lacerated with scars on every visible portion of his skin, tall and lean and fierce as any stalking lion, eyes brutal with remembered kills—should have been at the forefront of their assessments. His warlike aspect should, even now, be coloring this negotiation.
I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, and found myself… so incredibly bored. It seemed as if there could be nothing less interesting in the world than this nondescript vampire standing docilely to one side of our grouping.
Nondescript? Docile? Jasper?
Jasper was concentrating so hard that, had he been human, his body would have been dripping with sweat.
I’d never seen him do this before, or even guessed that it was possible. Was this something he’d developed during his years in the South? Camouflage?
He was concurrently smoothing the tension surrounding the newcomers and making anyone looking in his direction feel singularly uninterested. Nothing could be duller than examining this nothing male at the back of the group, so unimportant.…
And not just him… He was covering Alice, Esme, and Bella in the same haze of tediousness.
This was why none of them had realized yet. Not because of Bella’s disheveled hair or my ridiculous tapping. They couldn’t cut through the sense of overwhelming mundaneness to look at her closely. She was just one among many, not worth examining.
Jasper was really extending himself to protect the vulnerable members of our family. I could hear his total concentration. He wouldn’t be able to hold it if things got physical, but for now he had Bella encased in a more clever protection than I could have imagined.
Gratitude swamped me again.
I blinked hard and refocused on the strangers. They were affected by Carlisle’s charm, though they did not forget Emmett’s intimidating size or my intensity.
I tried to absorb the soothing calm that Jasper was exuding, but while I could see its effect on the others, I couldn’t access it. I realized that Jasper was presenting what he wanted, and that included me on edge, a threat, a distraction.
Well, I could certainly lean into that role.
“Do you have room for a few more players?” Laurent was asking, just as amicable as Carlisle.
“Actually, we were just finishing up,” Carlisle responded, his tone oozing warmth. “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.”
Carlisle’s easy friendliness, along with Jasper’s influence, was winning them over. Even the edgy redhead was beginning to calm. Her thoughts tested this sense of safety, analyzing it in a way that was strange to me. I wondered whether she was aware of Jasper’s performance, but she didn’t seem suspicious. It was more like she questioned her own gut feeling.
James was a little disappointed that a game did not seem to be imminent. And also… that the confrontation had eased. He missed the excitement of the unknown.
Laurent was absorbing Carlisle’s poise and confidence. He wanted to know more about us. He wondered what subterfuge we used to disguise our eyes, and why.
“What’s your hunting range?” Laurent asked. This was a normal thing, an expected question among nomads, but I worried that it would alarm Bella. Whatever she felt, she was motionless and silent as a human could be behind me. The rhythm of her heart, and thus my drumming foot, didn’t change.
“The Olympic Range here, up and down the Coast Ranges on occasion,” Carlisle told him, not lying, but also not disabusing Laurent of his assumption. “We keep a permanent residence nearby. There’s another permanent settlement like ours up near Denali.”
This surprised all of them. Laurent was merely confused, but anything unexpected seemed to turn to fear in the mind of the panicky female; for her, all the effects of Jasper’s efforts vanished in an instant. James, however, was intrigued. Here was something new and different. Not only was our coven immense, we were apparently not even nomadic. Perhaps this detour wasn’t entirely wasted.
“Permanent?” Laurent asked, bewildered. “How do you manage that?”
James was pleased that Laurent had spoken, so his curiosity could be assuaged without any effort on his part. In a way, his reluctance to draw attention to himself reminded me of Jasper’s much more effective camouflage. I wondered why James would want to play it safe this way. It didn’t seem to line up with his desire for diversion.
Or did he, like Jasper, have something to hide?
“Why don’t you come back to our home with us and we can talk comfortably?” Carlisle proposed. “It’s a rather long story.”
Victoria twitched, and I could see that she was holding herself in place by will alone. She guessed what Laurent’s answer would be, and, oh, how she wanted to run. James gave her an encouraging look, but it didn’t alleviate her stress. Still, she would follow his lead.
Could it be this easy? It would be simple to split up if they accepted the invitation, with Carlisle and Emmett safely leading the strangers away. Thanks to Jasper, they might never realize what we were hiding from them.
I looked into Alice’s view of the future—a little more difficult at the moment, as I had to ignore Jasper’s potent veil of tedium, which tried, with energy, to convince me that there must be something more interesting to do.
Alice was focused on the closest possible futures. It surprised me that they all ended in a standoff now. A few of the possible fights were clearer than before.
So it would not be that easy.
In Laurent’s mind, I heard nothing but interest and the coming assent; James was in agreement. Victoria looked for a trap, rigid with dread.
None of them had any intention to cause trouble or even examine our numbers more closely. What would change their minds?
I could think of only one factor that was so sure, so unaffected by any decision or whim.
The weather.
I braced myself, knowing there was nothing I could do. Jasper’s eyes flickered to me. He felt my new anguish.
“That sounds very interesting, and welcome,” Laurent was saying. “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.”
Victoria shuddered, trying to subtly catch James’s attention, but he ignored her.
“Please don’t take offense, but we’d appreciate it if you’d refrain from hunting in this immediate area,” Carlisle cautioned them. “We have to stay inconspicuous, you understand.”
Carlisle’s voice was perfectly assured. I envied him his hopefulness.
“Of course,” Laurent agreed. “We certainly won’t encroach on your territory. We just ate outside of Seattle, anyway.”
Laurent laughed, and Bella’s heartbeat stuttered for the first time. The movement of my foot faltered quickly, trying to disguise the variation. None of the strangers seemed to notice.
“We’ll show you the way if you’d like to run with us,” Carlisle offered, and only Alice and I knew that it was too late for his plan to succeed. It was so close now—her visions were racing to collide with the present. “Emmett and Alice, you can go with Edward and Bella to get the Jeep.”
It happened exactly as he said Bella’s name.
Just a gentle breeze, a mild flutter from a new direction, an aberration caused by the tail end of the storm swirling westward. So mild. So inescapable.
Bella’s scent, fresh and immediate, wafted directly into the strangers’ faces.
All of them were affected, but while Laurent and Victoria were predominantly confused by the delicious smell coming out of nowhere, James shifted instantaneously into hunting mode. Jasper’s camouflage wasn’t strong enough to deter that kind of focus.
There was no point in pretending any longer. As if he were reading my thoughts, Jasper pulled his concealment back in that second, leaving only himself and Alice still hidden. I realized it was better that he do this, that it would only alert these nomads to his extra talents if he tried to keep Bella obscured now. Yet I still felt a weak prick of betrayal.
But that was only the smallest part of my awareness. Most of my faculties were overwhelmed with fury.
James thrust forward into a crouch. His mind was empty of thought besides the hunt, intent on immediate gratification.
I gave him something else to think about.
I crouched in front of Bella, ready to launch myself into the hunter before he could get any closer to her, all my abilities concentrated on his thoughts. I roared a warning at him, knowing only self-preservation had any hope of distracting him at this point.
My rage was strong enough that I half wanted him to ignore my threat.
The pinpoint focus of his eyes widened out, away from Bella, as he appraised me. A strange flicker of surprise wove through his mind. He was almost… incredulous that I had moved to block him. I could only guess that he was used to acting unopposed. He hesitated, wavering between prudence and desire. It would be foolish to ignore the others—this was not a contest between just the two of us. But he could barely resist my challenge. He wasn’t sure he wanted to resist.
“What’s this?” Laurent cried. I didn’t waste any attention for his reaction.
I saw the ploy in James’s thoughts before he moved. I was in place to block his new angle before the movement was finished. His eyes narrowed, and he adjusted his evaluation of the danger I posed.
Faster than I thought. Too fast?
He was suspicious of me now. Of all of us. Why hadn’t he noticed the girl before? She was so obvious, her apricot skin soft and matte in contrast with the shine of the rest.
“She’s with us,” I heard Carlisle warn in a new voice, friendliness gone.
James flashed a glance at him and was aware again of Emmett looming, massive and eager, beside Carlisle.
I was surprised at his frustration. James didn’t want to be careful. He was anxious for a fight. However—still poised to strike—he spared part of his focus to tune in for some movement from Victoria, but she was frozen with fear.
My own attention was compromised as Laurent finally reacted.
“You brought a snack?” he asked, disbelieving.
Like James, he moved a step closer to Bella, though his move was more instinctual than aggressive.
That didn’t matter to me. I twisted slightly, my eyes never leaving the greater threat, and snarled my rage in Laurent’s direction, baring my teeth at him. Unlike James, Laurent immediately retreated.
James shifted again, testing my concentration. I was in place to answer his maneuver before the motion was complete. His lips pulled back over his teeth.
“I said she’s with us,” Carlisle repeated, his voice closer to a growl than I’d ever heard it before.
“But she’s human,” Laurent pointed out. There was still no aggression in his mind. He was only baffled and frightened. He couldn’t make sense of this situation, but he realized that James’s ill-considered offensive might get them all killed. He glanced toward Victoria, checking her reaction much as James had. As if she were some kind of weathervane.
Emmett was the one to respond to Laurent. I didn’t know if it was Jasper who made it feel as though the ground shook as he took one step closer to the conflict, or if it was just Emmett being Emmett.
“Yes,” he rumbled, his tone absent of all emotion and inflection. The steel of his voice seemed to cut straight through the center of the confrontation, evoking a sudden chill in the air.
I was pretty sure that was Jasper’s work, but I didn’t split my concentration to be sure.
It was effective. The hunter straightened out of his crouch.
I read his reactions minutely, holding my defensive position against the possibility of a trick. I expected anger, frustration. I’d seen before that he was arrogant, not used to being obstructed. Having to concede to a larger force than his own would surely infuriate him.
But instead, a sudden excitement jolted through his thoughts. Though his eyes never entirely left Bella or me, he was cataloguing in his peripheral vision the threats facing him. Not with fear or annoyance, but with a strange, wild pleasure. His eyes still skipped over Jasper and Alice, seeing them only as numbers in a census. Emmett’s threatening mass seemed abruptly exhilarating to him.
“It appears we have a lot to learn about each other,” Laurent observed in a mollifying tone.
And then James’s inexplicable elation gave way to planning. To strategy. To memories of past victories. And for the first time, I realized—with dread and panic—that he was no mere hunter.
“Indeed,” Carlisle agreed, his voice hard.
I desperately wanted to know what Alice was seeing now, but I couldn’t afford to miss any detail in my adversary’s thoughts.
I listened as he remembered cornering target after target, as he relived the lengths of his more exhaustive pursuits, as he catalogued the opposition he’d overcome to get to his prey. None of the previous challenges were greater than what he was looking at now. Eight—no, seven, he corrected. A coven of seven—certainly with some talents among them—and one helpless human girl who smelled better than any meal he’d had in the last century.
Thrilling.
He couldn’t start here, with so many protecting her.
Wait until they separate. Use the time for reconnaissance.
“But we’d like to accept your invitation,” Laurent was saying to Carlisle. James was only superficially aware of the conversation; he was absorbed in his planning.
Until Laurent added, “And, of course, we will not harm the human girl. We won’t hunt in your range, as I said.”
This broke through both James’s new exhilaration and his vigilant focus. He turned away from me to stare at Laurent with amazement, but Laurent was facing Carlisle, and he didn’t see as the shock turned to loathing.
You dare speak for me?
The heat of his reaction made it clear that the coven would not stay intact. I heard James’s resolution to use Laurent as long as he was convenient, but he would rather kill him than leave him behind when that usefulness was over. It appeared that his desire to destroy Laurent was based entirely on this one comment; I couldn’t find another source of resentment. James was easily provoked, I decided, and unforgiving. Perhaps I could use that.
James had no thought of Victoria choosing Laurent. I wondered whether they were a mated pair, but his thoughts didn’t give away any special feeling for her. They must have been together longer than the alliance with Laurent. They were the original coven, and he the interloper. It fit with how easily James contemplated disposing of the newcomer.
“We’ll show you the way,” Carlisle said, less like an offer and more like a command. “Jasper, Rosalie, Esme?”
Jasper didn’t like this—separating from Alice, especially when things were going poorly. But he couldn’t argue with Carlisle now. We needed to present a united front, and he didn’t want to draw attention to himself. Carlisle had no idea of the cover Jasper was generating. Jasper resigned himself to keeping up the concealment as long as necessary; if a fight was coming, he intended it to be an ambush.
He looked at Alice, who nodded at him. She was confident she wasn’t in danger. He accepted that but was still unhappy. She darted to Bella’s side.
Without needing to discuss, Jasper, Esme, and Rose moved together to obstruct James’s view of Bella as they joined Carlisle.
James was not perturbed. His desire to attack had vanished. He was plotting now.
Emmett retreated last, his eyes on James as he moved backward into position beside me.
Carlisle gestured for Laurent and his coven to lead the way out of the clearing. Laurent complied quickly, with Victoria right behind. Her mind was still full of escape routes.
James hesitated for a fraction of a second, and his eyes returned to us. I knew Bella was invisible behind Emmett, but he wasn’t looking for her this time. He stared directly into my eyes and smiled.