Chapter 11

We couldn't hear Embry. Just like that.

We couldn't hear Embry. Like flipping off a light switch.

We couldn't hear Embry. His mind was gone.

Adrenaline pulsed through me, making me hyperaware of everything.

Leah was streaking through the woods like lightening, leaving Seth and me behind as she headed toward our fallen brother. Seth's kindhearted nature was viciously turning against him, he was dwelling on the knowledge he had let fear hold him up, dwelling on the fear that his hesitation could cost Embry his life, and clinging desperately to the optimism that encouraged his hope, his hope that Embry still lived. My muscles burned as I pushed myself faster than they wanted to move me; the wind roared in my ears bringing with it a million voices.

The voice of the snow crunching and whooshing beneath my feet. The voice of branches creaking in the breeze. The voice of car engines on a nearby road. The voice of two bears racing to join us. The voice of Seth and Leah's footfalls, I hadn't realized until this moment how close they were to me. We must be nearing Embry.

Tom's voice was echoing around my head but I couldn't spare the concentration to answer him. Kaleb, who was late to the party, was suddenly in Leah's head, but he wasn't searching for my consciousness so I ignored his. The only mind I cared about contacting now was the one that may have left us forever.

Suddenly we were there. The smell of vampire burned my nose. The two bears were there too. Mike and Terry had heard Embry's scream of terror break the night sky, they had heard everything Kaleb learned from Leah, and so they knew something was up. Which was good because I couldn't tell them in this form?

Then I saw him. Embry, human on the ground. His chest heaving. Then I heard him. His heart was pounding. He was whimpering in the back of his throat. He was alive. The relief coursed through me followed quickly by my brain's rebooting.

Seth! Stay with Embry! Leah! You and I are going to track the bloodsucker! Tom Scott! Answer me!

I'm here, Jacob. What's going on?

I'm not sure but I'd bet anything that that vampire knows. I need you to have Mike and Terry running a perimeter around the area. Start tight but make it bigger with each revolution! That vampire was here for a reason, I want that reason found!

Consider it done. My kinship has been alerted. We are coming to help. We are fanning out; if the creature is still in the area, we'll lessen its escape routes.

Got it.

Leah and I sped through the dark following the scent left behind by the leech, leaving no detail unnoticed.

(Simon POV)

"What happened?" Madelyn shrieked as she gunned the car down the highway.

"Relax, Maddie," I told her with a sigh and an eye roll. Humans. They overreact about everything. "Just a glitch with the ditch. I got away clean."

"The bears?" she asked, calming down.

"Friends of theirs…" I said absently, staring out the window.

"Big friends…" I muttered.

I knew the bears were out tonight, looking for me, when I went to dump the body. They were easily avoidable. But that wolf… Where did the wolf come from? I'd never seen him before. He was just as human as the rest of them though, and just as easily scared. I never had the chance to test my power on the bear people, so I was surprised when the wolf transformed back into a human. Fear can force the transformation.

I wanted to kill him. I was so close. The dark-skinned teen was lying naked and vulnerable in the snow. Utterly defenseless. I would not have fed. His blood smelled foul even in his human form. It would have been more fun than anything else. Then I had heard the others in the distance. I recognized two sets of pounding bear paws and three sets of longer strides that moved just as swift but made lighter impact on the ground. I assumed those three unfamiliar sets of footfalls were wolf-boy's family. If I stayed to finish the job, the five of them would have caught me easy. I had wanted to kill him. I had had to leave him. Such a shame.

The bear people looked like your run-of-the-mill black bear. Supernaturally fast, and probably supernaturally strong, but they looked normal. The wolf people looked like the real thing except that they were huge. What genetic quirk allowed them to grow? Shape shifters. I'll never understand it. What genetic quirk allowed a human to be part beast?

Who cares, I thought to myself, grinning. Things just got a whole lot more interesting tonight. New players.

"Well, never mind them. I found the one I need. We need to plan and prepare." Madelyn gave a chuckle. "A year of searching for the right one and having to make due with only second-bests, then suddenly there it is! The kid walks right by me! Like a gift from the gods."

This news surprised me. "Are you sure?"

Madelyn had been looking for a long time, well, a long time for a human. I was a little disappointed that her dream was coming true. If she were right that would mean one more scare and snare and then I'd have to go back to hunting the old-fashioned way.

Madelyn smiled, victorious. "Positive." Her smile faded to a frown. "Feed before you go after this one. I want you in peak form. No mistakes."

Mistakes? Whom does she think she is talking to? A newborn? Or a child like the ones she has chased?

The indignant growl burst between my clenched teeth. She flinched and the car swerved a little. I heard her heartbeat speed and I wondered if she was thinking about how easily I could stop it from beating altogether. I certainly was.

"Plan and prepare," she muttered to herself now, "plan and prepare, plan and prepare…" Her heart slowed as she chanted quietly over and over.

(Renesmee POV)

Jacob was standing in the forest, his muscles glistening in the light reflecting off the snow. The smile on his face was warm enough to melt ice. I ran to him and wrapped him in an embrace. He pulled my face up to his and his lips met mine. My heart skipped enjoyably in my chest. My hands were on his bare skin; his muscles were hard beneath his warmth. One of his hands was stroking my hair, his other hand was moving slowly down my back and my body was reacting in a pleasant but unfamiliar way to his tender touch. His tongue was tracing my lip now, requesting access while the hand on my back slipped under my shirt and-

My eyes snapped open.

Damn.

What was he going to do next?

I moaned into my pillow. It wasn't as if I had never thought about having Jake in that way, but I had never thought about it with such sensual detailed clarity and never had I thought about it in my sleep. Not that I minded. Now I was grinning into my pillow.

I heard voices downstairs. It must have been what woke me. They sounded panicked and angry. Arguing maybe? I listened closer.

"…not a fortune cookie," Alice was saying.

"Let's crack you open and find out," Jacob growled.

Alice hissed.

"That's enough!" Mom snapped.

I sat up. That was strange. I have never heard Jacob talk to Auntie Alice like that. Never. They were usually on good terms. Aunt Rose got death threats all the time, but then she gave them as often as she got them.

In another room, I could hear Uncle Emmett.

"Maybe Carlisle…" his voice trailed off.

"No," my dad was answering, "this is more of an emotional problem, that's Jasper's expertise. When he's… better I might be able to see his mind, figure out why you all thought he was being buried alive. Besides if Carlisle leaves the hospital early again it's bound to bring suspicion."

"Jasper will be able to put him right, right?" Seth asked in a small voice.

Dad didn't answer.

Was someone hurt?

I was on my feet in an instant. I pushed the door open and headed down.

Mom, Alice and Jacob were easiest to find. Alice and Jacob were glaring at each other too intensely to notice me. Mom was chewing on her lip, her forehead wrinkled. She looked up at me immediately.

"Oh, honey, we didn't mean to wake you…"

"Is someone hurt?" I asked.

"Embry," Jake answered breaking free of his trance.

I knew Jake well enough to hear the worry in his voice. I went to his side and wrapped an arm around his waist while he wrapped one around my shoulders.

"What happened?" I asked.

"We aren't sure, vampire attack, we think," he said with a hint of confusion in his voice.

"I thought I heard Dad say something about being buried alive?" Actually, I was sure of it. "I don't understand…"

"That makes two of us," he muttered turning his eyes back to Alice.

"Jacob," she said sounding tired, "I can't tell you what I don't see. I'm trying and I'll keep trying but there's too much…interference. I'm sorry." Alice really did sound sorry, but whether it was because Embry got hurt or because her visions were becoming more flawed, I couldn't tell.