They emerged one by one from the forest edge, ranging a dozen meters apart. The first was male he came into the clearing fell back immediately, allowing the other male to take the front, orienting himself around the tall, dark-haired man in a manner that clearly displayed who led the pack. The third was a woman she appeared last; from this distance, all I could see of her was that her hair was a startling shade of black.
They closed ranks before they continued cautiously toward Elsa's family, exhibiting the natural respect of a troop of predators as it encounters a larger, unfamiliar group of its own kind.
As they approached, I could see how different they were from the Cullens. Their walk was catlike, a gait that seemed constantly on the edge of shifting into a crouch. They dressed in the ordinary gear of backpackers: jeans and casual button-down shirts in heavy, weatherproof fabrics. The clothes were frayed, though, with wear, and they were barefoot. The first two of them had cropped hair, but the womans brilliant Black hair was long and filled with leaves and debris from the woods.
Their sharp eyes carefully took in the more polished, urbane stance of Carlisle, who, flanked by Emmett and Jasper, stepped guardedly forward to meet them. Without any apparent communication between them, they each straightened into a more casual, erect bearing.
The man in front was easily the most beautiful, his skin olive-toned beneath the typical pallor, his hair a glossy black. He was of a medium build, hard-muscled, of course, but nothing next to Emmett's brawn. He smiled an easy smile, exposing a flash of gleaming white teeth.
The black-headed woman was wilder, her eyes shifting restlessly between the others facing her, and the loose grouping around me, her chaotic hair quivering in the slight breeze. Her posture was distinctly feline. The last male hovered unobtrusively behind them, slighter than the leader, his light red hair and regular features both nondescript. His eyes, though completely still, somehow seemed the most vigilant.
Their eyes were different, too. Not the gold or black I had come to expect, but a deep burgundy color that was disturbing and sinister.
The dark-haired man, still smiling, stepped toward Carlisle.
"We thought we heard a game," he said in a relaxed voice with the slightest of French accents. "I'm Laurent, these are Gerda and Hans." He gestured to the vampires beside him.
"I'm Carlisle. This is my family, Emmett and Jasper, Royal, Esme, and Alice, Elsa and Anna." He pointed us out in groups, deliberately not calling attention to individuals. I felt a shock when he said my name.
"Do you have room for a few more players?" Laurent asked sociably.
Carlisle matched Laurent's friendly tone. "Actually, we were just finishing up. 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."
The tense atmosphere had slowly subsided into a casual conversation; I guessed that Jasper was using his peculiar gift to control the situation.
"What's your hunting range?" Laurent casually inquired.
Carlisle ignored the assumption behind the inquiry. "The Olympic Range here, up and down the Coast Ranges on occasion. We maintain a permanent residence nearby. There's another permanent settlement like ours up near Denali."
Laurent rocked back on his heels slightly.
"Permanent? How do you manage that?" There was honest curiosity in his voice.
"Why don't you come back to our home with us and we can talk comfortably?" Carlisle invited. "It's a rather long story."
Hans and Gerda exchanged a surprised look at the mention of the word "home," but Laurent controlled his expression better.
"That sounds very interesting, and welcome." His smile was genial. "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." His eyes move appreciatively over Carlisle's refined appearance.
"Please don't take offense, but we'd appreciate it if you'd refrain from hunting in this immediate area. We have to stay inconspicuous, you understand." Carlisle explained.
"Of course." Laurent nodded. "We certainly won't encroach on your territory. We just ate outside of Seattle, anyway," he laughed. A shiver ran up my spine.
"We'll show you the way if you'd like to run with us—Emmett and Alice, you can go with Elsa and Anna to get the Jeep," he casually added.
Three things seemed to happen simultaneously while Carlisle was speaking. My hair ruffled with the light breeze, Elsa stiffened, and the slighter male, Hans, suddenly whipped his head around, scrutinizing me, his nostrils flaring.
A swift rigidity fell on all of them as Hans lurched one step forward into a crouch. Elsa bared her teeth, crouching in defense, a feral snarl ripping from her throat. It was nothing like the playful sounds I'd heard from her this morning; it was the single most menacing thing I had ever heard, and chills ran from the crown of my head to the back of my heels.
"What's this?" Laurent exclaimed in open surprise. Neither Hans nor Elsa relaxed their aggressive poses. Hans feinted slightly to the side, and Elsa shifted in response.
"She's with us." Carlisle's firm rebuff was directed toward Hans. Laurent seemed to catch my scent less powerfully than Hans, but awareness now dawned on his face.
"You brought a snack?" he asked, his expression incredulous as he took an involuntary step forward.
Elsa snarled even more ferociously, harshly, her lip curling high above her glistening, bared teeth. Laurent stepped back again.
"I said she's with us," Carlisle corrected in a hard voice.
"But she'shuman," Laurent protested. The words were not at all aggressive, merely astounded.
"Yes."
Emmett was very much in evidence at Carlisle's side, his eyes on Hans. Hans slowly straightened out of his crouch, but his eyes never left me, his nostrils still wide. Elsa stayed tensed like a lion in front of me.
When Laurent spoke, his tone was soothing—trying to defuse the sudden hostility. "It appears we have a lot to learn about each other."
"Indeed." Carlisle's voice was still cool.
"But we'd like to accept your invitation." His eyes flicked toward me and back to Carlisle. "And, of course, we will not harm the human girl. We won't hunt in your range, as I said."
Hans glanced in disbelief and aggravation at Laurent and exchanged another brief look with Gerda, whose eyes still flickered edgily face to face.
Carlisle measured Laurent's open expression for a moment before he spoke. "We'll show you the way. Jasper, Royal, Esme?" he called. They gathered together, blocking me from view as they converged. Alice was instantly at my side, and Emmett fell back slowly, his eyes locked on Hans as he backed toward us.
"Let's go, Anna." Elsa's voice was low and bleak.
This whole time I'd been rooted in place, terrified into absolute immobility. Elsa had to grip my elbow and pull sharply to break my trance. Alice and Emmett were close behind us, hiding me. I stumbled alongside Elsa, still stunned with fear. I couldn't hear if the main group had left yet. Elsa was radiating tension as we moved at human speed to the forest edge.
Once we were in the trees, Elsa slung me over her back without breaking stride. I gripped as tightly as possible as she took off, the others close on her heels. I kept my head down, but my eyes, wide with fright, wouldn't close.
They plunged through the now-black forest like wraiths. The sense of exhilaration that usually seemed to possess Elsa as she ran was completely absent, replaced by a fury that consumed her and drove her faster. Even with me on her back, the others trailed behind.
We reached the Jeep in an impossibly short time, and Elsa barely slowed as she swept me into the backseat.
"Strap her in," she ordered Emmett, who slid in beside me.
Alice was already in the front seat, and Elsa was starting the engine. It roared to life and we swerved backward, spinning around to face the winding road.
Elsa was growling something too fast for me to understand, but it sounded a lot like a string of profanities.
The jolting trip was much worse this time, and the darkness only made it more frightening. Emmett and Alice both glared out the side windows. I let out a weak yelp of fright at a particular violent jolt and Emmett reached over and placed a tentative hand on my shoulder, his face was serious.
We hit the main road, and though our speed increased, I could see much better where we were going. And we were headed south, away from Forks.
"Where are we going?"
No one answered. Elsa stared furiously at the road, Alice continued to glare out the side window, Emmett averted his eyes.
"Dammit, Elsa! Where are you taking me?"
"We have to get you away from here—far away—now." She didn't look back, her eyes still on the road. The speedometer read a hundred and five miles an hour.
"Turn around! You have to take me home!" I shouted. I struggled with the complicated harness, tearing at the straps.
"Emmett," Elsa said grimly.
And Emmett secured my hands in his cold, steely grasp.
"No! Elsa! No, you can't do this."
"I have to, Anna, now please be quiet."
"Do not tell me to be quiet!" I snapped. Elsa's grip tightened on the steering wheel. Emmett's eyes widened curiously at me. "You have to take me back home—David will call the FBI! They'll be all over your family—Carlisle and Esme! They'll have to leave, to hide forever!"
"Calm down, Anna." Her voice was cold. "We've been there before."
"You're being ridiculous. You don't need to do this to yourselves—we can figure something out!" I struggled violently, staring daggers at Emmett.
Alice spoke for the first time. "Elsa, pull over."
She flashed her a hard look, and then sped up.
"Elsa, let's just talk this through."
"You don't understand," she roared in frustration. I'd never heard her voice so loud; it was deafening in the confines of the Jeep. The speedometer neared one hundred and fifteen. "He's a tracker, Alice, did youseethat? He's a tracker!"
I felt Emmett stiffen next to me, and I wondered at his reaction to the word. It meant something more to the three of them than it did to me; I wanted to understand, but there was no opening for me to ask.
"Pull over, Elsa." Alice's tone was reasonable, but there was a ring of authority in it I'd never heard before.
The speedometer inched past one-twenty.
"Do it, Elsa."
"Listen to me, Alice. I saw his mind. Tracking is his passion, his obsession—and he wants her, Alice—her, specifically. He begins the hunt tonight."
"He doesn't know where—"
She interrupted her. "How long do you think it will take him to cross her scent in town? His plan was already set before the words were out of Laurent's mouth."
I gasped, knowing where my scent would lead. "David! You can't leave him there! You can't leave him!" I vainly tried to wrench my hands from Emmett's steel grip.
"She's right," Alice said.
The car slowed slightly.
"Let's just look at our options for a minute," Alice coaxed.
The car slowed again, more noticeably, and then suddenly we screeched to a stop on the shoulder of the highway. I flew against the harness, and then slammed back into the seat.
"There are no options," Elsa hissed.
"I'm not leaving David!!!" I yelled.
She stiffened at the edge to my voice, but ignored me.
"We have to take her back," Emmett finally spoke.
"No." Elsa was absolute.
"He's no match for us, Elsa. He won't be able to touch Anna."
"He'll wait."
Emmett smiled. "I can wait, too."
"You didn't see—you don't understand. Once he commits to a hunt, he's unshakable. We'd have to kill him."
Emmett didn't seem upset by the idea. "That's an option."
"And the redhead. She's with him. If it turns into fight, the leader will go with them, too."
"There are enough of us."
"There's another option," Alice said quietly.
Elsa turned on her in fury, her voice a blistering snarl. "There—is—no—other—option!"
Emmett and I both stared at her in shock, but Alice seemed unsurprised. The silence lasted a long minute as Elsa and Alice stared each other down.
I broke it. "Does anyone want to hear my plan?"
"No," Elsa growled. Alice glared at her, finally provoked.
"Listen," I began. "You take me back."
"No," she interrupted.
I glared at her, no longer able to contain my anger.
"Elsa Cullen, listen to me." I snapped, my voice thick with frustration. Her eyes widened and she quickly glanced at me for a moment.
"Shut up!!, get your damn temper under control and stop yelling!!." The anger in my voice was harsh—I had never imagined I would ever speak to anyone, let alone her, in that tone. "Youwilltake me back. I'll tell my dad I want to go home to Phoenix. I pack my bags. We wait till this tracker is watching, andthenwe run. He'll follow us and leave David alone. David won't call the FBI on your family. Then you can take me any damned place you want. Got it?"
They stared at me, stunned.
"It's not a bad idea, really." Emmett sounded surprised—and almost impressed.
"It might work—and we simply can't leave her father unprotected. You know that." Alice said.
Everyone looked at Elsa.
"It's too dangerous—I don't want him within a hundred miles of Anna."
Emmett was supremely confident. "Elsa, he's not getting through us."
Alice thought for a minute. "I don't see him attacking. He'll try to wait for us to leave him alone."
"It won't take long for him to realize that's not going to happen."
"Idemandthat you take me home." My voice was a growl.
Elsa pressed her fingers to her temples and squeezed her eyes shut.
"Elsa," my was voice calmer, but still hard, "please."
She didn't look up. When she spoke, her voice sounded worn.
"You're leaving tonight, whether the tracker sees or not. You tell David that you can't stand another minute in Forks. Tell him whatever story words. Pack the first things your hands touch, and then get in your truck. I don't care what he says to you. You have fifteen minutes. Do you hear me? Fifteen minutes from the time you cross the doorstep."
"I will take however long I need to convince David not to follow me," I countered. "Doyouhearme?"
Elsa didn't say anything, but at least she didn't argue. The Jeep rumbled to life, and she spun us around, the tires squealing. The needle on the speedometer started to race up the dial.
"Emmett?" I asked, looking pointedly at my hands.
"Oh, sorry." He let me loose. He leaned in closer to me, "That was badass of you just now." He said quietly, grinning.
"Thanks," I muttered.
A few minutes passed in silence, other than the roar of the engine. Then Elsa spoke again.
"This is how it's going to happen. When we get to the house, if the tracker is not there, I will walk her to the door. Then she has fifteen minutes." She glared at me in the rearview mirror, I glared back. "Emmett, you take the outside of the house. Alice, you get the truck. I'll be inside as long as she is. After she's out, you two can take the jeep home and tell Carlisle."
"No way," Emmett broke in. "I'm with you."
"Think it through, Emmett. I don't know how long I'll be gone."
"Until we know how far this is going to go, I'm with you."
Elsa sighed. "if the trackeristhere," she continued grimly, "we keep driving."
"We're going to make it there before him," Alice said confidently.
Elsa seemed to accept that. Whatever her problem with Alice was, she didn't doubt her now.
"What are we going to do with the Jeep?" she asked.
Her voice had a hard edge. "You're driving it home."
"No, I'm not," she said calmly.
The unintelligible stream of profanities started again.
"We can't all fit in my truck," I pointed out.
Elsa didn't acknowledge me.
"I think you should let me go alone," I said calmly.
She reacted to that.
"Anna, please just do this my way, just this once," she said between clenched teeth.
"You're not making rational decisions. Your temper is out of control and you're thinking emotionally, not logically," I protested. "David's not an imbecile. If you're not in town tomorrow, he's going to get suspicious."
"That's irrelevant. We'll make sure she's safe, and that's all that matters."
"Then what about this tracker? He saw the way you acted tonight. He's going to think you're with me, wherever you are."
Emmett looked at me, surprised and impressed again. "Elsa, listen to her," he urged. "I think she's right."
"Yes, she is." Alice agreed.
"I can't do that." Elsa's voice was icy.
"Emmett should stay, too," I continued. "He definitely got an eyeful of Emmett."
"What?" Emmett turned on me.
"You'll get a better crack at him if you stay," Alice agreed.
Elsa stared at her incredulously. "You think I should let Anna go alone?"
"Of course not," Alice said. "Jasper and I will take her."
"I can't do that," Elsa repeated, but this time there was a trace of defeat in her voice. The logic was working on her.
I tried to be persuasive, but there was still an edge to my voice. "Hang out here for a week—" I saw her expression in the mirror and sighed "—a few days. Let David see you haven't kidnapped me, and lead this Hans on a fake trail so he's completely off mine. Then come and meet me. Take a round a bout route, of course, and then Jasper and Alice can go home."
I could see her beginning to consider it.
"Meet you where?"
"Phoenix." Of course.
"No. He'll hear that's where you're going," she said impatiently.
"And you'll make it look like that's a ruse," I snapped, "He'll know that we're expecting him to be listening. He'll never believe I'm actually going where I say I'm going."
"She's diabolical," Emmett chuckled.
"And if that doesn't work?"
"There are several million people in Phoenix," I informed her.
"It's not that hard to find a phone book."
"Obviously I'm not going home."
"Oh?" she inquired, a dangerous note in her voice.
"I'm old enough to get my own place."
"Elsa, we'll be with her," Alice reminded her.
"What areyougoing to do inPhoenix?" She asked her scathingly.
"Stay indoors."
"I kind of like it." Emmett was thinking about cornering Hans, no doubt.
"Shut up, Emmett."
"Look, if we try to take him down while Anna's still around, there's a much better chance that someone will get hurt—Anna'll get hurt, or you will, trying to protect her. Now, if we get the tracker alone…" He trailed off with a slow smile. I was right.
The Jeep was crawling slowly along now as we drove into town. Despite my brave talk, I could feel the hairs on my arms standing up. I thought about David, alone in the house, and tried to be courageous.
"Anna." Elsa's voice was very soft. Alice and Emmett looked out their windows. "If anything happens to you—anything at all—I'll never forgive myself. I'll never be able to forget that it wasmyfault you…" she trailed off, and took a deep breath. "Do you understand?" Was all she could manage.
"Yes," I said softly.
She turned to Alice.
"Can Jasper handle this?"
"Give him some credit, Elsa. He's been doing very, very well, all things considered."
"Canyouhandle this?" she asked.
And graceful little Alice pulled back her lips in a horrific grimace and let loose with a guttural snarl that had me cowering against the seat in terror.
Elsa smiled at her. "But keep your opinions to yourself," she muttered suddenly.