Chapter 13

When they adults found out that Jamie and Porter had returned to the house, they were absolutely furious. Especially Porter's mother, who gave both her son and Jamie the talking to of their lives. "Do you know how close you came to being hurt?" She had cried out, wringing her hands. "I would have expected this of Alec, but you, Porter? I thought you were always the level headed one!"

"And you!" She had shaken her finger at Jamie. "Pulling my son into your little schemes is a poor way to show your gratitude!"

"Mom," Porter had protested, moving to stand between Jamie and the shaking finger. "It's my fault. I insisted on coming along."

Jamie was doing her best not to smirk. This was absolutely ridiculous! She wasn't a child! She could take care of herself just fine, as she had proven today. Besides, it was a little smothering to have parent figures wringing their necks about her at all hours. She wasn't used to it at all.

A few moments later, Amber's, Leigh's, and Alec's parents burst through the front door of the Maxwell home. Well, everybody's parents and Alec's mother. She didn't think Alec's father was in the picture anymore. Jamie hadn't seen him once since their troubles had begun.

Mrs. Carlyle held up Jamie's cell and called out. "Her father made his demands. He wants us to come up with a million dollars and take them to the Henderson house this Saturday at midnight. He wants all of us to come. If we don't, he won't hand over Bella. He wants to record all of us by face so he'll know his enemies."

Mr. Maxwell gasped. "Three days! He wants a million dollars in three days?"

Jamie slumped against the entrance wall wearily. It was happening too fast. It was all too fast and she didn't have a clear idea for a plan. When it came down to it, the adults would turn to her because she knew the Colonel best.

"He doesn't want the million dollars," Jamie spoke up loudly. The adults turned to her. "It was just to give you false sense of security. He wanted you to think he wouldn't destroy you because then he'd lose the money. He planned to blow you all up—including the money. And Bella."

Mr. Maxwell gave Jamie an odd look. "It would have to be an awfully powerful bomb to kill us. Does he even have the resources?"

Jamie shut her eyes, feeling tired and sick. "He coats the explosive in a two-inch layer of silver. When the shrapnel hits you, you'll die."

The adults fell into a thunderous silence. No one felt like speaking for a moment—Jamie least of all. A hand prodded her shoulder gently, trying to keep her focused. She opened her eyes to find it was Porter.

"You know him best of all." He spoke encouragingly. Strength shone in his silver-blue eyes. "What do we need to do?"

Jamie sighed, knowing the answer and wishing she didn't have to utter it. "I have to go into the Henderson house," she said. "Late tonight, when it's too dark for the cameras to pick me up. If I can find the bomb, I'll disable it."

She turned to the adults and said. "I need to go alone."

A few voices rose in protest, Porter's most of all. Jamie managed to speak over them. "If you all come," she spoke loudly, "and the sensors pick us up…He might just decide to set off the explosives right then and forget about later. If I went by myself, it would just be a waste of a bomb."

"There's a chance he might set it off anyway." Porter protested.

"Better me than all of us," Jamie replied, refusing to look Porter in the eye. She needed to keep her steel strength and resolve. And right now, Porter could shatter it with a single, pleading glance. Right now, she needed the Colonel's advice. Keep the one goal in your mind's eye, she imagined him saying. Nothing else matters. Nothing but the goal.

"Besides," she said. "I'm his daughter. There's a chance he won't let the explosion take place."

This thought abated the adults, but she could see the skeptical expression that crossed Porter's face. He'd heard the Colonel give her up to the enemy without a second thought. And he'd seen the Colonel's single minded ruthlessness through her mind. None of her arguments convinced him in the least.

She looked him straight in the eye and whispered, "For Bella."

She stepped into the tight-fitting black pants and pulled the dark shirt over her head. They sculpted to her body like a second skin. In the light of Mrs. Maxwell's room, they accentuated her every curve—as few of them as she had. She stood before the full-length mirror, feeling like a willowy flower. Her body stood like a slim black stem followed by her heart-shaped face. Her reddish-brown hair fell about her shoulders, glistening in the overhead lights. The shadows below drew across her features, making them seem dark and taut and nearly hiding her smattering of freckles from view. It matched her mood at the moment. Now, she had the look of one who could not be missed in a crowd. In the blackness the night would afford, she would be nearly impossible to see.

There was a soft knock at the door.

Jamie immediately stopped examining herself in the mirror. She didn't want to appear too vain. She had a habit of looking in mirrors, ever since she was young. Doug used to tease her about it. But it had taught her many things: the movement of a muscle as someone prepares to attack, exactly which kicks had the most power, which blocks were the most effective…

"Come in," she said after clearing her unused voice. She had been hiding out in Mrs. Maxwell's room for the past hour. Anything to get away from all the nervous people and their congratulatory remarks. She had just wanted to be alone for a while. No, she admitted, she had wanted to be comforted. But the room full of adults had just been too smothering. There was a possibility that she would die tonight, and she didn't want the memory of squirming through a room of nervous people to be her last.

Porter slipped through the door, cat-quiet. He clicked the door shut behind his back and walked to her. He stopped about a foot away.

"The parents won't let me come with you."

She smiled. It was good to have one person who understood; whom she could rely on. "You should listen to them," she told him. "They'll need you to fight another day…if I don't make it."

"Jamie, don't talk like that. It's so…fatalistic."

She looked down at her hands clasped in front of her. "Sorry."

To Jamie's surprise, he reached out and took her shoulders in a firm grip. His eyes were determined. She'd never thought of Porter as the bull-headed type. He was always so genial and so compromising. But the look he gave her then, was nothing but bull-headed.

"I don't care what they say," he told her. "I'm coming with you. I'm not going to let you do this on your own."

Jamie shook her head vehemently.

"Jamie, if you don't want me to go inside, then I won't. But I'll be waiting outside for you. I'll be there if you need me, in case you get hurt."

She shook her head again.

"You can't stop me."

This was true. She couldn't stop him. Porter was stronger than her, faster than her, and as much as she'd like to dismiss the idea, probably smarter too. He would do whatever he darn well pleased no matter what she thought.

She looked up at him and said, "Bite me."

Porter's eyes widened and his pupils grew to nearly twice their normal size. They drank her in, shifting to her unblemished throat. He blinked and backed away, bringing a hand up to cover his eyes for one moment.

"Don't tempt me," he pleaded.

"I can't hear you in my head anymore." Jamie told him. "And you probably can't hear me either. How am I supposed to send you a message if you can't hear me?"

"I gave you too much of the formula last time." Porter said, still refusing to look at her. "I got carried away; too interested by what I found in your mind."

Finally, his eyes snapped up to her face. "If I give you much more, you would change over. Once you're a werewolf, you're always a werewolf. There's no turning back. You don't want to be one of us. Sometimes our natures are so dark and so hard to control. Almost impossible, even."

Jamie would be lying if she said she wanted to become a werewolf. The memory of the time Porter bit Lacey was still fresh in her mind. It was as vivid as if it had happened yesterday. And to be honest, she hadn't really wanted him to bite her so they could keep contact tonight. She'd just wanted to feel that closeness again. That feeling that any human would die for if that person had felt it just once. It was almost addictive.

"Just a little?" she asked. "Would a little change me?"

"Jamie, it's not real." He said it suddenly, shocking her into silence. "Of course it feels good. It's supposed to feel good. Biologically, if a serum could be made to give the victim a natural high, to love being hunted…Well, you get my point. It's all part of the werewolf's charm to get a meal."

Jamie surprised herself by speaking so audaciously. "There are a lot of biological things that feel good. Eating. Smelling. Sleeping. They are very real and they are good."

Porter nearly threw up his hand in exasperation. "Don't you realize I'm trying to do this for your good?"

Jamie could see the resistance in Porter's eyes weakening. What werewolf could deprive his self of bait that was to willingly pleading to be tasted? He moved toward her again gripping her by the shoulders. "Just a little."

He leaned forward swiftly, before she could even cringe. She didn't even see his teeth turn to vicious fangs because the change happened so quickly. His tongue didn't flick along her skin this time. She needed to be as deft and alert as possible. She could feel the serum being expelled into her system.

She gave into the feeling of his mouth at her throat. And the feeling of his arms holding her so gently. She wanted to reach out and hold him back. But what did he really feel about her anyway? Did he truly just think of her as a friend?

She could feel herself begin to tremble as she thought of the consequences of her actions. In moments he would be able to feel her emotions and he would know her true motives. She realized in that moment that she was afraid. Afraid that he would reject her.

The world burst into a whole new color. She could feel Porter's anger and fear and longing to comfort her all rolled into one burst of emotion. It hit her like a tidal wave. There was something else there too. She could just barely pick it out of the mess off emotions. He was afraid she didn't want to be comforted, that she would push him away.

She stood there for minutes, lapping in the peace of his comfort. Lapping in the serenity of his strong arms wrapped around her. An image started to burst toward her.

He pulled away suddenly and she reached up to grip the back of his neck. She tried to drag him back down again as the closeness began to fade. He was just too strong.

"No, Jamie," he whispered in her ear. "Remember. You don't want to become a 'wolf. Remember that."

Oh, yeah.

He leaned his forehead against hers for a moment, breathing deeply. He was so close that his breath mingled with hers. If she leaned forward just an inch…

But she didn't have to. His mouth moved in to close the gap and then they were kissing. A long desperate kiss as though they were afraid it would be their only. Jamie could feel the tingles running through her and sending her heart racing. She was lost in the sensations for a moment, but finally they broke apart.

She had a job to do and she couldn't forget it. For Bella.