The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer Read Free Book Online Page A

attack at dawn!” I said to make him laugh. It worked. We started joking again as we tracked our herd of vampires, but
     I could tell he was thinking serious stuff under the teasing, just like I was.
    And I only got more anxious as we ran. Because we were running fast, and there was no way we had the wrong trail, but it was
     taking too long. We were really getting away from the coast, up and over the closest mountains, off into new territory. This
     wasn’t the normal pattern.
    Every house we’d borrowed, whether it was up a mountain or on an island or hidden on a big farm, had a few things in common.
     The dead owners, the remote locale, and one other thing. They all were sort of focused on Seattle. Oriented around the big
     city like orbiting moons. Seattle was always the hub, always the target.
    We were out of orbit now, and it felt wrong. Maybe it meant nothing, maybe it was just that so many things were changing today.
     All the truths I’d accepted had been turned upside down and I wasn’t in the mood for any other upheavals. Why couldn’t Riley
     have just picked someplace normal?
    “Funny they’re this far out,” Diego murmured, and I could hear the edge in his voice.
    “Or scary,” I muttered.
    He squeezed my hand. “It’s cool. The ninja club can handle anything.”
    “You got a secret handshake yet?”
    “Working on it,” he promised.
    Something started to bug me. It was like I could feel this strange blind spot—I knew there was something I wasn’t seeing,
     but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Something obvious…
    And then, about sixty miles farther west than our usual perimeter, we found the house. It was impossible to mistake the noise.
     The
boom boom boom
of the bass, the video-game soundtrack, the snarling. Totally our crowd.
    I pulled my hand free, and Diego looked at me.
    “Hey, I don’t even know you,” I said in a joking tone. “I haven’t had one conversation with you, what with all that water
     we sat in all day. You could be a ninja or a vampire for all I know.”
    He grinned. “Same goes for you, stranger.” Then low and fast, “Just do the same things you did yesterday. Tomorrow night we’ll
     get out together. Maybe do some reconnaissance, figure out more of what’s going on.”
    “Sounds like a plan. Mum’s the word.”
    He ducked close and
kissed
me—just a peck, but right on the lips. The shock of it zinged through my whole body. Then he said, “Let’s do this,” and headed
     down the side of the mountain toward the source of the raucous noise without looking back. Already playing the part.
    A little stunned, I followed from a few yards behind, remembering to put the distance between us that I would put between
     myself and anyone else.
    The house was a big, log cabin–style affair, tucked into a hollow in the pines with no sign of any neighbors for miles around.
     All the windows were black, as if the place were empty, but the whole frame was trembling from the heavy bass in the basement.
    Diego went in first, and I tried to move behind him like he was Kevin or Raoul. Hesitant, protecting my space. He found the
     stairs and charged down with a confident tread.
    “Trying to lose me, losers?” he asked.
    “Oh, hey, Diego’s alive,” I heard Kevin answer with a distinct lack of enthusiasm.
    “No thanks to you,” Diego said as I slipped into the dark basement. The only light came from the various TV screens, but it
     was way more than any of us needed. I hurried back to where Fred had a whole couch to himself, glad that it was right for
     me to look anxious because there was no way to hide it. Iswallowed hard as the revulsion hit, and curled up in my usual spot on the floor behind the couch. Once I was down, Fred’s
     repellent power seemed to ease up. Or maybe I was just getting used to it.
    The basement was more than half empty since it was the middle of the night. All the kids in here had eyes the same as mine—bright,
     recently fed red.
    “Took me