Page 59 of Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined (The Twilight Saga)

T HEY EMERGED ONE BY ONE FROM THE EDGE OF THE FOREST, A dozen meters apart.

The first woman in the clearing fell back immediately, allowing another woman to take the lead, aligning herself behind the tall, dark-haired woman in a manner that made it clear who led the pack.

The third was a man; from this distance, all I could see was that his hair was blazing red.

They closed ranks before they continued cautiously toward Edythe’s family. It was like a wildlife show—a troop of predators exhibiting natural respect 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 were dressed in ordinary backpacking gear: jeans and casual button-down shirts in heavy, weatherproof fabrics.

The clothes were frayed with wear, though, and they were barefoot.

Their hair was filled with leaves and debris from the woods.

The woman in the lead analyzed Carine as she stepped forward, flanked by Eleanor and Jessamine, to meet them, and she straightened out of her half-crouch. The other two copied her.

The woman in front was easily the most beautiful. Her skin was pale but had an olive tone to it, and her hair was glossy black. She wasn’t tall, but she looked strong—though not strong like Eleanor. She smiled easily, exposing a flash of gleaming white teeth.

The man was wilder. His eyes darted restlessly between the Cullens, and his posture was oddly feline.

The second woman stayed unobtrusive in the back, smaller than the leader, with bland brown hair and a forgettable face.

Her eyes were the calmest, the most still.

But I had a strange feeling that she was seeing more than the others.

It was their eyes that made them the most different. They weren’t gold or black like I was used to, but a deep, vivid red.

The dark-haired woman, still smiling, stepped toward Carine.

“We thought we heard a game,” she said. There was the hint of a French accent in her voice. “I’m Lauren, these are Victor and Joss.”

“I’m Carine. This is my family, Eleanor and Jessamine, Royal, Earnest and Archie, Edythe and Beau.” She pointed us out in groups, deliberately not calling attention to individuals. I felt a shock when she said my name.

“Do you have room for a few more players?” Lauren asked.

Carine matched Lauren’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 figured Jessamine was using her strange gift to control the situation.

“What’s your hunting range?” Lauren casually inquired.

Carine ignored the assumption. “The Olympic Range here, up and down the Coast Ranges on occasion. We keep a permanent residence nearby. There’s another permanent settlement like ours up near Denali.”

Lauren rocked back on her heels slightly.

“Permanent? How do you manage that?” There was honest curiosity in her voice.

“Why don’t you come back to our home with us and we can talk comfortably?” Carine invited. “It’s a rather long story.”

Victor and Joss exchanged a surprised look at the mention of the word home , but Lauren controlled her expression better.

“That sounds very interesting, and welcome.” She smiled. “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.” Her eyes moved appreciatively over Carine’s clothes.

“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,” Carine explained.

“Of course.” Lauren nodded. “We certainly won’t encroach on your territory. We just ate outside of Seattle, anyway.” She laughed. A shiver ran up my spine.

“We’ll show you the way if you’d like to run with us—Eleanor and Archie, you can go with Edythe and Beau to get the Jeep,” Carine casually added.

Three things seemed to happen at the same time when Carine finished. A light breeze ruffled my hair, Edythe stiffened, and the second woman, Joss, suddenly whipped her head around, scrutinizing me, her nostrils flaring.

Everyone went rigid as Joss lurched one step forward into a crouch.

Edythe bared her teeth, coiling in front of me, a feral snarl ripping from her throat.

It was nothing at all like the playful growls I’d heard her make before; it was the most menacing sound I’d ever heard.

Chills ran from the crown of my head to the back of my heels.

“What’s this?” Lauren asked, shocked. Neither Edythe nor Joss relaxed their aggressive stance. Joss feinted slightly to the side, but Edythe had already shifted to answer her move.

“He’s with us,” Carine said directly to Joss, her voice cold.

Lauren seemed to catch my scent then, though less powerfully than Joss, and understanding lit her face. “You brought a snack?” She took a step forward.

Edythe snarled even more harshly, her lip curled back high above her bared teeth. Lauren stepped back again.

“I said he’s with us,” Carine snapped.

“But he’s human ,” Lauren protested. She didn’t say it with any aggression, she just sounded surprised.

Eleanor leaned forward, suddenly very there at Carine’s side. “Yes.” Her eyes were locked on Joss.

Joss slowly straightened out of her crouch, but her eyes never left me, her nostrils still wide.

Edythe stayed tensed in front of me. I wanted to pull her back—this Joss vampire wasn’t messing around—but I could guess exactly how well that would go over.

She’d told me to stay still, so I would . . . unless someone tried to hurt her.

When Lauren spoke, her tone was soothing—trying to defuse the sudden hostility. “It appears we have a lot to learn about each other.”

“Indeed.” Carine’s voice was still cool.

“But we’d like to accept your invitation.” Her eyes flicked toward me and back to Carine. “And, of course, we will not harm the human boy. We won’t hunt in your range, as I said.”

Joss glanced at Lauren in disbelief and exchanged a brief look with Victor, whose eyes still flickered edgily from face to face.

Carine measured Lauren’s sincere expression for a second before she spoke.

“We’ll show you the way. Jess, Royal, Earnest?

” she called. They gathered together, blocking me from view as they converged.

Archie was instantly at my side, while Eleanor moved more slowly, her eyes locked on Joss as she backed toward us.

“Let’s move, Beau,” Edythe said, low and bleak.

She gripped my elbow and pulled me forward.

Archie and Eleanor stayed close behind us, hiding me from whoever might still be watching.

I stumbled alongside Edythe, trying to keep up with the pace she set.

I couldn’t hear if the main group had left yet.

Edythe’s impatience was almost tangible as we moved at human speed to the edge of the forest.

“I’m faster,” she snapped, answering someone’s thought.

Then we were in the trees and Edythe pulled my arm around her neck while we were still half-jogging forward. I realized what she wanted and, too shocked still to feel self-conscious, climbed into place. We were running before I was set.

I couldn’t make my eyes close, but the forest was pretty much black now anyway. I couldn’t see or hear Eleanor and Archie running alongside us. Like Edythe, they moved through the forest as if they were ghosts.

We were at the Jeep in seconds. Edythe barely slowed, she just spun and whipped me into the backseat.

“Strap him in,” she hissed at Eleanor, who climbed in next to me.

Archie was already in the front seat, and Edythe revved the engine. She swerved backward, spinning around to face the winding road.

Edythe was growling something so fast I couldn’t tell what she was saying, but it kind of sounded like a string of profanities. The jolting ride was much worse this time, in the dark. Eleanor and Archie glared out the side windows.

We hit the main road. The Jeep raced faster. It was dark, but I recognized the direction we were headed. South, away from Forks.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

No one answered. No one even looked at me.

“Is anyone going to tell me what’s happening?”

Edythe kept her eyes on the road as she spoke. The speedometer read one-oh-five. “We have to get you away from here—far away—now.”

“What? But I have to go home.”

“You can’t go home, Beau.” The way she said it sounded kind of permanent.

“I don’t understand. Edythe? What do you mean?”

Archie spoke for the first time. “Pull over, Edythe.”

She flashed him a hard look and gunned the engine.

“Edythe,” Archie said. “Look at all the different ways this can go. We need to think this through.” There was a warning in his voice, and I wondered what he was seeing in his head, what he was showing Edythe.

“You don’t understand,” Edythe nearly howled in frustration. The speedometer was at one hundred and fifteen. “She’s a tracker, Archie! Did you see that? She’s a tracker!”

I felt Eleanor stiffen next to me, and I wondered what the word meant to her. Obviously it meant a lot 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, Edythe.” Archie’s voice was harder now, steely.

The speedometer inched past one-twenty.

“Do it,” he barked.

“Archie—listen! I saw her mind. Tracking is her passion, her obsession—and she wants him, Archie— him , specifically. She’s already begun.”

“She doesn’t know where—”