We couldn't see the light fading here underground, with al of the windows upstairs covered just in case. But waiting through so many long days gave you a good sense for when one was almost over. Kids started getting antsy, bugging Riley about whether they could go out.
"Kristie, you were out last night," Riley said, and you could hear the patience wearing thin in his voice. "Heather, Jim, Logan - go ahead. Warren, your eyes are dark, go along with them. Hey, Sara, I'm not blind - get back here."
The kids he shut down sulked in the corners, some of them waiting for Riley to leave so they could sneak out in spite of his rules.
"Um, Fred, must be about your turn," Riley said, not looking in our direction. I heard Fred sigh as he got to his feet. Everyone cringed as he moved through the center of the room, even Riley. But unlike the others, Riley smiled a little to himself. He liked his vampire with skil s.
I felt naked with Fred gone. Anyone could focus on me now. I held perfectly stil, head down, doing everything in my power not to cal attention to myself.
Lucky for me, Riley was in a hurry tonight. He barely paused to glare at the people who were clearly edging for the door, let alone threaten them, as he headed out himself. Normal y he'd give us some variant on the usual speech about keeping a low profile, but not tonight. He seemed preoccupied, anxious. I'd have bet he was going to see her. That made me less excited about catching up with him at dawn.
I waited for Kristie and three of her usual companions to head out, and I slipped out in their wake, trying to look like part of the entourage without irritating them. I didn't look at Raoul, I didn't look at Diego. I concentrated on seeming inconsequential - no one to notice. Just some random vampire chick. Once we were out of the house, I split off from Kristie immediately and beat it into the woods. I hoped only Diego would care enough to fol ow my scent. Halfway up the side of the nearest mountain, I made my perch in the top branches of a big spruce that cleared its neighbors by several meters. I had a pretty good view of anyone who might try to track me. Turns out I was being overcautious. Maybe I'd been too cautious al day. Diego was the only one to come looking. I saw him from a distance and backtracked to meet him.
"Long day," he said, giving me a hug. "Your plan is hard."
I hugged him back, marveling at how comfortable this was.
"Maybe I'm just being paranoid."
"Sorry about Raoul. That was close."
I nodded. "Good thing Fred is so disgusting."
"I wonder if Riley knows how potent that kid is."
"Doubt it. I've never seen him do that before, and I spend a lot of time around him."
"Wel, that's Freaky Fred's business. We have our own secret to tel Riley."
I shuddered. "Stil not sure that's a good idea."
"We won't know until we see how Riley reacts."
"I don't real y like not knowing, as a general rule."
Diego's eyes narrowed speculatively. "How do you feel about adventure?"
"Depends."
"Wel, I was thinking about club priorities. You know, about finding out as much as we can."
"And...?"
Chapters 8
"I think we should fol ow Riley. Find out what he's doing."
I stared. "But he'l know we tracked him. He'l catch our scents."
"I know. This is how I figure it. I fol ow his scent. You keep clear by a few hundred yards and fol ow my sound. Then Riley only knows I fol owed him, and I can tel him it's because I had something important to share. That's when I do the big reveal with the disco bal effect. And I'l see what he says." His eyes narrowed as he examined me. "But you... you just play it close to the chest for now, okay? I'l tel you if he's cool about it."
"What if he comes back early from wherever he's going?
Don't you want it to be close to dawn so you can glitter?"
"Yes... that's definitely a possible problem. And it might affect the way the conversation goes. But I think we should risk it. He seemed like he was in a hurry tonight, didn't he? Like maybe he needs al night for whatever he's doing?"
"Maybe. Or maybe he was just in a big hurry to see her. You know,