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, we might not want to surprise him if she's nearby." We both winced.
"True. Stil ..." He frowned. "Doesn't it feel like whatever's coming is getting close? Like we might not have forever to figure this out?"
I nodded unhappily. "Yeah, it does."
"So let's take our chances. Riley trusts me, and I have a good reason for wanting to talk to him."
I thought about this strategy. Though I'd only known him for a day, real y, I was stil aware that this level of paranoia was out of character for Diego.
"This elaborate plan of yours...," I said.
"What about it?" he asked.
"It sounds kind of like a solo plan. Not so much a club adventure. At least, not when it comes to the dangerous part."
He made a face that told me I'd caught him.
"This is my idea. I'm the one who..." He hesitated, having trouble with the next word. "... trusts Riley. I'm the only one who's going to risk getting on his bad side if I'm wrong."
Chicken as I was, this didn't fly with me. "Clubs don't work that way."
He nodded, his expression unclear. "Okay, we'l think about it as we go."
I didn't think he real y meant it.
"Stay in the trees, track me from above, 'kay?" he said.
"Okay."
He headed back toward the log cabin, moving fast. I fol owed through the branches, most of them so close-packed that I only rarely had to real y leap from one tree to another. I kept my movements as smal as possible, hoping that the bending of the boughs under my weight would just look like wind. It was a breezy night, which would help. It was cold for summer, not that the temperature bothered me.
Diego caught Riley's scent outside the house without trouble and then loped after it quickly while I trailed several yards back and about a hundred yards north, higher on the slope than he was. When the trees were real y thick, he'd rustle a trunk now and again so I wouldn't lose him.
We kept on, with him running and me impersonating a flying squirrel, for only fifteen minutes or so before I saw Diego slow down. We must have been getting close. I moved higher in the branches, looking for a tree with a good view. I scaled one that towered over its neighbors, and scanned the scene. Less than half a mile away was a large gap in the trees, an open field that covered several acres. Near the center of the space, closer to the trees on its east side, was what looked like an oversized gingerbread house. Painted bright pink, green, and white, it was elaborate to the point of ridiculousness, with fancy trim and finials on every conceivable edge. It was the kind of thing I would have laughed at in a more relaxed situation. Riley was nowhere in sight, but Diego had come to a complete stop below, so I assumed this was the end point of our pursuit. Maybe this was the replacement house Riley was preparing for when the big log cabin crumbled. Except that it was smal er than any of the other houses we'd stayed in, and it didn't look like it had a basement. And it was even farther away from Seattle than the last one.