Page 154 of Life and Death
“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—”
“How long do you think it will take her to cross Beau’s scent in town? Her plan was already set before the words were out of Lauren’s mouth.”
It was like a punch to the gut. I couldn’t breathe for a second as what she was saying finally made concrete sense. Up till now, it had all felt like something abstract, like a word problem in Math. It didn’t seem to connect to me in any real way.
I knew where my scent would lead.
“Charlie,” I gasped. And then I yelled. “Charlie! We have to go back. We have to get Charlie!”
I started ripping at the buckles that held me in place, until Eleanor grabbed my wrists. Trying to yank them back was like trying to pull out of handcuffs that were bolted into concrete.
“Edythe! Turn around!” I shouted.
“He’s right,” Archie said.
The car slowed a tiny bit.
“Let’s just look at our options for a minute,” Archie coaxed.
The car slowed again, more noticeably, and then suddenly we screeched to a stop on the shoulder of the highway. I flew against the harness and then slammed back into the seat.
“There are no options,” Edythe snarled.
“We’re not leaving Charlie!” I yelled.
She ignored me completely.
Eleanor finally spoke. “We have to take him back.”
“No.”
“She’s no match for us, Edy. She won’t be able to touch him.”
“She’ll wait.”
Eleanor smiled a cold, strangely eager smile. “I can wait, too.”
Edythe huffed out a breath, exasperated. “You didn’t see! You don’t understand! Once she commits to a hunt, she’s unshakable. We can’t reason with her. We can’t scare her off. We’d have to kill her.”
This didn’t bother Eleanor. “Yes.”
“And the male. He’s with her. If it turns into a fight, Lauren will side with them, too.”
“There are enough of us.”
“There’s another option,” Archie said quietly.
Edythe turned on him, furious, her voice a blistering snarl.“There—is—no—other—option!”
Eleanor and I both stared at her in shock, but Archie didn’t seem surprised. The silence lasted for a long minute as Edythe and Archie stared each other down.
