The Second Life of Bree | Page 8

morning. ―Out of time. Better
head back before we turn into crispies.‖
―Ashes, ashes, we all fall down,‖ I sang under my breath as I
got to my feet and collected my pile.

Diego chuckled.
We made one more quick stop on our way—hit the empty
Target next door for big ziplocks and two backpacks. I doublebagged
all my books. Water-damaged pages annoyed me.
Then we mostly roof-topped it back to the water. The sky
was just faintly starting to gray up in the east. We slipped into
the sound right under the noses of two oblivious night watchmen
by the big ferry—good thing for them I was full or they would
have been too close for my self-control—and then raced
through the murky water back toward Riley‘s place.
At first I didn‘t know it was a race. I was just swimming fast
because the sky was getting lighter. I didn‘t usually push the
time like this. If I were being honest with myself, I‘d pretty much
turned into a huge vampire nerd. I followed the rules, I didn‘t
cause trouble, I hung out with the most unpopular kid in the
group, and I always got home early.
But then Diego really kicked it into gear. He got a few
lengths ahead of me, turned back with a smile that said, what,
can’t you keep up? and then started booking it again.
Well, I wasn‘t taking that. I couldn‘t really remember if I‘d
been the competitive type before—it all seemed so far away
and unimportant—but maybe I was, because I responded right
away to the challenge. Diego was a good swimmer, but I was
way stronger, especially after just feeding.
See ya, I mouthed as I passed him, but I wasn‘t sure he
saw.
I lost him back in the dark water, and I didn‘t waste time
looking to see by how much I was winning. I just jetted through
the sound till I hit the edge of the island where the most recent of
our homes was located. The last one had been a big cabin in
the middle of Snowville-Nowhere on the side of some mountain
in the Cascades. Like the last one, this house was remote, had
a big basement, and had recently deceased owners.
I raced up onto the shallow stony beach and then dug my
fingers into the sandstone bluff and flew up. I heard Diego come
out of the water just as I gripped the trunk of an overhanging
pine and flipped myself over the cliff edge.

Two things caught my attention as I landed gently on the
balls of my feet. One: it was really light out. Two: the house was
gone. Well, not entirely gone. Some of it was still visible, but the
space the house had once occupied was empty. The roof had
collapsed into ragged, angular wooden lace, charred black,
sagging lower than the front door had been.
The sun was rising fast. The black pine trees were showing
hints of evergreen. Soon the paler tips would stand out against
the dark, and at about that point I would be dead.
Or really dead, or whatever. This second thirsty, superhero
life would go up in a sudden burst of flames. And I could only
imagine that the burst would be very, very painful.
This wasn‘t the first time I‘d seen our house destroyed—with
all the fights and fires in the basements, most of them lasted
only a few weeks—but it was the first time I‘d come across the
scene of destruction with the first faint rays of sunlight
threatening.
I sucked in a gasp of shock as Diego landed beside me.
―Maybe burrow under the roof?‖ I whispered. ―Would that be
safe enough or—?‖
―Don‘t freak out, Bree,‖ Diego said, sounding too calm. ―I
know a place. C‘mon.‖
He did a very graceful backflip off the bluff edge.
I didn‘t think the water would be enough of a filter to block
the sun. But maybe we couldn‘t burn if we were submerged? It
seemed like a really poor plan to me.
However, instead of tunneling under the burned-out hull of
the wrecked house, I dove off the cliff behind him. I wasn‘t sure
of my reasoning, which was a strange feeling. Usually I did what
I always did—followed the routine, did what made sense.
I caught up to Diego in the water. He was racing again, but
with no nonsense this time. Racing the sun.
He whipped around a point on the little island and then dove
deep. I was surprised he didn‘t hit the rocky floor of the sound,
and more surprised when I could feel the blast of warmer
current flowing from what I had thought was no more than an
outcropping of rock.

Smart of Diego to have a place