“What is she doing there?” I said through my teeth, making the words come out muffled.

“I don’t know – she was looking for someone,” Laurent said thickly, like there was something stuck in his throat.

“Who was she looking for?”

“Someone to help her…you guys killed James, she’s upset,” he answered vaguely.

“Is she looking for a healing potion?” I asked sarcastically even though I wished there was something that could heal this pain.

“That was all she told me,” he choked. “She was going to meet some guy from San Antonio. He was going to help fix her problem. All I did was give her the contact.”

“Who was it?” I growled.

“It was just a friend from a long time ago. I don’t know who he sent her to,” he lurched away from my anger.

“Who is your contact?” I shouted.

“It doesn’t matter,” he answered anxiously. “He was killed two days ago. So I have no idea who his contacts were.”

A growl ripped up my throat because I could tell from his thoughts he was telling the truth.

Rain began to pour down from the sky as I released Laurent from my grip. He landed lightly on his feet – his eyes were still wide with terror. He turned and disappeared through the forest. I let him go; he was no longer my problem.

As I turned to go south towards Portland I suddenly realized I had left my car in Denali and whipped around to go north. I decided to go get it first; driving would be faster than running. I sprinted through the forest toward Denali, swooping over the many dead plants that littered the forest floor, getting drenched from the onslaught of rain.

Each second that passed brought Victoria closer to Portland, closer to Bella.

Her name made the hollow area in my chest ache. If she knew what I was doing now…her disapproving look flashed through my mind. She was always so worried about me when she should have been worried about herself. This time she didn’t need to worry about her safety because I would secretly be protecting her – I would be her guardian angel once again.

I stood outside the red brick house, soaking wet, as the desire to run away began consuming me.