The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner Chapters 4

He frowned a circumstantial. Whats legitimate y going on. What Rileys up to. Why he keeps pitch the intimately random chaffs to her. Why it doesnt seem to matter to Riley if its some ane care you or if its someone like that idiot Kevin.It sounded like he didnt know Riley whatso invariably better than I did.What do you mean, someone like me? I asked.Youre the manikin that Riley should be looking for the smart ones not just these stupid gang-bangers that Raoul keeps bringing in. I bet you werent some junkie ho when you were human.I shifted apprehensively at the last word. Diego kept faceing for my answer, like he hadnt verbalize any affaire weird. I in any casek a deep confidential information and thought jeopardize.I was bordering enough, I admitted later on a few seconds of his patient watching. Not in that location yet, but in a few more weeks I shrugged. You know, I dont remember some(prenominal), but I do remember mobilizeing on that point was nothing more po werful on this planet than just mere(a) old hunger. Turns step to the fore, thirst is worst.He laughed. Sing it, sister.What intimately you? You werent a tumultuous teen run external like the rest of us?Oh, I was troubled, al right. He stopped talking. just I could sit around and wait for the answers to inappropriate interrogates, too. I just stared at him. He sighed. The scent of his breath was nice. Everybody smel ed sweet, but Diego had a little something extra some spice up like cinnamon or cloves.I tried to stay outside from al that junk. Studied hard. I was gonna depict out of the ghetto, you know. Go to interruption ege. Make something of myself. But there was a guy not much different than Raoul. Join or die, that was his motto. I wasnt having any, so I stayed forward from his group. I was painstaking. Stayed alive. He stopped, closing his eyes.I wasnt done being pushy. And?My youngster brother wasnt as careful.I was about to ask if his brother had conjugated or died, but the expression on his face made request unnecessary. I looked away, not sure how to respond. I couldnt real y agnise his loss, the pain it stil clearly caused him to feel. I hadnt left anything behind that I stil missed. Was that the exit? Was that why he dwel ed on memories that the rest of us shunned?I stil didnt see how Riley came into this. Riley and the cheeseburger of pain. I motivationed that part of the story, but now I felt bad for pushing him to answer.Lucky for my curiosity, Diego kept going after a minute.I kind of lost it. Stole a hoagy from a friend and went hunting.He chuckled darkly. Wasnt as good at it accordingly. But I got the guy that got my brother before they got me. The rest of his crew had me command in an al ey. Then, suddenly, Riley was there, between me and them. I remember telephoneing he was the whitest guy Id ever seen. He didnt even look at the others when they gun him. deal the bul ets were flies. You know what he said to me? He said, Want a new life, kid?Hah I laughed. Thats way better than mine. Al I got was,Want a burger, kid?I stil remembered how Rileyd looked that night, though the image was al blurry because my eyesd sucked back then. He was the hottest boy Id ever seen, tal and blond and perfect, all(prenominal) feature. I knew his eyes must be just as good-looking behind the dark sunglasses he never took off. And his voice was so gentle, so kind. I figured I knew what he would want in exchange for the meal, and I would arrive at given it to him, too. Not because he was so pretty to look at, but because I hadnt eaten anything but trash for dickens weeks. It turned out he wanted something else, though.Diego laughed at the burger line. You must have been pretty hungry.Damn straight.So why were you so hungry?Because I was stupid and ran away before I had a drivers license. I couldnt get a real job, and I was a bad thief.What were you racetrack from?I hesitated. The memories were a little more clear as I rivet on them, and I wasnt sure I wanted that.Oh, cmon, he coaxed. I told you mine.Yeah, you did. Okay. I was running from my dad. He used to knock me around a lot. Probably did the same to my mom before she took off. I was pretty little then I didnt know much. It got worse. I figured if I waited too long Id end up dead. He told me if I ever ran away Id starve. He was right about that only thing he was ever right about as far as Im concerned. I dont think about it much.Diego nodded in agreement. Hard to remember that stuff, isnt it? Everythings so fuzzy and dark.Like trying to see with mud in your eyes.Good way to put in it, he complimented me. He squinted at me like he was trying to see, and rubbed his eyes. We laughed unitedly again. Weird.I dont think Ive laughed with anybody since I met Riley, he said, echoing my thoughts. This is nice. Youre nice. Not like the others. You ever try to have a conversation with one of them?Nope, I havent.Youre not missing anything. Whic h is my point. Wouldnt Rileys standard of living be a little higher if he surrounded himself with decent vampires? If were supposed to protect her, shouldnt he be looking for the smart ones?So Riley doesnt admit brains, I reasoned. He needs numbers.Diego pursed his lips, considering. Like chess. Hes not making knights and bishops.Were just pawns, I realized.We stared at each other again for a long minute.I dont want to think that, Diego said.So what do we do? I asked, using the plural automatical y. Like we were already a squad.He thought about my question for a second, seeming uneasy, and I regretted the we. But then he said, What butt we do when we dont know whats happening?So he didnt reason the team thing, which made me feel real y good in a way I didnt remember ever feeling before. I view we keep our eyes open, pay attention, try to figure it out.He nodded. We need to think about everything Rileys told us, everything hes done. He paused thoughtful y. You know, I tried to hash some of this out with Riley once, but he couldnt have cared less. Told me to keep my mind on more important things like thirst. Which was al I could think about then, of course. He sent me out hunting, and I stopped deplorable.I watched him thinking about Riley, his eyes unfocused as he relived the memory, and I wondered. Diego was my beginning(a) friend in this life, but I wasnt his. dead his focus snapped back to me. So what have we learned from Riley?I concentrated, running through the last three months in my head. He real y doesnt tel us much, you know. Just the vampire basics.Wel have to listen more careful y.We sat in silence, pondering this. I mostly thought about how much I didnt know. And why hadnt I worried about everything I didnt know before now? It was like talking to Diego had cleared my head. For the first time in three months, blood was not the main thing in there.The silence lasted for a while. The black hole Id felt funneling judicious air into the hollow wasnt black anymore. It was dark gray now and acquiring infinitesimal y lighter with each second. Diego noticed me eyeing it nervously.Dont worry, he said. nigh dim light gets in here on sunny days. It doesnt hurt. He shrugged.I scooted meanr to the hole in the floor, where the water was disappearing as the tide went out.Seriously, Bree. Ive been down here before during the day. I told Riley about this cave and how it was mostly fil ed with water, and he said it was cool when I indispensable to get out of the madhouse. Anyway, do I look like I got singed?I hesitated, thinking about how different his relationship with Riley was than mine. His eyebrows rose, waiting for an answer.No, I final y said. ButLook, he said impatiently. He crawled fleetly to the tunnel and stuck his arm in up to the shoulder. Nothing.I nodded once.Relax Do you want me to see how high I can go? As he spoke, he stuck his head into the hole and started climbing.Dont, Diego. He was already out of sight. Im relaxed, I swear.He was laughing it sounded like he was already some(prenominal) yards up the tunnel. I wanted to go after him, to grab his hind end and yank him back, but I was frozen with stress. It would be stupid to put on the line my life to save some total stranger. But I hadnt had anything close to a friend in forever. Already it would be hard to go back to having no one to talk to, after only one night.No estoy quemando, he cal ed down, his tone teasing.Wait is that? Ow Diego?I leaped crossways the cave and stuck my head into the tunnel. His face was right there, inches from mine.BooI flinched back from his proximity just a reflex, old habit.Funny, I said dryly, go away as he slid back into the cave.You need to unwind, girl. Ive looked into this, okay? confirmatory sunlight doesnt hurt.So youre saying that I could just stand on a lower floor a nice shady tree and be fine?He hesitated for a minute, as if debating whether or not to tel me something, and then said quie tly, I did once.I stared at him, waiting for the grin. Because this was a joke. It didnt come.Riley said, I started, and then my voice trailed off.Yeah, I know what Riley said, he agreed. Maybe Riley doesnt know as much as he says he does.But Shel y and Steve. Doug and Adam. That kid with the bright red hair. Al of them. Theyre gone because they didnt get back in time. Riley saw the ashes.Diegos brows pul ed together unhappily.