Free The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer

colored the monotone—“how are you doing it?”
    Our creator hesitated, and then spoke all in a rush. Almost as if there had been some silent intimidation. “I haven’t made
     the decision,” she spit out. Then she added more slowly, unwillingly, “To attack. I’ve never decided to
do
anything with them.”
    “Rough, but effective,” the cloaked girl said. “Unfortunately, your period of deliberation has come to a close. You must decide—
now
—what you will do with your little army.” Both Diego’s and my eyes widened at that word. “Otherwise, it will be our duty to
     punish you as the law demands. This reprieve, however short, troubles me. It is not our way. I suggest you give us what assurances
     you can… quickly.”
    “We’ll go at once!” Riley volunteered anxiously, and there was a sharp hiss.
    “We’ll go as soon as possible,” our creator amended furiously. “There is much to do. I assumeyou wish us to succeed? Then I must have a little time to get them trained—instructed—fed!”
    There was a short pause.
    “Five days. We will come for you then. And there is no rock you can hide under or speed at which you can flee that will save
     you. If you have not made your attack by the time we come, you will burn.” This was said with no menace other than an absolute
     certainty.
    “And if I
have
made my attack?” our creator asked, shaken.
    “We’ll see,” the cloaked girl answered in a brighter tone than she’d used yet. “I suppose that all depends on how successful
     you are. Work hard to please us.” The last command was given in a flat, hard pitch that made me feel a strange chill in the
     center of my body.
    “Yes,” our creator snarled.
    “Yes,” Riley echoed in a whisper.
    A second later the cloaked vampires were noiselessly exiting the house. Neither Diego nor I so much as took a breath for five
     minutes after they’d disappeared. Inside the house, our creator and Riley were just as quiet. Another ten minutes passed in
     total stillness.
    I touched Diego’s arm. This was our chance to get out of here. At the moment, I wasn’t so afraidof Riley anymore. I wanted to get as far away as I could from those dark-cloaks. I wanted the safety of numbers waiting back
     in the log cabin, and I figured that was exactly how our creator felt, too. Why she’d made so many of us in the first place.
     There were some things out there scarier than I’d imagined.
    Diego hesitated, still listening, and a second later his patience was rewarded.
    “Well,” she whispered inside the house, “now they know.”
    Was she talking about the cloaks or the mysterious clan? Which one was the enemy she’d mentioned before the drama?
    “That doesn’t matter. We outnumber—”
    “Any warning
matters
!” she growled, cutting him off. “There is so much to do. Only five days!” She groaned. “No more messing around. You start
     tonight.”
    “I won’t fail you!” Riley promised.
    Crap. Diego and I moved at the same time, leaping from our perch into the next tree over, flying back the way we’d come. Riley
     was in a hurry now, and if he found Diego’s trail after all that had just passed with the cloaks, and no Diego there at the
     end of it…
    “I’ve got to get back and be waiting,” Diego whispered to me as we raced. “Lucky it’s not in viewof the house! Don’t want him to know I heard.”
    “We should talk to him together.”
    “Too late for that. He’d notice that your scent wasn’t on the trail. Looks suspicious.”
    “Diego…” He’d trapped me into sitting this one out.
    We were back to the spot where he’d joined me. He spoke in a rushed whisper.
    “Stick to the plan, Bree. I’ll tell him what I planned to tell him. It’s not close to dawn, but that’s just how it has to
     be. If he doesn’t believe me…” Diego shrugged. “He’s got bigger things to worry about than me having an overactive imagination.
     Maybe he’ll be more likely to listen now—looks