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Edward hesitated a few feet away, his arms raised as if to embrace me—or restrain me. His face was
intent and cautious as I froze, horrified.

I realized that I had been about to attack him. With a hard jerk, I straightened out of my defensive
crouch. I held my breath as I refocused, fearing the power of the fragrance swirling up from the south.

He could see reason return to my face, and he took a step toward me, lowering his arms.

"I have to get away from here," I spit through my teeth, using the breath I had.

Shock crossed his face. "Can you leave?"

I didn't have time to ask him what he meant by that. I knew the ability to think clearly would last only as
long as I could stop myself from thinking of—

I burst into a run again, a flat-out sprint straight north, concentrating solely on the uncomfortable feeling
of sensory deprivation that seemed to be my body's only response to the lack of air. My one goal was to
run far

enough away that the scent behind me would be completely lost. Impossible to find, even if I changed
my mind...

Once again, I was aware of being followed, but I was sane this time. I fought the instinct to breathe—to
use the flavors in the air to be sure it was Edward. I didn't have to fight long; though I was running faster
than I ever had before, shooting like a comet through the straightest path I could find in the trees; Edward
caught up with me after a short minute.

A new thought occurred to me, and I stopped dead, my feet planted. I was sure it must be safe here, but
I held my breath just in case.

Edward blew past me, surprised by my sudden freeze. He wheeled around and was at my side in a
second. He put his hands on my shoulders and stared into my eyes, shock still the dominant emotion on
his face.