and all the other things I saw, all submerged in a thin smog and embraced by the short, rocky ridges that weren't big enough to be called mountains.
The shadows of the palm trees slanted across the freeway—defined, sharper than I remembered, paler than they should be. No tracker could hide in these shadows. The bright, open freeway seemed benign enough. But I felt no relief, no sense of homecoming.
"Which way to the airport, Bella?" Jasper had asked and I flinched, though his question was quite soft and unalarming. It was the first sound, besides the purr of the car, to break the long night's cold, wet silence, and his words had cracked like thunder against the car's pale fire.
"Stay on the I-10," I answered automatically, my knowledge of Phoenix geography rushing back to me geographically. "We'll pass right by it."
My brain worked slowly under the fog of sleep deprivation.
"Are we flying somewhere?" I'd asked Alice.
"No, but it's better to be close, just in case."
I remembered the car beginning the loop around Sky Harbor International... but not ending it. I suppose that must have been when I fell asleep, again.
Though, now that I'd chased the memories down, trying to find some sense, some meaning in what had happened, I found that I did have a vague memory of leaving the car—the sun was just dropping behind the horizon—my arm draped over Alice's shoulder and her firm arm around my waist, dragging me along as I stumbled through the shadows.
I had no memory of this room.
I had never been in this room before.
I looked about, nervously.
I looked at the digital clock on the nightstand. The red numbers claimed it was three o'clock, but not which three o'clock. No edge of light could

408

Chapter 20

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