Billie ran forward smiling. At least until she saw Stiles’s face. No wonder the others were antsy at his appearance. She told herself it was the same face, the same bruised and swollen features. But there was something different now. The muscles were indeed more taut and the lips, despite the swelling, had become little more than a thin line. But it was the eyes that had changed the most. They burned with an open intensity, a thin, cold fury. He had psyched himself for the battle, she realized, and she didn’t know whether to speak and risk breaking his concentration. So she stayed silent, and let the warrior stride quickly past her. He went straight to Bean and drew a piece of paper from his breast pocket. “It’s time to move,” he said, unfolding it to show a quickly scrawled map. “Do you know the two houses in the cul-de-sac at the end of Platter Drive?”

“Sure. That’s in Pinecone Terrace, not far from here.”

Stiles nodded. “The basements are well fortified. I’ve secured the upstairs doors, so the ones outside the basements will be the only entrance. Easier to defend.” He turned to the rest of the people. “There’s a school bus outside. I want all of you on it in the next five minutes. I’ve found a place for you to hide.”

“Hide?” Ted said. “You mean all of us?”

“All of you.”

Several of the men and even some of the women grabbed for their shotguns. “Not us,” one of them said, and the others agreed. “We can help you out there.”

Stiles seemed to ignore them. “I have traps set,” he told them without looking. “You might blunder into them, trigger them prematurely. And I wouldn’t like that.” He looked to Bean. “Do you have my guns ready?” He noticed the streamered shells on the counter. “What the hell are those?”

Ted came up behind Stiles, still pushing it. “Stiles, you’re not the only one here who can handle himself, so quit playing hero. We can do this.” When the man didn’t answer he cursed and called to the others, “You guys get the others into the bus and wait for me out there. If he doesn’t want us, we’ll just do this ourselves.”