Be Careful What You Wish For

Chapter Ten

1 They'd taken the flight from Jacksonville at seven p.m., stopping at Houston, reaching Seattle around midnight. The drive to Forks took almost four hours due to several construction sites on the road, but luckily, one of the group wasn't human and needed no sleep. Demetri offered to drive, which both Renée and Charlie, who were dead on their feet, accepted gladly. He'd already rented a new car before they left Jacksonville. They were hardly off the car park, and the two humans dozed off. Small wonder, really, considering how incredibly worn-out they were from all the emotional stress. Maybe this whole deal could be resolved without tipping them off to the existence of the supernatural. In that case, they'd be allowed to live. The odds of that happening, however, were pretty slim, considering how conspicuous the vampires here were, and how much weirdness had piled up ever since said vampires had shown their sparkly faces in this part of the world.

The problem was, since the Cullens had a precog who Saw decision-based futures, there was no deciding to simply show up at their doorstep – not if he wanted to catch them unprepared. Sending Irina had been the obvious choice, but she'd disappeared. Sending yet another vampire would probably yield the same result, potentially strengthening a hostile force in the process. In other words, doing the same thing twice and expecting a different outcome was more than stupid.

There was no doubt in his mind that the Cullen family had fucked up royally. Something bad had happened, and it wasn't just them trying to hide a new-born. Why they'd changed Bella right here, in the middle of civilisation, was beyond his comprehension. Why hadn't they taken her to Denali, where the chances of her running amok and butchering hordes of humans were much slimmer? This was badly thought out – all of it. Either they really were that stupid, or they had been unable to move her for some reason. If the latter was true, it had to be a damn good one. He was inclined to lean toward that hypothesis, if only because of Irina's continued radio silence. That was so odd and out of character for her. She was a quiet and thoughtful woman, but she held a grudge like hardly anyone he'd ever met; she would not change sides for any reason other than coercion.

When they reached Charlie's house, Demetri was almost loath to wake the poor humans, but it had to be done. Charlie set Renée up in Bella's room and wanted to offer his guest his own bed, but the guest naturally declined and said the couch looked great. Little later, the two mortals were sleeping soundly again, and even though Demetri wanted nothing more than head on to the Cullen mansion and finally find out what the hell was going on there, he stayed in the house, in silence, unmoving. Patience was a virtue, and in this case, lives depended on it.

2 Very early the next morning, right after dawn, Charlie came down the stairs into the kitchen seemingly ready to go. He looked rested, clean, and very much determined. That was good; a man with a clear purpose tended to have a clear head.

"Sleep well?" he asked, fumbling with the coffee maker.

Demetri, who'd been sitting by the table for the past two hours checking the local news, put away his phone, and said, "I did, thank you. You look much better, if I may say so."

Charlie glanced over his shoulder, smiling wryly. "You may, and thanks. Haven't had a good night's sleep in forever." The coffee was brewing. He turned around, leaned against the kitchen counter, and thoughtfully looked down at his guest. "Let me ask you a question, kid: how well do you know any of these Cullens, anyway?"

Demetri shrugged, pulled the sleeves of his grey sweater and black jacket over his hands, and said, "Not too well. About a year ago, I think, two of them visited us in London: Alice and Jasper."