Wayward ➳ Edward Cullen

14. Meteors

"Not before I hurt you," I murmured.

Set within the sparkling, otherworldly beauty of his face, Edward's smile was almost too brilliant to bear. "I'm glad you can."

I stared, incredulous. "Glad?" Frustration welled within me.

Edward's smile fell and a serious mien took over his expression. "Yes." He moved a few steps forward towards me until he was within arm's reach. With slow deliberation, he reached forward for my hand, pausing before taking it. He studied my face. Whatever he saw gave him the confidence to envelop my hand within his.

I looked down. His hand sparkled against my duller human one, the light reflecting off his skin danced over mine in hundreds of flitting colors.

"You see?" he murmured lowly, the smoothness of his voice causing a shiver to run down my spine. "Perfectly fine."

A part of me whispered that the machete was several steps away. That I was allowing him too close without it. But I thought of the crack in that otherwise perfect diamond skin and the desire to look for the blade dissipated.

Maybe he was right. Maybe his otherworldly charms had drawn me in. Gazing at the sparkling hand holding my own, I wondered if this was the trap having closed in around me. I looked up, saw nothing but earnest adoration in his golden gaze.

Desperate to avoid the doubts that plagued me, I blurted, "Why are your eyes bright gold when they were darker a moment ago?"

Those eyes stared steadily into mine. "I fed last night and then again this morning. It's why I couldn't pick you up right away." His lip curled into that self-deprecating smirk. "I wanted to be sure I wouldn't be hungry."

I thought of the darkening of his eyes as he leaned in. Their black, murderous glare that first day in Biology. "They change colors?"

He nodded. "The hungrier I am, the darker they become. The more... satiated on animal blood, the lighter." He looked pensive. "Although satiated is hardly the word," he mused. "Animal blood never quite takes away the cravings."

"So, they turn gold after you feed." I stared into them, wondering how many more impossible things there were to learn about him.

"As long as we feed on animals," Edward clarified.

My brows lowered into a deep v. "What do you mean?"

"Vampires that drink human blood have red eyes."

Eyes as red as the blood they consumed.

If that was true, then Edward couldn't be responsible for the deaths. My shoulders relaxed, breathing became easy again. The scent of field and Edward filled my head. I could have blamed their potent combination for the way everything seemed to lighten—but that would be a lie. I hadn't wanted the killer to be Edward. Having proof that he wasn't—it was as if a weight had fallen away.

But if not Edward or his family, then someone else.

"Edward." The seriousness of my tone had him focusing on me with even more intensity than he usually gave, which I wouldn't have thought possible. "Waylon Forge. That was no animal, was it?"

Edward frowned, saying nothing.

"There are more of your kind out there. Other vampires."

"Sarah," he said, soft and sad. "Leave it be."

Slow and careful, I extracted my hand from his. He did nothing to stop me, just watched with the same sorrowful expression. "I can't, Edward. They've killed two people."

His gaze fell to the ground and stayed there for a moment before he lifted his sights back to me. He shook his head and sounded exasperated as he said, "You'll try to hunt them no matter what I say, won't you?"