Chapter 50
“Before we get started,” Edward stated quietly, “I need to talk to Isabella.” He paused, his lips folded into a thin line, obviously upset about something. “In private,” he added in a tight voice.
“Of course,” I replied, placing my hand in his and squeezing it comfortingly.
But he didn’t squeeze it back as usual. And he was not looking at me; in fact, he seemed to deliberately avoid my eyes.
Jasper looked at us knowingly; he must be quite aware of Edward’s emotions. “Why don’t you take Bella for a short walk, Edward?”
Yes, privacy would be a good idea, given how upset Edward seemed.
Edward nodded stiffly. “We’ll be back soon.” He began to turn away but was stopped by Eleazar’s restraining hand on his chest.
Looking at my fiancé oddly, Eleazar addressed him quietly but firmly. “Please return quickly, Edward. As you know, we have much to accomplish.”
Edward nodded again, his lips folding into an even thinner line as he led me toward the door. His set jaw, unemotional expression, and refusal to look at me provided a huge red flag warning that something serious was brewing beneath his apparently calm exterior.
As we left, I glanced over my shoulder at Jasper in confusion; he gave me a nod of encouragement accompanied by a small smile, both of which helped to calm me down a little as Edward escorted me out the back door.
Still holding hands, we reached the pathway beside the river. Edward’s eyes seemed transfixed by the rushing water as he asked, “May we run? I would prefer to have this discussion out of earshot of the family, and we haven’t much time to spare.” His strained formality and his cold demeanor were beginning to frighten me.
Then a possible reason for Edward’s apparent coolness struck me so hard that I could barely take in a breath.
Perhaps he had decided that he wants to be with Tanya instead of me after all? As much as I hated to think it, unfortunately that supposition seemed to explain his refusal to even look at me, along with his formal yet awkward mood.
“Sure,” I choked out, obviously upset by this thought.
Giving me a quizzical look but averting his eyes as soon as I looked back, Edward began to run, and my newborn strength helped me to keep up with him as we flashed down the path, still holding hands. Mere seconds later, we passed the rock formation where we had held our previous conversation. As I had thought that this spot would be his destination, I asked in confusion, “Where are we going?”
“To a place that I happened upon when we first came here,” he answered, not looking at me, his words still stiff and awkward.
We continued running through the darkness that was not really “dark” to us; the shading of purples, midnight blues, and violets made the forest truly a place of beauty and mystery at night—but I filed my poetic observations away in the back of my mind as my main concern remained whatever Edward was so tense about…whatever he had to discuss with me.
Convulsively I swallowed, trying to control my emotions and assume the vampiric poker face that seemed so useful to my new family members. Although I had yet to practice it much yet, I knew that now was the time to employ it.
Obviously I did not want Edward to feel guilty for whatever he had to tell me…especially if it was regarding his preference for the gorgeous vampire with strawberry blonde curls and tawny eyes—eyes so unlike my disgusting scarlet irises, an unfortunate result of my own blood still in my system (apparently remaining so for the first year after the change) but also providing Edward with a constant reminder of what I had become.
Perhaps Edward wished to tell me that he no longer loved me as a vampire. Perhaps it was my humanity that he had truly loved about me, and now he may just as well return to Tanya since I no longer was warm and fragrant and delicious, no longer a delectable temptation in so many ways.
My thoughts overwhelmed me so completely that I did not pay much attention to my surroundings as Edward led me deeper and deeper into the forest. As we raced past majestic cedars and towering pines, my eyes burned with unshed tears while I prepared myself to say goodbye to him.
Finally Edward stopped running, pulling me to a rather abrupt halt beside him. Dropping my hand, he stepped from the tree line into a perfectly circular clearing. In the deep violet hues of the night resulting from the complete absence of moonlight, the low grasses and wildflowers waving in the breezes were especially lovely. But I could not appreciate the beauty of this place…not when I feared so greatly what Edward needed to say to me.
Especially so far away, out of the hearing of his family.
Realizing that I was not following him into the meadow, he turned around, glancing at me with expressionless eyes. “Come, Isabella,” he ordered roughly.
But I stood there as if paralyzed in the fringe of pines, cedars, and oaks surrounding this elfin place—a glade in which fairies danced and magic was real.
But not for me.
With a huff of impatience, Edward strode back to me, grabbed my hand, and led me rather unceremoniously into the center of the meadow.
“Sit, please,” he ordered, his voice somehow both charged and distant.
This cold man seemed so removed from the tender lover of earlier today that the memory of our intimacy mere hours ago seared my heart—and with the pain came an underlying anger, born of frustration and agony.
Stubbornly folding my arms across my chest, “I’d rather stand here, thanks,” I replied bitingly.
Edward didn’t sit, either; he began pacing back and forth, tugging on his hair, and still refusing to meet my eyes.
I easily recognized these “tells” of his—he only did these actions when he was truly upset.
No matter what he was planning to say to me, I hated seeing my beloved one like this. Even if I lost him today, I would always love him; I would never be able to be cruel or distant with him. Ever.
“Edward, what is it?” I asked, stepping forward to grasp his arm, halting his frantic movements as he paced past me.
Still avoiding my gaze, he stopped, breathing hard and pinching the bridge of his nose.
Yes, that pinching thing was yet another “tell” of his, indicating severe stress.
“Please tell me, Edward! I’m going crazy here!” I demanded, my voice sharp as I spun him to face me.
Closing his eyes, his brow furrowed as if he were in pain.
“Edward?” I asked more gently this time. “You’re scaring me. Please, please tell me what’s wrong. I can’t stand seeing you like this.” Grasping both of his hands in mine, I waited, looking up into his face and inwardly cringing at his tortured expression.
He groaned then sank to the ground, pulling me down with him. Facing each other, we sat Indian-style, our knees nearly touching, his hands still grasped firmly in mine.
I was willing to wait patiently for Edward to speak…for as long as it took.
And it was ten minutes of sheer agony before he opened his eyes. The obvious pain in his eyes stabbed my heart as surely as any knife would slice through my formerly fragile human body. When he hurt; I hurt—it was the way we were.
Attached at the soul.
Releasing one of my hands, he reached up, tracing my cheek ever so tenderly with the back of his index finger. His agonized expression did not fade, but a wry smile twisted his lips.
And at last he spoke.
“I seem to be always doing you wrong, Isabella. Always apologizing. And, indeed, I am so sorry. So sorry, my love.”
Confused, I held his free hand in both of mine as he cupped my face with his other hand.
“I don’t understand,” I said slowly, feeling my own brow furrow as I tried to think of any time that he had done something wrong to me.
But nothing came to mind.
“I completely understand if you wish to break our engagement,” he whispered brokenly, ducking his head in apparent shame.
Even more confused, I just stared at him, mouth agape. After several silent moments, I managed to ask, “What did you do, Edward?” My mind immediately went to Tanya. Had he met up with her somehow while he and the others were planning strategy? No one had mentioned running into her or Irina while they were away.
“Is it Tanya?” I asked, my voice trembling despite my attempts to keep it steady. “Do you prefer her over me? I totally understand if you—“
“No!” Edward interrupted brusquely. “This has nothing to do with Tanya.”
I sighed in relief. “Thank goodness,” I breathed, smiling.
He stared at me, now the confused one. “Why would you think that?”
I shrugged, replying in a low voice, “She’s so beautiful, and you’ve known her for decades. She obviously still cares for you. I wouldn’t blame you if….” I let my words trail off, unable to speak my greatest fear.
Edward cupped my face between his palms, his eyes fervent as he spoke emphatically. “I want you to put every thought of Tanya out of your mind, Isabella. I love you, my love, only you, and I have never loved another woman romantically…ever. I never loved Tanya; hell, I never even liked her. But what I’ve done…done to you…is unforgivable.”
“What do you mean?” I whispered, placing my hands over his hands as they cupped my face.
I was completely confused; I had no idea what he was talking about.
“I…I…defiled you, Isabella. I got carried away by your beauty, our connection, the passion so strong, so…persuasive…in your beautiful voice. I totally understand if you do not wish to marry someone with so little control. I should have…I could have….”
Staring at him in utter confusion for a long moment, what was upsetting him so severely finally dawned on me.
Aaaah, my lovely Edward with his near-Victorian scruples.
“Edward, did you not enjoy what we did together this evening?” I asked softly.
“Of course I enjoyed it!” he exclaimed roughly. “Far too much! I thought that was…more than obvious. But we aren’t married. Something Emmett said tonight….”
“What did Emmett say?” I asked, wondering how the shyly pleased man I had enjoyed quite intimate activities with earlier this evening had done a complete 180 and was now punishing himself for what we had done.
“Emmett was just being Emmett,” he answered sadly. “But he made a rather…ribald joke about what we did tonight, and I realized how badly I had wronged you. The more I thought about it….” Sliding his hands from beneath mine, he dropped his head in his hands, once again raking his hands through his already tousled locks.
“I have a question for you,” I stated softly.
Reluctantly he raised his head, his still-agonized eyes fixed on me.
“Were you the only person in that room?” I asked quietly.
He shook his head, but before I could respond, he cut me off. “But I am the responsible one—I should have stopped us. I shouldn’t have let it go, let us go, as far as we did. I let us go too far; I shouldn’t—“
Interrupting him, I interjected acerbically, “So you were the only ‘responsible one’ in my room tonight?”
He shook his head again, whispering, “That wasn’t what I meant.”
“But that was what you said.”
Dejectedly, he dropped his head into his hands again.
Taking a deep breath, I cupped his face in my hands, tipping his head up so that we were eye-to-eye. “Look, Edward,” I stated firmly, smiling slightly. “I very much enjoyed our time together tonight. Very much. Yes, we went a little far in our physical relationship, but we both technically remained virgins. And if doing what we did tonight makes you uncomfortable, we can wait until we’re married to do anything like this again. Although when we’re married, I think we’ll discover that what we did tonight will be considered quite tame…because I want you, Edward Cullen, body and soul. Can you live with that?”
“You would do that?” he breathed, hope lighting his eyes for the first time since we left the house.
“Of course I would. I would do anything for you. And while we both obviously enjoyed our closeness tonight, I hate seeing you regretting our actions so much. So we’ll both practice more self-control in the future.” I grinned at him somewhat teasingly, “See? Simple solution. There was no need for you to be so upset, Edward.”
He chuckled softly under his breath, looking slightly abashed. “I guess I got carried away,” he admitted. “Well, both times.”
“Just a little,” I teased, and we both laughed.
But he sobered quickly. “I want you to know something, Isabella.”
“Yes?”
The repressed passion in his eyes scorched me as his eyes raked down my body before focusing again on my face. “Once you are mine,” he stated softly but meaningfully, “truly, legally mine, Isabella, pledged to me before both God and witnesses, I will have you in each and every way in which I have dreamed and imagined taking you. Repeatedly.”
If I had still been human, I would have been bright scarlet with embarrassment…and passion. As it was, we exchanged a long, meaningful glance in which we vowed his promise wordlessly to each other.
But then something occurred to me…something I needed to address—something that we needed to discuss.
“Edward, I need you to promise something for me,” I said seriously, pushing away the warmth that had risen up in me at his words in order to talk to him seriously.
“Anything,” he vowed, his expression quickly becoming as serious as mine.
“Please, please talk to me when you get upset about something,” I requested, my expression sincere and earnest. “You became so wrapped up in your thoughts and feelings that you shut me out. And we need good communication to have a successful relationship…and a strong marriage. Especially since we’ll be together for all eternity,” I teased at the end.
Edward had the grace to look a little ashamed as he agreed. “Of course you’re right, Isabella. I’m sorry for letting my mind spin out of control without talking to you about it first. I promise to discuss whatever may trouble me, especially if it affects you as well,” he pledged with a wry smile, but his eyes were as earnest as mine.
“Thank you,” I whispered, leaning forward and pressing my lips chastely to his. He returned the pressure for a moment before groaning in protest. “Carlisle knows that I come here when I’m upset, so he just sent Eleazar to fetch us. And Eleazar knows my approximate range for reading thoughts.” He kissed sweetly me once more, then sighed, “And he tells us that we are needed. So it’s back to work for us, my love.”
“All right. Back to work,” I agreed reluctantly.
Always the gentleman, Edward helped me to my feet. Although his assistance was unnecessary, it was still a sweet gesture, one which I appreciated.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
We stood there in the center of the meadow, admiring the peace and beauty surrounding us for a few moments from the shelter of each other’s arms. The dim violet starlight shimmering on the white wildflowers, their fragrance rising sweetly on the soft breezes, was simply enchanting.
Nestling my head on his chest, his arms around me, I asked, “May we come back here when the sun is shining, Edward? I’d love to see the wildflowers in daylight.”
“Certainly, my love,” he agreed softly. Leaning, he pressed one additional chaste kiss to my lips before offering me his hand. As I grasped it, we turned to run back to the main house, leaving behind the fear and regret that had led us to this lovely spot.
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“First of all,” stated Eleazar. “Kate, please step forward.”
We were back in the main room, Jasper and Alice watching our “practice session” as we would be doing something different—what that might be, I had no idea.
Beautiful blonde Kate approached us, taking her place unsmilingly at my side. Her absence of expression worried me as Kate had been the unofficial “life of the party” since her arrival in our home, teasing Carlisle and Esme, hanging out with Rose and Alice, needling the guys, and always laughing and chatting warmly with everyone, all of whom obviously regarded her as part of the family.
However, Kate had been a little distant with me but friendly enough all the same; I figured that our relationship would warm considerably as we got to know each other better. Besides, I was more than a little curious as to Kate’s part in my “training.”
“Bella, let’s see if you are as immune to Kate’s ‘gift’ as you are to the rest of us,” Eleazar said, his eyes alight with curiosity.
Glancing at Kate quickly, I noted a slight smugness to the set of her jaw. “What is your talent, Kate?” I asked. Edward had informed me that giftedness among our kind was quite rare, but it seemed that several of the Cullen and Denali family members were among the elite group of vampires with special talents.
Kate held up her hand, palm up. “Touch me,” she offered, a sly gleam in her eye.
Edward stiffened next to me, releasing my hand and stepping away from me slightly, breathing erratically. His caution was causing my own breath to hitch with fear; Edward seemed to be expecting something horrible to happen to me as a result of touching Kate. His wide-eyed concern certainly didn’t help to bolster my confidence, but after a nod from Eleazar to do as Kate asked, I took a deep breath to calm myself.
Extending a tentative index finger, I touched it to the center of Kate’s palm, not sure what to expect.
Nothing happened.
I looked at Edward curiously, wondering what everyone seemed to be waiting to happen…but didn’t. His obvious relief was odd—he really had been expecting something to happen to me—something definitely unwelcome and unpleasant.
“Place your palm fully against mine,” ordered Kate, her smugness vanishing quickly.
Frowning, I did as I was asked.
Nothing happened again.
“Was something supposed to happen?” I asked, pulling my hand away as I tried to ignore Edward’s rather satisfied smile as he pulled me into his side and pressed a kiss to the top of my head; Jasper and Alice also seemed quite surprised.
In fact, everyone did. Their awestruck expressions would have been amusing if I had the slightest clue as to what was going on.
What had I done that was so shocking?
Speaking with repressed excitement to me as he approached Kate, Eleazar answered, “Yes, Bella. Kate had quite a powerful offensive gift, one she has been honing for over ten centuries. Allow me.”
With these words, Eleazar reached out and touched his index finger gingerly to Kate’s palm. Immediately he stiffened, shaking violently as if he were being electrocuted as fell to his knees, trying to pull away from her hand.
“Aw, you’re no fun, Eleazar,” grinned Kate, her satisfaction returning. “You never scream like everyone else.”
Eleazar turned back to me, his voice trembling slightly as he explained. “Kate’s talent has strengthened over time; at first it was only concentrated in her palms, but now with training we’ve done together over the years, Kate can leave a vampire totally immobilized while feeling as if he or she was undergoing an electric shock by touching them with any part of her body, or if they touch her anywhere.”
Utterly gobsmacked, I stared at my palm—on which nothing had unexpected had happened—then at Kate’s smug expression.
Eleazar continued his explanation, “The fact that you, Bella, cannot be floored by Kate’s gift reveals the type of your shield; it’s definitely defensive. That is, your shield will protect you. But now we have to see if you can do anything else with it.”
“Such as?” I asked.
“All right, Bella,” Eleazar spoke in his usual “training” voice—calm, without emotion, steady, slightly expectant, as he bypassed my pointed question. “Close your eyes and this time I want you to concentrate on protecting yourself rather than lifting your protection as you’ve been trying to do.”
“Don’t I do that already with this ‘shield’? Automatically?” I asked, confused.
“Yes, you do. But I want you to protect yourself deliberately now. Concentrate on your shield. Draw it tightly around you. Protect your mind and your body at all costs.”
Obediently I closed my eyes and tried to do what Eleazar asked. It felt odd to be trying to marshal my protection around me after a full week of trying to lift it off. But I imagined my shield and gathered it around me tightly.
As I concentrated, I heard Eleazar’s softy-spoken question. “Bella, what does your shield look like to you?” He paused for a moment before directing me further. “Don’t open your eyes and don’t overthink it—give me the first answer that comes to your mind.”
“A cloak,” I whispered, and just then I could imagine my shield—a filmy cloak, almost like the invisibility cloak in Harry Potter, which I drew tightly around me, covering me from head to foot, my head far back in the capacious hood.
“Excellent,” praised Eleazar. “That’s perfect, Bella. Now continue to gather it around you. Good. Now try to thicken your cloak—make it absolutely impenetrable.”
I felt my brow furrow as I concentrated, imagining my cloak becoming more woolen than flimsy, growing thicker, more tightly woven, more dense.
But my shield most certainly did not muffle Kate’s exclamation, and I felt my shield loosen and become thinner as her whispered hisses reached my ears.
“You’ve got to be joking, Edward!” Kate exclaimed. “You know that you led Tanya on. And I don’t appreciate being separated from both of my sisters…just because of you and Miss ‘I Have a Talent But Can’t Do Anything With It.’ You angered Irina on purpose, and then you deliberately insulted Tanya. My sister has always loved you, Edward—for decades. And this is how you treat her?”
“You know that isn’t so, Kate,” Edward hissed back, his tone frustrated and angry. “I never encouraged Tanya. Not once. And I can’t help it if Irina took her side—it was wrong of her to do so when the family should be staying together during these troubled times.”
“These times are only ‘troubled’ because of your little ‘gifted one,’ Edward. Just look at yourself in the mirror. You are all stressed out over nothing. You need to relax, to get away from it all. Tanya knows of this little private beach in the Mediterranean Sea, and she’d love to have you join her. Alone, of course—you’ll have to leave your new ‘toy’ at home.”
Edward laughed—but in a way that I had never heard him laugh before—ugly, cruel, with the intent to injure. “You have GOT to be joking, Kate. There is no way that I want anything more to do with Tanya—who obviously cannot understand the simple two-letter word, ‘NO.’ And you and Irina are just as bad—always matchmaking for Tanya and me while all three of you sleep with just about any human male you see….”
That ugly, derisive laughter echoed through the room as Edward went in for the proverbial “kill”; I felt my eyes widen at his unaccustomed language. “Tanya will fuck any man, vampire or human, who looks at her admiringly…and you and your sister aren’t any better. You always criticize the ‘vamp sluts’ who fuck any guy in a cape just for the thrill of perhaps finding a real vampire behind the makeup and fake fangs. But Tanya, Irina, and yourself—what’s the difference?” Edward’s voice was hard and scathing, and I found myself stepping toward him to attempt to calm him. These ugly words and attitude were something I had never seen from Edward before.
And I didn’t like it; I didn’t know that he was capable of such wrong words. Kate must really know how to push his buttons.
The house was absolutely and completely silent as the rude jest from Edward hit home with everyone.
And his hissed insults provided the last straw for Kate.
Palms outstretched and with a loud screech on her lips, Kate rushed at Edward, obviously intending to shock him severely.
Without thinking, I ran toward Edward, wrapping my arms around his waist at the same moment that I spun my shield outward like a cloak, covering Edward as well as myself just before Kate’s palms contacted him.
With Kate’s shocking forces obviously on full strength, Edward should have been on the ground, screaming in pain. But he stood there, stunned to silence, as Kate grabbed each of us roughly by the arm.
And we felt nothing except for the grip of Kate’s fingers.
No shock.
My eyes must have been huge, but Edward did not look surprised in the least; he looked exultant and…proud.
Then I was being embraced in Edward’s arms as his joyful laugh, like celebratory church bells, rang through the house. I peeped at the others from beneath Edward’s arm to see Eleazar hugging Kate and spinning her around, and Jasper and Alice were also in each other’s arms.
“It worked!” Eleazar practically shouted. “By god, it worked!”
I peered up at Edward with narrowed eyes, and he had the grace to seem abashed.
“I apologize, love, for the pretend argument between myself and Kate,” he said contritely. “But it was necessary. We had to see if you would react automatically if you thought one of us was in danger. And, as you saw, it worked.”
My narrowed eyes didn’t release Edward although in my heart I was already in the process of forgiving him.
Remaining in the circle of his arms, I asked quietly, “So you planned this? You and Jasper and Eleazar and Kate? You all planned and plotted how to scare me into reacting?”
The celebratory mood of the room had dissipated during my quiet questions; I saw Eleazar and Jasper exchange worried glances.
Good. I was feeling a little vindictive now…and quite foolish to boot. While my head understood the necessity for their subterfuge, my heart felt a combination of sadness, embarrassment, and anger at their theatrics, necessary though they may have been.
Trying to mend fences, Eleazar stepped toward me, one arm outstretched in supplication. “Bella, we had to test the extent of your gift. We wouldn’t have tried to fool you otherwise. If we had informed you of what we were planning, the ploy would not have worked; you would have tried to control your responses, and we wouldn’t have seen what you are truly capable of doing.”
I knew he was right.
But that didn’t mean that I was going to make this easy on him.
Or on the rest of them.
Except for Edward, of course. Chagrin shone from his eyes, and he looked absolutely miserable.
Clandestinely I squeezed his hand; he squeezed back, and I felt him relax slightly as he realized that I wasn’t too upset with him.
Okay, okay, I wasn’t really that upset with the rest of them, either. I understood why they had to keep me in the dark.
But it didn’t mean that I had to like it.
Or that I wouldn’t wreak my revenge.
Or at least play a trick on them.
My attention moved to Jasper standing only two feet away from me, Alice at his side. Frowning, he appeared rather concerned as the emotional climate of the room remained tense. Because he couldn’t read me, he didn’t know—except through Edward’s palpable relief—that I had forgiven my fiancé already.
But I also knew that this kind of plan required a mastermind and that Jasper was most likely the one behind it all.
However, I had a little plan of my own.
And Jasper was not going to like it.
Closing my eyes, I gathered my shield around me, thickening it, giving it a swirl around me just as a heavy woolen cloak would.
And with all of my mental strength, I swirled my shield outward, enveloping Jasper in it as well.
Panicking, Jasper stiffened, his eyes flicking to each of us, wondering why he could detect no emotions from anyone. Meanwhile, the quiet conversation between Kate and Eleazar continued uninterrupted which freaked Jasper out even further.
“What’s going on?” he asked the room at large, panic in his eyes.
While everyone’s attention turned to Jasper who was obviously on edge (to say the least) I buried my face in Edward’s broad chest, trying to disguise my rather vindictive smile. I squeezed his hand again, letting him know not to worry.
“What is it?” Eleazar asked, obviously concerned, as Carlisle, Esme, and the rest of the Cullens plus Carmen entered the room on high alert.
Now we had the whole family involved.
Perfect.
“I cannot detect anyone’s emotions. I feel…nothing,” Jasper explained, growing visibly more anxious.
“When did this begin?” Carlisle demanded, his brow furrowing.
Okay, I knew my little trick had gone far enough; I didn’t want the entire family panicking.
Just Jasper.
After all, he deserved it for making me think that Edward was in danger from Kate’s shocking little talent.
I couldn’t help it. A snort of laughter, muffled by Edward’s chest, broke the tense silence following Carlisle’s question.
Lifting my face from its very comfortable and highly desirable spot, I glared playfully at Jasper, growling, “That’s what you get for plotting against me, Mr. Whitlock.”
His eyes almost bugged right out of his head as he realized what I had done.
“I’ve had my fun, so I’ll let you go now,” I stated magnanimously, and then swirled my shield from around him to back around myself only.
Jasper’s relief at the return of his emotional empathy was almost cute, but then I noted the thoughtful stares I was receiving from every single vampire in the room.
Feeling defensive, I said, “It was all in fun, everyone. I just wanted to get back at him a little because I knew he was probably the one behind the plan to make me defend Edward.”
My fiancé had the grace to look abashed as he addressed me in a soft voice. “Actually, love, it was my plan to begin with; Jasper and Eleazar merely helped to iron out the details.” From the concern in his eyes, I knew that he was worried about my response to this news.
To tell the truth, it actually didn’t surprise me that Edward was behind the plan; it made perfect sense. After all, he knew me better than anyone else here, so he also recognized the most effective way to evoke a response from me.
Wrapping my arms around him, I whispered, knowing our family would hear every word anyway, “You’re already forgiven.” Reaching up on my tiptoes, I pressed my lips to his for a quick kiss.
But Edward captured my body against his, lifting me so that he could deepen the kiss. The other people in the room faded from my consciousness; only Edward existed…Edward and his passionate kisses. I sighed as he parted my lips to explore my mouth oh-so-thoroughly, and we both surrendered to the overwhelming feeling of being loved, adored, and together.
Somehow Alice’s annoyed voice reached through the haze of passion that enveloped us. “Jasper, that’s enough!”
Then I realized that Jasper was amping up our loving response to one another, thus wreaking his own brand of revenge.
Edward allowed me to slide down his hard (and very hard, indeed!) body, and, embarrassed, we hid our faces in each other’s shoulders.
“All right—no more taking revenge. Everyone is declared ‘even.’ Understood?” Carlisle stated with quiet authority. As I turned my attention to him, though, I noted the smallest quirk of amusement at the corner of his mouth.
Meanwhile, Edward was glaring as Jasper for piling on the passion; after all, I had intended only a chaste kiss, but Jasper had increased our emotions to get me back for robbing him of his empathic abilities.
Technically, we were not even; I still deserved one more turn, but I was willing to leave the situation as it was.
For now.
Eleazar stepped forward to speak to all of us, Cullens and Denalis alike. “We’ve made some vital discoveries today, some planned and some not,” he winked at me. “Bella may not be able at this time to lift her shield, but she can extend it both consciously and unconsciously to envelop others. She protected herself and Edward from Kate’s gift, then she purposefully blocked Jasper’s gift.”
Wow. I hadn’t even thought about what I was doing when I had plotted my little revenge upon my brother. Somehow I just knew that I could indeed do it, but I didn’t realize how significant a development it was.
Eleazar continued with quiet decision, “I will continue to train Bella for a few more days, and then I think I can turn her training over to Jasper and Edward while Kate, Carmen, and I return to Denali. Obviously we have some fences to mend with Irina and Tanya, and I don’t like being separated from them for as long as we have been. But, as I stated before, I’ve felt that training Bella is of the utmost importance. I—“
Eleazar was interrupted by a soft cry from Alice; as we turned toward the unfamiliar sound of her distress, her eyes were unfocused, her face tight with panic. “I-I can’t see anything past the next five minutes,” she whispered urgently. “Nothing. Our futures all simply…disappear.”
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A/N: This may be the longest chapter to date—almost 6000 words!
Thanks for all of your lovely comments—I was able to respond to almost all of them—I hope to be able to respond to more this week once I get all my essays graded.
My next update will be probably next Thursday or Friday at the latest. We’ll see. ;)
Thanks to NaNoWriMo, I’m now drafting Chapter 54; it looks like we’ll finish up with Chapter 55, not counting all the outtakes and extras.
Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving!!
Much love,
Cassandra :)
xxxooo