Zenith Chapter Thirty - They Fight
We're winding down, folks. I'm half sad and half excited, but I probably won't settle on one or the other until the epi is out. XD
I had a great midnight chat with my beta latetolove about this chapter, and she's a real trooper for putting up with my poor timing. Love ya!
Title: Zenith
Author: Majesta Moniet
Rating: Mature
Pairing: Edward/Bella/Jacob
Summary: At a pivotal moment in New Moon, a simple choice alters the course of Bella's future, and she is forced to endure several more weeks before Edward's eventual return to Forks. Victoria, a pack of young werewolves, and the blossoming of an undeniable bond become the least of Bella's concerns as she undergoes her own supernatural transformation. It turns out vampires and werewolves aren’t the only things that go bump in the night.
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Zenith
Chapter Thirty -They Fight
Disclaimer- I do not own Twilight or profit from the use of its content. Stephanie Meyer is its proper owner.
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No matter how many times I flipped a page or how many hours I spent staring at the inked symbols scrawled across the inexplicably pristine paper, I couldn’t decipher a word of the 600-year-old text-despite Vanessa’s reassurances otherwise. In the three weeks since she had left, I had spent an unprecedented amount of time pouring over the journal that Carlisle had insisted was rightfully mine. I took it with me every time the Pack and the Cullens met at night to train together and discuss battle strategies, I held it on my lap beneath the desks at school, and at night I fell asleep with it lying open across my chest.
The writing wasn’t in any modern language, that much Carlisle had assured me. I had tried looking for patterns of structure, or repetitive sequences of the small, intricate symbols. But it was almost impossible to find any two characters that were the same. There were times when I could feel something-the slightest tug of comprehension-but the moment I tried focusing in on it the feeling would vanish, and it was all just paper and ink again.
I wasn’t exactly certain why I was so compelled to read the book at all. At most, it should have been an intriguing prospect. Managing to decipher a text that had even the wisest, oldest vampire I knew stumped, would be no small accomplishment, and I could, at least, feel as if I were contributing in some small way to all of the preparations. I wouldn’t just be sitting around waiting for everyone to put their necks on the line in the battle against Victoria. Maybe the book had information, advice on how I could use my new abilities to help put the odds in our favor. Of course if what I did tonight went off without a hitch, then there wouldn’t even need to be a-
Don’t decide. Don’t decide. Don’t decide.
Shutting the journal, I shoved it across the table and rested my head atop my folded arms, making sure to keep tabs on the stove where the pasta was boiling for dinner. With a token salad chilling in the refrigerator, a homemade meat sauce staying warm in the oven alongside the loaf of garlic bread-which had come fresh from Sue Clearwater’s kitchen and not the freezer section of the convenient store, and a generous slice of the diner’s cherry pie sitting in a little white bakery box on the counter, I knew I pretty much had Charlie pegged. My only concern was that he would know he’d been pegged.
Not that it really mattered if he picked up on my conspicuous attempts at persuasion, I reminded myself. In fact, I really didn’t need to butter him up at all. I was an adult and free to make my own decisions. I wasn’t looking for Charlie’s permission; I just wanted him to be…aware of my plans.
He liked ranch dressing, right?
A car door closed, and I sprung from my seat to retrieve the food from the oven and glare at the pasta for not cooking as quickly as I’d like. I was placing the basket of bread on the table when Charlie walked in still wearing his uniform minus the utility belt, which he kept hanging in the hall.
“Smells great in here, Bells.” He looked around the kitchen, clearly surprised by my unprecedented effort. “What’s the occasion? You up to no good?”
Crap.
But I tried to look less guilty than I actually felt. “Not unless you would consider me graduating from high school in three days ‘no good.’” Today had been the seniors’ last day of classes and on Saturday afternoon we would be donning cap and gown to be marched before a crowd of over-zealous cameras
The reminder made Charlie smile in a way he rarely did, and I felt a rush of warmth in my chest at knowing he was proud of me. “I don’t think it’s right that you have to make your own graduation dinner.”
While carefully straining the pasta over the sink, I dithered over whether or not to take advantage of the segue way while I had the chance. Maybe it would be better if he ate first.
But Charlie ended up making the choice for me.
“We’ll have to go out for a proper celebratory meal after your commencement,” he said while sliding easily into his chair. “You like the Lodge, don’t you, Bells?”
The Lodge was the only nice restaurant in town (as in it was the only place that didn’t let you choose where you sat). “Actually, Dad,”-I stuck a fork in the linguini and placed it in front of him-“Sue invited us over for dinner on Saturday night. The Reservation school had their graduation last week, so she wanted to do a group thing for Leah and I. She invited Jacob and Billy over, too.”
Charlie gawked at me in surprise, and I took the opportunity to inconspicuously place a can of Rainier in front of him. His hand moved to grasp it automatically. “When did she tell you that?”
With nothing left to place on the table, I was forced to take a seat. “This afternoon. I stopped by to pick up the bread for dinner and we talked for a little bit and asked if you and I would like to come over.”
Charlie recovered enough to take a sip of his beer. “Well, that was very, uh, thoughtful of her.”
I bobbed my head in agreement and forced myself to spoon some salad onto my plate even though my stomach was in knots. “I told her ‘yes.’ I didn’t think you’d mind.”
Heat crept up from his uniform collar as he shook his head. “Of course not. You deserve a home-cooked meal you don’t have to make yourself. And Sue’s…great.”
“She is. We also talked about Leah’s plans for the fall. She’s enrolled to take classes in Port Angeles starting in August. It got me thinking about my own plans, or rather my complete lack of plans-”
“Bella.” Charlie held up a hand to silence me. When he set both his drink and his fork down, I became twitchy in my seat. “You should know that I talked with your mother today.”
I cleared my throat. “Oh?”
Nodding, he leaned back in his chair. “She said you’d already told her how that meeting with Ms. Dart went a couple weeks back, and she said she was worried that you didn’t sound too enthusiastic about this school.”
“I think Stregheria sounds great, Dad,” I rushed to say. “I just don’t know if it’s…for me.”
“Look,” he sighed heavily, rubbing at his jaw. “Your mother and I agree that it wouldn’t be smart to rush into this big of a decision. You shouldn’t do something just because you think it’s what you ought to be doing, or because it’s what’s expected. Taking into consideration what this will mean for you one, five, or ten years down the road is important. So if you don’t think this college will lead you where you want to go…”
I could fill in the blank.
Slumping into my seat, I smiled gratefully for his understanding. “Thanks.”
I could sense his relief at having that conversation over as he enthusiastically reclaimed his fork and wrapped it in pasta. “But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be thinking about where you do want to be, Bells.”
“I know,” I agreed. “And actually I’ve been thinking about it, and I’ve decided to enroll in Peninsula College next semester. The tuition isn’t bad, so it’d be a cheap way for me to get a bunch of pre-recs out of the way. And maybe I’ll take a class that piques my interest so I’ll have a better idea of what I want to do.”
To his credit, Charlie tried not to look disappointed.
“It would just be for a year,” I clarified, doing my best to sound positive. “Then I could re-apply to some of the schools I missed the application deadlines for because of…”
I reached for the sauce in order to ignore the silence.
Charlie chewed slowly, taking his time to consider my proposition and weigh it against the advice he had just given me. He had bigger dreams for me than a community college. I knew that. But he also wanted for me to be happy.
“I don’t know how to feel about you spending all day alone in unfamiliar city,”
Normally I would have argued that Port Angeles was Mr. Rodger’s Neighborhood compared to Phoenix or even Seattle and that I was entirely capable of holing up in the library between classes. But this was the exact kind of argument I had been hoping for.
“But I won’t be alone. Leah’s going to be taking classes too, and since she doesn’t have a car we’ll carpool up and back on days we have class.”
“You know, you might have to get there pretty early, Bells, and La Push isn’t exactly on the way.”
“That’s why I’m going to stay in La Push,” I said before quickly popping a big piece of bread in my mouth. I watched Charlie carefully.
Eyebrows raised nearly to his receding hairline and jaw working soundlessly for several seconds, it seemed to take every bit of Charlie’s self-control to muster enough coherency to ask, “You want to live with the Clearwaters?”
“No,” I said slowly, studiously twirling my fork across my plate. “Sue doesn’t have the space. But ever since Rachel and Rebecca moved out, the Black’s have had an empty room-”
Charlie’s hands hit the table with a jarring thunk. “You want to live with Jacob?”
“No. I want to move into the Black’s spare room.”
“Which is next door to Jacob’s room.”
“And across the hall from Billy’s.”
A deep maroon color was spreading from Charlie’s ears to cover his entire face, and I nearly cringed at the blatant indication of his fury. He frowned down at the table and muttered gruffly, “Billy would never agree to it.”
“He said I could move in after graduation and we would try it for a week to see how it goes.”
Charlie’s head whipped up at an alarming speed. “He hasn’t discussed any of this with me,” he said as if it negated everything I had just said.
I sighed. “He doesn’t have to. I’m an adult. It’s my decision, not yours.”
“But…” Charlie was flustered, at a complete loss. “But Jacob’s still a kid.”
I shrugged. “Billy trusts him to be responsible.” And that should be enough for Charlie.
“Responsible?” he huffed. “It’s not about being responsible. It’s about right and wrong. And it’s wrong for you to be living with your underage boyfriend.”
“You make it sound like you’re worried I’ll take advantage of him.” By then my accommodating pleasantness was waning, and I stabbed over-zealously at my faultless pasta. Why couldn’t he just see me as a woman instead of a little girl?
“He’s a teenage boy, Bells. You won’t have to take advantage of him.”
“Great, then we’ll both be consenting, and there’s nothing for you to worry about.”
Charlie flushed purple again but grudgingly picked up his fork. He wouldn’t meet my eyes. “I don’t like it.”
Well. That was one way to slam the breaks on a conversation with Charlie. But I still wanted to smooth things over. I wanted him to understand why I had genuine reason to do this, even if I couldn’t clarify the supernatural benefits of me spending the next week holed up in La Push-like his distance from me, Victoria’s target.
“Part of the whole ‘college experience’ is leaving home. I need some space to make my own lifestyle decisions and find out who I am when I’m the only person I’m responsible for. Maybe this will be a mistake, but I won’t know unless I try.”
When he glanced up from his food I saw something more than anger. I saw sadness. Sometimes-because he was a man of few words and even fewer grand gestures-I forgot how much Charlie loved being my father.
“I won’t be very far,” I reassured him more kindly, “and I’ll constantly be here stocking the fridge with things that aren’t brown or non-perishable. Just think, it will give you a good excuse to visit Sue and Billy more often.”
Charlie tilted his head and returned to his meal. His voice wasn’t as gruff, when he said, “Let’s talk about it more tomorrow, okay?”
I bit my lip. “Sure. Tomorrow.”
After that dinner was quiet and uneventful. Charlie was brooding and didn’t perk up until I pointed out the goody box next to the microwave. He insisted on sharing, and we polished it off while watching the evening news. I made quick work of the dishes while Charlie kept stealing glances at the clock, and around 9:30 decided to head up to bed so he and Billy could argue in private.
Halfway up the stairs, Charlie called out to me. “Bella, I think you left your book.” He waved the journal in the air, holding it out for me to take.
I quickly retrieved it from his hands. “Thanks.”
He nodded and began walking back into the kitchen. The journal clutched tightly to my chest, where my heart was banging away, I uneasily watched him go.
“Hey, Dad?”
He looked over at me, and I was overcome with the desperate need to wrap my arms around him-maybe for the last time…
Don’t decide.
I clutched the banister. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“G’night, Bella.”
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I went into my room and laid the book on the nightstand.
I took a shower.
I got dressed into my pajamas.
I brushed my teeth.
I washed my face.
I considered calling Jacob.
I turned off the lights.
I crawled under my comforter.
I didn’t close my eyes.
I considered calling Jacob again.
I decided to wait for Charlie to fall asleep before deciding to do anything else.
The cell phone on my dresser started glowing a bright, obnoxious color.
I contemplated not answering it-the phone that Alice had insisted on me carrying every waking moment no matter how many times I had shaken my head and said the word “no.” I considered it a loaner and had to hide it from Charlie so he wouldn’t ask questions about its origins (it really was too bad he and Renee had worked out their communication issues). I didn’t know the phone’s number and most of the time it just sat dead in my book bag because I could never seem to remember to plug in at night.
But it was kind of late, so maybe the call was important, and if I didn’t answer, Alice or Edward would show up at my window and I would have to lie to them in person. Not exactly the ideal situation to be in.
So, flipping away the blankets I stumbled across the dark room and picked up the tiny silver device. It took a couple attempts to flip it completely open. “Hello?” I whispered anxiously.
“Is your refrigerator running?”
“Jake?” I felt relieved, giddy, and distressed all at once. I wanted to talk to him so bad but I couldn’t right now. Not now. Not until after.
“No, no. You’re supposed to say ‘yes.’ And then I say-”
“Why are you calling me?” I asked desperately.
“Ouch.”
I shook my head, and then rolled my eyes because it was useless. “No, that’s not what I meant. I’m glad that it was you who called, but…it’s pretty late. Plus I thought this was supposed to be the emergency phone.”
“First off,” Jacob said, sounding amused, “it’s not even 11:00 yet. You weren’t sleeping were you?”
I pursed my lips and didn’t even consider dignifying the inquiry with a response.
“And second,”-his deep voice softened to something gentle and warm-“it is an emergency. You see, tonight I looked up into the stars and matched each one with a reason why I’m in love with you. I was doing great until I ran out of stars.”
I touched my fingers to the unstoppable smile parting my lips. “You spend all day coming up with that one?”
“I’m a smart guy, so I’m gonna say ‘yes’ here.”
“Well, I’m a smart girlfriend, so I’m going to pretend that I believe you.”
“It’s reassuring knowing that our relationship is built on a strong foundation of honesty.”
I slowly made my return to bed and sunk back against the pillows. “Speaking of honesty…”
“Doesn’t sound good.”
“…I talked to Charlie about our possible living arrangements. He didn’t like it.”
Despite whatever Charlie assumed, it had been Leah-and not Jacob-who had suggested that I live in La Push after I mentioned in passing my desire to take classes at Peninsula College. Jacob had just been very supportive of the idea.
On the other end of the line Jacob snorted, the sound distorted by the scrapping of chair legs across a wooden floor. “I really don’t think he spent half-an-hour threatening my dad because he ‘didn’t like it.’ Granted most of the threats were empty, but he might actually follow through on the one that involved me, a sharp metal object, and a much beloved part of my anatomy.”
“Well,” I murmured, toying with the hem of the t-shirt, “that particular threat may have been brought on by me sort of insinuating that you and I are having sex. Or that we’re at least planning to in the near future.”
“You did what?”
“I’m sorry! We were talking, and he was hinting at things, and I panicked!”
“Liar. When you panic, you clam up. The word-vomit doesn’t come until you’re in full freak out mode.”
I groaned. “Fine! I was angry and said it to be spiteful. I’m weak-willed.”
Jacob’s sigh floated like static through the phone, and I felt incredibly guilty for putting him in this position-on the far side of Charlie’s good graces and automatic handgun.
“I guess it’s a good thing,” Jacob mumbled unexpectedly.
“Why?”
“Charlie knows I’m sleeping with his daughter, and there are absolutely zero bullet holes in my person. That’s, like, a best case scenario right there.”
I giggled quietly. Talking to Jacob had eased some of the adrenaline from my system, and yawns were beginning to fight their way out. I rubbed ruthlessly at my drooping eyes.
“You sleepy, honey?”
No. “A little.”
Reluctantly he said, “I should let you go.”
A few moments of beautiful silence.
“Hey, Jacob?”
“Hmm?”
“I really love you. So much.” He heard all the words in between, the ones Jacob recognized in me before I ever knew they existed at all.
“I love you, Bells. So much.”
I smiled and was pretty sure he heard that, too. “Good night, Jake.”
“Hope you choke.”
We hung up, and I stared at the ceiling for ten minutes, trying not to cry. And when I didn’t hear a single disruption in Charlie’s rumbling snores, I decided to get up, get dressed, and sneak out the back door.
It was cool outside, damp-a permanent state of existence in Forks, but there was very little wind, and I managed to only slip once in the damp grass as I hurried to the woods lining our backyard. Several steps into the tree line, I stopped and whispered, “Leah?”
I blinked into the darkness and started to get antsy when after a full minute, there was no response. I started worrying that maybe the Pack had switched up the shifts or a Cullen was on Bella-duty instead. Although Jacob had sounded so certain that morning…
A cool, calming sensation bloomed in my chest. Off to my right, a large wolf approached, stopping close enough to my face so that I could catch a glimmer of grey fur. I bounced on my toes in relief.
“Leah, I need to talk to you.”
She stared listlessly back as if waiting
I shook my head and clarified, “I really need to talk to you face to face. It’s, um, about girl stuff.”
Wolves could apparently roll their eyes.
“I wouldn’t ask if I it weren’t important…”
Without warning, Leah’s body began to blur and shift inward, fur disappearing and human limbs forming in the space of three seconds. I had never witnessed the change back into human form, and it was as startling as it was inspiring. Watching caused something powerful but comforting to ripple through me. My hands trembled into fists
I gaped at Leah for several moments before noticing that-of course-she was naked and retrieving a folded square of cloth pooled at her right ankle. I executed a stumbling turn and felt my face warm to an uncomfortable temperature.
Behind me Leah chuckled. “Sometimes I forget that not everyone sees me buck naked on a semi-regular basis.”
“That’s um…” I shrugged, because what the heck did you to that?
The sound of fabric rustling over skin was a pretty good indicator that she was dressed, but I counted to five in my head before turning back around just to be safe. Leah was wearing a loose, black dress that fell to her knees. It was the most feminine-looking I had ever seen her.
Clearing my throat-and hopefully some of the awkwardness-I asked, “Is Jacob going to freak out that you just did that three feet away from me?”
“God, I hope so. It would be nice to have five seconds where I’m not reliving Jacob groping your tits. Or listening to Seth reliving Jacob groping your tits. You know, depending on whose mind I’m in, your cup size changes. Embry’s pretty generous.”
I looked at her mortified. “Leah…”
“Paul thinks Jacob gets a fistful of Wonderbra and pantyhose.”
“Can we not talk about this?”
Leah shrugged. “I thought you wanted to talk ‘girl stuff?’”
Aside from being fairly certain that that particular topic would be classified as guy stuff, I had no time to be humiliated. The longer I waited, the greater chance I wouldn’t be able to pull this off. “I need a favor.”
She quirked an eyebrow. “Sex tips?”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “I need a big favor.”
My serious expression sobered her right up. She crossed her arms, peering down at me skeptically. “What kind of favor?”
“You don’t want to know the details. I just need you to not do something.”
Even in her human form, Leah’s eyes were sharp and a little feral.
“Will it hurt Jacob?”
I gnawed at the inside of my lip to keep my anxiety from showing outwardly. “It will help keep him safe.”
She stared me down. “You’re going to do some dumb shit, aren’t you?”
That was a rhetorical question if I’d ever heard one.
I watched, holding my breath, as she slid a hand through her short hair and cursed darkly. If she didn’t agree…
“You’re lucky I nearly gutted out your stomach once,” she muttered, “or I would do it right now.”
I bit my lip.
The nervous jester sent her eyes rolling. “But as it stands, I feel like I owe you a chance to fuck me over.”
Impulsively, I hugged her. “Thank you.”
“Whatever. Just tell me where on the line you want me to put my ass.”
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Ever since Vanessa’s visit, the drive to do something proactive about this mess with Victoria had been a constant tugging on my conscience. Watching the Cullens and the pack pretending to tear into each other every few days had served to solidify the motivation to risk the least amount of lives into a resolution.
I had been carefully considering my options without ever actually settling on a course of action-as to avoid tipping off Alice. Although Vanessa had passed on a great deal of insight to me about what I had become and what she believed I was meant for, little of the information was useful in dealing with the confrontation that lay before us. The more time I devoted to thinking about what she had said, the more I realized she was right about her warnings: I was useless in a battle against two dozen newborns.
But we only needed to take out the one to scatter the others.
With Victoria out of the way, I was confident the newborns would have little incentive to stick together and even less incentive to launch a full-out assault on Forks. Edward had once explained to me that it went against vampire nature to live and travel in groups larger than two or three and that a vampire’s strongest instinct was that of survival. Somehow Victoria was manipulating these newborns into following orders-coercion and false promises being my strongest suspicions.
If Victoria were taken out, then all of it could be over tonight.
My grip on the steering wheel tightened as the truck rumbled its disapproval at the 45 mph speed I was coaxing it towards. The windows were rolled up in an attempt to keep in as much of my scent as possible before I hit Seattle city limits. I was relying on Victoria to wise up to my presence in the area fairly quickly, but the sooner she found me, drank from me, and died, the sooner I could get home and face whatever consequences awaited me when I told Jacob what I had done.
Leah hadn’t been surprised when I asked her to not to alert the other pack members on patrol to my impromptu getaway. But she hadn’t exactly sugar-coated her sentiments either.
“She’ll probably break all your fingers and both your legs before even taking a bite.”
I didn’t let myself linger on any of the details beyond finding Victoria and provoking her into going for my jugular first thing. If I really smelled as good to vampires as Vanessa said I should, then I was hoping Victoria wouldn’t possess the strength to resist the temptation. And if she did break my legs-I shuddered at the prospect-at least I had the Cullen’s cell-phone in my pocket so I could call for help.
But those were the kind of details that made my chest tighten and my white-knuckled hands shake when I considered the possibilities for too long. So, instead I did my best to fill my thoughts with Jacob. I recalled how warm and course the palm of his hand was when it wrapped around mine, the way he was gentle only when I needed him to be, and how simultaneously hurt and hopeful Edward had looked when I told him how deeply rooted Jake was in my life.
I was seeing a lot of Edward’s face in my head recently.
I had been driving for nearly twenty minutes and had hit a stretch of deserted, winding road sidelined with trees when I felt the truck begin to shutter beneath me. A repetitive thump, thump, thump began growing louder as the vehicle’s equilibrium began giving way. Pulling on the stubborn wheel, I guided the truck to the grassy shoulder, threw the stick into neutral, and pulled the break just to be safe.
That sound only meant one thing, so I grabbed the emergency flashlight Charlie had stored beneath the bench seat before clambering out into the night and making a quick inspection. I got as far as the passenger side door before stopping to stare in dread at the flat front tire.
I nearly threw my flashlight in frustration. This was not happening to me. Not tonight.
Although there was a jack and a spare tire in the truck bed. and Jacob had-on more than one occasion-shown me the proper way to change a tire, I had little to no faith in my abilities to do it correctly, or before the sun rose for that matter. (I could remember Jacob telling me where to place the jack but everything after that was a haze of russet skin sliding over a straining bicep.)
At a loss for what to do and trying to buy myself time to come up with a way out of the predicament, I took a closer look at the tire and shone my light so that I could find the hole. A clean slice two inches long ran up from the rim towards the tire treads.
So, I hadn’t run over anything. But then I couldn’t decide what had caused it. Something sharp and narrow. Maybe the rim had cracked and splintered into the rubber.
“I’ll change it and drive you back to Forks.”
The flashlight clattered to the ground as I jumped backward, spinning to locate the smooth voice.
Laced in the blackness of night, Edward was standing stoically between me and the tree line, his skin catching more of the dim moonlight than a human’s would. His beautiful eyes were sad.
“What are you…” I stuttered, heart still pounding relentlessly in my chest. “How did you…”
“I make it a point to always stay close by,” he said softly, “just in case.”
My legs went stiff beneath me, my body picking up on the signals I wanted to ignore. I had to try anyway. “Edward, you can help with the tire, but I’m not going back to Forks. I’m going…somewhere else.”
“Alice saw you lying alone in a pool of blood,” he continued as if I hadn’t spoken. His sullen gaze was fixed just past my shoulder, on the hood of the truck. “Once your decisions were no longer intermingled with Leah’s, she could see your future. But it’s more unclear now than it was before. Before your change.” Hollowly, he added, “You’ve changed so much, Bella.”
Realization dawned. “You sliced my tire.”
He didn’t meet my eyes, looking solemn and guilty.
“Edward,” I groaned, but there was no anger in it.
“I love you,” he said simply.
Hearing those words from him still had a way of making me feel lighter than air.
“That’s why I’m not fighting for you.” Tentatively he lifted his gaze to my face. “Because there are so many things that I want you to have but are not within my power to give you.”
His left foot lifted infinitesimally off the ground and inched forward before dropping again. His right one mimicked the action, while the rest of body remained deceptively still. “You understand now how powerful a soul is, how you have to protect it and pass pieces of it on through those who come after you.”
As he continued moving closer to me, his movements became less precise and careful until the last three paces were completed in a near blur of motion. He looked down at me from mere inches away.
His icy fingers lightly traced my cheekbones as if they were made from spun glass. “You have such a beautiful soul, Bella.”
I sighed shakily into the small space between us. “So do you.”
“Bella, my soul abandoned me long ago.”
“But, Vanessa-”
“I remember.”
His thumb followed the dip of my frown. “You think she lied?”
“No. I have no reason to doubt that she believed all the things that she told you. But they’re just that, Bella. Beliefs. Faith is what remains with you in the absence of all evidence to the concordant and in the presence of all evidence to the contrary. Religion can be shared by many, but faith is subjected to the endless limitations of the individual. One man’s Hell is another man’s Heaven.” His eyes, which had been meticulously outlining the planes of my face as he spoke, settled on my own. “And sometimes Hell and Heaven keep company, and it’s impossible to experience one without knowing the other.”
How could Edward believe he had no soul when he looked at me like that while saying such beautifully haunting things? What could I say or do to convince him he was wrong? “Edward, you-”
“That is why I’m now going to replace your tire and then drive you home.” He had moved in closer, had dipped his head so that his lips hung perilously near to my own and the intoxicating swirl of his breath caressed them by extension. The desire to lift my chin and relive the familiarity we once shared was there in my chest, a struck match quick-burning through the unprecedented intensity of what I had always felt for him.
But I wasn’t blind to the scars I had earned from holding the flame too close in the past. I drew back against the door of the truck, hugging my arms around myself. “Edward, please.” I had no qualms with begging. “I have to do this. Tonight.”
He shook his head, his brief disappointment fading into resignation. “It’s too late.”
A quiet but distinct rustling sound was prelude to a tall form breaking from the dense tree line. As soon as the person was close enough for me to clearly make out, I snapped to attention. “Jacob?”
And he looked about as pleased to see me as I was to see him.
Edward gracefully withdrew so that Jacob could march right up to me, eyes on fire and hands shaking. “What the Hell were you thinking?” he demanded furiously.
“Leah told you?” I ventured sourly.
“Damn straight! I show up at your house at twelve in the morning to find you and your car gone and Leah mentally belting Disney show tunes. You think I didn’t beat the crap out of her for some answers?”
Irritated that my plans had been foiled in just about every way possible, I snapped, “What were you doing at my house?”
Of course my annoyance only made him angrier. The trembles in his hands moved up his arms. “What were you doing heading on the highway to Seattle?”
“You know what I was doing,” I muttered quietly, looking away.
He took a deep breath and cursed. Loudly. “Where was the thought process, Bells? Huh? What did you possibly expect to achieve from this self-sacrificing bullshit?”
I knew that he was angry because I had hurt him. I had been willing to risk my life without giving him an explanation or even a goodbye, and I would be devastated if the situation were reversed. But I couldn’t stand to be patronized a moment longer. Fists clench, I yelled back, “I was doing what I need to do, Jacob! You’re not the only one who gets to make the dangerous choice. You don’t know what it feels like to watch everyone else risk their lives time and time again while I sit around doing nothing! This is the first chance I’ve had to do something for myself while protecting all of you. I have every reason to do this.”
“For Christ’s sake, Bella! This isn’t just about you!” he shouted in the time it took to run a large hand through his hair and tug violently the disarrayed strands. “There are other people in the damn equation, people who give a shit about what happens to you. You can’t just risk…everything on a fucking whim!”
Edward was staring at Jacob with an awed expression, eyebrows raised in surprise. Pale lips moved quickly, forming words too quiet for me to catch.
But Jacob whipped in his direction with a raised finger. “Stay the fuck out of my head.”
Edward didn’t flinch but blinked in amazement, as if Jacob had just admitted to shape-shifting into a dragon on occasion. I looked back and forth between the two, but Jacob returned his furious stare to me before I could even begin to contemplate what had transpired.
“I’m taking you back to Charlie.”
“The truck’s got a flat tire,” I seethed, glaring at Edward.
“Then I’ll carry you,” Jacob deadpanned.
Anger boiling my blood, I looked from Jacob to Edward to my crippled truck. “I think I’ll walk.”
I had maybe taken five steps down the road when I heard Jacob scoff and start to pursue me. “It’s nearly fifteen miles back to Charlie’s.”
“Great. It’ll give me chance to mentally assault you enough times in my head that I won’t risk trying it in real life,” I bit out, not slowing my brisk pace.
Of course, he still caught up to me by my next step.
“It’s the middle of the night.”
“Increases the chances of Victoria happening upon me.” I shrugged, watching the pavement and white dash lines disappear beneath my feet. “You know, maybe you shouldn’t stick around for this just incase-”
A hand roughly grabbed my arm, jerking me around until I was inches away from Jacob’s pained face. “Stop it,” he growled.
“What? Stop wanting to not sit uselessly on the sidelines for once? Stop acting like I have a part to play because I don’t?”
“Stop acting like it doesn’t matter if you die.”
I swallowed thickly, furious that there were tears stinging my eyes. “And what about you, Jake? You think it doesn’t matter if you die?” I couldn’t imagine anything worse in the entire world.
He shook his head. “I’m not going to die. No one is going to die. This fight with the newborns is going to be easy, Bells. We’ll have them completely out-smarted and out-maneuvered.”
“You don’t know that,” I refuted. “And I’ll just be sitting at home, waiting to hear how things turn out once it’s all over with. I don’t think I’ll be able to stand it.”
His grip softened and both hands dove into the hair framing my face. He shook his head ruefully. “Honey, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
**********************************
AN: Seeing the Eclipse movie renewed my love for Charlie so that's probably way he got so much page time this chapter. So lots of stuff happening next time what with the climactic battle scene and all. So bring your baseball bats (I'll be the one decked out in safety gear standing a safe distance away from the computer. ;)
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