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Chapter Two: Greatest Power

I stared through the windshield of my truck, speechless.

"Oh, no," I muttered, fear setting in. "They're here – that's them, isn't it?" I watched the two girls standing on the porch of Edward's house, groaning in disappointment. The girl with dark hair was just as pretty as I would have imagined, but the one with the red hair – the one with the too-short skirt and the thin shirt –

That had to be Tanya.

"Oh, god," I whispered. My heartbeat started to pick up, speeding up my shallow gasps for air. "That's Tanya."

Edward nodded. He leaned forward, turned the keys, and pulled them out of the ignition. "Yeah, that's her," he said, shoving the car keys into his pocket. Then he leaned back in the driver's seat, unmoving as we sat and stared at the visitors.

I started to feel as if I were about to throw up. "You turned down Tanya," I reminded him, unable to remove my gaze from the beauty on the front porch. "And you'd rather marry me?"

Edward turned to look at me with a small smile. "Bella, you aren't really worried, are you?" he asked. When I didn't respond but stared blankly through the windshield, Edward reached over to grab my hand and kissed it.

"Bella," he repeated in a low voice.

I finally turned, looking at Edward with a mixed expression between horror and defeat. How could I ever compare to something like her?

"I love you," he whispered, kissing my hand again. He flipped it so that my palm was face up and his lips were on my wrist. "You have nothing to be worried about."

I watched as he kissed my wrist once, twice, and then a third time. Finally, he lifted his gaze to lock with mine, as if he were pleading with me to understand.

"Right," I muttered, glancing back through the glass as Edward slowly lowered my hand. Tanya was staring at us with her arms crossed smugly over her chest while the other girl stood just behind her shoulder, waiting for us to make a move. He loves me, I tried to reassure myself. Not Tanya. Me. I'm the one he's marrying.

Slowly, I nodded my head and released his hand. I turned to climb down, out of the truck, but Edward was already there waiting, having run around the car to help me out. He offered me his hand, which I graciously accepted, and he gently lifted me out of the vehicle and onto the ground.

"Thanks," I muttered, trying not to break the silence. Then I started to feel the rain.

"Come on," Edward said, wrapping an arm around my shoulder and pulling me towards his chest, as if he were trying to shield me from the rain. "Let's get you inside before you freeze like you did this morning…"

And just as we had started to move forward, a sudden whistling sound pierced the air around us, as if something were flying towards us at a rapid pace.

Before I could look around for the cause of this noise, Edward quickly released my shoulders and pushed me behind him.

Then came the sudden crash.

I regained my senses, trying to process what had just happened. Slowly, I stepped to the side, peering around Edward – and that's when I saw her.

It had been her – Tanya – that had made that noise. She must have been running at such a high speed that the wind had been whistling around her as she passed. And now Tanya was clinging to Edward as if it were a life or death situation with both her arms around his neck and her legs locked around his waist.

"Edward!" she squealed, hugging him with all of her strength. "I missed you so much!"

I tried as hard as I could not to appear jealous. I really did. I mean – she's been a friend of their family for several years – she probably just missed Edward a lot. It must've just been her personality – a very touchy-feely personality, I guess. I bet she had the same greeting for everyone else when she saw the rest of the Cullen family.

But the moment she started to repeatedly kiss his cheek…

I couldn't stand it any longer. I turned away, turning bright red. I couldn't even glance up at the others on the front porch for fear of succumbing to even more embarrassment. I was sure the entire Cullen family would be watching me with pitying looks. They all probably felt sorry for me, now that I had seen my competition and her enthusiastic greeting towards Edward.

All I could do was stare determinedly at my feet.

"Alright, Tanya," Edward muttered. "That's enough – nice to see you, too."

My heart picked up after hearing Edward speak. He was pushing Tanya away from him, I realized with thrill of excitement. He really loves me, I found myself thinking, relieved to have this fact reaffirmed, no matter how many times he told me those words himself. He wouldn't have been trying to get this woman off of him unless he really loved me!

I chanced a glance back up at Edward to see him looking down at me with an unreadable expression. I smiled, trying to cheer him up, but his face was suddenly twisted away from my gaze as Tanya put both of her hands on either side of his head to turn him towards her.

I watched with open-mouthed horror as she pressed her lips against his.

"Tanya," Edward growled, wrenching his face away from Tanya's.

She smiled back at him, acting as if she had done nothing wrong whatsoever. "Yes?"

"Get off of me," he hissed, putting his hands on her waist. He shoved her away from him with such force that, had she not been so agile and strong herself, she would have landed several yards away on her backside. But, as it was, she was a vampire and landed on her feet with a smirk on her lips.

"It's so good to see you again," Tanya said, as if nothing had occurred between her and Edward.

Edward, however, stood tall and rigid as he stared at her in a stunned silence, allowing the rain to stream down his face without making any attempt to avoid the rain drops. He didn't move, didn't blink, didn't breathe. I frowned, realizing that something was wrong here – something was very wrong – and I didn't think it had to do with that kiss.

I watched as Edward stared at Tanya in horror, and then looked over at his family. He looked at each and every one of them, as if he were unable to believe what he was seeing. It wasn't until I had put one hand on his arm that he seemed to jerk back to reality.

"Bella," he whispered, looking down at me. I searched his eyes, wishing I could read minds, but I had no idea what he could be thinking. So many different expressions flitted across his face within that one glance down at me, and I couldn't decipher a single look. Then he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into his chest, keeping a protective hold on me.

"What are you doing, Tanya?" Edward growled, his eyes flicking up to study the red-head with curiosity.

The girl smiled and tilted her head to the side, frowning with confusion. "What are you talking about?" she asked in a sweet, high-pitched voice.

She started to step closer, but Edward immediately shot a hand out, silently telling her to keep her distance. When she stopped moving, he brought his hand back to wrap it around me, pulling me even tighter into his chest. "What are you trying to hide?"

Tanya blinked, appearing confused, and then a look of understanding washed over her. "Oh, that," she said with a flirtatious laugh. She covered her mouth with a small hand, as if she found the situation far funnier than any of us did. "You'd understand if I felt slightly vulnerable, don't you?"

Edward's grip turned to stone, unwilling to release me anytime soon, but his glare intensified. "You never blocked me out before," he said in a low voice, as if it were a warning. I could feel the rumble of a growl deep in his chest, sending shivers down my spine. "What's going on, Tanya," he demanded.

Tanya giggled again, giving him a small shrug. "It's just for the next week until your wedding," she said, batting her eyelashes. "I feel insecure when my mind is being read all of the time, dear Edward," she explained in her sweet voice. "You understand, don't you?"

I looked up, watching as Edward swallowed. And then his eyes seemed to dart over to the front porch once more where the rest of his family was watching with concern. He seemed to flinch – the first time I had ever seen that sort of a reaction from him – and he abruptly shifted his gaze back to mine. Then he closed eyes, as if he were about to be sick.

"Fine," he muttered.

Immediately, I started to squirm in Edward's tight embrace and managed to remove one of my hands from the hold he had on me. I lifted it to his face, gently cupping his cheek as I longed to fix whatever it was that had upset him.

"Good!" Tanya said with more enthusiasm than should have been allowed. Then she turned and skipped out of the rain and back onto the front porch.

"Edward," I whispered, praying our conversation wouldn't be overheard. "What happened?" I asked, trying to figure out what just occurred between the two. I couldn't find any explanation.

"Not now," Edward responded in a voice just as soft as mine. He dropped his wet forehead onto mine, gasping for breath as if he had just run a marathon. And then he abruptly pulled away and looked toward his house with that same, unreadable expression. "Come on," he said, deciding that it was finally time to go inside, after everyone else had already gone in. "We should meet them – " Edward paused, stopping to turn and look at me with raised eyebrows, as if he had just come up with a clever idea. "And then you should really go home to get some rest. You look really tired."

I lifted an eyebrow, extremely confused, now. It wasn't even nine o'clock yet, and it was the summer! I hadn't gone to bed before midnight all summer!

"What are you talking about?" I asked, absolutely befuddled by the entire situation. Nothing made sense anymore! "Why would I – "

"Bella," Edward whispered, widening his eyes as I squinted up into the rain to look at him. "Just trust me."

My jaw seemed to drop slightly, stunned by the cryptic looks he was sending me. And then I nodded, showing him that I trusted him as I tried to blink away my confusion.

Silently, I followed him into his house.

"Here," Edward said, handing me a towel, just like he had this morning. He wrapped it around my shoulders, running his hands up and down over my arms to help dry me off, and then stopped. Slowly, he started to pull me towards him, wrapping his arms around me as he had earlier, but without displaying as much protection as he had when Tanya had been there.

I relaxed into his loving embrace. I pressed my face into his sopping wet shirt and breathed in the scent, smiling. And for several minutes, we just stood there in the doorway holding each other. There were no distractions and no noise – it was just us.

"Edward!" Alice called from another room. A fast pair of feet started rushing towards us and I soaked up the last few seconds of our alone time. "Come on," Alice interrupted, walking straight up to us. "You can't hog Bella all the time!"

"I don't mind," I muttered, twisting my fingers into the material of Edward's shirt and gripping onto it for dear life. I spoke again, directly into Edward's chest, hoping that Alice couldn't catch what I was about to say next. "He can hog me all he wants."

Edward chuckled.

"We should go and say hi," Edward said, leaning down to kiss my forehead. I looked up at him, jutting out my lower lip in an attempt to persuade Edward otherwise, but he shook his head with a small smile on his face. "Just for a little bit."

With a soft sigh, I nodded. "Alright," I said, discarding my towel before I formally met the Denali clan. "Let's go."

Together, we walked through the house, me trailing behind Edward with my hand in his. We entered a room filled with excited chatter as the Cullen family and the two girls from the Denali clan discussed their lives.

"Actually, we're thinking about moving sometime soon," the girl with black hair said, folding her arms across her chest and leaning up against the wall of glass. "I mean – it's been years since we've gone anywhere new. Don't you think, Tanya?"

The redhead's gaze darted across the room, staring at Edward the moment we walked into the room. She smiled, raising a singular eyebrow with an air of confidence about her that I found incredibly nerve-racking.

"Maybe we'll move here," Tanya said, never removing her eyes from Edward as she spoke. "Wouldn't that be fun? We could all live as a big family."

Carlisle cleared his throat, looking down at Tanya and then up to me. He smiled kindly as our eyes met and he immediately stood up from his spot on the couch.

"Bella," he said, walking towards me. "There's a few friends of ours from the Denali clan that we'd like you to meet." He turned and walked towards the red-head, leading me to her spot on the arm of the couch. "I believe you've already met Tanya."

I tried to smile as politely as possible, but I don't think my facial expression could have even passed for a smile. "Right," I said, unable to feel any kindness towards this woman. "Edward's friend."

The woman smirked and winked at me. "It's a pleasure, Isabella," she said, daintily crossing one leg over the other with the greatest of ease.

My feeble attempt at a smile disappeared entirely. "It's Bella," I corrected her in a flat tone.

Tanya's expression was wiped blank as well, surprised by my forwardness, I assumed. She narrowed her eyes at me and started to lean forward as if she were about to stand up from her spot on the arm of the couch.

My heart rate doubled – I was sure of it. And the worst part was that I knew Tanya could hear it.

How stupid can I get? I scolded myself. You choose now of all times to pick a fight with someone – and you choose a vampire? Are you suicidal?

I was in the middle of frantically searching for a way to talk myself out of my sharp remark when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Instantly, I knew that it would be Edward without turning around, and I felt immensely relieved just by his presence.

Tanya must have spotted Edward as well, because she started to lean back, ignoring my previous comment entirely.

Carlisle quickly stepped into the awkward situation, guiding me over to the girl with black hair. She seemed to be dressed just like me: jeans and a t-shirt. "And this is Katrina," he said, pointing to the girl that was leaning up against the glass wall. "Her sister."

"Actually," the girl added, "I'm not technically her sister – that's just what we tell everyone. And I go by Kate."

"Oh," I replied with a small nod. And then I realized that her hand was extended for me to shake. I quickly grabbed it, trying not to be rude. "Hi, Kate," I said, shaking her outstretched hand with a pleasant smile.

Kate grinned and I felt suddenly relaxed, as if the entire situation with Tanya didn't matter anymore. Who cared if she kissed my fiancée right in front of me? And, sure, it looked like she probably hated my guts… But that's alright, I guess. I didn't feel too concerned about it, now. I bet it would all blow over soon anyway.

"So," Kate said, tucking her hair behind her ears. She chuckled softly to herself before asking her question. "When did Edward tell you he was a vampire?"

I laughed as well, glancing over my shoulder at Edward as he stood, still as a statue without smiling. How could he not be happy around such a nice girl?

I quickly shook my head at his odd behavior and turned back to Kate. "Actually, Edward didn't tell me – I found out."

Kate lifted an eyebrow, eyeing Edward with a hint of amusement. "Were you being sloppy in hiding your true identity?" she teased him with a playful smile.

Before Edward could answer, I spoke up again. "Actually, my friend – Jacob Black – he's the one who told me." I started to laugh while I was speaking, apparently finding this story funnier than everyone else thought it was. "You see, he thought this whole vampire thing was some dumb myth, really – he had no idea it was all true!"

I felt a soft tap on my shoulder. I spun around, still laughing at what I had said, and found Edward looking down at me with a searching expression. I stared at him for a moment, and my upbeat mood slowly seemed to diminish.

I bit into my lip, frowning. What had just happened to me? How could my mood have changed so dramatically within twenty seconds?

I looked back up into Edward's eyes, finally understanding what he was trying to silently convey to me. His words from earlier came back to me. You should really go home to get some rest. You look really tired.

"Edward, I'm feeling really tired," I said, faking a yawn. I dropped my head onto his chest, trying to act as if I was to weary to hold my head up any longer. "Can you take me home?"

"Of course," he said without a moment of hesitation. Immediately, he put an arm around my shoulders and started to walk me towards the front door. "It was nice seeing you two ladies. I hope the others in your family are doing just as well."

Tanya didn't miss a beat before responding with, "It's always a pleasure with you, Edward."

And then, just before bolting for the exit, Edward turned to Alice and locked his gaze with hers. "I'll see you tomorrow morning."

For a moment, Alice didn't respond, but she soon started to nod at his unspoken request.

Without another word, Edward sped up, heading straight for my beat up, old truck. I stumbled on the front porch, nearly falling face first on their slippery front porch, but Edward caught me before the impact. However, he didn't slow down to put me back on my feet. Instead, he carried me in his arms straight to the passenger door of the truck, gently lifting me into my seat, and then hurried around to the driver's side.

He pulled out the car key and stuffed it into the ignition, turning it with so much force that I thought my key might break off in his hand. It didn't break, however, and the truck roared to life.

Without a glance back at the house behind him, Edward stomped on the gas pedal and sped away.

"Well," Rosalie muttered, staring after Edward as he left the room. "That certainly was odd."

"Tell me about it," Emmett agreed, following his wife's gaze. He then turned back to Tanya with an annoyed look. "And it's just a guess, but I think Bella might have been a little upset about your lovely display of affection with Edward."

My sister held her hands up in the air with a surprised expression, as if she had no idea that she had offended Bella. "What – that kiss?" Tanya exclaimed, blinking with wide, innocent-looking eyes. "I was just saying hello to an old friend!"

"Yeah," Emmett scoffed, cracking his knuckles in what he hoped to be an intimidating manner. "Nothing like saying hello with a little tongue."

I glanced back and forth between Tanya and Emmett with a worried expression. Don't start a fight, I silently begged her. We just got here – and I know we can't take on all of them at once…

"Emmett."

I felt suddenly relaxed as Jasper stepped forward and put his hand on Emmett's shoulder. "Calm down," he commanded in a soft voice.

Emmett took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, eyeing Tanya with frustration. Then he shook his head, as if she wasn't worth his time, and stood up, walking out of the room.

"Hey," Alice interjected, trying to lighten the mood, "did you two want to go on a tour of the house?"

"Actually…" Tanya glanced over at me, trying to say something without actually speaking. I immediately picked up on the silent message. "We'd love to go to our room to unpack just a bit."

Alice nodded, relieved to hear that there was something she could help with. "Sure thing!" she exclaimed, grinning. And then she skipped over to the staircase. "Right this way!"

Tanya stood, grabbing her luggage from the bottom of the stairs while I followed, smiling over my shoulder at the rest of the family before I left.

"Here we are!" Alice said, stopping in front of a door at the end of the hallway on the third floor. "You two can leave your things in here for the week."

"Excellent," Tanya said in an upbeat voice, but she didn't waste her time trying to smile anymore. Clearly, she was done with the pretense of being happy.

Alice poked her head into the room after we entered. "Do you need any help?" she asked, trying to be of assistance, but I was sure Tanya mistook her kindness as annoyance.

"No," Tanya cut her off before she could say anything else. "We're fine – we'll be out in a few minutes."

"Oh." Alice nodded, slowly backing out of the room. "Well, just let us know if either of you need any – "

"Alright," Tanya cut her off, abruptly closing the door in Alice's face. Then she pressed her ear up against the door, listening as Alice left the hallway and walked back down to the first floor.

I waited for Tanya to say something, but she remained frozen in place for several minutes.

I sighed, slightly impatient, and was about to open my mouth to interrupt the silence, but Tanya beat me to it.

"They're all downstairs," she said in the softest whisper she could manage, so as to avoid any of the Cullen's from overhearing our conversation. She reached down to flatten her skirt and then looked up at me with a straight face. "Are you ready?"

I licked my lips, swallowed, and then nodded. "Yeah," I said, running my fingers nervously through my hair.

Tanya lifted her suitcase onto a chair and unzipped it. "Well?" she said, nodding towards the window. "What are you waiting for?"

I blinked, surprised by the suddenness of this situation. "What – right now?" I asked, trying to keep my voice to a whisper. "I mean – they're gonna know I'm gone when I'm not back in a few minutes!"

Tanya rolled her eyes as she pulled out a pile of neatly folded skirts. "I'll tell them you were a little thirsty after being around Bella and you wanted to go hunt for a few hours – just to make sure you weren't tempted by her blood." She stopped, halfway across the room, and turned to send me a knowing look. "They all love that pathetic, human girl. Trust me. They'll probably be glad you're taking the precaution and they'll want you to do so every night."

I nodded, understanding the plan. "Alright," I said, walking over to the small window. I opened it with as little noise as possible and whispered, "I'll be back in the morning."

Tanya nodded, glancing once at the closed door behind her, and then looked back at me. "Good luck."

"Yeah," I muttered, leaping soundlessly out of the third story window and landing in a crouch on both feet. "Let's hope this plan of yours works…"

We were approaching my house, and Edward hadn't said a single word the entire ride home.

"Edward?" I asked, hoping to get him to respond.

He did speak, but it wasn't the soothing words I had hoped to hear. His rigid posture didn't budge as he shook his head and tightened his grip around the steering wheel, muttering, "Not yet."

Not yet? I frowned, trying for the hundredth time to solve all of the mysterious things that had happened in the past few minutes. Why was Edward reacting so oddly all of a sudden? What about his outburst at Tanya? And what on earth was that bizarre feeling I got around Kate? I was suddenly happy for some reason – nothing seemed to make sense!

With a screech, Edward expertly swerved the truck around a parked car and stopped in front of my house. Then he pulled the keys from the ignition and turned to look at me with an intense gaze.

"I'll meet you in your room," he said, handing over the car keys. And then he disappeared into the darkness.

I was at a loss for words. And, I was sure, if it hadn't been for that assurance that I would meet Edward in my bedroom once I got inside, I would have stayed in my truck, unmoving and stunned for several hours.

But with an exhausted sigh, I climbed down from my beat-up truck and ran through the pouring rain.

"Hey, Bella," Charlie called, glancing over his shoulder as I walked in the door. He was already seated in front of the television with a beer and a remote control in his hands. "Did you meet Edward's relatives?"

"Uh – yeah," I muttered, tossing my keys onto the kitchen table. "They were, um…" I bit my lip, searching for a word to describe the vampires I had met. "Nice," I weakly finished my sentence, unable to get the thought of Tanya kissing Edward out of my head. The scene kept replaying itself, making me nauseous.

"Well, that's good," Charlie said, turning back to the television. His eyes quickly glazed over as he tuned into the game playing at the moment.

"Right," I said, sighing as I trudged over to the stairs. "I'm feeling a little tired right now, Dad," I said, starting up to my room. "I'm going to bed."

"Alright – goodnight, Bella!" he called, his voice trailing off as I climbed higher and higher. Before long, I reached my bedroom door, opening it with a slight squeak of its hinges.

I reached for the light switch to turn it on, but I hadn't even taken two steps into the room before I felt two hands grip my shoulders and a cool pair of lips press against mine. I was so startled that I just stood in the doorway, allowing myself to be kissed without moving anywhere.

Edward was the one who managed to walk me away from the door, quickly removing one hand from my shoulder to close the door himself, and then pressed me into the wall behind me.

His behavior was incredibly out of character, I thought. His kisses were usually so soft and gentle. And he always waited to say something – or at least greet me – before kissing me, almost as if it was his way of asking for permission to kiss me.

But this time, his kiss seemed so much more unguarded and reckless than normal. It was almost as if he had thrown every single one of his rules out the window and was kissing me without worrying about the repercussions. And he had me up against a wall.

Not that I minded, of course.

Once I finally regained my senses, I lifted my hands, running them up his chest and over his shoulders. One hand started to climb up through his hair, making it stand on end, while the other latched itself behind his neck, urging him closer than was physically possible.

My hands' movement seemed to have triggered something in Edward's mind, because the moment I tried to pull him closer, his hands dropped from my shoulders, taking their time as they slid down the side of my rib cage, and then firmly gripped onto my waist. I gasped in surprise when he, too, pulled me close, pressing my entire body against him and leaving no space between us.

It was my soft gasp that caused Edward to open his eyes, and look at me. He slowly pulled away with one last peck on the lips and then pressed his forehead to mine.

"I love you, Bella," he whispered, lifting a hand to touch my cheek. He gently tucked a strand of wet hair behind my ear, smiling.

My heart raced, always excited to hear these words, no matter how many times a day Edward insisted on reminding me of it. "I love you, too, Edward."

By now, Edward had his eyes closed and was repeatedly running his hand through my hair, over and over until it had practically dried itself.

I took a moment, studying his flawless facial features. His beautiful, pale skin seemed to glow from the moonlight streaming in through the window. I tilted me head to the side just a fraction of an inch, studying his perfect bone structure. When you combined his skin with the sharp angles of his face, he looked like a stone statue.

I sighed – unable to restrain myself – before opening my mouth. "Edward," I whispered, trying to get his attention without startling him.

Slowly, his eyes opened and he looked down at me with a searching expression.

"Are you going to tell me what happened tonight?" I asked, biting my lip as I started to doubt whether or not he would ever tell me the truth. He had been silent the entire car ride – would he finally open up to me now?

But, as it turns out, I never had to worry. With a slow nod of his head, Edward released my hair and my waist, stepping away from the wall that he had backed me into. "It was horrible," he murmured.

Immediately, my eyes doubled in size, stunned by these words. "It – what happened?" I asked, almost frantic, now. I quickly stepped forward, closing the distance between us once again. "What was horrible?"

Edward looked down at his chest where I had placed my hands and covered them with his own. "Tanya," he said with a small groan. "I had no idea that she was going – that she would try to – "

"Kiss you?" I supplied with a weak smile.

Edward stopped stumbling over his words and looked back up into my eyes, frowning. "I'm so sorry, Bella," he apologized, dropping his chin onto his chest. "I should have pushed her away before she got that far. It's my fault."

I shook my head, allowing a small smile when I realized that Edward would take the blame for almost anyone – even some of the nastiest creatures in the world. "It's not your fault," I corrected him with a soft chuckle. "Tanya is just – a piece of work," I said, hoping these words wouldn't come across as bad as what I had wanted to say.

This time, Edward laughed as well, lifting my mood. "Tell me about it," he said, dropping one hand. The other one he kept on mine, using it to pull me towards my bed. "And not only did she – kiss me," he said, choking on the words as he said them, "but she blocked my mind-reading." Edward dropped onto the edge of the bed, shaking his head. "That was, perhaps, the longest ten minutes of my life." He started to crack a small smile. "I've never been so relieved to hear Charlie's thoughts in my entire life."

I froze before climbing onto the bed, stunned by Edward's last words. "She did – what to you?"

Edward looked over his shoulder as I crawled up from the bottom of the bed to sit behind him while he sat with his legs dangling over the edge. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he spoke. "It's her special ability as a vampire," he explained, running a hand through his hair. "She takes away your greatest power."

I sighed, dropping my chin onto his shoulder. "I'm sorry," I apologized, even though I had nothing to do with the problem. "That must have been horrible."

He laughed softly. "You have no idea," he said, trailing his fingers over my arms that were locked around his neck.

I tilted my head to the side, unable to hide my smirk. "Right," I said, allowing my lips to brush against Edward's cheek as I spoke. "I have no idea what it feels like not to hear anyone's thoughts."

With a crooked smile, Edward turned to look at me as if he had been expecting my sarcastic comment. I lifted my eyebrows, suppressing a giggle, and he kissed my cheek before elaborating. "Bella, I've been listening to my family's thoughts for years," he said, weakly dropping his hands into his lap, as if he were exhausted. "Not hearing their thoughts when you're looking right at them – it's like looking at a family member for the first time after they've lost an arm and a leg. It's just – not normal."

Although I couldn't fully understand what that must have felt like, I nodded, hoping to show him that I knew how difficult that would be. "I know," I whispered, kissing the back of his neck. "That sounds difficult."

Edward twisted around, lifting his feet onto the bed and grabbing my waist. He kissed me once and then fell back onto my pillows, pulling me down to lay beside him.

"I couldn't stand being there any longer," Edward said, staring up at the ceiling as I watched him speak. He tilted his head to the side, glancing over at me with a small smile. "You were the only person I could stand to be around. You're the only one that it's actually normal not to hear your thoughts."

I smiled, burying myself deeper into the crook of Edward's arm. "I'll take that as a compliment."

Edward chuckled, pulling his free arm across his chest to rest on my waist. His finger played absentmindedly with the belt loop on my jeans as he started to stare at the ceiling once more.

"Does Kate have a power?" I asked, now curious.

Edward nodded. "Hers can almost be worse," he said, frowning slightly.

I tried to think of something worse than Tanya's power, but nothing seemed to make sense. "What is it?"

"Well," Edward said, clearing his throat, "when she was alive, she was incredibly – nice."

I squinted, trying to figure out if this was some sort of joke. Then I started to laugh.

"So now she's extra nice?" I asked, trying to stifle my giggles. "That doesn't sound very dangerous to me."

Edward smiled and shook his head, as if he knew this would be my reaction, and then rolled over to look at me. "Do you remember what happened when you were talking to her before we left?"

"Course I do!" I exclaimed in the softest voice possible. "Kate was nice," I said, defending her. "We were having a good conversation – there was nothing wrong with that!"

"Right," Edward said, lifting an eyebrow. "It's completely fine – until you start spilling secrets that you never wanted to tell anyone in the first place."

I started to think about this. Alright, sure, maybe Kate was so nice that people felt almost too comfortable talking to her. I guess I could sort-of see Edward's point…

"You were about to tell her all about Jake when I interrupted you," Edward continued. "She can learn anything from you that she wanted to know. She could have told you that it would be fun to throw yourself out of a moving car, and you would have believed her – because you think she's the nicest person in the world." He paused, giving me a look. "Do you get it now?"

I nodded, slightly annoyed that the kindness I had felt towards Kate hadn't been entirely genuine.

"Thankfully," Edward added with a soft sigh, "Kate really is nice. I mean – otherwise, she wouldn't have gained that power." He stopped speaking to shake his head. "I'm just worried that after spending too much time around Tanya, she might start to use her power for the wrong sort of things."

I nodded. "So, what about you?" I asked, looking up into Edward's golden eyes. "You aren't affected by Kate's power?"

Edward shook his head, looking relieved by this fact. "Not as much as you are," he said, pressing his forehead against mine. "It's definitely not as strong when it's used on other vampires. We still feel it, but it has its greatest impact on humans," he explained.

Then he seemed to realize something and looked at me with an urgent look. "Don't speak to Kate unless I'm around," he warned me. "If I'm not there to pull you away, you won't want to ever leave," he explained. "With Tanya, you can always walk away from her, but if Kate wants you to stick around – you will." He stopped, looking into my frustrated expression, and then kissed my forehead, trying to reassure me that this precaution was necessary. "On second thought, just don't go anywhere without me until they go home."

I laughed, wrapping an arm around Edward's chest. "Of course," I said, rolling my eyes. "Like I would ever want to go anywhere without you."

Edward grinned at this comment, but looked relieved to hear it, nonetheless.

I let out a heavy sigh, closing my eyes. I knew it was hours away from the normal time that I went to sleep, but I couldn't help but feel somewhat tired after the long day.

I fought off a shiver as Edward's hand moved from the belt loop on my jeans to my skin, gently tracing small circles with his cool fingers. I inhaled the sweet scent of Edward, smiling as the familiar smell filled me with a sense of comfort.

A thought drifted across my mind just before I fell into a deep sleep.

"Edward?"

With the smoothest motion, he lowered his lips to mine and kissed me, smiling as he pulled away. "Yes, love?"

I lifted an eyelid, peeking out at Edward's waiting expression.

"Kate's power affects humans the most," I stated, reciting the information that Edward had already explained to me. "And since Tanya takes away your mind-reading power – does that mean she can't do anything to me?"

Edward took much longer to answer this question than I had anticipated. I had expected him to say that I was correct, because I had no special power since I wasn't a vampire yet – but he seemed to be thinking about the answer far more than I really wanted him to.

I swallowed, feeling my mouth go dry. "Edward?" My voice cracked.

With a deep breath, he lifted his gaze to meet mine, frowning. "Tanya takes away your greatest power," he told me. "It doesn't have to be a special power – it's just your power."

I looked down at Edward's shirt where I was playing with the button on his collar. "So what's my power?" I asked, almost dreading this answer.

Edward swallowed. "You live," he stated simply. "Your power – is that you're alive."

I tried to process this information, tried to understand what it all meant, but I couldn't. I'm not sure if it was because I was too exhausted or if I couldn't process the words – or maybe I just didn't want to realize what this meant – but I seemed to be having trouble with what Edward was trying to say.

"So, Tanya would make me…" I swallowed, coming up with the best answer that I could manage. "Not live?"

And then slowly, but surely, Edward nodded, as if he had never wanted to tell me this piece of information in the first place. "If Tanya wanted to use her power to take yours away – she would be able to make you stop breathing." My pulse sped up upon hearing these words. "She would suffocate you until you died."

I was wide awake, now. There was no chance of sleep anymore. I was completely terrified of letting my guard down now that I knew that this woman – the one who, apparently, still had feelings for my fiancée – could kill me without physical contact in seconds.

"Oh," I said, swallowing. I stared back into Edward's golden eyes, trying to recite the facts for him. "So – Tanya already hates me – and she can kill me at any moment." I shuddered, burying my face into Edward's shoulder as I felt tears prick at the corners of my eyes. "Why is it that the red-headed, female vampires always want to kill me?" I moaned, my voice coming out muffled as I spoke directly into Edward's shirt.

Edward let out a soft chuckle as he pressed his hand to the back of my head. He managed to gently rock my head to the side so that he could clearly see my face. He immediately stopped laughing when he saw the tears building up in my eyes and brushed the pad of his thumb across my skin. "Bella," he whispered, kissing my cheek as I closed my eyes, allowing a small tear to roll down my face. "She's not going to kill you."

"Well, I've been lucky so far," I pointed out, speaking at a rapid pace. "What if I'm not-so-lucky this time, Edward?" An idea occurred to me and I felt my stomach plummet. "You said that they must be here for reasons other than the wedding – they're here to kill me! That's got to be it!" I nearly shrieked, possibly alerting Charlie to suspicious activity in my room.

"They're not going to kill you," Edward reassured me, gently pressing his lips to mine as he tried to calm me down. "They're not that stupid – they're completely outnumbered. They wouldn't even attempt to kill you while I'm around," he said, scoffing at the idea. "Besides," he added, "Tanya can only use her power on one person at a time." He cradled my head in his hand, holding me close to his chest as he spoke. "As long as she's still blocking my power, you have nothing to worry about."

I tried to smile at this small sign of hope, but I couldn't. All that came out of my mouth was a shuddering sigh.

"It'll be alright," Edward whispered as he stroked my hair in a calming manner. "I won't let anything happen to you."

I nodded as best as I could against his arm and closed my eyes.

Author's Note: I think there might be a few unanswered questions in the next chapter or two, so if you haven't figured it out quite yet, everything should be somewhat cleared up after that point, so just bear with me for a bit longer!

Yours truly,
Amelia Bedelia