It took four tries before someone answered and Keegan had never felt so relieved to hear Rosalie's voice.
"Rose, it's Keegan. Edward was just-"
"Edward? You've seen Edward? Is he still there? Where are you? When did you see him?" The questions came in rapid-fire through the speaker and Keegan frowned over at Rowan who was watching her with raised brows.
"Dammit, Rose! What the hell happened?" Keegan snapped in return.
"We don't have time for that, Keegan! Just tell us where he is!" Rosalie hissed through the phone, grounding Keegan's temper as quickly as it spiked.
"I'm in Ireland. He left maybe an hour ago. Rose, he... He asked me to-" Keegan struggled to get the words out, to tell the man's sister what he had asked her to do but as a whimper sounded through the speaker, she knew that Rosalie had connected the dots.
"I need to call Carlisle and Alice. I-I made a big mistake, Keegan. I didn't mean to." Rose choked out and Keegan felt her chest clench.
Rosalie and Keegan had become friends even faster than she had with Alice, mostly thanks to their similar attitude issues and Emmett's never-ending teasing of the vampire hunter.
It hurt her to hear the strong blonde woman like this, even if she would never admit as much.
"Rose, it's going to be okay. I'm sure Alice is already on whatever it is that happened. You need to call Carlisle." Keegan reminded the woman and she could practically hear her nodding her head on the other side of the line.
"I hate to ask this, Keegan, but... can you come and meet us? We're going back to Washington. If Edward- I just think having you there would do a lot."
It was true that there was little that the Cullens could ask that Keegan wouldn't do, so as she met Rowan's eyes, she saw the knowing already lingering behind them.
"I'll be there. Text me the address and I'll catch the next flight tonight." Keegan told her. "But once I'm there you better tell me everything."
The phone call ended fairly quickly after that and she found herself turning to her partner, eyes already apologizing for something that she hadn't done yet.
Without a word, Rowan held out a familiar dark purple duffel bag towards her and she couldn't help but smile.
"Help me my the hunting stuff from airport security?" She asked and her smile brightened as he nodded.
"Only if you'll help me hide mine." He countered.
Keegan looked at him with confusion for a moment.
"What?"
"Did you really think I was going to let you go to America, to a coven of bloodsuckers, without me?" Rowan asked her, voice incredulous. "This isn't me taking a stroll while you get coffee with one of the Cullens who will pretend to drink it, Key. This is you going to another country to stay in a house full of all of them."
Keegan had to admit that he had a point and if she was honest, she felt better knowing that Rowan would be around rather than off hunting by himself.
She trusted the Cullens whole-heartedly and knew she would be safe while with them, but that didn't mean that Rowan would have been safe without her.
"Let's get going then."
By the time their flight landed in Seattle, Keegan was completely over international flights.
They always made her miserable and the time change wreaked absolute havoc on her body.
Yawning, Keegan fought the urge to simply lay down on the floor and nap while Rowan steered them through the crowded airport.
She simply clung to her friend's leather jacket, holding fast to the back of it as he easily cleared a path for them.
The pair had just stepped outside of the airport, the cold air pulling a hiss from Keegan when her phone began to ring from her coat pocket.
Digging out the device, the woman's eyes glanced over the name on screen before putting it to her ear.
"We've just landed," Keegan said into the speaker.
"I see that, though I wasn't aware there would be a we. I thought that your partner didn't like us." A deep voice rumbled.
"I don't," Rowan said briskly, loud enough to be heard by vampire ears through the line just like his supernatural hearing helped him know what Emmett was saying.
Laughter followed the statement, making Rowan frown but Keegan just rolled her eyes.
"What did you mean you could see?" She suddenly asked, catching on to his phrasing just to be startled by a loud car horn beeping a moment later.
Looking for the source, Keegan audibly sighed at the sight of the giant silver Jeep Wrangler.
There was no mistaking that it was Emmett's vehicle. She could spot his tastes from a mile away.
Threading her arm through Rowan's, the woman pulled her companion along to the vehicle and pointedly ignored the obvious displeasure on his face at the sight of Emmett behind the wheel and Rosalie in the passenger seat.
Without hesitation, Keegan climbed into the backseat and scooted to the far side so that Rowan could join her.
"'Sup, Buffy?" Emmett called out over his shoulder as he pulled away from the airport.
"Hey, fangs." She greeted in return without missing a beat.
Rosalie turned in her seat to offer Keegan a small smile, the guilt behind her eyes unmistakable even when she shot a glare towards Rowan who was glaring right back.
"Esme has made arrangements for you in the main house. We weren't aware that your... companion would be tagging along." She said, her words directed at Keegan though they applied to both people in the back seat.
"Would it be too much trouble to-" Keegan began but Rowan cut her off.
"Where she goes, I go." He stated simply and the female vampire hunter rolled her eyes.
It seemed that the man's former trust of the Cullens went out the window after the incident with Edward.
"Is he home?" Keegan asked, her sudden gentle tone leaving no room for confusion as to who she was referring.
She had come to Washington because of what had happened with Edward.
She needed to see him and she needed a better explanation of all that was happening with the Olympic coven.
"Let's get back to the house, then we can explain," Emmett suggested, his deep voice filling the inside of the Jeep when it seemed he had caught on to his mate's discomfort.
Keegan ached to tell him no, to tell him that she deserved an explanation immediately, but the pain in Rosalie's eyes had her holding her tongue.
"Yeah, okay. The house." She agreed, exchanging a glance with her partner before turning her eyes on the scenery rushing by the window.
The Cullens' home was everything that Keegan expected, but at the same time, not at all what she expected.
"Doesn't the glass get tricky when it comes to... wandering eyes?" Rowan asked what Keegan had been thinking, though her thoughts had perhaps been in a less accusatory manner.
"We're deep enough in the woods that no one comes this way and even if they did, Alice or Edward would know," Rose replied as she led the way up the wooden steps and into the extravagant house.
Keegan's smile grew at the sight of the immortals that waited for her within the pristine walls.
"Carlisle, Esme." She breathed out a greeting.
The two parental vampires smiled as they entered the space, neither of them balking under the suspicious glare that Rowan had fixed on them.
"Keegan, sweetie, we've missed you," Esme said, moving forward to wrap her arms around the woman.
Keegan suppressed a shiver at the chill of the immortal's skin as to not hurt her feelings, but she noticed Rowan had obviously tensed at her side upon the vampire's approach.
"Welcome to Washington, Keegan. We are excited to have you here, both you and your partner, though we do wish it was under... less intense circumstances." Carlisle greeted, hugging Keegan as well and offering a hand out towards Rowan who regarded the appendage with disdain until Keegan elbowed him harshly in the ribs.
The man grumbled but reached out to take Carlisle's hand, giving it a firm shake with his lip curling up a bit in disgust or irritation.
"Sorry about him. No one taught the boy manners growing up so I've been doing the best with what I've got." Keegan told the group, ignoring the huff that Rowan let out in response.
"Jasper should be in shortly. He went for a morning hunt." Esme explained kindly. "Are either of you hungry? Thirsty?"
"I would love a glass of water," Keegan replied with a smile, glancing at Rowan before shaking her head slightly. "So would he, neither of us have had the chance to get a drink since before we boarded our flight."
With that request in, Esme flitted off to the kitchen and her abrupt movement had Rowan flinching back before he seemed to collect himself.
"Calm down, Ro. They eat bunny rabbits, not people and definitely not us." Keegan told her partner, not bother to whisper to him as she knew everyone in the house would hear her anyway.
"Not me, Blade. I eat bears." Emmett chimed in from where he was stood by the staircase, a dangerously playful grin in place on his lips.
Keegan responded to the claim with a roll of her eyes.
"Or they eat bears." She corrected herself, overexaggerating the correction in a way that taunted Emmett for his addition.
"Lions and tigers," Rowan said with a snort.
"Emmett, take their bags upstairs to the rooms they will be staying in please," Carlisle asked the large vampire, his tone amused as he watched him bicker with the vampire hunter.
It was the usual behavior for the pair, but under the tense circumstances, it seemed that their bit of relaxed humor was welcomed.
As Emmett disappeared in a flash of motion with their luggage, Keegan turned her attention back to Carlisle.
"I hate to press this, but we really need to be filled in about what is going on." She told the Cullen patriarch who nodded solemnly, the pain behind his eyes was apparent to the young vampire hunter who had come to know most of the Cullens rather well.
He hurt for his child. He hurt for his entire family.
Keegan knew by just looking at that pain that she would do whatever she could to help relieve it.
Gesturing towards the couch, Carlisle prompted the two hunters to take a seat and once they had he threaded his fingers together.
"It all starts with Bella Swan." He began.
