Chapter 8
As Edward pulled up to the Washington border, Jasper asked, "Can I drive the rest of the way?"
"You never let me drive your Corvette," Edward replied absently, digging in his coat pockets, then jeans.
"That's because you wrecked that Volkswagen in Hamburg."
Edward glared at him. "The Nazis were firing on us! You would have done the same thing!"
It was true, but the fact was, Edward was driving that time, not him. "So why won't you let me drive?"
"I just told you." Edward was taking off his coat, practically ripping the lining out. His frustration was increasing, but Jasper didn't think it had anything to do with his bringing up that old World War 2 accident.
"What the hell are you doing?"
Edward stopped moving and stared at Jasper. "Looking for our contacts, of course. Or hadn't you noticed we're about to speak with humans?"
Jasper smiled slowly, staring back at Edward. His eyes were currently the golden hue that the Denalis and Cullens shared. His thought appeared to hit Edward like a brick. Not visually – he didn't move except to sit still again – but his emotions had calmed completely.
"I forgot about that," he admitted. "It takes a lot longer as a newborn. And you know, no contacts back then." He chuckled. "Carlisle didn't let me near people even after my eyes turned."
Jasper knew newborns, but he'd thought better of Edward. "Your mind-reading didn't help?" Edward smirked. "Guess not." Newborn hunger and skittishness was always the same, he supposed.
"I never had any accidents, though. Even after leaving, you know, I never killed an innocent."
Jasper nodded, but Edward was staring off into the distance. The calmness was gone; his emotions were tangled like a kitten with a ball of yarn. He was quiet, but the waves of frustration and hints of despair were starting to get to Jasper.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
Edward blinked. "Maybe we shouldn't stay in Forks."
Jasper sighed. He'd thought about this already. "Unless we'd just stayed in Seattle, the wolves probably would have run up against us. We both thought the Olympic Peninsula was the best place. Not as many people, but a lot more cloud cover. Summer hikers and winter skiers. Who'd have thought there'd be shapeshifters to hunt us? At least Forks had the Cullens." Carlisle had saved their stony hides. If they'd eaten people – even if they'd cleaned up after themselves – the wolves would have started getting suspicious. Especially after the rest of the Volturi arrived. Sheer disaster.
"You're right." He shuddered. "If one of us hunted alone, and all four wolves –"
"Exactly." Jasper knew how easy it was to kill their kind, if you had the strength. Not a pretty picture. He thought of it anyway. Meeting Chelsea and Demetri and Alec and Jane. He'd been spared only because of his powers, and because he promised to join them. Not that he had much choice after Chelsea, and after the slaughter of the newborn armies –
"Enough! I have to drive!"
This was just an excuse; they'd been sitting in line for over five minutes, and Edward barely needed any focus to drive in any case. "Wolves can't be any harder to kill than newborns," he said, trying to reassure him.
"Right. And we've killed lawbreakers before."
They had, indeed. The main reason they established outposts was to make sure there were no lawbreakers in the vicinity. They'd even eradicated covens before. With Jasper's fighting abilities – and projecting calm – and Edward's speed and telepathy, they'd never had a problem. These wolves could hardly be any trickier. The initial panic Edward had shown was simply because he hadn't been sure of their numbers.
So what was his problem now?
Edward looked at him. "Isabella Swan!" he hissed, and then it was their turn with the border agent.
Jasper projected good cheer as Edward handed him their American passports. They agreed to use the Canadian passports to enter and leave Alaska, as the timestamps would be too suspicious otherwise. Really there wouldn't be any issue, but the records might be checked one day, and traveling from Alaska to Vancouver in under a week might alert the wrong people. Always better to leave a believable paper trail, if one had to be left. Jasper was good at cleaning up paper trails, but he really did prefer not to have to.
He didn't say anything till they cleared the border, but the second they officially entered Washington, Jasper asked, "The police chief's daughter?"
"I want to eat her," confessed Edward. This was not like Edward. Of course like every other vampire, he more than merely enjoyed feeding, but only newborns were unable to control their urges. Edward had rather impeccable control. Actually, since meeting Carlisle, Jasper was less amazed at Edward's control, only surprised that Edward lasted ten years before taking to a more – traditional – lifestyle. At any rate, Edward was not the type to go on about the savor of blood. And to Jasper, they all tasted the same anyway.
"Singer," was all he said, though. Jasper only knew of "singers" from comments made by Aro, later explained by Edward. Aro had been able to read vampires that ate their "singers," and the experiences, apparently, had been most exquisite. Aro felt them all, and when he recalled them, Edward saw it all. Although his telepathy only covered thoughts, not feelings.
So. Her blood called to him, stronger than any other. "I don't know, Eddie, maybe you should just kill her."
Edward's calm was shattered. He didn't even snap over the "Eddie" bit. "Carlisle – I can't do that, Jasper."
From what Jasper knew of singers, it was a miracle that Edward even resisted her the first time.
"I thought it was the police chief," he said wryly. "Daughter's not so much better."
"So what, you think you won't be able to get used to her?"
"She drives by our house twice a day. Twice a day, I stop what I'm doing and I'm almost outside before I remember," he admitted. "The wolves weren't the only reason I wanted to leave."
The wolves weren't reason to leave, but this might be. The only problem was – "Caius will not accept us leaving Forks till the wolves are dead. Hell, if we don't paint this Alaska trip the right way…"
Edward nodded. "We were looking for allies. No problem there." They were almost at the Coupeville ferry. So many humans. Jasper stopped breathing. At least he didn't have to talk to Edward. "Don't worry," he whispered, "one good thing about knowing I have a singer."
They didn't appeal to him at all? Damn.
"Not exactly," he whispered. "I just can't be bothered, you might say."
Jasper tried not to laugh. Instead he thought, So what are their names, anyway? I'm going to internet-stalk them.
"Sam Uley, Jared Cameron, Paul Lahote, and Leah Clearwater."
