Chapter 19

Edward played the piano and thought. It was much easier to block out Carlisle and Esme than Rosalie and Emmett, since he'd had to do that for years, but it was always easier when he played the piano. Aro bought him one the very first week they met, although being in Volterra the piano didn't really get much use. Whenever he and Jasper had an assignment that lasted longer than six weeks, he bought one. They hadn't been long in Forks, but fortunately Rosalie had fond memories of flirting with her piano tutor back in New York, and owned this one. She didn't play it often - he'd had to tune it after moving in with the Cullens - so it was fine with her that he took over. He was better than she was, anyway. She could play like any vampire could, having the reflexes and speed not to make mistakes, but she didn't really know what she was doing with the instrument.

But he did, and the orderliness of Bach helped put his thoughts in order. Rosalie was right about Bella Swan, he was forced to admit. The thought of her blood was like a constant itch he couldn't reach. Except when he wasn't even thinking about her, he felt a nagging feeling, and when he'd inspect that feeling, the memory of that smell would wash over him again, like the very first time, and he'd think, oh, right, that's why I was trying not to think of it.

He also wasn't sure if it was easier or harder to be "going vegetarian" in this sort of situation. Animal blood satiated him, but people still smelled good. And she smelled best of all. Far better than his last meal: Jasper had told him that the Seattle Police Department would be a good place to find scum, half-jokingly, but for Edward, the hard part had been narrowing it down. Should they take out the crack addict who arrested drug dealers so he could confiscate their wares? Or the alcoholic who never came to work sober, and had recently shot a homeless man? He finally settled on a cop on a power trip who pulled over black men and insulted them till they got angry and swung - an excuse to beat them nearly to death. Rosalie thought she was better than him because she'd never tasted human blood, but she had, in fact, killed the men who raped her to death. He couldn't understand why what he did was any worse, except that he was feeding off them. But there really wasn't so much scum in Forks, and the thrill of chasing animals would do.

Also, he had to admit, animal blood cleared his mind to a great extent. It was as if there had been a fog in his brain that was now lifted. So, the call of human blood was stronger than ever, but it felt like he had more room to avoid thinking of it, to think of anything else. And thinking of Bella Swan as a person seemed to help him avoid wanting to think of her as a meal. It usually did. He truly had never killed an innocent, and Bella Swan truly was thus. Even if he couldn't verify that the way he normally did, the stalking - he admitted privately to himself and no one else that it was stalking - provided quite a lot of information. A pity he couldn't run to Spokane and talk to that Black sister about Bella, but then she'd probably see what he was, too.

That was something he was still reeling from. Alice had no reason to lie, but he found it hard to believe that one of them had revealed himself to Bella in Europe. He could only think of one reason why a vampire would do that - the vampire had some sort of power that Bella was also immune to, and he or she was so shocked by Bella's - absence - that he wanted to ask her how she was doing that. He had been too distracted by the singer's blood initially, but he truly was curious about her mental silence. She must not know - or didn't know before the cursed vampire. Bloody hell, he would kill whoever it was that revealed them to her! As if he would find out. Well, he would ask her, sometime. When he was able to be around her long enough to ask her questions.

Except she knew, she knew! No wonder she was so skittish at the supermarket. The Blacks probably told her about the Cullens, and she went to school with them anyway, but she wouldn't really understand the significance of the eye color. No, she just thought he was trying to lure her away to eat her. Of course, that was half right.

Rosalie was right, he thought again. She and Emmett both were just waiting for him to slip up and kill Bella Swan. They would then kill him before moving on, that much had been clear in their minds. Edward couldn't help smiling a little at the thought of fighting Emmett. He wasn't that big on sparring, since he could see what his opponent was going to do before he did it, but there was still a tiny part of him that saw Emmett as a very large and dangerous vampire, perhaps an actual challenge for once. Probably not, and at any rate, he was going to do his best to make sure it never got to that point.

After all, his control had been perfect his whole second life, and Bella Swan was not going to ruin his perfect record.

He heard the Mercedes long before he heard Carlisle's thoughts. And Rosalie was making good on her threat, going to Carlisle to - to tattle on him, Edward thought wryly, like the errant schoolboy he'd been before turning. Hilarious, really. So he continued playing the piano - louder this time, and more varied - till they finished the conversation he didn't want to hear twice. Soon enough, he heard Carlisle quietly step up behind him, then felt his hand on his shoulder.

"Do you have a minute, Edward?"

Edward stopped playing, nodded at Carlisle, then followed him into his study. He politely listened to Carlisle outline Rosalie's concerns, but then he continued:

"I'm the only one of them who's actually seen you, what you're like when you stalk a human victim. This really is sounding too close to that for comfort, Edward."

Edward sighed, and once again talked of his iron control, and how he never had hurt an innocent, and he never would, no matter how delicious her blood was. And he was abiding by the Blacks' treaty, and even Aro was in favor of keeping things quiet with the werewolves. There was too much going on for him to ruin it by drinking from one tasty human, and hopefully he could get used to the smell.

He closed with, "Did Rosalie happen to mention that the girl did in fact cut herself on a piece of paper while I was close enough to smell it?"

Shock appeared on Carlisle's perfectly symmetric face. "And -?"

"And nothing. I ran as fast as I could. Which, I needn't tell you, is rather damned fast."

They grinned at each other. "Well. I suppose if you have enough control for that, then you're right, there's nothing to worry about. But - I think if you're going to continue this - this 'inoculation' as you call it, you must have Emmett's company. Understood?"

Edward wanted to laugh. Carlisle was acting like his father or something. But his point was not without merit. "Not a bad idea," he said finally. "Will you let him know I'll want to get going soon, then?"

Carlisle frowned. He still wants to do this in front of Emmett? Perhaps I've misjudged... Aloud he said, "All right, he'll be right with you," and walked off.

A minute later Emmett entered. "Ready for nightly entertainment?" He pretended to remove and swing a garter.

"Not funny." They began running

"Of course it is. Man, are you uptight." Do vampires not have sex in Volterra?

Edward stiffened. "May I remind you that I can hear your thoughts?"

"Oh, shit, sorry," he laughed. "So yeah, do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Have sex in Volterra."

"Not me personally, no."

Emmett frowned. "This is you joking by taking me literally, right?"

"It's really none of your business when and where I have or haven't had sex, Emmett," said Edward patiently as they made their way to Forks.

With a laugh, Emmett replied, "And that, boyo, is where you are dead wrong. 'Cos it's going to be a long night, and I'm gonna be thinking of sex with my wife during most of it..."

Edward sighed. He'd forgotten how smart Carlisle was...

In case you're curious, Edward was playing this: http: www . youtube . com / watch?v=8-KyL2gMxV8