"There has to be something I can do!" Bella growled at me.
We had been working on the new house for a week and it was almost finished. Construction goes by quickly when you don't need to eat or sleep, or when your muscles don't tire or ache, or when you can move at lightening speed, or possess supernatural strength. For Bella, being human of course, this week had been miserable. She was adorably angry as she stood there, her arms crossed over her chest and her hip jutted out just so.
There was nothing she could really help with on the house. As horrible as it sounded, she really would be in the way and quite the liability. It was no secret that she attracted trouble like no one else, and putting her in the middle of a construction site with a bunch of vampires was a recipe for disaster. Esme kept promising she could help on the interior, and I'd begged her to let Bella handle what she could in our room, such as the spackle and painting. I would work with her at human pace even though I could have it done in a fraction of the time. This was about making her feel like she was a part of the family – that she could contribute and be useful. I'd be damned if I did anything to damage what self-confidence she'd gained.
We had set her up with a canopy and hammock, and every morning Esme had a picnic basket and cooler filled with enough food to last her through the day. There was only so much time Bella could spend being idle before she got twitchy, and spending the winter stuck in a cabin on the island had been long enough for us already.
I was measuring and cutting sheet rock, and frankly there was no way I was letting her anywhere near the saw. Visions of detached fingers floated through my mind, and Bella's human status meant they would not reattach as mine would – though the blade would shatter before severing any of my appendages.
The family knew our room was off limits as soon as it was to a certain point of construction and I had set aside a set of tasks she could handle that would not endanger her life. Later today, after Rose had finished the rest of the house, Bella would be spraying the insulation into the walls in our room. I would have preferred to do it because the fumes and particles were not dangerous to me, but with the proper safety equipment, I figured it was safe enough even for someone as clumsy as Bella. I hated this. As much as it made sense for us to do all the work, I hated the way it made her feel.
"You'll be doing the insulation in our room later today." I told her, hoping that would appease her for the moment.
"Why can't I do it for the whole house?" She pouted.
Good question. Thankfully Alice came to my rescue. "Bella! Rose wants to show you how to do the insulation." She handed her coveralls and safety mask. "She wants to work on her bathroom today, so she thought you might like to take over for her."
Bella glared at both me and Alice, knowing exactly what transpired. She had always been far too observant, and had only grown more so since living with us full time. It was almost as difficult to get anything past her as it was Alice or myself.
My sister shot me an apologetic smile. Just trying to help. Rose won't mind, and it keeps you two from arguing later. I saw the vision in her head of Bella going off into the woods angry and twisting her ankle.
We nodded at each other in understanding and Bella huffed. Our silent conversations annoyed her. She quickly pulled on the coveralls and the mask. Alice's nose scrunched up in distaste for the outfit and she quickly traipsed off with visions of shopping for Bella in her head.
"I guess I'm ready to work, Edward. Who is going to show me what to do?" Bella's voice was muffled by the mask and I knew she'd be sweaty and uncomfortable in a matter of minutes. Which made me wonder why she would want to do this when she could be relaxing comfortably in the hammock, but I knew she needed to feel useful.
"Rose!" I called for my other sister. Immediately Rose and Em zipped around the house to collect Bella.
"Take me to your leader." Em quipped at Bella's outfit and she growled.
Bella pulled the mask off, glaring at the big oaf before turning to Rose with a sarcastic smile. "I'm ready to be put to work."
Rose smirked and gestured for Bella to follow her to the house. Em followed behind them, continuing his harassment of Bella. I shook my head knowing that once Bella was a vampire, his hazing would be met with retaliation from a volatile newborn and that would be sweet revenge for all of us.
It wasn't long before I heard the hum of the sprayer and the wet squelch of the insulation expanding. About ten minutes later raucous laughter rang out and I caught a glimpse of what caused the uproar in Rose's thoughts. The rest of us raced from our various points in and out of the house to find a humanoid-shaped mound of insulation in the middle of Rose and Em's bedroom. Apparently, Bella thought being encased in insulation would shut Emmett up.
In between giggles, Bella choked out, "Stay Puft Marshmallow Man," which caused a fresh round of laughter to erupt. Emmett's form began to crack as he moved about, but the insulation was firmly affixed to his skin and clothing. He began frantically punching at the substance, crumbling and breaking off as much of it as he could. This, along with Jasper being so lost in the moment that he was broadcasting his own amusement, magnified our own. It took quite a while for us all to calm down. After Emmett had removed as much of the gunk as he could, there was still a fine layer of silt coating him because of the adhesive.
Turning a murderous glare on Bella, he bellowed out her name in warning, and then followed with threats of revenge. I knew I would have to keep tabs on him over the coming months to make sure he didn't take things too far. Em had trouble remembering just how fragile his little human sister was sometimes.
Rose took charge of her husband and they went to get him cleaned up. With a satisfied smirk on her beautiful face, Bella pulled down her mask and resumed her work. Everyone else dispersed now that the entertainment was over, though their thoughts were full of amusement and respect for Bella getting back at our prankster brother once again. Things had been much more fun on the island now that he had arrived, and even Rosalie had abandoned her usual dour moods. We were all seeing a side of her we had longed for, and it was nice to have her as a sister. Something had happened between the time in Denali and when they returned, but if anyone knew, they never thought about it. Rose seemed to offer Emmett more respect these days, and after so many decades together, it was nice to see the positive changes. She was even making a definite effort with Bella and had accepted her place in our family. I could see the affect each of my family members had on Bella. With Emmett around, she laughed and smiled more, and Rosalie's acceptance chased away the last lingering doubts she had about truly belonging.
The construction of the house was going smoothly. We had done this many times, and we each knew our roles. Bella worked quite swiftly, for a human. Though it really didn't matter if it was one of us, or Bella, who did the insulation, as we could only move as fast as the sprayer. It had been Emmett's job to follow behind her, trimming off the excess, but Alice had taken over for him. I knew Bella would enjoy her best friend's company much more than Emmett's relentless heckling. As soon as Jasper finished the wiring in a room, Bella and Alice moved in. When they were done, it was my turn to install the Sheetrock. The finishing touches were left to Carlisle and Esme for the moment. Emmett and Rose were already tucked away in their bathroom working on the tile. Bella finished in their suite first and they were anxious to complete it. The lack of privacy in the small cabin had put a damper on the couple's usual affections. They were more than ready for a space of their own.
The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Every room except for ours had been insulated and the walls were up. Starting tomorrow, Bella and I would be locked away in our suite, working together to finish it. Everything was different now that I had someone to share this with and the feeling was indescribable. I finally had a future, an eternity, with someone I loved more than anything. Every day with Bella by my side would always be a blessing. Creating this room together was a start, and I knew we'd be doing this more times than I could count in the future – always together.
It was later that night, after Bella had fallen asleep, that Alice came barreling into the cabin with news that could destroy any chance of a happily ever after for us.
~~**~~
"Then we'll change her tomorrow." I spat. There had to be some way to guarantee Bella's safety.
My visionary sister shook her head. "There isn't enough time." She would be too new and inexperienced.
We'd been at this for a while now.
Alice had finally seen what Victoria was planning. Jasper and Carlisle had been discussing the recent murder spree in Seattle, and my brother was sure that the pattern implicated quite a few newborn vampires. That was all it took for Alice's mind to unlock the final pieces.
Victoria was building an army of newborn vampires and planning to come after our family.
So much was still up in the air though and there didn't seem to be a possibility of a decent ending. Victoria had not settled on a final plan, and without that, Alice's visions were sketchy. One thing we had figured out was that we needed to go to Washington to head them off. The path of destruction they would cut through North America on their way to us must be avoided.
My main concern was, of course, Bella; and she was the main target.
We threw around the idea of leaving her out here with Carmen and Eleazar, but it was clear we would need them in this fight. The number of newborns kept changing and we would be outnumbered. Alice didn't see anything particularly horrible happening to her if we left here out here alone, but there was no way I was going to agree to that, so she would be coming with us.
We considered involving the Volturi, but Alice saw that they wouldn't help, and it would cause even more scrutiny to fall on our family since this menace was created specifically because of our actions.
There were just too many decisions to be made on either side, and the outcome was unclear.
Not much later, Jasper joined us. He knew Alice had seen something important, but it had always been our routine to try to sort these things out first, before involving the rest of the family. We would make decisions and she would search to see how the outcome was affected. It was always me and her because we could do it non-verbally, saving our family from some of the more gruesome details.
"So...newborn army?" He asked, eyebrows raised and mouth set in a grim line. Alice nodded, their gazed locked on one another.
"Victoria." I added.
Jasper nodded solemnly."How many are we dealing with?" Before he found Alice, Jasper had been involved in the sinister world of the Southern Vampire Armies. Things were very different for our kind in the South, and my brother had been a well-respected leader of many newborn armies for his sire, Maria. He spent nearly a century lost to this world, and though it was a dark part of his history he would rather forget, I'd never been so thankful for his past experience as I was now. If anyone could pull us through this, it was him.
"It varies, so I can't get a clear count, but the least I've seen is seventeen." Alice explained meekly.
Jasper hissed, clearly unhappy with the odds. His years of military experience kicked into gear and I saw the scenarios he was running through his head.
"It's best if we go there. We'd have the element of surprise, and the sooner the better. We don't want to give them any more time to train them or increase their numbers." Alice and I nodded in agreement.
"We have nine, and if we can get the Denali sisters to help, that gives us twelve. It's not an even fight, but after I train you all, we would have the advantage." He continued.
"I guess we need to let the rest of the family know what is going on so we can solidify some plans." Carlisle would need to contact the wolves and it would probably be best for Eleazar to call Denali.
I knew Bella would be fine, so we headed back over to the building site where the rest of our family was still working on the new house.
"Carlisle!" I called out. "We need to have a family meeting. Alice has news of Victoria."
Our patriarch flashed out of the house and the others soon followed."What have you seen?" He asked her.
"I've been getting flashing of Victoria for a while, but I could never put anything concrete together. Today, I heard you and Jasper talking about the deaths in Seattle, and it must have triggered something because it all came together." She paused, looking sideways at me, and I nodded in encouragement for her to finish. "Victoria is building an army of newborn vampires. She plans to come after our family." Rose and Esme gasped at the revelation. Emmett's entire body tensed up, ready for the fight. Their thoughts were so protective of our family, especially Bella.
"It's best if we seek them out in Washington, before they have a chance to organize or grow much more in number." Jasper offered and Carlisle nodded in agreement.
"Should we involve the Volturi?" Carlisle looked to Alice for an answer, and she let him know that it would not be in our best interests.
"You should alert the wolves, and Eleazar should call the sisters to see if they would be willing to help."
"How many are there?"
"I can't pin down a number, it seems to be constantly changing. The least I've seen is seventeen."
"Which means we'd still be outnumbered." Carlisle murmured, his mind automatically turning to acquaintances he might be able to ask for help.
"I can call Peter and Charlotte." Jasper offered, turning to Alice for approval. After a moment of haze, she nodded.
"They'll come." Then she turned back to Carlisle. "Kate will definitely help, but I don't know about the others."
Jasper smirked. "Peter, Charlotte, and I can take on multiple newborns at once. It's what we were made for. Once I train you all, we'd most likely come out of this unscathed. Newborns are volatile and strong, but they aren't skilled. We also have many talents on our side."
Carlisle caught my eye. What about Bella?
"We can't leave her here unattended, so she has to come with us. Alice hasn't seen anything as of yet. I thought we might go ahead and change her..."
"No." Carlisle and Jasper spoke at the same time.
"She'd be more of a liability as a newborn. There isn't enough time to train her." Jasper explained.
I know this isn't what you want to hear, son. "Bella may be more fragile as a human, but if she incurred a life-threatening injury, we could change her then. If she were destroyed as a vampire, there would be no second chance."
I nodded, not sure what could be done. Bella had to be kept safe, but we needed each one of us to take the newborn army out. She couldn't' very well sit in the middle of the battlefield and should one of them find her, alone and unprotected, there were no guarantees one of us could get to her in time. I couldn't bear the thought of losing her. Maybe leaving her alone on the island was the best course of action. She wouldn't be anywhere near the fight and surely no vampires would find their way out here to our island in our absence. It would only be a few days...
Jasper and Carlisle were trying to pin down a timetable. Alice didn't see Victoria starting across the country for another month, and it would take them a couple days to make the journey. It's not like a bunch of newborn vampires could just hop on a plane full of humans and fly over. The plane would be a blood bath by the time it landed.
The plan started to form. We would train for a week, and then fly back to Washington. Once there, we would scout out Seattle and try to pick off as many of the newborns as possible before the alarm was raised. It might be possible to even up the numbers before Victoria was aware we were even in the area.
Carmen and Eleazar were going to come stay on the island with us until it was time to go. With the extra help, we could finish the house in a couple of days, and then there would be plenty of room for everyone to have their own space.
It amazed me how quickly things could change. We were just celebrating our engagement and looking forward to a wedding. Now we had an army of newborns created solely to destroy our family. The innocent lives that Victoria had taken appalled me, not to mention the feeding frenzy taking place in Seattle in order to keep all those newborn satiated. All of this because of a sadistic tracker who picked the wrong family to mess with. This all should have ended with James' death. He was the one who wanted to play games and fixate on Bella. He was the one who nearly killed her. We merely defended what was ours. If the bastard meant so much to Victoria, why wasn't she there to help him? The whole situation was ridiculous, and there was no doubt in my mind Victoria would die. Part of me was furious the Volturi had not stepped in yet. She was being reckless and risked exposing us all. At least the vampire armies in the Southern states were as discreet as possible. They had no desire to see a repeat of the Volturi's wrath. Victoria just didn't care, or maybe she thought she was untouchable. Now my own family had to risk their lives to clean up this mess, and it didn't sit well with me that Bella would be in so much danger. I knew Bella would want to go though. The destruction of human life would weigh too heavily on her conscience and she would definitely want us to stop the red-headed bitch before anymore lives were lost.
The initial planning was over. We'd have to wait until we were there before we could take it any further. The family dispersed, and I ran back to the cabin to be with Bella. Carlisle would call Sam in the morning, since the wolves still slept. Eleazar would let us know what the sisters said, though we'd know as soon as they decided. Alice was keeping an eye on as much of the future as she could, and everyone seemed optimistic we could handle this. Everyone, except for me. I was too terrified that something would happen to Bella. It would be entirely too easy for one of them to slip out of our sight and go after her.
I would not lose her.
~~**~~
Peter and Charlotte were going to meet us in Forks.
Irina was appalled that Laurent was involved with Victoria's plan to destroy us, and pledged that she would help us in any way she could.
We already knew Kate would join us.
Tanya insisted she owed us for her betrayal, and she would be joining us as well.
So the three sisters would also be meeting us there.
That gave us fourteen vampires.
The wolves had destroyed two newborns who ventured too close to Charlie's house. We conjectured that Victoria might be trying to get to Charlie in order to use him as bait for Bella. They'd already used that tactic in Phoenix with Renee, so I wouldn't put it past her to try it again. Thankfully there was a pack of werewolves keeping him, and the rest of the town, safe. They were eager to help, but wary of getting involved in any kind of fight. Their concern was their own tribe and the town of Forks.
As a family, we sat down with Bella as soon as she woke and informed her of the situation. She insisted on going, as we knew she would. Further surprising me, she offered herself as bait to draw Victoria out. Jasper considered the idea, a little too seriously for my comfort, and I immediately objected as expected, earning me a scowl from Bella.
"Change me then!" She hissed.
It was what both of us now wanted, but it wasn't the time. Thankfully, Jasper spoke up. "There just wouldn't be enough time to train you properly, Bella. You would be more of a liability as a newborn than a human." He explained to her and Carlisle agreed. Bella reluctantly accepted their reasoning, and we continued to explain the plan.
We still didn't have any concrete ideas on how to keep her safe while we were otherwise engaged, but hopefully that could be worked out easily once we got there and saw what we were dealing with.
The rest of the family had taken off for the new house after that, and I stayed behind while Bella made herself something for lunch.
"Are you ok, love?" I asked her as she pushed her food around on her plate.
She nodded, still not making eye contact with me. "Yeah, just hate being the weakest link."
I quickly wrapped her in my arms and pulled her onto my lap. "I know it's hard for you to sit back and let us do all the fighting. That's all going to change soon enough. Though I seriously hope this is the last of the drama for at least a century. I can't promise I won't still be the overprotective pain in the ass I've always been. Even when you're more durable, I'll still be worried about your safety. That's just because I love you and can't live without you." Red heat flooded her cheeks and she ducked her head. I gently tilted her chin up so I could see her face and place a soft kiss on her sweet lips. "I thought we should change you too, but Carlisle and Jasper are right. There isn't enough time. I don't know what we'll do to keep you safe, but we'll figure something out once we know exactly what we're dealing with. I won't let anything happen to you."
"You better not let anything happen to you either." She whispered fervently. "I'll kill the bitch myself if she harms any member of my family." An involuntary smile crept across my face at her loyalty to our family. Her fierceness rivaled Rosalie's when it came to protecting those she loves. She'd already proven that. I prayed that the wolves were able to keep Charlie safe, because I knew without a shadow of a doubt that if Victoria got her claws on him, Bella would willingly trade her life for her father's.
"Let's go work on our new room." I suggested, and she reluctantly vacated my lap, taking her dishes to the sink. Gently nudging her out of the way, I made her go get ready while I washed up.
When she came back out, Bella quickly made her way over to me and fisted my shirt, pulling me close. She looked up at me from under those long, dark lashes and was biting her lip. I suppressed the groan and willed away the erection that was stirring. I'd never been attracted to another woman before Bella and was amazed at the reaction my body had to her mere presence in the room.
"Thank you." She murmured.
"For what?" I asked, confused.
"For talking to me about all of this instead of trying to protect me from knowing what was going on."
I nodded. In the past, I had a tendency to keep things from her, thinking she was better off not knowing. She could always tell when I was keeping something from her too, and it upset her. It contributed to her feelings of being unworthy. We were in this together and we had to be honest with each other, even if I wanted to protect her from the more terrible things that happened amongst our kind. This was her world too now, and she had a right to know.
I knew she would struggle with the guilt of putting our family in harm's way once again, especially when she couldn't stand with us and fight. She would blame herself for Victoria's actions, because she was the reason all of this started. Truthfully, we were eager to take the red-head and her army out, not only for Bella's sake, but also because of her reckless actions in taking so many human lives unnecessarily. This went beyond a need to feed. Victoria was turning humans out of vengeance and that was something we couldn't tolerate. If we didn't handle her now, more lives would be lost, and the Volturi would step in eventually. They tended to take things a little too far, and we couldn't be sure of how they would react if they found out Victoria did all of this to get revenge on our family. They may decide that our family was too much trouble and sentence us to be destroyed. There would be no escaping them either – they had entirely too many powerful vampires in their guard.
"Promise me something, Bella?" I asked, my lips gently brushed against the shell of her ear.
"Anything." She breathed.
"Promise me that you won't blame yourself for Victoria?" Bella tensed up and I pulled back so I could see her face. Her bottom lip was caught in her teeth again and I gently freed it with my thumb.
She closed her eyes and let out a harsh breath, before meeting my gaze. "I'll try, Edward. I just know that if it weren't for me, this whole thing with James and Victoria would never have happened and all those people in Seattle would still be alive."
"Shh." I pressed my lips to hers to still them. "It's not your fault James fixated on you. It was wrong of him to track you across the country and try to kill you. This is on him, love."
"And Victoria?"
"Well, she wasn't there to help him, so maybe this is some way for her to make it up to him posthumously?" She snorted. "I don't know, Bella, but the lives taken in Seattle aren't your fault. Victoria is the one who has a vendetta, and she is the one doing this. There is no reason for her to go to these extremes and we're not going to sit back and let her continue."
"I wish I could help." She mumbled into my chest.
"I know you do." I pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "The best way you can help is to do what we say and stay out of the way." I gently took her face in my hands, but made sure she saw how serious I was. "I mean it, Bella. I don't want a repeat of Phoenix. I don't care what she tries, you are not going to run off and try to fix this on your own. Promise me you won't do anything reckless like that again?" She flinched at the familiar words and I realized my mistake. "Shit. I'm sorry..."
Bella shook her head fervently, placing her warm hand on my chest. "No." She rasped. "I know this isn't the same thing and I promise. I'll be good...but so help me...if she..."
I cut her off with another kiss. "She won't. We'll be fine. Victoria has no experience leading a newborn army and Jasper is more than capable of turning this whole situation around to our advantage. With our experience and gifts, there is nothing to worry about."
"I just...I can't lose you..." She sobbed out.
"You won't. I promise. 'And neither the angels in heaven above; Nor the demons down under the sea; Can ever dissever my soul from the soul; Of the beautiful Isabella Marie.'"
A smile tugged at her lips and she slapped my chest lightly. "You are so cheesy, Edward Cullen."
"I know." I grinned at her, happy to have lightened the mood a bit. "But it's true. Nothing can tear me away from you. Never again, Bella. You're stuck with me for eternity."
"Good." She breathed and I kissed away the tears that had escaped down her cheeks, savoring the salty liquid on my tongue before the venom dissolved it.
We shared a sweet kiss and then I grasped her tiny hand in my own and led her from the cabin. We walked quietly through the woods over to the new house. It would have been faster to run with her, but we needed this peaceful time alone to clear our minds and calm down. Sure, I was scared, but I knew we had the advantage. I just had to make sure that Bella was safe, and if that meant I never left her side, then that's what I would do.