25. Black Magic
Jacob was close to tearing his hair out in frustration.
"Go spirit walk," the Elders had said. Like it was simple. Like it was easy. They said it as if it were an errand he could perform: "Go get some plums from the grocery store."
He was trying. Hard.
And nothing was working.
He started by laying in his room and concentrating on nothing but Leah's scent, but the telephone kept ringing and even though he ignored it, his house was still pack-central and always a hair's breadth from uproar.
He sat on the beach, listening to the ocean. He ran in the forest, faster and faster, his paws thundering against the ground. He meditated. He achieved moments of startling clarity, but he never managed to leave his body the way he had when Serge and Ivan had attacked. It had been two days since the council meeting. Two more days of Leah and Embry being held by bloodsuckers. The thought made him even more stressed, which just made it harder to focus.
Jasper was still researching Volturi strongholds. He'd confirmed a location in Iceland and another in Cambodia. Jacob was certain that there would be something closer to where they were – a place that had been used prior to the incursion – but unless he found a way to channel the extraordinary power he hadn't even realised he had, they would be reduced to going from place to place haphazardly until they found something or were taken out in the process.
Everyone tried to help. Emily cooked. Billy listened. Rebecca stormed into La Push terrified because no one had answered the phone for close to thirty hours and then indignant because she'd been kept out of the loop and everyone was too frazzled to give her the sort of reception she expected. Paul made inappropriate jokes to try and put everyone at ease, but in the end it was both Quils (junior and senior) that had come to him with a plan.
"You have to do it old-school," Quil said, bouncing from side to side while Claire sat on his shoulders.
"What?" Jacob murmured blearily. It wasn't yet dawn and he wasn't taking anything in. Maybe because Quil was making no sense or maybe because Claire had insisted on Quil wearing pink hair ties and it was extremely distracting to watch her squeal as she pulled at them.
"What he means," Old Quil interjected, "is that it won't do you any good to be here. Go into the mountains, fast – no eating – it will stop you from cleansing everything. Be one with the wolf until you are able to separate from him, and don't come back until it's done."
It was as good a plan as any, and Jacob was beyond desperate, so he left less than ten minutes later. He didn't bother with goodbyes or explanations. He simply disappeared into the hills, promising himself that he would return with answers.
He had to.
The alternative was too much to bear.
~~~BaB~~~
"Jacob," Leah whispered into the darkness around her. She pictured him to remind herself: somewhere out there was something good and wonderful.
Something worth living for.
He became the mantra that helped her rise above what was happening in the bowels of the boat. They hadn't cut her like they had Embry, but they'd burned her flesh, and broken her fingers – all to see just how long it would take her body to restore itself. When the pain was so bad that she reached breaking point, she'd chanted Jacob's name. First in her mind and then out loud – a tangible reminder of the hope she clung to.
The dreams she knew weren't hers alone.
Sometimes Embry was there and sometimes he wasn't. Time moved differently and she drifted in and out of consciousness so many times that she didn't know whether days or simply hours had passed.
She rolled sideways and winced as she landed on her shoulder. She couldn't remember her captors breaking it, but there was definitely something wrong with it.
"Jacob," she whimpered.
"Shhh," a voice soothed. Leah blinked in confusion before Embry's concerned face came into view. "Drink this," he prodded, putting a flask to her chapped lips.
Leah had never realised just how beautiful water tasted until she'd been forced to go without it. It trickled down her throat and she swallowed so clumsily that she gurgled. She pressed her lips together firmly to keep from wasting it as she gagged.
"More," she gasped. Embry obliged, letting her drain the rest of the thermos. Leah pulled back to take him in. He was fully dressed – although not in the sort of clothes she was used to seeing him in. She eyed the white button down shirt and chinos critically. "Did they take you shopping?"
Embry snorted. "We're in the middle of nowhere, Leah. They dumped these the last time they came down and said that we have to get dressed for an audience with Aro."
Leah looked where Embry was gesturing and saw there was a gauzy purple garment balled up at their feet.
"You wear that and I'll take the pants," she mumbled.
"That's the girl I know and love," Embry encouraged, but his brow was still furrowed with worry.
"Does it stink?" Leah asked, eyeing the gown suspiciously.
Embry shook his head. "Nah... they've got humans on the boat too. The ones that handled these looked terrified. I suppose it's not every day you see two drugged detainees in chains."
"It pretty much is every day in this hell-hole," Leah disagreed. She sniffed the dress again before shrugging her shoulders and using the fabric to pat down her clammy arms. "Stuff it. I'm staying in my sack. What difference does it make to me if it's not what his highness wants? He can go fuck himself."
"Leah," Embry warned. "Let's not give them any reasons to make things worse for us."
"Em, how much worse can it get?"
Embry closed his eyes. "I don't want to think about it". He shuddered. "It got so bad I couldn't look, but I could hear..." he trailed off, exhaling heavily. "I could hear you screaming."
Leah bit her lip. She knew exactly how Embry was feeling. She'd lived the same agony when Jane had tortured him. Part of her still wanted to curl into a ball and wait this whole ordeal out. She wanted to block her ears and pretend that everything was okay, but Embry's agitation sparked something inside of her – a need to protect and overcome. He was pack, family. His pain was unacceptable, so she dug deep, forcing herself to rise to the occasion and put on a brave facade. She could fall apart when she was back in Jacob's arms. For now she needed to be strong. She cupped Embry's face in her hands, forcing him to see her.
"Embry!" she barked, close to an order. "Repeat after me: I am Embry Call. I am a warrior. I will get through this and be home soon." Embry stared at her warily. "Please," she added.
He smiled at her then, a small lift of the side of his lips as he touched her cheek. "I'm Embry Call. I am a warrior. We'll get through this and we are going home soon."
Leah nodded in approval. She wasn't sure if she believed the words herself, but she would do her best to make Embry believe them. She might have forced him to repeat it a few more times, but their jailors arrived, none too pleased about her failure to adhere to the predetermined dress code. Leah recognised the tracker vampire, Demitri, and the sibling of the parasite that had been torturing her: Alec.
They swore at her in what she assumed was Italian, but they didn't make her change. Instead they clipped additional restraints to Embry's and her wrists to match the ones that already sat on their ankles before shepherding them out of the cell and down a long corridor.
"Yeah, yeah, Lupa puttana to you too, whatever that means," Leah muttered as she stumbled along. She finally understood exactly what Embry had meant by 'ye-olde monstrosity'. The boat was wooden and huge and reminded her of the pictures of old-fashioned frigates she had seen in books. She was shoved roughly up a pull-down ladder and dragged along a mess area for crew. Human eyes bore into her and Leah wanted to spit at the moppets that were staring at her like she was an alien rather than the prisoner she so clearly was.
"Are you okay, miss?" A short stout man stepped forward courageously, trying to get Leah's attention.
"Shut up Travis or I'll kick you all the way back to Port Townsend," Alec snapped, and Leah was yanked upwards again, silver cuffs clinking as Embry's shackled hands reached out to steady her back.
Leah's face burned as she was hauled before a captive audience in a huge hall. She forced herself to take deep breaths in and out, channelling the more peaceful part of her soul she had discovered what seemed like a lifetime ago in Hawaii. The three vampire leaders were seated on thrones at one end of the room, with other vampires filling the space all the way to the rear. Her arrival parted the crowd and she and Embry were towed onwards until they were directly before Aro, Marcus and Cauis.
"Our guests have arrived," Aro chimed. His eyes gleaming as he clapped his hands together in excitement.
Leah growled and she felt Embry stiffen beside her.
"Is there a problem?" the blond man known as Caius asked testily.
Leah refused to be intimidated, working hard to keep her breathing even. "All this hospitality," she mocked, glaring at him. "I just don't know what to do with myself."
Caius started forward but he was restrained by Aro. "Steady brother, Leah is our future. Just think of-"
"I do not wish to traverse the same ground we've already covered repeatedly," Caius interrupted Aro. "I'd much prefer to kill them and their brethren and go home, but since you insist on playing mad scientist, you could at least procure a test subject who was less impudent."
Aro chuckled, rising from his seat. "Think how fearsome her legacy will be..." He paused to eye Leah admiringly. "I've seen it in Edward's head. She's incomparable." He moved closer to them. Leah could smell his saccharine odour, her nostrils twitching uncomfortably as she glowered. She refused to avert her gaze, even when he lifted his fingers to her jaw.
No one was staring her down, especially not some stinky bloodsucker.
"You obviously want something," Leah snarled. She was frightened, but determined not to show it. "Why don't you cut to the chase?"
Aro paced around her in a circle, pausing the moment he was between her and Embry. He raised his hand to Embry's shoulder.
"I can see his thoughts, my beautiful she-wolf," he hummed. "Yet I can't see a jot of yours when I touch you." He caressed her face again and Leah narrowed her eyes as he trailed a thumb along her neckline. "Fascinating!"
Leah gritted her teeth. Aro's closeness was extremely off-putting, but the animal in her refused to give any ground.
"Marvellous," Aro added, shaking his head in surprise.
"Stop touching her," Embry barked, surprising them both. Leah noticed the way his clenched fists were shaking. If they both weren't under the influence of the drugs the Volturi were feeding them they would have phased long before now. "If you want to play some public version of "Operation" on me then get on with it, but leave. Her. Alone." His eyes blazed with fury.
"Shut-up, Embry," Leah ordered, grateful that her tone couldn't be ignored by him. She redirected her attention to Aro. "He doesn't know what he's saying, what with your incessant punishments, but I'm sure we'll both be dead soon if you don't lay off, so I'll ask you again. What do you want?"
Aro grinned maniacally. "Such power, Leah. With everything you say and do, you convince me that I've made the right choice."
"What choice is that?" Leah spat, her frustration rising. Why did he have to speak in riddles all the time?
Aro moved until he was standing right in front of her. "The choice to make you the mother of my new army, of course."
~~~BaB~~~
Jacob walked, sometimes as a man, sometimes a wolf, inching ever onward across the Olympic peninsula.
He ambled without any destination, although in the back of his mind he knew he was skirting the loop of the seven lakes basin. He scrambled up mountains and waded through creeks. He saw elk grazing and bears feasting on blueberries, but he didn't eat or drink himself. His stomach ached – fasting while mountaineering was hard for anyone, but for someone with wolf metabolism it was unfathomable. His tummy rumbled and his throat was parched but he kept moving. For Leah.
He saw the sunrise over Mount Olympus and he thought about the light that danced in her eyes when she was happy. He hiked over rocky catwalks, his hulking form balancing precariously on slivers of stone and he thought about how the world was a beautiful place, all the more so because he had Leah and she would appreciate the dramatic skyline and murky pools of water that seemed lavender as the light changed.
He walked as it rained, he walked as it became so dark that the path was illuminated only by starlight. Always, always, he walked.
He never stopped and never faltered. He moved forward when his feet were cut and his bones were sore. He didn't notice when the path he walked changed, the forest night morphing into something darker and unknown, instead he pressed ahead. The blood of his ancestors pulsed through his veins and the sands of the lands that belonged to his people slipped through his toes.
Leah, his soul called, stretching out across the universe.
He stopped needing to contour his moves to the land. He walked on air alone. He walked on water.
Leah, he urged, over and over again.
Then he heard her calling his name in reply.
~~~BaB~~~
Leah stared at Aro incredulously. She had thought he was crazy, but was he just plain stupid? "What are you talking about?"
Aro's lips twitched at the edges. "You know exactly what I mean, my dear. I want you to have a child." His eyes flicked over to Embry. "His child."
"A child," Leah repeated. The words sounded strange on her lips.
"Several children to be specific," Aro amended. "A girl and a boy. I'll need at least one of each so they can have children... and then I have great plans for you, Leah." His red eyes glimmered as he spoke. "Once we've created a replacement for you and your friend here, I want you to have my child, seeing as Edward and Bella have shown us all that this is indeed possible."
Leah was stunned. She'd had a lot of time to think while caged at the bottom of the boat, but never once had it occurred to her that the Volturi would want her as part of some forced breeding program. Aro was definitely stupid and crazy. She shook her head as a dark chuckle escaped her lips. She tried to suppress it, knowing full well that sniggering at her oppressors wasn't the most sensible of responses, but she couldn't help it. The more she tried to contain it, the more the laughter swelled, echoing throughout the chamber as she clutched her sides.
Aro furrowed his brow. "Am I amusing you, Leah?"
Leah nodded as another giggle escaped. Embry shot her a warning look, but she was too far gone.
"And why exactly is that?" Aro continued, his annoyance evident.
Leah struggled to pull the words out, "Because I'm barren as a wasteland. Aunt Flo hasn't been to visit since before I started sprouting fur. In fact, I'm pretty sure the reason I have fur is because something downstairs is horribly wrong."
The grin returned to Aro's face and he waggled his finger from side to side. "So quick you are to jump to conclusions, but that certainly isn't Carlisle's view, nor is it the view that Edward reached when he shared his research with him."
Leah rolled her eyes. "Of course, what would I know about my body? You should trust the idiots who've been dead for a combined total of half a millennium to teach you about wolf physiology." She noticed Caius nodding enthusiastically behind them.
"Ti ho detto che questo schema è stato pazzesco!" He snapped.
Aro didn't turn around to respond. "We've nothing to lose from trying Caius, and I think we'll have pleasing results," he cocked his head to one side, "Really Leah, my human years are long behind me, but I imagine that copulating for the purpose of trying to conceive a child will be pleasurable for both you and young Embry here."
Leah felt the heat rising in her cheeks and out of the corner of her eye she noticed Embry's ears turning red.
"We're like siblings," she protested, realising as she said the words that that clearly didn't make a difference, seeing as Aro wanted to inbreed boy and girl children.
"That's not true," Marcus interjected, standing up to join Aro as he gestured towards Embry. "He doesn't think of her as a sister at all. His adoration for her is quite overwhelming. I could sense it before they even entered the room. You wouldn't need to use Chelsea on him at all."
"Embry," Leah pleaded, wondering why he didn't say something. It was only when he opened his mouth and noiselessly flapped his jaws at her that she realised her earlier order still stood. "Speak," she commanded hurriedly.
"How interesting," Aro commented, as Embry finally managed to form words.
"It's not gonna happen," he muttered.
Leah breathed a sigh of relief. She felt guilty about Embry's feelings for her being discussed so publicly, but there was no way Aro's batshit crazy plan was being put into action.
"Is it because she's not willing?" Aro asked curiously. "We didn't worry about these things so much when I was a human. Men often took women as they pleased. Modern social norms are extremely perplexing."
Embry bit his lip and Leah realised that he was every bit as flabbergasted as she was. He wrung his hands together nervously, the silver cuffs clinking from the motion. "Consent is pretty important these days, especially to me" he said awkwardly.
Aro waved his hand dismissively. "We can get that if it means so much to you." He looked out into the crowd. "Where is Alice?"
"Here," a voice tinkled and Leah scanned the room to see the familiar figure almost floating towards them, dressed in a long flowing gown similar to the one that had been placed in the dungeon for her to wear. Something about the billowy, empire line garment alerted Leah to the fact that Alice was different. The pixie vamp she knew was all things haut couture and as ancient and expensive looking as it was, this dress didn't qualify.
"Aah, my darling Alice," Aro greeted the little vampire fondly. "Where is your mate?"
Leah watched in confusion as Alice skipped across the room to where Felix was standing. "Here he is," she said proudly, as Felix leaned down to brush his lips across hers. She wound her arms around his waist and he rubbed her arm gently.
Embry's obvious bewilderment mirrored her own. Alice was Jasper's mate, but here she was cuddling a Volturi guard member as if he was the only other person in the world.
"It's Chelsea's gift," Aro explained. "She can break and create bonds between people. Alice Cullen is now more in love with Felix than she has ever been with any other man. Do you see, Embry," he pressed, coming behind Embry and turning the wolf's head to watch as Felix reached down to fondle Alice's breast. "Alice wants his touch. Craves it. It could be just like that for you and Leah."
Leah steadied her breathing, careful not to let her nervousness show.
In. Out. In. Out.
She knew Embry wasn't a rapist. He wasn't going to do anything he thought she didn't want to do, but the leeches could change people. Judging from what had happened to Alice, it was possible for them to strip someone of everything that defined them.
Leah wasn't for a moment swayed by Aro's faith in her fertility, but she couldn't stand the idea of these creatures orchestrating the violation of her body for their personal amusement. She leaned her head to face Embry, lacing her words with all the Alpha authority she could muster.
"I order you not to do anything related to trying to impregnate me." From the way Embry's shoulders sagged in relief, she knew it was the right choice. They wouldn't hurt each other. They were all they had right now.
Aro frowned at her, narrowing his eyes as he pulled his arm back before slapping her face. She staggered sideways from the blow, tripping over her restraints and collapsing to the floor.
"There's a fine line between being clever and being a problem." He sneered. "I wouldn't expect that you'd want to turn into my problem. I don't indulge problems. I dispose of them."
She spat at him. He was going to do his worst to her – he'd already had his goons put her through hell anyway. Still drugged and exhausted, she knew she couldn't fight him the ordinary way, but she fully intended to go down swinging. He grimaced as he wiped her saliva from his chin, darting his hand out to grab her throat.
"Perhaps you're right Caius," he snarled. "We could make her take her beastly form before turning her into fodder for a taxidermist." He tightened his chokehold and Leah gasped to breathe, her vision blurring at the edges.
Jacob, she thought.
Aro released her in amazement. "I heard her," he exclaimed. "Her thoughts were audible for a second."
Leah spluttered, trying to regain her composure. She knew her mental control was imperfect, but she couldn't afford to slip again. Not when everything that made her her was at risk.
Embry watched in horror. "Leah, you have to stay strong! Don't let your guard down for a second. Make sure-"
His words were cut off as Felix strode forward and threw him with force that rocked the entire vessle as he crashed into the wall. Leah breathed deeply, trying not to let panic set in as Embry's unconscious form slumped to the ground. Aro was shouting and she could feel hands close around her neck again. "Chelsea, you need to get her when her breathing falters," he said triumphantly. "Her shield only goes so far."
Leah closed her eyes, forcing herself to keep control. She concentrated on that place in her mind's eye, the place she had found in the Koolau Mountains where she couldn't be reached by anyone. She saw the vampires moving in around her, Chelsea's gaze fixed on her in consternation and Marcus sidling over to Aro. She could see the crimson in all their eyes, smell the sickly sweet scents. She could see all of it, but she willed herself to feel none of it.
Jacob, she chanted, reminding herself over and over again of why she would fight. The world shifted in and out of focus and Leah began to feel like the Volturi were part of a screen in front of her, just one of the many arenas that occupied her mind. She thought of La Push. She thought of her father... of Seth, her mother, the pack. Aro and his soldiers became smaller and smaller, their images increasingly replaced by a slithering blackness.
Jacob, she repeated, wondering if this was what it felt like to die.
Jacob, her mind called, determined not to release this one thought, not to let anyone supplant it with anyone else. She was so fixated on her silent prayer that she barely noticed when everything disappeared, including the pressures on her body and her mind. She spiralled, hit by a sense of weightlessness. She fell.
And fell and fell and fell.
She pulled herself up from her crouched position on the inky ground. She definitely wasn't on the boat anymore. She wasn't anywhere. Blue ribbons of lightning punctuated the darkness, but their flashing seemed to only emphasise the vastness of the chasm she found herself in.
Jacob, she whispered, allowing herself to admit for the first time that she was completely terrified.
And then in the distance she spotted a familiar silhouette approaching her.
~~~BaB~~~
He saw her before she saw him, a lean form quivering in what was little more than rags.
"Leah." He wanted to yell to her but his voice was little more than a thin croak. He closed the distance between them, folding her into his arms. "Leah," he whispered, filled with relief. There was an odd humming sound in the background that rang in his ears, but he shook it off, not wanting anything to distract him from his girl. He pulled back to hold her face in his hands. "I've been going crazy with worry, Lee. Are you okay? Are Embry and the Cullen pixie with you? Are they okay?"
"They're as well as can be expected." She looked at him uncertainly, her lower lip wobbling as she traced a finger along his shoulder. "I'm dead, aren't I?" she asked him. He opened his mouth to reply "-Wait," she cut him off. "If I'm dead, I'm dead. I'll worry about that in a minute. Come here." She pulled him towards her, standing on the tips of her toes as she pressed her lips against his. He didn't resist her. He had craved her touch ever since their hurried goodbye in front of the Cullens what seemed like a lifetime ago. He tasted the sweetness of her breath and placed his hands firmly on her hips, squeezing her tightly against him.
He kissed her while electrical fireworks crackled in the background.
He kissed her until they were both breathless and panting.
He kissed her with everything he had. They were meant to be together and the fact that he had found her in defiance of time, space and the laws of the universe as he knew it only further backed his claim.
She withdrew, dazed and slack-jawed, looking at him in wonder. "I'm surprised I got into heaven," she mumbled.
Jacob chuckled, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "You're very much alive, Leah. Believe me," he ordered, lacing his voice with no small amount of Alpha force.
Leah gasped as a feeling of unwavering confidence settled over her. "How is this possible?"
He smiled. "Its magic, Leah. Spirit walking." He reached around her neck, his fingers tracing over his mark as he pulled their faces so close their noses were touching. "I love you, Lee. That makes anything possible. I'm going to move heaven and earth to rescue you, but you gotta help me. Where are you?"
Leah looked around her, the dark and infinite nothingness, overwhelming her.
"Not here," Jacob prodded. "Where were you before you found your way here?"
"On a boat," she answered slowly.
"Great, Lee," Jacob responded encouragingly. "Can you tell me anything about it?"
Leah blinked as the reality of Jacob's attempt to rescue her registered. "It's old. Ancient. A historic battleship or something... all the Volturi are on it. Embry's with me and they've got Alice too, but they've brainwashed her or something."
"Can you tell where the boat is?" Jacob asked.
Leah bit her lip and shook her head. "They haven't let us onto the deck. We've only left the dun-, bottom of the ship once."
Jacob could tell she was keeping something from him - something about what had happened since they'd been taken. His chest tightened. The fact that she wasn't saying anything about it said more than any words actually could. "Have they mentioned any places... anything at all?" he pressed.
Leah rubbed her temples as she wracked her brains for any detail before light dawned in her eyes. "Port Townsend," she cried. "There are humans on the boat and Alec told one – I think his name was Travis - that he would send him back to Port Townsend."
"Did they say anything about where the boat was headed?" Jacob could barely contain his own excitement.
"No," Leah responded sadly. "Most of the conversation we heard today was about..." Her voice faltered and Jacob could tell she was hiding something again. "Something else," she finished.
He wanted to ask her what was going on, but she seemed so uncharacteristically vulnerable that he couldn't bring himself to push her.
"How are the pups?" she enquired. "Embry said everyone was safe."
"They're fine," Jacob answered, grinning at the way she fussed over the younger wolves. "Everyone is fine. In fact we have seven new recruits."
Leah's jaw dropped. "Seven?"
Jacob touched her cheek, understanding that Leah would share his despair about the ongoing transformations. "We should have expected it with all the vamp activity in the area. As soon as we get you back, the Cullens will leave and we'll make sure Washington never sees another leech," he vowed.
Leah's eyes widened. "I need to talk to you about David," she said. "It's difficult to explain but he-"
"Imprinted on Bella," Jacob interjected. "I know... Believe it or not, he stopped us all from killing Edward the other day."
"Huh," Leah said, processing the new information.
"Don't worry, I rearranged his face and body quite significantly – he's not the same traitorous bloodsucker we know and hate and I will kill him eventually, but-"
"David wants her to make the choice," Leah finished for him. "I get it. It's what's best for her."
Jacob scowled. "I didn't do it for her."
A small smile danced across Leah's lips. "I know." She cocked her head to one side "So what does Bella think about what Edward did? He was the one that sold us out, wasn't he?"
"Yes," Jacob replied softly, "And she doesn't know anything about it. She assumed Edward's injuries were due to combat with the Volturi. Edward led her straight to that conclusion and David doesn't want to tell her otherwise because he thinks she won't believe him, and even if she did, it would probably only steer her away from spending time in La Push."
Leah nodded. "He's right. Better to tell her once she's already chosen not to be with Edward."
She traced her hand along the muscles in Jacob's chest and he shivered at the contact.
"I miss you, Lee," his voice was so quiet it was barely audible.
"I miss you too." Her eyes were watering and she glanced downward so he wouldn't see.
Jacob again wondered just what had happened to make his fierce mate so fragile. He placed his fingers under her chin and tipped it upwards so she was staring right back at him. "Tell me," he demanded.
She wrapped both her hands around his and he exhaled heavily, almost purring at the touch. Even in the spirit realm she was able to calm the beast inside of him. "They're not the most gracious of hosts," she stated simply.
Jacob, clenched the palm at his side into a fist, his nails digging into his flesh. She was being so vague there was only one conclusion he could draw. "They're hurting you," he hissed.
She inclined her head in agreement, a lone droplet streaking down her cheek. "I'm fine," she murmured in a way that suggested to Jacob that that was far from true. "They're treating Embry much worse than me. It's just..."
Another tear spilled out and Jacob's heart ached. He was going to kill every last one of those Italian leeches.
Leah buried her face in his chest and he stroked his hands through her hair. "I'll find you Leah. Don't give up okay? Promise me. Do whatever it takes to survive and I'll come for you soon."
She hiccupped. "I can't do what they want me to do Jake!"
"Why not?" he ventured desperately, her spirit was right in front of him but her body was somewhere else and he had the distinct impression that he wouldn't be able to handle knowing precisely what it had endured.
"They want Embry and me to be the parents of their new supernatural army." She kept her face pointed away from him and Jacob almost choked as understanding dawned on him. "I guess they didn't get the memo on how dysfunctional all my girly bits are." The words were rolling from her now, and Jacob almost wished he could un-hear what she was saying. "Neither Embry or I want this, but their trying to use every dirty move – including vampire mind tricks- to make us. The more we resist, the more..."
She trailed off. Jacob knew what she was hinting at. They were making her choose between self preservation and self-determination. They wouldn't let her have both. Bile rose in his throat at the thought of her suffering unnecessarily, and he offered the next words without thinking about what they might cost them both.
"Do whatever you have to do to survive, Lee." The idea that someone else would touch her, the way that only he was supposed to touch her burned at his insides, particularly when the person they were trying to foist on her was his friend and rival and someone that was in love with her already. He was struck for a moment by the parallel between himself and Edward. Only weeks ago Edward had suggested to him that he be intimate with Bella as a way of keeping her alive. That had seemed preposterous to him then, but now he was suggesting something oddly similar to Leah. "Lee, I can live with messy and complicated, but I can't live without you. Please remember that."
She yanked his face down, touching their foreheads together. "I'm not doing anything I don't wanna do you idiot. That's never going to happen. I'm surprised you haven't figured that one out already... but thanks, for caring about me that much." She punched him in the shoulder, just enough force behind the motion for him to feel the blow. Her face was still stained with tears but she was smiling.
Jacob couldn't believe that she was surprised by his devotion. Didn't she realise she was the single most important person in his life? He wanted to tell her that when she got back they should get married (he might be seventeen, but Billy would consent. Now that he thought about it, Leah would probably be the one who would need convincing), but before he got the chance her form started shimmering in front of him.
"Lee!" he cried, not ready to let her go.
"Jake," she shrieked, grasping at him. "I need to tell you. I lo-"
"Don't you fucking dare," he warned her, as she began to fade. "Don't you say goodbye to me, okay? You tell me face to face when I see you in the real world."
"Hurry," she begged before disappearing entirely from view.
Jacob collapsed with the weight of her loss, shaking his head as he noticed that Leah seemed to have taken the humming noise with her. The last thing he remembered before the darkness claimed him was a thunderclap booming in the distance and a bolt of lightning snaking right down to where he lay.
~~~BaB~~~
They found him lying on the grass at the mouth of the river bordering Cullen land, covered head to toe in dirt.
"You alright boss?" a voice called. Paul, he thought.
"He's fine, I can smell him from here," another ribbed. Jasper.
His eyes fluttered and he wrenched himself upright to stare at the two men. They didn't have any time to lose.
"I saw her!" he yelled. "They're on a boat. All three of them. By the sounds of it it's sort of like one of those tall ships they tour down the Puget Sound. She doesn't know where they're heading, but the boat has human crew members. One's called Travis, from Port Townsend."
He regarded both men intently. This was all they had to go on so they had to make it work.
"Is it enough?" he asked, not breathing as he waited for the Major's response. The soldier vampire cocked his head to one side. Thinking. Calculating. His silver crescent scars glittered in the early morning light.
"It's enough," he answered. "Gather the troops."
A/N1: Please excuse my Italian derived from Google translate and my knowledge of Olympic National Park which comes from watching you tube videos. Long live the internet.
A/N2: Please review if you are enjoying the story. Your comments keep me motivated and not only did I work on this one for weeks, it's 1:30am on a Saturday night!