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Chapter Twenty-five

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Jacob stumbled as he climbed the stairs and practically fell into the airplane. "Oops," he snickered, clinging to the wall for support. "Sorry!"

"Jake, you're drunk," Edward accused. He hurried over to help Jacob into one of the seats.

"I can see becoming a vampire has not muted your staggering powers of observation," Jacob replied with a big, goofy grin, and slumped against Edward as he led him through the cabin.

Edward grimaced. "You smell like a bottle of scotch."

"Jack Daniels, actually." Jacob flopped limply into the seat to which Edward led him. "Can't afford the good shit that Felix buys. No job, remember?"

"Great." Emmett shook his head in disgust. "Following in Dad's footsteps. Real smart, Jake."

The good humor on Jacob's face was replaced by shame. "Em, I ..."

"Whatever." Emmett turned away and stared out the window into the darkness. Jacob stared at him, forlorn, searching for something to say. But there really wasn't anything he could say. Emmett was right, and what's more, Jacob had known it even before he'd ordered his first drink and told the bartender to leave the bottle. See, Nessa? I told you. A guy like me ...

Bella sat in the chair beside Jacob and took his hand. "Shaykob, what wrong?"

Jacob shook his head. "Nothin', Bella, honey." He couldn't explain something like this to her, even if they had shared a language in which both were fluent. He couldn't really explain it to himself.

"You lie. Bad."

"Yeah, okay, that was a lie, but ... Just let it go, okay?"

"No, not okay."

Jacob gave her a lopsided smile and was about to answer when the flight attendant came back to the cabin. "Are you ready to depart, Mr. Cullen?"

Edward glanced at his watch. "Not yet. Nessa isn't here."

Jacob sat up in his chair so abruptly, he nearly fell out of it. "Nessa? She's not on board? Where is she?"

Edward shook his head. "I don't know. She just never arrived."

"It's not like her to be late," Rose noted as she took out her cell phone and made a call. She listened to it ring for a few moments before she hung up and stated the obvious. "She's not answering her cell. I'll call the hotel. Does anyone remember her room number?"

"417," Edward replied instantly. He never forgot a number.

Rose dialed swiftly and held the little black phone to her ear. As soon as the hotel operator came on the line, she asked to be transferred to Nessa's room. She listened for a moment and frowned. "Are you sure? What time? I see. Thank you." Rose lowed the phone and punched the END button. She gazed at it for a moment before raising her eyes. "She checked out a few hours ago."

"What? Why?" Emmett demanded. "She knew what time we were leaving, right?"

"Yes," said Rose and spread her hands to indicate she had no idea why Nessa would have fled. "She knew."

Edward shook his head slightly. "So, she ... just left?"

"To go back to Victoria?" Emmett added.

"For lack of a better explanation, yeah, apparently so."

"But this makes no sense," Edward protested. "Why would she leave so abruptly? Did something happen?"

"Yes," Jacob said quietly. Everyone turned to stare at him. Jacob felt sick. He rubbed a hand over his face. "I ... uh ..."

"Is this why you're wasted?" Emmett asked, and didn't bother to conceal the scorn.

Jacob looked away, unable to face any of them.

The phone on Rose's lap rang and they all jumped. Rose picked it up and blinked at what she saw on the screen. She hurriedly pressed SEND. "Nessa?" Whatever she heard made her eyes widen. She held out the phone and pressed another button. "You're on speaker," she said, her voice strangely hoarse.

"Greetings to you all," the man said.

"Who the fuck are you?" Emmett barked in bewildered response.

"That is of little consequence," the man replied. His voice was cool and emotionless. "What is of interest to you is that we have your friend."

Edward reached down into his carry-on and fished out his laptop. "Keep him talking!" he typed quickly and turned the screen so that Rose could see it. He turned the computer back around and began rapidly pecking on the keys.

"Who?" Rose said. "What friend?"

The man laughed softly. "I know that your kind is self-absorbed, but surely you have noticed that one of your number is missing?" There was a rustle and then a soft sob. "Jacob?" Nessa said. "Jake, I'm sorry! The elves - "

"Oh my fucking God," Jacob whispered. He stood and started for the door, but only made it a few feet before he realized the senselessness of it. He spun around and paced a few more feet in agitated frustration.

There was another rustle and a soft cry in the background before the man spoke again. "You will cease attempting to track Jinx," he said. "Or the girl dies."

"How did you know what we were doing?" Rose asked.

"We knew what you were likely to do. We watched the airports to see if you would come here to try to intercept the ship. Mr. Cullen's pilot filed a new flight plan this afternoon, but you will rescind that order. You will remain where you are. Agents of the Volturi will be with you presently to escort you directly to the Tower in Italy."

"Why?"

The man chuckled softly. "Because the Queen will tell the Dark Goddess that she has the choice either to bow or die. And then the Dark Goddess will embrace her destiny."

"If I've learned anything in my time with Bella, it's that you can't predict what she'll do," Rose said. "She could decide to submit to the Queen's authority."

The man snorted. "Unlikely. In any case, I doubt if the Queen will give her the choice once she hears of Bella's crimes."

"Victoria isn't stupid," Rose spat. "She's heard the truth from Nessa. She won't believe you."

"Actually, your little go-between has been having a bit of a communication issue as of late," the man said, amusement coating his words like oil. "Nessa told us that Victoria and she argued the last time Nessa spoke with her - which was after Mr. Cullen's birthday, by the way - and they haven't spoken since."

"That's not true!" Emmett protested. "She told us she called - "

"And was told that the Queen was indisposed and could not come to the phone. And the next time she tried, she got the same response."

"I don't believe it," Emmett said stoutly. "She would have told us." He turned to the rest of them and silently said, "Wouldn't she?"

None of them knew how to answer that.

"It could be that we have an accomplice on the Queen's staff who didn't inform the Queen she'd called," the man noted, and the amused note in his tone was even more pronounced, almost cruelly jovial. "The Queen hasn't heard from Nessa and likely thinks she's a defector at this point."

"Let her go," Jacob said hoarsely. "Please." He glanced up at Bella, his eyes pleading for her to remain silent. "I'll do everything I can to convince Bella to do what you want. Just let Nessa go."

"We will release her when your plane lands in Italy. Not a moment before. Don't worry. You'll get her back in more or less the same condition as you last saw her."

"I swear to God, if you've hurt her ..." Jacob ground out. "If you lay a goddamn finger on her ..."

The man scoffed. "Trust me, I'm trying to avoid touching the smelly little human as much as possible."

Edward waved a hand and mouthed, "Got it!"

"When I find you," Jacob said darkly, "I'm going to rip your arms off and beat you to death with them. I'm gonna go Bath Salts on your ass."

The man laughed in what sounded like genuine delight. "I doubt we shall ever have occasion to meet, but I'll keep that in mind." He disconnected.

Rose smirked and put the phone back into her pocket. "Elves," she said smugly. "They always forget about technology."

"What technology?" Jacob asked.

"I installed a tracking chip in Nessa's phone," Edward said, his eyes intent on the screen.

"What?" Why would you do that?" Jacob sounded a bit indignant.

"Because we thought she was a spy, Jacob," Rose explained, with just a hint of impatience in her tone. "Remember?"

"Yeah, I guess." Jacob rubbed a hand over face. That seemed like a million years ago.

"It only works while it's transmitting, and it takes a few moments for the program to connect, but I've got an address." He turned the computer around and showed them the screen.

"And a Google Map, too," Rose praised. She gave Edward a thumb's up.

Emmett came back with a rental car, as directed, though he'd deviated from the request just a little. He was driving a bright yellow H2 and when he pulled up to the plane, the windows were rattling from the pounding bass of Notorious B.I.G's Hypnotize.

Emmett rolled down the window. "Come on! Everybody, hop in!"

"Emmett, do you know the definition of inconspicuous?" Rose asked.

"I'll turn the radio down when we get closer," Emmett assured her.

Rose sighed and opened the passenger door. Edward, Bella and Jacob climbed into the back seat.

"That's why they're broke and you're so paid ..." Emmett sang. He stomped on the accelerator and everyone was flung back against their seats.

"You're hurting the vamps' ears, Emmett," Jacob yelled.

"Oh!" Emmett turned down the volume to a whisper level. "Sorry." He glanced in the rear-view mirror. "So, um, what's the plan?"

"I kill elves," Bella said. "You drive car."

"Now, wait a sec. You're not leaving me - "

"We may need to leave fast," Jacob said. "I can't drive. We need someone we can count on behind the wheel."

Emmett was slightly mollified, but he continued to argue, then insisted that if he couldn't go, neither could Rose, which created a spat between the two of them.

Jacob leaned back against his seat and closed his eyes. He no longer felt drunk. He no longer felt anything but a cold, growing dread and guilt. The last sight he'd had of Nessa's sweet brown eyes haunted him, sparkling with tears of hurt. He wouldn't have thought it was possible to hate himself more, but he was wrong about that, too. He'd meant to spare her from regret but had ended up wounding her even worse, and in the process, had sent her running into danger. If something happened to her, he would never forgive himself.

Would he ever have a chance to make it up to her? What could he say, anyway? Sorry I rejected you, but I did it for your own good? It sounded lame even in his own mind. If he could go back and do it again he would ... what? Take her up on her offer? Let her find out for herself what a loser she'd picked for such a special moment?

He rubbed his chest absently. There was an ache in the center of it that he didn't really understand, but it didn't matter. It was all his fault and he had to make this right some how.

Two blocks away, Emmett turned off the lights and drove the H2 into a small alley and parked it beside a dumpster. "You stay in car," Bella ordered as she retrieved her sword from under her seat. "Rose, stay, too."

"But, Bella - "

"Don't have time for argue with you," Bella said. "You stay. Keep Memet safe." Neither one of them liked it, but they stayed in the car while Jacob and Edward checked their guns.

"You're letting me come, huh?" Jacob asked her softly. He propped his shotgun against his shoulder.

"Not be able to stop you," Bella said softly. Her eyes were compassionate and he had the uneasy feeling that Bella knew more about the situation between Jacob and Nessa than he would have thought. She patted his arm and set off down the alley after tossing her scabbard into the car. "Remember, must cut off head to kill elf."

"Weapons hot," Edward said, and jerked back the slide of Esme's pistol to chamber a round.

"'Weapons hot?' You've seen way too many war movies, Edward."

Edward's only response was a faint smile as he followed Bella around the corner of a building.

While they'd driven, Edward had looked up the building on Google Earth and now he was able to identify it with ease. He pointed to it and they crouched as they crept closer, hugging the shadows. It was an ancient factory or warehouse, apparently abandoned judging by the poor state of repair. It stood in the center of a sea of asphalt, which Jacob noted with some measure of relief. At least they wouldn't have to deal with tree roots this time.

Jacob went for the door, but Bella shook her head. They went around to the side and she crouched down next to a basement window. She rubbed a clean spot on the glass and peered inside before punching through it without even a whimper when the jagged shards sliced into her hand. She unlatched the window and pushed it open before slipping through the hole into the darkness inside.

I don't know why I let you talk me into this shit, he remembered Edward saying when Bella had shoved aside her sarcophagus to reveal the opening to the chamber below. He had dropped into the darkness and Bella had caught him. Jacob trusted her the same now.

They were in a large room with machinery covered in translucent plastic tarps made ghostly with dust. Bella and Edward had no difficulty navigating in the dimness, but Jacob stubbed his toe against a jutting edge and had to bite his lip, hard, to keep from swearing as he hopped after them on one foot.

On the stairs, Bella paused and held her hand out to stop Edward and Jacob in their tracks. Silently, slowly, she tiptoed to the top and listened. Suddenly, she wasn't there any more. She moved so fast that it seemed she had simply vanished into thin air. He heard a small sound, like the muffled snap of a twig and then a severed head bounced down the stairs, trailing long blond hair as it spun and bumped its way down the treads. The torso followed, slumping over the top stair, squirting blood from the neatly sliced stump of his neck. Jacob recoiled, but Edward stared at the spreading pool which cascaded down each step, one by one.

"Does that, um, make you hungry?" Jacob asked delicately.

"No, it doesn't smell right," Edward said after a moment.

Bella reappeared at the top of the stairs and motioned them up. With a grimace, Jacob tried to step around the blood but ended up slipping in it and teetering on the edge of a step, his arms pinwheeling madly for balance. Thankfully, Edward grabbed his shirt and pulled him forward before he could tip over backwards and fall down the stairs.

The stairs were separated from the main floor of the building by a short hallway. Bella waited at the door. Her sword gleamed red. She held up two fingers and then made a little walking motion with them and pointed to the left. Two enemies, a few steps to the left. Got it.

She spun around the door frame, lightning fast. Jacob charged after her, Edward at his side, both of them simultaneously raising their guns. A head bonked against Jacob's ankle and he looked down at it in surprise, which is why the second elf was able to get the drop on him. Jacob saw a flash of silver hair, though the face under it was young, and hard gray eyes before a brutal blow to his chin knocked him off his feet. Jacob fired, but missed as the elf spun away deftly, ducking to avoid the flash of Bella's blade. There was a series of loud bangs as Edward unloaded his pistol straight into the elf's chest. The elf stumbled back and dropped with a graceless thump to the floor, moaning in pain.

Edward bent down and swept Jacob's shotgun off the floor. He ejected the spent round with a single-handed pump and then fired it into the figure on the floor.

Jacob could only stare. "Holy shit, dude. That was cool." He got to his feet, dusting off his jeans. His jaw throbbed, but everything seemed to be in working order.

"A bit less elegant than Bella's sword," Edward said, staring down at the dead elf. "But equally efficacious, it seems. Zombieland rules are hereby in play."

Okay ... Double-tap, know your way out, and ... Jacob couldn't remember the rest of them. There was something about not being a hero and not forming attachments, but the latter was a rule Jacob had already decided to discard.

Bella slammed into Jacob and knocked him back down to the floor. There was a soft thwack! to his right and he turned his head to see an arrow sticking out of the wall. Bella rolled off of him and smoothly twisted to her feet. Her sword flashed and another arrow clattered to the floor, its staff sliced in half. Jacob glanced up and saw the shooter on the catwalk above. It was a woman with golden hair, and she had her bowstring pulled taut, ready to release another arrow.

Jacob grabbed the pistol from Edward's hand. "Give us the halfling, she-elf!" he shouted, and it distracted her for the split instant he needed to pull off a shot. And miracle of miracles, it actually hit the target. The woman screamed in pain and dropped the bow, clutching at her wounded hand.

Bella took off in a run for the metal stairs, Edward on her heels. Jacob started after them, but then he saw something lying near one of the pillars. He ran toward it, wishing that Edward hadn't taken his shotgun. The pistol's ammo was in Edward's pocket and he wasn't sure how many rounds were left.

Jacob skidded to a halt in front of what looked like a small pile of cloth. He knelt down and gently pushed. Nessa rolled over and he sucked in a breath. Her face was battered, her eyes nearly swollen shut, dried blood around her mouth. "Oh, God," he whispered.

Her hands were handcuffed behind her back, fastened to a chain around the pillar. There were abrasions and dried blood on her wrists, as if she had fought against the cuffs. "Nessa? Nessa?" He shook her as gently as he could. "Who has the key, honey?"

She stirred a bit and moaned, and then tried to wriggle away from him.

"Nessa, it's me. It's Jacob."

She went still. She tried to open her battered eyes, but they were swollen to mere slits. "Jake?"

"Yeah, it's me. Who has the key to your cuffs?"

"I don't know."

He'd just have to check every dead elf's pockets, he decided, just as a head with golden hair landed beside him with a meaty thunk. Nessa recoiled with a soft scream. "It's okay," Jacob told her as the torso landed on his other side. "Bella's cleaning house." He reached over and stuck his hand into the body's pocket and came out with a little pouch. Opening it was a mistake, as he reflected later when he opened his eyes and saw Bella and Edward looking down at him with identical expressions of concern.

"Elvish sleeping powder," Edward explained. He held up another pouch. "Thankfully, Bella remembered the color of the stuff Jinx used to wake up Felix."

"Nessa -"

"Right here, Jake." Nessa helped him sit up, though she, herself, was rather shaky.

"Is it over? Did we get 'em?"

"Yes, all dead," Bella said cheerfully. "We go plane now."

They all walked together toward the door. Jacob and Nessa held onto one another, though who was supporting whom was a matter of debate. Never mix elvish sleeping powder with booze, Jacob thought. He felt as loopy as hell.

"We're going to find our own way back to the airport," Edward said. "We'll meet you there in about an hour." He and Bella vanished into the night and Jacob thought he heard Bella call, "Catch me!" as she ran.

They passed a little bed of flowers beside the door, carefully tended plants, as though the elves could not bear to remain here without some hint of nature around them. For a moment, Jacob's heart ached with regret. It was terrible to have to kill such creatures, especially with so few of them left in the world, but Jinx had set in motion something deadly, something that might not be under his control any longer. A war was brewing, unless they could stop it. But like Bella's rain, could it be stopped once it had been called into being?

"How badly are you hurt?" Jacob asked Nessa. "Do we need to take you to a doctor?"

Nessa shook her head. "Edward asked me the same thing. You guys are a lot alike in some ways."

He let that pass without comment. "Do you need something for your face? An ice-pack or some aspirin?"

"I'll get something on the plane."

"Nessa, did they ... Did they ... hurt you?" He couldn't even say it.

"No."

He let out a sigh of relief. It sounded loud in the stillness, echoing off the walls of the empty buildings around them.

"They tried to get me to tell them things about Bella," Nessa said. "They slapped me around a little when I wouldn't tell them what they wanted to know."

It looked like more than 'a little' to Jacob.

"They grabbed me right outside of the hotel. They must have been watching us."

"Yeah, they pretty much said they were when they called Rose to make their demands."

"How did you find me?"

"Edward did something or other with the computer," Jacob said, and thankfully she seemed to accept that explanation. He didn't really want to tell her about the chip. He'd have to, if she asked, but he didn't want to offer the information. There was something else, more important, that he needed to say, but he couldn't find the words. "Nessa, I ..."

"I know," she said. She stopped and laid a gentle hand over his heart. "I know."

Did she? He wasn't even sure what he wanted to say. She gnawed on her lower lip, as though considering something, and then went up on tiptoe to press her soft, warm lips to his.