Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, nor do I make money off writing about them. If I owned them, the books and movies would not be appropriate for people under 18, just like this story - consider yourself warned. This plot, however, is mine – no fiddling with it without my express permission.
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Heavy and uncomfortable, something far stronger than simple gravity pressed on my body. I halfheartedly struggled against the smothering sensation for a moment before surrendering in confusion. Nothing felt clear in my head; everything seemed fuzzy, dark and indistinct.
Something soft but firm tugged on my heart – strong enough to make it through the fog. It surprised me and forced my mind to fight for clarity. The vaguely familiar connection prodded me, making me want to get up and move, but my limbs refused to cooperate.
The sudden intrusion of gravel crunching under tires and the thud of a door startled me, pulling me further from the blur. The weight faded away, leaving me exhausted and aching but free to move. I slowly reached behind me, fighting against the strain of my muscles, wanting to curl up into the strong arms and warmth I'd grown accustomed to.
Searching blindly, I breathed in and immediately froze. The scents were all wrong – no caramel and rain, no hope and love. They'd been replaced by starch and stale coffee, wariness and an oddly disconnected scent I associated with apathy.
I blinked and placed my hands on the asphalt, pushing myself off the ground. My mind and body rose simultaneously, memories and muscles awakening together. I felt lonely but knew I was not alone, terrified but not for me. My hands shook as I remembered where I was . . . and why.
Edward
Dark hair, dark eyes, and a gold star on a blue uniform escorted me into my house and made me sit on the couch. The cop towered over me, irritated but watchful. After fifteen minutes of useless and inane questions, I couldn't tell if the stale smell of boredom on the air was from him or from me.
"How old are you?"
"Older than when you asked me the first time but still just twenty-one."
"And you're the owner of this house?"
"Correct."
"You said there were a couple of people staying with you."
"Yes. Once again, my boyfriend, Edward, and my friend, Rosalie, were here with me."
"But they're not here now?"
"Obviously."
A pause, then the words I knew would come eventually. I was actually surprised he'd waited this long.
"What exactly do you do for a living, Miss Swan?"
I crossed my arms over my chest to fight the feeling of vulnerability threatening to weaken my voice and give away my fear. The words, when they finally came, were softer than I wanted, almost filled with doubt. And for the first time in my life, they made me feel something akin to shame.
"I own a carnival game."
He looked around the room, frowning. "But you're not working right now?"
"No, sir." I shook my head and fought back tears. I refused to cry in front of this arrogant, narrow-minded man. "I'm not working right now. Edward—" I gasped as the pain in my chest blazed hotter, reminding me that my fíorghrá wasn't near, making me feel every single mile of our separation like individual explosions in my heart. "We . . . we were taking a little break from the traveling."
"Hmmm." The officer looked around my living room again. I knew what he was thinking, knew he'd already made up his mind about Edward's disappearance. It didn't matter that I owned this home or that I'd been a part of this community for a couple of years already, didn't matter that I worked hard and paid taxes like everyone else. All he saw, all he cared about, was the one aspect of my life I knew wouldn't leave his thoughts.
"Your truck is parked outside," the officer said, staring at me while I glared at a spot on his chest.
"He has his own car – an old Mustang."
He sighed. "There's no sign of a struggle and no evidence to say your friend didn't just walk out the door of his own will."
I shook my head, once again denying what he saw as truth. "Edward wouldn't have left. You don't know him . . . don't know us. Emmett said someone took him, and Rosalie saw—"
"Ma'am," he interrupted. "Now, I know you claim these other people were involved or witnessed these events, but they're not here to confirm your story. All I know for sure is you were lying out on your driveway when I drove past. If you'd like to explain to me why you were asleep on the asphalt in the middle of the night, I'd be happy to listen." I didn't answer, just shifted my glare to the gold star on his shirt pocket.
After several tense moments, he turned away from me and took a deep breath. "Damn drugged-up carnies." The words left him in a whisper but slammed into me like a wrecking ball. He probably didn't even realize he'd said them out loud. But he had – I heard them clearly.
And I understood immediately that he wasn't even going to pretend to help me find Edward.
The smell of ozone circled me, daring me to touch him, craving an outlet for the pain and fear and anger coursing through my body. I couldn't, though. I needed to control myself until he left, then I could rage and rant and let my temper free. I could look for Rosalie and Emmett, search for any sign of Edward. I just had to get the policeman out of my house.
"I think I'll take you down to the station," he said, turning to face me once more. "I could get an official statement from you; maybe look into filing a missing person report."
I shook my head, knowing there was no way I could waste time filling out ridiculous paperwork when my Edward needed me. "I don't think that will be necessary, officer."
"Why don't you let me decide what's necessary around—"
Suddenly the screen door slammed shut, and Rosalie rushed into the room. The policeman didn't seem to surprise her at all, and I silently hoped she had a plan to get him out of the house.
"Well, thank God you're here. We've been searching all over for you!" She looked me right in the eye and frowned for just a second before turning toward the officer and smiling brightly. "What did she do this time? I swear, this girl just can't hold her liquor. Poor Edward was worried sick when he realized you'd wandered away from the campsite." Every word she spoke rolled exaggeratedly, her accent stronger and brighter than normal.
"And you are?" the officer asked, glancing between the two of us.
"I'm Rosalie. Me and my boyfriend, Emmett, were camping up in the hills with her and Edward." She stepped closer to him, moving to stand between us, protecting me. "Bella here got a little too deep in a bottle of whiskey and passed out sorta early. When the rest of us decided to call it a night, she wasn't in her tent. We've been looking for her all through these damned woods." She shifted beside him, brushing her arm against his as she turned to fully face me. "Thank goodness she wasn't too drunk to find her way home."
Knowing the part I had to play, I looked up at her sadly. "I woke up and everyone was gone."
"Aw, puddin'." She rested her hand on the officer's arm when he started to move toward me, restraining him in a gentle, almost flirtatious way. "You know we'd never just up and leave you." She looked up at the policeman, her eyes round and wide. "I'm so sorry for the trouble, officer. She's such a forgetful drunk."
He smiled down at her, obviously enamored with her charm. "It was no trouble, really. I was just concerned when I saw the young lady passed out on the driveway."
Rosalie directed him toward the front door, smiling as if she were some southern belle trying to catch herself a husband. "Well, don't you worry. I'll take care of her until the boys come back home."
The officer placed his hat back on his head and moved to leave, not even realizing he'd been completely snowed by the beautiful blonde carnie. "Well, all right then. You two ladies be careful now. I don't want to have to come back here tonight."
"Oh, absolutely." Rosalie glanced back at me for a second, her smile falling for a moment when she knew he couldn't see her. "She'll be right as rain once I get some coffee in her."
She attempted to shut the door, but the officer threw out his hand. "And you're sure these other two, this Emmett and Edward, are fine? Miss Swan seemed to think they were in some kind of danger."
Rosalie frowned for a split second before turning back on the charm. "Of course they're fine. Bella has a hard time remembering what's real and what's only in her imagination when she's been drinking. She probably just forgot all about our camping trip when she woke up alone on her driveway with a policeman standing over her. I'm pretty sure that would've scared the blazes out of me!"
He glanced between the two of us again. I could tell he wanted to believe her, but it wasn't until he sighed that I knew we'd won. "Okay. But here's my card, just in case." He handed Rose a small, white business card and walked away. Rose closed the door behind him and leaned her forehead on it for a moment.
"Did you really just call me puddin'?"
She snorted. "Fucking Tanya's rubbing off on me."
She took a deep breath and turned toward me. The defeated look on her face made my heart stutter with dread, but I had to ask the questions swirling in my head.
"Edward?"
She shook her head slowly, her stare never wavering. I felt the sting of tears building in my eyes but held them back.
Not now . . . not yet.
"Emmett?"
She shrugged. "I honestly don't know; I was too busy trying to track down Edward to really pay much attention to him."
The silence of the night enveloped the cabin as we stood, staring at one another. My heart ached and burned with the separation from my fíorghrá, and I knew Rose could feel it as well. The emotions flowed between us, suffocating us in their weight, drowning us in pain.
With more strength than I thought possible, Rose took a deep breath and stepped away from the door. "Get up; we have to move. My dad won't be here for another hour, and we need to be ready to roll as soon as he hits the driveway."
She moved to the stairs, shaking her head and almost mumbling under her breath. "They shouldn't have been able to get in; they shouldn't have been able to even get close to us. We thought we had everything covered, but they got through. It's not safe here."
I chased her up the stairs, my heart pounding in my chest, a ripping sensation burning me with each step. "What should I do?"
She paused at the door to the guest room. "Pack some clothes and whatever else you need for a couple of days. Pack a bag for Edward, too. We'll probably have to hide out for awhile if we find him."
Her words knocked the air from my chest painfully as realization washed over me. Edward was gone – not by choice but by force. I knew it as surely as I knew my own name. Someone took him, probably the same someone who had stalked us, broke into my trailer, and followed us to Chicago and back.
Someone planned this, knowing exactly how to get around our defenses.
"When," I said firmly, holding my head up and glaring at her. She turned to face me, looking confused and more than a little tired. I hadn't noticed the bags under her eyes or the sallow tinge to her skin when we'd been downstairs, but I saw them now. I remembered what she'd said about the boy in school, how his emotions overpowered her. I knew my fear and anguish had to be much worse, but I couldn't rein them in. Instead, I focused for a moment on my anger to make sure she understood.
"You said 'if' we find him. It's when – it has to be when."
She flinched but nodded slowly. "Of course – when. You'll need to pack some of his things so when we find him, we can move quickly to a safe-house." She looked at the floor for a moment. When she met my eyes again, she had tears in hers. "Bella, I'm so sor—"
"Don't." I interrupted her firmly. "I don't need your apologies or your pity. I need your help." My voice cracked on the last word, but I pushed through. "Just help me find him, help me get him back."
She didn't respond, simply turned and walked into the guest room, presumably to pack. I rushed into my room, almost collapsing when the scent of caramel and rain slammed into me. My eyes burned with the building tears, but I refused to let them fall.
Not now . . . not yet.
I grabbed two small suitcases from under the bed and tossed them on the bunched up quilt. I quickly filled mine with clothes, both our toiletries, and the electronics I thought I would need. Packing for Edward was much harder – I took my time folding his clothes, carefully placing them in the indistinct black bag so they wouldn't wrinkle. I picked only his favorite things – the dark boxer briefs he seemed to favor, the cargo pants that hid his scars, the fitted t-shirts that showed off his muscular arms. I grabbed his favorite sweatshirt, a thick gray one with 'Navy Pier' embroidered across the front, and placed it on top of the other clothes.
Edward
"Bella?" Rose's voice coming from the hallway startled me, and I realized I'd been standing still, staring at Edward's suitcase for far too long.
"Coming." My voice sounded raspy and foreign to my ears. The burning in my chest intensified, but I did my best to ignore it.
Not now . . . not yet.
I zipped both bags closed and carried them down the stairs, setting them next to the door with Rose's.
"Are you ready?" she asked, looking out the window.
"One more sec," I responded as I hurried into the kitchen. I opened the drawer next to the refrigerator and froze, a small squeak exiting my parted lips.
"You okay in there?"
I shook my head, unable to speak, unable to look away from the empty basket at the front of the drawer box.
"Bella, what's wrong?" Rose wrapped her fingers around my wrist, breaking me from my stupor. I looked up at her and felt a single tear fall from my eye. Not now . . . not yet.
"The medicine."
"What medicine, sweetie?" She glanced down into the drawer and back up at me, confused.
I shook my head. "His pain pills. His hips ache sometimes, and he needs these to feel better. They took his pills." I inhaled deeply, trying in vain to stop my hand from shaking as it pointed at nothing. "Whoever has him knew him enough to take his pills. Why would they do that? Why would they care if his hips ached or if he was comfortable?"
She shook her head. "I don't know, Bella, but we'll find them. Okay? We'll find them, and we'll get him back."
The pain in my chest flared, blistering me with its fiery claws. Her words offered no comfort. I nodded slowly and closed the drawer just as the front door opened.
"Girls?" The panic in Caius' voice made me jump, and I followed Rose as she walked toward her father.
"Oh, thank God." He pulled both of us into a strong hug, kissing the tops of our heads. "We have to move, now. Are you both ready to go?"
He released us from his hold, and we both nodded. "Good. Don't bother locking the door or setting the alarm. I'll be coming back as soon as I get you two someplace safe."
He spun quickly, grabbed our bags and strode out the door. Rose followed behind him, her head hung low. I stood, breathing deeply, memorizing the scents around me. Home and love, caramel and rain, mischief and ozone – the good and the bad, the sweet and the bitter. They called to me, reminding me of the life I knew here.
It could be a long time before I stood in this room again and even longer before I truly felt safe here. But deep down, I hoped I'd come home eventually . . . with Edward by my side.
xXxXx
"It smells like blood and sex in here," I murmured. I kept my head down, staring at the dirty, thread-bare carpet. Caius had brought us to a seedy motel just over the Georgia state line; he said a friend owned it. Between the bar where Edward fought with Emmett and this place, I was beginning to think I didn't want to know any of Caius' friends.
"I'm sure it does, but it's going to be home for awhile." Caius set the bags on the bed – mine and Edward's. The shredding inside my chest increased as I looked at them. Even Caius' familiar wintery scent couldn't ease the pain coming from inside me.
Not now . . . not yet.
"Look, Bella. I know this is a lot to take." He grabbed my chin carefully and pulled until I was looking up at him. "Believe me when I tell you I know exactly what you're feeling right now. But you have to keep it together. Your mom and Phil will be here soon, and they're bringing reinforcements. We'll get out in those woods, and we will find something to tell us what happened." He paused, giving me a chance to speak. When I didn't, he sighed. "I'll do everything I possibly can to get him back, but the truth of the matter is your link to him may end up being the only thing we have to go on. You're going to need to be strong if we're going to use you to help find him. Do you understand?"
I nodded slowly, fighting back tears. I certainly didn't feel strong. Without Edward by my side, I felt terrified, weak, helpless – more like a liability than an asset.
"Go get some rest." Caius pushed me gently toward the bed and turned to leave. "I'll send Renee in when she gets here, then we'll all convene in the meeting room to look over the maps and figure out our next steps." He stood there, one hand holding the door open, waiting for me to respond. When he realized I wouldn't – couldn't – he stepped out into the night, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
Now.
My heart, once filled with love and hope for a future with Edward, shattered into a million pieces, each one tearing and ripping into the surrounding flesh. Every move, every breath, made the fire of the shredding inside me burn hotter. It was agony, it was torture, it was endless. There was no relief, no way through the pain of this separation.
I glanced around the dirty little room and felt hopelessness surround me. Moving carefully, wincing with every muscle flexed, I sat on the edge of the lone chair in the corner, not knowing what to do next. I wanted to crawl into the bed with Edward's sweatshirt and never leave. I wanted to turn out the lights and wait until he magically reappeared. I wanted someone to deliver him back to me, alive and unharmed.
I just wanted him back.
xXxXx
Walking to the meeting room was agonizing – each step forced the shards of my heart to twist and shred, plunge and rip. My mom walked in front of me, dragging me by the wrist. I hadn't said a word since she arrived. I couldn't. Just the thought of taking a breath deep enough to speak made my body freeze in anticipation and fear.
Phil, Rose, and Caius sat at a round table, a laptop open in front of them. They all looked up when we entered the room. The pity in their stares made me shrink further into myself, so I walked carefully to the opposite side of the table from where they sat and settled into a chair.
Phil smiled at my mom, then looked back down at the computer. "So how'd they get past the alarm system?"
"They didn't," Rose said, typing furiously and shaking her head. "Edward let them in."
Caius looked directly at me, his eyebrows raised.
"Do you know for sure it was Edward?" Renee asked quietly.
"The alarm pad recorded his PIN and thumbprint disarming the system at around two-thirty this morning."
"Any incidents before that?" Caius asked.
Rose shook her head. "The record preceding the two-thirty event was from me; I armed the system just after midnight."
Caius rubbed a hand over his face roughly while looking toward the ceiling. "Check the events for the whole day. Anything seem odd?"
Rose tapped on the keys, her face a mask of concentration as she stared at the screen. After several tense moments, she sighed and shook her head.
"Nothing. Jasper disarmed the system in the morning like always. There's the usual log of activity at the doors, alarming and disarming as we left and came back, a couple of windows being opened, resetting—"
"What windows?" I asked suddenly. Rose looked up, obviously shocked by my interruption. The tortuous ball of fire in my chest grew hotter, brighter, and I wrapped my arms around myself to try to quell the pain. It was no use . . . I was losing a battle I didn't even know how to fight.
"Um, hang on." Every click of her fingers on the keys made my irritation grow. My mom rubbed my shoulders softly, but I shook off her touch. I didn't want Renee's comfort – I wanted an answer from Rose. Luckily, it didn't take long to find the information she was looking for. "The front windows were opened at about eight in the morning."
I nodded, almost feeling disappointed. "That was probably Alice. She likes the cross-breeze from the front windows and the French doors."
"Any others?" Caius asked, looking back and forth between the two of us.
"Only one. The window in Bella's room was opened at a little before six, along with the front door." She looked up at me, her brow furrowed. "You opened the window right before we left for dinner?"
I shook my head. "Edward and I walked out before you. We were in the car when you set the alarm." I looked at the floor, the memories of the previous day making the pain in my chest spread through the rest of my body. "He joked that we could still make the early-bird special with all the senior citizens. I was laughing at him when you opened the car door."
Her blue eyes grew wide, and her mouth fell open. "Holy shit, you're right." She glanced at her dad before looking back at the screen. "There's nothing else out of the ordinary. Just us coming home later."
Caius crossed his arms. "You didn't notice the open window when you got home?"
I shrugged and felt the telltale warmth of tears on my face. "We were . . . distracted." I knew they all understood what I meant – that we had come home and gotten so wrapped up in each other, we hadn't noticed something so important to our safety. That we hadn't taken the time to make sure there was nothing unusual—
I froze as another memory, one solely built of sensation, struck me.
"I didn't smell them." I glanced over my shoulder at my mom, then back at Caius. "I remember the smells that night; I can name them all. But none of them were new or unexpected." Caius and Rose exchanged a glance, and she shrugged.
"I don't remember feeling the emotions of anyone else, and I always scan for them before I go to bed," Rose said.
Caius paced across the room and back, his footsteps loud in the relatively empty space. "What did you notice when you woke up, Bella?"
I thought back over the events of the night. "Edward's side of the bed was cold. I remember wondering where he was before I took a deep breath. That's when I realized she'd been there."
"Who?" Phil asked, looking at everyone briefly.
"The person that broke into my trailer and Edward's condo. I sensed the void; it had to be her."
Rose jumped to her feet. "Oh! The chick in the driveway! She must be some sort of sponge. Which means the one that broke into the cabin was her shield!"
Caius looked at her, shocked. "Damn, you're right. I didn't even think of that when Bella talked about the 'void' before."
"Sponge?" Renee asked from behind me. She placed a hand on my shoulder; this time I didn't brush it away.
"I call them that because they absorb things – smells, feelings, sometimes other people's gifts. All sponges have an older sibling with the power to hide themselves from . . . well, just about everything. The older siblings are the shields and are born first to protect the younger one."
Rose took pity on me when I looked up at her, still confused.
"The shield broke into the cabin, possibly with sponge-girl. That's why we couldn't sense them when we came home. The shield was blocking us from sensing the void left behind by the sponge."
Caius kneeled in front of me and grabbed my hand. "They had to have worked together to trick the two of you. Rose and you both have strong, defensive gifts. Very few people could have gotten past them." He stood and smiled softly at his daughter. "This is a good lead, Rose. Sponge-shield pairs are rare, and almost all of them can be traced back to two families in particular. It gives us somewhere to focus if we don't find any evidence in the woods."
Everyone jumped when his phone rang. He quickly put it to his ear and turned his back to us.
"This is Caius. Yeah. And you're sure it's the right one? Was there . . . fuck. Okay, man. You've been a real help. I owe you." He turned back around and looked at Phil. "We've got the Mustang."
"Where?" Phil asked, jumping up and walking across the room.
"About seventy miles north. It's parked at a rest stop in the mountains." He glanced at me, an unreadable expression on his face. "Phil and I will go bring it back. We can let you look at it—"
"What's wrong?" I asked. I may not have been a psychic or an empath, but I knew when Caius was hiding something from me. He shook his head slowly, his eyes flitting between Phil and me almost guiltily. "Uncle Cai, please. What did they say?"
He took a deep breath and stared right into my eyes. "The doors were unlocked, so he got in to make sure it was Edward's car. There was . . ." he paused, his voice faltering a bit. "Bella, there was a lot of blood on the passenger side floor."
The world froze as the pain in my chest enveloped my entire body. My limbs ached and burned, and my fingers felt stiff and swollen. Every joint and bone screamed in protest as the knowledge that my Edward, the other half to my soul, was probably injured. I couldn't think . . . couldn't function. My brain was caught in a tortuous loop – pictures of Edward scared and in pain, pools of red on gray carpet, the smell of caramel and death, rain and blood.
After what seemed like hours, I felt strong arms lifting me from my seat, and I turned my head toward the person manhandling me. Phil had picked me up and was carrying me out the door, presumably back to my room. It didn't matter, though. The pain and the fear and the agonizing images and smells would follow me wherever I went. There was no escape.
Caius stopped us at the door and put both hands on my face. His skin and hair looked pink through the haze of Edward's blood I continued to picture.
"I swear to you, Bella," he met my unfocused gaze strongly, his face etched in determination, "I will do everything in my power to find him."
I couldn't respond, too caught up in my head. The scent of blood followed me as Phil carried me up the stairs.
Caius' words held no importance, his promises empty. Without knowing who took Edward in the first place, there wasn't much anyone could do to find him. The thought of him trapped somewhere – injured, feeling scared and alone – physically rocked me.
I clutched at Phil's shirt as the flames blazed and my blood boiled. His lips moved against my hairline, his breath tickling me as he whispered words I couldn't understand. All I could hear was the deep thump of what I knew was Edward's heartbeat growing slower and softer in my head.
Phil set me on my bed and covered me with a blanket. I curled into the unfamiliar fabric, wrapping it around me as if for protection. But there was nothing that could save me from the hell of my own mind, and the images continued to loop and assault me from behind my closed eyes.
Blood and Edward, pain and death.
xXxXx
Three weeks later
The whoosh of someone opening the curtains and the sting of sunlight biting at my eyes woke me. For a second, a single heartbeat of time, I thought Edward had finally returned, but the agonizing pain in my chest and the nauseating odor of rot dashed that hope away almost before I had a chance to truly experience it.
"Caius is on his way up." Phil appeared in front of me when I refused to move. "I know you want to just lay there and wallow, but I have an idea that might help us find Edward, and I'm going to need you to make it work."
I closed my eyes and buried my head in the bedspread, trying to block out the pictures in my mind. "Just bring him back."
He sighed. "I wish I could, baby."
I felt the mattress bend as Phil sat on the edge, facing away from me.
"I know this has been hard on you, Bella. But you have to get out of this room. Hell, you have to get out of this bed! You have a bond with Edward that we need to help point us in the right direction, but you're too lost in your own grief to use it."
I clutched my chest tightly, wishing my arms could close the ragged hole caused by Edward's absence. As much as I knew how right Phil was, I simply couldn't push myself past this wall of sadness confining me. It was too high, too thick – and I felt too weak without my love beside me.
"All I see is blood, and all I smell is death." I paused, afraid to tell him, terrified to voice my greatest fear. I burrowed into the blanket and listened to the steady beat of my heart, wishing it were Edward's. "And . . . I can't feel him," I finally whispered.
Phil sighed. "You're still in shock. Caius was the same way when his Dora was missing. But he buckled down, he concentrated on their bond, and he led us to find her. You have to do the same, baby. You need to focus on Edward and the pull between you."
I choked on a sob, warm tears trailing down my cheeks. "It hurts too much, Daddy."
Strong arms surrounded me, lifting me from the bed.
"I know it hurts, but you need to do this. Edward is suffering too, and I know he'd do anything he could to come back to you. Will you do the same? Will you promise to do whatever you can to bring him back to you?"
The guilt his words wrenched made me gasp. I hadn't felt anything other than despair in weeks; I hadn't thought another emotion could be stronger than my grief. Pulling myself from the tarry blackness I'd been surviving in, I nodded against his shoulder.
"Good; that's good, baby." He kissed the top of my head before he pulled back, holding me at arm's length with his hands on my shoulders. "I'm going to ask Caius to do something he doesn't want to do, but it's the only thing left we haven't tried. He's not going to be happy, but he'll do it if you tell him to. He loves you and wants you happy. Can you do this for me? Can you just follow my lead and agree to what I propose, no matter what Cai tells you?"
I nodded again, confused but trusting as the picture of Edward's blood pooling flashed behind my eyes and glowed brighter. We both jumped when Caius strode into the room. He looked terrible – dark purple marks under his eyes, cheeks hollow, expression lifeless. Sadly, I knew I probably looked far worse.
Without preamble or greeting, Phil took control of the conversation.
"We need to call in The Tracker." He stood and crossed his arms with his back against the wall, defensive.
"No fucking way," Caius argued, shaking his head. I looked between the two men, having no idea who or what this tracker was.
"We've spent weeks out in those woods, and we have nothing. It's time to call in a professional."
Phil stared at Caius, frowning when he shook his head.
"Cai, we can't do this alone anymore. There's nothing out there we can find. Without The Trac—"
"No." Caius sounded firm, determined.
"Yes, damn it. We can't waste anymore time."
"No."
"You know we need to—"
"No."
"You don't get to just—"
"No."
"I will not let my daughter die because you have a grudge against the guy!"
The two of them stood chest to chest. Phil was breathing hard, his face red, as he glared at his friend and sponsor. I didn't understand their history with this Tracker, but I knew just hearing the name had made Caius angry.
Caius stared at Phil, a look of determination on his face. "He can't be trusted."
Phil just shook his head. "He's the only hope we have."
"Fuck, man. Don't you think—"
"I want him." My voice sounded scratchy, and my throat hurt from weeks of crying and screaming in my sleep, but it was loud enough to catch both men's attention. "I want this tracker. I want to find Edward."
Caius looked between the two of us, glaring slightly. "Bella, you don't understand. The man has no loyalty. If we hire him and whoever took Edward finds out, they can use him to play us for fools. He could waste our time taking us on wild goose chases all across the country."
I glanced at Phil quickly. The desperation on his face confirmed my decision. I turned toward Caius and stood slowly, locking my knees so I didn't wobble. The pictures faded slightly from behind my eyes, and for the first time in weeks, I could smell something other than blood and death. I couldn't place it at first, having not sensed it in so long, but after a few minutes of breathing in the delicate, flowery fragrance I realized exactly what it was.
Hope.
"You promised me," I said, my strength returning slowly as I clung to that wisp of potential. "You swore you would do everything in your power."
Caius inhaled sharply, looking away from me, and I knew I had him.
"I want Edward back, no matter what. I want The Tracker; call him in."
.
.
.