Quil
"You're an idiot."
Amused, I tipped back in my chair and propped my feet on the table. Oh, the things you could do when the lady of the house was on her way to Europe with her ex. Like put your feet on the table. Or mock your best friend for suddenly discovering his domestic side.
Jake, up to his elbows in soap suds, looked over and arched an eyebrow. All he needed was a frilly apron and it would have been perfect.
"I'm an idiot? I'm not the one stupid enough to risk life and limb putting my feet up on Bella's table."
"Ah, but Bella isn't here. For the next 12 months we don't have to worry about feet on the table or shoes on the rug or any of those other things you can't do when there are women around."
"Mmmm."
Setting the last dish in the drainer, Jake pulled the plug. A familiar glugging sound filled the room, and my eyes drifted shut. It was so…peaceful. No kids. No drama. And thank the Lord, no women. I drifted happily in a male-filled dreamland where Jake and I would spend the next year sitting on his couch chugging beer and watching the massive television he'd bought to replace the one we sold before we left Florida.
The next thing I knew I was falling face first into the hard wooden table.
"Shit!"
A loud cracking sound echoed off the walls of the tiny house. Blood bubbled before pouring freely over my face and down the back of my throat, thick against my tongue. I ignored the part of me that jumped gleefully at the taste and grabbed for the napkins, glaring at the sniggering asshole that just knocked my feet onto the floor.
"You jewk! You bwoke my nose!"
"Bella would have done a whole lot worse. Still may when she gets back," he added casually, walking over to the freezer and pulling out one of the dozens of ice packs Bella kept on hand for when we dragged in after one scrape or another. The girl had been running with the wolves way too long. "I'm pretty sure there's no statute of limitations on that sort of thing."
"How the hell's she gonna know?" I complained, already knowing the answer. Jake would tell her before her feet finished hitting the tarmac. How the guy managed to be an alpha wolf when Bella all but owned him was so far beyond me, it wasn't even funny.
The ice felt like heaven against the growing lump on my face. It would be fine in a couple of hours, but right now it hurt like hell. Catching the towel that came flying through the air (and Jake's pointed look at the puddle of blood on the floor) I growled.
"Dude, if you're going to be a pansy the whole time she's gone this is going to be a long year."
Jake snorted, taking the bloody towel from me and rinsing it out in the sink.
"Why'd you let her go, anyway?"
All right, so it was more like 'Wh'd u wet hew gwo?" No one ever tells you a broken nose is going to give you a massive speech impediment. Fortunately, with the amount of time we spent breaking each other's bones Jake was good at understanding gibberish.
"Because I didn't have any right to tell her to stay."
"The hell you didn't. Seems to me she gave you that right when she said 'I do'."
"Ha." Jake slapped me on the shoulder, then walked into the living room. Sprawling out on the couch, legs comfortably draped onto the floor, arms flung across the back, he looked up at me with a smug, superior smile. "That, my friend, is why I never ask for your advice on my love life. You really are completely clueless."
"Bullshit."
I thought about joining him on the couch, then changed my mind. Knowing my luck he'd 'accidentally' smack me in the nose again. Propping myself against the edge of the doorway, ice pack still firmly pressed to my face, was definitely the better part of valor.
"Dude, my girl's coming back at Christmas. And Valentine's Day. And I get to fly out with Carlisle when the baby comes. Sam said he'd babysit. Should be alright for a week or so, now that nobody's keeping any secrets. And she'll be home next summer." Gloating, he added, "You, on the other hand, managed to chase your girl all the way down the coast. And the last time I talked to her she didn't have any intention of seeing you again. Ever.
"So from where I sit, you're the idiot. I, on the other hand, get major brownie points for being sensitive and mature. Which, in case you were wondering, translates into sex. Lots and lots of sex. Which is something else you're not going to be getting for a very, very long time."
It took me a minute to get past the extremely disturbing image of Jake and Bella getting it on. I mean, I knew they did. The fact that they had a kid together (and Jake couldn't keep his hands off her ass) made it no secret. But since Jake wasn't the type to kiss and tell this was the first time in a long time I'd had to hear about it.
Then the rest of what he said sank in, yanking me away from the wall like a puppet on a string.
"Jaz left?"
The withering look on Jake's face made me cringe.
"You know, for a guy with supernatural senses, you're not very observant. Or you're just a bigger ass than I thought you were. She's been gone for a week."
Something that I wasn't quite ready to admit was panic clawed at the bottom of my throat. She hadn't said anything about leaving the last time I'd talked to her, which was…was…
More than a week ago, that was for damn sure. I hadn't meant to avoid her. Keeping my distance had just seemed like a good idea until I was ready to deal with the huge elephant she'd dropped into the room. She probably thought I was...that I...
Shit.
"Where? Why?"
"If you can't figure it out, I'm certainly not going to tell you." The mockery slipped from his face. "You hurt her. Bad. So if you're too stupid to go after her and tell her you love her, I wash my hands of the whole thing."
The breath whooshed out of my lungs like I'd been kicked in the solar plexus. That was the second time in the last two weeks someone had tossed the "L" word into the conversation, and it hit me just as hard coming from Jake as it had coming from her.
"I'm not in love with her."
The mocking smile was back in place, but it had turned faintly pitying.
"Aside from the psycho demon bitch, have you even looked at another woman in the last 5 years?"
"Of course I have…"
"…Not," he finished. "Tell me one woman, just one, that you've been with that really mattered since you started seeing Jaz and I'll admit you're right. I'm betting you can't do it."
Of course I'd seen other women. There was…well, this one time…Shit. Cold seeped down to my bones, spread down to my toes. Jake was right. I hadn't started a relationship with any other women, aside from the most basic kind, since I'd started seeing Jaz. It hadn't even occurred to me because…because…
My mind shied away from drawing the obvious conclusion, but my breath came in short pants as the little voice in my head finished the sentence for me. Because I spent all my time with Jaz. Because with Jaz around, I didn't need anyone else. I'd been so focused on keeping our relationship free of strings and ties and entanglements that I hadn't felt those strings slowly tightening, drawing me in and tying me up in knots that no amount of supernatural freakiness was going to unravel.
And now, because I'd been too stupid to realize it, she was gone.
"It's about damn time."
Jake's voice drifted from somewhere outside my head, floating while my vision tunneled. Damn it. I was not going to pass out. Breathe. One…two…three…Dragging air into my lungs, I watched in relief while the room cleared.
"I'm….I'm…"
Was that dumbfounded, gobsmacked voice really mine? Must have been, because that was Jake standing there smirking at me.
"Yeah, knew that already. Question is, now that you know it, what the hell are you gonna do about it?"
Slapping me on the shoulder, my best friend walked out of the room. Figures. Evil demons and a newborn vampire army, Jake had your back. Have a teeny, tiny personal crisis in which you realize you've been a complete dumbass for the past 5 years and everyone knew it but you, and he's got better things to do.
It was a valid question though. What the hell was I going to do?
A quick glance at the clock answered that question. I was going to run home, grab a shower, get changed and get my ass to work. I'd have to figure this out later.
A shrill screech of feminine outrage echoed down the hallway the minute I stepped through my own front door. Looked like I wasn't the only one still having girl trouble.
"Get out and stay out, you lying, cheating snake!"
Andy came barreling down the hallway, cheeks flushed and blue eyes snapping in fury, arms full of clothes. Embry was hot on her heels. Blood flowed freely down his face from a gash large enough to make even me wince. Looks like that groveling wasn't going quite as well as he might have hoped. It was going to be an even toss-up for which one of us looked worse at the end of the day.
"Damn it Andy, that hurt. What the hell are you doing?"
We both watched in disbelief as Andy tossed his clothes out onto the front porch, heading back toward the bedroom. A minute later she emerged, arms full, angry tears sparkling on her cheeks.
"I'm doing what I should have done the minute you stopped coming home in the first place. Since you obviously don't want to sleep in our bed, you can sleep outside with the rest of the dogs."
Embry watched helplessly while she stormed back toward their bedroom. I felt a little bad about standing there watching their marital disputes, but I had to go past their bedroom to get to mine and I wasn't getting anywhere near Andy when she was in this kind of a mood. Embry's head was still gushing from wherever what she'd thrown at him had hit its mark. The fact that it was still bleeding meant it was deep. No telling what she'd decide to start throwing next.
It seemed like we stood there for hours, Embry silent and stoic, me waffling between laughter and feeling sorry for my friend, while Andy tossed what was left of their marriage out the door. She finally ran out of steam (or out of stuff-I'm not really sure which). The 'snick' of the lock closing on her bedroom door when she disappeared for the last time echoed like a gong through the suddenly silent house. Without the power of her fury filling the room the house felt hollow, as if something was missing. As if the dissolution of the love in the marriage that had built it had truly been the heart, leaving a hollow shell behind.
And didn't I just sound like William Fucking Shakespeare?
"What the hell just happened?"
Embry turned from where he'd been staring blankly at the wall behind me, a befuddled numbness stamped across his face.
"I think my wife just threw me out."
Walking over to the couch he sank down, dropping his head into his hands and scraping his fingers through his scalp.
"I don't freaking believe this."
"You cheated on her man." With a quick, almost involuntarily apologetic jerk of my shoulders I plopped down on the other end of the couch. "She's gonna need some time."
"How long have you known Andy?" Embry threw me a withering look. "You really think a little bit of time is actually going to make a difference? I hurt her. She's not gonna forgive me for that."
"If you knew she wouldn't forgive you, why the hell'd you do it?" The words somehow managed to bypass my brain and come tumbling out of my mouth. Damn it. I'd been doing so good too.
Relatively speaking.
"I don't know." Scrubbing his hands against his scalp, he grimaced. "All right, yes I do. But I don't. It's just…do you know what it's like to look at someone you love and realize you're not 100% certain you care whether they live or die? For months I'd hold her and just feel nothing. Then I'd feel guilty, so I'd pull back a little more so she wouldn't be able to tell. Then she came along, and it was like all those empty holes filled back up again."
With a rueful smile, he added, "But I don't have to tell you any of this, do I?"
"Pft. I imprinted on her, remember? I thought it was the coolest damn thing in the world." I stood up and wandered over to the fridge. I was already late for work, a few more minutes weren't going to hurt anything. And my tongue was all but glued to the top of my mouth. If this was going to turn into an episode of the freaking Oprah Winfrey show I was going to need something to help wash down all the emotional vomit that was getting spewed all over the place.
"Yeah, but Jaz got screwed. You had to feel bad about that."
Thunking back onto the couch and handing Embry one of the bottles of Coke I'd pulled out of the fridge, I started to deny it. Then I stopped. The truth was, even though I hadn't thought about it a whole lot, I had felt bad. And now that I knew she'd been in love with me the whole time, and I'd been in lo…ah, I'd cared about her a lot, in a way that indicated the desire for a long-term, mutually exclusive relationship…I felt like an even bigger jerk.
"Yeah, but wasn't like it was my fault. Nothing I could have done."
"That's what I keep telling myself too. And anyone else that'll listen." Embry waved vaguely at the pile on the porch, a wry smile on his face. "See how far that got me."
"So what are you going to do?"
Sighing, he pushed himself up off the couch. The utter dejection on his face tugged at my gut. I loved Andy to death, but Embry'd been my best friend since we were kids. Wasn't like I didn't know what it was like to have a demon suck your willpower dry. Problem was, I didn't know what I could do for him.
Definitely time to listen to that little voice in my head telling me it was time to move out. An image of Jaz's warm, cozy house in the woods popped into my head. I resolutely shoved it away. Yeah, that wasn't going to happen. Maybe he could crash with Jake. That bachelor pad just kept getting closer all the time.
Two hours later we finally made it to work. I had just rolled under the front of a 2000 LS1 with transmission trouble when...
"Funny how things work out sometimes, isn't it?"
The familiar voice floating down from the hood of the car sent prickles crawling down my spine. No way. There was no…freaking…way. Ignoring the dread slowly curdling in the pit of my stomach I reached over, deliberately wiping my hands on the hunk of cloth lying on the floor next to me before bracing them on the chassis and pushing back. I looked up…and up…and up into a pair of laughing blue eyes.
"Hello Quil."
"Natalya."
Hauling myself up with a grunt (and ignoring the giggle), I propped myself against the side of the car and studied the woman in front of me.
"I'd say it was nice to see you, but I'd be lying."
The smells of grease and motor oil blended to create a thick, almost pungent aroma in the garage, but underneath it all I could smell the faintly sweet scent of vanilla and brimstone. The hot blonde in the leather pants and halter top propped off the hood of the Mustang parked right next to me could have been any teenage boy's fantasy, but there was no way she was human. It must have taken some major supernatural juju to make my nose miss that.
"Quil." Cherry red lips pursed in an attractive mu. "That's not nice."
"Neither are you. So why don't you tell me what you're doing here?"
Natalya tipped her head to the side and pouted, then smiled. There wasn't an ounce of repentance in the sparkling eyes looking up at me.
"Fair enough. I stopped by to apologize."
"Bullshit."
"No, really." She slid off the side of the car in a smooth, sinuous motion that made my mouth water. It was all my sex-fogged brain could suddenly do to keep my tongue from hanging out. Yeah, she was the spawn of Satan (or something like that). She was also a succubus. And superbly hot. And she was here. In a garage. In black leather. On the hood of a Mustang. With just the faintest smudge of…was that motor oil on her nose?
God, I was such a dog sometimes.
"I'm not going to say I'm sorry for doing what I needed to do, because I'm not. You don't hang around as long as I have and not learn that if you're going to make an omelette, you need to cook a few eggs."
"Break."
"Excuse me?"
She tipped her head, puzzled, and I found myself biting back a smile. I take that back. She looked like more of a dog right then than I did.
"Break a few eggs. If you're going to make an omelette, you need to break a few eggs."
"Ah." Natalya paused, thought about it for a minute. "Your Americanisms are very strange. But no matter. The simple truth is, I like you. And I like young Jazmine. I'm sorry my actions have made so much trouble for you."
The woman works for the Volturi, arranges for my friends' kids to be viciously, brutally murdered, kidnapped and/or used as science experiments, and the only thing she's sorry about is that Jaz is pissed off at me? She really was a piece of work.
Speaking of which…
"That reminds me. When I saw Jaz the last time I had…feelings. Feelings for her I don't think I'd ever had before." I eyed her suspiciously. No need to clue her in on my little revelation from earlier. What I needed to know right then was whether or not she'd had anything to do with what was going on between Jaz and I. "She told me about your little bargain."
"And now you're wondering if how you feel is truly because you're in love with her or if I'm somehow manipulating you all over again? You should not truly have to ask." Her lovely voice lilted, tipped with an accent and an Old World formality that seemed out of place on a body obviously built for leather and lace. "But to answer your question, no, this has nothing to do with me. Jazmine asked me not to interfere, and I respect her wishes. She did, after all, manage to do what no one else has been able to do in centuries and banish my bonds to the Volturi, nearly killing herself in the process."
"What?"
Eyes wide, laughter lurking in their depths, she said innocently, "Oh, she didn't tell you? I figured she would have. Such power, that one. She brought the whole building down around our ears. It was all I could do to keep the three of us from being crushed by the backdraft. I am deeply in her debt, far too much to interfere in matters that are none of my business."
"So you didn't try to…to..?"
"…Make you imprint on her? No. Although from the baffled look on your face I almost wish I had. It would make life so much easier." Chuckling, she placed her hands on my jaw and very seriously kissed each of my cheeks. "It would be very unusual for one of your kind to imprint on one such as her, although it's entirely possible your wolf has decided anything would be an improvement after being bound to a demon. It's equally possible that you've simply fallen in love with her, and it's taking you a while to catch up to it. Either way, you're a fool for letting her go."
"But what if I do imprint again?"
There it was. That's what had been bothering me about the whole thing. The deep, abiding fear that one of these days I was going to find someone else that could make my wolf roll and writhe like a puppy, and we were going to have to do this all over again. And apparently it was bothering me enough that I was willing to talk to my (most recent) worst enemy just to figure it out.
"What if you imprint? What if the moon was made of blue cheese? Or pigs learn how to fly?" She shrugged. "What if you don't? Have you stopped to consider that?"
Turning, Natalya started walking toward the door. Then she stopped, glancing over her shoulder.
"She's here, you know. Picking up supplies from the clinic, and saying her goodbyes. If you're inclined to grovel I'd suggest you put that transmission down and go after her. The clock is ticking. And you really should put some ice on that nose."
With those cryptic words she just disappeared, leaving only the barest hint of brimstone behind to reassure me she'd actually been there and that bizarre conversation hadn't been a figment of my imagination after all. Her words all but burned a hole into my brain. What if I didn't imprint again? What if I had the chance to find a woman, a normal (well, semi-normal), grown-up human woman, and spend the rest of my life with her? Grow old, the way Sam would with Emily? The way Jake would with Bella?
Jaz loved me. She'd give me that chance. Did I really want to throw it away on the slim chance that lightening might actually strike in the same place twice?
Almost against my will my feet started running toward the door. I vaguely heard Jake's voice shouting after me, but it didn't register. The only thing that mattered was getting to Jaz.
Luck has never been a major player in my life. The fact that I lost Claire should have been your first clue to the fact that karma was a Class-A bitch, and she loved to smack me around. Hell, the fact that I turned into a freaking wolf should have tipped you off somewhere in there. So when I heard the familiar sound of the engine I'd spent hours tuning until it purred like a kitten coming down the road about halfway between Forks and the Cullens', I couldn't believe it. Apparently I didn't have to believe it to do something about it, however, because only a second later my feet were pounding through the dried leaves and brush on the forest floor, sending me flying at inhuman speeds toward the road and the familiar black SUV that was coming around the corner.
I could jump in front of her, but there was no guarantee she'd be able to stop in time. And while I was pretty sure I would recover, that was a really nice truck. Instead, I gauged the distance, hit the edge of the road at a run, gathered myself for one huge leap and soared, landing with a bang on the roof and firmly grasping the edges of the luggage racks to keep myself in place.
Unfortunately, I hadn't given gravity nearly enough credit. As predicted, Jaz had slammed on her brakes the minute my body hit the chassis. Unpredictably, the jolt of the stop and the accompanying fishtail sent me flying. With my hands still firmly gripping the black edges of the rack there was nowhere to go. Instead of making a smooth leap off the top of her car, I somersaulted in the air and came smashing down onto the windshield.
There isn't a windshield on earth designed to hold the force of 200 lbs of shapeshifter crashing down onto it at 55 mph. It didn't just break. It shattered, sending glass flying across the dash and into Jaz's lap. From where I was sitting, half stretched across the roof and half sitting on the dashboard, she didn't look happy to see me.
Shit. Nothing tells a girl you don't want her to leave like trying to kill her.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
The side door slammed with a crack that made me wince. A second later Jaz was standing in front of me, hands on her hips, looking like an outraged pixie. The breath caught in my throat, and all I could do was stare at her. How had I missed this? How the hell had I been stupid enough not to realize until it was almost too late that everything I wanted in life was standing right in front of me, all wrapped up in one pint-sized, red-headed package.
"Quil? Are you alright?"
I must have zoned out, because the next thing I knew she'd climbed onto the hood of the car and was poking at my head. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a penlight and flicked it into my eyes.
"Can you hear me? Quil? Can you follow my finger?"
A hand flashed into my vision. Unclenching the death grip I hadn't realized I still had on the top of the truck I reached out, caught the wrist it was attached to and brought it to my lips.
"Don't go."
"What?"
The shocked fury on her face had given way to concern, then confusion. Clicking off the light she still held in her hand, she frowned.
"I'm going to call Carlisle. You took a pretty good hit. He's going to want to take a look, make sure you didn't do anything major to that hard head of yours."
"I don't need a doctor. I need you. Don't go."
Did she know her face was an open book? It was all in the eyes, shifting, filling with resignation and defeat before she tugged her hand out of my grasp and slid off the hood.
"What you need to do is go to the clinic, get your head checked out and go home."
Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a cell phone.
"I'll call Jake, tell him what happened." Surveying her truck, she added grudgingly, "Looks like I'd better ask for a tow truck too. I can't believe you broke my freaking windshield. What the hell were you thinking?"
"That it's a good thing you know a good mechanic?"
Rolling her eyes, she lifted the phone to her ear. The muscles in my stomach clenched. I was screwing this up, big time.
"Wait." I reached out, grabbed the phone and clicked it off. "You can call Jake in a minute. Hear me out first."
Jaz huffed impatiently, reaching out and trying to grab the phone back. Even sitting on the hood of her car I was still taller than her. I held the phone up, laughing when she jumped for it. Damn, she was cute-especially when she was standing there, arms crossed over her chest, glaring at me. Oh wait. I was trying not to make her mad. Shoot.
"Quil, there's nothing to talk about. You're not thinking straight right now. Evil demons screwing with your head, remember? Not to mention the crack you just gave it off the top of my truck. Go home. See Carlisle. Take two aspirin and call me in the spring. Hopefully by then things will be back to normal."
Panic nipped again, this time with vicious claws. I wasn't like Jake or Embry. I wasn't comfortable with all of this feelings stuff. How the hell was I supposed to make her understand if I couldn't find the words?
"I love you."
It was an even toss for who was more shocked, her or me, when it just spilled off my lips. Her jaw dropped, her eyes went glassy, and for a second I thought she was going to throw up. Yep, just the kind of reaction I'd always hoped for the first time I told a woman I loved her and actually meant it. She was going to have me institutionalized in a minute.
"Quil…"
"No, just…listen, okay?"
Setting down the phone I was still holding hostage I slid down, reaching out and grabbing both her hands so she couldn't take off. The pain in her eyes tore at me. I'd done that. I was only going to get one chance to make it right.
"I know what you're thinking. You're thinking this whole thing was just a set up to screw with you, to screw with both of us. The thing is, I didn't imprint on you. Don't want to. Don't even think about it."
"Oh."
Freckles stood out in sharp relief against a face that went three shades paler than normal. I gave her a quick shake.
"I love you, you idiot. I think I have for a long time, I was just too stupid to realize it until now. You're everything I never knew I always wanted, and that's me saying that. Not some crazy wolf mumbo-jumbo, not some weird demon magic. Just me. Quil. The guy who eats ketchup on his pancakes and leaves his socks on the floor and will never, ever say yes if you ask me to take you shopping for shoes."
There were tears in her eyes now, and I felt every one of those tears like a knife in the gut. Desperate, I reached up to frame her face.
"I know I screwed up. I was stupid, and blind, and thoughtless, and insensitive, and any other words you want to toss my way. God knows I deserve them. But I'm hoping that maybe, while you're tossing those words around, you'll decide to toss me a second chance too. Because there's nothing I want more right now than that second chance with you."
There was nothing more to say, nothing more I could say. Staring down at her, I desperately willed her to understand. I was sunk if she didn't.
"What about your wolf? What happens if one day you do imprint on somebody else?"
"You know what? I don't give a shit." The minute I said it, I realized it was true. I didn't care. I was so sick and tired of everything in my life being dictated by my other, furrier self. "I imprinted once, and it was amazing, but it was also scary and unnatural and…well, everything that's wrong for me. Then I met you, and you made everything right. And even that…whatever it was that Natalya did to me didn't change that. Nothing could."
"You dumped me. Walked away without looking back, remember?" The accusation, and the heat behind it, stung, but I was gratified to see some color in her cheeks. "Nobody's ever hurt me that way. I didn't think anybody could. I don't care how much I still love you, I'm not about to spend the rest of my life waiting around for that to happen again."
"I can't stand thinking about you with him."
"What?"
"I can't stand it." Stroking my thumbs along her cheeks, I murmured, "I was sick with jealousy at Leah's wedding. I couldn't stand the thought of anyone making you happy but me. That night…" Laughter barked out. "Jesus Jaz, I forgot every ounce of common sense I ever had when I dragged you off that dance floor. All I wanted to do was prove to both of us you were still mine. And that was when I was imprinted, no matter how bizarre that imprint might have been."
"I thought you were just being an ass."
The smile that was slowly slipping through the tears was like the sun breaking through the clouds. Relief rushed through me when she lifted her hands and ran her fingers down my arms.
"I love you. You know that. I didn't want to. I tried not to. I was all set to forget about you. And I'm not sure I can do that again." Her voice was soft and serious. "If I believe you, if I give you that second chance and something goes wrong, I'm not sure I'll be able to turn around and walk away again."
"You want guarantees? I can't give them to you. Nobody can. You know that better than I do. But I swear, in front of you and God and my nosy ass friends who think I don't know they're out there, that I will do the best I can to make sure you don't regret it." Bending down, I pressed a kiss to her forehead and closed my eyes, praying to whatever gods watched over the stupid that she would listen. "I'm going to drive you crazy. You're going to drive me crazy. There's always going to be that small, furry part of me that's not 100% sure I'm doing the right thing. It'll never be perfect. But it'll be right."
The silence hanging in the air as her eyes desperately searched my face had never been so loud. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a small, furry nose poking out of the woods. Embry. Like I hadn't smelled him and Jake the minute they'd arrived. Worse than a couple of nosy old biddies.
Oh well. The rest of my life was riding on what happened in the next five minutes. I'd worry about teaching them some manners later.
"Are you sure?" The tears bubbled over when she spoke, and her hands clenched into tight fists on my wrists. She was killing me. "You better be sure. If I decide to stay, you'd better be damn sure this is what you want, because I'm not…"
Her voice cut off with a squeak when I caught her lips, glorying in the soft taste I'd been afraid I was never going to feel again. Her hands slid down my arms and up around my neck, tugging me closer as my ears caught the sound of rustling. Then a howl broke the silence and Jake and Embry walked out onto the path, tongues lolling out, eyes rolling.
Jaz giggled.
"You didn't tell me you were bringing backup," she murmured, her lips still close enough to brush against mine when she spoke.
I didn't bother answering, just dipped my head again to lose myself in the sweet, sweet relief of having her back in my arms. They'd wait. We had all the time in the world.
Author's Note: Phew! Geez, these two really gave me a run for my money. They finally got it together though, and I'm not sure which one of us was happier about it!
Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing, and for lending me your enthusiasm to keep going when I got stuck. I'd like to extend an extra special "I love you" to justafan13 for nominating Jaz for the original character competition. I'm so glad you guys are as crazy about her as I was!
Tim C Girl and Cretin, I couldn't have done it without you guys.
I hope you're all wonderfully happy that Jaz finally got her happy ending.
This is the second in a three part trilogy, and while I'd hoped to be able to at least post the prologue for "Hell's Bells" here for you I'm not quite there yet. I've got some really cool things in store to send these guys out with a bang, and I want to make sure everything lines up just so.
Jake's going to be struggling to keep the pack under control now that he's flying solo…and there's someone else who thinks he ought to have his job. Carlisle petitions the pack for a pack-assisted suicide, claiming that 300 years is long enough to walk the earth and the Volturi are no longer an option. Embry and Andy are going to have to figure out what to do with the crumbling shell of their marriage. Max is about to discover that sometimes true love hides in the most unexpected places.
And in the middle of all of it is Bella and her family as they set the stage for the final showdown with the Volturi, deciding who holds the power once and for all.
I'm hoping to get started on "Hell's Bells" right after the New Year, so stay tuned! (I'll post the prologue here as well as on its own board, for all of you receiving updates on this story that want to find out how their story ends.) In the meantime, I look forward to hearing what all of you have to say about the ending of "Here There Be Demons".
Happy Holidays!