Chapter 26

Thanks to Alice's spectacular planning, the ceremony had flowed into the reception party food table, covered with lace tablecloths, were covered with dainty sandwiches, little cakes, and other food that seemed too beautiful to eat. On the other side of the room was the beverage table. Bottles of ginger ale and champagne were emptied out onto glass goblets. A fountain of chocolate sat in the middle of the table, along with marshmallows, strawberries, graham crackers, and skewers in every color.

Jared knew that Alice had done this, partly to distract humans from the fact that some of the guests weren't very hungry. And he had to hand it to her--the little vampire knew how to plan ahead.

"Here, I brought you a plate."

Jared looked down and saw Renesmee holding out a plate of sweets to him.

"Er...thanks," he said, taking the plate. He was pretty hungry.

Renesmee smiled as she stood next to him.

"Where's Jacob?" Jared asked.

To his surprised, Renesmee scowled. "I don't know. Probably flirting with another girl, for all I care." She waved her hand dismissively, as if she couldn't care less.

"Jacob flirts with other girls?" Jared asked. Strange. He had always thought imprinters were faithful to their imprintees....

"Well, he says he doesn't," Renesmee sneered. "But who can read his mind?"

"Your dad?" Jared said.

Renesmee scowled even further. "Well, I don't trust Dad either. Men are all the same."

Jared was about to open his mouth to protest when he felt a small piece of a doughnut being shoved into his mouth.

"Hey, man, don't chew with your mouth open," Jacob laughed.

Jared quickly swallowed the piece of dougnut and turned to speak to Renesmee.

Too late. She was already gone.

"Thanks a lot, Jake," Jared grumbled. "I'm about to defend you and you rudely shove food in my face."

"Defend me?" Jacob repeated. His eyes followed Renesmee who was standing in front of the chocolate fountain, dipping a strawberry in.

Jared nodded. "She thinks you're flirting with other girls. You better watch it, man."

Jacob sighed. "I'm not flirting! I'm just being nice! Can I help it if I act like a gentleman?"

"Since when are you a gentleman?" Jared asked.

"I don't know. I guess Edward is rubbing off on me," Jacob admitted."Better go talk to her."

"Well, be careful," Jared said as Jacob disappeared through the crowd. "Be polite! And don't shove fodo in her face! She won't like it!"

He ignored the looks he got from people as he shouted the last sentence.

What? Jacob had to know that shoving food was not a gentlemanly fashion!

"Hey, have you seen Leah?"

Jared stared at Sam. "I thought you were just with her."

"I was," Sam said. "But then I looked away for a second to grab something to eat. When I looked back, she was gone! I told her to stay with me!"

Jared patted Sam on the back. "Don't worry. I'm sure she's all right."

"Yeah, well, Devon's here," Sam told him. "And until he's gone.."

"Whoa, wait, Devon's here?" Jared exclaimed. Again...more looks. But he ignored them again. "Devon? As in Devon Tamp? As in guy-who-tried-to-rape-Leah? That Devon Tamp?"

"Watch your mouth!" Sam shushed him.

"Sorry," Jared said. "But you better find her fast, Sam. If you don't..."

"Yes, thank you so much for reminding me!" Sam hissed as he walked away.

"You go get him, Sam!" Jared shouted, pumping a fist into the air. "Make his life hell! Kick him where it hurts!"

This time people glared. Jared sighed.

"What?" he said to the nearest couple. "I'm just giving words of encouragement!"

----

Leah let out a deep breath as she stepped out into the cool air. It was slightly windy now and the breeze felt good against her skin.

The reception party, despite the size of the room, had been extremely uncomfortable for Leah. The vampires were nerve-wracking enough. Even though they were wearing contacts (they had to, to hide the eyes), Leah had caught a glimpse of red as one vampire failed to notice his contact had dissolved until Leah had kindly pointed it out.

But nothing, nothing was as terrifying as Devon himself. She hadn't felt easy ever since he had touched her leg during the ceremony. If he touched her like when they were surrounded by people, she was afraid to think what he would do if they was alone.

But she wasn't alone. The concierge could clearly see her through the glass door. And there was the doorman standing outside, in clear view of her.

Leah sighed of content. The wind felt so good, she took her jacket off.

"Have I mentioned you look beautiful?"

Thinking it was Sam, Leah smiled and turned around. But instead, she found Devon.

The smile quickly faded.

"Come on," he said, grinning. "I give you a compliment and that's how you thank me?"

"What do you want, Devon?" Leah asked. She wasn't afraid. Devon wouldn't dare do anything to her while there were people at the door...

Then to her horror, she saw the doorman on the floor. Somehow, he had been knocked unconscious without her knowing.

And the concierge was nowhere in sight.

Before she knew it, Devon was roughly dragging her by the arm.

So she did the one thing she could.

She screamed a hell of a scream!