Chapter 35: Whirlwind
Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends. I'm thankful for all the friends I've made through writing this story.
Our music:
"The Unicorn," by the Irish Rovers
"Save Me," by Joan Armatrading
"Falling in Love with You," by Elvis Presley
The people ask me how, I guess they understand And yes I know how lonely life can be
How I've lived 'til now
I tell them I don't know
How lonely life has been
But life began again
The day you took my hand
Shadows follow me
The night won't set me free
But I don't let the evening get me down
Now that you're around me
~And I Love You So by Elvis Presley
o~o~0~o~o
I bet you're all wondering why I disliked the unicorn pyjamas. Okay, I still hate them. I can't help it, even if they did leave Bella's wardrobe a long time ago. They've probably disintegrated to dust by now.
The unicorn pyjamas were all one piece with a zipper up the front, rather like old-fashioned long underwear. They were white with a pink cartoon belly, gold footies and a ridiculous, pink stick-out tail. Cute, right? The thing I hated about them was that they had a hood. And Bella put up the hood when she went to sleep. And on the hood were fake googlie eyeballs and a stuffed golden horn. Not only did the ridiculous hood cover up her hair so I couldn't nuzzle my face into it, the stupid damn horn invariably poked me in the eye. Or the mouth. Or up the nose. And then, the stupid googlie eyes would rattle and roll at me like a great big nanny nanny boo boo.
See, sometimes when Bella slept, I hummed to her. Sometimes, I counted her breaths, or her eyelashes, or her freckles. Sometimes, I counted the hairs on her head (but I always got lost because only God can number the hairs on one's head. I still get lost trying, and I never give up trying). I digress. Sometimes, I used to snuggle up to Bella's warmth and pretend I was asleep. And that's when the unicorn pyjamas became a pain in the backside: I didn't See the horn coming to poke me when I was daydreaming with my eyes shut.
On the upside, Mr. Ed did not like the unicorn pyjamas either. Great mood killer.
Hey! No phallic jokes or I'll stop telling you the story. Pervs. Now, where were we? Ah, it was a wonderful day…
Monday, March 10th, 2004:
"Bella," I murmured, rubbing my mate's arm gently. "We have to get up, Love."
"Hnn, lemme sleep."
"Bella, we have to get to your mother's and pack the truck before it gets light."
"Five more min…" yawn, "Ed-red."
"You have to get up now, Dearest."
The window on the courtyard side of the room snicked open and Titch slid inside. So that's how she'd gotten in to save Bella the previous night!
"Wakey, wakey, rise and shine!" Alice sang, skipping into the casita. We don't want to miss Elvis. He's only going to be at the chapel for a couple of hours today. After that nugget, she started singing The Lonely Goatherd in Cantonese to keep me out.
I frowned. "What are you –Ow!" The second I was distracted, Bella rolled over and jabbed me in the eye with the horn. I sat up and rubbed it while my bratty sister made noises like a squirrel choking on its tongue. At least she was trying not to laugh, I suppose.
"Get dressed, lover boy. Moonlight's burning," Alice ordered me with a grin.
Sighing, I slid out of my cozy bed and collected fresh clothes from my suitcase.
"Bella," Titch said, "if you don't get over to Renée's house in the next twenty minutes, a lizard is going to run in your mother's bedroom and wake her up, and then, we won't be able to load up the truck in peace."
Groaning, Bella smooshed her face into the pillow, then pushed herself up with her arms and swivelled to sit on the edge of the bed. Her hair flopped over her face. "M'kay."
By the time I'd darted into the lavatory to dress and darted out again, Alice had not coaxed Bella to ditch the damn pyjamas.
"I'll just go over there dressed like this," my mate whined.
I winced. "Bella, isn't it rather warm outside for those?"
"Don't care."
"What would you like for breakfast?"
"Not hungry."
"Bella can eat later," Titch said. "We should phone to pick up the truck now. The earlier we get to Renée's, the sooner we can leave." I miss Jazzy.
"Okay." In practically no time at all, we had our stuff crammed in the Porsche and Bella was snoring in the back seat. We set the GPS to find the address given to Alice by the leasing company and phoned ahead to arrange our special, early pick up. Several cube vans were parked outside a convenience store at the side of the highway. Alice and I went inside to sign the rental papers and display our ID, leaving Bella out in the Porsche, sound asleep. We were still talking to the man when we caught the scent.
Vampire.
"Edward," Alice said at vampire pitch. Go, now. She is trying to make a decision about Bella.
All my hackles went up. "If you'll just excuse me a moment," I said blithely to the human, then strolled out the door. There was no wind, so the vampire didn't notice me immediately.
…going home for the summer from college, the young female thought, peering at Bella through the window. Her long, wavy hair was tangled from running. She was wearing black Chucks, pedal pushers and a threadbare jean jacket. Obviously, she'd only just arrived in the area as we hadn't come across her scent before.
She's so lucky to have a home and people that love her. She licked her lips. I don't want to hurt her, but I'm so thirsty. God help me! Why do I have to be like this? I should starve myself to death. I really should.
"Hello," I said mildly, holding my hands apart to signify peace. "Don't get any closer to my mate, please, or I'll have to hurt you. I really don't want to do that."
The vampire spun around, her black eyes flaring in panic. She was quite small and young; perhaps fourteen or fifteen. And dirty. A nomad. She stank of death although she looked malnourished.
"I mean you no harm," I promised.
She rose out of her crouch and worried at the hem of her jean jacket.
"I'm Edward Cullen. My sister, Alice, is in the store. Please step away from the car."
She licked her pale lips and blinked her large, dark eyes spasmodically. "I don't want to kill anybody else." I'm just so thirsty. How can he stand so close to her? She's his mate?
"That's good," I encouraged her. "I'm happy that you don't want to hurt people."
She cocked her head and stood up a bit taller. "Is it? Good?" Nobody's said that to me before. They all think I'm not worth keeping. I won't even have sex with them. I don't like anything about them and I don't want to be like that. How am I going to survive? Who is this guy? Is he like them? There's nobody to trust.
I put my hands in my pockets. "It's extremely good. My family has seven members and we don't kill humans, either." Mostly.
He has a family. "You don't?" She inched closer to me. Is it possible to survive without killing humans?
"That's why my eyes are gold. I feed on animals, not people."
The girl twisted her hands. "Laurent says I have to, or I'll get weak and die. Or else James will kill me. Laurent says I'm stupid to resist it, that we're gods and humans were made for our consumption."
I wrinkled my nose. "We're not gods. God is the only god. And we don't need to drink from humans to survive."
Am I finally going to get some answers? "We don't?"
"No. For one thing, we're really hard to kill. Starving yourself will only make you miserable."
She cocked her head warily. Maybe he's trying to trick me. "How do you know?"
"I'm really old. I've been around."
"How old?"
"Almost a hundred and three."
She blanched. "Oh, no." Will I have to live like this for hundreds of years? I don't want this. There's no relief. No rest for the wicked. Why did this have to happen to me? She gritted her teeth and a tear beaded on each lower lid. Poor kid. I knew exactly how she felt.
"How old are you?"
"Nearly two."
"I figured. I meant in human years. How old were you when you were turned?"
She frowned and her eyes fogged over. "I don't know."
"When's your birthday?"
"I don't know."
"Sorry, kid. That's pretty normal. You should choose a new birthday for yourself, it'll make you feel better. Anyway, you won't die from hunger even though you might feel like you are. If you're interested, there's a nice herd of free range cattle at the southern foot of the Camelbacks, about five miles that way. It's simple. Make sure nobody's watching, jump the fence, break one's neck and throw it over the fence. Then, take it up in the mountains to feed, and hide the body. Watch out for dogs. Beef's fairly tasty, you should try it."
"Thanks!" Looking considerably happier, she prepared to run.
"What's your name, kiddo?"
She smiled radiantly. She was such a pretty child; probably half-Latina. "Bree. Bree Tanner. I remembered it all by myself. And I had parents and a brother and a dog and we lived in New Mexico."
I felt a little apprehensive. Was Maria her Dam? The female in Bree's group didn't look Mexican. She had red hair. "Well, then, you know who you are. You don't need anybody else to tell you."
"Yes, I'm not a monster. At least, I don't have to be. Right?"
Alice marched out of the store and thrust the keys to the cube van against my chest. "We have to go." Don't you dare tell her where we live! It will put Bella in terrible danger.
"Alice, this is Bree. She wants to be a Vegetarian."
"Bree, do you know about talents?"
"Yes."
"I can See your future. If you come with us right now, it won't be good for any of us. Your coven mates would chase you, and that would put all of us in danger, especially Edward's mate. Plus, I See you with a mate. If you come with us now, you won't find him."
Bree looked at me. I don't know if I want a mate. I want friends.
I grimaced. "You might not want a mate now, you're awfully young, but if you don't meet him now, you might not stumble across him again and forever is a really long time. What were you planning to do before you met us?"
"I was going to go back. They said they'd kill me if I don't go back as soon as I'm done hunting. They scare me."
Bella groaned, stretched and sat up in the car. She blinked sleepily. When she saw Bree watching her as though she were parched, Bella's heart quickened and she broke out in a nervous sweat.
Although I wanted to protect Bella more than I wanted anything else, I hated to send the young girl back to that coven. "What do they want with you?"
"Hm? I'm not sure. I think Laurent is the one who changed me. They keep calling me his get."
"Yes, that means he's your sire."
Bree gazed with longing at Bella. "So she's your mate."
"Yes."
"I don't want to hurt her. You're the first person who's been kind to me since I was turned. So, I guess… I'd better keep them from finding you."
"That's extremely kind of you. Thank you for caring."
"I can't seem to help caring about people."
"I'm going to worry about you," I admitted.
"Well, I'm going to learn to control my thirst, even if it makes them mad."
"What will you tell them about your newfound knowledge, about feeding from animals?"
"I'll tell them I was thirsty and I couldn't find a human to drain, so I tried beef."
"Yes. If you have to tell a lie, put some truth in it and it will be more believable."
"Okay."
I looked at Alice. I'm going to give her my phone number.
Titch nodded at me, her eyes black. I don't See much of her impact on us, but I See you making a positive impact on her.
That was good enough for me. I dialed my own number and held my phone up to Bree's face. "Call and let me know how you are."
"Really?"
I nodded. "Good luck, Bree Tanner. I wish you every kind of happiness."
"Thank you, Edward," her eyes shone. "Thanks for telling me there's another way to live." He just saved my life. And maybe some humans.
"Be good, kiddo."
"You, too, amigo!" She turned, with a little wave, and bounded down the dark highway, fleet as a gazelle.
"Move!" Titch hissed, pointing at the cube van. You're driving that thing to Renée's since Bree didn't see you near it. I'm taking Bella there in the Porsche by a circuitous route.
I felt my forehead crinkle up. "That little girl didn't seem like a threat."
It's not her I'm worried about. She's virtually enslaved to a rogue coven; they leave a wake of mayhem behind them wherever they go. We need to clear out before she feeds, picks up on your scent and tries to follow us. That poor kid is scared to death of her maker. If she runs away, they will hunt her down and kill her for leaving.
"Should we allow her to return to them?"
Edward, right now, her naivete is her greatest defence against them. But we can't protect Bella from a coven of three mature Trads. If we go now, Bree won't be able to trace your scent. You should floor it all the way to Renée's. Take a different route from this highway.
My mate was my priority. "Okay." I unlocked the designated truck and started the engine.
"Who was that?" Bella asked Alice fretfully.
"Don't ask me anything right now in case she's listening. Edward and I will fill you in later, I promise."
Soon, I was barrelling down the highway, alone in the truck, hoping that there were no police cameras recording my speed.
At two minutes to six, I backed into Renée's driveway and extended the truck's ramp as quietly as possible. Alice pulled up to the curb precisely at six. Bella was once again asleep in the back seat. Silently, we moved our possessions out of the Porsche, into the back of the truck. It was only a few minutes until that task was accomplished and we needed to go inside the house.
"Bella?" I gave her a gentle shake. "We need your key to Renée's house, Love."
Bella dug blindly in her purse and extracted a key ring. She poked up a key and handed it to me. "I want the potted cacti in the front garden, Love."
"Okay."
Titch and I worked in tandem, quickly loading the large pots into the truck. I wasn't sure where Bella would put them in Charlie's house, but I wasn't about to deny her wish. If we were to leave the plants behind, Renée wouldn't tend to them.
I unlocked the door to the house and opened it for Alice, then wrangled my mate out of the back seat and carried her inside. As we walked upstairs, a tiny green anole skittered down the hall. Alice captured it and carried it into Bella's room. She placed it on the wall and it clung there, eyeing us warily.
I placed Bella on her bed and she settled almost immediately, being unaccustomed to functioning on less than her full eight hours of sleep. Listening carefully for any signs of movement from Renée and Phil, Titch and I carried Bella's boxes and bags down to the living room at vampire speed. By seven o'clock, when Renée woke up, Titch and I had all the small stuff in the truck.
"Bella, you have to wake up and tell us what furniture you're bringing," I said.
"All of it."
"Okay. You can go back to sleep." Alice and I lifted up a bookcase and angled it into the hallway, where I was stopped by Renée.
"Where are you going with that?"
Oh, boy. "Bella says she wants all the furniture."
"Bella didn't ask, and she isn't in charge."
I blinked. "I'm sorry. I just assumed it was hers."
"No." She patted me kindly, hoping to remove any hint of venom from her words. "Never assume. It makes an ass out of u and me. The bedroom suite was mine, when I was a child, and I bought the bookcases for Bella. I'm going to take all of it with me to Florida."
"Oh." Truthfully? All the furniture was pretty ugly. Bella would be better off with new things.
"The only piece of furniture in there that's Bella's is the cedar chest."
"So Alice and I can take that down?"
"Yes."
"Okay."
Titch and I shoved the cedar chest in the back of the truck just as the sun crept over the horizon. "We'd better get going," she said and rolled up the ramp. She hopped into the cab of the truck and opened her hand. "Don't tell me you're unhappy," she whispered to her palm. "If you stay here, Renée will squash you like a bug. You're going to make a great pet for Bella." The anole from Bella's room crept onto the dashboard and its pigment turned from green to brown.
Okay, then!
"We have to move out, Renée." I passed my future mother-in-law and she reached out to gently grasp my arm.
"Edward?"
"Yes?"
She peeked at me shyly and for a moment, I saw Bella in her. "I don't want you to think badly of me."
I shook my head. "You're the mother of my girl. You will always have my honour."
Renée gave me an appraising look. "You love her."
I nodded.
"So, it's serious, then."
"I'm not going to rush into anything, Renée."
"Good. Because, as much as I think you're a fine young man, you're both awfully young. People change a lot between the ages of seventeen and twenty."
"I know." Boy, did I know.
"Like, I didn't really know my own mind when I was Bella's age. Charlie and I, well, we weren't suited and he was too stubborn to listen to his parents and I wanted to give mine the big Eff You and so we ended up married way too young. We thought it was real but it was actually only puppy love and it didn't last once real life problems rolled in."
"Well," I said, not able to look at her, "I'm pretty sure Bella is it for me, but I understand your concerns."
"Just don't knock her up, okay?"
"Yeah, that's not very likely to happen."
"That's what Charlie and I thought." I almost had an abortion. Charlie wouldn't let me.
"Oh." How horrifying! I wasn't about to go into glorious detail about my own anatomical issues. "Thank you for having Bella. For bringing her into this world."
He's an intuitive listener. I wonder if he's psychic. "I will never regret having her. It's the best thing I've ever done in my life." She reached into her pocket and handed me a crystal. "For you."
"Thank you." I put it in my pocket.
"Are you being careful?"
It's a good thing vampires don't blush. "Actually, we haven't… you know."
Her jaw dropped. "Seriously?"
I felt like I might never be able to look Renée in the eye again. "I promise that if and when we… do, I will be very careful."
"Aw," Renée rubbed my shoulder, "you're so sweet. It's not all your responsibility, though."
"I know."
"How old are you?"
"Eighteen."
"That's what I thought." He's waiting for her to be of age. Definitely the responsible type. Wonder if he'll make it 'til September. Maybe I should send Bella a care box with some nice lingerie and some condoms.
Outside, Titch honked the horn. Thank God.
"We have to go. The sun, you know?"
"Oh, of course. I wish you could stay longer."
"Someday, we'll come to Florida."
"You will?"
"Sure." Titch honked the horn again. "Okay, I'd best fetch Bella before my sister has a fit."
"All right."
I hurried up the stairs and plucked my sweaty, stuffed unicorn out of her bed. "Bella?"
"Need my help?" She frowned at her room. "Nothing's in the truck."
"Renée says you can't have the furniture."
"What am I supposed to do with all my books?"
"I have some old bookcases in the basement and they're nicer than these, no offence." I picked up my mate and deposited her outside the lavatory. She gave me the hairy eyeball.
"You're giving me an awful lot of stuff lately."
I shrugged. "The house in Forks has built in bookcases. None of us has any use for my old ones; they're collecting dust. If you take them, you'll give us more room to store the things we actually want to keep."
My mate gave me the side-eye. "So, I'd be helping you out."
"Yes." I beamed.
"All right, thanks," she said brightly, then frowned at me and waggled a finger. "Don't think that's going to work for you all the time, though."
"It's not like I'm giving you an engagement ring. It's just a pair of dusty old bookcases." I shrugged as Bella walked into the bathroom and shut the door. I rejoined Renée downstairs. "Bella's taking a turn in the washroom and then we'll be off."
"Well, thank you for bringing her, Edward." Renée offered me a hug and I took it, holding my breath. I released her quickly before she could realize my heart didn't beat; Renée was far too perceptive for comfort. "I hope we'll see you again, handsome."
"I hope so, too. Maybe next time, I'll meet Phil."
"Yes, hopefully, once we're moved and settled, he'll be around more."
Bella came downstairs barefoot, wearing a white sundress that tied around her neck with ribbons. Her shoulders were bare, too. I decided that I needed to get her some necklaces to accentuate her throat.
"Ready to go?" I asked, tasting venom.
"Yep." She reached out and hugged her mother. "Bye, Renée."
"Aw, Izzy!" Renée kissed her cheek. "Take care of you."
"Yeah."
"Bye, Edward."
"Bye. I hope you enjoy Florida." And you never move to Forks.
Titch was waiting patiently in the passenger side seat of the cube van. I carried Bella outside and lifted her into the middle of the truck's bench seat, then climbed behind the wheel.
"What a lovely dress, Bella!" Titch said, passing her a pair of white ballet flats I'd never seen before. "I haven't seen clothes made of eyelet in a long time. Was it your mom's?"
"Um, thanks. No, I bought it last summer at a consignment shop but I never got a chance to wear it. I wasn't sure it was my style."
"You look lovely." I turned onto the highway. "Are we all clear, Titch?"
"Of vampires, you mean?"
"Yes."
But we should be careful. Don't get complacent. Titch and I opened the windows a crack and sampled the air. Bella smoothed back her hair and my sister braided it into a simple knot that I found very attractive. I couldn't smell Bree, but my mate sure smelled good.
I was conscious of Bella's stare although she remained quiet for some time. Even when we merged onto the 60 West Interstate, she didn't say a word. "Penny for your thoughts?"
"Who is she?"
My forehead wrinkled. Was my mate cross? Why would she be mad at me?
Ah, she was getting territorial. How hawt was that! "She's just a kid. She's mixed up with a bad coven and she wants out. Wants to be like us."
"Wants you," Bella said bitterly.
"No," I said calmly. "She wants a protector, not a mate. She'd have loved for me to be her big brother."
"Then, why didn't you invite her to come home with us?"
"She's young." I twisted my hands on the wheel. "Her control is poor. I couldn't have her anywhere near you. She cannot find out where we live. That's why we had to split up; I can't have her following me back to Forks."
"You thought she would hurt me."
"I know she would have hurt you."
Bella chewed her lip and looked at Alice, who nodded. "Either she would have hurt you by accident, or her coven would have killed us all on purpose. We're badly outnumbered here."
The familiar worry line appeared between Bella's eyes. "But what reason could they possibly have to hurt you? Me, I can understand, if they were thirsty and I was nearby, but there's nothing special about me that should make a group of strangers want to search for me and hunt me down."
"Love, you're far too innocent."
Titch hugged Bella's arm. "The di Olympia aren't your average vampires."
"But you haven't done anything to them," Bella argued hotly. "Why would they seek you out? It's not like you're luring away their cult member."
"But that's exactly what I've done," I explained. "I told her there was a better way of life: a place where she can live in peace without anyone forcing her to indulge her lusts. The way her coven mates will see it, is that she's their property. They'll hate me for telling her they've lied about what she has to do to survive. Lack of knowledge kept her too afraid to leave them."
"But isn't it a bit paranoid to think they'd come after you for that?"
"Vampires are often paranoid. We're very territorial. And you're talking about Trads, here. They're far more impulsive than we."
"The majority of Trads," Titch explained, "are self-indulgent and they don't always display a lot of self-control. They might make up and execute an elaborate plan to obtain the thing they want –so that they won't get caught and risk their lives or those of their mates- but they aren't easily swayed from tracking down whatever thing they want and taking it."
I sniffed the air outside as I did a shoulder check. "Trads feel superior to humans and entitled to get their way. They don't tend to have much in the way of ethics. You ought to know that a moral code is about the only thing that separates us from animals."
"Yes," Titch almost breathed. "And even Cullen ethics can be compromised in favour of our physical desires."
"Hmph!" I rolled my eyes. "Not compromised, abandoned." I took the roundabout and merged onto the US-93 North.
"I don't believe that," Bella pouted. "Your self-control is much better than you think."
Cupping the back of her neck in my hand, I traced my thumb over the faint silver bite marks on her jugular. Everyone in my family was going to know exactly how close I'd come to chucking my ethics out the hotel window. I traced the marks again, wrestling with conflicting feelings; I ought to be feeling guiltier, but part of me liked having my mark on Bella. Mine. She was mine, and any vampire who got near her would smell it in the scar. Permanently.
"What was her name?" Bella whispered.
"Why?"
"I just want to know."
"You know there's nothing to this, right? She seems like a nice kid, but she isn't my mate. There's no reason for you to be jealous."
"I'm not jealous, I'm curious. That could be me someday."
I turned to stone. "That will never be you." Over my undead body!
"But she isn't much younger than I, and I presume she had to give up her family, right? I want to know what her life is like."
"Her humanity was stolen from her." Just as I will steal yours from you. "But your unlife would be nothing like the misery of hers."
"Bella," Titch shot an anxious glance at me. "We will help you remember who you were. Edward won't let you forget anything that you want to know. But the main thing is, you will always be loved. Nobody loves Bree. She's all alone and treated badly."
"Bree."
"Her name's Bree Tanner," I snapped. "She knows she lived in New Mexico and that she had parents and a brother. She can't remember anything else about being human, even her birthday or her age."
Bella's eyebrows shot up. "Why wouldn't they tell her that?"
"What makes you think they would know?" I growled.
"Knowledge is power, Bella," Alice murmured. "And in our world, it's life or death."
The mood in the truck for the next forty miles was sober. Finally, Alice broke the silence.
"Bella, there's a bottle of water for you in the cooler bag. Would you like some?"
"Sure, yeah, that would be great. Thanks."
"You'd better give the lizard a bit, too," I said, inclining my head at him.
"Um, why do you have a lizard in the truck?" Bella put a bit of water on the end of her finger and dripped it on the dash. The anole licked it up.
"Alice's idea."
My sister puffed up with indignation. "Renée would have squashed him. And he's so cute."
"How are you going to take care of him?" Bella frowned. "Their chief diet is fruit flies."
"I thought you might like to make a pet out of him." I peeked at Bella from under my lashes.
"I told you, Edward. I've murdered three goldfish. I'll forget to feed the poor little dude."
"Well, I'll look after him, then. We can put a terrarium in your room and have a couple of your cacti in it."
"Ooh, he'll like that!" Alice squealed. The lizard puffed out his pink dewlap in alarm.
"They like to lick fresh citrus fruit," I coaxed, "and that would attract the fruit flies. And I can bring him some bugs."
Bella shuddered. "No crickets."
"Maybe he'd eat the live bait out of Charlie's cooler."
"You're feeding him, not me!"
Titch positively squirmed with excitement. "What will you name him?"
I gave her the side-eye. "You mean, you don't already know?"
"Junior," Bella said decisively.
I frowned. "Junior! Are you implying that you're naming a reptile after me?"
She picked up the lizard and baby-talked him. "Yes. This wittle gween monster is impossibwy fast and can eat his own body weight in wive food. He's a pwedator and he's cold-bwooded but he wikes the heat. There's a definite resembwance."
"I'm not cold-blooded," I pouted.
"But he's your baby!" She held him out to me. "He woves you."
"Aw, nuts."
Titch and Bella giggled and I ignored their teasing, put on my Fifties music and sang all the way to Vegas. The girls joined in when they knew the songs. Junior sat on Bella's chest and basked in her body heat. I told myself it would be crazy to be jealous of a tiny green lizard. So colour me crazy.
In the mid-afternoon, we pulled off the Boulevard into the underground parking garage at Caesar's Palace. The security guard at the entrance motioned for me to put down my window. "Smile for the camera!"
We smiled and he took our picture.
"Is it okay to park the truck in here?" I checked.
"You should be fine if you stick to the next lower level. Good thing it's a weekday and you're here early; we're not full up yet."
"Okay, thank you."
"Enjoy your day at Caesar's Palace!"
We drove down the circular ramp into the bowels of the earth. Just joshing. It just felt that way. The three of us got out of the truck and Bella stretched. "What do we do with Junior? It's pretty hot in here."
I scooped up the lizard and put him in the pocket of my short-sleeved shirt. He promptly ran out and hid underneath the collar. I offered my elbows to my womenfolk and walked them to the elevator at the far, east end of the building. "Are you hungry, Bella?"
"Yes."
"What would you like to eat?"
"I don't know. Anything."
We ended up at a place called the Cheesecake Factory with three huge portions of cheesecake, some Coke and a waitress who was far too attentive to me. Until Junior ran out of my collar and flashed his dewlap at her. Then, she fainted. I thought Bella and Titch were going to snort themselves to death when I hid the lizard and made up a cover story with the manager.
Well, it was funny. I mean, it's only an itty bitty lizard, yeah?
Titch took off to shop and Bella and I looked in a couple of stores until she declared herself shopped out. So, we sat on some benches not far from the restaurant and watched the mix of human actors and animatronic puppets act out the Fall of Atlantis on the elevated stage amidst the jetting fountains. The lights dropped and a laser show painted stars, waves, clouds and colours over everything. I nudged Bella's shoulder. "Pretty cheesy."
"Cheesecake." Her flirtatious look challenged me.
I licked my lip. "I like the cheese."
"I can see that."
I stooped to kiss her and she wound her arms around my neck. "Careful of the baby," I cautioned her, adjusting her forearm off his tail. Bella's fingers stroked through my hair while her teeth nibbled at my bottom lip. We broke apart, gasping, to my relief. She needed air and I needed an incentive not to bite her. Yeah, standing in the middle of a mall, full of human patrons, was not nearly enough incentive to not claim my mate. If anything, it made me want to do it more.
"I hear fireworks." I swayed Bella on the spot.
Bella blinked and regarded me with artificial solemnity. "It's pre-recorded thunder."
"It's your heart."
I nuzzled the scar on her throat and savoured the hint of blood. We ignored the racket of the show, including the whoosh as pyrotechnic flames soared ten feet in the air. Of course, my own internal flames were equally active and heated. Titch busted up our party just as it was getting really ginchy.
"Are we going to see Elvis or not?" she demanded, passing a bag from Victoria's Secret to Bella (who looked in the bag and turned an intriguing colour of red).
◊What's in the bag, Titch? You can tell me. I'm totally trustworthy. What did you just give my mate?
"Forget it, Edward." She needs some nice, new things that fit properly. They're not really for you. Yet.
Damn. "So, Bella, would you like to meet Elvis?"
Bella tipped her head to the side and appraised me. "I'm not marrying you. Not today."
"You sure about that?" Titch sang.
Wha…?
Bella turned so fast to look at Alice that her neck cracked. "Did you See something?"
My sister rocked back and forth on her feet. "Maybe."
"What did you See, Alice?" Bella demanded.
"Wouldn't it be super, just to meet Elvis?" Titch pleaded. "It's the King! Edward loves his music. Plus, he's pretty wise, you know. It would do Edward some good to listen to him. You don't have to have a human wedding. Please, Bella?"
Bella frowned at her warily. "I don't want a vampire wedding, either. I don't want to get married at all."
Alice bent her knees, jiggled up and down and folded her hands under her chin. "Just stop worrying and live a little! This will be fun. We're talking about Elvis!"
Bella glanced at me. "Well…"
"Yay!"
Titch shoved Bella onto my back, stole Bella's shopping, latched onto me and dragged me the whole length of the mall, at a speed too great for humans to notice. I didn't even have time to get cold feet. We ended up skulking into a back alley not far from the Bellagio. There was a street, and a wide strip of sun, between us and a plain white chapel that was neat as a pin, squished up between some broken-down store fronts.
"Now, Bella," Titch said, "hold your breath and hide your face against Edward's shoulders. Edward, when I tell you, run and leap."
The seconds ticked by. There was a wedding going on in the chapel and I could hear a pair of excited humans receiving marital advice from a guy who sounded exactly like Elvis.
"Is that really Elvis?" I asked dubiously, refusing to hope that Bella would actually marry me.
"As far as anyone can tell," Titch told me. "This is so much fun. Nobody's ever going to believe you two did this!" She put her palm on my shoulder. "Get ready."
I flexed my knees. A second later, the newly-wed humans marched out of the chapel, singing Elvis songs and waving some flowers.
"Go!" Titch gave me a big shove and I took two steps and leaped across the road. A flash of light signalled my passage, but by the time the human drivers began to wonder what might have been the cause of it, I was already shutting the door and setting my mate on her feet. I peeked out to make sure the humans in the road weren't going to follow us inside.
"Well, well, who do we have here?" a familiar voice asked. "Kindly lock the door." After doing so, I turned to find my mate staring, wide-eyed. So I turned the rest of the way around. Elvis Presley was standing on the red carpet at the front of the small chapel. He was wearing one of his famous white jumpsuits, dripping with real diamonds and gold. He was in wonderful shape.
"Mr. Presley?" I checked.
"I am," he bowed, "the King. At your service."
"I can't believe this!" I beamed. "I love your music."
"Thank you. Thank you very much. Always nice to meet a fan."
He moved at vampire speed to join us and Bella jumped a mile. He took her hand and bent over it as though he were going to kiss it. "Enchanté."
Elvis held his diamond-laden hand out and I took it. "Are you really Elvis?" I demanded.
"The same. I had to go, you know. The spy gig was getting too hot."
"CIA?"
"You betcha."
"You look good, sir." He'd appeared so ill before his 'death'. Now, his skin looked youthful and toned and his hair was thick and dark.
He looked over the white rims of his oversized dark sunglasses. "One addiction exchanged for another, you know what I'm saying?" His eyes were a brilliant gold.
"I do, indeed." He released my hand and I drew Bella to my side. "My name is Edward Cullen. This is my mate, Bella, and that's my sister, Alice."
Elvis gave each of us a long look while his brain processed our situation. The kid needs help… too caught up in tenderness for his mate to take care of himself. He doesn't realize that dithering is not good for her. Well, I'll help them out. He took Bella's hand and escorted her to sit in the first pew. "So, you're aware that you're already linked, forever after, to this man?"
"Yes."
"Okay, if you'd care to lie down on the altar up there, I'll do the honours."
Bella blanched. "Wh-what? N-no!"
Elvis looked at me like I had six heads. It was kind of embarrassing, really. She doesn't want to join with you in the ever-after?
"Bella and I have only known each other for three months. And she's still so young."
"Ah. So, if you don't want me to bite her for you, it follows that you're here to get married."
I winced. "She doesn't… she's not ready…"
"Oh, I see," Elvis drawled. "We've got us an interesting situation, here." My special skills are in order. Well, they've come to the right place. He took Bella's hand, caressed it, and sank to one knee beside the pew. "Can we have a little chat, missy?"
Bella's shoulders were hunched. "Um, yes?"
He whipped off his sunglasses. "Do you understand that this fine man, here, had his whole world shaken up when he found you?"
"Yes."
"He is never gonna be the same."
"No, sir."
"You're never gonna be the same, either."
"No, sir."
"That fella right there, he loves you more than he loves breathing."
"I know."
"And do you love him like that?"
Bella turned bright red. "I love him with everything that I have. But I don't feel old enough… mature enough… to get married."
"Well, marriage is a holy estate, not to be entered into lightly." He seemed to think, like Carlisle, that we could still belong to God. I eyed the ornate gold cross on the altar with some trepidation.
For the first time, Bella smiled. "Yes, that's just how I feel about it." I had to agree with her.
"And your mate, there," the King gestured at me, "he wants nothing more than to give you his name so that you can be rightfully his in the eyes of God and in front of the world."
Was Elvis a mind reader like me? How could he understand me so well? We'd never met!
Bella peeked at me and I peeked back at her. "I know," she murmured.
"But you are not prepared to leave childish things behind you."
"No, not really," she whispered.
"Even if it hurts him."
A lump formed in my throat. I wasn't sure I was ready to hear Bella's answer.
"I don't want to hurt him," Bella whispered. "I want to make him happy. I just… If I were to marry him right now and get transformed and leave my human life behind, I don't think I'd be happy. I want to graduate from high school first. And if I become unhappy, how could I possibly make him happy?"
"Well, each of us is responsible for our own happiness. Priscilla and I had to learn that. But our kind? We can't be happy without our mates, so it's essential that we take care of our mates' needs in a selfless way." I knew he was talking to me and I renewed my resolve to be unselfish.
"Yes." Bella looked up at me. "Edward is very selfless. He always puts me first." She stared at me and I got lost in her eyes.
"And what about you? Do you always put him first?"
His words slapped me like dead trout. To be honest, it wasn't a question that had ever occurred to me. It didn't matter, did it? It's not like my treatment of Bella would ever change. If he'd hit upon a flaw in our bond, though, it was going to be very painful to absorb.
Bella broke eye contact with me. "I want to," she said immediately, "but I don't know if I actually do. I feel like I still decide too many things according to what I want, not to suit his wishes. It makes me feel selfish and immature but I don't know how to change."
While it wasn't exactly the message I wanted to hear, it was honest. And she said she wanted to show me that kind of devotion, which was encouraging. After all, Bella was only human. How could she understand the all-encompassing power of an eternal commitment? Surely she would understand in time.
Elvis patted her hand and stood up, but continued to hold hands with Bella. "I think that's a very mature admission." Her heart is good. He held out his free hand to me. Come here.
I walked up the aisle and gave Elvis my hand. He held onto both of us. "I think Edward needs a little bit of security."
Bella looked up at me uncertainly. "What kind of security?"
He smiled a private smile. "The kind that comes from a promise, sugar."
Bella's heart began to thud against her ribs. "How big of a promise?"
I was about to tell him not to fret her when he said, "No papers, no deals, no oaths to God, no blood, no venom, no consummation, just the promise, one witness."
"Why?" Bella asked. "What good is it, without any of those things?"
"It makes it real. You know how if there's a flood, people pile up sand bags to keep out the water?"
"Yes."
"We have strong feelings. Whenever he feels afraid to lose you, and you lay down reassurance, you'll fortify him against feeling like he's drowning."
"Oh." She appraised me and the crease between her eyes deepened. "So it's just kind of a promise thing?" she checked. "To confirm our commitment?"
"Yes'm."
"Okay." Bella smiled at me. "Let's do this."
"Really?" An ember of excitement bloomed in my still heart. I could have done cartwheels down the aisle!
Titch held up her video camera. "Can I use this?" The family is never going to believe he can smile like that.
"Knock yourself out, darling." Elvis clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "You two want to walk down the aisle together?"
"Will you sing?" I asked.
"Yeah, I'll sing. And you can dance or skip or crawl up here, for all God and I care." He stood with a flourish and shooed us away. Then, he hit the remote on a karaoke machine and began to sing Falling in Love with You. It was really Elvis!
(I had a fan boy moment. Sue me.)
I stuck out my hand and Bella took it. I spun her into my side and danced her slowly down the length of the red carpet in a box step. She looked small and dainty in the tight-waisted dress. The ribbons on her neck made it appear as though they were streaming from her bun. If I could push away my shadows and just enjoy the moment, I could pretend we were actually getting married and that she'd purposefully dressed for the occasion.
I took Bella part way back down the runner a couple of times so the King could get through the first verse, but in the end, we stood before him. Smoothly, he clicked the karaoke to pause the song.
"That was nice," he said with admiration.
"Thanks."
"What's with the lizard?"
"He's a pet."
"You got rings?"
"Um, no."
"Any jewelry?"
I winced. "Not really."
"No matter. I keep some trinkets around for just such occasions. I make stuff in my spare time. Idle hands are the devil's workshop, you know." He zipped over to the small lectern, pulled out a wooden cask and sifted through it. "You're not a bling sort of couple." He selected a braided pewter ring and held it up. "Yeah, I like this one for you." Motioning to Alice, he placed it in her hand. Then, he took a black, braided leather bracelet out of his box and admired the oval turquoise bead in its center. "This will be just fine."
Elvis scooped up his Bible off the lectern and got Alice to set the ring in its crease. He set the bracelet beside it.
"We are gathered here today in the sight of God and this company to validate the bond of this couple, Edward Cullen and Bella?"
"Isabella Swan," my mate said.
"And Isabella Swan. Is there any just reason why this couple cannot bond?"
"No," Alice said firmly.
"Isabella, will you take Edward for your eternal mate, to love, from this day forward, forever?"
"I will."
"Edward, will you take Isabella for your eternal mate, to love, from this day forward, forever?"
"I will."
"As you have sworn to love each other and have expressed your wish to be fully bound together, let this jewelry be a reminder of your growing bond." He picked up the bracelet and handed it to me. "Now, you put this on Bella."
I carefully tied the leather laces to her wrist.
"Repeat after me: take this as a symbol of my undying love."
I did. Elvis plucked up the pewter ring and handed it to Bella. He gave her my right hand and she managed to push the ring onto my pinky finger.
"Take this as a symbol of my undying love," Bella said.
"I now officially pronounce you mates." Elvis nudged me with his elbow. "Show her the love, boy."
I kissed Bella the way one would kiss one's mate in front of Elvis and God. Then, Elvis turned on his karaoke machine and finished the rest of his song. Titch put away her video camera and took some photos. I took a couple of her hugging Elvis. We had Elvis sign an autograph for Emmett, and then, it was time to go. I put Bella on my back and just as we were leaving, Elvis tossed his scarf to her. At Alice's say-so we leaped back across the road. Once we were safely in the shadows, Bella waved the scarf at the chapel. Another scarf waved back, from the chapel window.
"That was just beautiful." Titch sighed, getting all soggy.
"Emmett's going to be jealous." I was the cat that ate the canary and swallowed every last tickly yellow feather.
Bella peeked up at me. "Edward? Do you feel better?"
"Yes. Do you?"
"Uh, yeah? I feel… different somehow."
"It's your bond, Bella," Titch informed her. "Every time you validate it, it gets stronger."