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I must warn you, though, some parts of this chapter are rated M. I'm sorry if that inconveniences anyone.

I spent a long time analyzing the letter, the crisp beige parchment paper folded neatly into thirds; not really looking for the answer to the riddle itself, but perhaps something beyond that. I had so many questions and my suspicions lately were surmounting. There was something … something I wasn't seeing clearly … something a part of my brain was screaming at me to figure out … but what?

That smart thing to do is to work out the riddle now, I suppose so that is what I did. Once again I went to my desk with a little note pad and pen and sat down rereading the entire letter.

In the Past you were young … I read over the first few lines. They dealt with past, present and future … all elements of time.

Time.

That fit. It is that which moves forward yet always stay unchanged … nothing affects in yet it leaves nothing the same. Definitely it's time. So what then? I have to find time? Time to do what, though?

Thus far you have always had the cover of night in which to hide. We wonder, can you be discreet in broad daylight?

I frowned as I read that part over again. The obvious answer was that I would have to go somewhere during the day and find something. But it couldn't be … imagine me trying to climb over the locked gate in the Cathedral building in broad daylight… ridiculous. I'd had to drag a table and a chair over to the damn thing just to be able to get over it, I'd get caught if I'd done it during the day while it was open.

But upon second thought, I realized there must be something missing. Anonymity is key, they'd drilled that fact securely into my head so I didn't think they'd risk their secrecy on me.

So I was going to have to find time during the day. OK then.

It makes absolutely no sense.

I was just about to get up and put the letter away with all the others when I read over the last few lines of the riddle;

We all have it

Some more, some less

Never realizing how little of it

We actually possess

The words themselves clearly held deeper meaning, underlining the knowledge of the ages they held onto desperately; life is short. But it wasn't the depth behind the meaning that caught my attention. No, it was the words themselves.

Under the last S on the word 'possess', there was the tiniest, almost insignificant little smudge. It mirrored a random one earlier in the letter, as though someone had folded it up without letting the ink dry completely…

And I felt my heart beating loudly with a sudden realization … whoever wrote this one must've been in some kind of a hurry, I thought to myself. The people who write these letters are human, and of courses they are prone to mistakes like the rest of us, so whoever did the actual writing hadn't let the ink from the calligraphy dry enough.

My mind instantly wandered back to Jasper's apartment a few days ago … the folder Melanie handed Jasper, and more importantly the ink bottle that fell out of her bag.

It couldn't be …

My heart raced as my mind began to put together pieces of an extraordinary puzzle. Who carries an ink bottle around with them? It had to be her. But that means that Jasper is in on it too. It is completely possible that the folder she handed to him contained the very same letter I have in my hands at this moment. It would make sense since Jasper is over our place all the time. He could certainly have dropped it off here. And he was connected to the one person I certainly suspected more than anyone else; Joshua. Josh's family was connected to mine, his grandfather and my grandmother were best friends and she'd been the matron of honor at his wedding. He would know of her and her last name and her history.

I let my thoughts wander back to the beginning of the year at school when I was first introduced to him. How strange his reaction had been to my grandmother's last name. He had to be involved. It made perfect sense. Adrenaline pulsed through me as I put together these pieces of the puzzle. Melanie was Joshua's girlfriend. Both of them were in the League. I thought back to the masked ball a few months ago…

The small ornate room with the large round wooden table. The room that I entered when I left the ballroom with a few other people… four men in coat and tails and one girl in a very pretty ball gown. It was the day I became aware of exactly what I was getting into. The day I had felt more connected to my little family mystery than ever. The day I discovered the letter from my grandmother. I was so happy that night; despite all the mysteries and the fact that I knew no one in there, I'd felt safe and happy and just a little bit scared but not in a bad way. They had known me so well. They'd seemingly known absolutely everything about me. They had given me exactly what I was looking for and yet I'd known nothing about them.

But maybe I did. Maybe I'd known about them all along… or at least about some of them. Joshua was an upperclassman and he'd known about me from the beginning. If Melanie was in the League then he definitely was, and he was probably some kind of leader.

Wasn't he?

There were so many thoughts circling in my head that I couldn't think straight. I could barely make sense of it all. It was all too much right now and I was tired. With my weariness I probably wasn't thinking straight at this moment anyway. I decided not to jump to conclusions until I had actually proof. I put the letter away with all the others in the long midnight blue rectangular box hidden in my drawer under layers of folded clothes and went to bed. I'd figure it all out in the morning.

I lay in my bed, my back against my soft aquamarine jersey flannel sheets, my head resting on my pillow … I was perfectly comfortable. But sleep did not invade me. All that I saw when I closed my eyes were puzzle pieces. Dozens upon dozens of puzzle pieces in various forms of clarity, most within my reach… all I had to do was grab them.

And I would.

Soon.

--

I lay in bed for at least another hour, wide awake. I still couldn't shake all of suspicions but I had to find someway of getting rest or else I'd be a walking zombie all day tomorrow. So I did the only thing I could think of that would instantly relax me.

I got up from my bed and went to the bathroom to wash my face and freshen up a little before throwing on some flip-flops, grabbing my key and my cell phone and heading out of my dorm. I made my way carefully upstairs and to Edward's dorm, praying that the door would be unlocked still.

Lucky for me, it still was.

The room was empty except for Edward, who was curled up on his bed, the covers only covering half his body and his one arm draped lazily over the side of the bed. Smiling at the site of him, I kicked off my flip-flops, threw my keys and cell down on his bed side table and climbed into bed with him as quietly as I could. Gingerly, I lifted his arm up so I could snuggle under it as I positioned myself on his bed.

He didn't start to stir until I was almost in a perfectly comfortable spot, my head sharing a bit of his pillow, our faces inches apart. All previous thoughts fell out of my head as I set eyes on his perfectly serene face; his lips were in the most adorable little pout. I kissed them gently and closed my eyes, already feeling relaxed and ready for bed.

"Bella?" I heard him whisper. Even with my eyes closed I could tell there was a smile on his face.

"Mmm hmm?"

His arm tightened around me as he pulled me closer into him, "This is a surprise."

"A good one, I hope?"

He chuckled, "A very good one."

I smiled at him and gave a small shrug, "I couldn't sleep."

Edward brought one hand up to the back of my head, right above my neck, tangling his fingers in my thick, loose strands of hair and tilted my head up, giving him easier access to my lips. "Is it wrong of me to be happy about that? I'm just glad it got you up here."

I felt myself blush at his words. "It definitely isn't wrong." I closed my eyes, letting the comforting feeling of his body being so close to mine take over.

His voice turned mocking, "And what makes you think I'm just going to let you sleep?" he asked with a mischievous tone in his voice.

"Oh? What did you have in mind then?"

He brought his soft lips to mine in a tender kiss, his perfect mouth parting mine, soft at first, but quickly becoming more urgent. My hands moved onto his face, bringing it harder into my own, practically welding our lips together.

I pulled away momentarily to take a breath, but he continued against my cheek, under my ear, along my jaw, under my chin and then worked his way down to my neck, placing fiery kisses along the way. I could do nothing but bring my hands to his hair, urging him to continue. And continue he did, as his hands went behind my back, one on my lower back and the other on my shoulder. A small gasp escaped from me when he pulled at my shoulder and pushed the small of my back into him, forcing me to arch so that more of my neck and chest were exposed.

I couldn't think.

I could hardly breathe.

All I could focus on were his delicious lips against my skin, leaving fiery sensations wherever they touched. Not being able to take it anymore, I brought his face back to mine, kissing him passionately as my hands moved under his t-shirt, feeling the perfect contours of his body. He moaned against me as my hands moved further up, his moans fueling the fire that was already building in me.

And suddenly I was underneath him. He was supported on top of me so that our bodies were touching but I held none of his weight. His hands ran smoothly from my neck, down to my side, over my rib cage, past my waist and settled on my hip which he held on to before gripping my thigh and hiking it up to his own hip. My hands continued to roam, moving softly against every muscle I could reach under his shirt. His skin felt so soothingly warm against mine, not overly hot or suffocating, it was just perfect. Everything about him was perfect. And I needed more. In an instant, his shirt came off and my eyes took in more of his beauty before our mouths began to move together again.

"I love you," I whispered against his lips in one of the brief moments they weren't gloriously attached to mine.

He paused and looked me right in the eyes, his expression blissful, "I love you too, Bella. More than I ever thought possible. More than I could ever put into words."

My heart swelled in my chest upon hearing his words and I became hyper-aware of the miniscule gap there was between us, and I didn't want it to exist anymore. I let my arms wrap themselves behind his neck, pulling me closer to him as he held me tightly.

Before long we had progressed to bare skin on skin. "My God you're beautiful," his voice was breathy as he spoke against my collard bone. His eyes wandered over me as his hands roamed once more. I couldn't respond … everything about him intoxicated me, his voice, his scent … I was dizzy … blissfully lost in the moment.

It was as if my body had a life of its own; with every breath, every movement and every second of pleasure, it responded to him, to his every whim, molding me against him. He would move his hands over me and I would automatically react to his touch … it was ecstasy.

"Bella…" my name escaped his lips once more.

"Mmm…" I moaned. But he was stopping … why was he stopping?

"Bella …?" He took a deep breath, clearly trying to control himself. I, in turn, placed soft kissed on his forehead while I tried to steady my breathing. "Bella … I don't …" he took another deep breath, "are you sure … that you're … I don't know if we're …"

"Sshhh…" I placed a gentle hand under his chin and lifted his face so that our eyes locked together, "I love you and I'm ready … but not if you aren't… we don't have to … I'd wait forever for you if you wanted…"

He smiled my favorite crooked grin, making my eyes glaze over and my heart melt. He didn't need to say anything … the loving look in his eyes said it all. He brought his face closer to mine and kissed me once more.

It wasn't long before we were lost in the heat of the moment once again …

--

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Next chapter will be up later today

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