Posted 2019-1-23

Edward had waited for Rose and Emmett to replace him at Bella's house and then made the run home with Alice.

Jasper had been waiting outside for them. After greeting Alice, he'd folded his arms and faced Edward, throwing his brother's anxiety right back at him.

"That doesn't help," Edward said.

"No," Jasper agreed, "it doesn't, does it?" He raised his eyebrows, making his point.

Please try, Alice was saying to Edward. Please.

"Thank you for coming to talk to me," Edward offered, tone contrite. "Did you get a chance to follow any of the trails?"

Jasper nodded, his thoughts illustrating where the scents had ended.

Edward blew out a breath in frustration.

Then he saw where else the unwanted visitors had been and looked at Jasper, the alarmed question in his eyes.

Jasper nodded, seeing it.

Hands in his hair, Edward groaned. "Anything else?" he asked aloud.

"No." Jasper looked at Alice.

She shook her head too.

"Damn," Edward muttered. Victoria had eluded him at every turn, and now she had help. Growing numbers of help. He felt more exposed each time their paths crossed.

"We're committed to protecting Bella," Jasper said, watching him. "Victoria won't get by us."

"I know you are, but each time she comes here, she learns something about us and about how we react." He traced the length of the garage with his steps. "And the disappearances in the area . . . " He didn't need to finish this statement. They knew why.

"Carlisle's going to Seattle next week with Esme," Jasper said, "purportedly for a medical conference but to see what's happening there, too."

"Good," Edward said. There had been a few unconnected disappearances there as well, nothing to draw a concentration of human eyes yet but soon.

He turned to Alice again. "Any decisions?" he asked, hoping she would have something.

"Just what Victoria's hunting," Alice answered. It was hard to watch, not only out of empathy for the victims, but because it roused her own bloodlust.

Jasper looked at Edward sharply, resenting the burden he put on Alice.

Alice smiled at her husband. "It's fine. I want Bella safe, too."

In response, Jasper slipped his arm around her, kissing the top of her head.

"Will you come with me for a bit?" Edward asked Jasper.

Jasper looked at Alice, who raised her eyebrows at Edward, but nodded.

They slipped through the forest, skirting the lowlands and finding their way to the rocky crags where they hoped to find something worth hunting.

"Do you need to?" Jasper asked, watching Edward scent carefully.

"Probably not, but I can't be too careful," he said. He didn't add that he wished Jasper would do the same.

Bella's cut the week prior had frightened him. Rose had been so close to the edge of her hunger. If they wanted to keep her safe—

"I do," Jasper said. "Each time before I watch her."

This made Edward frown. He hadn't caught a spec of it in his thoughts, but he caught a flash of Alice's cheeky grin in Jasper's mind. "Ah," he said, "she's been teaching you."

Jasper grinned widely. "Being apart has had its benefits."

Edward snorted. "If you say so."

Giving up on the vaporous scents that led nowhere, Edward sat down to admire the view. The moon was high, and he could see the forest and sea clearly.

"I'm sorry, Jasper, for what I said."

Jasper kicked a small scrabble of stones away from himself, sending them flying down the rockface. "I can tell," he said. "Thank you, though, for saying it."

"I should have said it a long time ago."

Jasper shrugged. He'd held his grudge with tenacity and then thrown it away with equal fervour.

Edward sighed. "I am sorry. I've been—"

"An idiot?" Jasper said.

Edward released a bark of a laugh. "It is her favourite term for me these days, isn't it?"

"Suits you," Jasper said, grinning. "Wear it with pride. Edward, the idiot, one and only." He ducked the rock Edward threw.

If he hadn't been in such a rush to get back to Bella, he would have stayed to best him in a wrestling match, but, his heart had the better pull of his mind.

Go, Jasper told him, you're making me antsy.

Edward didn't have to be told twice.

DISCLAIMER: S. Meyer owns Twilight. No copyright infringement intended.