Chapter Thirty Three: Icky Vicky
Learning that Quil had imprinted was exciting and I was more than ready to hear him tell me all about her till Embry dropped the bomb that the girl was only two. All excitement was replaced with horror at the image of Quil lusting after a child barely old enough to talk. Embry quickly started explaining that imprinting was necessarily romantic if the imprint didn't want that and with Claire being so young Quil's feelings were completely platonic. Despite this I couldn't fully believe it till I saw it with my own eyes, but doing so let me relax as the sight was like watching an older brother with a much younger sister, nothing even slightly suggesting a romantic thought when he was in the same room, though I knew everyone was watching poor Quil like a hawk because of this and I honestly couldn't understand why the gods would create a situation like this.
Once the relationship was deemed platonic and proven to be so, the image was adorable. This tiny two year old had the bulky 6'4" werewolf wrapped around her finger, bending to her every whim. Quil was going to be in for a long wait before Claire would even think of anything romantic, if she ever did at all, but Quil seemed more than okay with that.
Second on the ever growing list of problems was once again Bella and the Cullens. Something was off, whispered conversations, eyes constantly searching, a rushed trip out of the state. Something was off and they were keeping tight wraps on whatever it was, though it was making me edgy to be around them and their shiftiness. When I had mentioned this to Embry he had jumped all over it and immediately bringing it to Sam who wanted to know everything I knew.
"All I know is that they've been acting weird. I haven't caught a word of what they've been saying and honestly I don't think Bella fully knows, she wouldn't give Charlie a legitimate reason for the sudden trip when he asked her. She's claiming that she wants to see Renee before she graduates. All I know is Edward and Bella are hopping a flight to Florida tonight and they're not coming back for three days." I crossed my arms over my chest, more than irritated with the second degree I was receiving. Embry wrapped his arms around me, but I didn't lean into him like I normally would, I was annoyed that he would let his brothers jump me like this.
"Three days? You're sure?" Jake asked.
"Yes, I'm sure! Why would would I make that up?" I demanded throwing my arms in the air in frustration.
"You don't think…?" Jake asked looking to Sam and completely ignoring my irritation.
"No, they wouldn't be that stupid." Sam said though he didn't look completely convinced.
"What am I missing?" I demanded and Sam sighed before looking back at me.
"The change from human to vampire takes three days." Sam explained and I thought about that for a moment.
"You're right, they're not that stupid. Edward's been pushing colleges, she's been filling out applications for weeks. They're going to wait till at least graduation and if they wanted to freak everyone out there are less subtle ways of doing it, plus Bella didn't make a big deal out of leaving. Subtly isn't her thing, if she thought she wasn't coming back she would have been acting weird instead of just Edward and Alice." I reasoned and the guys nodded though I knew they still weren't happen about this.
"I wonder if pixie had some sort of vision." Jake pondered. I shrugged, seemed likely enough.
"Obviously something involving Bella if they were acting weird and quickly got her out of the state. Maybe something to do with Victoria?" I asked and looked between the three.
"Any sightings of her lately?"
"Not in over a week, so she's due to coming around again. We'll hype up patrol till Bella comes back, maybe this is what we need to finally get her." Sam started planning and Jake nodded while Embry looked like he wanted to groan at the idea.
"Maybe you should stay on the rez till this blows over, babe." Embry said softly.
"Embry's right. Emily wouldn't mind if you stayed here for a couple nights. The Cullens aren't likely to be watching the house without Bella there and since we're unable to extend the patrol you'll be safer here than in Forks." I sighed and nodded.
"She can stay at my house." Leah offered from behind us and I turned to see her.
"We're been having sleep overs every couple weeks for years. Haven't had one since the phase so Charlie won't think anything of it." I smiled.
"Thanks, Leah." I said and she nodded before continuing into the trees. Embry looked between me and the woods while I looked to him questioningly.
"You know it freaks me out when you conspire these plans, now you've got an accomplice." Embry explained and I rolled my eyes as I smiled.
"I've always had an accomplice, you just didn't realize it." I laughed while Embry rolled his eyes. I continued laughing as I walked away from the guys to call Uncle Charlie and get the sleep over okayed.
"Forks Police Department, how can I help you?" A woman's voice answered.
"Hi, Brandy, it's Anna. Is Charlie in?" I asked.
"He sure is, darlin'. Just a moment, I'll patch you into his office."
"Thank, Brandy." She hummed back and the phone clicked. There was silence for a moment before another click followed by Uncle Charlie picking up the phone.
"Forks Police Department, this is Police Chief Swan." Charlie gruffly spoke into the phone and I smiled.
"Well Police Chief Swan, this is your niece Anna Swan. She would like permission to spend the weekend at Leah Clearwater's, sir." I teased with a smile. There was a chuckle on the other end.
"Well my niece Anna Swan, I give permission for time to spend at Leah's. I will be fishing with one Billy Black." Charlie kept up the charade and my smile got bigger.
"Thanks." I finally broke, giggling at the ridiculousness.
"I'll be home for dinner Sunday night." I promised.
"Sounds good to me, kiddo. See you Sunday." I hung up and walked inside since the boys had disappeared inside while I was on the phone. Emily was setting food on the table when I walked through the door and the boys were already piling their plates full. Grabbing my own plate I took a seat on Embry's lap.
"Charlie have any problems with you staying on the rez?" He asked and I smirked.
"Didn't even hesitate, but he did tell me he would be going fishing with Billy, so he'll be out of dodge this weekend too." Embry hummed as he stuffed a forkful in his mouth. Rolling my eyes I started filling my own plate before the boys got the chance to empty the pan.
After dinner Embry went with me to pack a bag for the next couple days. Embry had been quiet during the rest of dinner and didn't say anything the whole trip to the house. When we got to the house Embry quickly checked the area before we went inside. Embry stayed by the door while I quickly packed my bag, when I came back down Embry started to walk back out but I stopped him.
"Embry, what's wrong?" I asked as I grabbed his arm to stop him.
"Not here." Embry said softly and took my hand to lead me out of the house, but I pulled away.
"Yes, here. It's likely the only privacy we're going to have all weekend." Embry sighed and moved to
stand in front of the window.
"I'm scared, Anna." He whispered, I almost didn't it.
"We're all scared, Embry." I said and took his hand again.
"I'm not scared for me, I'm scared for you." Embry looked away from the window for a second and I hated the fear I saw in his eyes.
"You're stuck in the middle of all this. All the danger your in because of Bella. I just want you safe and there's nothing I can do about the monsters walking in and out of your house on a daily basis and that scares the hell out of me. My biggest fear is that when that red headed makes her move on Bella, your going to be in this house and she's gonna get you too." Embry couldn't look at me, his face was pinched. I slid my arms around his waist and slipped under his arm.
"I'm going to be spending all my free time on the rez. The only time I'll be off the rez will be when I'm at school and when I have to sleep in my own bed during the week. I don't like this anymore than you do and I'll do anything to stay out of the cross hairs. The vampires I've already met have been more than enough for me." I said and Embry wrapped his arm around me and took a deep breath.
"Let's get the hell out of here." Embry said and this time I let him pull me out of the house.
Victoria made an appearance the following morning. Jared and Jake were on patrol when they crossed a fresh scent and put the call out. Leah sent me to Emily's with Seth while she went running into the woods. Emily had been babysitting Claire and Kim showed up just moments after me. Emily was baking while Kim played with Claire, but I couldn't hold still. I paced the living room, walking window to window watching for the boys.
I was relieved and horrified when Embry and Paul came crashing through the door. Embry seemed to be unharmed, but Paul was limping with blood coloring his leg. Rushing for the first aid kit I got back into the kitchen as Embry was situating Paul in a kitchen chair. Emily took the kit from me and set to work on the cut that started at Paul's ankle and went up to his knee, the bleeding was just a trickle, but the skin still look angry and inflamed. Paul hissed as Emily poured alcohol into the wound to clean it while Embry held his arms to keep him from fighting Emily's care.
"What the hell happened?" I asked as I handed Emily a bandage from the box.
"We were right. The pixie had a vision, the Cullens knew Victoria was coming and were waiting for her. She kept running from one side of the boundary line to the other. The brawny Cullen made a lunge for her as she was dodging back to our side. Paul would have had her if the Cullen had collided with him instead of the bitch. The collision sent Paul into the rocks which cut his leg." Embry explained as Paul growled.
"The next time I see that bastard, I'm gonna rip his head off." Paul hissed again as Emily wrapped the bandage just a little too tight around his leg. She quickly apologized and loosened the bandage.
"Assholes even had the audacity to act like we were the ones in the wrong!" Paul ground out. A tremor passed through Paul and Embry quickly held Paul's arms down again.
"Dude, calm down." Embry said angrily while Emily quickly stepped away from the pissed off wolf.
"You're only going to make that wound worse if you phase now. Give it a chance to heal." Embry said sternly making Paul glare, but he took a couple deep breaths to calm himself. Once the tremors stopped Emily finished wrapping the leg and put away the first aid kit.
"Here, have a cookie. It'll make you feel better." I handed Paul one of the cookies that Emily had freshly baked while we were waiting.
"Thanks." Paul grumbled and took a big bite of the cookie while resting his leg on the kitchen chairs that Emily had vacated.
"You'll get her next time." I tried to say with confidence, but from the looks the boys gave me. We all knew that today had probably been the closest they had ever been and missing her had been a blow the boys were not going to bounce back from.