A/N: I'm beginning to forget what day of the bloody week it is...
Hope you're all staying safe and germ-free.
Black Swan
Chapter 22
"I say we run. I can carry him," Emmett suggests, turning to Edward and winking.
"Carry me..." Edward echoes dubiously, as I immediately cut in unimpressed.
"Carry him?! Have you heard of terminal velocity, you doofus?" I blurt. "He would never be able to hold on and the speed would knock him unconscious."
"Bella...what?" Edward asks, leaning toward me, his voice instilled with uncertainty.
I shake my head slowly to placate him.
"Driving will take forever," Emmett complains, folding his brawny arms across his chest, his biceps practically tearing the material of his shirt.
We're assembled in the garage, debating our means of transport. Driving is the only reasonable alternative with Edward coming, but it's been awhile since Em has been out in the vampire nightlife and he's antsy.
"I am not ruining my dress because you're impatient," Rose adds her objection, stroking her brow with her fingertips.
"Me either," I agree. I'm dressed almost as scantily as Rose in a tight, black dress and obscenely high heels, but I relented and allowed Alice to play dress up with me. Jane flat out refused. The day before she went shopping with Rose, and they bonded in Niemen Marcus.
Though, despite Alice's over-enthusiasm, she knows her craft. Edward took one look at me and lost all expression from his face. His mouth fell open, his pupils dilated, while that hot, aromas blood of his steadily amassed, sweeter than honey, in his groin. If I fail to hold out tonight, that will be the point of entry I'll sink my fangs into.
Alice made over him as well. She dressed him in a long-sleeved plaid cotton shirt, and tweed vest with brown chinos—that he pulls off with barely any effort. If not for the warmth of his human blood pulsating through his veins, he's almost handsome enough to pass as a vampire.
"It will take an hour and a half at the most, and I'll alert you ahead of time," Alice assures with a minimal grin. Her foresight comes in handy when it's not being used to interfere in my life; namely how to evade speeding tickets. She's coming, as well. Without Jasper. The temptation would be too great for him. I'm not sure what she saw, but it was almost a definite that he unleashed his inner beast.
"Time's-a-wasting," Jane speaks up with a sigh. "Let's just decide and get going."
Jane is almost unrecognizable in midnight blue; her hair loose around her slim shoulders. She rivals Rose in beauty, and had she surpassed her, Rose wouldn't be nearly as accommodating.
"Fine," Emmett concedes. "Me, Rose and Alice will go in the merc—Bella, Edward and Jane in the Mustang."
"Thank god," Rose mutters.
"Can I drive?" Edward puts to me, his eyes lighting up at the prospect, as I scoff out my opposition.
"Definitely not. You'll kill yourself." At the speed I plan on traveling, at least.
He grumbles not nearly as beneath his breath as he believes as Jane turns to me and smirks in amusement.
"I need to get myself one of these," she says covertly to me.
"They're prone to tantrums," I relay to her, smiling to myself as Edward pulls himself beside me in the front passenger seat, continuing to pout. "If you like my car so much, I'll give it to you," I relent with a sigh, slotting the key in the ignition.
He turns to me, his mouth agape. "Holy shit—really?"
"Really," I repeat in monotone, before shifting into reverse and pulling out.
. . .
Eclipse is cleverly concealed in the grotto of St. James Cathedral in downtown Seattle; it's main entrance six-hundred feet west in the basement of the Sorrento Hotel. Both the nightclub and the turn of the 20th century hotel belong to Peter and Charlotte; Jasper's close friends whom he lived with briefly before finding Alice.
From the underground carpark of the hotel, we file into an elevator that takes us to the service room a story below. At the end is a steel door, accessible only by fingerprint. Jane presses her thumb to the censor and the door unlocks. It opens to a dim, stone hall roughly fifty feet in length with a second door at its conclusion. Again, via a fingerprint scanner, we pass through, but not before Jane types the number of our company in the adjoining keypad.
The door opens to a long winding passageway at least two centuries old. It's brightly lit and ventilated, despite the air being tainted by the dust of limestone lining the walls, and as we descend further, mine, Jane, Alice and Rose's clicking stiletto heels travel in echo ahead of us. Security cameras align the ceiling every thirty feet, or so; something Edward pretends he doesn't notice. It leads us down several small flights of stone stairs to the entrance of what was once a burial vault at least fifty feet beneath the foundation of the church. It hasn't been accessible to the cathedral in more than a century, and Peter had it expansively extended not long after taking ownership of the hotel.
At the end of the tunnel, a vampire guards the ornate, double olivewood doors to the entrance. This is when Edward's anxiety becomes almost palpable. He's gripping my hand tightly, his palm hot and clammy in mine. I don't acknowledge it, nor do I bring it to his attention; he has entirely too much pride. Especially in front of Emmett.
"Who does this belong to?" the bouncer, Jerome, demands, grabbing Edward's wrist and scanning for a chip.
"He belongs to me!" I assert indignantly, reaching out and tearing the vampire's fingers from him. "So hands off!" I threaten him.
"You?" His eyes widen with disbelief before a raucous laugh bursts from him. "You have a pet? It's a little early for April Fools, Bella."
"Do I look like I'm joking?" I reply dryly, coldly. "And he's not my pet!"
"He's not registered, so what is he?" He eyes Edward closely, before his ruby gaze returns to mine.
"He's her mate," Emmett speaks up, "And you better be careful, man. She's possessive."
"Mate?" He's suspicious.
"Yes, mate," Jane steps forward and intervenes. "He'll be turned within the year. Aro knows this, of course."
Immediately recognizing her, the guard almost falls over himself in appeasement. "Of course, Jane. Of course. What is his status?"
"If anyone lays a finger on him, I'll rip their damn head off—is his status!" I say, my convictions solid and seeped with warning, but at the entrance is where all humans are categorized as either food, pet, or untouchable. I want my position on Edward made clear.
"Pink," Jane replies calmly, unable to hide the smirk from her lips.
"Hand out," the bouncer directs Edward, before placing a neon pink band around his wrist. On his other he tapes a paper strip in the same shade with the words "Bella Swan's. Do not touch," written on it in black marker.
One of three bands are given to humans before they may enter. Pink means absolutely no vampire may approach without permission. Yellow is for pets where a vampire may ask the human if their owner gives permission to drink from them, and green is for those provided as a feeding source; though, no humans are allowed to be killed on the premise.
While Peter feeds from humans, he doesn't kill them, and he extends these principles to his places of business. Everything else, though, is up to the discretion of the security he keeps in charge.
Opening both doors wide, Jerome allows us entrance. We file inside in pairs, with Jane and Alice leading, and me and Edward bringing up the rear.
We enter onto a long, carpeted foyer with seating and bathrooms on both sides that several humans occupy; some with puncture wounds on their necks or wrists, and some without. All are wearing yellow wrist bands. They look up as we enter; their curious eyes almost immediately zeroing in on Edward. Though, if he's aware of it, he doesn't make it known. He stares straight ahead; his hand clamped around mine like a vice. He's openly tense and nervous, but until he realizes for himself how safe he is with us, there's not really anything I can say or do to put him at ease.
At the end of the foyer, double glass doors open to the club itself. Inside, Eclipse resembles any other nightclub in the city. It's large, at least ten thousand square feet, and fog hovers over the hardwood floor throughout. A dancefloor and DJ covers the far end of the room, and at the opposite is a bar that parallels almost the entire rear wall. For the most part the room is dark, with LED lights in every color around the bar, and laser projectors over the dancefloor.
It's busy tonight; at least two hundred vampires are present.
"Okay, down," Alice orders, turning to me the moment we enter, and with a small sigh, I comply and lower my shield. "Still good," she flashes me a reassuring grin.
I reciprocate it, and immediately snap it back in place, covering not only me and Edward but the entire room. While I'm slowly introducing him into the world he'll soon be a part of, he doesn't need to be aware of everything in one night. "Check every half an hour," I instruct her in a volume only she can hear.
She nods covertly, and claps her hands together in excitement. "So? Drinks?"
"Vodka, A-negative," I put in my order.
"Bud Light," Edward speaks up after me, distracted as his eyes continue to scan his surroundings warily. He's attempting, and failing, to read the minds of the vampires that pass us. All of whom peer at him for a pause too long before glancing down at the band on his wrist.
Pink—off limits.
"Soda," I override him.
"Bella..." He sighs, and turns to face me.
"You're underage," I point out.
"So are you!" He smiles subtly.
"Am I?"
"You're taking me to a bar only to act like my mother?" He cocks a brow and his point is immediately made.
"Get him what he wants," I inform Alice, and when she and Emmett head to the bar, Jane and Rose head further into the club searching for seats. Grabbing Edward's hand and pulling him after me, I follow.
Almost every female vampire in the room notices him—as well as several males, for that matter. More than a few wink at him as we pass, glancing at his band as their red eyes almost instantly flash with disappointment. Edward only smiles awkwardly and inches himself closer to me. He's not even remotely comfortable, and when Rose finds us a set of leather couches against the east-facing wall from the entrance to occupy he pulls me onto his lap.
"What are you doing?" I enquire, bemused.
"Keeping you close."
"You believe I'm in danger?"
"I..." he falters, casting his eyes around the room nervously. "I'm just keeping you close." He's adamant.
I smile, scoffing past it and relax a little in his arms as I do.
"I feel like I'm at Rivendell," he confesses in my ear. "Except all the elves have red eyes."
"Tolkien's elves are tall. I'm not. 162, remember?" I jog his memory, smiling wryly to myself as I snake an arm around his shoulders and lean closer to him. He smells obscenely appealing. I don't usually enjoy the smell of male perfumes—it camouflages their natural scent—but whatever Edward's wearing perfectly complements the opaque richness of his blood.
"You're still beautiful..." His returning smile is warm and echoing my amusement, but it's fleeting, before his guarded eyes continue to scan the room.
"Would you relax?"
"I am relaxed," he insists, even as the nervous tenor in his voice betrays him.
"You think either one of us would let anything happen to you? Hm?" I slide the back of my fingers over his cheekbone.
"I-I know," he stammers, nodding. He clears his throat a second time in an obvious effort to divert his thoughts. "So why did the guy at the front almost lose his shit when he saw Jane?"
"Because Jane can take down every vampire in this room. Apart from me," I fill him in, grinning partially to myself.
His eyes widen as he appears to consider it further. "Because...you're a shield." he says after a moment.
"Because I'm a shield."
"What's Jane?" He turns his curious eyes squarely to mine.
"Jane can inflict pain with her mind," I answer, knowing she's listening in. In a lot of ways she's as vain as Rose.
Edward's expression immediately smooths out in surprise. "Shit..."
"That's why other vampire's fear her. That and because she's one of Aro's henchmen," I explain.
"Henchmen?" she pauses from her conversation with Rose to feign offense.
"Have you left that old fossil, yet?" I point out in emphasis.
"All in good time, and I can't take down anyone while you're shielding them all." There's a teasing protest in her voice.
"Go and mingle. You might find your mate," I propose, my smile mirroring hers.
"I'd have better luck enrolling at your high school," she says drolly.
"Well, Edward does know a few girls who might interest you," I say, fighting off the urge to laugh when her expression immediately sours.
"You amuse me not, sweet Bella." She prods me with her elbow. "Though, I wasn't aware Alice had a gift for locating beautiful humans. What's your heritage, sweetie?" Her burgundy eyes rest on Edward and narrow slightly with interest.
"Huh?—oh, erm...English. Bella...?"
"Hmm...?"
"I've been to the British Isles. I found nothing," Jane adds with a mocking pout.
"Why am I the only one wearing a pink band?" he leans forward and asks softly against my ear.
"Because, as Emmett said, I'm possessive—you won't find anything in half a day." I reference Jane's habit of rushing back to her maker.
She scoffs as if she thinks I'm being ridiculous before continuing her conversation with Rose.
"So...all their owners don't care if another vampire bites them," Edward concludes, appearing increasingly troubled.
"More or less," I reply, turning my attention back to him.
"That's pretty...shit," he mumbles, running a hand over his forehead and pushing back his hair.
"For the human, yes," I agree. "And I'm not your owner."
He holds up his wrist, highlighting the paper band with my name on it in direct contradiction. "This says I am."
"They don't have a category for human mates in transition."
"Is that what I am?" he asks, suddenly appearing uncertain. And curious.
This boy...
I scrutinize him for a moment. "Are you hard of hearing?"
He breaks into an immediate grin. "Why do you always say that?"
"Because, you say the oddest things. It often makes me wonder."
"It's just, you were dead against me becoming a vampire. You only wanted me to sign the contract and live with your family, remember?"
"I haven't forgotten," I murmur turning my head away from him; I know where this conversation is heading.
"Then you kill my cousin and now you've suddenly done a one-eighty."
"And?"
"Is it guilt?"
"Guilt?" I echo, irritated that he could even suggest such a thing. "Do you believe I am the sort of person who would do anything out of guilt?—not to mention guilt for killing that male?"
"No, but—"
"I'm not talking about this," I interrupt him.
"Bella..."
"My name again..." I have the sudden urge to groan to myself; it's not something I'm prone to.
"It's just...I'm in the dark." His voice softens. "I just want to know why."
"Here's not exactly the most appropriate place to discuss it," I speak the obvious, clearing my throat and expressly avoiding Jane's shrewd gaze as she not-so-discreetly listens in.
"Will you tell me tomorrow?" he ventures with entirely too much hope behind his voice.
I open my mouth to reply just as Alice and Emmett arrive with the drinks, effectively saving me from the torture of it.
"Ed, man," Emmett says, offering him the bottle of Budweiser.
"Thanks," Edward says with a grin, taking it and twisting off the top to take a large gulp. With my blood in his veins, it's not likely he'll get drunk so easily, but I might still have to top him up.
"Sis," Emmett hands me a glass of A-negative. "Point-five percent vodka on the rocks." He winks.
"Grazie," I respond in kind, taking a sip from the straw dangling over the side when Edward takes it from my hand and brings it to his nose.
"You want a taste?" I ask, arching a brow and fighting back my amusement.
"Nah... Just curious," he admits, handing it back to me and taking another mouthful of his beer.
"I'm going to dance, guys," Alice announces, drink in hand, before she heads toward the crowd of revelers—vampire and human alike—at the far end of the room.
Beside us Emmett sits leisurely, one arm around Rose as he sculls the Heineken mixed with a higher ratio of human blood. It's been a long while since he's gone dark-side, and judging by the grin on his face, he has absolutely no qualms about it. Especially considering Peter sources the blood for the nightclub from a local blood bank he has shares in with Garrett.
Jane's eyes are surveying the room intently, and when she appears to settle on a particular vampire and a pair of humans, she turns to me. "I'll be back," she mouths, half a wink executing in tune with her smile.
"Have fun," I encourage her, watching as she strides—with the kind of confidence that only comes with an immortal of her stature—toward the trio sitting along the opposite wall from us.
"Can you not block everyone from me," Edward suddenly complains.
"He wants to get off on some girl on girl action," Emmett chimes in snickering.
I roll my eyes; more so at how flushed Edward's cheeks suddenly become. "Maybe next time—"
"That isn't why," he leans closer to me and insists a little too desperately.
"I believe you," I reply casually, finishing my drink and leaning forward over him to place the empty glass on the side table. I'm buzzed already. One drink at the bar here is the equivalent of drinking from three drunk humans.
"You want another one?" Edward asks, his eyes dropping to my lips before he gently wipes them with his thumb. This isn't the first time he's done this, and I momentarily pause to consider it. It's a mannerism I could be quite partial to; this subconscious tenderness he shows for me.
"I'll get it," Emmett offers a little too eagerly. He's more than up for round two.
"The same," I pre-empt his question when he pulls himself smoothly to his feet, my eyes remaining on Edward's.
"What?" He tilts his head and smiles. He's already beginning to relax and I decide a few more drinks can only be a positive for him.
"No more words games," I caution him, as his brow immediately knots in confusion. "If you want to ask me something, ask it. You don't need to test the waters for an hour first."
"What? I...don't..." Sounding wholly unconvincing he abandons it, dragging stiff fingers over his scalp and through his hair.
"You know what I'm talking about," I allude, smiling slightly to myself as blood begins to rush along his throat.
"Maybe after a few more drinks," he suggests in a mumble; severing his eyes from mine completely.
"Oh?" I consider it. "That I can arrange."
It only takes two more for Edward to be tipsy enough to start opening up. Granted, I did spike his second Budweiser with a few drops of my blood, just to help things along. As for me, I'm almost as drunk as I was when Rose and I ran into him in Port Angeles several weeks earlier. It's rapidly heightening my senses and making me increasingly conscious of him—to the feel of his large hands against my cool naked flesh, and in the intermittent plumes of heated warmth that wash over me with each breath he takes.
And, of course, how damned handsome he is even as a human.
We've been abandoned on the couch. Rose and Emmett left shortly after round two, and are currently dancing seductively on the dancefloor, completely absorbed in each other, while Alice sways lithely to the music close by, both arms above her head, her eyes closed.
Jane hasn't moved from her position opposite us, intently coveting a green-banded, human girl who appears completely enchanted by her.
"If you lower your shield, I can see which ones swing the same way as her," Edward hints, before lightly pressing his lips against the curve of my neck.
I smirk, immediately cynical by his request. "You just want to see into my mind..."
"Yeah," he admits a little too easily, lifting his head to meet my eyes. His are both deepening and intensifying simultaneously, reminding me again that while he's still very much a boy, he's also on the cusp of being a man, "and I want you to explain to me what I saw in it yesterday." His lips move to my ear, his voice low and rustic.
"You already know what you saw," I reply, closing my eyes and taking his scent deep within me. My fangs are drawing, but with him so close, I am hyper aware of him.
"What I saw... Can we do it?" he murmurs against my skin, his hands grazing slowly down my waist, and beneath me the width and length of him is rapidly expanding.
"No," I lean back to gauge him. His cheeks are ruddy and flushed; I can practically taste the blood behind them in the air around me. "You might be pretty enough to pass for one of us, but you're not nearly strong enough to handle me." Running my index finger along his sharply-angled jaw, I flick his chin. "I'd kill you."
"You can be on top," he suggests, a drunken grin growing slowly across his face. "I don't mind."
"I'd still kill you."
He groans lowly, closing his eyes along with it as though it were causing him pain. "Can't you just be extra careful?"
"No..." I reply, shaking my head slowly. "Do you remember a few weeks back in your car, when you were...engorged by my blood?" I remind him, fighting the urge to smirk from the memory.
He scoffs ruefully and without humor. "I'm not likely to forget it."
"You were gripping me pretty hard. Had I been the human girl you often mistake me for, you could've hurt me," I raise my eyebrows to further stress my point, and it's obvious by the growing resignation in his eyes that he's comprehending my meaning. "If the situation were reversed, I could have easily broken your neck—completely by accident."
"So we can't...until I'm turned?" It's not a question, and the disappointment on his face is almost comical.
"I'm afraid not, bucko."
He allows his chin to thud against his chest as he releases a second long, languid groan; the arousal behind it thick and condensed.
Grabbing a fistful of the front of his hair, I yank his head back up to catch his gaze. "Be very careful, pretty boy. I have only just decided to change you, and you are seriously jumping the gun."
He gauges me for several long seconds before deciding to call my bluff as the smile slowly returns to his lips. "If I'm your mate, shouldn't we...mate?"
I inch my face a mere breath to his so rapidly I openly startle him. "When you're no longer a human, we will."
"What's sex like as a vampire?" he asks, his voice almost failing as he attempts to close the distance between us. I don't allow him to.
"I have nothing to compare it to," I answer truthfully.
"Can you...explain...?" he adds undeterred, slipping a palm to my cheek and gently angling my face in line with his.
The heat of his hand feels as though it's permeating with my skin, and I can almost taste his radial artery over the rapid rate of his pulse. I close my eyes, focusing on the life stream that sustains us both; the driving force behind my existence and his vitality.
My fangs are drawn, and I am minutely close to surrendering myself to my most primitive impulses, when he leans in and presses his lips to mine.
He kisses me, slow and sensually, his partially-open mouth over, and merged with mine, deepening further with each passing moment. His breath floods me, and its scent is as potent and magnetizing as the blood accumulating behind the supple, firmness of his lips.
My lips part with his, and I have to fight my own innate senses not to bite into them. A guttural sound begins to vibrate softly from his throat. A low humming murmur articulating what his hands, what that swelling organ beneath me, can't. While, desire is the fundamental basis pushing us both past invisible boundaries, his is stemmed from an inherent drive to connect with me sexually. And mine is to feed; to preserve my own existence by taking from his.
Only after feeding does my physical body awaken, and while it's an all-encompassing force; it is still, and will always remain, secondary. At least while the boy in my hands is human, anyway.
Turning myself to fully face him, I sit with both legs on either side of his and cup the sides of his face with my hands. His head tilts back, and severing our mouths slowly, I drag my nose and lips over the coarse, incoming stubble of his jaw and down his throat, tuning my senses wholly into the rushing river barely skin deep.
My entire body is sparking with an all-consuming and arousing hunger, and I'm barely in control of my actions.
"You can...drink from me, Bella," Edward utters in a whisper, but as more of a softly spoken moan than actual speech.
Inhaling deeply, I draw the scent of him into me, allowing that intoxicating aroma of his to completely consume me. My fangs sink into his flesh, but instead of drinking from his arteries or veins, I take from the many blood-vessels just beneath the surface.
With a heavy, almost restricted breath, he completely languishes against the back of the sofa, but his hands remain against my hips; his fingers digging deep. In an equal motion, I move with him as his blood slides effortlessly down my throat so slowly it's becoming agonizing. Even as it does, it's igniting me, steadily giving me over to the sensations of the flesh.
His blood coalesces through my veins, warming the surface of my skin as it does. I return to his mouth, opening mine long enough to again be saturated by his breath, but I don't allow him entrance; my fangs prevent it. They're razor sharp, and if he slid his tongue against them, they'd slice it open.
He's iron hard beneath me now and twitching with each throb of his pulse, and while it's dangerous for him if I allow my senses to pass through that plane, it's not dangerous for me.
And I'm beginning to learn how to evoke the male body into pleasure.
A/N: I did promise you progress ;) Thanks for reading.