Chapter Ten

My nostrils flared. "Victoria," I tartly acknowledged.

"Don't tell me you didn't expect this?"

I chewed my lip a little. "Well I have had other things on my mind, to be honest. What is it with vampires, anyway? You guys seem to think the world revolves around you. Your boyfriend sure seemed like the type."

This apparently hit a nerve. "Why would some insignificant human girl have any kind of bearing to James? He wanted to kill you for sport!" Was this supposed to have a negative effect on me because it wasn't working so well.

I scoffed at her. "Come on, don't you realize how sad that is? James was that bored with you that he had to hunt a human girl down for your entertainment. And what's more – he didn't even win, he died. At the last minute."

I really should have been paying more attention to my surroundings, because given all the senses that were filling my nose, I had only just realized that she had been joined by about nineteen other vampires. They circled around me, their eyes giving away their thirst.

Damn…

Luckily, I wasn't completely human anymore. I wasn't even whole fiend or angel. I had the best of both worlds. "Do you have any idea what I could do to you right now?"

"You can threaten me all you want, the Cullen's aren't here to protect you." She gestured to her follows and then added, "Besides, there's a treaty, from what little birds tell me, they wouldn't be able to come if they wanted to."

"I'm curious, why now? Why not come sooner?"

"I did. I came to visit several times before they came back, but it seemed they had help – even then."

I snarled. This needed to end. Now.

"I have a special talent, Bella. I can evade danger every time."

I hated to burst her bubble. "How convenient that must be for you."

She smiled. "James may have failed, but you forget – he had seven vampires take him on. Seven!"

"I'm warning you for the last time, you don't want to do this."

"I do, you took everything from me, and now I will do the same to the Cullens."

"I pity you. You have no friendship, no love, no compassion for anyone but yourself. You could have just come to my house – you had every opportunity." This was getting irritating.

One of the newborns spoke up. "Let us kill her, I need blood!"

"Wait, Riley!" She looked back and forth between us. "I guess…we're done here."

"Just a minute, how did Alice not see this?"

"I figured out her skill. How it works, what it does. Her visions are affected by people's choices. All I had to do was keep changing my course, so she wouldn't know."

"Yeah, you're brilliant, good for you. You never answered my question about why you didn't kill me before. At least, not very well."

"You always had someone with you, but I was willing to wait," she said simply. "Oh, I did get lucky though. We came across your police chief. Riley thanks you for the meal."

And that was the end of the conversation. I launched myself at her, knowing exactly what to do. But just as I was clutching my hands around her neck, the Cullens arrived. Edward was with me then. Victoria looked up at me in shock. "What…are…you?"

"Meh, not the little human girl you expected, that's for sure."

Any other time I would have felt self conscious, the way I ripped and teared at her. The sheer joy of it all. I quickly made work of my kill. Tossing aside what we would need for a fire. When I finished, I looked around me and watched the Cullens do their own work. They were so graceful. Like somehow it was a dance.

And then it was suddenly over, as quickly as it had begun.

We arrived back at the house. I was dragging my feet, wings at half-mast. I could sleep if I wanted, they told me, which was nice. After everything that had happened today, I needed it. Before I could fall asleep, I sat up in bed. "The treaty!"

"Relax, Bella. Carlisle is talking to the tribe as we speak. Sam and Jake will understand."

And I curled into him, and slept, more deeply than I had in a long time.

The next morning I woke up in a foul mood. Edward had disappeared. I tried to cheat, and sense where he had gone, but it didn't work. Alice had come bounding into the room at seven in the morning.

"What do you want?" Came the grumble, as I tossed the pillow over my head and burrowed myself under the covers deeper.

"Edward has a surprise for you – so up, up, up!"

I groaned.

"Oh, I think you will find it to be worth your while. Come on!" She stood there for a minute.

"What, Alice?"

"I want to help you with your hair."

I stood and made my way to Edward's bathroom. I could hear Emmett and Jasper wrestling downstairs, Esme trying and failing to get them to stop. I rolled my eyes, laughing to myself. Everyday would be new like this, and I smiled.

Twenty minutes later, I was downstairs. There was a weird sound coming from far away. I could almost hear…a piano? I started to glide toward the sound. After a little bit, I came to our meadow and in the middle sat Edward, playing Clair de Lune.

I walked over to him, curious, but smiling. He looked up at me, but never stopped playing Instead he gestured for me to sit down next to him. So I did, watching his fingers dance across the keys. The song finally ended, and my eyes darted up to his.

I started to tremble as he got up, and then knelt on one knee in front of me. He pulled a ring out of his pocket. "Simply put, you are my life now. Marry me, Isabella Marie Swan and make me the happiest person to ever walk this earth?"

The answer was a whisper. "Yes," and then his lips were on mine.