"You know, Bella, for someone who wanted to speak to me, you sure are taking your sweet ass time." Her voice is musical and it calls to me.
When I walk out into my living room, I find her perched on a puffy armchair wedged into the corner of the room, filing her damned nails.
"There you are!" She's glowing, almost as if she's got her own personal spotlight. "You have the cutest little place here." She gestures around with her emery board. "It's a nice size, close to the beach, and I'm betting it gets a decent amount of natural light."
I'm just standing and staring at her when she motions for me to sit. I perch on the edge of the couch and sigh.
"What are you doing here?" I croaked out the words and shuddered slightly as I saw the flash of anger dart across her eyes.
She leans forward on her crossed legs and stares directly at me for several moments. "You know exactly why I'm here." She's taunting me. "You haven't been listening like a good girl, have you, Isabella?"
"You want me to kill Edward." It's not a question; of course, I've been listening to her voice inside my head.
She smirks at me and raises an eyebrow. "I knew you were one of the smart ones." With a flick of her wrist, she produces a perfectly round glass ball. As she holds it out to me, I can see the hidden cave that I washed up in when I arrived in southern California, and lying motionless on the cave floor is Edward.
"What have you done?" I remain seated. Lashing out at Hera won't answer any of my questions and won't get me to Edward any faster.
"Oh, he's perfectly fine … for now." She places the sphere down on my coffee table, and it slowly rolls toward me. When it stops, I can see that Edward isn't lying on the beach but is enclosed in something.
"Did you place him in a water bubble?" I ask incredulously.
"As I said, he's perfectly fine, but, Isabella, I have a proposition for you, and I need you to listen very closely." She leans forward, and her eyes alight with malice and excitement. "Kill the man and I'll set you free."
I can't breathe; it's like all the air has been sucked out of the room, and my heart is hammering in my chest. This is the only thing I've wanted for so long, and it's now within my grasp. I suck in a deep breath and glance down at the orb.
"He doesn't deserve to die." I shake my head and stare pointedly at her. "What's so special about him?"
"There is nothing special about him." Hera spits the words out, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that she lies.
"Is it because his ancestor tried to save me and the other women? Did you save that sailor too?" I see a flash in her eyes, and I know the answer. "He thanked you for his life, offered you anything in return, but when you wanted his body to anger Zeus, he turned you down, didn't he? Begged to give you anything else, didn't he?"
Hera is up in a flash, all light and air swirling around her, and her voice is like an earthquake reverberating in my ears. "He said no to me! He is nothing!"
"I want to be free, but I won't kill an innocent man. That's all I've been doing for centuries. I'm done."
With another flick of her wrist, she produces an hourglass and sets it down in front of me.
"His freedom"—she rises and straightens her outfit—"or yours. You have 24 hours to decide." She snaps her fingers and the grains of sand begin to tumble, and she's gone.
Two hours later, Emmett and I are standing over my coffee table, arms crossed, and staring at both the glass sphere and the hourglass. We've had a lot of starts and stops since he showed up 20 minutes ago.
"There's a lot to unpack here, Bells." Emmett finally takes a seat and rubs his hands over his face. "Explain this to me one more time."
I pace as I go over my run-in with Hera, making sure to emphasize my theory about the sailor spurning her.
"It would make sense. It's so Hera." Emmett rolls his eyes and sighs. "Saving a sailor and then sleeping with him to rub it in Zeus' face would be her MO."
"Well, if he had taken better care of Hera, maybe I wouldn't be in this situation." I'm muttering and silently cursing the gods.
"The only one who ever had any control over Hera was …" Emmett trails off and has a far off look on his face. I snap my fingers in front of his face, and he blinks a few times. "So, what are you going to do?"
When I don't answer immediately, I can feel his eyes boring into me. I finally look at him and feel the tears prick at my eyes.
"Bella, you can't kill him! He's innocent." Emmett looks like he's ready to drop to his knees and beg.
"You have any other ideas?" I ask with a roll of my eyes.
"I could be free, Em." I harden my resolved and look at him directly. "What is he to me?"
To his credit, it takes Emmett almost a full minute to start gaping at me like a fish. "You feel something for him! You've said it yourself, and now you're just going to kill him?"
"Just because I feel something for Edward doesn't mean I shouldn't think about what's best for me. Don't I deserve to be free?" I glance down at the glass orb and see Edward still unmoving. "This isn't a fairy tale, Emmett. This is my life. So unless you have something hidden up your sleeve …"
"I might, but you need to be really sure about your decision, Isabella." Emmett stands and moves toward my door. "If you kill a truly innocent human, you'll never forgive yourself."
"I'll make my decision and be there in 2 hours." I lean against the door as he stares at me. "I'll make the right decision for me."
"Do you want me to be there? For support?" He reaches out and cups my cheek, and I lean into his warmth.
"Not unless you have an ace in the hole." I smile weakly, and he laughs as he shoves his hands in his pockets and walks out into the hall. "I need to do this on my own."
He wishes me luck, and I shut the door and lean against it, wishing for all the luck Emmett can wish for me and I can get.
I'm going to need it.