Fated
Chapter 17
A/N: Thank you everyone for your patience. I'm just starting to feel better and will try to get new chapters out faster to make up for my delays. Thank you for understanding! I didn't want to take the time to get my story beta's so please excuse the mistakes!
Everyone freed from the ice, we're all standing around looking at the damage on the ceiling and the puddles of water on the carpet in Charlie's house.
"How the hell did we get here, and where are we?" Jasper says as he looks around the living room. I look at Edward. When our eyes meet, I see concern wash over Edward's face. He rushes to my side, wrapping his arms around me to hold me up as my knees begin to weaken and buckle. My dizziness worsens and my head begins to pound with a full-blown migraine. Edward guides me over to the couch and helps me sit, taking a seat next to me.
"Bella transported us here," Edward announces, his eyes never leaving mine. Everyone looks at me.
"Are you okay, Bella?" Carlisle asks. I nod my head slightly.
"Yes but I have a headache and feel dizzy and exhausted and starving."
"How did you transport us here?" Carlisle asks.
"I don't know," I offer to Carlisle and then look at Jasper. "We're at my father, Charlie's house."
I lean back against the couch holding my head in my hands. Edward is hovering over me like a loving nursemaid with his arm around my back and his hand on my knee. Waves of pain ripple across my temple. Jacob walks up to me and bends down to look me in the face.
"Your nose is bleeding," Jacob says with concern in his eyes. He pulls out a handkerchief and holds it up to my nostrils. I take it from him and press it against each side of my nostrils, trying to stop the bleeding. I feel a bit of cold run down my chin.
Esme bends down alongside Jacob and takes the handkerchief from my hand. "Here, you have to pinch each side of your nostrils together to stop the bleeding." She holds the handkerchief against either side of my nose and pinches hard. "See, you have to put pressure on it..." Her voice trails off as she stares at the blood that's running down my chin.
"Thanks, Esme." My voice brings her back to reality as I take the handkerchief from her and do as she instructs. She shakes her head trying to clear her mind from thoughts of my blood and stands up and backs away. Her and Carlisle exchange glances. I look around the room to see who else is affected by the scent of my blood. Jacob shows no signs of desire, neither does Alice, Edward, or Carlisle. Jasper has backed himself up against the farthest wall. As far away from me as possible.
"What's wrong with her, Edward?" Jacob asks.
"She should have never been able to pull off such a strong magick. She doesn't yet have enough energy to handle it and it drained her health. Did you try to do this, Bella? Was this on purpose?"
I speak softly to not worsen my migraine. "No. I had no idea I was doing it or could do it. I was frightened you were dying and we were all going to die and kept thinking about how I wish we were all at Charlie's house. When I saw the cloud forming I thought it may have been me doing it but I didn't know how I was doing it or what I was doing."
"Don't ever do anything like that again, Bella. You could have killed yourself!" Edward demands.
"I think Edward means thank you for saving all of our lives, Bella," Carlisle says softly as he walks up to us, then raises an eyebrow at Edward.
Edward sighs. "Yes, she did save our lives. We were not ready to face those vampires with all their powers. We need to come up with a plan before going back there. But not until Bella is completely rested up and feeling better. I'm not leaving her side until then."
"Agreed," Carlisle says.
Alice walks over to Charlie's kitchen and opens up the refrigerator, pulls out a bottle of water and walks to me. She takes the cap off of it and hands it to me. "Here, drink this, Bella. You're probably dehydrated as well as drained of all your energy. You need to drink and eat something or else you will get nauseated." I grab the bottle and guzzle several mouthfuls.
"Thanks, Alice."
"Do you want me to find you something to eat? It didn't look like there was much in Charlie's refrigerator but I can check the cabinets." I take my hands from my head and look up at Alice.
"Charlie! I forgot about Charlie! He may be home soon. We have to get out of here!" I stand up too quickly and get dizzy and fall back onto the couch. Edward places a hand against my shoulder preventing me from standing up again.
"You have to rest, Bella. Don't try to walk. I need to get you food and then you need to sleep. Just give me a minute." Edward says, then he gets up and kneels on the wet carpet. Within seconds his body begins glowing ember red and heat radiates outward in all directions. He blows small flames from his mouth, being careful to not catch anything on fire, and within a minute the entire wet carpet is dried and looks like nothing happened.
Edward stands up. "There, No traces of us."
"Not quite." Jasper points to the broken drywall on the ceiling."
"Oh, that's right," Edward says as he looks up and his eyes meet the hole in the ceiling. "We can't fix that."
I'm holding my head again, trying to brainstorm ideas for excuses. "I'll tell Charlie I came over for a visit and brought an electric skateboard that blew up and damaged the ceiling."
"That doesn't sound like a plausible excuse, Bella," Esme says.
I look up at Esme. "I know, but it's Charlie. He's used to having to accept stories from being a single dad raising a daughter alone. I'll start talking about cramps and he won't ask questions because he'll be too busy trying to get away from me. It's a trick I learned when I hit puberty." I smile. Esme smiles back.
"I will go get the boat and bring it back to Charlie's driveway. Esme, would you like to help me?" Carlisle says as he holds out his hand. Esme places her hand in his as they turn into a blur racing out the door.
"I'm taking Bella home. Let's all get out of here before Charlie gets home. Last one out locks the door," Edward grabs me up in his arms again and speeds out the door. Once outside he very quickly raises his fire-wings and takes flight with me in his arms.
I sit up in bed, rubbing my eyes. As my vision clears I see Edward sitting in a chair next to me. He leans up and takes my hand.
"How are you feeling, Bella?"
I think for a second, getting my thoughts together. "I don't have a migraine anymore and I feel well rested. I'm doing good. How long did I sleep?"
"It's been three days. Today is Wednesday."
"Three days! Edward, I had work and school!"
"It's okay. I called your work and told them you had the flu and I told Patty the same. She got classwork and notes for you. I've been watching over you the entire time. Charlie called to talk about the electric skateboard accident but I told him you had the flu. He said to call him when you're feeling better and don't worry about the ceiling. Bella, you seriously drained your health. You can never do that again. I've been so scared. If anything ever happened to you..." I lean forward and place my lips against Edwards. He wraps his arms around me while he gets up and sits on the edge of my bed. Pulling me in close to him, he kisses me deeply.
"I love you, Bella Swan," he says between kisses.
"I love you too."
We hear three knocks at the front door. I throw my covers off of me.
"Do you feel well enough to get up?" Edward asks.
"Yes. I feel great. Let's go see who's at the door."
"It's Alice," Edward says. I give him a quizzical look. "I recognize her scent." Edward and I head down the stairs. I open the front door to find Alice's smiling face warmly greeting me.
"Bella, you're up and moving around. How are you feeling?"
"Hi, Alice. I feel great. I can't believe I slept that long but I'm good to go now. Come on in."
I step aside and allow Alice to enter.
"So, what's our next plan?" I ask.
We have to destroy that amulet before we can take on the rest of the vampire coven. The amulet is what's giving them all their special powers and we can't take them on until those powers are stripped, especially that ice guy!" A flame quickly flickers in Edward's eyes, he has a score to settle with the ice vampire.
"I've had a vision of the head vampire," Alice says. I saw Pebbles Island State Park so I believe he's holding up somewhere in the park, but I don't know where.
I suddenly remember the vampire calling out to me. "Something happened during the fight that I didn't have a chance to tell you," I say. Edward's eyebrows narrow together and he tilts his head a bit to one side, watching me, waiting for my explanation.
"What is it, Bella?" Alice asks.
"When everyone was getting frozen and I was on the floor holding you," I look at Edward. "The main vampire spoke to me through my mind. He called to me and said that all of you were going to die and he would spare you if I went to him. I could see him in my mind and I saw he was wearing the amulet. I don't know how I know but I'm sure that was the amulet he was wearing around his neck. It had a circle with an S etched on the front."
"Dammit! Now he wants you too! How many damn vampires are going to keep coming for you!" Edward's face takes on a strained appearance, the lines on his face tightening. He looks stressed out.
"It's okay, Edward. We are going to get him and his entire coven," Alice asserts. "Did you see anything or hear anything that may tell us where he is?"
"It looked like he was in a clearing with trees all around," I say.
"If I get us to the general area in the park where I believe he is, do you think you would be able to recognize anything to lead us to his exact location, Bella?" Alice asks.
"I think I can recognize something it if I saw it again," I say.
"Okay. So the plan is to get everyone ready. Some of us will go get the leader and destroy his amulet while the others go back to the Sjorginys and await word of the amulet being destroyed and then kill them all," Edward says then looks at me. "We will need Charlie's boat again. I'm sure you need a few days to get caught up on your school work and I could use a few days to see if I can find out anything more about this amulet. Maybe Officer Tabers will know something about it." Edward turns to Alice. "Can you see if everyone can do this Saturday night?"
"Sure thing," Alice says.
Edward turns to me and places an arm around my waist. "Now let's keep from doing any large magicks this time, shall we?" His beautiful eyes sparkling wickedly.
"Speaking of large magicks. Edward, Bella, the reason Bella was able to do such a strong magick is because she was with her Soul Dragon, that is her perfect mate, you Edward. You two were meant to be together. Bella's powers will increase as your love increases. Normally the human's magick does not increase until after their love is consummated, but in this case, Bella's magick seems to be increasing but, her energy is not. In order to keep Bella's magick from overpowering and killing her, you two need to consummate. That way her energy reserve will increase also. Until that happens, Bella, you have to be very careful to not do any strong magick."
I'm grinning from ear to ear as I open my eyes wide and stare at Edward, awaiting his reaction. He's quiet and still for a minute. Then palms his forehead deep in thought.
"I will leave you two alone to talk." Alice pats Edward's shoulder as if sympathizing with his dilemma and then winks at me with a grin before she walks out the door."