The Whispering Woods
Chapter Seventeen
The beats pounded through Edward's headphones. The volume undoubtedly considered dangerous to Carlisle. Music was the only thing keeping the whispers from telling him he wasn't where he should be.
Despite lying on the bed, staring at the decorative ceiling of the perfectly named music hall, he felt the presence of someone watching him.
"Did you need something, Esme?" He winced when he heard his voice sounded a touch defensive.
She ignored his mood. "Did you get everything you need for your first day tomorrow?"
Edward nodded, keeping his eyes closed. He wanted to get lost in the music, but his thoughts always turned to a pair of purple eyes.
"Why doesn't Bella have your eye color?" He expected her to become upset; instead, she sat at the edge of the leather chaise, where he lay back.
"Her mother was only my half-sister. She had my stepmother's eyes."
Edward had figured it had to be something like that. "Did my mother know Bella's?" He knew they had returned, not only to Esme's hometown but also to his own mother's.
"Yes."
A disturbing thought hit him. "Bella and I aren't like…distantly related, right?"
Esme chuckled. "She made that much of impression—didn't she?"
He cocked an eyebrow.
"No, you're not cousins." She sighed, looking away pensively. "I loved Bella the moment I held her and she looked up at me with these big, purple eyes. I had never seen anything like them. My sister's eyes were a much deeper color, almost a purple-black, and with her ash blonde hair, she was the most beautiful baby I'd ever seen. Until Bella, of course."
"Then her mother disappeared, just like your stepmother."
Esme swallowed hard, nodding. "How did you know?"
Edward had to look away, not wanting to see the fear in Esme's gaze. "It happened again." He had played it off earlier; he had a feeling about what happened when he met Bella's father. The same thing happened when he shook James Smith's hand, from the rival team, during a football game. The night Edward figured out what James had been doing to some of the girls in his area.
He could see people's past while awake. Bella could see their futures.
That wouldn't be a coincidence, right?