Surprise! this week is a double upload, part in apology for our late upload last week and partly because unfortunately from now on we will be moving to a bi-weekly upload schedule. tragic, I know! however, we hope you will endure it and continue to enjoy this story!

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank every one of our followers favorites and reviewers for your interest in this story, without all of you we might not have had the drive to continue with this story, which is quickly becoming both mine and Courtneys largest project to date! and we ask you to read through the chapters carefully, Courtney and I have decided to sprinkle out some of your usernames throughout the story, for example, JaspersTemptress will be making an appearance as will EarthboundAngel, though they will most likely appear as phrases and or names of random characters for those of you who's usernames can be used as such!

Also, for those of you who use AO3, this chapter is accompanied by three photos, the cover of the Girls Grimoire, the text exchange between Bella and her sisters, and the text exchange between Bella and Emmett. for the sake of our sanity lets say they had smartphones in 2003 haha.

that's all for now, I sincerely hope you enjoy this chapter, Blessed be!

Chapter 9

There's Nothing Wrong With a Little Therapeutic Torture

Bella's POV

February 8th, 2003

I reclined in the back of the truck, staring up at the clouds, and listened to my sisters bicker in the cab. It was late in the afternoon and we were almost at Port Angeles. We were doing a bit of a supply run and a shopping trip. It had been ages since the three of us had had a night out—just us—and we needed it.

We were also doing a bit of a supply run to a metaphysical shop we knew was run by an actual witch. Alice had found it last night in her usual way and I knew she was excited for whatever we'd find. She didn't know what, of course, just had a feeling we'd find something special. And after thirty-three years of knowing my sister, I didn't doubt she'd be right.

The truck made a heaving sound and I patted her sides gently. "You're doing a marvellous job, dear. I'm proud of you."

When I'd told Rose we were heading to Port Angeles in the truck, she had told me we'd have more luck hitch-hiking. But I knew my baby, and I had confidence that she could get there. Rose had placed enough runes on the engine to get us where we needed alive, and this baby had been tackled worse. Still, verbal encouragement wouldn't hurt.

Eventually, we pulled into one of the back streets, a few shops down from where the maps had said the metaphysical shop would be. But as I jumped out of the bed of the truck, I felt an odd pulling sensation. I followed it, knowing my sisters were behind me. After a few moments of walking I stopped in front of a shop, knowing this was where I was meant to be.

"Huh." Rose looked up at the sign: Alvira's Metaphysical Store. "I expected that to be harder. How'd you know where to go, Bella?" I blinked. the feeling led me straight to the occult shop

I followed her gaze to the dried plants hanging outside the door and felt a soft wave of relief. Alice had assured us it was for the real occult, and not just a tourist scam, but it wasn't until I saw those plants that I was sure.

In our first life, we'd had a mentor of sorts after our mother had died—Mother Aquila. She'd taught us everything she could in the years before our deaths, and one of the things I'd learnt from her had been how to tell a real witch's shop from a fake one. Some of the signs were definitely outdated now—I doubted anyone hung a black sheep's pelt outside anymore—but hanging lavender, rosemary, and freesia was still a sure sign.

"Just a feeling." I walked in, following the pulling sensation that guided me through the doors.

Walking in, the young woman behind the counter smiled. The shop was currently empty—bar us—so she looked grateful for the break in the boredom. "Welcome to Alvira's Metaphysical shop. How may I help you today?"

She was polite, but I could tell she didn't care. Nor did she seem to have a decent aura of magic around her. She was likely just working here to pay the bills—and she was most definitely not Alvira.

We hadn't encountered many witches in this life. The extent of our contact with our community had been the owner of the metaphysical store back in Phoenix and a few local witches over the years—all of them well into their hundreds. The store owner had been one hundred and fifty, but she'd always been wonderfully helpful whenever we'd walked in. Looking at this place, I could tell things would be different here.

Alice smiled back at the woman, but I didn't bother. She was from a magical bloodline but she'd clearly refused magic—so she wasn't worth my time. I followed the sensation that was still tugging at me and walked over to the shelves. I didn't rush to follow the sensation, knowing we'd be here a while. Instead, I meandered through the store, collecting herbs, candles, and crystals as I went.

Finally, the tugging led me to a small shelf of books. I ran my finger along the spines, wondering idly if there were any I could add to my collection when I saw a familiar spine. My eyes widened and the world stopped. The pulling sensation stopped, transforming into a heady rush of chills dancing over my skin as I stroked the binding.

Just as I went to pull it from the shelf, the woman's voice cut through the air. "Oh, you don't want to touch that! It's dangerous! Anyone who's ever touched it has died mysteriously," she said in an imperious tone. "I've read all about it. People say it's cursed and can only be handled by its true master."

I gave her a look that told her exactly what I thought of her warning. "You're wrong, girl. This is a bloodline grimoire." I pulled it from the shelf, inhaling the old scent of dried herbs, fresh ink, and mother's bath oils, and I took in a shuddering breath. "It can only be handled by those of blood."

I threw her a look that told her not to bother when she tried to argue. She was most definitely not a proper witch. Any true witch would have known that. Young witches these days! They know nothing of the old ways!

I looked back at the book, fond memories swelling within me as I stroked the cover. "Our mother used to read it to me when I was a child," I murmured, swallowing thickly. "Everything she taught me is here. Our entire family's history, our bloodline spells, our family's secrets." I looked up at my sisters, blinking back tears as they joined me.

"Everything we lost," Alice whispered, reaching out to touch the pages.

Rose's breath caught as I turned the page and she reached out with a watery laugh. "You used to read us this one all the time."

It was a recipe on the best ways to properly harvest hemlock and nightshade. I laughed. "That always was your favourite."

We flicked through the pages, the rest of the world lost to us as the best parts of our childhood came back. I took a deep breath, inhaling the old scents that sent me right back to my mother's arms. It was like coming home.

But everything came crashing back to reality when I found the torn edges in the middle. No! The world dropped out from under me and my fury snapped. I looked up, gaze boring into the girl and snarled, "There are pages missing!"

She swallowed audibly. "They've always been missing."

"No they have not!" my sisters and I snapped.

I wanted to run over there and rattle the girl until she told me where the pages were, but as I ran my finger over the edges, I knew they'd been removed long before her time. Probably even long before this shop's time. Probably even as many as three hundred years ago.

I stalked over to her, fury snapping at my heels and I firmly placed all my items onto the counter. My sisters added their collection and I pulled out my purse to pay for them. She rang up the total and looked at us expectantly as I slapped the money down.

"You have to pay for the book," she said almost hesitantly.

"The fuck we don't! It's our family grimoire!" I hissed. "I ought to curse you for even thinking it."

"Of course," a cool voice said, coming from the back of the shop. An older woman—perhaps mortal forties, but most likely in her early three hundreds—came into view. "The grimoire is yours without charge. I apologise for the misunderstanding; Sage is my youngest, and there are still many things she doesn't know."

The woman had a strong aura about her; I instantly liked her better than the halfling playing at being a witch. She gave her daughter a hard look.

I nodded politely. "Well met, Senior Alvira," I said. "I am the eldest of the McKinnon's, and these are my sisters. Though we seem young I can guarantee we are older than you are," I informed her, bending the truth a little. As far as the witch community was aware, the McKinnons line had disappeared over three hundred years ago, and I had no intention of correcting that assumption with a stranger.

To her credit, she merely nodded. "Well met, Senior McKinnon. I can see your honesty in your aura," she assured me.

I tilted my head to the side; the ability to see lies—it was probably aura reading in general. "Are you perhaps from the Hallowbrook line?" I inquired. I remembered the name from Mother Aquila's lessons on witch genealogy.

A small smile played on the woman's lips. "Indeed."

I smiled as well, knowing that had been a test. I nodded once more, as did Alice and Rosalie. "Blessed be," we said in unison.

"Blessed be," she said, before glaring at her daughter pointedly. The girl blinked before jumping as though she just realised something.

"Oh, blessed be." she blushed. I gave her an unimpressed stare before we exited the shop

We headed back to the truck to leave our bags from the metaphysical shop behind, and headed to the town centre for the more relaxing half of our shopping trip.

"I want to look for a new dress first," Rose said.

Alice groaned. "Not again."

"What do you mean 'not again'?" Rose snapped. "We haven't been shopping in weeks!"

"Even if it had been a year, it'd be too soon!"

"You're just saying that because you have no fashion sense."

"No! It's because you try on everything and then end up choosing the first one you tried on!"

"Like I said—no fashion sense! Bella! Tell the mental case here we're doing my shopping first."

I snorted. "You are not dragging me into this. If I'm the one who gets to decide, we're doing my shopping first."

They both groaned.

"You're worse than Rose!" Alice whined. "You pick up the first book you find and end up reading it right there!"

"Oh please," Rose snapped. "Like you're any better. The moment you walk into an art shop you're already covered in new paints. You'd buy the whole damn store if Bella let you."

"And you wouldn't buy all the clothes stores?"

"Of course not!" Rose turned up her nose. "I'd never buy whatever nonsense you wear."

Before this could get into an actual fight I stepped between them, slipping my arms through theirs so we were linked. "Why don't we split up then? That way we can all do the shopping we want without waiting for each other?"

"But I need your opinion on my dresses." Rose pouted and I waved my phone at her.

"Just send the photos to the group chat." I ignored Alice's groan at that and pulled my sisters through the front doors of the shopping centre. "We'll tell you what we think on there."

"I hate them all already," Alice muttered.

I kept a grip on them both so their bickering couldn't start up again. "We'll meet at the restaurant when we're done, yeah?" I waited until they both nodded. "Alright. Have fun. Don't scandalise anyone too much."

With matching grins, Alice darted towards the art stores while Rose went for the cutest dress store she could find. I watched them with a fond eye roll before turning to find a bookstore.

Half an hour later I had given up entirely on the Barnes & Noble in the shopping centre and walked the short five blocks to the nearest secondhand bookshop. I hummed along to the light background music as I browsed the endless shelves of old books. My eyes lit up happily as I spotted a lightly worn copy of Shakespeare's plays. Quickly snatching it up and placing it in my basket, I went onto the next section; romance.

I grinned when I saw a copy of Jane Austen's Complete Works and added it to my quickly growing collection. I'd had all of these books back in Phoenix, but Renee had 'misplaced' them in our move. I'd found a few in the stores close to home, but Fork's biggest collection was in their library, so no luck there.

I kept wandering, taking my time as I added to my collection. I sighed delightfully when I saw a cheap collection of His Dark Materials, and contemplated grabbing another basket because I was only halfway through the store.

At that moment my phone buzzed and I pulled it out to see Rose blowing up the group chat with half a dozen more outfits. I snorted at the burgundy velvet minidress.

I shook my head and slipped my phone back into my bag. I pulled a tattered book off the shelves and flipped through to find the title since the cover had been ripped off. Eragon, I read, flipping to the back. Sounds interesting. Maybe I'll just read the first few pages to see if I want to buy it.

I leaned against the shelf and opened it up.

Shit. I looked up and down the street. I said we'd meet up for dinner, but that was half an hour ago.

I lifted my bags of books into my arms and headed down the street. The restaurant was only a few blocks away and I could use the walk. I wriggled my phone out of my bag and sent my sisters a quick message telling them I wasn't too far away. I knew they'd be laughing at me regardless, so I stuffed my phone back into my bag, not waiting for a response.

But as I was putting it away, my fingers skimmed against the binding of the grimoire and all the emotions I'd been blocking out for the last hour came rushing back. Book shopping (and reading) had been a decent enough distraction from it all, but now I was back to being pissed.

I could still hear Mother's soft voice, reading our histories to me as she sat on the edge of my cot. Curling up next to her had been one of my favourite parts of the day, and someone had dared to defile it. Pure rage began to boil in me as I traced the edges of the stolen pages, seething.

How dare some soulless, moralless, lowlife of a bastard defile my mother's grimoire, my legacy! It was the only thing that truly connected my sisters and I to our mother anymore. They'd been so young when she died, and my stories of her could only paint so much of a picture. Rose had only been seven when she'd died, and those last few years hadn't been easy on any of us.

Sometimes I worried they'd forget about her entirely. Somedays I worried I'd forget her.

I pressed my face into the pages, breathing in the familiar scent of home, and I seethed. Finding this piece of her legacy should have been cause for celebration, but someone had defiled it in their own disgusting greed.

Someone will pay for this.

Spotting an alley, I decided to cut through it. I was late enough as it was—I didn't need to be later. And that was when I saw them—two men following me about forty paces behind.

Their eyes were trained on me, and I picked up my pace, testing them, and grinned wickedly when they did too.

Oh, you're stalking me? How cute. Hekate help them. I chuckled darkly. This is going to be fun.

I exited the alley and could have laughed when two more men joined the original two. They were blocking the only two exits and seemed to be herding me behind some large bins. We were in an abandoned parking lot, behind a rarely used loading dock. The kind where no one would hear your screams.

I smiled. Perfect.

I wrapped my arms tighter around the grimoire, gripping the bags filled with my other books tightly, and bowed my shoulders, picking up my pace again as I glanced over my shoulder, no need to scare them off. I could practically smell their delight at how terrified I looked as they picked up their own paces.

Oh, I couldn't have planned this better myself. I let them 'lead' me in behind the bins. This is exactly what I need.

Because I knew what they wanted. I could tell in their leering grins and the smell of cheap alcohol on them that wafted through the air. I tried not to smile too hard and ruin the charade—these disgusting filth had unknowingly just volunteered to become the outlet of all my anger.

And I was angry.

As soon as we were hidden decently behind the bins, I dumped my belongings to the side, taking care that the Grimore didn't touch the filthy ground, and spun on my heel to face them. This no doubt took them by surprise as they blinked dumbly.

"I'm having a pretty bad day, boys." I held up my shaky hands, glancing around like I was looking for a way out. "You ought to run now."

But even as I said it, I put up a field around us so that when they did run, they'd have nowhere to go. If I let them keep their legs, that is.

"Now why would we do that?" The one in the middle stepped forward first—too stupid to see the danger he was in. "We're going to have some fun with you tonight, sweetheart."

I let my fearful charade drop and I smirked, my eyes bleeding violet. "Oh no, boys. You see, the only one having any fun here is going to be me."

My hand flashed forward, socking the first idiot in the throat. He stumbled back, landing on his friend. I grinned—there had been a lot of wild magic in that hit. The two on the right lunged for me, Their hands came away blistering and burning the moment they touched me. I cackled maliciously at their screams.

What a stupid move! I smirked. Like you could touch me with my protection pendant on.

I turned to them, glee filling my heart. "A curse on you both; may you forever be plagued with hives, and may your manhood never rise to the occasion."

The first idiot and his friend got up, snarling at me and I smiled mischievously. "What's the matter, sweetheart? Can't take a hit? How disappointing," I purred.

I dodged idiot number two's messy punch with ease. Quicker than he could see, I grabbed his arm and twisted until I heard a glorious pop. The oaf screamed in agony, and I laughed in delight. Oh, this is so much fun.

I tossed him over my shoulder without a backwards glance—he wouldn't be getting up anytime soon.

Idiot number three came barrelling at me and I smiled indulgently. He raised his arm to backhand me while idiot number one lunged at me from the side. I stepped back, laughing as the first idiot tackled number three.

I smiled at them pityingly. "Poor babies. Can't even stand up without tripping over each other."

I contemplated ripping out their throats when I heard the unmistakable cocking of a gun. I turned slowly to see the fourth idiot pointing a gun at me with shaking hands really? Who holds a gun with second-degree burns?

"Alright, bitch—that's enough of your crap! Lay down on the ground and I might let you live," he yelled, trembling like a kitten in the cold.

The other three idiots struggled to their feet next to him. I tilted my head to the side and let my violet eyes grow eerily. The one I'd tossed over my shoulder whimpered pitifully and flinched when I smiled, soiling himself. How pathetic.

"Oh, you were serious? Okay. I can be serious." I took a step towards them. "Mind you, it's going to be a lot more painful—for you, that is—but I don't mind."

They glanced at each other, confused, and I took the moment to dart forward, snatching the gun from his hands. "Little boys shouldn't play with adult toys—you could get hurt," I snarled before bashing him in the head with the butt of the gun. He dropped like a stone.

Using a quick spell for strength, I crushed the gun until it was nothing but scrap metal and tossed it aside before advancing on the other idiots. The remaining three stumbled over each other to get away, but I wasn't quite done.

The first idiot tripped over the fourth, whining, "Please—"

I grabbed him by the throat, lifting him off his feet. "Oh, now you beg? I wonder, how many times have you played this little trick of yours? How many women have you violated? How many of them begged you to stop? How many of them did you ignore?"

He scratched at my hand like he could fight me off. I tightened my grip until he couldn't breathe. "Tell you what; for every woman you've hurt, I'll break a bone. For every woman you've killed, I'll remove a tooth. And for every woman you've spared, I'll leave a pint of blood in your pitiful bodies when I'm done," I snarled, letting my fury come to the forefront of my mind.

I had no way to know how many women they'd attacked, but by the way they paled, I knew it was a disgusting number. They didn't deserve to live, and I was going to ensure their last few moments of this life were spent petrified and begging.

I tossed the first idiot to the pavement—I'd save him for last—and turned to the other two. I wasn't smiling anymore. I darted forward, grabbing the second bastard by the arm, snapping it quickly, letting him scream as I slammed the third's head into the bin.

Bastards three and four were out cold, number two was howling in pain and the first was struggling to breathe. I lifted the second off his feet by his shirt and decided to land another curse on them. "May every drop of alcohol you let pass your lips taste like smouldering ash."

I threw him to the ground, his screams cut short as his head hit the pavement. But still, I wasn't satisfied. I wanted to burn them to the ground; I wanted to break them until they were mewling at my feet. I crouched by the first idiot, ready to finish him, when a silver Volvo suddenly swerved into the parking lot. The driver's door of the familiar car opened and the last person I wanted to see on this earth stepped out.

"Get in!" Edward's furious voice commanded.

"Excuse me?"

"Bella! Get in the car!"

"No!" I snarled. "I'm not done with them!"

I turned back the idiots and grabbed the first by the throat. I wanted to do so much more, but Edward's irritating voice was snapping at me, and I was losing my patience. I leaned close so my face was inches away from his. "Consider yourself lucky he showed up," I hissed. "But if you ever touch a woman without her permission or threaten her in any way, I will remove every bone in your body and grind you to dust. Do you understand?"

The bastard nodded frantically, tears and blood mixing in streams down his face. With a final snarl, I sent a wave of sharp magic over all of them. He was the only one still conscious (the others were still breathing, unfortunately, just unconscious), so only his screams filled the air as my spell carved the letters on their faces (and arses): RAPIST. I watched with a curling lip, and when it was over, I spat on his finally unconscious body. "Now you'll never forget."

I turned back to Edward; eyes narrowed. "What do you want?"

"Get in the car!" he growled.

I considered telling him exactly where he could shove his car (I wonder if there's a spell for that) when I realised yelling at him would be easier from the passenger seat where he couldn't run away. I gave him the finger as I grabbed my stuff and got in. I pulled out my phone to send a quick text to Emmett.

Meanwhile, Edward was still throwing his tantrum as he swerved out of the lot, so I sent the last text and let my irritation loose.

"What the name of hades was that? Are you stalking me?" I demanded.

"Distract me so I don't turn back and rip their heads off!"

"Well get the fuck in line! I saw them first! I wanted to rip their heads off! And I would have if your creepy ass hadn't been following me!"

"You have no idea the vile things they were thinking!" he growled, still not listening to me as he strangled the steering wheel.

"I can guess! Hell, I did guess—why the fuck do you think I was kicking their asses?" I snapped. "Do you think this is my idea of a fun Saturday night? Killing assholes?"

He threw me a look like that was exactly what he was thinking and I didn't argue—it had been fun.

"You wouldn't have killed them," he insisted.

I looked at him like he was dirt under my shoe. "There was a very high probability I would have killed them," I said seriously. "Besides, even if I didn't, there's nothing wrong with a little therapeutic torture."

He stared at me like he couldn't decide if I was serious or not, and then seemed to decide he really didn't want to know—a wise decision.

I glanced at the time and groaned. "Oh fuck me! I was supposed to meet Alice and Rose at the restaurant over an hour ago."

The jackass didn't say anything, he simply turned the car around and sped in the direction I told him to, weaving through cars that honked their displeasure. If I'd cared at all about humans and road etiquette, I'd have chewed his ear off, but I didn't, so I let him drive like a maniac.

Sweet Circe, it's like he thinks he'll die if he drives at anything less than a hundred miles an hour.

Not that I minded, particularly if it got me to the restaurant and out of this car faster. The silence didn't bother me either—I had nothing to say to this asshole that I hadn't already. I still hadn't forgiven him for being an asshat at school on Wednesday. Just remembering what he'd said had me bristling; the blatant insinuation that I'd done a poor job of raising my sisters.

Apparently, the silence had been bothering Edweirdo as he, unfortunately, opened his mouth. "Look, Bella. About the other day, I think you misunder–"

My eyes were still violet from the fight and they flared brighter as my anger surged. "Oh, I understand just fine. You, a silver spoon rich boy, decided you knew better than me, when you would have died of starvation had you been in my shoes." I pointed a finger at him when he opened his stupid mouth again. "Don't even go there, because I will conjure a cactus and shove it so far up your arse your ancestors will feel it!"

He blinked, thrown off. "Can you actually do that?"

"It's certainly not practical, but all I need is the cactus and a seance circle!"

He squeezed the bridge of his nose like I was the annoying one. "That's ridiculous. You're blowing this whole thing out of— Wait, what are you doing?"

"Looking for a spell to conjure a cactus—I left mine at home."

"You wouldn't actually try to—"

"Yes, I would. You have no idea what I would do!"

"Because of some stupid misunderstanding?"

"You're a jackass." I shrugged. "It's only natural I shove something up your ass, and a cactus is as good as any."

"That is NOT natural!"

"The BDSM community would disagree. So would the gay community."

"Why do you say things like that?"

"It makes me happy."

"You are not happy."

"I will be when I conjure this cactus."

"Do you enjoy causing pain?"

"To you? Always."

We pulled up outside the restaurant, and I jumped out before the car had even stopped, effectively ending our bickering. I ran for my sisters who were walking back to the truck, worry written in their body language.

"Ali! Rose!" I shouted.

They turned around, relief evident in their faces as they rushed over to me. "Bella!"

"What happened? You said you were only a few blocks away! But that was an hour ago and you weren't answering your phone!" Alice worried.

"We waited as long as we could, but we were starving, so we ate without you." Rose prattled, worrying at her bag strap. "We should have waited—sorry."

"It's okay—really. I wasn't that hungry anyway," I lied, pulling her hands into mine. "We can just grab some pizza on the way home or something."

Rose looked at my hands and pulled back with a start. "What the hell happened to your hands?" That was when she noticed Edward. "What is he doing here? And why the fuck do you have bruises on your knuckles? Did he do something to you? Because I have a very sharp athame–"

I cut off her rant before she could get too intense. "As much as I would love for you to render Edworm down to potion ingredients, the most irritating thing he did tonight was interrupt my fun. Four ex-rapists tried to herd me into an empty lot for some 'fun', as they put it. they were awfully generous to be my punching bags for the evening, and I would have retired them permanently from their lives as shitheels, but this asshole interrupted my fun."

I waved a hand over my shoulder where I knew Edward was standing. I could tell he was about to say something stupid so I pointed blindly at him. "Whatever you're about to say, can it. Yes, I used magic on them. Yes I clearly showed I was a witch, but those assholes all have 'rapist' permanently scarred to their faces—I don't think anyone's going to care who attacked them. Let alone believe them."

"Well, at least they won't be bothering any women again," Rose mused, and I knew she'd be asking for explicit details when we got home.

"I hate to break this up," Edward interrupted unapologetically. "But I really think Bella should eat a proper meal. I'm more than happy to take her home myself when we're done, so you two don't have to wait for her."

Alice and Rose narrowed their eyes at him suspiciously. "Bella said she wasn't hungry."

Just as I was about to agree, my stomach betrayed me by gurgling, loudly. I sighed and I could almost feel the self-satisfaction rolling off him.

Like he could tell I was still prepared to argue my way out of this, Edward sighed. "How about this: you have dinner with me—"

"And you pay," I cut in.

He sighed again Sweet Circe, all he does is sigh!. "—I pay, and we take turns asking each other questions."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "Sounds like all I'm getting out of this is a free meal and a bunch of lies as you avoid my questions."

"I'm sure you can make it so neither of us can lie." There was a level of desperation on his face. "And then the moment you've finished eating I'll take you straight home."

I stared at him, waiting for him to squirm, but when he didn't I nodded. "Fine." I stuck out my hand for him to shake. "A little Q&A over dinner, with totally honest answers."

My sisters smirked, knowing what I was about to do.

Relief flashed across his face and he reached to take my hand. But when my eyes flashed violet, he said quickly, "And we can't get angry at any of the questions."

He grabbed my hand tightly before I could pull away. "It's counterproductive if we kill each other."

I scowled at his trickery—ignoring the tiny part of me that of me said I'd been tricking him myself—before shaking. My magic bled through as the deal was struck. "So mote it be."

A greyish light flashed up our arms, settling in our hearts. It was an uncomfortable sensation, but bearable. I dropped his hand as if it was a hot iron, making sure he watched as I wiped my hand on the front of my shirt.

I smiled innocently at him and asked, if a bit condescendingly, "You didn't think I'd take you at your word, did you?"

"No," he muttered. "I suppose that was too much to hope for."

My sisters were smiling mischievously as Alice grabbed my shopping bags. "We'll take these; you two have fun on your date!"

I poked my tongue at them as I turned to Edward. I was eager to get my answers, but then I noticed Edward had looked away, an odd expression on his face, almost as if— Oh! Well now that's interesting! It looks like the wonder boy has a bit of a crush on me.

Staring at him, I felt…different. I wasn't used to being crushed on. All my focus in both my lives had been on taking care of Alice and Rose. It didn't leave me much time for romantic pursuits—and the few I had tried had been so exhaustingly awful that I hadn't been bothered since. Nevermind my first aggravating foray into romance, I firmly shut down that thought process. Refusing to even think of the arsehole's name.

But still…I felt strangely flattered. I suppose I can tolerate him for now. Even if it's only for the novelty of being chased. I didn't crave being desired, but it was nice to know that someone was interested. Even if that someone was 99.9% awful.

"Shall we?" I gestured to the restaurant.

He nodded, and like any gentleman, he offered me his arm. I contemplated rejecting it—just for the fun of it—but I figured it wasn't a particularly taking request, so I lightly placed my hand in the crook of his elbow.

I didn't miss my sister's giggling in the background though.

"I can't believe I lost another bet to Emmett," Rose didn't sound disappointed in the slightest.

Alice just laughed. "You say that like you actually lost. Now you get to spend an entire evening with him fawning over you and only you."

I could hear the smirk in Rose's voice as she said, "Why do you think I agreed to it?"

Edward held the door open for me and I was caught between rolling my eyes and smirking. We walked up to the rather pretty hostess; she had short black hair and eyes like gemstones, but that all went out the window when she practically eye-fucked Edward.

She must have been desperate if she was checking out a guy who was with someone else—particularly this guy. I secured my arm tighter around Edward's, just to annoy her as I smiled pointedly. "Hi! Table for two. Somewhere private, please. It's our anniversary," I said, as sickly sweet as possible.

And just as I'd hoped, her expression soured and she nodded curtly. She grabbed two menus and led us to our table. Admittedly she had a nice butt, it was a shame she was such a bitch Edward gave me an exasperated look, but he made no move to extricate himself from my grip. After a moment, she stopped at a table that was entirely sectioned off from the others. if we talked normally, the other patrons would be hard-pressed to hear us.

Edward smiled at her. "It's perfect, thank you," he said, pulling my chair out for me.

I sat down, smiling at him sweetly. "Thank you, baby."

I silently cackled at both their faces. Edward looked like he was in the middle of a heart attack while the hostess looked like she wanted to start stabbing. She glared at me like she knew exactly what I was doing and I smirked as she practically threw the menus on the table.

"Your server will be right with you," she said in a chilling tone.

I grinned, watching her walk away and Edward sat down with an exasperated sigh. "Will you ever not annoy people to death?" he asked.

"Now where's the fun in that?" I purred with a wicked little smirk as my eyes flashed violet.