Playlist:
Savage (bitmastr remix) - Bahari, bitmastr
Chains – Nick Jonas
Daisy - Ashnikko
Thank You for the Venom – My Chemical Romance
Dusk 'til Dawn (feat. Sia) - ZAYN, Sia
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the words. Stephanie Meyer owns the Twilight series, and the songs belong to their respective people.
*PG-13/R*
Savage
It was raining. Edward opened his eyes. They were standing in the middle of the street in what appeared to be a long-abandoned village. The sky was dark and overcast, and the burned-out shells of the buildings around them blended into the sky like a nightmarish dream. The muddy cobblestone street beneath their feet rattled with thumping bass from underground. In front of them was a moldy and putrid well, half-crumbling away. Edward caught the stench of death close by. He turned his head to see a skeletal, emaciated corpse strung on a beam that jutted out from the building next to him.
He turned to ask Bella where they were, but the sight of her face stopped him in his tracks. Bella was breathing heavily, shivering from head to toe with something violent in her golden eyes. Black tears were welling up in her gaze, and she growled at her regent. By contrast, Kaedra was curling her pink lips into a Chesire grin.
Bella's regent met her Queen's eyes with a challenge of her own. "Here's your chance to do some damage, Isabella. Let's see if you can catch some trouble."
Bella reached for Kaedra with malice in the movement, but Kaedra darted out of her reach, shimmering into a gothic outfit that hugged the regent's body like a second skin. The look was completed by a shadowy hood that immersed Kay's face in darkness, making her unrecognizable. Only the shape of her mouth and eyes could be seen, both outlined in bright red.
Shades burst into flight above them with discordant cawing that broke the oppressive quiet. Bella jolted, abandoning her pursuit of Kay to pull Edward into the darkened alcove of the corpse-adorned building. Kaedra blew them a blood-red kiss as she crossed the street to enter a doorway outlined in the glow of red light shining from within. The bass beat pounded through Edward hard enough to vibrate his body before the door snapped closed behind her.
"Bella-"
"Kaedra needs a lesson in the difference between an adrenaline rush and suicide. Fuck. I need to focus, hang on."
Edward watched as Bella's hair lightened and grew longer, curling slightly as it reached her hips and fading to a blonde that was almost white. Her lips darkened to black ink and Bella drew a manicured nail down her face from her hairline to her jaw, tracing complicated symbols that bloomed in black where her fingertips traced them. When she looked up at him, her golden irises were emphasized by eyeshadow in a compelling scarlet. A thin crimson silk top with long sleeves, a strappy leather skirt, and leather stilettos completed her disguise.
She waved a hand at him distractedly, peering out of their hiding spot to look for anyone coming towards them. He was sheathed in a tight black T-shirt that clung to his muscles and holey light-wash jeans. When his wet hair fell into his eyes, it was jet black. The pendant Bella had bid him wear as long as he loved her tapped his sternum, and Bella's gaze was drawn to it. She seemed to pause upon seeing it there, before she swore under her breath and tucked it under his shirt.
"Don't let anyone see that." She muttered to him before she turned inward, talking to herself. "This is a terrible idea. Why do I trust Kaedra? As if I didn't have enough on my plate. I'm hanging on to myself by my fingernails, and she brings us here. Control, Bella. Be in control of yourself. Do not lose your temper. I'm hanging her for treason when we get back to Camp. Which we will. Get back. Hopefully. Okay— Edward. You need to listen to me."
She gripped his shoulders, digging her nails into the meat of his biceps and looking him over with a critical eye before she pinned him beneath her gaze.
"We're going in there. Kaedra must have a reason for bringing us here, and I think I know what it is. I wouldn't have picked this approach, but we're here now and it's an opportunity I can't pass up. We are in the Borderlands, firmly within Tomas' reach. From this moment until we get back home, you are not my lover. Do you understand? You are my master; I am a thing you own. A jealously guarded possession, but still an object and nothing more. This place is not like Camp. Any compassion, any kindness is a weakness. In this place, power is measured by the brutality you show. The sicker and more disturbing the act, the better off you'll be. I cannot afford to be found here. Edward, if anyone in this place realizes we are lovers, we will be killed. And that's the merciful scenario, okay? Hold this. Don't drop it."
Bella handed him the end of a thick chain that connected to a scarlet strap fixed around her neck, and Edward felt his jaw drop. He tried to think of something to say, anything to say, but the sight of a platinum blonde Bella wearing a chain that he held in his hands was simultaneously the sexiest and the most disturbing thing he had ever seen. He swallowed hard at the trust she was showing.
"Holy—Holy shit, Bella. What? We're not- okay, no. Bella, I'm not doing this." He tried to hand the end of the chain back to her, but she only looped it around his wrist with a glare.
Her eyes narrowed. "Edward, this is one of those moments where you have to trust me as much as I'm trusting you. I can't get us back to Camp without drawing some very unneeded attention. If you don't want to do this, that's one thing. But if you can't do this, tell me now."
Edward took stock. A part of him was reeling at the trust Bella was putting in him. But he also couldn't deny the dark curiosity welling in him, the hungry desire to see how Bella would face this scenario. He had no doubt he would be surprised. Their lives were in danger here, but something about this situation called to him, made him want to push himself to see if he could handle it. His mouth was too dry to speak, so he closed his fist around the chain and nodded at her.
She quirked an eyebrow, breaking the serious tone of their brief conversation. "You know, I've never heard you curse like that before."
"Depending on what we're walking into, you may get to hear more of it."
"Good." Her smile was spun sugar, the promise of sin. "I like the way it shapes your mouth."
Bella stood on tiptoe, pressing an inky kiss on his lips that left him chasing her mouth and scrambling to keep his composure. She motioned towards the red lights of the underground club.
"After you."
Chains
The red lights of the club were only half neon. In each of the corners, pillars of fire danced wildly from floor to ceiling, spots of fierce heat throwing dark shadows on the floor. The ceiling of the underground club reflected the overcast sky from outside, peals of lightning and glimpses of stars providing a welcome break from the bloody light. The club was packed with people in with eccentric styles who danced as one organism, writhing and grinding sensually. Tucked into dark alcoves, women in barely-there outfits performed salacious acts on the men who held them captive. Men were not the only ones who held chains: Edward's eyes rested for just a moment on a woman with blue hair who was surrounded by men on leashes. The men crouched on all fours around the couch where she reclined. A shaved head bobbed between her legs, and Edward quickly turned his eyes away. The inside of the club was strangely colder than it should have been, and Edward could see ice fractals on the glasses in everyone's hands.
He felt a shiver run down the chain in his hands and turned towards Bella. Her eyes were fixed on one of the catacomb-like seating areas. Edward followed her gaze and saw Tomas talking to a man with dirty blonde hair. Bella growled under her breath, her muscles tensing, and Edward had a sudden vision of what would happen if Bella attacked Tomas here. It wouldn't be good, Edward was certain, and there was no way he was letting Bella put herself in danger like that.
He swallowed hard as he increased the pressure on the chain around Bella's neck, redirecting her attention to him so he could send her a warning glance.
The delicate symbols that painted lines down Bella's face had begun to move, a lazily changing script that highlighted Bella's features. He recognized the symbols for self-discipline, for diversion, for deceit, for control. The script was an armor and a disguise, keeping Bella from being recognized even as it helped her retain a hold on the Master's influence over her. Edward found he was far more concerned about the simmering anger in Bella's eyes than the pillars of fire in the room. She was much more likely to burn this place down than they were.
Edward couldn't have imagined Bella like this in Forks if someone had shown him a photograph. His lover was feral energy and barely contained rage as she took in the room, and Edward had to restrain himself from laughing at the idea that he had any control over her right now. He may have held her leash, but she was the one calling the shots. She kept her eyes on Tomas until he exited through a side door.
When Bella looked at him from under her eyelashes, her expression grew hungry as her anger waned. He was pinned under brown eyes that were slowly melting into glitter. If Edward had possessed a heartbeat, it would have stopped.
She swayed her hips down to the floor, resting her weight on her tiptoes before she perched on her fingertips and rolled forward onto her knees. She crawled slowly forward, and the pose would have been submissive if it hadn't given Edward visions of how he stalked prey. You are so over your head, Edward Cullen. Bella's hips swayed sensually, the straps on her skirt dragging the floor and stiletto heels jutting into the air as she crawled towards one of the alcoves.
Edward could have held the chain lax, could have let them both forget it was there, but he didn't. He held it taut, a light pressure against Bella's airway. Nothing restrictive or punitive, but enough that he could tell where she was leading him while appearing in control of her.
The crowd parted before them, slaves and masters alike noticing their movement through the packed club and bowing their acknowledgement. Their averted eyes gave Edward a sick sense of subtle power, and he suddenly realized that they were yielding to him. They didn't recognize Bella; they were afraid of him because he was a vampire. A master spoke to one of his leashed women.
"No, Arisele. She is gorgeous, I'll give you that. But he is vampyr. Too much is unknown. Leave him be." The man swatted the girl lightly on her backside before directing her to kneel. "Put your lips to better use than talking, pet. I'll see to it your thirst is sated."
Edward shivered and Bella looked over her shoulder at him, rolling her spine like a hunting cat. Edward read her body language and put some slack into the leash he held. Bella pounced onto a white couch in one of the warmer alcoves, twisting herself to rest with her knees tucked behind her. When Edward sat next to her, she curled her head against his shoulder and rested her lips against his ear with her hands bracing her weight against his chest.
"Relax, Edward. Almost all of these people are in consenting relationships. Just not the type of relationships you're used to."
"Almost all?"
"Almost."
"Why would someone want this?"
"Oh, come now, Edward. You're a hunter." Bella flipped herself around so she was straddling his lap, bringing her hands inward and down until they wrapped his waist. Her thighs squeezed slightly as she eliminated the scant space between them. Edward was painfully aware of her proximity to the erection he hadn't noticed until this moment. He could feel her heat from his shoulders to his knees, an addiction he had no way of fighting.
"You don't like it? Not even a little? All the veils pulled back and only instinct left behind. It's the slow prowl, the fight or flight. Everyone here knows their own strength, Edward. Here, in this place? There is power in predator and prey." On the last word Bella rolled her hips, bringing her core into his hard length with gentle pressure that was nowhere near enough.
Edward gasped in surprise, grabbing her hips hard enough to bruise as he pulled her away from him. Her scent made him dizzy, and his dick got impossibly harder.
"Bella!"
She curved back into him, brushing her breasts against his chest. He could tell her nipples were pebbled under the thin shirt, but her brown eyes were wide and innocent. "Yes?"
Edward forgot what his objection was. Her lips were level with his like this, and he stole a desperate kiss, leaning her backward to maintain some sense of propriety. He released her hips to put one hand at the small of her back. The other tilted her head back to give him better access. She lost her balance and landed hard in his lap, her spine bowing backward over the tabletop.
When her tongue darted out to trace the seam of his lips, he opened his mouth with a moan.
"Fuck, Bella."
"That's the idea." She pulled down on his darkened hair until he bent his head up, retaking control and breaking the kiss. Her tongue dipped into his mouth to trace his teeth briefly as she molded herself to him, tensing her body as she rolled forward. He could feel every inch of her soft, firm flesh pressed against him for just a moment, and it left a permanent mark on him. He almost whimpered as she pulled back, fading to as much distance as the cramped seating allowed her.
She settled to sit on their table's surface with her legs on either side of him, and Edward fought to keep from pulling her back into his lap so he could feel her heat against him again. A simple glance and he would know the color of her panties. He coveted the knowledge. He had to shake his head to clear it.
"So, this is a sex club?"
"I should think that was fairly obvious, Edward."
There was a sudden crash near them, a fight breaking out that ended quickly when one of the mistresses around him stabbed the man who had challenged her, splitting his gut open. She jerked on the chain that connected a submissive man to her, away from the now bleeding master who had grabbed him.
"Well, among other things. He challenged her."
"What?"
"He tried to take possession of her submissive. If he had won the challenge, he would have had the right to own that man until she won him back. He could have done whatever he wanted to him, whatever he could force the man to do. Those are the rules."
Edward felt sudden adrenaline, sudden panic flowing through his veins. "Will someone try to do that to you? Try to take you from me?"
"I imagine not. You're fairly intimidating when you want to be. But if they do, I have no doubt that you can put them in their place." Bella leaned forward again, pressing a filthy kiss to his collarbone.
"Be-lla." Edward closed his eyes briefly at the sensation of her rough tongue caressing his stone flesh. He had no control over the words he spoke. "I'd kill them for trying."
"I know. So would I." She pulled back, meeting his eyes with hers. Her doe-brown eyes were almost consumed with swirls of gold and black. A new scent reached Edward. From Bella's core, Edward could perceive the scent of arousal. Jesus Christ. It was the last straw, he was undone. Edward looped his hand around the chain and pulled, making Bella lose her balance and topple forward, pressing close to him once more. He buried a hand in her blonde locks, running his nose up her neck to inhale the sweet scent more thoroughly. He moaned when he reached her jaw, darting his tongue out to take just a little taste of her skin behind her ear. She smelled like the finest red wine, like freesia and roses and honey in the sun. She whimpered under his attention, turning her head into him.
He captured her lips again, his free hand running up her thigh without his permission.
"Bella. Bella, God, you're killing me here."
Bella looked dazzled and slightly dazed. Edward tilted his forehead to rest on hers, her gentle panting pushing her sweet scent into his lungs.
"Care to tell me what I did, so I can do it again next time?"
Edward grinned, all teeth, and met her consumed eyes, struggling to retain his focus. "I can smell you, Bella. Every breath I take. I can smell your heat."
Bella blushed, and the touch of innocence it gave her features wrenched a growl from Edward's chest. Bella responded by pulling herself impossibly closer to him, bowing her head to rest in the crook of his neck. Edward could feel her hardened peaks against him again.
"Dance with me, Edward. Please." The words were a whisper.
Edward looked out at the mass of bodies, imagining Bella writhing against him like she had with Kaedra and Marcos not so long ago, like she had in Club Cumming. His response was to pick Bella up bodily, leaving her to wrap long legs around his hips. He didn't even try to stop himself from putting his hands on her ass, holding her to him tightly as he spun to brace her against the wall of their alcove.
He all but attacked her lips, biting at her plump bottom lip when her arousal spiked at his aggression. "Little witch, I may be a vampire, but I am still a man. You're putting a spell on me, Bella."
Bella's mouth twitched into a seductive smile. "Oldest magick there is."
Edward could barely rip his focus from her long enough to make it to the dance floor, where he let her down and pulled the chain taut. "I'm not your commander, little witch. You won't run from me like you did from Marcos."
"No running. I want you." Bella moved closer, her hips swaying to the beat, and Edward lost track of time as they moved together in perfect sync.
Daisy
Later, Edward distantly took stock as Bella crowded close to him again. Edward couldn't tell if she was moving to the beat of the music or her own heartbeat as he relished her touch. He dared himself to stay in control as he reached to trace a bead of sweat that ran down Bella's neck, making her shiver. He would've followed the path of his hand with his tongue, but Bella was suddenly ripped from his grasp.
Edward reacted on pure instinct, not even registering the face of the man beyond the neon-blue glow in his eyes as he tried to grab Bella away from him. Edward carelessly broke his arm and shoved him away. He barely took his eyes off his lover, who had taken advantage of the opportunity to run her hand up her own body, rucking up her shirt to tease him with the bare skin of her navel.
He spun Bella away from the intruder, growling low and constant in his chest as he pulled her off her feet to feel her long legs wrap around him once more. Her core was balanced against his hardness now, and Edward couldn't stop the jerk of his hips. Bella gasped at the contact and Edward pushed her into the wall next to a pillar of fire, relishing the sudden heat on his cold skin.
Lightning flashed across the ceiling of the club, illuminating Bella's eyes just as they flashed again- bright, hungry gold swallowing up innocent brown. His bloodlust spiked, and he barely kept himself in control as he jerked her forward by the chain around her neck, tasting her mouth.
"Bella. Fuck, Bella. This is getting to be too much, I can't. I'll hurt you."
"You couldn't hurt me if you tried, Edward. And you'll never even try. I trust you."
"You shouldn't."
Bella gasped suddenly, using her legs around Edward's hips to switch them so that he was pressed against the wall. A wicked crack of fire hit her unprotected back. Bella drew a pained breath through her teeth. The man from before was glaring at Edward, glowing eyes narrowed. Edward reacted by grabbing a heavy glass off the table in the alcove next to him and throwing it at the man. It broke against his head, and he fell to the ground, unconscious. It was too good for him; he had hurt Bella.
There was a dangerous blend of anger and adrenaline in his veins as Edward crowded Bella against the wall, using his body as a barrier against further harm.
"You're hurt."
"I'm fine, Edward. Really, it's nothing."
Edward grabbed hold of the crimson collar around her neck, pulling Bella into his chest so he could take in the damage that imbecile had inflicted. There was a tear in the thin material of her shirt, showing glimpses of a wicked welt over the torn brand on her shoulder. He met Bella's wide eyes before he twisted her resistant form and pushed her against the wall again. He manipulated her so that her back was to him and ducked his head, licking at the wound. He traced a path, nibbling and kissing just to taste the porcelain skin that stretched from the wound up the column of her neck to her ear.
"No one will hurt you again, little witch. Only me, and I never will."
Bella whimpered her surrender, going lax. Her submission released the tension in her form, pushing her backside against his hardness, and Edward pushed forward until her hips met the wall. She was pinned now, under him, and Edward's mind spun with the possibilities. The predator in him was screaming for Bella's blood, but the man in him was screaming for her pleasure.
When he pulled her head back by her hair to expose her neck, she let him, her eyes glittering in the lightning. He had no idea whether he was going to bite her or kiss her until he was hit by a powerful gust of heated air. He sheltered Bella from the blast as the ground shook beneath them and turned his head to see the blue-haired woman smiling wickedly at him.
"Perhaps I can provide more of a challenge than that bastard." she grinned. "After all, vampyr, you're playing with fire."
Bella hissed her displeasure at the interruption, twisting so her front was to him and reaching towards the ceiling above them. There was another flash of lightning, and the woman froze in her tracks when it struck the ground at her feet. Bella twisted her extended hand downward to clutch at Edward's shoulder blades, shimmying against him and pulling him in for a messy, aggressive kiss as the woman backed away unnoticed.
Edward was consumed and consuming, writhing against Bella's core through thin fabric and clutching at her waist. She was too far away, held back by fabric and skin and bone. His hands began tracing complicated patterns under her shirt towards where their chests met, blindly seeking more flesh to curb his craving. A surreal lust was clouding his senses, sharpening his focus on the only thing that mattered: Bella.
The lightning was constant now, almost a strobe light in the club. Partygoers were starting to break apart, mumbling and running outside to see the real sky, looking around curiously for the source of the magic that was bleeding powerfully into the space. The pillar of fire next to them burned hotter, but Edward knew it wouldn't harm him. It played across Bella's skin, making her even more beautiful in the shifting light.
This was going too far; he was losing control. God help the next person who challenged him. Venom pooled in his mouth at the thought, and he had to break away to swallow.
"Bella. Bella. I can't." The words were desperate, a whimper and a growl all in one. He didn't recognize his own voice. It swirled through the air, the start of a breeze that tousled his hair gently, cooling him just enough that he could focus on Bella beneath him again.
Bella was lost, tangling her hands in his hair and pulling him in to kiss her again. He could feel the lace of her bra brush his fingers, sweet temptation, so close now.
He couldn't focus when she moved her tongue like that.
The fire from the pillar was pulling towards them in wisps, and Edward realized that the shaking of the ground had gotten more pronounced, more than the bass from the music could cause. It sent his bones vibrating, increased the want that was growing in him.
He pulled away from Bella's sinful mouth, swollen and red under his attention, and traced a line down her neck again, nipping at her with his teeth. He finally, finally, brushed his hands over her chest, cupping her through her bra. She arched her back encouragingly and he was licking at her chest, following the sweet line of her collarbone with no thought to the club around them. He brushed her nipples with his thumbs and she gasped in pleased surprise, clutching at his biceps. He nipped her a little harder than he had intended; she rewarded him with the edge of nails. Her gasps clouded the air with ice crystals that felt good on his skin, so he drew her mouth level with his own, wanting another taste of her breath.
This time, when he kissed her, the world went fuzzy. Golden sparks were clouding his vision and he felt strange, too-hot and cold all at once. There was desperation in it that didn't come from him, an attempt to push reality away for one more second that reached him from her mind. The raised voice that called him away from the feeling was unwelcome.
"Well, it seems there's a new challenger in town. You're being a bit obvious, Isabella, but then subtlety was never your strong point."
Bella froze, something terrible flashing across her face. The temperature dropped twenty degrees, so quickly that clouds began to form inside the club. Edward froze too, motionless as only a vampire could be.
Their eyes locked.
Maybe it was the loss of that surreal energy that made the world fade away. Maybe it was the dangerous blend of predator and lover that had danced in Edward's veins. Maybe, it was just that when he said no one would ever hurt her again, he meant it. Heat turned in an instant to a cold and feral anger, a predatory rage that spellbound him as surely as his lust had.
Edward felt his face turn vampiric, felt the snarl rip past his teeth, low and constant. Bella smiled at him in response, sharp and deadly with eyes that glimmered dangerously golden.
Thank You for the Venom
The man had dirty blonde hair that reached his shoulders, dark feathers entwined with sporadic braids. Dark paint accented the strong lines of his face, and there was something sharp in his royal blue gaze. His strong muscles were obvious beneath a mesh black shirt and blue jeans, and heavy combat boots on his feet were fortified in steel.
Bella twisted her fingers in Edward's shirt to keep him from attacking the man outright.
"Nix. I was having such a nice night before you showed up."
"I can see that. Rules are rules, little girl. I have every right to challenge him for you."
Edward felt his snarl get stronger in his chest.
Kaedra pulled herself out of the shadows a few feet from them, her voice a deadly purr. "Challengers who lose pay a price. You really want to make this wager, baby?"
The man's eyes went wide. "Of course - I should have realized. You work for Isabella."
Bella's bloodthirsty smile got a little broader. "Oh, have you met my regent, Kaedra? What a happy coincidence. And now here we are, all cozy and together at last. Well, except I'm pretty sure you've yet to meet my lover, Edward?"
When the man's consumed gaze rested briefly on him, Edward could feel his eyes like twin points of fire on his back. He jerked in Bella's grasp, tearing his shirt, but she held him firm, keeping him so that his back was to the man. She was still braced against the wall with Edward between her and the intruder, but Edward could feel the shaking in Bella's fingers and hear the increase in her pulse rate.
Kaedra spoke up again. "Well? What do you say, Nix? You lose, and you give us the information Tomas just gave you. You win, and Isabella is all yours. Good luck with that."
Bella's mouth melted into a smirk; her face was suddenly darkly seductive. But the tremble of her hands got stronger. "Oh, I'm sure Nix remembers exactly how much luck he had with that. You know, he could always walk away, dear Kay. Just turn around and leave, run away like the coward he is. He's a fast runner, maybe he could outlast the Master's vengeance for letting me pass. Of course, Tomas' vengeance will be swift. He won't be very happy with you this evening. Oh, and then there is the little matter of my vengeance, too. Wow, you've managed to piss everybody off. Congratulations. I'll inscribe it on your tombstone."
The man's confidence faltered, but he sneered at Bella anyway. "I know how to shut you up, Isabella. I'm sure your vampire would love to know what you looked like all trussed up and whimpering on the floor. I'm happy to give you a better use for your mouth."
"You and what army? Erik and his battalion aren't here now, Nix, and you're not much of a threat without Tomas and Demetri to back you up. Are you game for the challenge or not? Pick soon, because I'm not entirely sure Edward is going to leave you much of an option."
Edward had thought he knew what bloodlust was. He had struggled with it every day for one hundred and nine years. He had felt it with some of his victims, felt it with James, felt it in front of the Volturi. None of it compared to the feeling vibrating through his bones right now.
He didn't want to imagine what this man had done to Bella, or how she knew him. He didn't care about the games Kaedra was playing, or that Bella was offering him up for some sort of combat. All he could focus on was the slight tremor in Bella's fingers where they restrained him, the sudden coldness and fear that had flown across her face in the second before her rage took over. He felt a new heat now, the kind he had been incapable of feeling towards his Bella since that first day. It was all the burning heat of a white flame eating him up inside, demanding blood.
"I accept, you stupid bitch. I'm gonna tear your vampire up and then tear you-"
Bella let go of him, and Edward moved without thinking. He slammed Nix into the floor and reached for a table near him. The man rolled before the table could crush him, but when it shattered against the floor Edward kept hold of the jagged table leg, striking out and shoving it through the meat of the man's shoulder. Nix struck out with a fireball, but Bella split it around Edward and threw it into the club floor. The ground cracked where it struck and lava began to pour out of the chasm, separating their group from the rest of the club.
"Oh dear, baby boy. Looks like you've bit off more than you can chew." Kaedra was laughing wickedly as she snapped her fingers. An ice shard formed in her hand, and she lengthened it before she tossed it to Bella. His love threw the shard into the air and it multiplied, trapping the other partygoers behind bars that had a sharp edge.
Edward met Bella's glittering gaze, and she grinned, feral, at him. "Well, Nix? Give up yet?"
Nix was whimpering, clutching at his ruined shoulder as he tried to stand. It took no effort to break his femur as Edward pulled him closer.
"I surrender the challenge! I do, I'm sorry just don't let him kill me!"
Edward was too far gone to the monster within, grinning at the man's face with mocking indulgence. "What was it you said? Oh yes." He gripped the man's jaw, crushing the delicate bone in his grasp. "A better use for your mouth. I can help with that."
"Edward, stop." Edward felt his teeth click as he closed his mouth. He had been a millisecond short of draining the man dry. "I'd say we've made our point. Let him go."
He really, really didn't want to. Everything in Edward screamed to kill the man who had somehow harmed Bella, who had made her frightened. But Edward didn't want to scare her, either. He shoved the man away so hard his body left a crack in the wall. Kaedra snatched a gem that hung from a cord around the limp man's neck, grinning as she turned to Bella.
"Your majesty." Kay bowed sardonically, extending the gem to Bella, who took it with a grimace.
"Let's get out of here." She frowned at Kaedra.
She took in the room around them, the barely contained partygoers who muttered to each other. In places, weapons were already glittering into their owners' hands. Some of the shocked faces were starting to go hard and menacing, but most of the group just looked frightened. "Kay, you and I need to have a little chat about risk and reward."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. No putting the precious vampires in danger. I'd say the danger was negligible, if there was even any. Your Edward would make a hell of a master."
"I don't want to be anyone's master, Kaedra." Edward gathered Bella to himself as they walked quickly towards the door and shoved aside the blue-haired woman when she got in his way. She scrambled away, not so eager for a fight now that they had been revealed.
"Too bad. I thought Izzy was gonna cream her panties."
"Kay! Shut up. Also, gross." Bella stuck her tongue out at her regent, trading the dark seduction of the night for innocence in a heartbeat.
They finally made it outside, and Edward flinched at the smell of burning flesh. All around him, Shades had been struck down by lightning, and Edward remembered the strobing lights in the club.
Had Bella done this?
Edward shot her a startled look, and she winked at him.
"Well, someone knew we were here." Kay muttered.
"No shit? You know, I would have told you about the defenses the Master has put in place to ensure I don't cause trouble on the borders if you had... oh, I don't know, told me where we were going."
"You needed to kick someone's ass, or you were gonna end up kicking mine."
"I still might."
"Besides, you wouldn't have considered it. You've been really weird about gaining enough information to go on the offensive about this."
"I know who my enemies are, Kaedra. And I know the lines I won't cross to defeat them."
"Do you? 'Cause wars aren't won on the defense, Isabella."
"Enough. I went along with your plan, didn't I? They know we have the blueprints and that will save lives. But saving lives is all that it will be used for." Bella fixed Kay with a cold glare. "The Fae who follow the Master are still Fae, Kaedra Salem. I will not slaughter my own people indiscriminately just because they are on the wrong side of the line in the sand. Every Fae has the right to choose. Look around. Do you see anyone attacking us? They're frightened, Kay. They're scared they'll be next, and anyone who supports the rebellion is sticking their neck out."
"Fae are not cowards."
"That doesn't mean they are without fear. Just that they rise to overcome it. And they will. But I'm not going to punish my people for being afraid. If I did, I'd be no better than the Master. Alex was right, you know. They took Lizzie because she insulted Demetri; it was a petty schoolyard rivalry. Tomas is a cruel bastard, and wily too. He strikes out at those you care about before he comes for you. Hell, he killed Charlie and destroyed an entire mortal town just because he was pissed off at me. I won't bring more suffering to my people. It's not my side or his side, my way or the highway. It's just not that simple, Kay."
"It could be."
"Not under my rule."
"It will be your undoing."
"Then I will be undone."
Bella's words were punctuated by the resounding clap of her hands. The world went black, though the ugly caws of the Shades reached Edward, too close for comfort. For a moment, all Edward could hear was the echo of that ugly sound.
Then he blinked, and they were back in Camp.
They were alone in the gilded hallway on the first floor of HQ, in the early hours of the morning. Bella and Kaedra hadn't even stopped walking as they shifted, still glaring at one another. Edward flashed to keep up.
Marcos met them at the end of the hall. "There you two are! Jesus, I've been flipping my fucking shit. You should see your vampires, Bella. If the little one still had a pulse, she'd be dead from a heart attack. She was muttering something about waking up the Seers' Council when I couldn't take it anymore and left. What the hell was so important you had to take off without telling me first?"
Bella threw the gem on the ground at Marcos' feet. "Shannara was just making sure you two got all the evidence you needed to justify her next mass slaughter."
Marcos' eyes went wide. "Are those...?"
Bella snarled and the gem popped and skittered across the floor, releasing a tuft of black smoke. "Not anymore, they're not."
"Izzy!" Marcos looked shocked, but it was Kaedra who reached for Bella's throat.
Bella's lip curled as she knocked Kay's hands away from her. The metal decorations on the walls of the hallway reached for Kaedra, clamping around her wrists and ankles and glowing red-hot as they retracted into the wall, slamming Kay against it.
Kaedra spat in Bella's face.
Bella flicked it off her cheek, uncaring. Her face was hard. She was in Kay's face in the space of a single heartbeat. "Let me make something clear to you, Shannara Salem. I don't give a damn what went on between you and the Master. I don't give a damn that you used to rule with an iron fist. I don't care about what you and Marcos think is necessary; I don't care about Tomas and Nix and Erik, or their plans to see who can get the highest kill-count. I don't care about any of it. I care about the Fae, all of the Fae, and I care about Edward Cullen and his family. If you ever put my lover in a situation like you did tonight ever again, I will make the Master look like a goddamn saint compared to what I do to you."
"You just destroyed our only chance of winning."
"You can't possibly think I wouldwant to know how to build one of those godforsaken murder machines."
"It's leverage. Tomas and his little band of misfits could never come up with the will to power one of those things, but you could, and they know it."
"Which is exactly why they're building one." Bella's voice was a dangerous whisper, a deadly snarl-hiss. "You two are being idiots." Bella flicked her eyes to Marcos before she pushed herself away from Kaedra, shoving off the wall to pace the hallway. "Goddammit, you cannot be this stupid. A Reaper, once built, stays built. They aren't building it for the war, you morons. They're building it for after I fall."
Marcos' brow knitted in concern. "But you won't fall. You'll die before you fall, everyone knows that."
"Do they now?" Bella's laugh made Edward's stomach turn to hear it. "I don't. Sometimes, I'm not sure of that at all."
"Why?" Marcos' question rang with an almost child-like naïveté. It hung in the air for a moment that stretched until Edward saw Bella's small flinch, smelled fresh blood in the air.
Bella kept her eyes on her regent and commander as she spit blood on the floor. "It's done. They can't power a reaper, you said it yourself. And now they have reason to believe we know how to make one. That will be enough to stay their hand."
A reaper. Edward had read about those. Reapers were great war machines used in ancient times, and every text Edward came across that mentioned them only gave the barest explanation of how they worked. They were powered by all five elements working in tandem, tearing down the very fabric of the universe around them. The Void created by the machines wiped out two of the twelve ancient tribes before Havana was formed. They could kill hundreds, even thousands, in a single day; the magicks behind Reapers was scattered to the four winds by the Akira thousands of years ago.
Edward eyed the gem on the floor with caution, as though it might bite him. He heard the creak of metal and watched as the decorations on the wall reformed. Kaedra brushed off her costume and ran her fingers through her hair, shimmering into her corset and skirt. "I sure hope you know what you're doing, Isabella."
"Me too." Bella's voice held her exhaustion.
Marcos gave Bella a reluctant hug before he swung an arm around Kaedra's shoulders. "Come on Kay, let's work it out in the dojo. It's done now. We'll catch up with you later, Izz. Glad you're back safe. Get some rest."
A moment passed in stillness after the two Fae left them alone in the hall. When Edward distractedly stepped towards Bella, the crunch of the gem under his shoe was loud on the marble floor.
Bella put one hand over her mouth.
"Sorry! I just-"
Bella's shoulders were shaking, her eyes watered. She turned to face him just as a manic giggle escaped from behind her hand.
"Edward - Edward, those were the plans for the most precise and deadly magical machines in the world. And—" Another giggle escaped. Bella seemed to give up, shrugging her shoulders as she dropped her hand away from her face, revealing her beautiful smile. "And you just crushed them under the heel of your Converse."
Bella almost bent in half in her mirth. Edward couldn't help his responsive smile at the sound of Bella's laugh. He chuckled as she slid down the wall, flashing to her side to take her hand and leaving the crushed gem where it lay. When her laughter subsided, she ran her thumb over the back of his hand.
"So, do I owe you like the world's biggest apology for taking you to a sex club and pitting you in mortal combat against Nix to get a hold of something I was just planning to destroy anyway?"
"No, but I must say, you have unique ways of blowing off steam."
"Edward, you've been alive long enough to know that fighting and fucking are not exactly uncommon ways to blow off steam."
"The strangeness is in the details."
"I've noticed that." Bella's smile faded, and she looked at the crushed gem on the floor. "I may have just made the worst mistake of my life— which is saying something. So, why am I perfectly okay with it?"
"I believe you are doing the right thing."
"The right thing. What if I'm not? What if I've never done the right thing? What if I don't? What if I never do?"
"Then I will forgive you. I'm by your side. You're chained to me already; I don't need a piece of metal to prove that. And I'm chained to you. There is no place I would rather be."
"I don't deserve you, Edward."
Edward turned her face to him, met her eyes. He could see the truth there.
"You actually believe that."
She made a face. "I do tend to believe things that are true. Edward, I put you in danger tonight. I pushed you into a situation you were uncomfortable with, backed you into a corner and put your self-control to the test. If someone else treated you the way I have tonight, I would have them executed."
It was Edward's turn to grin manically as he ran his hand through her blonde locks. "Well, it's true that I prefer brunettes. But I'd make an exception for you." He schooled his face into seriousness. "Bella, you don't have to apologize. I'm fine. Better than, actually. I'm proud of myself; I didn't kill him. Nix, I mean. I would have drained him dry, if you hadn't stopped me when you did."
"I know. He would have deserved it, but I didn't like the thought of you killing him. It would have bothered me, you having a piece of him inside you - even just his blood."
Edward was startled. "Why?"
Bella shrugged. "Because you would regret it. Nix is no threat without his masters to hold his leash, and a dog with no bite won't last long in the Master's kingdom. He's as good as dead already for letting us pass. But I didn't want you to be the one to kill him. When you kill someone, when you take their life, you carry a piece of them with you forever. You live with your hatred for them, and you can't forget it. I didn't want you to do that, just because of what he did to me."
"Bella. Bella, what did he..." Edward sighed, resigned, and pulled her into his lap. "Can you tell me why you were frightened of him?"
"I'm not frightened of Nix. Jesus, no. I'll admit to a healthy wariness of Tomas, but Nix and Erik are just thugs with too much pride. He just brings up bad memories, some of the worst I've got. Well. Top ten. I'm scared of what those memories can turn me into, of just how badly I want to destroy them."
Edward had to breathe through the realization that Bella had a top ten list of worst memories hidden away in her exceptional mind before he could focus on her again. He was crushing her hand slightly, but she didn't seem to mind or even really notice. She used their entwined hands to pull him closer, settling with her legs on one side of him and her head in the crook where his shoulder met his neck. She shimmered into her usual golden dress; her scars visible for half a second before her brown hair cascaded down her back.
"...It was a choice."
She tucked her forehead against his chin, tracing the veins on the back of his hands to soothe herself. "To answer your question... I got in trouble; I was—" Bella choked and swallowed. "Well, I was being defiant, and the Master sought to punish me. Addy was hurt, bad, and she needed a healer. But Master wouldn't send for one until he felt I'd been disciplined effectively. Demetri suggested a solution."
Edward used his free hand to tuck her a bit closer, to brush her hair behind her ear and cup her jaw. He could feel her scars where the skin was raised with his hand bracing her back. He set his jaw, trying to force the question past his teeth. Bella shushed him with her fingertips blindly, still hiding her face in his neck.
"Erik used to oversee a battalion, about thirty men. Nix was one of them. I couldn't let her die. She almost did anyway, I took too long. It was almost a full day before Master told them to stop and called the healer."
It took a moment for Edward to put two and two together. He knew that Bella saw when he did, because she pressed a feather-light kiss to his clenched jaw, right below his ear where his stone muscles twitched in impotent fury. He closed his eyes.
Her voice was whisper-soft. "I'm sorry, Edward."
In one violent surge of movement, Edward picked her up and spun her so she was against him chest to chest, pinned against the wall in the hallway.
"Don't. Don't you dare apologize to me, Isabella Swan. Not for them. Not ever. I wouldn't regret it, Bella. I would gladly add his name to the list of monsters who became my victims."
"You're not a monster, Edward. Nix doesn't deserve to be your victim, to be mourned like you would mourn him. It's who you are. I made the choice, Edward. It was just another in a long line of hard choices. It's meaningless, if we let it be."
"You did it to save Adeline. You didn't have a choice."
"There's always a choice, Edward. Sometimes the options are horrific, but there is always a choice. Sometimes you just do what you have to do, to save your precious people. But I hate to see how it hurts you. You're precious too, but I didn't know you, then."
"Would you have let her die? To save yourself, if I asked you to?"
"No. I like to think you wouldn't ask me to. I don't regret the choice I made that day. There are other choices, other days I regret. But not that one."
"Don't do anything like that to save me, Bella."
"I can't promise that."
Edward knew he looked half-insane, and he shook her roughly, just once. "You have to. Please, Bella. Please, God, don't you ever..."
"What? Would you have me live to watch you suffer, then? To watch you die? I will save you, Edward. It's my right."
Edward had to release her, or he was going to leave bruises on her delicate skin. Defiance was painted across her face, but there was something in her voice. Something serious, an unspoken warning. Edward made his mind slow down, made himself realize the implications of what she had just said.
"Bella, what would you do to save me?"
"Anything. "
"That is unacceptable." Edward's mind raced in disbelief. Surely, there was something. Surely, if it came down to him or her people, him or her, she would see that he had lived his life. She would choose them over him. She would choose herself over him.
Surely.
But there was something in the way Bella sounded, when she answered him. Some hard-gained acceptance, some long-fought battle now finished. She had said it like it was an ordinary fact, like it was something she had resigned herself to. Bella didn't speak as though she thought she would do anything to save him. She spoke as though she knew it.
"Doesn't make it any less true." Bella slid down the wall again, her forehead resting on her knees.
"I gave my family, once, Edward. I won't do it again. I tried, and I failed. When you left, before you went to the Volturi. I don't even know how long I spent doing it. I took to sleeping in the woods, so Charlie wouldn't get woken up by my screams. I couldn't help it. I looked everywhere, every time. Past, present, future. All of it. I would force myself into vision after vision, trying to find a way to keep you and your family safe, whatever you did. I Saw things...Edward, I Saw things in those visions I may never be able to share. They hurt too much. But there was no future where I did not do everything I could to save you. There was no time, no place, no choice where I turned away from you."
"Do you know how many times I saw myself fall? How many times I watched myself die for you? I saw myself stripped to nothing, until all that remained of me was my love for you— and I regret none of it. If you survive, if you go free, it's all worth it. I can't give you up, Edward. Not for myself, not for your family, not even for the Fae. When every other part of me is annihilated, when everything is shattered and broken and gone, I will still love you. I will still feel my love for you. All the time. Forever, whether you turn me or not."
"Don't."
Now Bella raised her head, eyes glimmering golden. She stood, crossing her arms and jutting her chin up at his command, only inches from him. "Why? Why shouldn't I? I love you, Edward Cullen. I will not see you burn."
"I would rather burn than watch you suffer and not be able to stop it."
"Not even if I needed you to? Because I do, Edward. No matter what happens. Now or ever. I need you to survive, Edward. I need you to keep going, to keep moving, to keep living. I don't want to exist in a universe where you don't."
"Stop."
"No. Promise me. Promise me you'll go on."
"No."
"Edward, I'm willing to fight about this."
"Then let's fight." Edward almost sneered the words, taking advantage of his height to tower over her.
"Edward, I'm not letting this go. You're not running off to kill yourself on my watch again."
"Well, the solution is pretty simple. Don't die."
"I'll do my best, you know that, but—"
"No." Edward slammed her into the wall, careful to protect her head with one hand and looping his other arm around her waist to crush her to him for a bruising kiss. When she gasped into his mouth, he gentled his touch, reaching with his tongue for just a taste of her sinful lips.
The moment stretched for him as it always did when he kissed her, one moment of perfect eternity in a single grain of time. The haunting memory rose of a world without her heat, without her innocent blush or her sinful lips, a world without her. Itwas a torture custom-tailored for him, and he remembered it all too well. But he had been wrong. God had seen fit to bring Bella back to him, and it was more salvation than he had ever hoped for.
He kissed her until she melted into him and when he pulled away his voice was hoarse.
"No, Bella. I will not go on. I will not allow it. No one will ever hurt you again but me, and I never will. You won't promise not to save me, well, I won't promise to go on without you. I can't. When I walked away, it took everything I had not to come back that very second. I am not gifted with the Sight, Bella, but that doesn't mean I couldn't see it— that I couldn't see what my eternity looked like without you in it. I will not live such a cursed existence. You want to save me? Save me from that. If you go, leave behind a match and save me from having to exist in a world where you don't."
He fell to his knees at her feet, buried his head in her stomach. "Please, Bella. Save me from that. If you love me, carry a match."
Bella curled over his head and planted a kiss in his hair as she sunk to her knees in front of him, bringing her forehead to rest on his. "It's not time yet, Edward. We have now. I'm here. It's okay, Edward. I'm here."
"Don't go, little witch. Stay here with me."
"I'm here, lover. I'm here."
Dusk 'til Dawn (feat. Sia)
Edward and Bella clung to each other like that, arms clasped and foreheads touching, until Emmett almost stumbled over them. Literally. "Edward! Bella!" Emmett swept them into a massive hug, lifting them to standing.
"Where have you guys been? Is Kaedra with you?"
"She and Marcos just took off to the training grounds." Bella's eyes crinkled at his brother's antics as she swept the crushed gem into her hand. She released an icy breath over the gem, and it dissolved away. She shot Edward a serious look before turning her attention to his brother. "I didn't mean to worry you. Kay just wanted me to visit a friend of hers, so we took a portal. I should've sent a steward or a message, I just forgot."
"Well, where you took off to is your own business, but you'll want to work on that excuse a bit before you talk to Carlisle and Esme. It needs more details. I'm just glad you guys are ok."
Emmett had taken the lead, up the stairs towards the Attic. The rest of the Cullens joined them, coming from the council chambers. "Bella! Edward! We were worried!" Alice bounced onto the stairs, giving each of them an exasperated hug. "You know I still can't See very well in Havana, right? I've had like two visions since we got here, and they didn't even make sense. You have to tell me stuff now. Do you know how annoying it is? Anything could have happened to you guys, and I wouldn't have even known. It's awful. Don't do that again, Bella."
Jasper gave them a long-suffering look. "She was putting together a search party with Lizzie and Alex when Marcos sent word. You owe me, Edward."
Alice smacked Jasper's arm.
Rosalie was eying them shrewdly for injury as Emmett greeted her with a kiss on the cheek, and Edward realized that his hair had returned to normal, but his outfit had not. He had a giant tear in the skintight shirt from his armpit to the opposite hip. He tried really hard not to be self-conscious as Rosalie's lips turned up just slightly, her thoughts taking a teasing turn. She raised a delicate eyebrow at Bella but remained blessedly silent. Bella blushed at Rosalie's suggestive face, quickly manifesting a white button down over the black shirt. Esme's voice snapped Bella's attention to her.
"Isabella Swan! Where were you? I have been worried sick."
"Uh, well, here I am!"
"Young lady, I could put a GPS tracker on you! Disregarding the fact that you are a monarch in this society, think for a moment about the possibilities that were running through the minds of those who care about you. And you! Edward Cullen, you know better."
Edward looked up from rolling the cuffs of his new shirt. He had the good grace to feel ashamed. "I'm sorry, mom."
Bella was relaxed next to him, already stepping off the moving staircase. "I'm sorry too, Esme. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry I yelled at you this afternoon. It wasn't fair, just sometimes all the gossip gets to be a bit much."
"Consider it forgiven and forgotten, child, but don't think you're off the hook. Where were you?"
"Kaedra and I had a talk with a connection she had in the Master's courts. We got some information, but it's useless. Edward came along because he's insanely overprotective."
Edward rolled his eyes, but internally he was impressed with Bella's ability to downsize the events of the evening. They had reached the door to the Attic. When Carlisle opened the door to the stairs, Bella suddenly hesitated.
"Um, I have to go to my office for a bit. There are some reports I need to write and a few dozen that I need to read, actually." She backed away from the door, eyes wide. "You guys go ahead, I'll just go."
Edward could see the expressions on his family's faces change to hurt and defiance, hear the protests forming in their thoughts. It was Rosalie who spoke up in a determined voice.
"No."
Bella stopped. "What? I'm sorry Rose, I didn't hear you."
"No. You're not going to go to your office and do reports until you fall asleep on that awful couch. It's not even long enough for you. You are going to sleep here, in your home." Her tone dared Bella to argue with her.
"I am?"
"Yes." Alice took advantage of the opportunity, hooking her elbow with Bella's and leading her up the stairs. Carlisle and Esme were headed into the kitchen, and Rosalie slipped past Alice to pull back the blanket and arrange the pillows in just the way Bella liked.
Bella looked adorably confused. "Wait, I have to..."
Esme's voice called back to them. "Just stay for a few minutes, Bella. I'll make you something to eat. Aren't you hungry?"
"Well, yeah, a little. But it can wait, you don't need to cook or anything. I'll grab a sandwich later. Really, I can go."
"Nonsense, Bella. You should at least drink some water." Carlisle's voice was practical and sensible as he poked his head into the refrigerator. "Oh, Esme dear, there are some blueberries in here."
"The stewards always put them in, they're my favorite." Bella shrugged, still distracted by Rosalie's pointed rearranging of the bed.
Esme beamed. "I'll make pancakes with them."
"Well, in that case I guess I'll stay a minute, but I'm not kidding, I can't sleep yet, I need to—"
Emmett cut in. "So why are you two covered in glitter?"
Edward made a face at his brother. "What are you on about?"
Jasper reached out and brushed Edward's shoulder, and sure enough there was a multicolored powder on it. Bella giggled at Edward's affronted expression. "It must be from the club. Now you really do sparkle!"
"A club?" Emmett looked annoyed. "Dude, I am so sick of hearing about these wild parties that I don't get to go to."
Jasper chuckled. "I'm not sure even the Fae are ready for an Emmett-style party.'
Bella yawned, sitting on the futon and hugging a pillow. "God, I can just imagine. Emmett and Alice should plan for Koinotta. The Fae wouldn't recover for weeks."
Edward settled behind her, sneakily manipulating her into half-laying down against his chest while her attention was on Emmett across from them. "What's Koinotta?"
"It's a holiday to celebrate the unification of the Fae bloodlines. It's basically a three-day rave. Last time I celebrated was with Kay and Marcos in Miami; they decided to celebrate in the mortal world to keep me company. It wasn't the same and I don't remember all of it, but I think it was a good time. There was something about a pack of cigarettes and a smoke alarm, and then I have distinct memories of robbing a bank in a grocery cart. It gets kind of blurry in between."
"You robbed a bank? I've always wanted to do that!"
Emmett and Bella discussed the finer details of theft while Bella ate. After, Emmett kept Bella occupied with the conversation. Alice began to hum softly while she, Esme and Rose compared color swatches for the gala. The lights dimmed to a softer glow, ostensibly so Esme could test how the colors looked in lower lighting, and Jasper sent waves of relaxed sleepiness over the room in a constant, subtle flow. He and Carlisle were speaking in low voices, talking about the different aspects of a classic Fae text about war healing.
Bella's blinks got longer and longer, and she rearranged herself so she was situated against Edward's chest more comfortably. Edward casually threw the blanket over her, and Emmett spoke in a lower decibel as he told his story about accidentally leading a stampede of deer through the football field at their old school, during a game.
Almost an hour later, Bella woke up briefly, sitting up to take in the room but still half-asleep.
Edward let go of where he had been playing with her hair quickly so it wouldn't pull. "Bella? You okay?"
Bella's eyes narrowed in sleepy suspicion as she took in his family around her. "I was. I was going to go to my office. Wasn't I?"
"You fell asleep, Bella. Come on, lay back down. You can do whatever you need to do tomorrow. I'll wake you at sunrise."
Bella yawned as she settled against him, shimmering into her gauze and ratty pajama shorts. "And people say I'm sneaky."
Rose smiled from where she was reading at the kitchen table. "I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about, Bella. You're talking crazy, go back to sleep."
Bella glared, but made herself comfortable, turning her face into Edward's chest to hide her helpless smile.