22

Edward felt anxious. No, not just anxious. More than anxious. He couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. It was almost too easy. He, Emmett, and Rose had been on the road for almost two hours when he suddenly pulled onto the shoulder and shifted the SUV into park.

"What are you doing?" Emmett asked, pulling a pair of headphones out of his ears before looking over at him.

"What are the odds?" Edward shifted in his seat so he could see both Emmett and Rose. "What are the odds that Elizabeth has been spotted just two days after we get to the bunker? After someone leaks files about Bella? Something isn't right here."

"So what? You think whoever leaked that Bella is still alive put out a fake tip about your sister? Who knows about Elizabeth?" Rose asked, leaning forward from the backseat.

"Only those of us in Eclipse," Edward murmured, thinking about the handful of people involved in his operation. "But only us, Jas, Garrett, and Peter know that we are at the bunker."

"What does that matter?" Emmett asked.

"Giving us a tip that my sister is in Colorado, knowing that it's close enough that we'd drive, but still far away enough that it would give them some time to make their move. . ." Edward shook his head before shifting the SUV into drive and pulling a U-turn, heading back the way they'd come. "Try to get a hold of Jas."

"Why?" he asked, but pulled his phone out of his pocket and started scrolling through his contacts, stopping at Jasper's name and hitting the call button.

Seconds later, Jasper's heavy breath came rushing through the phone. "This is Whitlock."

"Hey, Jas—"

"Where's Bella?" Edward asked, cutting Emmett off in mid-sentence.

"I don't know," Jasper muttered, and Edward felt his shoulders tense. "We did as you asked, tried to get her to come help us chase Elizabeth's tracks, but, I don't know, Edward, she got scared or something, and took off. We're still looking for her."

"Fuck," Edward spat under his breath. "Lock the place down, Jas. Do you hear me? Lock it fucking down!"

"What? Why?"

Edward blew out a heavy breath. "Because . . . because I think we've been compromised."

"Jesus fuck," Jasper hissed before saying, "I'll lock this place down. Just hurry."

"I am," Edward muttered, pressing the gas pedal down, and speeding up. Had he left the love of his life in the hands of a monster once again?

An hour and a half later, Edward slammed on the brakes outside of the bunker, throwing the door open as he shifted into park. The door to the bunker opened before he, Emmett, and Rose had reached it, which did nothing to ease the anxiety that welled up inside of him.

"We can't find her," Jasper said before Edward could uttered a word. "We've looked everywhere, man. We can't find her or . . . or Peter."

Edward's eyes closed for a moment as bile rose in his throat. "I'm so fucking stupid."

And before anyone could say anything, Edward pushed his way inside, down the narrow hallway to the command center, where he found Garrett and Aro. Dragging his hand through his hair, he hurried over to the security cameras, searching each one like Bella or Peter were just going to magically appear on one of them.

"You won't find her."

At the sound of Alice's voice, Edward spun around, finding her crutched on the floor behind the door, her arms wrapped tightly around her legs. Her dark black hair hung around her face, but he could see her eyes, wide and filled with fear.

"He's angry," she added, her voice trembling as everyone stared at her. "She took everything from him, and now, he's going to make her pay."

"Who?" Jasper asked before Edward could utter a sound. He walked over to Alice and sat on the floor in front of her. "Who's going to make her pay?"

"The Sandman," Alice whispered. "I told her to run, to hide, but he found her. He took her away."

"You're talking about Peter?" Jasper asked, reaching out for Alice's hand, but pulling back when she flinched. "Is Peter the man you call The Sandman?"

Alice nodded, her eyes shifting to Edward. "He's going to kill her, and there's nothing you can do to save her." Alice slide up the wall, keeping her body angled so that nobody could sneak up on her as she moved toward the door. "You damned her to Hell."

As Alice rushed out of the room, Edward dropped to his knees, knowing she was right. Though he was just trying to protect her, he'd put Bella in the hands of the beast, and he had no idea where, or how, he was going to find her. Was she lost to him forever?

—BR—

Bella's eyes felt heavy, her mouth dry, and her shoulder ached. She tried to shift, but a cry of pain stumbled out of her mouth when her body refused to budge and her eyes snapped open. Frantically, she looked around, trying to figure out where she was, but there was no way of knowing. All she could tell was that the room she was in was dimly lit, dank, and smelled like wet dirt. Her arms had been pulled over her head, bound in thick rope and hung on a rusty looking fisherman's hook.

"You're new," a soft, delicate voice came from behind her. Bella tried to look back, but the pressure of turning, pulled at the wound in her shoulder, and just made her cry out again. "You need to be quiet before he comes back."

"I'm sorry," Bella whimpered, trying to calm down. "Where are we?"

"In the basement, I think," the person — a woman based on the sound of her voice — said. "In south, I think."

"What makes you think it's the south?"

"I don't know," she murmured and Bella heard her moving but when the sound of a door creaking open echoed throughout the small and dank basement, she seemed to stop.

Peter stopped at the bottom of the wooden staircase, a smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. Unlike their short stay in the bunker, he was wearing a pair of fitted jeans with rips in the knees and no shirt, his chiseled from his years of brutal torture that he got off on. His blond hair was wild and his blue eyes filled with an amusement that Bella had spent the last year trying to get out of her nightmares.

"Good morning," he chirped, placing his hands on his hips. "How are you feeling? A lot of pain?"

Bella pressed her lips together, refusing to answer him.

Peter smiled and walked up so that he was standing less than an inch in front of her. His hands shifted onto her hips, under the shirt he'd put back on her after drugging her, along the sides of her breasts to where the stitches that were keeping her bullet hole together. His eyes never left hers as he pressed down, and Bella screamed.

"Fuck, I love that sound," he growled, pressing his body against hers. His free hand grabbed the back of her hair, pulling her head back. "Makes me want to fuck your mouth, and based on the videos I have, I know what a good, little cocksucker you are."

Bella's chest heaved as she pressed her lips together once more.

"You thought you were so smart, didn't you?" he murmured, sliding his lips along her jawline. "You thought you could come in, take Cullen down, and everything would be perfect." Peter sucked her earlobe into his mouth before whispering, "You're a stupid, fucking whore."

"Yeah?" Bella gritted out, trying to free herself from his arms, but Peter just held on tighter. "You think I'm scared of you? I took Cullen out, and I'll damn well take your sorry ass out, too."

"Will you now?" Peter asked, smirking as once again he pressed his finger down on her bullet wound.

This time, Bella managed to stifle her scream, though it took great effort.

"You made things very hard for me, Isabella. Years of my hard work and networking out the window because you got your feelings hurt."

Peter slid his hands down the front of her tee, his eyes staying locked on hers as he ripped it down the middle, leaving her exposed. Behind her, she could hear the woman whimpering, but Peter's attention appeared to be solely on her at the moment.

"What to do about you, Isabella?" he murmured, his fingers dropping to the top of her pajama pants. "The world thought you were dead. I could kill you. Bury your body and leave everyone to wonder where you are."

Peter pressed his lips against the side of her neck, inhaling a deep breath. "Or, I could fuck you like a whore, break you down, make you mine forever."

"I'd never be yours," Bella gritted out, trying to shift her body away from him, but Peter held her tightly against him. "Cullen couldn't break me, and never will you."

Peter leaned away and grinned. "Yeah? You forgot something."

"What's that?" Bella asked before she could stop herself.

Peter's grin turned into a smirk as he grabbed her face between his hands, his nails digging into her skin. "Cullen got too attached to you, started to care about you. He wanted to keep you for himself, keep you as his little toy. See, Isabella, Cullen turned soft, let his guard down, and you were smart enough to seize your moment and you killed him."

"What's your point?" she snarled.

"You mean nothing to me, Isabella. You're just like every other little cocksucking whore I've destroyed. I'll have my fun with you, and in the end, you'll beg me to end your life."

Releasing his hold on her, Peter turned and walked back up the stairs, closing the door with a deafening thud. Bella knew it was only a shirt reprieve, that he'd be back and this time he'd make her pay for destroying his network. Tears burned her eyes, though she managed to keep them from falling. Cullen might not have broken her, but Peter certainly would.

"Was he telling the truth?" the woman asked and Bella could hear her moving behind her.

"About what?" Bella asked, trying to keep her voice from cracking.

"About you killing him, killing Carlisle Cullen?"

Bella pulled against the ropes on her arms, crying out in pain from the wound in her shoulder.

"Shh," the woman hissed.

A moment later, she was standing in front of Bella. Her hair was long and dark, dirty and grimy looking. Her skin was pale and bruised. She was thin—too thin to be healthy—but it was her eyes that stood out. Bright emerald green that almost seemed to sparkle.

"Elizabeth."