27

"Say that again," Bella said, frowning as she stood across from the blond-haired girl who just said six words that shocked her.

"I don't want to go home," Kate repeated.

Bella inhaled a deep breath before looking at Edward. "Talk some sense into her."

"Just listen to me!" Kate pleaded, putting her hands up before Edward would utter a sound. Sighing, Bella motioned for her to continue. "If I go back now, everyone is going to be in my face all the time. I know my mom, okay? She's going to want every fucking detail and I can't . . . I can't handle that right now. Please understand."

Biting the inside of her bottom lip, Bella nodded, understanding completely what Kate was saying. She knew firsthand the hell that Kate had been through in her two weeks locked away with Peter Davis. The only difference, of course, was that Kate had been taken against her will and Bella had put herself in the lion's den. Still, not taking Kate home could be dangerous.

"She's not going to blame you," Bella said, knowing the words could be a lie. For all she knew Kate's mother would blame her for putting herself in his hands. Yes, she was a victim, but would her mother see it?

"Maybe not," Kate admitted, sounding doubtful. "She's all about image and perfection and, whatever. I can't go back there and be that person for her anymore."

Bella sighed once again and looked back over at Edward, who turned and looked at Garrett, who placed his hands on his hips and shrugged his shoulders. It wasn't that they minded Kate coming with them, but technically, she was a minor. Bella was in enough trouble as it was.

"Okay, fine," she relented. "We won't take you back yet, but you have promise me that you will stay in contact with her." Bella stepped toward Kate, who flinched backward, but allowed her to take hold of her hands. "You can't just disappear from her life, Kate. You need time, and I get that, but it's not fair to her for you to just disappear. So, if we do this, you must promise that you will stay in contact with her."

"Won't she be able to trace me that way?" Kate asked.

Bella smiled and shook her head. "We have ways of stopping that, if you really want that to happen."

Though Kate nodded, she could see the doubt in her eyes. So, instead of arguing and trying to convince her to go home, Bella released her hands and motioned for her to follow Elizabeth and Garrett out to the SUV. Edward followed Bella out after them, locked the house, and slipped his arm around her waist as they made the short walk after everyone.

Garrett had disposed of the car that Bella stole, dumping it several miles away and wiping the inside out in hopes of destroying any evidence that would link Bella, Elizabeth, or Kate to the stolen car. Bella wasn't naïve, though. The world had learned that Isabella Swan didn't die in a fiery crash in Wyoming. It would only be a matter of time before the law caught up with her. Would they understand why she had to kill six people?

—BR—

The drive from Tulsa to Savageton, Wyoming took close to eighteen hours, instead of the fourteen going the easy way would. Bella wasn't an idiot. She knew Edward was trying to make sure they weren't being followed. He drove while Bella sat in the passenger seat, her knees pulled up to her chest. Elizabeth and Kate were in the middle seat, while Garrett stretched out in the rear seat, keeping his eyes trained behind them for any signs of danger.

Finally, Edward pulled up to the bunker, and they climbed out. Bella stretched, her body aching from the beating she had taken at the hands of Peter Davis, the battle for her life and Elizabeth's, the gunshot wound in her shoulder, which was red and inflamed. But mostly, her soul was tired.

"So, this is the bunker, huh?" Elizabeth asked, wrapping her arms around herself. "And, um, Alice is in there?"

"She is," Edward said, reaching for his sister's hand, which she tentatively gave. "This is a safe space, Lizzie. Nobody will hurt you here."

Bella almost laughed. Safe space? There was no such thing as a safe space in this world.

"Not to be a dick, but let's move this inside," Garrett quipped, gesturing toward the door.

With a tension mounting, Edward released her hand and walked over to the door, entering the code into the keypad, Elizabeth's birthday again, and pulled the door open, his eyes meeting Bella's. She could see the uncertainty in his eyes, the fear of losing both her and his sister again. So, going against her better judgement, Bella put a fake smile on her face and walked into the bunker, knowing everyone else would follow.

Alice, Jasper, and Aro were waiting for them inside the command center. Upon seeing Bella, Alice threw her hands up to her mouth and rushed over to her, throwing herself into Bella's arms. It was the first and only time Alice had been so touchy with anyone. Returning the hug, she couldn't keep the tears at bay any longer.

"You're safe." It wasn't a question, but a statement. "You're really safe."

"Am I?" Bella asked. "I don't feel safe."

Alice pulled back and opened her mouth to say something else but stopped as she looked behind Bella. Her eyes widened and glistened with tears as she took a step backward. "Elizabeth?"

"Alice." Elizabeth pushed past everyone and wrapped her arms around the small girl, who cried out. "Oh, Alice. I thought I'd never see you again."

"Me either," she sobbed. "You're alive."

Bella, feeling overwhelmed and uncomfortable, slipped out of the room and headed down to her and Edward's bedroom, closing the door behind her. She walked over and sat on the bed, scooting into the corner and pulling her knees against her chest, and cried.

—BR—

Bella stayed curled up in the corner of the bed long past the time her tears stopped falling. She was tired. Physically, mentally, emotionally exhausted. She had spent the better part of the last year keeping herself in line, and now, she had no clue what she was going to do.

"Sweetheart," Aro called through the door, knocking a moment later. "Sweetheart, are you in there?"

Sighing, Bella climbed off the bed, knowing she had put the man through enough to let him worry about her more. As soon as she had the door open, he pulled her into his arms, once again opening the flood gates inside her.

"Oh, sweetheart," he murmured, holding her the same way he held Alice.

"I'm sorry," she whimpered.

"Why are you sorry?" he asked.

"I don't know. I just am." Bella pulled herself out of his arms, letting him follow her into the room. She left the door open, knowing, he wouldn't hurt her, but unable to take any risks. Sitting on the side of the bed, she shook her head. "All I wanted to do was help, you know? Help Leah, help Alice, help Elizabeth. Just help. Make a difference in this world. But I fucked it all up."

"That's what you think?" he asked, pulling out the chair from the small table in the corner and sitting down. "You don't think you helped Alice or Elizabeth?"

Bella shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe I did but doesn't feel like it."

Aro smiled. "She lets that young man hold her hand."

"Who does?" Bella asked, crinkling her brow.

"Alice," he replied. "She lets Jasper hold her hand. Lets him be her comfort."

"That doesn't mean she doesn't need you," she assured him.

Aro laughed and put a hand up. "No, no, don't misunderstand. I'm grateful that he can be that comfort to her, Bella. I'm an old man. I can't be the person she needs all the time. My point is that you gave her the courage to let that young man be there for her."

"How?" Bella asked.

"Because you love with every part of you." Aro stood up and moved so that he was sitting next to her, reaching out and taking hold of her hand. "You gave up everything for her, for Leah, for Elizabeth, for girls like this Kate you brought back with you."

Bella felt her eyes fill with tears once again. "Aro."

"We love you, dolce nipote."

Aro kissed the side of her head before standing up and leaving her alone, pulling the door closed behind him. Taking a deep breath, she stood up and walked over to the mirror, looking at herself. There was purple bruising around her neck, along her jaw line. Pulling the front of her shirt up, she saw more bruising from the cane Peter Davis had struck her with, knowing she had similar bruising on her thighs. She picked up her hairbrush and dragged it through the tangled mess.

Once she had worked out all the knots, she grabbed her laptop and headed to the command center, unsurprised to see everyone still in there. Elizabeth and Alice were seated next to each other at the conference table, which had been filled with fresh fruit, bagels, muffins, and donuts, while Jasper, Edward, and Garrett were perched behind one of the computers. Aro was seated at the end of the table, a cup of coffee in his hand and a smile on his face.

Kate, however, was still next to the door, like she was unsure if she should move or not.

"Are you hungry?" Bella asked Kate, drawing everyone's attention toward her.

"Um," Kate said, her eyes darting between everyone before she nodded. "Kind of."

"Me too." Bella placed her laptop on the table and reached for Kate, who gingerly took hold of it and allowed herself to be led to the table. They sat across from Elizabeth and Alice, who was watching Kate with wide eyes, though for the first time, Bella saw no fear in them. Alice had come a long way in the last few days. "What would you like?"

"Um," Kate said again. "Maybe . . . maybe just a banana."

Bella grabbed them each a banana. "What about a muffin?"

Kate shook her head. "Never really cared for muffins."

"What?" Bella laughed. "Okay, how about a bagel with some jelly on it?"

"Okay," she whispered, and Bella could see that she was starting to get uncomfortable.

Bella handed her the banana, bagel and grape jelly, before grabbing a blueberry muffin for herself. As they ate in silence, she looked over her shoulder at Edward, Jasper, and Garrett. She knew they were trying to sort out the information she had recovered from Peter Davis's computer. Clearing her throat, she drew Edward's attention to her first, who nudged Garrett and Jasper.

"There's plenty of food over here," she hinted.

"Oh, yeah, right," Edward muttered before hurrying over and sitting next to Bella. "Sorry."

"It's okay," she said, shifting her body toward him. "We'll dig through it together, but we have to be prepared that . . . that, well, I may have really fucked things up."

"How?" Elizabeth asked.

Garrett and Jasper joined them at the table, Jasper sitting next to Alice and Garrett at the end of the closest to Kate. Bella pressed her lips together for a moment before saying, "I've done things that could get me into a lot of trouble."

"Like killing Carlisle Cullen?" Elizabeth asked.

Bella looked at Kate for a moment, whose eyes were wide, before nodded. "And others. I didn't have a choice, I had to do it to save myself, to save Alice, and . . ." Shaking her head, she found herself struggling to even say Leah's name. She hadn't saved her best friend. She had failed the one person she had wanted to save more than anyone. "I thought I covered my tracks, thought nobody would ever know about what I had to do."

"You can't be Anna anymore, can you?" Alice queried.

"No, I can't," Bella admitted.

"And we can never go back to the ranch, either?"

Bella shook her head. "I don't think so, Alice."

"I liked it there," she murmured, leaning back in her chair and pulling her knees up to her chest.

"Me too," Aro said, sadly. "So, we what? We must stay here?"

Before Bella or Edward could say anything, the sound of the bunker door opening echoed throughout the place and Bella found herself on her feet and hurrying to the cameras, but the door closed before she could see who it was. Her heart was racing, her legs shaking, and she fought against the urge to run and hide. That had been her downfall, hadn't it? She hadn't faced what she had done, and now she would pay for it. Edward moved and stood next to her, slipping his hand in with hers and as she turned and looked at him, tears filling her eyes, she knew that no matter what happened, he would never leave her side.

However, all her worrying was for nothing, when Emmett and Rose rushed into the command center.

"Oh, hey," Emmett said, stopping in the doorway and looking around the room, his eyes shifting from Kate to Elizabeth before turning to Bella. "You okay, Swan?"

"No," she admitted. "Did you find him?"

He shared a look with Rose, before saying, "We did. Looked like you made him suffer."

"Not enough," she quipped.

"No, I don't suppose you did," Emmett murmured.

"We got rid of his body." Rose placed her hand on Emmett's shoulder. "Scrubbed the house to erase any sign that you had been there, Bella. You, or Elizabeth and Kate," she added, tilting her head toward the table.

"What about his computer?" Edward asked.

"Chopped it into little pieces," Emmett admitted. "Wasn't sure we could bring it without being compromised. Sorry."

"It's okay. Bella managed to copy his data."

Emmett nodded before looking at her. "On our way back, we heard a APB for you being issued for North and South Carolina."

"Can't say I'm surprised," Bella grumbled. She walked over to the table and picked up her laptop. "Guess we had better get to work. I didn't let Cullen destroy my life for nothing. I'm not ready to stop fighting yet."

And walking over to the computer, she pulled the USB out and went back to her room to work on saving herself for a change.