-MAISIE-
Jasper was tense as we walked down the pier. I knew the source: Jasmine. He didn't trust her…and I wasn't sure how much that distrust had to do with her being a newborn. Jasper was not one to forget a slight, and Jasmine's time in Maria's Forks-based newborn army wasn't forgotten, I was sure.
Gunner flicked the pompom on top of my knit hat, drawing me out of my thoughts.
"I thought you were just being dramatic over the cold here," he told me, his breath solidifying in a puff in front of his face. I wondered if he noticed that Jasper, Edward, and Jasmine's breath didn't do the same. "But this sucks."
"Good thing you've got Leah," I reminded him. The werewolves ran so hot, I'm sure Gunner had no problem keeping warm, really.
With his arm slung over my shoulder, it wasn't hard for me to notice when Jasper's head whipped around. In profile, I watched his eye narrow, his brow raised in an unasked question.
"Be nice," I scolded him, as Edward dipped his head to whisper something in Jasmine's ear. He spoke too quickly and quietly for me to make out any of the words, but beside him, Jasmine dropped her shoulders. It didn't make her look any more relaxed.
Jasper blew his breath out in a puff. He pulled me closer for a moment, but I knew it had nothing to do with whatever emotion he was catching off Jasmine. Since our move to Alaska, Jasper's interaction with humans had pigeonholed to myself. He wouldn't admit that he was having a difficult time with Gunner around.
Every time the wind shifted just so, Jasper kissed the top of my head or pulled me closer. Erasing Gunner's scent with my own.
I took a deep breath. Bracing cold, salty sea air filled my lungs. I was hoping it would offer some calming, but it didn't. I didn't like feeling like I was playing a game of cat and mouse by having Gunner around. At the same time, I couldn't deny that he was in a precarious position, even with me and Leah there.
I got a reminder of that when Jasper's hand trailed to the small of my back, leading me ahead of him so that both of us were between Gunner and Jasmine.
"There's new family to meet here tonight," Edward said behind us. A distraction, I was sure.
Here on the boat, beside the smiling picture that Kate and Garrett made were Tanya, Carmen, and Eleazar.
"Eddy! You've been in Alaska for months and you haven't visited me once!"
I hid my laugh by turning my head, pressing my face against Jasper's jacket to muffle it. When Tanya threw herself forward, apparently with full trust that Edward would just catch her, I had to roll my eyes.
"C'mon," I told Gunner, catching his hand and pulling him toward the boat railing. "What's really fun about Alaska is that the animals don't see humans much, so they aren't as afraid of us."
"Are you determined to make friends with all the Alaskan wildlife you can, too?" Gunner asked, taking a peek over the edge of the boat himself. Jasper laughed as I leaned over the railing, scanning the dark water for any signs of marine life.
"It's her life's goal, always, it seems."
The water was inky black in the night, making it hard to see if anything was there beneath the waves. I felt Jasper's hand hover along my waist—a safeguard, should I fall over. Something shifted beneath the water, and to Jasper's credit, I did lean closer to it, reaching my hand out.
I was rewarded with a curious dolphin sticking its head above the water. The dolphin wasn't alone; the clicking of its companions could be heard over the waves caused by the boat's motion.
"See?" I told Gunner, waving him and Leah closer with my other hand. "They're curious."
It took some coaxing, but I got Leah to hold her hand out above the water, too. The dolphins were playful, and not at all afraid of us or the boat. While Gunner watched and grimaced, me and Leah eventually got one of the dolphins to jump from the water just high enough to bump our hands.
"Have they got fish over there or something?" Tanya asked somewhere behind us.
"No," Jasmine's voice. "Maisie just…does that. There was a rabbit family she fed over the winter."
"Huh." Tanya quickly lost interest in us, it seemed. "So! Jasmine! Tell me about yourself."
Leah turned her head toward me, a mischievous spark in her eyes. I was trying not to laugh, myself. It was obvious that Tanya was jealous over Jasmine's mere existence.
"What are you two laughing about?" Gunner asked. When I looked up at him, I saw how furrowed his brows were. Only then did I realize that Jasmine and Tanya hadn't been speaking loudly. Of course Gunner wouldn't hear their hushed conversation. But I had been able to…because of the boost the venom in my blood gave my senses.
A chill ran through me and I pushed away from the railing. "Nothing. Just the dolphins."
I only thought I had left lying to my brother behind when Bella Swan had thrust him into the world of the supernatural. I forced myself to block out the rest of Jasmine and Tanya's conversation.
It was short-lived, anyway.
Before I could even decide how I felt about this realization, there was a shout from Kate.
"Irina! You're soaking wet!"
I peeked around Gunner, who turned as soon as Kate spoke, and noticed someone pulling herself out of water and scaling the far side of the boat. Leah stepped forward—of course she recognized Irina.
Pulling on Gunner's sleeve to get his attention, I pushed myself onto my tiptoes to whisper in his ear.
"That's Irina," I told him, cutting my eyes to watch the way Jasper walked, tensed as a cat set to pounce, to stand with Edward and Jasmine. "The one who started the whole mess with Maria."
"Well, that's what happens when you don't get invited to the initial send-off and have to swim to the boat." The seawater dripped from Irina, weighing down her clothes and the long sheet of her pale-blonde hair. When she looked around, I noticed her eyes were pitch black.
I knew what that meant. Hungry vampires, I had learned from Jasper's stories, were more dangerous. Less controlled, less human. Seeing her eyes as dark as the water surrounding us that night was enough for me to take a step in front of Gunner, too.
"We didn't even know you were in Alaska, sister," Tanya said, breaking away from the frontline Edward and Jasper formed to approach Irina.
Irina behaved as if she hadn't heard a word of Tanya's explanation. She gestured wildly toward Leah. "You can invite a rabid, overgrown excuse for a dog, but not your own sister on your little outing."
Leah seemed to be shaking, almost imperceptibly. When Jasper reached over and laid his hand on her arm, I was surprised that she didn't pull away. He didn't speak to her, but suddenly, I felt the blanket of calm that Jasper was projecting forward. My eyes flicked to him, taking in the rigidness of his back despite the soothing wave he had just put out.
All it would take was one misstep on Irina's part to set him in motion.
"Irina." I shivered at Jasper's tone of voice. "There's no need for this. Stop, before you force it to come to blows."
"Before I force it to blows?" Irina laughed, a hysterical sound. "My own family invited one of those stupid, murderous dogs to spend time with them, as if she were one of us! And two humans on top of that!"
"Leah didn't kill Laurent. She protected me that night, but she didn't join the fight," I reminded her. "Besides, Laurent knew what could happen if he set foot in Forks again. There's no one to blame but him for what happened that night."
"I would have gladly taken out that leech, but I can't take credit," Leah spat at Irina. Jasper's calming efforts were wasted on Leah. She was still shaking, even when Gunner reached out to touch her arm.
An image of Emily Young's scarred face ran through my mind. She had earned those scars from a terrible accident from one of Sam's shifts. Leah would never forgive herself if she hurt Gunner that way, I knew.
Irina was fast, but Edward was faster. She lunged for Leah, a growl ripping from her throat, but Edward caught her about the waist in the same moment. In one fluid motion, he tossed Irina backward. "Hold onto her for me."
When Edward threw her, Irina's back collided with Jasmine's chest. Immediately, Jasmine locked her arms around Irina. With her newborn strength, I knew that Irina had no chance of escape.
Even if she managed it, Jasper was less than a foot away.
Kate appeared beside Jasmine, electricity crackling against her palm. One touch and Irina went slack, the fight leaving her.
"This is getting out of hand," Tanya whispered to her sister, but that was all I heard of the conversation. Leah had reached over, grabbing hold of my arm just below my elbow. Her fingers dug into my skin, but I didn't pull away from her.
"What's wrong?" I asked instead, laying my hand over hers. But even though she was hanging onto me, Leah was clearly having a one-sided conversation with Edward.
"You're sure?" Edward asked. "I need you to be positive, Leah. Show me again."
No one but Edward knew what passed through Leah's mind, but it must not have been good. Edward's face clouded over, and he pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. "Great, okay. Yes, I agree. When we get home."
I was sure that Edward was keeping his answers vague for good reason, but that didn't change the fact that I was annoyed by it. Gunner looked to me, confused, and all I could do was shrug. Eventually, when she had calmed, Leah let got of my arm to take Gunner's hand instead.
"I'll get us a rowboat," Jasper said, holding his hand out to me. I slipped mine into his immediately. I wanted off that boat as much as I suspected he did. Irina wasn't a person I was keen on ever seeing again, and it made me sick to my stomach to have Leah and Gunner so close to her.
There was a profusion of apologies on behalf of Irina from Tanya and Kate. They came back to the shore with us, while Garrett, Carmen, and Eleazar kept watch over their sister. Edward was gentlemanly as ever, but I don't think the rest of us were able to conjure the same sentiments. It was a mostly silent boat ride back, with Jasper rowing.
"We don't have time for another fight," Jasper was brooding as we walked back to our cars. I felt his eyes on my cheek as he spoke, but I kept my gaze straight ahead. I didn't want to talk about that in front of the others, even my brother and Leah.
"There won't be one," Edward tried to soothe. I wasn't so sure, judging by the dark look on Leah's face.
Leah spilled everything back at our house.
"It makes so much sense now!" She was nearly shouting. Leah had already Sam; he was on speaker phone while she talked. So was Carlisle, via Jasper's phone. We had a regular conference call going on. "She is the one who's been hanging around the territory line!"
"I must admit, it makes sense. Irina is aware of the territory and the treaty. She would know better than to cross onto Quileute land. But the question is, why?"
"Vengeance," Edward supplied as way of an answer. "Pure vengeance. I'm not sure what she's plotting. Alice might be able to determine more than I can, now that we know. I think Jasper can attest, Irina's filled with hatred."
"It was sickening," Jasper murmured. His eyes were fixed on Gunner. You could practically see the wheels turning in Jasper's head, and Edward's eyes kept flicking to his brother's face.
