Chapter 18: Ramble

Jake held me while I cried. In between sobs I heard him tell me that he knew what had happened. His dad—Billy—had heard and he'd told Jake. He'd run to me the minute he was told, which explained the lack of shoes or shirt. He also knew it was a vampire. He kissed my cheek, my shoulder, smoothed my hair, over and over. He promised he would keep me safe.

He didn't know yet who the woman was. All he knew was that a body had been dumped by a vampire on Dad's desk. I controlled my crying long enough to confirm his suspicions. Victoria was responsible. Worse, a vampire she'd changed had done it. Worse still, Alice had called and I was bawling because I was sure I'd done the wrong thing.

"Bella, it's okay," he said, holding my face, pausing to kiss my forehead and gently rub away tears with his thumbs. "Why would you want more vampires? You're right that maybe they could help—the Cullens are probably decent as vampires can be—but if they come, you don't know they'd solve everything. I know one downside for sure. More guys like me who don't get a choice about becoming a wolf."

I nodded. It was selfishness that had been the biggest factor in my decision, but it reassured me that Jake found a silver lining.

"We exist to kill vampires," he reminded me. "That's an advantage. Now that we know what we're fighting, we can start planning. Victoria only had one thing over us and that's gone now. We'll see her coming now."

I shut my mouth. Now was not the time to point out that she had done this all while the pack was aware that there was a vampire problem. Now was also not the time to shine a spotlight on her special ability. Jake was right about one thing. This was a different fight. The Cullens might be able to help. It was also possible that the wolves would be better at defeating Victoria. Maybe her escape powers would be less effective against a different race of supernatural.

Jake arranged a meeting for the morning. He wanted me to get some sleep and said that they couldn't have the meeting without me. I knew Jake probably had to argue to invite me, but when I asked he insisted that it was no problem. This vampire problem revolved around me; it was natural that the vampire solution would have me at the centre.

Dad came up to check on us later, when it was close to midnight. Jake got up to leave, but Dad told him he could stay as long as he wanted…with the door open. Jake's face reddened and I laughed. Dad took both our reactions as a promise that we would keep in mind he would be down the hall. We whispered for a few hours, careful not to bother my dad, before I felt calm enough for drowsiness to overcome me. I fell asleep laying on top of Jake, cheek on his chest and his arm around me.

It was nearly eleven when I sat up with racing heart. Deep laughter from kitchen. Two voices. I was alone in my room. I flattened the birds nest built lovingly on my head. I tip-toed to the door, breath held tight. I stood in my open doorway and listened. Dad's voice. I inched into the hall. My mind latched itself onto a terrible image of walking into the kitchen to find one of Victoria's newly-vamped lackeys pretending to be some FBI agent chatting up my Dad.

At last the second voice chuckled and I was near enough to recognize him. My relief rushed air into my lungs. My muscles loosened. I returned to my bedroom, changed out of yesterday's clothes, brushed my teeth, washed my face, and then wound my hair into a ponytail.

Jake and Dad were in the kitchen when I shuffled in. Dad asked how I slept while I poured myself cereal. I noticed Jake's clothes were different too. I wondered if he did that to avoid any suspicious looks from Dad.

"Are you…not working today?" I asked Dad. I suppressed a shiver, folding my arms to hide it. Thinking about Dad going back to that office made me nervous. What other presents might Victoria think to display there?

"I am," he said. "Just wanted to check in with you first."

I glanced at the clock on the microwave. "You could have checked on me earlier. I don't want you to be late because—"

"Bella, everyone at the station understood that I wanted to be here for you," he said. His jaw set firmly. "Honestly, I think it was good for me too. This is going to bring up a lot of unpleasant feelings for both of us."

My dry bowl of cereal was the last thing I wanted to think about now. Dad was right about highlighted bad feelings. I should be hungry. Instead my gut was a tankard of thick pea soup, sloshing and bubbling at the thought of eating. But I didn't want him to worry. I poured milk and slowly, with tiny nibbles, made myself eat. Dad didn't stick around long, asked again how I was doing, reminded me that once the FBI came into town they'd want to see me.

Jake promised to watch out for me. I smiled into my spoon, pondering how relieved Dad would be if he knew that Jake really was capable of protecting me from the mysterious murderer. My smile soured when I realized that I didn't want to test that theory. After seeing Jake move as a wolf, I had no doubt he was a very capable vampire hunter. But even Buffy made mistakes. This wasn't TV land; I didn't want to risk Jake's life.

Once Dad headed out, Jake explained the game plan. The meeting would be at his house since he'd been the one to call it. Billy would be there, and a couple other in-the-know elders. It would be official. Not at all like the informal gathering I had brought Lauren into. Of course, Lauren would be there.

"No incidents after I left?"

Jake snorted. "Nothing lethal."

My eyes bugged.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "No, not anything bad. But you were right about Lauren. She's…abrasive. She says what she's feeling. Not usually nice, those feelings. She has no patience—which, explaining some of our wolfy things requires. Lots of patience." He rubbed his hands over his face. "Embry has had to apologize for her too many times already. Paul likes her though."

My rejected cereal slumped into the garbage and the bowl clinked when I set it into the dishwasher. "I'm shocked they're not soul mates."

"I have no idea if Lauren will be good for Embry," he said, wincing at the idea, "but I know Embry will be good for her. She's already picking up on his cues—to bite her tongue when he knows she's about to say something irritating. It's weird watching Embry with her." His narrowed eyes stared into the floor. "It's like he can predict what she's thinking…or maybe he's so observant that he notices signs that the rest of us don't. I've seen the same thing with Sam—but he's known Emily for years. They weren't close, but at least he'd heard stories…mostly from Leah"—he stopped suddenly. "Never mind. I'm rambling."

I took his hand and he ducked to let me kiss his cheek. "You can ramble with me. I don't mind."

He laughed. "You might regret that."

I shook my head. Jake brushed my hair back and kissed me. Having him around made me feel safe. The terrible thoughts that were invoked by Victoria were locked in a vault, sealed and safe. Whatever horrible plan Victoria had in mind, we would stop it. No mistakes.