Daughter of Three Suns
Chapter 23
It didn't take long to find Edward. The trail of blood drops I followed ended on a landing only a couple levels above where I had left Aro. My mate was leaning against the building wall, skin ashen and face grimaced in pain.
"Can you shift? It might be easier to fly to the top instead of climbing."
"No. Too many injuries." His tired glance met my worried one.
"Do you think Felix damaged anything major? If we can get through the portal, our healers should be able to help you."
Edward shook his head, then coughed suddenly. Blood coated his lips. "Maybe a lung?"
Closing the distance between us, I crouched down, my back to him.
"What are you doing?" he whispered.
"Carrying you. Now get on my back."
"No, Bella. I can—"
"I'm tired of everyone making decisions for me, of being part of everyone's plans, but told nothing. You named me 'warrior', and I am. Now we're doing things my way. Get on my back, Edward or we'll die here together."
"But …"
"No more talking. Just do it." With a grudging sigh, he climbed on my back, wrapping his legs around my waist and his arms around my neck. His head rested on mine, and we started up the stairs.
Edward was heavy. I leaned on my staff, taking one step at a time and making sure of my balance before moving to the next. It was slow, but we made progress. When we came to a third landing, I set him down, and we both collapsed against the wall. I was breathing deeply, trying to catch my breath when I heard him cough again. A quick glance told me there was more blood on his lips. "Edward?"
He shook his head. "I'm okay." He glanced toward me, eyes traveling my length. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I should have told you of my plans."
"Yes, you should have. This makes me feel as if you can't trust me. We're soulmates. We should share everything."
"I know." His eyes lingered on the blood-rimed rent in my shift. "Did I hurt you?"
"No." I chuckled. "My skin is very thick. Your cut was little more than a scratch."
"Good. I needed to make it look real in order to convince Aro that I would actually do it. Rosalie said your skin would heal quickly."
"Rosalie?" Edward's eyes widened as I glared at him. "You acted like you barely knew my sister, but now I find that perhaps there is more that you haven't told me."
My mate had the grace to look embarrassed. When I reached for his mind, I was met with remorse, guilt, and shame. "Edward?"
With a resigned sigh, he leaned his head against the wall behind us and began to talk. "I had just found out that there was a possibility that my mother might still be alive when your sister arrived. Emmett immediately recognized her as his soulmate, and they bonded quickly. He had been helping me search for my mother, but we could never find her. Each time we thought we knew where she was, we would arrive to find her gone. Sometimes, there would be some evidence that she might have been there, other times there was nothing.
"When Rosalie found out who we were searching for and realized that Esme was her aunt, she was adamant that we help Mother return to your world. Your sister was the one who decided there must be a traitor who knew what we were doing and was reporting it to Aro. We had been very careful to conceal our searching, so we never figured out who it could be."
Edward stopped to catch his breath. His breathing was labored, and I knew we needed to leave. "Did James know what you were doing?"
"James? No. Why would he want to stop us? He hates Aro as much as I do."
"Just wondering," I replied, shaking my head. "Finish the story, please."
"As soon as Rosalie knew she was having a child, Emmett insisted that they leave. He didn't want the baby born here. That's when Rosalie said she had a sister who would go through her change soon. We decided on a plan to use the sister as a hostage to exchange for Esme. We hoped the sister would be my mate, but if not, the sister and I would pretend.
"That's why I helped with capturing the group of women who came through the next time. As soon as I got a chance, I asked which one was Rosalie's sister but none of them were. Irina told me they never saw Alice."
"Alice never changed. She became a seer," I explained. "So, I guess you had to wait for me."
Edward glanced at me and smiled. "It was worth the wait." When I didn't return his smile, he sobered quickly.
"Did you tell Irina of this plan?"
"Not much, only a little." He looked confused. "Why?"
"She was so badly beaten when she returned. I thought perhaps the traitor you could not identify might have done that to her to find out what she knew."
My mate's face blanched at my words. "Oh, no," he mumbled.
"We should go." I turned my back to him, and Edward climbed on once more. As before, we crept slowly up the stairs. I heard him groan a few times. When we were almost to the top, he spoke softly against my ear. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you everything. I should have. You are so much more than I ever expected—my mate, my life, the mother of my children. I love you, my warrior woman. I want to spend the rest of the time I have left telling you how much you mean to me. Never forget how much I love you."
I had no breath left to answer him, so I nodded and continued on. For the rest of my days, I would regret not answering my mate.
….
The roof was almost deserted when we finally reached it. Two drudges crouched against a far wall where there seemed to be a little shade. Their faces and arms were covered with bloody scratches. I looked for James but could not find him and assumed he had already gone through the arch which still glowed with its ruby light. I headed straight for it.
Just before I stepped through, I remembered the shackle in the bag hanging from my belt. I fumbled to open it, but Edward's leg covered the top, and I couldn't reach inside. My hands sought the knot that secured the belt to my waist, but that, too, had slipped to the back where I couldn't reach it.
"Edward, Edward." I shook my shoulders trying to rouse my mate, who had fallen silent. "I need you to stand up so I can untie my belt. It holds my bag with the shackle, the one that must be left here in order to close the door between our worlds."
Edward mumbled something and slid off my back. He leaned heavily against me while my hands began to pluck at the knot. The sudden sound of wings caught my attention, and I looked up to find James standing beside me. Hate twisted his face as he glared at Edward.
"You're supposed to be dead. Guess I'll have to finish what Aro and Felix couldn't."
"James?" Edward stumbled against me as he tried to move away from his brother, who had drawn back his fist to hit Edward. "What are you doing?"
"Taking Bella for myself. I heard what you said to Aro. You were right, you know. We've never seen anything like her before. Her children will be magnificent. Together, we can rule this world. I just have to get rid of you first."
While James was talking, I moved between them, shielding Edward with my body. Each time he tried to reach Edward, I shifted, trying to keep a distance between us and protect my mate. Edward's hand clung to my shoulder. I could feel him weakening, and knew he would collapse soon. Gradually, I started easing us backward toward the portal.
"Crazy. You're crazy," Edward said. "You know you can't stay here. Everything is dying, and you will too."
"But not before you." James began to laugh hysterically. He looked and sounded so much like Aro that I started in surprise. That's when he attacked. His fist came straight toward my face. I dodged quickly, but Edward's weight threw me off balance. I stumbled, flailing my arms to keep from falling. Edward's hand slid down my back as he tried to catch me. His fingers caught on my belt, and I felt it snap and give way. He fell with a hard thud onto the rooftop. At the same time, I felt James's hand close around my wrist. My forward motion pulled us through the portal, and then we were falling. Falling through the blackness to land with a thump on the sands of my home world.
I was on my feet almost immediately, turning and running toward the red arch that separated me from my mate. But even as I ran, screaming for Edward, I knew it was too late. The glow was dimming and sputtered out as I lunged through it, only to land in the sand on the other side. Back and forth, I ran through it, screaming and crying for my mate, and searching for the belt with its pouch and shackle that I knew had been left on that rooftop.
When I had exhausted myself, I turned to face the people who stood watching. Aunties and mothers hugged the daughters who had returned to them. A healer knelt on the ground beside Victoria. Dozens of shapeshifters wheeled overhead. Rosalie and my mother were holding Esme's hands. In the middle of them all stood James.
He was still in his man form. He glanced around him in shock at the sand dunes, the glittering white heat of Daughter Sun above him, and all the women who stared in surprise at the figure before them.
In my haste to reach the arch, I had abandoned my staff on the sand. I picked it up, letting the weight of it settle in my hand. During my training with Rosalie, she had tried to teach me to throw it like a spear. I had never been strong enough to master control of the weapon, but I was no longer a weak girl. I was a woman now. A woman who had lost her basherter because of the betrayal of the one who should never have entered my world.
The knife Rosalie had fastened to the end of my staff was still there. Its sharp point glittered in the bright sunshine. "James," I called. He turned to face me, and I threw. All my anger, rage, and despair flowed through my body as I pulled back my arm and shoulder and hurled my staff with all my strength. It never wobbled, never went off course, as it flew straight and true toward James. I saw his eyes widen in fear just before the knife pierced his chest, and the shaft buried itself in his body.
James fell backward onto the sand. His blood, as crimson as the face of Grandmother Sun, stained the golden sands of my home world.
I felt nothing as I watched him die—no anger or rage, no despair or sadness. Nothing.
I turned and walked away.
.
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AN: Thank you for reading.
