A/N: Thank you to all for your kind words and reviews! Apologies for taking so long to update; work and life has nearly overwhelmed me.
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Chapter 5: Not again
And that was the precise moment that all hell broke loose.
Or rather, that was the moment that the evening took a turn for the pretty much worst. All hell breaking loose might have been a bit of an exaggeration.
A loud crash and clatter of glass preceded a woman's shrill shriek.
Edward stopped mid-sentence, head swinging immediately in the direction of the sound. The source was not so far from us, the accident clearly visible.
Oh, no. Oh, no, oh, no, oh, no. There was blood. Oh, there was a lot of blood.
This was not good for either of us. I felt the world start spinning as I took in the bright red pooling on the floor. The woman's arm, sliced painfully, was bleeding profusely. Some waiter had tripped, or stumbled, or somehow otherwise collided with an elegantly dressed mid-30-something woman clad in a flowing golden gown.
And the glasses were shattered. And there was blood mixing with the puddle of champagne, staining her dress mottled pink.
I tore my gaze away, panting shallow breaths to stave off the stars sparkling my eyesight, and the blackness that threatened to drag me under. I would not faint. I would not throw up. I would not, I would not, I would not.
Edward still hadn't moved a centimeter from where he stood. He wasn't breathing. Just simply staring stonily.
"Edward," I hissed, panic bubbling in my throat. I tugged at his elbow, though I might as well have been trying to pull a brick wall along with me. "Edward, let's go."
He was frozen, inscrutable, staring at the accident. At the blood. If he could resist me, his ultimate temptation (or so he claimed), surely he could walk away from this. His alabaster brow furrowed in a dark scowl.
"Edward, please," I begged.
He shifted suddenly, smoothly tucking me behind his body in that all-too-familiar protective stance. A low growl rumbled in his throat, barely audible. That's when I saw it. I knew it immediately when my eyes fell upon it. There was another vampire here, another one of their kind, in ethereal, terrible glory. His charcoal eyes might as well have been neon signs screaming "I'm a vampire!" at me. He was striding confidently toward the woman, fluidly through the crowd, with an unnatural grace.
My heart stopped.
I couldn't tear my eyes away, though my stomach was churning again the sight of red blood dripping down the woman's arm. I breathed in through my nose out, out through my mouth, deep and steady, in an effort to quell the nausea.
Was he just going to sink his teeth into the woman, or the waiter? Expose himself for all of his terrible nature?
The silver-haired vampire sank gracefully to the ground. "I'm a doctor," he said, loudly enough to be heard over the murmurs of the crowd that had gathered. "Allow me to look at it."
I felt a tremble beginning to stir in my knees. Another vampire. Here.
It was as if there was no one else here, other than Edward and I, and the silver-haired vampire and his victim. I stared over Edward's arm, still barring me from moving to stand even next to him. Edward was perfectly still. He could have been carved from stone, having stopped breathing at the first flash of blood.
The vampire seemed to have finished examining her wounds. "The cuts aren't deep. Can you stand? We need to get you cleaned up."
Now I was again fighting the urge to throw up. Terror seized my heart for this poor, poor lady. He was just going to escort her out of sight, and then off her. She had no chance.
She started to rise, and the vampire, ever the gentleman, helped her carefully to stand.
My numbed lips struggled to form his sweet name, struggled to speak above a raspy whisper. "Edward…"
He glanced back at me, over his shoulder. Our eyes met, and suddenly, I realized why he was incapable of moving. He was not thirsty, no. Not so tempted. In his intense, torn gaze, I knew he was all too painfully aware of the mortal danger the injured woman was in. But to intervene? Could he? Would he risk my safety? Would he risk his secret?
His moment of indecision was brief.
Uncertainly melted from his eyes, replaced by hard determination. He spun, grasping my elbow, and began to tug me along, through the crowd that had formed, away from the other vampire and his victim. "Let's go."
I had mistaken his indecision for concern for the other woman. It was always about me. He was always so absurdly concerned for me.
Dumbly, I nodded, trying to get my clouded brain to put one shaking foot in front of the other. He was practically dragging me along.
"Can you walk well enough?" his low voice demanded, cool breath whisking across my ear. "I don't want to make a scene, but I can carry you, if the blood…"
"I'll – I'll be fine," I stumbled over the words. "No, I'll be fine."
The brief look Edward shot me was disbelieving. His pace quickened, and I almost wanted to start jogging to keep up with his long strides. Jogging in heels would be a bad idea though. From the corner of my eye, I saw that his free hand, the right one, was clenched in a fist.
I could practically hear his razor-sharp teeth grinding, too. Any hopes I'd have for keeping my playful, cheerful Edward for the entire evening were shot. I hated the waiter, the woman, the vampire and even the champagne flutes right then and there.
He shoved the number for my coat (well, technically, his coat) into the coat-check's hands, silently radiating frozen anger. The teen darted off nervously to get the tan leather coat of Edward's that I so loved.
"Smile, Bella," Edward commanded in a fierce whisper. "He thinks I'm going to beat you. He's weighing whether to alert security."
Under any other circumstance it would have been funny. My lips kind of trembled as I tried to follow Edward's orders, attempting a smile.
The coat-check handed the tan coat I loved to Edward, who took it with a curt nod of thanks. It was very unlike him to be impolite. I'm pretty sure he slipped the teen a bill, likely some ungodly large tip to ward off any unnecessary attention.
He must be incredibly worried to be so entirely preoccupied.
He held the jacket out for me, allowing me to slide my right arm in first, then the left. Silently, he zipped it for me. I wondered if it was because he hoped it would help mask my scent. For some reason or another, all vampires seemed to sit up and take notice when I walked by, apparently.
The coat-check flashed me a half-scared, half-sympathetic look toward me. If I had my wits about me, I think I would have smiled at him again, but I could not wipe away the panic on my features. My skin felt cold and clammy, though I was already breaking into a sweat.
Edward's long fingers seized my elbow again and we were striding out the front doors and down the wide sidewalk toward the SkyTrain. The block and a half seemed so far.
His phone buzzed, and he whipped it out, talking faster than I could understand.
Alice. It had to be Alice. Edward froze again momentarily, catching me off-guard and almost sending me sprawling to the ground due to my momentum. His tawny eyes glinted in the streetlights. They widened in horror, then narrowed, and then his phone snapped shut and gone, and he was reaching for me.
Edward slung me onto his back, a familiar action that almost soothed my terrified nerves.
Before Edward, as lightning-quick as he was, could move, a shrouded figure stepped from a darkened alleyway.
"Hello, brother," a syrupy voice crooned.
Edward must have bared his teeth. I felt the threatening growl that tore from his throat. I could hear his teeth grinding together.
"No need for such… hostility, brother," the male voice murmured. He stepped into the realm of the streetlight. His bloodred eyes shimmered like rubies. Edward stepped to the side, matching the man step for smooth step.
Except Edward knew what he was thinking. Judging by the anxiety radiating from his posture, it was not good. Aside from the stepping, he was a statue, typically exhibiting the Cullen reaction to stress.
So I was petrified, and clutched Edward as tight as humanly possible. If he would have been human, I suspect my strangle-hold on his throat would have not helped the situation at all.
"Stand down," Edward ordered, his velvet voice harsh with anger. "She is not yours."
A sneer curled the lips of the other vampire.
"No," Edward said coldly, to whatever he was thinking. "Absolutely not. Don't even think about trying."
Bloodred eyes narrowed at us. That Edward was carrying on a conversation with this vampire, who wasn't speaking, unnerved me. What was the other one thinking? Why couldn't he just say it aloud?
"Of course," he scoffed.
And then Edward had pulled me down, tucked securely behind him, taking more of a defensive posture now that his arms were freed up. My knees trembled, and breathing was coming shallowly for me.
"My coven is bigger than the last time, Phinneaus," Edward warned, shepherding my steps with one arm as he continued to edge around the circle in perfect synch with the other. "There are seven of us now. She isn't worth the trouble, of that I can assure you."
Edward knew him? Of course. He seemed to know all the Pacific Northwest vampires. Did they meet for conventions in the winter, I wondered.
"But you smell so… tempting, little one," the vampire was addressing me now. Edward snarled.
I was going to be sick. Oh, no. Also, why does everyone keep telling me that? What is wrong with my blood? I wondered if eating deodorant would help diffuse the apparently tantalizing scent of my blood.
"Just a bite, Edward," he cajoled, voice oily. "A little taste. It's cruel to bring out such an alluring little treat and then snatch it back."
Bloodred eyes bored into mine. He feinted forward, but Edward matched his feint with a perfectly timed block.
"I can still hear your thoughts," Edward confirmed grimly in his velvet voice. "I won't repeat it again: Stand down, Phinneaus."
The marble silver-haired vampire half-howled. It was a jarring noise that made my skin prickle. He charged at us – I think – but everything blurred and whirled and suddenly we were on the other side of the streetlight.
"I'm still faster than you," Edward pointed out darkly. "Go home, Phinneaus."
A new growl echoed across space, and my head snapped up, eyes wide at the prospect of another enemy. Would this night ever end? I wanted to clutch closer to Edward, my cold stone fortress.
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