A/N: My apologies for the long delay in posting this chapter. Real life got hectic and time to write was nonexistent. That has hopefully changed now and I'll be back to posting often. For those of you who have remarked on it, my Edward isn't quite the passive, self-loathing creature we met in Twilight. I've given him a backbone and a bit of an attitude; I hope you don't mind too much, I like him better as more of a man than a boy. Also, the battle in the last chapter was by no means the last one, it was merely the opening salvo. Thanks again to those of you who take the time to review. Your words keep me inspired to continue writing. ~Dyxie

The Mind's Inner Musings

Edward

The run home seemed endless as I cradled my precious burden closely to my chest, trying not to jostle her more than necessary as each pained moan that escaped her seemed to shred another small piece of my heart. Every breath I took was a whispered prayer that I'd make it to Carlisle in time, for the very thought of losing Bella was inconceivable in its agony. I couldn't understand how she'd come to mean everything to me in so short a time, but I couldn't be bothered to question it any longer. She was mine, as I was hers, and that was all that mattered.

I burst through the front door without taking the time to open it first, screaming for Carlisle even as I raced to his office and the medical equipment he kept there, ignoring the shocked looks on my family's faces as I almost ran over Esme in my haste. The thuds of footsteps followed me even as I heard others heading toward me from deeper within the house, the scents around me indicating that my entire family was converging on my location, though the only one I cared about at the moment was Carlisle. I laid Bella gently on the small bed in the corner of the office as I screamed for him once more, the urgency in my voice reaching an all-time high as I scrambled around the room looking for bandages and other needed supplies.

Questions were being thrown at me by my family, both verbally and mentally, but I ignored them, all my focus on the man just entering the room. His eyes widened in shock before his professionalism took over and he went into full doctor-mode, quickly moving to Bella's side and beginning to examine her as I rattled off the pertinent details he needed to know.

"She's not human, no idea what she is other than that she seems to be able to use some kind of energy. We got into a fight with someone else who wasn't human. She got thrown high into the air and fell back to the ground hard. I think most of her bones are broken and she's likely damaged internally. You have to save her!"

Carlisle blinked a few times at my abbreviated explanation of events, but he never slowed his exam, quickly straightening bones as he found them broken and calling to Rosalie to set up the portable x-ray and MRI machines. His face was grim as he worked, and the pallor of Bella's skin was a concern. She barely seemed to be breathing and the sound of her weak pulse was growing fainter by the minute. Every groan of pain she emitted sunk into me like claws and I moved to help Rosalie with the machines, eager for something to keep my hands occupied. Then Rosalie broke in with a question that threw me over the edge of anger I'd been walking since the attack had first begun.

"Why are we wasting our time with her? She's nothing to us." she sneered.

My vision tunneled and all I saw was red as I lunged for my sister, my hands wrapping around her throat as her body slammed into the wall hard enough to compress the sheet-rock behind her. I vaguely heard worried shouts mixing in with the savage snarls erupting from my throat, but they were a minor annoyance as I focused my sole attention on the matter at hand. My face was less than an inch from hers and some part of me took enjoyment from the flash of fear in her eyes as I spoke in a whispered hiss that was all the more menacing for its lack of sound.

"She is mine. My mate. My life. Speak of her like that again and you'll be nothing but ash in the wind."

She started to stutter a smart-ass reply that I quickly overwhelmed with another snarl and she shut up. It wasn't often that Rosalie thought before she spoke, and it was good she was doing so now. I wasn't in the mood for any of her bitchiness today and I wasn't afraid to let her know it. I could vaguely feel arms trying to pull me back from her, but the demon in me was fully awake at the moment, and I easily shrugged them off, snarling at her once more for good measure. Once I was certain she understood her place in regards to Bella, I casually released her, letting her slump to the floor as I quickly returned to readying the machines Carlisle needed in order to help my Bella.

The room flooded with calm as Jasper used his ability to try to soothe me into a calmer frame of mind, and I threw him a grateful look as I continued working, helping Carlisle move Bella into the machines as needed while he tried to ascertain the extent of her injuries. After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably less than an hour, he finally stepped back and rubbed one hand down his face, a human trait he'd picked up and one he only used when he was deeply in thought. Gently picking Bella up in his arms, he laid her once more upon the small bed before pulling the blanket over her and tucking her in as he would a small child.

"You were correct, Edward, most of her bones were broken. I've set them now and I'm not anticipating any difficulties in their healing. Oddly enough, her internal injuries, though severe, seem to be healing well enough on their own. I've never seen anything like it, and I've taken blood so I can run some tests and determine what she might be. She seems fully human, but her healing isn't, and neither is this state of almost hibernation she's slipped into. It's very similar to a coma, and I believe it may be how her kind reacts to severe bodily trauma. We'll just have to wait and see now, I've done everything I can for her."

I nodded at him, reaching out to take one of her limp hands into mine, wishing I could will my own strength into her body to aid the healing process. I gently stroked slow circles onto her palm with my thumb as my other hand raised to wearily run through my hair and I turned to face the questioning gazes of my family who were not-so-patiently waiting to hear the full story of what had happened to us. I couldn't help the smirk that appeared as I noticed Rosalie standing slightly behind Emmet with a wary look on her face, while Emmet just looked faintly amused. Jasper was still flooding the room with calm as he held onto Alice while she bounced in place, she never could stay still for more than a moment at a time. Carlisle was watching me thoughtfully, Esme snuggled into his arms as her eyes flickered back and forth between Bella and myself, and from her thoughts I knew she'd latched onto my earlier words of Bella being my mate. I didn't need to be an empath to feel the curiosity emanating from them all, so I sat on the edge of Bella's bed and began to tell them of the events of the last few days.

Curiosity quickly changed to a multitude of other emotions, ranging from shock and wonder to worry and anger as I told them everything, though Esme couldn't seem to stop radiating anything other than pure happiness as she realized I'd finally found the other half of myself, my soul-mate. It was something that she'd wanted for me for decades now, and I could tell from her thoughts that she was already placing Bella in the category of 'daughter' despite the fact that we knew next to nothing about what she was or what her intentions might be. Carlisle was caught between happiness for me and worry for what Bella's presence in our lives might mean if she was being hunted. As the head of our family, he was always thinking ahead in an attempt to ward off potential danger and keep us all safe. Not that the potential danger really mattered at this point; there was no way I was giving up Bella, no matter what difficulties she might be bringing along with her.

Alice was radiating excitement, rattling on about how she knew that she and Bella were going to be great friends, while Jasper was already strategizing ways to keep the family safe if danger was coming. As our resident military expert, this was his area of expertise, and we all took his advice seriously. In a bad situation, Jasper was the man to have at your back. Rosalie was being her normal selfish self, her vanity insisting she compare herself to Bella and find ways to feel superior to her, while Emmet was simply looking forward to having a baby sister he could protect. He was always up for a good fight, and felt no fear at the prospect that danger might be headed our way.

We spent some time considering possibilities and planning defensive measures, but there was really nothing we could definitively decide upon until we were able to speak with Bella and gather all the information we needed from her. Carlisle was especially interested in the sword that had been used against us, and he wandered off to do some research on it as everyone else gradually drifted away to do their own thing while we waited for Bella to wake. I sent Emmet to the meadow to retrieve the sword and dispose of the body since I absolutely refused to leave Bella's side, and he was happy to be given a task to accomplish.

I moved to lie next to her on the bed, wrapping an arm around her waist and curving my body protectively around hers as I lowered my head to bury my nose in her hair, inhaling deeply of her scent as I simply allowed myself to wallow in the new feelings moving through my unbeating heart. For the first time, I began to understand the bond between the other mated couples in the house, and hope spread through me at the thought that I might have that for myself one day soon. Despite my worry over her health, I couldn't help but smile as I realized that Bella was now my home, and there was no place I'd rather be than at her side.

Darkness surrounded me as I sunk more deeply within its confines, finding that comfortable nook where I could safely rest while my body worked to heal itself. Even in my unconscious state, I was able to feel to a certain degree, though thankfully the pain was distant enough to be more of an annoyance, rather than the previously overwhelming agony it had been. I was badly injured, and I knew it would take my body awhile to make the necessary repairs, so I allowed myself to float in the darkness without struggle, letting my thoughts drift as they would in a state somewhere between consciousness and dreams.

I should be dead, yet somehow I was safe, and my mind tried to make some sense of that discrepancy, idly examining it from every angle in search of a viable explanation. I remembered the fight in the meadow and James standing over me in triumph, his sword raised above his head for the final strike that would bring an end to both my life and mission. Everything after that, however, was buried in the darkness that I now sought refuge within, and while I knew that I was forgetting some vital fact, it took awhile for that missing link to make itself known. Edward.

Somehow, he must have saved us both, and while my heart rejoiced that he was alive, my mind reeled in confusion and shock. This was the only explanation that made any sense at all, yet how had Edward managed to overcome James, an experienced hunter who wielded the Sword of Sirrinar? It shouldn't be possible, and yet I instinctively knew that I had the right of it. Edward had triumphed over James. What the hell was he?

Time passed as I floated in my strange dream-state, vaguely aware of noises around me and someone softly calling my name, but I wasn't yet ready to fully awaken. My body was still repairing itself, and it wouldn't let me wake until the job was at least near completion, so I let the wanderings of my mind continue as I pondered Edward. What was he? I remembered the list I'd begun to compile before entering the Biology lab, and tried to pick up where I had left off, putting together all the clues I'd noticed so far.

Intoxicating scent... pale icy skin... speed... strength... reflexes... tracking me down in the forest... and surviving a direct hit from the sword's dark light. His chest had been hard beneath my light touch during our kiss, more like smooth marble than flesh. Most importantly, he'd been able to tell that I wasn't human from the start, and that's something very few beings have the ability to do. My mind worked over these clues, turning them this way and that as I struggled to find the correct answer to the mystery that was Edward Cullen, but no matter how hard I concentrated, the answer continued to elude me. Just as I was reaching the point of frustration and about to put the question aside for the time being, one of the stories I'd heard as a young child came to the forefront of my mind. I could clearly remember sitting at the feet of my Tuan as she softly told the tale to the younglings gathered around her, her voice strong and sure despite her advanced years.

"There is a race of sentient beings on Earth known as Vampires, children. Unlike us, they were once humans, who were transformed into vampires when bitten by one. Their bite contains a harsh venom that subjects the body to a painful transfiguration over the span of a few days, essentially killing the body even as it changes into something new. Once the transformation is complete, they enjoy an enhancement of the senses and abilities. They become much stronger and faster, even as their senses dramatically increase in sensitivity, and their flesh pales as it turns to icy stone, making it almost fully immune to penetration by conventional weaponry. Also unlike us, they are granted immortality, though the price they pay for this is high, as their bodies now require blood for sustenance rather than food."

"Unfortunately, most choose to prey on their former racial equals, the humans, viewing them as little more than cattle to be slaughtered, though there are a few who choose to continue embracing their humanity. They survive instead on the blood of animals, gathering together in small covens so that they might continue to interact with the humans on a regular basis and live somewhat normal lives. While they can be difficult to tell apart from humans at first glance, there is one way to be certain aside from the paleness of their skin, and that is their eyes. Those who drink the blood of humans are marked with eyes of crimson red, while the others have eyes of honey-spun gold."

"Remember this well, though, my children. Vampires are the most perfect predators ever created. They are beautiful, graceful, and everything about them is meant to be attractive to their prey, right down to their scent. Should you stumble upon one when your time has come to journey to Earth, be ever on your guard. While your own abilities give you little to fear from humans, vampires are one of the few beings that have the potential to pose a serious threat to your existence, almost as serious as that of the Hunters. This is not only due to their own advanced abilities, but because they can sense that you are other than human yourselves, and this will arouse their interest. Be cautious."

As if a light had suddenly appeared to illuminate the darkness, the answer I was seeking came to me. Edward Cullen was a vampire. This was bad. How could I feel such an attraction toward him when he was one of the beings most dangerous to my existence? Even my luck couldn't be this bad, I inwardly groaned, couldn't I catch a break just once? Gah!

My mind turned in another direction, remembering the press of his lips to mine in the meadow, and the accompanying feelings that had gone through me as I made the decision to finally let him in and leave the chips to fall where they may. There was something within me that recognized him, something far deeper than conscious thought or even instinct, something that told me to grab ahold of him and never let him go. My heart nearly broke as I realized what I had to do, not only for my own safety, but for his as well. One hunter meant that more wouldn't be far behind, and I couldn't jeopardize Edward's safety, even if I could look past the very real danger that he possibly posed to me.

There was no help for it, I was just going to have to find a way to keep my distance from him, though how I was going to manage that with everything he'd seen was beyond me. The chances of him leaving me alone now were about a billion to one, and with my luck, I sure as hell wasn't going to end up with the 'one' side of that equation. If I'd been able to hit my forehead with my hand I would have, but since I couldn't, I had to settle for silently yet roundly cursing destiny's absolute glee in putting me in these situations. Not only would I be fighting Edward in this, I'd also be fighting my own desire to be with him. Gah!

As if in mockery of my musings, I heard a faint voice calling my name, and its velvety caress could belong to none other than Edward Cullen. I could feel that my body was mostly healed, and despite the fact that I badly wanted to ignore the voice calling me back to a reality I did not want to face, I found my eyes involuntarily flickering open in response to his honeyed whispering of my name. Of course, I was immediately confronted with concerned golden orbs that were mere inches from my own. I inhaled sharply in reaction to his proximity, flooding my senses with his intoxicating scent that seemed to be tailor-made just for my personal enjoyment, and for several long moments I could do nothing but stare into his eyes, lost in their depths as I momentarily forgot every single reason I had just come up with to stay away from him.

A tingle went through my still-healing body, that familiar electricity igniting beneath my skin as his cool breath wafted across my face, and then his lips curled into that crooked smile I was quickly becoming addicted to as his head slowly lowered until he could speak directly into my ear. I shivered slightly as the curls there fluttered softly in the gentle breeze of his now all-too-familiar whispered words.

"Breathe, Bella."