Chapter 13
Ingratiate
They drove in silence for a long while, heading toward the Queen's estate. No matter where they decided to go next, that had to be their first stop. Bella needed to be registered and they had to find out what had been happening while they were away, where the hotspots were and decide whether it was safe to move on.
"Did you speak with the Queen and tell her we're coming?" Edward asked, breaking the silence.
"It was Felix," Emmett mused.
"What?"
"Felix betrayed Bella. His scent was all over the scene. I didn't think about it at the time, but he was the only one left standing. The kidnaper would have never managed to get close to the house unless he had an inside man. He's the one who killed Jane and Benjamin. They trusted him, which meant he could get the drop on them. They never saw it coming."
Edward considered this. "We can't stay at court. Where there's one traitor, there may be more."
"Can we keep her safe, just the two of us?"
"We're going to have to try," Edward replied, his tone grim. He turned around to glance at Bella who was staring out the window at the passing scenery.
When they pulled up in front of the house, there was a group waiting for them on the front steps, a group in which Jane should have stood, Emmett thought, anger stirring in his gut. Queen Victoria was the first to greet them, but there were many faces which had smiles of welcome. "My car!" someone yelled.
"Bella, oh thank God you're-" Victoria started and then froze as she caught Bella's scent, the unmistakable scent of a vampire. "Bella, what happened to you?" she asked.
Bella ducked behind Emmett and didn't answer.
Victoria took in the two men flanking Bella protectively. "You had to change her?" she asked Emmett.
"It's a long story," said Emmett dismissively. He had bigger concerns at the moment. He cast his eyes quickly around the crowd and spotted his target. "Felix."
Felix jumped. "Hey, Emmett," he said, visibly nervous. "I"m glad to see you got Bella back okay."
"Are you?" Emmett asked, his voice pleasant. "Tell me, why were you outside our apartment shortly before Bella was taken?"
"I- I wasn't," Felix denied. He looked around for help, but no one offered it. The people who had been standing around him began to back away, leaving him standing alone, his face the picture of guilt.
Edward moved so fast that even vampire eyes could not track him. He grabbed Felix from behind in a headlock and whispered into his ear. "For every lie you tell, you're going to lose a limb, got it?" Felix replied with a low whine of fear.
"You scent was all over the area." Emmett commented.
"Oh, uh, okay, yeah, I was down there. Now I remember."
"Why?"
"I ..." Felix struggled ineffectually against Edward's grip. "I ... uh ... I had to take Jane a message."
"From whom?" Emmett asked.
"I- uh, I- I don't remember."
"That's bullshit!" someone cried and Emmet swiftly scanned the crowd to see who had spoken. One of the court secretaries, a woman named Renata, spoke again. "The switchboard was disabled all night. People who called in never got through. I've heard that from at least half a dozen people who tried to call. Felix was supposed to be manning it, but I guess he turned it off so that no one would hear an endlessly ringing phone while he was out doing his dirty work."
"No, wait!" Felix screamed the last syllable as Edward tore off his left arm. Blood sprayed the bystanders who had not moved far enough away.
Bella gave an inarticulate cry and crouched down beside the steps, using a shrub for cover, pressing her palms to her ears. Emmett cast a look at Edward who said cheerfully, "I'll take over from here!"
Emmett slowly walked to Bella and bent to scoop her up in his arms. She cowered back for a moment but allowed it. Emmett silently cursed himself for not taking her inside before she could see any violence. Of course it would scare her after all she had been through, possibly stir up ugly memories that she wasn't prepared to deal with yet.
Emmett carried her into the parlor, which was quiet and dark. He laid her down on one of those ridiculously ornate sofas that always looked like they would collapse like matchsticks beneath his weight. Emmett sat down on the floor beside her. "I shouldn't have brought you here," he said. "I should have just taken you somewhere else. Somewhere out of the country, somewhere away from all of this shit."
He rubbed a hand over his face. "I'm sorry, sorry about all of this. Since I came into your life, you've had nothing but trauma. No wonder you don't want to remember it. I wouldn't either." He turned to face her, taking her hand in his. "But, please, Bella, come back to me. I promise to spend the rest of eternity making it up to you. I'll always love you, sweetheart, even if you never speak to me again, but I long to hear your voice. The Bella I knew was funny and sweet and loving ... and she was so generous and kind. More than anything, I want to see that Bella again." A tear slipped down his cheek. Bella gazed at him, then reached out and smoothed it away. Emmett turned his face into her palm and kissed it.
They were interrupted by footsteps. Edward came in, his dark suit sprinkled with blood and ash. Emmett pushed down his resentment. "Did you get what we needed to know?"
Edward nodded, a small smile playing across his lips. "He squealed like a pig. The Queen is taking care of a few ... housekeeping chores, but she'll be in to meet with us in a few minutes."
Bella sat up, sniffing. She walked over to Edward, her bare, pink toes sinking into the rug. She leaned closer to the bloodstains and inhaled and looked up at Edward in confusion.
"It's vampire blood, honey. It doesn't smell enticing to you because it won't feed you. You can drink it, but it would be like a person drinking a glass of water when they're hungry. It may trick the stomach into thinking it's full for a while, but hunger will come back with a vengeance."
The Queen entered, looking very tired and pissed off. She was not only troubled as a ruler by having traitors in her camp, her feelings were also hurt and she was one of those people who reacted to emotional pain with anger.
She took a seat on the sofa Bella had recently vacated and took out her laptop. "All right, Emmett, tell me what you saw."
Emmett told the story as best he could, including their theory about the necklace being what changed Bella. The subject of this discussion wandered around the room, with Edward always barely a foot from her side. He talked to her softly about the various objects that caught Bella's attention. Emmett noticed that she touched things without reservation, no longer needing to sterilize an object before handling it. Whether this was a good sign or bad, he was unable to determine. Unfortunately, whatever she touched, she broke, not used to her vampire strength.
"I've got to get Alice here," the Queen said, wincing at the sound of shattering porcelain. "She's studied our histories. Maybe she'll know of another vampire who was changed in a similar fashion."
Crunch! Edward's voice soothed Bella. "It's all right honey. It's replaceable ... [Crash!] Okay, that one wasn't replaceable, but it's not your fault."
"Emmett, you're not listening to me," Victoria accused.
"Uh huh," Emmett replied, his eyes on Bella.
"Purple monkey dishwasher," Victoria said.
"Mm." Emmett responded.
Bella stepped up to the mirror mounted on the wall and gasped, lifting a hand to touch her cheek as if to assure herself that the face reflected was her own. "Yeah, your eyes are a little different, a little lighter," Edward said, nonchalant. "That always happens. They'll also get lighter as time goes on. Mine were really dark green when I was a mortal."
Emmett tried not to react, but it was the first time in five hundred years he had ever heard Edward say anything about his mortal life.
"She's ... different," Victoria said.
"She's still Bella," Emmett retorted. "She's not out of control, so there's no reason for you to reject her."
"I'm not thinking about rejecting her, Emmett. I'm just curious about the situation. If Alice were here ..."
"Alice isn't turning her into a goddam lab rat," Emmet said fiercely. "Make sure she understands that before you call her."
"Alice isn't like that, and you know it. She may get a little ... distracted ... at times, but she's got a good heart. The only thing she'll be thinking of is how to help Bella, I'm sure of it." Victoria opened the lid of her laptop. "Let's get her registered, shall we?"
Marcus had been the designer of the VAMPbase and the accompanying website, which posted announcements, hosted a chat board and even had a dating section. Civilian vampires could only access the website, not the database, and could only access it after entering their registration number and password from a registered IP address. Of course, if any humans ever managed to access it, they would think it was merely a role-playing site. Marcus was immensely proud of its security, which he bragged, was tighter than that of the CIA. It didn't seem to be empty boasting; the database had never been hacked, despite several recent attempts.
The Queen entered Bella's full name, date of birth, date of change and assigned her a serial number. When she came to the entry for sire's name, Emmett said, "Leave that blank." Victoria, ever tactful when she sensed a sticky situation, made no comment. The serial number she had given Bella started with the letter "A", indicating she was sired by an Ancient, and the next two digits indicated that she was of Edward's line, but Victoria was pretty sure that Emmett would be unaware of that fact since he had never paid attention to such details. It was better for Bella, she decided. Being sired by an Ancient would lend her some respect in the community.
Victoria retrieved a small plastic envelope from inside her case and opened it, pulling out a small square of cloth. Emmett rose from his chair and called to Bella softly. She turned from the mirror as he approached her and did not flinch away when he took the silk swatch gently rubbed it along the side of her neck. Victoria held aloft a small glass tube and into it, Emmett pushed the swatch of cloth. Vampires had no fingerprints; the pads of their fingers were as smooth as glass. The only identifying feature that did not change was their scent. The sample would be stored in the Council's archives.
Caius tapped on the door frame. "I thought you should see this." He held aloft a newspaper which he handed to Emmett. Edward was lured over by curiosity. It was a copy of that morning's Fort Washington Daily Recorder "Look, Bella, you made the front page! Below the fold, but hey, still front page."
Philanthropist Presumed Dead
Isabella M. Swan, who made headlines recently when she opened a "restaurant for the homeless" that proved very successful among even the well-heeled crowd, is presumed dead after a grisly discovery in a New York motel room. Police say that blood and tissue samples discovered at the scene make it unlikely that Swan is alive, though no body has yet been discovered. Swan's house was destroyed in an arson fire last week though police have yet to comment on whether they suspect the two are connected.
Emmett considered the ramifications of this. Bella had a will, that he knew, and she had changed it after they opened Bella's, directing that her estate be used to support the restaurant in perpetuity. Allowing the authorities to assume her death meant that she was, for all practical purposes, exiled from Fort Washington and the work with the homeless which meant so much to her.
He looked over at Bella, who was tracing the wallpaper's pattern with her fingertips. He refused to admit to himself that it might be a foregone conclusion.
A few minutes later, Bella clutched her stomach and groaned softly.
"Hungry, love?" Edward asked. She didn't answer but she didn't need to. Hunger pangs for fledglings could be very painful.
"I'll see if anyone has a live donor on premises that they'd be willing to share," Edward told Emmett.
"Why? I'm sure there are some bottles around here."
"I think it best she feed naturally," Edward retorted.
"This isn't a breast milk versus formula issue, Edward. There's nothing wrong with feeding her from bottled stock until she's more herself."
"She has fangs and she needs to know how to use them," Edward snapped. "The longer it takes to start learning control, the more difficult it will be."
Emmett snorted. "I remember what a exemplary teacher you were in that regard."
"What," Edward said, his voice low and dangerous, "do you mean by that?"
"Oh, drop the indignation act, asshole. You let me kill people, and if you're similarly as blase in this situation, Bella will be under a death sentence."
"The law has changed since you were fledged. Do you think I would break the law in the Queen's own fucking house?"
"I have long since given up on trying to predict what you would or would not do."
Victoria interrupted. "Boys, if you can pause the bickering for a sec, you might notice that your girl has escaped to the front lawn."
Emmett and Edward exchange a look of horror and flung themselves out of their chairs, rushing for the door. In the most Laurel and Hardy moment of Emmett's existence, they got stuck trying to go through the opening at the same time, only resolving the situation with a few moments of struggle and terse cursing. They bolted down the hallway, flinging open the front door.
Bella was on the front lawn, her arms spread wide and spinning as she laughed in unadulterated glee. It had begun to snow and she was twirling in the falling flakes, catching them on her tongue. Emmett was utterly enchanted by the scene. He joined her, trying to catch his own flakes, but always missing, making Bella giggle softly. The sound of it warmed his soul.
Small drifts were forming against clumps of grass. He picked up a small scoop of snow and tossed it at her. It hit her cheek. Her expression was so dumbfounded he had to laugh, but to his deep and profound relief, she began to laugh too and picked up her own wad of snow to hurl in retaliation.
Emmett protected himself by grabbing her into a bear hug from which she didn't try to escape. She was looking up into his face with an expression he couldn't quite decipher. Yearning, sadness, confusion ... She cupped his face as she had done in the parlor. He bent and kissed her.
It was a small, gentle kiss, a soft press of his lips to hers, giving her plenty of time and room to retreat before he did it.
"Em ... Emmett?" Bella said slowly.
Emmett could have leapt with joy. "That's right, sweetheart."
Bella was silent for a long moment. "I -" Her face wrinkled in confusion and frustration.
"It's okay," he told her, smiling down at her. He laid his head on top of hers, cuddling her in his strong embrace.
When he looked up, Edward was gone.
Emmett urged her to come inside with him shortly thereafter. Though he knew that temperatures no longer bothered her, he was slightly uncomfortable at seeing her on the snowy lawn coat-less and with bare feet.
They entered, hand-in-hand. Emmett shut the door behind them. "If the snow sticks around, we'll build a snowman tomorrow night. Sound like fun?"
"Bella, I have something for you," Edward called, beckoning her inside the parlor door. Bella's head swiveled and she sniffed, bolting after him. Blood.
Edward strolled back to stand behind the sofa on which a human woman was seated, one whose neck was freshly bitten. Blood trickled down from the punctures on her neck. The woman had a soft, dreamy look on her face that said she was fully under Edward's thrall and enjoying the situation.
Bella rushed forward but Edward prevented her from pouncing. "Bella, listen to me," he said. "No need to bite. Understand? Don't bite her. Just drink." Bella nodded and sat down next to the woman. She lapped eagerly at the lines of dripping red before latching onto the wounds themselves. "Very good," Edward praised softly. The woman let out a soft, breathy moan.
"Damn you," Emmett said.
Edward paid him no mind. His eyes were bright and hot with lust, focused on Bella watching her mouth and throat as she sucked and swallowed.
Emmett seated himself on the woman's other side. He slowly reached out to slide his hand along Bella's ribs, a caress with a purpose. If things went wrong, he'd already have a grip on her. The scene before him was sensual, the two women moving together, their pleasure electrifying the air. Bella tore her mouth away to gasp for breath she did not need and dove back in, licking up the blood that had spilled as her donor groaned in bliss. Her hands slid down from Bella's shoulders to her hips. She arched under Bella, moving restlessly in arousal.
"That's enough, Bella," Emmett said thickly, hating to be the one who had to tell her to stop. "Bella ..."
"I've got her," Edward said, pulling Bella back against the sofa. Her mouth came away from the woman's neck with a little pop and Bella struggled against his hold for a moment. "Now, now, poppet," he said teasingly, leaning over to swipe his tongue across the wounds and seal them. "If you took any more, you'd hurt her. If you break your toys, you won't have them to play with again in the future."
Emmett leaned over the woman and licked the small drop of blood from the corner of Bella's mouth. Bella reacted to his kiss eagerly, aggressively, the scent of her arousal perfuming the air. Edward gave a small, involuntary groan, and reached out to caress her. Emmett knocked his hand away and scooped Bella up into his arms. "Good night, Edward. And thanks." Emmet gave him a little smirk and strode from the room.
Bella leaned up in his arms, kissing his throat, his face, whatever she could reach. Edward's expression as he watched them go was one of longing and resentment.
Emmett carried her swiftly up the stairs to the room the Queen had assigned to them (there was no way in hell he was going back to the apartment over the garage.) He took a hand from her long enough to turn the knob and then carried her inside, kicking the door shut behind them. He set Bella on her feet and she went up on tiptoe, pulling his face down to where she could reach. She kissed him with raw passion, her fingers twining in her hair. Never breaking from her lips, Emmett led them to the bed, where he sat, making it easier for Bella to reach him. Her lips left his mouth, trailing down to his throat where she sucked at the skin and groaned.
"Go ahead, Bella, bite me," Emmett said. Better she practice on him than a mortal she could seriously injure in her eagerness. "Ah, fuck, bite me ..."
She did, her fangs sinking deep. Emmett pulled her body up against his, standing between his spread knees. She tried to suck while leaving her fangs in place but quickly corrected her beginner's mistake without needing instruction and pulled them out so she could suck at the wounds they'd made. Emmett groaned, arching against her. Holy fuck, it felt so good. So good.
Bella climbed up to straddle his hips, pulling her dress up to her upper thighs. She rocked against him, releasing his throat and throwing her head back in pleasure. She reached between their bodies to rub herself, or him, or both.
"Bella," Emmett whispered. "Are you sure you want this?"
"Emmett," she said, closing her eyes and humming with pleasure.
Emmett pulled her dress over her head and moaned at the sight of her in the lacy, creamy underwear set. Her body, pale while she was mortal, was now an expanse of perfect alabaster, the scars from her teenage surgery gone. Bella did the rest, pulling impatiently at the bits of silk and lace while Emmett eagerly divested himself of clothing, which was a bit more difficult because he did not dislodge her from her perch.
Emmett had always been a gentle lover. His size and clumsiness always made him fearful of hurting his partners, especially if they were human. Now that Bella had vampire strength and toughness, he no longer needed to touch her as though she were made of spun glass and her new appetites gave her a new aggressiveness that he found incredibly arousing. She ground herself down on top of him and he thrust up inside her harder than he'd dared before, feeling her muscles pulse with orgasm that triggered his own. He flipped them over, pushing her down into the coverlet and lifting her legs to rest over his shoulders. And she simply growled, "More!" Half-wild, Emmett hammered into her and pushed her head to the side, sinking his fangs into her throat. She screamed and he was pretty sure he did too.
Near dawn, they finally lay quietly together, limbs tangled, pleasantly exhausted, both of their necks festooned with multiple healing bite marks, and Emmett's back pleasantly stinging from her nails. Bella smoothed back Emmett's hair (it was time for a trim; his curls were showing). "Thou art ... beautiful ... o my love ... as ..." She said it softly, her voice halting and hesitant and fading away as she couldn't remember the last word of the line.
Tears filled Emmett's eyes and a beautiful hope began to bloom within him. "I remember the first time you said that to me. Do you remember it, now, Bella?"
She struggled. "Some."
He kissed her. "The rest will come. Bella, I love you. I love you so much."
She lay her head down on his chest and purred with pleasure.
Icing.
Alice arrived the next evening, like a small hurricane. She was a tiny woman, thin- almost too thin- with frail, bird-like bones. She had an insatiable curiosity about everything and any area she occupied was usually covered a seemingly-chaotic mass of open books, notes in her indecipherable handwriting, written in her favorite pink sparkle ink (though in a pinch, she'd been known to use things such as lipstick on a napkin to take notes when inspiration struck her) and dogeared copies of scientific journals, but she seemed to always know where everything was.
Like many geniuses she was absent-minded in regards to practicalities like eating and paying the bills. Fortunately for her, she had Rose, her friend, confidant and assistant. Rose was a tall, statuesque blond, about as opposite as possible from Alice in both looks and demeanor. Where Alice was bubbling over with enthusiasm and excitement, Rose was calm, cool and collected, a person of few words, but when she spoke, everyone stopped to listen.
The Queen was relieved that Alice had arrived, not only because she wanted her to meet Bella, but because she'd feared for Alice's safety. Everyone knew she worked for the Queen and was intensely loyal. She would have been a boon to the rebels if they had captured her and put that prodigious brain to their own uses.
"Isabella Swan," Alice said, kissing Bella's cheek in greeting. "Is this the face that launched a thousand vampires?" Bella recoiled a bit at the kiss, but once she felt Emmett's reassuring arms around her, she relaxed.
Alice had already questioned Edward exhaustively about the events he witnessed in the hotel room. Despite her studies of the vampire histories, she'd not found a case like Bella's. The whole vampire community, including those in rebellion, were discussing Bella's change. No one had ever known it was possible to "catch" vampirism from a bit of blood seeping into a cut. Beliefs and perceptions had been shaken. There were those who thought Emmett and Edward had violated taboos in giving a mortal a sample of their blood in the first place.
Alice theorized that Bella's memory issues could have perhaps stemmed from way she was changed rather than the trauma she'd endured, but without being able to replicate the change conditions with another human, she couldn't say for certain. "She's getting better," Emmett murmured when Bella was occupied with looking at a sample of vampire blood under a microscope. "I really think she'll be back to normal soon."
Alice smiled. She had always liked Emmett. "I hope so. If you're interested, there is a test I could do to determine which of you was her sire. There are different strains of the virus that makes us what we are. I could possibly determine which strain Bella has."
"He's my sire," Emmett said, nodding toward Edward. "So I assume I'd have the same strain as he does."
"Oh," Alice said. "Well, that won't work then. Let me think on it and I may come up with something."
"It's not important," Edward said. Something in his demeanor had changed since last night. Emmett studied hin, noting the slump of his shoulders and the overall dejection. As for Bella, she seemed to be completely oblivious to his existence as she peeked and peered at Alice's curiosities and equipment.
"It's even possible for both of you to be her sire," Alice went on, oblivious Edward's glumness. "I studied a case of a woman in a tirad relationship who drank from both of her partners when she was changed. She had both strains preset in her blood, but she's the only example that I know of. Usually, one strain wins out, even if there are multiple exposures. I'd still like a sample of Bella's blood, if I may."
"Bella?" Emmett asked.
She nodded. Alice fished a hypodermic out of one of her multitude of bags, and drew blood from Bella's arm.
"Thank you." Alice said, smiling at Bella. She deposited the vial within one of her bags.
Rose had retrieved a pair of scissors, and without word, gestured Bella into a seat and started trimming Bella's hair, evening out the jagged chunks left from Riley's knife. When she was finished, Bella had a cute pageboy cut that curled attractively under her ears.
"Nice!" Alice said. "You should have been a beautician, Rose."
"You look lovely, Bella," Edward offered.
She gave him a brief smile, but it was to Emmett that she looked for approval. "It's lovely," Emmett said and she went to snuggle into his chest.
Edward stood. "If you no longer need information from me, Alice, I shall excuse myself. Emmett, may I speak to you in the hall?"
Emmett kissed Bella and stood. He followed Edward out the door closing it behind them.
"You don't have to flaunt it," Edward said, his tone bitter. "I accept that she's yours, but rubbing it in my face is petty."
"It's not always about you, Edward," Emmett said coldly, using the same words that Edward had said to him, the night of their fight in the apartment. "If I kiss Bella, what makes you think that it's because I'm doing it to taunt you, rather than because of my affection for her?"
"Emmett, I've known you for nearly five hundred years-"
"Stop." Emmett held up his hand. "Make no mistake, Edward. We are not friends. You made that clear that last night in our apartment. I tolerate you solely for Bella's sake." He met Edward's eyes. "If she did not need your protection, I doubt I could restrain myself from killing you."
Edward's face was impassive, but Emmett saw something flash through his eyes.
"Do you think I'm blind, or just stupid?" Emmett demanded. "I know what you have been trying to do since her change. You've been trying to ingratiate yourself, trying to make her look to you as her caretaker. That shit last night with the live donor was dangerous.. She could have gone mad at the sight and smell of fresh blood and killed that woman. You had no way of knowing how she'd react. It was reckless to expose her like that without any preparation. But you weren't thinking of her. You were thinking of yourself like an absentee parent trying to buy their child's affection during visits with all the sweets and video games Mom won't let them have."
Edward said nothing. He was as still as a statue, as silent as the grave.
"But it's not going to work. Bella loves me. She belongs to me, and I belong to her. All your little games won't change that. God, I'd be happier if I never had to lay eyes on you again. A lot happier. But that's not possible right now. I don't want to talk to you unless it regards Bella's safety or well-being. I don't want you around unless it's necessary to protect her. You're a bodyguard, not part of our family."
Edward was silent for a long moment. "So be it," he said.