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Chapter Ten
"Let her go."
The voice, although it was soft, rang through the alley with such severe finality that no man could ignore. The men wheeled toward the source, and even I weakly turned my head to see past my captors the angel who had been waiting for me.
It was Edward but not as I knew him. It was the Edward from my nightmare, although it was impossible to know the color of his eyes. His skin was so pale that he was faintly glowing against the darkness of the alley; he looked so terribly beautiful in the dark, even though his face was twisted with indescribable fury and hate.
The man who stood nearest me scoffed in amusement, "And what if we don't, son? What will you do? Go running off to pout to your daddy?" The laughter faded from his voice as he ordered, "Hugh, Nigel, take care of the kid; I'll take care of the girl."
"No!" The word had ripped its way out of my chest, but it was meant to stop them from hurting Edward, not me. I was abruptly slapped across the face for it, a stinging blow that made my eyes water and my cheek burn.
The two shadows that were Hugh and Nigel had drawn near enough to Edward that they were standing on either side of him. One of them muttered, "Come on, kid, just get out of here. We don't wanna kill you."
Edward just smiled angelically and replied softly, "I'm not going anywhere, gentlemen, not without my sister. Now, let her go, and I won't have to kill you." There was the authority in his voice again, an authority he didn't have when he was younger. This authority made him sound as if he thought he were invincible.
There was a low grumble, and I could sense the shadows on either side of Edward moving. But there were two flashes of white, and the shadows suddenly shrank. I heard a soft crunching and then low thuds as the shadows fell back to the ground. I recoiled from the bodies whose heads were twisted back unnaturally.
"Any other takers?" Edward asked quietly.
With a low murmur of anger, the remaining men surged forward. I screamed Edward's name, fearing they would kill him within seconds. I strained to hear Edward's last breath through the dark, but all I could hear was a low snarling that barely masked the snapping and crunching beneath it.
After a few moments, silence fell on the alley. I sat up shakily to see Edward standing several feet away, surrounded by the motionless forms of the men who'd chased me, holding his head in his hands. My heart throbbed weakly to see him in front of me, and I murmured quietly, "Edward?"
At the sound of his name, Edward looked up at me and moved to my side so quickly that I never even saw him coming. He wrapped one cold arm around me and asked softly, "Did they hurt you?"
I shook my head and cautiously touched his cheek, just as I had in the nightmare that seemed so long ago. It was frozen and sent a cold chill rippling down my arm, but I didn't pull back from him this time. His eyes closed at my touch, and he leaned heavily against my hand.
He was beautiful, far too beautiful to be my brother. If I had been any other girl on the street, I would have loved him instantly for his angel's face, but I loved him for everything behind the face. I loved him because he was my brother, because he was truly my other half, because everything was nothing without him.
But I thought suddenly of the nightmare where his eyes were blood red instead of emerald green, the terror that had flooded through me when I saw the disturbing change. Before tonight, that had been the most terrifying thing I had ever seen in my young life. I wasn't sure if I wanted to know the truth; I sobbed and buried my face against the hard marble of his shoulder.
Almost as if he knew exactly what I was thinking, Edward whispered, "Emily, look at me." I shook my head against his shoulder because I didn't want to look up into a face I had loved, only to find a monster's in its place. Edward pushed me away gently and lifted my chin until our eyes met.
For a flashing instant, I thought I was going to scream. I had been expecting to see the vivid scarlet pupils I had seen in my dream, but his eyes were a different color, certainly not the bright emerald I remembered but another familiar color that made my heart pound in surprise.
Edward's eyes were soft gold, just like Dr. Cullen's had been.
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And his face was the last thing I saw before the dark swept through my mind.