"We have to go back, Alice. He's too strong for Carlisle and Esme. Like he was just turned." Jasper and Alice put us down. We were in the garage.
"He wanted us to get them away from here." There was a crash that rattled the walls.
"You just need to hold him down so Edward can…"
"I know, Bella. Carlisle told us. It's trickier than it looks. He has strength enough for two of us."
"But he's not faster than we are. He's a little overconfident in his abilities." Jasper added as he retrieved a set of car keys. Another crash trembled through the garage, closer this time. Jasper hesitated, listening, in front of one of Rosalie's sports cars. Silence followed. "Alice, we need to get back there."
"I'll go. Get Bella and Edward away from here."
"You're not going alone."
"Just go!" Edward took the keys from Jasper. "I'll drive us away from here, just go and help them." A gust of wind.
"I think you should. Carlisle is in a bad way." Declan stepped aside, leaving the doorway clear. He sneered at us, too hungry to fake pleasantries.
"What –"
"No, really. I would go to him. Say your goodbyes." Jasper and Alice shared a look.
"Jazz, go help Carlisle. I'll deal with him." Before Jasper could voice his dissent, Declan fell on him in a flash and grabbed his face with both hands. Alice took his arm and threw him off. "Go to Carlisle. Go!" There was just a blur and only four of us remained in the garage. Declan was standing, brushing dust from his shirt.
"Bella, be reasonable. Edward can do nothing to protect you. Look, he needs his little sister to save him. I can protect you. I can be everything he cannot. He must choose one world or the other, but I can live in both. He does not deserve you. Can you not see that?"
"I don't know why you made this sick little fantasy for yourself. And I don't care. I love Edward. Not you."
"You're not in love with him! You're in love with the Edward that could keep you safe. You, my dear, are a damsel in distress. That is the part you play. Without a guardian, you're just a dead little girl.
"Isn't that what's been bothering you all this time? I can hear your heartbeats, Bella. I know what fear sounds like. When he asked you if you were happy, you said you were afraid. And you always will be afraid as long as you stay with him. Because trouble finds you and you know that he will not be able to handle it." He stopped and cast his dark eyes on the both of us, reading our expressions. "You don't need him. You just need someone who will be your knight in shining armor. And that is me, now.
"Go on, Edward. Stop being selfish. She may make you strong, but it is not strength enough to fight back the darkness. Surely, you know how the story will end if you do not bow out gracefully? You won't be able to leave your coven behind, but living with them will put you in constant danger. And, let's imagine that you forsake the only family you've ever known and live to ripe old ages. What then? The grave will claim you both and you know, Edward, how frightfully mundane that is. So petty. So mortal. Where is the romance in that? Where is the happily ever after? Oh, yes, some hero you are."
"My God, does he always talk this much?"
I was glad Alice broke Declan's spell. Edward and I could only look at each other. We had nothing to say and, though we were holding on to each other, it felt like we were standing on opposite ends of a deep, insurmountable pit as black as his eyes.
Relief was fleeting. Declan hissed and lunged for Alice and the two were locked in combat, blurred by their impossible speed. In only seconds, Alice was pinned to the floor, Declan bearing over here with a sickening grin. Alice's face was blank, her eyes lost in another world.
"I wonder if you will be so insolent when you are just blood and bone again?"
"I wonder if you'll be so smug when the Volturi tear you apart." The grin was gone in an instant and, in his hesitation, Esme flew into the garage and landed a flurry of blows on his head that sounded like an avalanche. She was cold and calm, but her eyes betrayed all. My heart sank.
What had Declan done to Carlisle?
Alice kicked Declan off of her and he shattered the windshield of the silver Volvo. Edward grabbed my wrist and…
"Edward, stay where you are!" Alice shouted. And Edward froze.
"Yes, Edward. Stay! I know a thousand ways to kill you without laying a finger on you!" A blur of speed and Esme and Alice tackled Declan. He fell.
He fell into Edward. Declan's eyes turned lush and green immediately and Edward's became dark. As they both gasped in pain, I let out the breath I had been holding in since Declan had come to the house.
The nightmare was nearly over.