Chapter Eleven
"Well, Mary, I've been working on a song about a flower from my home country, Switzerland. My hope is to one day bury the piece and maybe someone will find it. Maybe it'll even be in a musical. Would you like to hear it?" Mary made a gurgling sound deep in her throat. Edmund took that as a yes.
"Edelweiss, Edelweiss
Ev'ry morning you greet me
Small and white
Clean and bright
You look happy to meet me
Blossem of snow may you bloom and grow
Bloom and grow forever
Edelweiss, Edelweiss
Bless my homeland forever"
Edmund looked down at Mary, only to find that the girl had fallen asleep throughout the duration of his song. He was not offended, because there was an expression of peace on the little girl's face that could only be explained by his singing voice. He laid Mary down in her crib and turned the light out. He paused in the doorway, then left, softly closing the door behind him.
When he got to the bottom of the stairs, he heard soft voices in the living room, so he traveled that way. When he arrived in the doorway, Carlisle smiled and said, "Please sit, Edmund." Carlisle was smiling but Edmund could tell it was forced, like he was trying to soften some bad news. Edmund nodded his head and sat down on the loveseat across the room from Eleazer, next to Garret. They all looked extremely tense, and Garret's eyes burned with fury. Edmund scooted a few inches toward the opposite end of the couch.
"You have to leave." The words came from Kate, sharp and bold and so unlike her. Kate had an awfully sweet disposition. She'd only been against Edmund staying because she supported Garret, and Garret supports Tanya in all things, as most brother's would. They had a special bond since they were blood siblings back when they were mortals. Kate is Garret's mate, and Edmund could see why: they were both silent but strong.
"Why? If you don't mind my asking," Edmund replied coolly, but he already knew why. Carlisle's thoughts were flowing into his mind like a river.
"All the trouble has started since you got here. Get out, and take the trouble with you." The trouble?
"Surely you can't be referring to sweet, innocent, mortal Mary as 'trouble.' And surely you aren't suggesting it's her fault that Tanya went missing. Are you? Because it doesn't—"
"ENOUGH!" Kate's voice cut through the air. Her thoughts were so rushed and angry that he couldn't make anything out. "Enough of your fancy words. I'm sick of you waltzing in here and acting your age! You scared Tanya away, and there's something very strange about that baby. Now, I'm kindly asking you to take her and get as far away from here as possible."
"Oh you're kindly asking me, are you?" Edmund raised his eyebrows at her, and Kate huffed in frustration.
"It's a lot kinder than the other words and phrases I thought of, but for Carlisle's sanity, I won't say them. The door is that way." Kate pointed toward the back door (which happened to be directly behind Edmund) with her middle finger.
"Kate, that rude gesture was uncalled for and hardly necessary—" Carlisle was interrupted mid-sentence.
"You're not my dad! Bug off." She stormed out of the room, and the rest of the coven followed. Carlisle turned to Edmund before he left.
"Stay here for the night. We'll be back after we finish dealing with this." Edmund nodded, and Carlisle ran after the rest of the coven.
But as soon as Carlisle had left the room, Edmund shot out of the house, leaving both joy and sorrows on the warm side of the threshold.
As warm as a threshold can be when the house is full of the Cold Ones.