Disclaimer: i do not own Twilight. i never will. i'm perfectly content not owning it! this week's cupcake is cinnamon crumble muffins with a vanilla drizzle icing and sliced walnuts. it's amazing.
chapter fifteen
"We never know where we go when we are going,
We jest and shut the door;
Fate - following behind us -bolts it,
And we accost no more"
~ Emily Dickinson
Edward
"We were there less than five minuets," I tell Jasper and Emmett as I huff through a round of lower cuts to the punching bag. They'd demanded answers as soon as I walked into the Arena this morning and, unfortunately, I didn't have many.
I had no idea why we were being sent on the quest - it was an ancient tradition if a prospect was powerful enough to be considered as an heir and hadn't been enforced since the middle century. Then again, having as many possible heirs at one time was rare too, especially since six of seven of us were formidably gifted.
I wasn't sure if Isabella understood exactly how rare she was. Heirs came along every other century or so and most of them were too weak to even be remotely considered as a permanent candidate. The Gods had been in a mild panic since Isabella had shown up because of all of the new powers that were developing right underneath their noses - they feared that their time to rule was coming to an end. It was Zeus' nightmare come true - a child of his becoming strong enough to throw him off his throne.
I was that child. And, as I belatedly realized last night, Isabella was they key to my coming into Zeus' power. Because our gifts complimented each other, we were suddenly the biggest threat to Zeus. And my already distant father wasn't taking it too well hence his rather harsh behavior towards Isabella which did nothing but make me struggle with my anger issues.
"And now they're sending you out to-"
"To get killed!" Emmett cuts in, looking between Jasper and I with a serious expression on his normally relaxed face. I stop my assault on the punching bag as I consider his words. It was entirely likely, with Zeus' pull on the Council, that the quest we were being sent on was designed to get rid of us.
I vowed, in that instant, to do anything within my power to prevent that.
"You don't think they would really plan something like that, do you?" I hear Jasper ask Emmett but his voice isn't as uncertain as his question is.
"I think it's possible."
"What would the motivation be?"
I scoff, taking a frustrated swing at the punching bag. "I've told you about Bella's power. That's motivation enough." I grit my teeth as I speak, enraged that they see her as nothing more than a threat.
She's not. She hates her gift, hates needing it to live and hates that people fear her because of it. The reality of the situation weighed on my shoulders; this quest had the power to completely destroy her or both of us. The warning from the Fates rang in my head - "Don't get distracted." Now, more than ever, I took their warning to heart.
Jasper and Emmett watched me take my anger out on the equipment at the Arena for another hour before they stopped me, redirecting me to the locker rooms to change and gear up for my final match against James. It would be the last opportunity I had to fight him until I got back and I needed to defend my Championship title. Jasper was quick to tape up my hands and feet, studiously going over the new sequences we'd been developing - the best ones weren't practiced as well as I'd like but I had no time to worry about that. None of the sequences had a new skill in them but we hoped that if James had memorized my old sequences, the new ones would throw him off and I would win that much quicker.
Half an hour passed faster after my padded gloves were on and I wore nothing but crisp and shiny black shorts and tape on my feet. I was lightly jumping on my feet when the door of the locker room timidly opened and her face was all I could see, silvery eyes smiling at me.
My mind went back to the night before when she was under me, arching up to me and accepting every single kiss I laid on her. Echoes of the soft sounds she made when my hand finally made contact with her chest assaulted me; I could almost feel a ghost sensation of her silky soft skin under my hand, the supple but firm shape of her breast and the tiny hard pebble of her nipple. I swallow dryly and smile at her, forcing my mind to focus on the fight ahead of me before there was no stopping the tightness in my shorts.
Bella takes small, quick steps to me and I engulf her in my arms, the bond between us humming gratefully. She's so tiny, her head only coming up to my shoulder and her arms wrapped as tightly as she can around the middle of my back; I can hardly feel the squeeze as she hugs me and realize, yet again, how vulnerable she is. Her hands slide to my chest and up to my shoulders, the thin lace lightly scratching my skin. "Hi," she smiles slightly at me, the tops of her cheeks barely pink.
I can't stop the grin that comes over my face before I lean down and lightly touch her lips to mine. "Hi."
The pink in her cheeks intensifies and she looks away from me, seemingly startled to see Jasper leaning against the lockers. My chest warms with the knowledge that she didn't even notice him until now.
Her wide silver eyes look back at me. "Aren't you nervous?"
"No. James isn't a challenge."
She nods but doesn't look convinced. I try to distract her, asking if she'll be staying to watch and she answers with an enthusiastic affirmation. A slight twinge of nerves overcome me then as I hadn't exactly fought in front of her - in the fight that would get me into the Championships, no less - since I'd first kissed her. It was completely ridiculous, but I was worried of what she might think of the man who had kissed her and touched her using those same hands to harm another person for sport. It didn't make any sense - I hadn't hidden my fighting from her so it wouldn't be something new for her to see but I couldn't shake the anxiety that had hit me.
"You'll do great," she tells me, leaning up to lightly kiss my cheek and then she was gone, off to sit somewhere in the Arena to watch me.
From my side, Jasper laughs loudly. "Well, Champ, I'd say you just realized that she'd be watching you."
"Shut the fuck up."
The match starts like the others, with the sharp bell and a round of applause and onlookers' eyes watching our every move. But something has changed in James; he'd always been sinister but there's a coldness in his eyes that had never been there before. I win the first match when a roundhouse hits the side of his head but I know that I would have never gotten that hit if he hadn't been looking at someone in the audience.
My eyes rove for who it might be but I don't see anyone in the direction he was looking that would have distracted him. I take Jasper' offered water and wipe my face of the small amount of sweat that had accumulated, listening to his suggestions and seeking out Bella's face through the crowd. Her eyes are anxious as she stares up at me and through the bond, I can sense her worry over me; I guess since she'd experienced many unpleasant moments in this very ring, her reaction was expected. I wonder how I can convince her that this - fighting, the Arena - is what I love to do.
The second round is surprising to me; normally James would come back aggressively after being beaten but he seems to be conserving his energy. Noticing this, I immediately forgo Jasper's plans and follow his lead, wasting time on the ring dancing in a wide circle and searching for who he could have been looking at.
"What are you doing?" Jasper demands when the round is over. He glances at James and his trainer Opius, a son of Hermes, before looking back at me with questions in his eyes.
I lean forward, wary of anyone else hearing me and try to block out the bout of suspicion that had begun to plague me so Bella doesn't sense it. "I think he has a plan. A new trick or something. Notice the way that he's breathing? He's almost…meditating."
Awareness dawns on Jasper's face and he nods, breaking out into a new strategy. It wouldn't be good for Bella's sake if I was injured badly before going on the quest and he is mindful of that as he briefly runs over the details of his plan. I'm typically an offensive fighter and battling on the defensive edge made me frustrated - part of the reason for my Arena training and experience was to give me an outlet that wouldn't frustrate me and yet, here I was, fighting opposite to my nature.
Back in the center of the ring, James and I face off again and the familiar feral glint in his eye is back along with a strange subtle golden red glow around his wrists. My brow furrows as I study the glow, knowing that using a gift in an Arena match is strictly forbidden.
Surely he wouldn't try to use his gift.
James charges strongly, attempting to take out my left leg so my balance is thrown off. I roll on the floor to the side, narrowly missing the heat of his gloved hand; I can feel the fiery warmth and know that James will, indeed, try to use his gift in this match. Again and again I roll, escaping each of his hits and noticing that his face is taking on an dangerous edge, his frustration mounting over his awareness, the mortal part of him giving over to the part of Ares inside of him.
Before I can truly notice it, James's hands flame up into bright orange embers, his gloves disintegrated completely and his fighting techniques giving over to the nature of a wild beast - he charges none stop, his hands burning the rubber mat of the ring beneath my feet.
Several sharp rings echo through the screaming Arena, an official trying vainly to bring order to the sudden chaos. James is still trying to get to me, both of us in the ring with me blocking the view of Bella because I know that she hasn't moved though Jasper and Emmett are still attempting to get her out of danger.
I only have one option because James has obviously gone mad. I - faster than I ever have before - draw the ions in the air towards myself, feeling the charge of electricity as the hair stands up on the back of my neck. Nothing is more important than protecting Bella in this moment and it's that thought that drives me to gather more and more ions from the hanging lights, causing them to flicker uncontrollably. My body is burning with the need to re-channel the ions to another source but I hold them in, drawing more until it hurts. Only seconds have passed since James's last attack and he is coming for me again; things seem to be moving in slow motion for me. I raise my left hand, the tips of my fingers white-silver, and hold my open palm in James's direction, releasing every single atom of electricity in one stream of energy that looks something like lightening.
The bolt hits James dead center in his chest and I watch with fascination as the fire in his hands burns out and his body begins to seize as only mortals and half-mortals can. Had he been a full God, the shot would have barely made an impact; possibly only affected him long enough for me to counter attack and knock him out. I wasn't sure how strong it was as I had never used it before but James's limbs continue jerking, his head lolling to the right and his eyes rolling into the back of his head.
The people around me stop, frozen in some kind of awed horror as the threat becomes me, their eyes looking between my still outstretched hand and James's flailing body.
My own eyes are searching out the one face that would distract me from my burning hand and the rivets of pain that are flooding my spine; I, too, feel like I had been shocked.
"Edward!"
Bella breaks away from Jasper and Emmett and is wrapping her thin arms around my torso before I can blink. Her pretty face looks up at me with a mixture of worry and shock, her eyes zeroing in on the middle of my face. Shakily, her hand reaches up and wipes under my nose; I can see the stain of my blood on her lace-covered fingertip, the red seeping onto her skin through the holes in the lace.
"Are you okay?"
She frowns at me. "You're bleeding," she tells me unnecessarily as I jolt of lightheadedness consumes me and I lean into her for support. Around us, people are finally in motion, Andre leading a medical team past us and into the ring. James appears to be alive if not unconscious.
Things past quickly after that; Bella guides me to the locker rooms and dressed my left hand in a sterile wrap, her hands fluttering over my body and the bond bright with concern and a foreign feeling. Andre clears everyone out of the Arena and, as I have become too heavy for Bella to support, gets me into the waiting car near the back entrance. I'm not sure if my eyes are deceiving me, but I am almost positive I see a face similar to Isabella's in the distance, watching us with barely contained hatred. The door closes and my head is on Bella's lap, her gloved fingers gently pulling through my hair and lulling me into a dreamless sleep.
When I wake, I know I am in my own room and that it is dark, either late in the night or early in the day. My chest is covered with a light weight that I know, instinctively, is my Bella's head, her arms holding onto me tightly even in her sleep.
My mind runs over the events of the day, the crystal clear segments of the fight and the rush of pure power I felt when I released the bolt - a bolt that was similar to Zeus' own weapon of choice. I'd never tried anything like that and, at the time, I barely had to think about it before it was already formed inside my being; it seemed natural for me, that attack. I supposed since it was a new development that, with time and practice, it wouldn't harm me or take the energy from my body. My nose had bled and that I'm sure was a direct result of holding the ions inside of me for too long - the bleeding was probably because of a broken capillary.
My left hand feels tight from the wrapping around it and, slowly as to not wake Bella, I take the wrapping off, using the moonlight to examine my palm. In the center there is a series of jagged black marks, thick around the center and thinning out the farther the lines reached away from my palm. The jagged and crooked lines weaved in delicate, thin patterns over the back of my hand and around my fingers before meeting back in the center, the lines thick again. My hand was no longer tender or painful - rather, it felt good. My entire body felt good.
In her sleep, Bella's head burrows into my chest, her lips brushing across the skin of my collarbone.
Instantly, I become aware of every single inch of us that is touching and I am so thankful that Bella's gift seems to only stem from her hands - I wasn't sure how I would handle not being able to touch her at all.
Flashes of last night break across my eyes and my body responds, becoming hard and ready. Before I can stop myself, my lips brush across Bella's pouting pink mouth, across her cheek and lingering near her ear.
She'd been sleeping light as she sits up, awake and hurriedly looking me over for any new injuries. Her eyes pass over the area below my hips twice before she realizes what exactly she'd been examining; her face flames up and she makes eye contact with me, embarrassed and excited.
"Are you okay?"
I clear my throat and answer, my voice husky as my gaze finds the inches of creamy skin where her shirt had ridden up. "More than okay. Never felt better."
She'd told me last night that we weren't moving too fast and while I didn't think either of us were ready for that, I knew our bodies were aching for more than last night's teasing.
We lean together at the same time, Bella forcing me onto my back with her body over mine, her hip just barely grazing my own. My tongue traces her bottom lip, begging for entrance and both my taste buds and the bond explode; her sweet taste rich on my tongue and our bond blazing white with pulsing energy. Her hands trace the space between my gym shorts and my t-shirt, her fingers patting a distracting pattern just below my belly button before her hand slides up the center of my chest, pulling my shirt along with it.
I sit up and yank the shirt over my head and pull hers off, loving that she was completely bare beneath what I now realize was a shirt that was borrowed from my drawer. My hands reach for her hips and I pull her to sit over my erection, her legs on either side of my hips. Bella freezes for a moment with her warmth completely covering me, addictive; she lets out a soft moan, her wool-covered hands clutching at my neck and reaching up into my hair, drawing my lips back to hers.
We enter a frenzied series of open-mouthed kisses and heavy breathing and Bella's breathy moans as my hips twist and thrust automatically up into hers. My hand covers the entire span of the small of her back as I press our chests close together, my left hand grazing the side of her breasts and our tongues battling for dominance.
Bella pulls away, her neck arching back; my lips attach themselves to the sweet skin, sucking hard on the small spot where her neck meets her shoulder. In response, her hips grind down onto me and I let out a groan, closing my eyes as pleasure washes over me.
She grinds again, my hips bucking up and another pattern emerges; grind, buck, moan, kiss. The pattern grows faster until her grinds morph into hard slides and my bucking merges with my hands directing the pace of her hips.
Bella's lips are swollen, her eyes hooded and nearly completely silver as she watches me take one of her perfect coral nipples into my mouth; her back arches and her hips swivel atop mine, her mouth falling open with a gasp as her orgasm crashes over her. Just the sight of her flush traveling to the tops of her breasts is enough to push me over my own edge, my cock twitching beneath my shorts and my hips thrusting up to her, seeking her wet heat and prolonging her pleasure.
I hold her down onto my hips as my breathing slows, her body limp and relaxed on top of mine, her legs slowly straightening out. I know that I should get up and clean up the mess in my boxers but I feel perfectly content resting with Bella over me. I'd never participated in anything like this with another person and for that, I'm glad - nothing could ever compare to experiencing this with Bella.
A/N: i hope this entire chapter answered some of the questions everyone's been asking - now we all know why Zeus is a jerk and the purpose of heirs and all that other jazz. quick explanation for the newly developed tattoo on Edward's left hand - similar to Bella's own tattoo, his emerged as a direct result to the lightening bolt power he now has.
as always, clapping hands for my beta/pre-reader IvySnow!
shout out to the first review for the last chapter - LittleMissDreamer7, you've been there since the very first chapter and i am always so elated to read your reviews. i'm begging you, please don't leave me! lol
be brutally honest. i can take it.
~cupcakeriot