A/N I am so sorry for the delay in posting. I promise to have another chapter up in the next couple of days!
48
{I need to see you!} The voice hit Edward as he left the small room that used to be Carlisle's study and was now more hospital than office. Bella was in the room with Emily, she, Sam and Sue had virtually kicked Leah out of the room after she had not moved for almost 18 hours of vigil. The injured woman hadn't yet woken from sleep, Carlisle had explained he was keeping her under to allow the facial injuries to start healing before allowing her to wake.
He made his way quietly out of the house and to the front porch just as Charlie pulled up in his truck. The man looked older than he had before, worry lines creased his face and he nodded with his head, {Let's go down by the river,} he thought, Edward tried to read his mind to find out what had disturbed the man so much, but as usual he could only catch bits and pieces. Renée! Whatever it was that he had to tell him it was to do with her.
They reached the river and Charlie stood watching the water flow almost silently (for humans) past the house.
"She's been in touch." He said in a low voice. "or rather, her lawyer has."
"And?" He wasn't used to having to ask people to explain things, it was so much quicker to read their minds and he was frustrated at the slow and inaccurate means of communication that everyone else had to use.
Charlie rubbed a tired hand over his face, "The lawyer says that she will go to trial on Monday." That was strange, Alice had seen Renée getting injured just after lunch on Monday, if she was at the courthouse then the injury wouldn't take place… or would it? Unlike his family he had not had over 50 years to make him depend on Alice's visions. He knew how they worked but also knew that the family viewed her as almost infallible.
His phone beeped, 'I wasn't wrong, I meddled!' He smiled ruefully and put his phone away.
"Well at least that stopped her getting hurt." Edward told the older man, his phone pinged again a couple of times, 'Tell him 5 years.' Edward scanned the rest of the messages and put it away.
"I just don't know how it will go, the charges for stealing money may have resulted in a non-custodial sentence, and attacking me in the line of duty, well, that may have been written off slightly as a difference between ex-spouses, but she bit Steve when she was in the cells as he tried to take her dinner tray one night and she hasn't cooperated with the guards at the Facility either. I just want her out of our lives!"
"Alice says she will get 5 years, minimum." Edward shook his head, disgusted that the woman was so far beyond reason that she had made a custodial sentence necessary by her behaviour, but thankful all the same that she would not get off with a slap on the wrist.
"Jenks, the Lawyer," Edward grinned to himself when he heard the name, "he's the one who got her trial date moved up to next week, he says she has demanded that Bella appear to testify, but he seems to be sure that she won't have to appear, for a man that is supposed to be her lawyer he doesn't seem to be trying very hard to keep her out of the Clallam County Corrections Facility." He turned to look Edward straight in the eye. "Usually if I thought a defendant wasn't being defended properly I would lodge an objection with the court system, but in this case I'm sure that I won't bother… wasn't Jenks the name of the Seattle man that drew up the waiver?"
"Alice, it seems, told Jenks that he had to represent her. It was to stop her getting injured."
"I don't care, son. If the courts find out that there is a connection then they may get her a new lawyer."
"Even if they do, I doubt she will get less than 5 years."
"I don't know. Renée has always believed that the world is there to actually provide her with a living and a good time. Isn't the trial supposed to determine if she acknowledges guilt? Also there is the question of where she will be incarcerated? If she is put into Olympic then there's a chance that she will see Bella when she is on work duty, if Clallam County then at least she will be locked up. She would have been held at Olympic while awaiting trial if she wasn't so well known around here, there is such a prejudice against her in Forks." He sighed and Edward felt sorry for him. No matter what was said, this was the woman that Charlie had loved for most of his adult life. He put a consoling hand on his shoulder and fished his phone out of his pocket again, he showed the Chief the texts Alice had sent.
'Tell him 5 years, minimum. She will have Judge May O'Conner, she will make such a nuisance of herself during the trial that she will get 4 year for the theft, 2 for attacking Charlie, 1 for attacking the deputy and a further 1 for contempt of court, all to run concurrently, unless she misbehaves.' The next said 'She will be sent back to Clallam County, she will be in a separate part of the prison from the woman she antagonised but will apply to be transferred back to Phoenix, on the grounds "it is cold here", she will be denied and will serve the full sentence after antagonising the guards.' then 'There is always a chance that she will make things even worse for herself, but I can't predict just what she will say when she loses her temper, so can't say how the judge will react. I just know that no matter how much I look at her trial and after she ALWAYS makes it worse for herself.'
"How accurate are these visions?" he asked, handing the phone back, Edward could see some of the tension had left his face.
"I can't say for certain, they do depend on a lot of variables, but in general I believe they are quite reliable." Charlie nodded.
"Well, it looks like I have to go to Port Angeles on Monday. I don't know if we should tell Bella, what do you think?" he asked.
"I'll tell her tonight." He turned and could see that Bella was watching the two of them from the window to the office. She tilted her head in enquiry and he nodded to her to let her know he would answer her questions, she smiled at him gently and turned back to the patient.
"How is Emily?" Charlie asked, moving back towards the house.
"Carlisle says she is doing well, he is keeping her sedated and asleep for a day or so, so that her facial muscles start to knit back together, if he lets her wake too soon the damage may be worse."
"Sam?"
"I think he won't be right until she wakes up and forgives him."
"Yeah, it's a tough time for him. He's always been a steady young man but the strain of leading the pack and then this… there's only so much a person can take." Edward wasn't sure that Charlie was still talking about Sam or if he was thinking of Bella or even himself. He had only been young when he had married Renée and setting up a home, becoming a father and starting to work shifts at the police station, it all must have added up.
"You know, my life used to be boring?" Charlie laughed shortly. "The occasional DUI, a loud party or two when the kids graduate, and… if we were really unlucky… a search for missing campers! Then Bella came back, she sure makes life interesting." He smiled and opened the back door to the Cullen house. "Good afternoon folks!" he greeted the people in the room, as well as knowing that everyone else in the house apart from Emily, Sue, and Bella could hear him. Seth was sat on the sofa admiringly watching Emmett play one of his video games, Rose and Jacob could be heard in the garage talking about the cars and how she tampered with them to make them go faster. Carlisle and Esme were in the dining room video conferencing with Jenks and his staff who were hard at work in Seattle (as well as representing Renée) setting up the charity, but they were trying to find ways of wording the grants so that the maximum effect could be felt by the tribe.
Edward left Charlie on the sofa, Emmett packed away his game console and turned Fox sports on for the older man, a can of Rainier's suddenly appeared at his elbow making him jump.
"You're all making me lazy!" he took a pull from the can and smiled in thanks to Emmett.
Bella appeared at the top of the stairs and with her head indicated that she wanted to speak with him. He took her hand as he reached her and led her to his old bedroom. They sat on the bed as the couch that used to be in the room was now in their cottage. He gently told her what Charlie and Alice had communicated and wasn't surprised to see her face harden when she heard that Renée had actually tried to make her testify.
"She thinks I will be like I was when I lived with her." Bella spat, "If I had to appear now though, I would tell the truth and she wouldn't like it!" He proudly hugged her, just the thought that she would no longer take such abuse without retaliating made him feel that everything they had gone through since she arrived in Forks was worth it. He remembered her laying in the hospital bed, tears running down her cheeks as she gave up hope and resigned herself to moving back with her mother. If it was to happen now he was sure she would fight with everything she had to stay. His hand smoothed down her back, helping the tension in her muscles to release slightly, she leaned into him, allowing him to comfort her.
"You ok?" he asked when he had told her everything.
"I want you to change me." She said, rather out-of-the-blue to him.
"When?" he asked. Though her blood no longer drew him as it had before he was still rather reluctant to change her under the circumstances. He knew he wanted her to be with him forever, but he felt at that moment that she was reacting to the news of Renée. She hadn't mentioned being changed for some time, not since their honeymoon.
"I want to see Emily awake first, and also wait until after the trial is over, once we are certain she isn't going to call me as a witness, I want to go somewhere safe, alone and you can change me." She told him.
He nodded, relieved. "Where would you like to go?" he asked. "Anywhere in the world, just say and we will go."
"I have no idea. We could go to the island again, or… didn't you say you had spent some time with other family up in Alaska?"
"I thought you hated the cold?" he asked, not sure he should put the burden of a newborn onto the Denali families. One thing he didn't need to worry about anymore was a certain blonde vampire who would never leave him alone in the past, Tanya had accepted that he was mated now, and had sounded very happy to learn that he had 'settled down with his family' as she put it.
"I do, but I thought it may be better to have some of the family around, you never know, with my luck I will be the most out-of-control newborn ever known, and you may need to watch me every minute so I don't sneak off to eat a town or small city." She laughed rather sadly.
"You will be magnificent, Bella, and I already watch you every minute." He looked her up and down suggestively and she blushed. "That is about the only thing I will miss when you change," he said running his fingers over her red face, "you look so beautiful when you blush like that for me."
She made a derogatory noise, he tilted her chin up with one finger and waited until she actually met his eye rather than looking away, before he spoke. "You are the most beautiful woman in the world, and I don't just say that because you are my mate." She raised a sceptical eyebrow. He held her gaze until she blushed again and smiled slightly. "I love you." He kissed her softly. She gave a low moan and her hands moved to his hair as she kissed him back, he pulled her beneath him on the bed and covered her small body with his own. He pushed his hips into the warmth at the top of her legs, his sense of smell telling him that she was getting just as worked up as he was.
A cough sounded from the doorway and Edward jumped to his feet, he laughed slightly as he realised that he still had Bella in his arms. "oh!" she grabbed him as the sudden movement made her dizzy for a second.
"I…" Charlie was stood in the hall just outside the bedroom.
"Dad!" Edward grinned as he saw matching blushes on both their faces, glad that his own face couldn't show one. He hadn't heard Charlie coming upstairs at all, he had been so 'occupied' with Bella and his father-in-law's mind was, as always, almost totally silent. He again wondered whether the silence of Bella's mind was hereditary, after all Renée's mind had been clear as a bell.
"I was going to tell you that Carlisle has decided that Emily should be allowed to wake tonight after all, he said something about her wolf genes causing her to heal quicker or something." Edward noticed that Charlie seemed unable to lift his gaze from his boots and smiled slightly. For such a mature man (in human terms) he did not cope well with the thought of his daughter's intimacy with her husband.
"When will she wake?" Bella asked, looking at him and not her father, he quickly scanned for Carlisle's mind.
"Within a couple of hours, Jake has gone in Emmett's jeep to pick Harry up and bring him back for when she wakes." He informed her.
Bella shrugged out of his arms and walked to the bathroom. "I'll just have a quick shower then and go sit with her until she wakes." He could tell that she still blamed herself for the injuries the girl sustained, no matter how much everyone told her it wasn't her fault. He was tempted to follow her into the bathroom, but Charlie was still at their bedroom door, so he left the room and they both went downstairs to await Charlie's friend and the injured girl's return to consciousness. He hoped she was as steady a personality as everyone thought, if she went into hysterics when she realised the damage to her face, the movements could cause the wounds to reopen and make any reconstructive surgery impossible.
Bella walked out of the room, tears streaming down her face. She had half expected Emily to blame her for her injury, but the sweet girl had immediately asked if she was ok, and when she gaped at her in shock, she had told Bella that it was a risk that every imprint knew about. She accepted the damage rather stoically, stating that she knew Sam loved her, and would for the rest of her life, no matter what she looked like. The pure love in Sam's eyes as he beheld her showed the truth of that statement. To him, it was obvious, she was just as beautiful as she had always been.
Edward was waiting outside the room on the landing and she threw herself into his cold hard embrace, wanting comfort, but also knowing that she too had a love that transcended all normal human experience.
"Let's go home?" he swung her into his arms when she nodded her agreement, and before she could even draw her next breath they were outside and getting into his car. Though she still felt guilty about what happened to Emily, she did realise that some things were just accident and the blame could be laid at many doors, not just hers.
"Have they found any trace of the nomad?" she asked as he pulled off of the highway onto their drive.
"Not yet." She heard a creak and realised that he was gripping the steering wheel so hard he was straining the metal. "Hopefully he will have been chased away permanently by the pack. If they catch scent of him, or of anyone else, they promised to get in touch with us and let us know."
Bella nodded, she had seen the UPS van that morning deliver to the Cullen house a rather bulky package that contained 20 mobile phones, They had given one to each of the 10 pack members, one for each of the Tribal Elders, and kept the rest in case any of the wolves needed a spare. Jasper and Emmett had quickly filled in the contact lists and explained how they all worked, they were rather basic models, only able to take and send texts, phonecalls and pictures, but they were small rugged models that would stand some punishment. The Cullens had also arranged for cell towers to be erected over the whole area to stop blackspots in the signal interfering with communication.
The small cottage came into view and Bella felt herself relax at last. The last days had been terrifying, she was glad to be home again with her husband alone, as he pulled in front of the door and got out to open hers she had a wicked thought. He stood by the open car door, she leaned out and kissed his groin, a low moan came from him as she looked up at him.
"Inside, NOW!" he picked her up and as soon as the front door was closed behind them he again leapt straight into the bedroom, as he had one time before, landing within inches of the bed.
She giggled as he stripped them both naked in seconds, not caring if he tore his own clothes, but careful with hers. He laid her on the bed, and his lips attacked hers. She could feel him quivering with repressed excitement, and wished that he could, for once, let go. But she knew that she would never survive it as things were. Another good reason for her to change as soon as she could.
His lips left hers and travelled down to her breasts, his cold lips captured one hard peak and he laved her with his tongue, bringing the well known tingle between her legs almost to the point of orgasm.
"Let me…" his cool breath washed over her stomach as he moved further down, she jumped as his tongue touched her hot wet center.
"Oh yes!" she couldn't help saying as his fingers and tongue moved rapidly, she had been very embarrassed when he had done this to her before, but no matter how embarrassed, she knew she wanted it again. The tension built in her quicker this way, she wouldn't make him wait too long before he could enter her. Her whole body tightened as the pressure and electricity of their actions built and she let go and allowed her body to take over and do what was natural. The swirling haze settled as her husband, her love, her Edward, joined her. His cold hard body lay over and inside her as he moved in and out, pushing both of them towards orgasm again.
His face was screwed up in concentration as he tried to rein in his power at the same time as he tried to allow release. She smoothed her hand over his cheek and he opened his eyes, black as night, to her. She could see the beast within in those eyes, as he finally let go of her and gripped the solid iron of the bed head and pushing into her faster. A growl sounded and she raked her nails over that spot at the back of his head, loving the fact that at these moment he hid nothing from her. He was everything all at the same time. Man, vampire, lover, mate. All joined in this one act. The black iron protested as he gripped harder, at least the bed frame and head and foot were solid iron, not weak tubes like the steering wheel.
"Bella," she saw him turn and bite his own arm, as the feeling overwhelmed him. She was shocked for a second before she realised that it was probably the only way he could keep from biting her. On honeymoon he had bitten the pillows, but she knew that the action had almost cost her her life. The warm blood at her neck had been a temptation he had almost not resisted.
As he came she felt him shudder, his teeth dug deeper into his arm, distracting her and stopping her from joining him in the blissful oblivion that she had expected. The power of the mating bond still tried to push her forward, over the edge, but she resisted.
"Are you OK?" his cold fingers smoothed over her cheek.
"I should be asking you that." She insisted, touching the place where his bite mark, even now was fading.
"Soon love," he almost flopped onto the bed at the side of her.
"I'm sorry." She caressed the skin of his arm and giggled as she saw his reaction. "Don't you ever get enough?" she asked, skimming her fingertips down his body to his now almost full mast.
"Of you? Never!" he grinned at her and rolled onto her body again. This time as he reached the end, she joined him.
"I can go on my own!" Bella insisted. She had been waiting for Sue to let her know how Emily was, and when the call came she had decided to go visit. Even with the pack and the Cullens now being on almost friendly terms Carlisle still insisted that none of them go onto the reservation lands.
"I called Jacob, he is patrolling just north of here, I can hear his thoughts even now." Edward was stood by the open truck door, pleading with her.
"They said there is no sign of the nomad!" she argued again.
"Please?" she sighed. She wasn't going to win this one, she knew. She nodded and seconds later Jacob walked around from the back of the cottage, his shorts the only item of clothing he had on. Bella shuddered, it hadn't stopped raining since the evening before and the temperature wasn't very high.
"Aren't you cold?" she asked.
"Toasty 108 degrees here!" he grinned, she couldn't help grinning back at him. He had always been such a happy person. Even after his mother died and the twins both moved out, leaving him to cope with his disabled father on his own, he had never seemed to let it get him down. "You need an escort?" he asked, bowing. She sighed and looked at Edward.
"Looks like it." She said. "Mr. Fussy here won't let me go without company." She smiled at him so he wouldn't take offence at her words. Edward just rolled his eyes at her and let go of the driver's door at last as Jacob climbed into the passenger side.
"I think I've said this before… Sucks to be you doesn't it?" Jacob said, this time it was she who rolled her eyes at him.
"I think I'm capable of driving 15 miles on my own!" she said.
"Let the… man look after you, after all you don't have a great track record of avoiding danger, do you?" she cursed internally as she felt the blush flood her cheeks with heat. He didn't have to be so blunt about it! She glared at him and he grinned back, his face so open and friendly that she couldn't do anything but laugh with him.
"Ok, ok. I get it, I need a bodyguard!" She started up the engine of the truck and Edward stepped back. "What will you be doing?" she had to shout over the engine just to hear herself.
"Going hunting with Emmett and Mom." He told her, she nodded. Alice had sent everyone a text that there was going to be bright sunshine in the late afternoon so the 'children' weren't attending school. The Cullens had also decided not to go anywhere alone. Rose was doing some "work experience" at the hospital with Carlisle and Jasper and Alice hadn't yet returned. If any of them met the nomad they would have more than an even chance of coming out the victors.
She drove to the small village and was about to pull up outside one of the few brick buildings on the site, when Jacob pointed ahead.
"I thought she would be at the clinic?" Bella said.
"No, the staff don't know about us, and Emily was in there last week for a check-up, it will be obvious that the wounds are too well healed for the amount of time passed, we had to take her to her Aunt and Uncle's house. Sam wanted her to go home, but with the nomad in the area… maybe…" he said when she started at that bit of information, "we all decided it would be safer for her to be with Sue and Harry rather than at home."
"Where to?" she waved at the open road in front of them.
"Straight on and turn right just before we get to the car park you parked in before." She obeyed his direction and turned deeper into the village. The houses on each side of the street looked like Jake's. Even the ones with visibly house-proud owners were in less than ideal condition. Several had the small windows boarded up and a couple had holes in the roof big enough to climb through. To say she was shocked would be an understatement. The Cullen's just HAD to get the charity up and running, it was appalling that in that day and age, in one of the richest countries in the world, that the native population was living just one step above homeless.
"Just here." She pulled up in front of another small building, one she would not have thought was suitable for more than a couple living in, but she knew that usually there were 4 people living there, and for most of the past year, 5.
Jacob got out of the truck and went to the house, he walked in without pausing to knock. Bella wasn't really surprised, the pack were a close knit group and with what she had learnt over the last weeks she knew that all the 'boys' counted each others' families as their own.
"Jake! Hi!" Seth bounced into the tiny living room, a huge plate of sandwiches in his hands.
"Excellent!" Jacob dived on the food as if he hadn't eaten in months.
"Hey! That's my lunch." Seth quickly moved away with the plate. "I'm on patrol later," he grinned. Bella looked at the boy. Though he had started growing over the last 2 days, as the shapeshifters all seemed to, it was still obvious that he was a boy, and not yet a man. Jacob, Sam, Jared and the rest all now looked to be in their early to mid twenties.
"Is that Bella?" Sam's voice came down the dark narrow passageway from the bedrooms at the rear of the property.
"How did you know?" she asked.
"I could smell the Cullen's and I know they won't come until the council says they are allowed to." Sam came out into the living room. Bella felt dwarfed. The room with just the three wolves and herself was crowded, the males taking up so much space. At 5'4" she had never felt particularly small, but compared to the 6'7" of Jacob and Sam and even the smaller 6' of Seth she felt tiny. {Poor Alice,} she thought, {Jasper is well over 6' and Emmett even more, almost the same size as Jacob. She must feel even worse.}
"How is Emily?" Sam smiled, it was amazing how much younger he looked now than just 48 hours before.
"She's fine." He said, the relief in his voice clear to all who heard. "She asked if you were coming but I didn't know if the Cullens would want you out of their sight until we caught that leech."
"Gotta go!" Seth took off his shoes, shirt and picked up the waterproof plastic bag with his mobile phone in and moved to the door. "I'll just change outside." He blushed, Bella was puzzled for a second, knowing that he wouldn't want to change in the cramped quarters of his home. Then she realised that he wasn't talking of changing as much as taking his shorts off.
"I… I'll go see Emily." She moved to the passageway while the boys all sniggered behind her.
"In here Bella!" She walked into the tiny back bedroom. Like Jake's house the room was hardly big enough for the single bed that was in it. Hammocks were strung across the far end of the room full of clothes.
Emily was sat up in the bed, the scars on her face were red and healthy looking. Bella had great experience with cuts and she would have sworn that the damage was at least a couple of weeks old.
"You look good." Bella said, sitting gingerly on the bed near Emily's feet.
"Actually, I have to say I'm enjoying the rest." Emily grinned and then winced slightly as the tissues around the scars pulled tight.
"I'm sorry." Bella blurted out. Emily held up her hand to stop her.
"NOT your fault, how many times do we have to tell you? Anyway it will all be fine." She smiled slightly. "I admit though, I wish I had gone home, but the house is closer to the forest and the boys don't think it will be safe, most of the patrols are sticking quite close to the village, only one or two of the boys are travelling further out at a time." She looked out of the small window to the house across the way and beyond to the tree line. "I have to admit that, even though I had been told about the Cullen's it was a massive shock to see red eyes through the window. I suppose we had got a bit complacent having so many 'friendly' vampires around."
"Evidently I smell good to them." Bella said, trying not to sound like she was apologising again.
"That isn't really surprising." Emily said and continued when Bella raised her eyebrow. "You smell really good to us as well, or rather you do unless you have been near your in-laws, good job we don't eat people too." Bella laughed. "What about Leah!"
"It was a bit of a shock." Bella said, "especially when no one knew who she was when she first appeared."
"She was my closest friend when we were growing up, before my mother took us to live with my father's tribe. I felt terrible about what happened with Sam, but you just cannot…" she waved her hand and Bella nodded, she knew. It was almost impossible to resist the pull of something so strong.
A soft knock sounded on the door and Sam entered with a tray. "Tea?" he asked and looked straight at Emily, hardly noticing Bella was in the room. She smiled at him anyway and took the tray and placed it on the bed where Emily could reach.
"You have to go patrolling?" Emily asked.
"No, Jake said I can be excused until you are better."
"Go." She told him. "I'll be fine with Bella, Uncle Harry will be back soon and Aunt Sue will be home before tea time."
"You sure?" he looked conflicted.
"I'll look after her, Sam." Bella promised, he at last looked at her and grinned.
"Yeah, but who will look after you?" he asked. Bella blushed red again and almost was hit by the pillow Emily threw at him.
"Go. Leave us alone, we are going to have a bit of girl time." Bella almost groaned, but then, she realised, Emily wasn't the kind of girl to spend hours pampering herself. "We thought we would compare notes." She grinned wickedly and put her hand on her face to relieve the pain the movement bought her.
"Notes?" Sam asked.
"Well we both have supernatural lovers!" Sam blushed madly and was out of the door in a split second. Bella looked at Emily, her mouth wide open in shock.
"You don't expect me to tell you…" she gasped. Emily giggled and shook her head.
"No, but it got rid of him." She said, both girls laughed.
Emily tired in the early afternoon. Harry was sleeping on the couch as she tiptoed out of the bedroom. There was no sign of anyone else in the small house.
She got into the truck and briefly considered calling Edward to let him know that she was heading home, but she knew if she did that he would tell her to wait until she had an escort. She couldn't see the problem. The wolves were patrolling, the other vampire would be mad to return to the area with so many after his… blood? Venom?
She threw her small backpack onto the passenger seat and started the engine. She headed towards the Pacific, but the day wasn't exactly warm so she didn't stop and go for a walk. As she pulled up to the only proper junction on her journey she heard her phone, she braked hard and the bag slipped onto the floor. "Shit." She tried to reach her bag but the seatbelt held her into her seat and she couldn't reach. She was just about to take it off when the sound of a horn behind her made her jump. She looked in the rear-view and then at the junction. It was clear. She pulled out, and looked at the narrow road she had just turned on, trying to figure out where the safest place to pull over was, but the impatient car behind her was almost touching her bumper and the road was too narrow to allow him to pass at this point with oncoming traffic.
The phone stopped ringing and she sighed, well whoever it was probably left a message on her voicemail. She would look when she got home.
The car behind her turned off when she passed the medical center and she continued on her way, the road deserted in both directions.
She left the reservation lands and came to the bend in the road, she hated this bend, it seemed to go on forever, and without power steering it took almost all her concentration and strength to keep the steering wheel pulled to the right to go around. It was only here that she wished she hadn't been so stubborn and had allowed Edward to buy her that new car when he first wanted to. She lifted a hand briefly from the steering wheel to give the dashboard a pat, as if asking forgiveness for her brief betrayal. The trees seemed to loom menacingly close to the road, but she knew that in half a mile the mature trees would give way to the newer plantation and the light would be better. Just as she turned the last bit of corner, ready to straighten up the wheel, someone stepped out into the road and she braked hard.
The rear of the vehicle slewed around as she fought to control the heavy weight, a glimpse of pale skin and almost glowing red eyes flashed in front of her just before she totally lost control and the vehicle spun off the road.