Disclaimer: Not mine.

A/N: And finally perhaps, the title will make sense. ;) Things are taking a decided turn for the worse here but I suppose/hope that means things get all the more exciting.

Hope you enjoy it! Thank you so much for your kind words and messages!

Let me know what you think!

-S


Miss Imprint

Chapter 26: Mis-Imprint

Even from here I could see the way the long corded muscles in his arm tensed, hard, almost inflated as if they were about to burst.

"I knew it." He whispered, and his were narrowed furiously. "I fucking knew it."

"Knew what?" I kept the panic out of my voice as I walked forward, my toes curling at the cold pavement.

"She told you." Seth accused.

"She didn't tell me anything! I promise-"

He just shook his head. "Cassie if she made you break up with me because-" His face was growing paler and I could see his fingers clenched tightly to ease some of the tension. "Fuck—Cassie…"

"She didn't, Seth, she's just been a really good friend."

Something flashed across his face, akin to disappointment. "So you really-"

"And it wasn't Marcus's fault, either." I cut in, diverting his attention. I needed to move on and this accomplished two goals. "He was really drunk and it was me. I made him. It was my fault." It felt surreal discussing what had happened between us so trivially. It had felt so heart breaking then. And now.

"I'm sure he tried really hard to turn you down." He scoffed.

I gritted my teeth. He was being annoying now. There was no need to be unpleasant. I took a breath. Had to keep calm. "No one made me do anything, Seth, okay?"

He didn't say anything for a moment and then finally nodded, relaxing but his jaw was still clenched. "Okay."

"Okay." I echoed.

"I think-I need to you know..." He trailed off, flipping his gaze meaningfully to the woods.

"Right." I smiled. "Still won't let me watch you wolf-out?"

He shook his head, grinning. "Not a chance."

And then, I don't know why I asked. But the words were out before I could stop myself. "Has she? Ana, I mean, has she seen you?"

He licked his lips and then I felt his fingers slip through mine, soothing, soft, gentle. "Cassie-" he began, and his voice had that awful sympathetic slant; the kind that came right before he told me something earth shattering.

"Never mind." I interrupted, "I shouldn't have asked. It's none of my business, anyway." I blinked hard, my lashes catching the wetness in my eyes. "You should go, and I've got a party to get to." And with a long exhale I let his fingers slip from mine, missing the incredible warmth as soon as he stepped away.

He hesitated but eventually just nodded. "Have fun, okay?"

"Yeah...of course." I shrugged. "She told me to bring my passport, so I'm not even sure where I'm going but it should be fun."

"What'd you tell your dad?" He asked suddenly his eyes narrowed.

"About Alice?" I shrugged. "He's sort of been busy so...I think he'd just be happy I'm not-" I broke off. I'd been about to say alone. But I didn't want Seth to think it was a jab at him. And I didn't want to ask about what I'd told my dad about us because I hadn't.

Not yet anyway. And in my defense, Dad wasn't home all that often anymore and telling him that Seth, my watchful protector and I broke up would only needlessly complicate his life. Besides, I was fine.

But of course, Seth always asked the questions he wasn't meant to. "Did you tell him about us?"

I didn't want to look at him when I lied this time. I didn't even want to lie. So I didn't. "No, I didn't. But I will tell him, I promise." I shrugged. "I just thought it would be better face to face, you know?"

Seth just stared and I could see him tensing again. His jaw was clenched in the way that used to send ribbons of heat through my stomach. And still did if I was being completely honest. Suddenly, I felt parched.

"What?" I asked, trying to distract myself from pushing Seth back into my house and forcing him to forgive me. You know by pushing him against a wall and letting everything go blurry for a little while.

"How long has it been since you've seen him?" His eyes were buttery soft in this light as he tilted his head just a few inches. I knew that tilt. That tilt was what got him movie nights on nights I wanted to go out and paint. That was the tilt that let him break our date to the dance last year when he decided Melissa Ashcroft was a more promising option. "A few weeks," I admitted finally, "but he's fine, I talked to him yesterday morning."

"So you've just been alone."

Wow, tactless much, Seth? I resisted the urge to smack him upside the head and rolled my eyes.
I couldn't stand that tone in his voice. It made want to throw things; really big things that would crash and bag really loudly when they landed. "You know when you say it like that it sounds really horrible."

He exhaled, his lips quirking. "Sorry that wasn't what I meant."

"It's okay." And then after a beat. "All of it, I mean. I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me, okay? And I will tell him, I know it's not right that I haven't told him but-"

"It's okay, calm down." he interrupted, laughing, "Take your time."

"Thanks." I licked my lips and then checked my watch, it was almost six thirty. "But I will tell him and soon. Now go already, I've still got to pick out shoes."

To my surprise he just nodded, smiling really gently. "She hasn't by the way."

I tilted my head in curiosity, "What?"

"Ana hasn't seen me...wolf out." He mocked gently, winking.

And all I could do was stand there stupefied as I watched him run off, picking up speed as he hit the tree line. I felt a starling warmth in my chest.

It felt oddly like hope.

"You look like someone slapped you across the face." Alice's dainty tone came disdainfully from my left. "I'd appreciate if you didn't make that face all night."

I stuck my tongue out at her.

"Oh yes, much better." She deadpanned before brandishing a shoebox. "I thought a party favor was in order."

"Alice!" I exclaimed, stunned. "Those are—"

"Manolo Blahnik, I know. They. Are. Fabulous." She pealed off the satin ribbon before I could and then before I could blink they were on my feet and felt as fantastic as she described.

Alice herself was draped in delicate lavender with flesh toned Louboutons that shimmered in the setting sun. "I wanted to get you a pair of these," She bent her leg artfully, "but Jazz said that I should leave something for Christmas." She rolled her eyes. "He doesn't understand. But I love him, so I went with those." She pouted then. "I hope you don't mind."

I was tired just listening to her talk so quickly but I nodded hastily as she tipped her head, waiting for me respond. "I will never turn down a new pair of shoes, but I wish I could give you more."

She just smiled. "You are more than I could have asked for."

I smirked. "Aw, shucks, Alice, you're going make me blush."

She just smiled her mysterious little smile and dipped her shoulders down. "How delicious."

And then as she floated to the stretch limousine waiting for us on the drive, I followed distracted, convincing myself that she was kidding.


The shoes were like satin, I realized as I sat down in the private jet, Alice had waiting for us at SeaTac. And they glimmered like they were set with sapphires.

Alice sat down across from me and opened her side console and pulling out a frosted glass of champagne. I sipped the glass, wrinkling my nose at the unexpected carbonation. "Alice, this is cider."

She winked. "I'm many things, Cassandra Kennedy, but a criminal is not one of them."

I snorted. "I don't believe that for a second."

She threw her head back in amusement and from here I could see the flushed blue veins in her neck as prominently as if her skin were see through.

"Is it hard for you to be around me?"

She raised an eyebrow, her mouth frozen in a smile. Her eyes were darker though, graver. "No." She said finally. "I very much enjoy your company."

"You know what I mean."

She raised her nose imperiously. "I'm sure I don't."

I licked my lips and exhaled. She clearly didn't want to talk about it and I couldn't really imagine why I'd brought it up either. Note to self, when alone with someone who might kill you, do not bring it up. "Never mind." I held up the glass. "Don't you want some?"

She shook her head, but her expression was slightly wistful. "It's not my favorite I'm afraid."

"Right."

She nodded and then as of sensing the tension was growing unbearable, leaned forward. "Cassie, I…"

"It's okay," I smiled, "you don't have to explain. Really. We're cool."

"Be that as it may, I feel as if I owe you an explanation." She poured some more cider into my glass before leaning back. "Because of…the way that I must live, I don't often have the opportunity to meet new people. Living forever is far lonelier than you would think."

I wasn't sure exactly what she was saying so I just waited, sipping my drink cautiously.

"The funny thing about being extraordinary is it often makes you crave normalcy all the more. When I'm with you, I can forget if only for a few moments, what I am." She shrugged a single shoulder and for a moment seemed younger than I'd ever known her. "I suppose I don't really know how better to explain it."

I didn't know what to say to all of that. If I was being completely honest, it was a bit too surreal for me to hear. I was still digesting the fact that she was a vampire. And here she was telling me she just wanted to fit in and be like me. "Well, you're welcome to play human with me, anytime."

She nodded. And there was a soft sadness in her eyes that I couldn't quite place. "That's…incredibly kind." She licked her lips and I caught a flash of her impossibly white teeth. "Thank you."

"Please," I winked, leaning back in my seat. "Considering you bought me Manolo Blahniks and are flying me somewhere fabulous in your private jet for your birthday, I think we're even. At least."

"At least." She echoed, watching me from beneath hooded eyelids. Her eyes were warm amber I realized. The same color that Seth's eyes turned when he felt particularly happy. "I've had hundred of birthdays, Cassie—but none spent with a human."

I ignored the heaviness of the sentiment. It was too much pressure. I didn't want to be the reason her fantasies of partying with humans was wrecked. So I resorted to my normal cavalier, reckless attitude about everything. "If I'd known you were that old, I never would've come."

And then before she could retort. "Now hush, Mama needs some shut eye before we party the crap out of your birthday."


"Beautiful, isn't it? Alice asked, extending her hands as she breathed in icy Parisian air, the twinkling golden lights of the Eiffel Tower. "Every decade or so, Jasper and I come here to take in the city and her life."

"He's not here now." I observed before rolling my eyes. Way to go, Captain Obvious.

"No" Alice mused, "he's not." And then with a wink and the light tripping of her fingers down my arm, "I suppose you'll have to do."

We'd touched down in Paris just six hours after we'd left. Somehow the Cullen's managed to wrangle it away one of the last supersonic jets and keep it hidden. I didn't want to ask. I just chucked it all into the vampire-y grey area of things I didn't want to know. Seth was incumbent on my thoughts, especially here on our balcony gazing over Paris. We'd always wanted to backpack across Europe together. I smiled sadly. "Alice?"

"Mmm?"

"What did you mean when you said it would get better?"

She exhaled a long breath, but none of it crystallized. Her system was too cold, too lifeless. "Did you know that Jazz proposed to me once beneath the Eiffel Tower?"

"No." I replied cautiously, a bit jostled by the change in subject.

"He told me that we could go anyway I wanted, out any of the four archways. They were doors to our future, he said, one where the only constant we needed was each other." Her smile was fond, her eyes distant, seeing the past that I couldn't.

"Which one did you pick?"

"I didn't," She looked at me then, grinning. "I told him I wanted to go the top, so that I could have all of it."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Alice, if I'm supposed to get some great meaning of life from that…I think I missed it."

She let out a huff and rolled her eyes. "All of my inspiration is wastedon you."

"Alice."

"Fine, fine." She rubbed her arms, the gesture rhythmic, soothing. She couldn't have been cold, so she must have been nervous. "I haven't been entirely honest with you."

I waited.

"I didn't bring you here for my birthday." She was watching me entirely too carefully. Almost as if she was worried I would make a break for it, which was even more worrying. "Cassie, I…"she faltered, her fingers twisting around themselves. "Oh, I didn't think this would be so hard."

"Alice?" I stepped back slightly. "You're kind of freaking me out right now."

But before she could respond, her eyes went wide and I felt a pinch against my neck. The last thing I saw before the world went dark was the flash of blood red eyes.


I couldn't guess how long it had been when I woke up but from the way the light slanted through the small window near the ceiling of the room I was in, it had to be close to sunset. Which meant at least twelve hours had elapsed since Alice and I had been standing on the balcony.

The room was old, stone, with suspicious manacles hanging from the walls. I realized then the weight on my own wrists, heavy and uncompromising. I was chained.

My heart started beating faster, the beats thudding against the inside of my ear drums. I didn't know how I was going to get out. I didn't know where I was. I just knew that somehow, Alice Cullen was responsible for this.

"It's no use struggling." Alice said quietly from the corner.

I whipped my head around in surprise. She was possibly the last person I expected to see in here. "Alice?"

"Yes, it's me." She replied, dully. "They'll just put you in a straight jacket. If you break them." Alice's arms were draped delicately around her waist as she watched the barred door with unnatural focus.

"Alice, I don't understand. It seemed like you—"

"I did." She agreed, interrupting me. And then she pressed her fingers to her lips, her eyes glittering with a strange wetness. "There are things you don't understand about our world. Dark things, powerful things."

"Alice-"

"Just listen!" She whispered harshly, her voice squeaking as the agitation broke through. "Cassie, even as immortals we do not live unguided. We are under oath to obey our own laws and customs. But the powers that rules over us have been isolated for so long and they have grown hungry, greedy. They are no longer satisfied with only our populace, they want supreme power over the supernatural world."

"The wolves." I gasped, horrified. Seth. "Is Seth in trouble?"

She licked her lips, shrugging. "Not if we can stop them."

"What do we have to do?"

"Cassie, they want to take imprints to command the attention of the wolves." She shrunk then, despondent. Ashamed, I realized, after a moment that this was the work of others like her. "They believe that the imprints are the key to control of the wolves. Because-"

"They would do anything, give anything to keep them safe." I felt myself start to tremble in horror. I'd seen the protectiveness, the obsession with the imprint first hand. Suddenly, I could see Seth before me, the darkness in his eyes as he stared down Marcus, and even me, his body growing as he defended her. He wouldn't even search for an alternative, he would just do.

"Yes, they would." She pursed her lips and then leaned forward. "That is where we come in. Or more importantly you." She paused there meaningfully before scanning her eyes across the darkness, looking, listening.

I wondered if she could see something I could not, if we weren't as alone as I thought.

But she didn't tense up, instead her shoulders were relaxed. We must have been left to our own devices.

"I don't understand what I can do for him, Alice."

"Everything, Cassie." She shook her head, smiling sadly. "Because Seth didn't imprint on you, did he? He imprint on Ana."

"I know, but-"

"Didn't you ever wonder why?" She was desperate, now for me to understand. "Because you are a reason to leave and Ana is a reason to stay in La Push, with the tribe."

"That's it?" I said, flabbergasted. "That was the difference?"

She nodded, her mouth quirking. "Fate is simpler than we think. But Cassie, you wouldn't have stayed at home for him, so he imprinted on another. A mis-imprint." She sighed. " Anyway, the important thing is they don't know. They believe you are the imprint."

"And so they'll try to use me." I finished for her woodenly. She just watched me though, neither affirming nor denying.

It shouldn't have been like this. I should have been furious at him. But maybe that's what love was. It was not the want for protection but the desire to protect.

No matter what. No matter how. No matter when. With no concern for myself. Love it seemed, was not so different from the imprint.

Great. He didn't imprint on me and I still got jilted.

So that was the plan then. I would be the imprint, they would threaten me and use me, rather than Ana to win over the wolves. But I didn't have the same hold over Seth, so he wouldn't be blinded, he would be able to think, to find a way out of it.

Unless that wasn't the point.

And as the answer hit me, I felt myself fall back against the wall, deadened, scared, nervous, unsure. "Alice, he's not going to come, is he?"

And when she looked at me again, her eyes were the saddest I'd ever seen them.

"No," She breathed. "He won't."