Legends
Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to SM.
Chapter Thirty-The House of Cards
"What?" Bella cried in alarm. "Please tell me Embry is okay!"
The mattress dipped as Jacob sat down on the edge of the bed. The last thing he wanted Bella to do was panic. That's why when the alarm had been raised by the others, he had left quietly without a word. There was enough going on without her suffering a relapse while he wasn't around to keep an eye on her.
"Em is recovering well at the Clearwaters. Sue and Leah are looking after him."
"Oh, thank God!" Bella launched herself into his welcoming arms. She had never felt so relieved in her life, even more so because it could have been Jacob that it happened to. She let her body sag against him, her muscles loosening. He cradled her like a cherished object that might shatter if he didn't handle her right. And this worried Bella. She pulled away slightly to gaze into his worried eyes. "Jake, what's wrong? Is there something you're not telling me?"
"You know me so well." Jacob sighed, placing one hand on the back of her head. "Rosalie was the one who caused Embry's injuries, Bells." He admitted.
Bella's throat went dry, her eyes widening in disbelief. "No." She whispered in anguish. "You mean she deliberately targeted him? I never thought she could be so vindictive."
Jacob ran his fingers through the silky, brunette strands of her hair soothingly. "After speaking to Embry, I actually think it was an accident. She could have just walked away and left him to die…but she didn't. It was her quick thinking that ultimately saved him."
Bella didn't know what to think. She was totally confused. None of it added up or made any kind of sense. "Where is she now?"
"Sam and the others have her cornered. She's making no effort to escape…just seems resigned to her fate. We've sent for Victoria and Alice. We're at a loss what to do here." Jacob looked uncertain, causing him to seem his actual age for once.
Bella wasn't used to Jacob not having an answer for everything. It just showed the mental toll the whole situation was having on everybody. Every minute things kept changing. Just when they thought everything was in place, something like this happened to pull the rug out from under them.
"Let me talk to her." She suggested suddenly.
"Uh no!" Jacob shook his head. "That is so not happening, Bells." A stubborn expression that Jacob knew so well crossed Bella's face. He locked eyes with her as she folded her arms defensively across her chest. "There's no way you're gonna persuade me, Bella. So, you can take that look off of your face." He challenged.
"Jacob Ephraim Black." Bella taunted, using his full name to emphasise her point. "You know better than that. Do you really want to engage in a pointless argument that's only going to end with you taking me to see Rosalie anyway, huh?"
"For fucks sake, Bella!" Jacob exploded. He stood up and the mattress bounced back into place now that his weight was removed, sending Bella sprawling onto her back. She scrambled upright, pouting in annoyance. "I'm trying to look out for you here. Can you please just do as I ask for once, dammit!"
"No." Bella stood her ground. "And I know you're worried. I get it. But you're no Edward, Jake. You have never treated me like a porcelain doll. And you would never stop me doing what I needed to do."
Jacob glared at her. She glared right back.
"Just get dressed." Jacob demanded, giving in. "I just want you to know I am not happy about this."
"I know." Bella's face softened as she slid off the bed and stood on her tiptoes to plant a loving kiss on his cheek.
Sam was not at all happy that Jacob had caved into Bella's demands and brought her to see Rosalie. "What the hell were you thinking?"
Jacob winced at the sound of Sam's raised voice inside his head. He could tell his Alpha was on the verge of ordering him to turn right back around and take Bella back to the safety of La Push. "I'm not happy about this myself, Sam. But its what Bella wants. And we're all here. What can blondie actually do?"
A low growl of annoyance rumbled in Sam's chest. He raised his glittering black eyes to stare up at Bella sitting high on Jacob's back. It seemed the more practise she had, the more adept she had become at wolf-riding. Emily had never expressed a wish to do the same, which Sam was thankful for, it was bad enough being faced with his imprint's scars on a daily basis. He would never risk her safety in that way. It would finish him off if he was responsible for hurting her more than he already had. The guilt would never go away.
"Do what you must. But make it quick." Sam warned, stepping aside grudgingly.
"Thanks, Sam." Jacob thanked him. He knew how difficult it was for Sam to agree to something like this. He felt and shared every bit of the older guy's reservations. But he was doing this for Bella. He had promised her. And she was right, he was no Edward fucking Cullen. He had to trust her. But, still, it wasn't easy.
Surprise registered on Rosalie's breath-taking face as she watched the circle of wolves' part to allow Bella to walk through them. It was so bizarre to see the girl she had always despised move so confidently toward her. This wasn't the timid, broken girl she remembered, permanently under Edward's thrall. She had always felt jealous and hurt when in Bella's company, Bella was a reminder of all that she ever wanted but could never have. She had always resented that Bella wanted to become a vampire so badly — mostly because she never had the choice herself… and look how that had turned out?
"Have you come to gloat?" Rosalie called out sharply.
"I don't take pleasure in other people's misfortune." Bella stopped a few feet away, her tone equally as harsh.
"Don't you dare pity me!" Rosalie raged. Somehow Bella always managed to provoke her just by her mere presence.
"Oh, I don't pity you, Rosalie." Bella kept her voice steady. "It was your own personal choices that led you here."
Rosalie bristled at that. Her hands curled into fists at her sides. "I have never had a choice about anything." She retorted bitterly. "Not from the day the man I was supposed to marry gang raped me along with his friends and left me for dead. It wasn't my choice to become a vampire. Carlisle made that for me. And I've been trapped ever since."
This wasn't the first time Bella had been confronted by Rosalie's tragic backstory, but for the wolf pack it was all new. It was shocking in its intensity. It made them agitated. They didn't want to have feel any sympathy for their mortal enemy. They moved around in the half-light in choreographed motions, like a family of canine "dancers" flowing over the earth.
"I am sorry that happened to you, Rosalie. And I understand." Bella's voice softened, as did her stance. "But every choice you made afterward was your own. You knew what Carlisle was planning and went along with it. You drank my blood. You were complicit in everything that happened to me."
"I tried to warn you multiple times. That's partly the reason why I told you about my past. You refused to listen." Rosalie fired back angrily. "And that is on you."
Bella nodded slowly; her expression sombre. "Maybe so. But I didn't know what was happening to me. I had no idea of the extent of Carlisle's wickedness. He manipulated my memories and my perception of things."
"There is nothing I could have done without suffering severe consequences myself." Rosalie snapped defensively.
"I heard what happened to Jasper." Bella revealed quietly.
Rosalie inhaled sharply. "How do you know?"
"Alice." Bella watched Rosalie's whole demeanour change. The beautiful vampire looked unsettled, her shoulders stooping as if she'd received a terrible blow.
"You've seen Alice?"
"Yes. She sought us out deliberately after what Carlisle did to Jasper. She wants revenge. She's convinced there is no chance he'll ever get better. Is she right?"
Rosalie hung her head, shaking it slightly as if to get water out of her ears. "Carlisle completely destroyed Jasper's mind. There is no hope of recovery. Its my biggest fear that he'll do the same to me…but then I long for it at the same time." She confessed in a whisper.
Bella was stunned at the deep despair in Rosalie's voice. Her lovely face was full of anguish, her tone defeated. It was like she had become trapped in the dark pit that had become her world without any chance of escape. Bella wondered was that what she was doing when she had unexpectedly encountered Embry-was Rosalie running away?
"Where does Emmet stand in all this, Rose?"
"With Carlisle." Rosalie explained with a pained expression. "Things have not been good between us for a very long time."
"You didn't have to help Embry. You could have carried on running. What stopped you? What do you really want, Rosalie?" Bella asked.
"I want to be free." Rosalie pleaded.
They were back at the house. The conversation with Rosalie had been a revelation for everybody. It was all coming apart. Carlisle's house of cards was slowly falling down around him. With Alice and now Rosalie defecting, his support group was getting smaller and smaller. Which meant he was probably getting more desperate.
"I'm not really happy about leaving Victoria in charge of both Alice and Rosalie." Jacob admitted as Bella passed him the mug of coffee she'd made for him.
Settling down beside him on the couch with her own mug in hand, she raised it to her lips and took a tentative sip of the hot liquid. "Victoria will cope. You saw how broken Rose was, Jake. This is a turning point; I can feel it."
"You and that sixth sense of yours." Jacob smiled at her affectionately as he nudged his shoulder playfully against hers. "And you were right to insist on going to speak to her."
"I'm always right." Bella teased lightly.
"I wouldn't go that far." Jacob laughed.
"Oh, really?" Bella raised her eyebrows expectantly. "Do you really want to fight about this? Because you'd know I'd win."
"You think so, huh?" Jacob put his coffee mug down on the small table beside the couch, and did the same with hers.
"Hey, I hadn't finished drinking that." Bella protested.
"I think you have." Jacob murmured as he leaned forward, his lips finding their way to her neck.
His kisses upon her sensitive skin started a fire within her no one else could ever ignite. Her arms quickly found traction around him and she pulled at him until they both toppled off the couch and onto the floor, laughing all the way.
A/N-thanks for reading!