Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight. No copyright infringement is intended. Beta'd by HollettLA who loves me and missed my words.

Very sorry for the wait . . .

"Riders on the Storm"

Chapter Forty-Two: The Torch

EDWARD POV

We drove all the way to Topeka and then hopped on a plane to Salt Lake City. We'd planned on going through Arizona, but flying to Utah worked out better.

From the airport, we took a cab to this town called Gold Hill.

Then we had to walk two miles to the address Maisano had given me.

Our flying under the radar was working out well. We'd made so many twists and turns, changing our direction. We even ditched the whip, which already had fake plates, somewhere in Kansas. We'd taken a cab to the airport.

I was confident no one knew where we were.

When we approached a raised ranch-styled home, Aro and I looked to each other.

"This is the address…" He drank from his bottle of water.

"Knock," I said, easing my way toward the right side of the door. While on foot, I'd picked up a large stick. I'd bop whoever-the-fuck over the head if this was some setup.

Getting on the plane, we had to lose our weapons, which meant I had to improvise.

Aro knocked softly, waiting.

"Who is it?" The voice sounded familiar, and I went to stand near Aro.

"Who you think?" I asked back, which made the door open.

Maisano's son, Nicholas, stood there in boxers. It looked like he had just woken up. "Come on in." He wiped the sleep from his eyes.

"How you doin'?" I slapped my hand to his.

"I'm good . . . This is it." He shrugged, turning in a circle.

Aro and I entered into what looked like a hideout—there was barely any furniture, it was in the cut—in the middle of nowhere. I bet Maisano has a few of these spots.

"There's a fridge full of food—drinks. Feel free to shower, too." Nicholas waved toward a hallway.

"Thanks," I said as I took off my hoodie and got a good whiff of myself. It was nasty. I stank and I felt sticky, sweaty. "I'd like to be outta here in thirty."

Nicholas yawned, grabbing a beer off the coffee table. "That whip behind the house is for youse—we'll leave whenever you're ready."

"Nice." I nodded. "I'mma shower—bathroom's this way?" I pointed.

Nicholas nodded. "I been waitin' for youse…I thought you'd get here yesterday."

"So did we," I admitted, letting out a sigh.

"We went off course." Aro kicked off his shoes.

After showering and cleaning up, we had a bite to eat. Nick had cold cuts, bread, and shit, but I was aching to get back out there.

Truth be told, I was exhausted. I missed sleep, my bed, and, most of all, my wife.

This run was nothing like the rides we'd taken back in the day.

First of all, we didn't have the time to do much of anything, as the last two days have been spent traveling—only traveling: cars, trains, and planes. Plus, when we used to do these runs, I wasn't being watched. Well, I was, but the heat was on Marcus back then. Now I'm the boss, and so it's on me. That's why we had to take the long way.

/=/=/=/=/

Maisano's son came with us. In fact, he did the driving. I rode shotgun, content to enjoy the scenery, which…there wasn't much to look at, and Aro slept in the backseat.

"Did'ju wanna stop? There's this club—"

"No, thank you," I said. "Let's keep it moving."

He nodded and silence fell upon us.

When we entered Nevada, we stopped to get gas, use the bathrooms, and get shit to drink.

While I got in the car, my new cell started buzzing in my pocket. Last night, I broke the one I had and tossed it into the trash somewhere. Sadly, I don't even remember where exactly. But as soon as Nick hooked me up with another cell, I called Carlisle. He said he'd be in touch; he'd call when he had a new phone—another phone, so I should expect to see a number unknown to me. That was over an hour ago.

I knew it was Carlisle calling me back. And I was only shocked to hear from him because he knows not to call unless something's up. When it comes to Bella, she knows that I call her—I've been calling her once daily just to say hello.

"We had a problem," was the first thing he said. "I couldn't get into it—talk to you earlier."

I snapped my fingers for Nick to drive. He peeled out of the gas station. "What's up?" I asked Carlisle.

"The belles had to flee the ball." Bella and Kylie had to leave Middletown—that was the last place they were at.

"That's a shame." I told myself not to get worked up; meanwhile, my heart started pounding away in my chest. "What—"

"Everything's fine. No worries."

"But—" I massaged my forehead, confused.

"We found a glass slipper, and they're happy."

I didn't know what he was getting at. "Try again."

"They went to see Mickey, Minnie, and that fuck Goofy…" If I had to guess, they'd gone to Disney?

"They flew the coop?" I wanted to know if they'd taken a plane. I told Bella yesterday that we'd be meeting up on Monday—a little less than two days from now. I had to lie, tell her everything was good and we were near Vegas already to ease her mind.

But I meant what I said. As soon as we pop Heidi, we're driving to an airport and heading home.

No fuss.

No drama.

No dragging it out.

We were to get it done and get outta there.

After speaking to Maisano days prior, Aro and I didn't even have to clean up. Nick's brother was meeting him, and they're gonna take care of it for us. I had mixed feelings about that—wanting to do it and carry it out to the finish.

But time wasn't on my side . . . and I had Maisano's word, which is as good as gold.

We were golden.

Again . . . anyone who'd be looking for me was to think I was in Bermuda. I'm in the spotlight, the Feds always keeping an eye out—on me. They watch me like a hawk, and so I have to be very careful.

I can dole out orders . . . conduct my business, but I can't be caught doing any of this shit.

And Heidi being in WitSec . . .

She won't have an armed guard or anyone watching her. But as soon as she's missing and/or found dead—she won't be because she's to disappear—they'll come looking for me.

Meanwhile, I was in Bermuda . . .

They won't look at anyone else.

"On a blue jet." Carlisle chuckled, and we'd just passed the "Welcome to Carson City" sign. "No worries."

I guess they took JetBlue . . . on a blue jet. "Okay." I wanted to ask what'd happened, but our code-speak wasn't that difficult to decipher…if anyone was listening, which they weren't. I'm just paranoid with this cell phone shit. "How's everything else?" I truly wondered if anything else was going on.

"It's nice and quiet—clear skies on The Reefs." That's the name of the resort in Bermuda. "Mister and Missus doing just fine. No one's…the wiser." Everything was cool.

"The belles—"

"Are fine," he confirmed.

"Okay." I ended the call to slump back.

It was starting to get dark, which was perfect.

Aro let out a loud yawn, and when I turned to look at him, he was stretching. "You know what I was thinking?" he asked.

I shook my head.

"H's gotta be an old lady now."

I shrugged.

"She is," Nicholas agreed.

Aro and I stared at him, waiting for him to elaborate.

"My pops had us watching her." He continued. "I mean…" Nicholas looked to me. "This is my shot. I do this…successfully pull this off, I got your respect…and I got my father's respect. Things'll work out."

I nodded, not saying anything.

"I won't fuck this up. I'll be waiting…When youse are done, you let me know…me and my bro'll take care of everything else—you know, TJ? You have my word."

"I respect your father," I said. "But if—"

"You can trust me."

I quirked a brow, thinking him ballsy for cutting me off.

"I know it's my ass." He rushed out. "And if my dad didn't think…we could do this…he wouldn't have…let us in. You know? He trusts us. You can trust us. I mean, we don't pull this off…you'll pretty much wipe us off the map." He laughed, all nervous-like.

Since Nicholas already knew his place—and I was tired—I didn't feel like threatening him or being nasty. He knows what's up.

"What else you know about her?" I asked, my tone condescending; however, I'd done my homework—knew a lot about Heidi already.

"Um…she's widowed…lives with her adult son, goes to bingo on Fridays…son works nights at some factory off Route 395…Youse showing up late—today, Friday—will actually work out better." He gave me a fleeting glance. "Youse sneak in before she gets home—"

"Thanks." I got the general idea, and I didn't like some kid telling me what I should do.

"She's an old lady," Nicholas confirmed once more.

Aro hit my shoulder, leaning between the two front seats. "You…don't feel weird about that? Icing some ancient hag?"

"Nope," I said. "We'll get it done and get the fuck out. You feel a certain way…be easy knowing she lived a full life; died at an old age." I rolled my eyes. "And I'll do it."

"Nah…I'm not saying that," Aro laughed. "I don't give a fuck."

"She's sixty-four now." I nodded. "Goes by the name Ashley Davis. Her son's like thirty-one…his name is Smith Davis." I couldn't help myself and laughed. "Those names…very American."

"Feds didn't do too good a job since those sound exactly like aliases." Aro snorted.

"You're right," I said.

"She lives down this road." Nicholas pointed to his left and then turned. "Comstock Mobile Home Park—"

"A trailer?" Aro asked.

"Federal funding must be bullshit," I commented, enjoying the scenery. Again, there wasn't much to look at, especially since it was dark as fuck. "How much farther?"

"Mile and a half," Nicholas said.

"Pull over. We'll walk—"

"Yo…we did enough walking." Aro interjected.

"We're walking," I said again, placing the nine Nicholas had given me in my waist. "Nick…we'll be in touch." I slapped his back as he veered to the right to let us out. "Go get your brother." He was supposed to be hiding out someplace close.

"The car…" Nicholas turned toward me. "Here are the keys." He placed a set in my palm. "It's parked behind an old gas station…that's another mile up this same road. You'll be good—won't be seen. As soon as you call, we'll go clean up. Youse go back East."

I shook his hand. "It's been a pleasure."

"Oh, Mr. Cullen. The pleasure is all mine." He touched his chest.

I grinned, turning to leave the car.

"What do you guys do—to make a body disappear?" Aro asked him.

"Pop owns a butcher shop over in Eagle Valley. Bitch is really gonna disappear—without a trace." Nick nodded.

"We do the same shit," Aro said, glancing over to me. "I thought with all the desert land…"

"Condominiums," Nick said. "They're being built up all over. Other spots…hey, I'm sure there are plenty of bones out there in the reserves. Nowadays, though, with tourists and shit, the population rising…the Feds being all fucking nosy…We do what we can. And…no body, no problem."

Aro shook his head. "I was excited—thought I'd learn something new. It's the same shit out here."

Standing on the desolate road, I smirked to myself. "Come on." I jerked my head.

Aro left the car and then we took off on foot again—for the second time today.

"Damn." My buddy shivered and hugged himself. "The sun went down and it's all cold."

"Stop." The only objective I had was getting to Heidi's crib.

"I'm just saying…and this trip has been boring as fuck." He kicked a rock. "We did nothing but travel—"

"Look—" I laughed, wanting to fuck with him "—I'm just as sick of looking at you, too. I wanna do this shit and get home…" I gave Aro a wary glance. "Can we get there? I mean, there's scorpions, rattlesnakes…"

"Fuck!" He practically ran up the road, walking speedily.

I chuckled and kept it moving.

"We're getting in that car and driving straight up to Idaho to a plane...I don't give a fuck. I hate this desert shit," he complained.

I nodded, glad he got all those silly notions of acting twenty-five again out of his head.

When we approached the trailer park, Aro jumped back and fired two shots into a bush. Startled, I gave him a wide berth, trying to see what he was shooting at. The guns we had were silent, but Aro's small whimper was not. I also saw the flash of light from his nine.

"There was a snake—this big!" He widened his arms. "I swear to Christ." He backed away from the bush.

I pursed my lips. "Did'ju get him?"

Aro grimaced. "It wasn't my imagination."

I shook my head, trying not to laugh. "Never said it was." We were still standing in front of the shrubbery that seemed to line the park. "Uh—" I stopped talking when a skinny rabbit-looking thing with big ears came hopping out. He ran right on past us…across the road.

Aro slumped his shoulders. "Just a jackrabbit."

"A what?" I asked.

"It's…a type of rabbit."

I nodded, but to me it looked like a cross between a scrawny deer and a rabbit. "Can we…?"

"Dude, my bad," he whispered.

I didn't say anything, continuing on into the trailer park.

"I thought it was a scorpion."

"I thought you thought it was a rattlesnake?" I smiled, widening my arms. "This big!"

"Whatever," he grumbled, placing his skully cap back on.

I did the same, fastening my gloves as well.

Neither one of us said a word, nor did we stay on the paths, slowly trailing in the shadows toward the west end of the park—walking behind all the trailers.

Every once in a while, Aro would jump when something touched him. I'd successfully fucked with his head, which was so much fun. I kept flicking his ears or gently poke at his neck.

Then he'd silently scold me…

Hey, I had to do something…to amuse myself.

The late hour helped us go unseen in the small community. That's exactly what it was. There was a tennis court and a pool, and mobile homes lined the short blocks. We reached Heidi's joint within ten minutes. It was dark. No lights were on. No one was home.

Her windows weren't locked, and we managed to quietly enter her home. From what I could see in the dark, her home didn't look too bad. She had decent furniture, it was clean. Curious, I grabbed a few photos from her mantle and held them up to the light that shone through the window. There was one of Heidi and her husband, one with her and her two kids. She was obviously older, but it was obviously Heidi. She's wrinkled and she has bleached blonde hair these days.

But it was her.

"Old," Aro whispered from over my shoulder.

I chuckled without sound and then followed him into the kitchen.

Casually, we sat at her table and waited for her to get home. We kept our voices hushed and spoke about bullshit; however, we didn't have to wait long.

A half hour after we arrived, we heard keys jingling in the door.

Not alarmed, we stayed seated at the table, sharing a glance with one another.

"Come on…you stupid cat." She sounded the same, maybe she had more gravel in her voice that came with age.

An orange cat ran across the kitchen doorway before we heard her close the front door. Heidi came around the corner as she flipped through her mail. That seemed odd, as people usually do that much earlier in the day.

"Bill…bill…bill," she sighed but still hadn't noticed anything amiss, "advertisement—" She plopped the stack of mail onto the counter and froze. Heidi finally saw us. Her eyes landed right on Aro and came crawling over to me.

The three of us didn't move, but I hoped I wouldn't have to chase her. I wouldn't chase her. Fuck that.

"Looks like you've seen a ghost." Aro chuckled.

"Two ghosts." I held up a couple fingers. "Have a seat." I kicked a chair out for her.

She hesitated but had taken one step forward.

"I'm not asking." I looked to the chair.

Heidi gulped, holding her stomach. "I knew…knew you'd…you'd find me." She had yet to start crying and sat down across from me. "I told, told them. I'm not on the government's payroll anymore. You don't—don't have to." I saw a tear roll down her cheek. "I never told them anything," she cried. "Never. They asked if I would work with them—plant someone. I asked them to hide me. I knew…I fucking knew." She stared at me.

I leaned toward her. "Why…?" Getting into this wasn't my intention. I'd wanted her to see us. I wanted her fear, but she should be dead already.

"My-my late husband—you remember him—couldn't find a job. I worked at Eclipse…and I did what I had to for extra cash."

"Such as?" Aro asked.

"Aro…" She stared at him. "You look—you both look exactly the same."

My friend didn't repeat himself, but Heidi kept going anyway.

"I got in with Felix…delivering here and there."

I held up a finger. "You disappeared before…" Heidi had taken off before the Feds caught up to Felix, before I was put away and had to ice Felix. Once his testimony was out the window, I was let go until they arrested Joe, and then I was pinched again.

"We were both arrested at the same time. They flipped us both on the same day. Felix was to carry on like nothing had happened. I was to place that agent in your club." She wiped her eyes. "No matter what he gave them, he was gonna have to do time. But…they gave me a sweet deal. He was gonna get time off for dropping the dime."

"Makes sense," Aro said.

"As-as far as I knew…they weren't…they didn't get anything from Felix. I hired Gail…and when she was found dead, they pulled me out. They packed my family up in the middle of the night, and…we left." She shrugged, using the back of her hand to wipe her nose. "But Felix..."

"He was still wired for sound for another two years," Aro sighed, facing me.

"They pulled me...knew you'd get suspicious, and they were afraid Felix would point to me. He was too valuable," Heidi said.

"It took over three years for them to build something against us with Felix." Aro chuckled. "Still...it wasn't much. We must have been doing something right."

"I was good to you." I nodded, staring at her. "I gave you enough money. I treated you well—"

"I did what I had to, to support my family. Then…I couldn't go to prison!" She started to sob.

"Stop crying." Aro snapped his fingers in her face.

"I killed Felix," I said. "I watched the life leave his eyes." I leaned in closer to toy with her hair. "That's what I plan to do with you, too." I poked her nose with my gloved finger.

She let out a wail that made me smile; meanwhile, I was lying. I didn't pop Felix. I was in prison until he died, but it didn't make a fucking difference. It may have taken us a while to catch on to Felix, but I have Bella to thank for making me question Heidi. My wife, with that great intuition of hers.

"Please..." she begged. "My son—leave my son alone." She reached for me, and I pulled back. "He knows nothing—was eighteen months old when we moved. He doesn't know anything."

I hummed, and while Heidi had her head bowed—crying into her hands—I popped one in her head. The bullet whipped the air without sound, and her body fell back and onto the kitchen floor.

My actions surprised Aro, who almost flew out of his chair, too. "Dayum…" He drew out the word. "That was cold, Skip. Even for you."

I didn't care, nor did I say anything as I stood up to walk over her dead body. Adrenaline didn't flow through me. I definitely wasn't remorseful. The job needed to be done, and I did it. Case closed.

Aro drew his heat, popping her with two more holes. "We're really not gonna clean up?" Unfortunately for him, that's his favorite part.

"No...wrap her in something—make it easier for the boys to clean," I said, not giving a fuck.

While Aro did that, I hopped out the back bedroom window and lit a cigarette. As I waited, I called Nicholas. "We're done." I ended the call, knowing he and his brother would be here within minutes.

And Heidi's son wouldn't be home until five in the morning. They had plenty of time to clean the scene, but I wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.

Before I was finished smoking my bone, Aro jumped out. "Ready?"

I nodded, putting the cherry out with my shoe and shoving the butt into my pocket.

This time, while we walked, Aro wasn't as jumpy. I honestly felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Heidi was done, another witness down. In fact, she's the only witness I knew of who had to go.

We made it to the Ford Focus with no problems, and we went north. The car had a change of clothes and new shoes for each of us, a cooler filled with drinks, and some sandwiches. I took the first shift driving.

After six hours of riding along the Nevada border, I stopped to take a piss and stretch my legs. We weren't at a rest area. The most surprising thing about this trip was how scarce the population was this far west. Well, we didn't come across many in our travels. And I'd ditched our clothes in a dumpster. It seemed there were houses up the side roads.

Getting back behind the wheel, Aro stirred awake, wondering where we were. When he looked around, he said he was going back to sleep—to wake him when I got tired or we were out of Nevada, because he hates sand and sand monsters, I guess.

That was when I got the call from Maisano himself.

Everything was taken care of.

The job was done.

His sons were staying local—near Carson City—so they could catch wind of any news of Heidi.

Determined to push it out of my mind, I kept driving and thought of nothing.

It took about nine hours to make it to Twin Falls, but we didn't stop there for long.

Aro needed to take over so I could rest my eyes.

Not able to fall asleep, I listened to the radio and thought about calling Bella.

I didn't.

Until I knew what we were doing for certain, I didn't want to worry her. Although, I did want to alleviate her fears—tell her it was all over and that we would be home earlier than Monday…possibly. Instead, I called my brother—told him to tell Bella to take the earliest fight possible on Monday morning. Carlisle said he'd handle it—to do what I gotta go and get back to New York myself.

When we reached the Boise Airport, we ditched the car in the parking lot—took off the plates and threw them in the trash along with the nines and the gloves. The Delta flight had a layover in Seattle.

By the time we landed in SeaTac, it was close to midnight, which would make it almost three a.m. Monday morning in New York.

Before we caught our second flight, I called Bella.

She seemed relieved that everything was settled—that we were far enough away and on our way out of Washington. Bella and Kylie were about to catch a direct flight home, too.

This plane was taking us to Philadelphia, where Carlisle had a car waiting for us.

Raphael, a kid who's on his way up, was parked outside. He waved his hands to get our attention, fast to tell us that my brother sent him.

We ran into his whip, both of us rubbing our hands together, frozen.

"Turn the fucking heat up!" The hoodies Nicholas had supplied us with didn't do shit for the East Coast weather, which was still set to cold as fuck.

"March, April…maybe even May. We got like three more months of this shit." Aro rubbed up his biceps.

I gnashed my teeth together to keep them from chattering, but otherwise…masked the fact that I was so cold.

When Carlisle called to say Bella and Kylie were landing in twenty minutes and that Sonny and Maggie were already waiting for us all at JFK, I breathed a sigh of relief. We'd all leave that airport together. Bella and our daughter would meet up with Sonny before I got there, and they knew to keep their heads down until we arrived—be inconspicuous.

Everything was working out well.

I knew it all would—my family isn't stupid, but there was no time for hiccups or fuck-ups. None of that.

I slept for most of the two-hour ride over to New York.

Exhausted, I don't plan on leaving my home for at least a week, my bedroom for at least three days . . .

Still in our disguises, we practically ran to the Cinnabon where we were meeting my family.

My eyes found Bella first. Her hair was darker, like she said it would be. She was in sunglasses yet bundled for the cold weather. I knew it was Bella, but the Feds wouldn't recognize her at all. She was beautiful, so pretty my chest ached when I saw her; my eyes pricked too, but I shook it off.

Kylie and Maggie were talking a million words a minute, and I was able to hear them from a couple paces away. Sonny stared right at me. He smiled, slightly jerking his chin in my direction.

Bella still hadn't seen me.

"Hey..." I reached for her coffee.

"Edward!" She jumped into my arms. "Oh, Edward!" Bella peppered my face with kisses, and I felt like a million bucks, finding it ironic that this—seeing Bella again—was such a rush, more enjoyable than that shit I did out in Nevada.

"Hey, you." Was all I could say as I gazed into her eyes. We were both wearing shades, but it didn't help Bella. I caught a tear with my fingertip. "I missed you." I licked the salty water from my finger.

Bella didn't say anything. She just hugged me tightly.

"Hi, Dad!" Kylie waved, and I reached to hug her as well.

While I greeted my ladies, Aro struck up a conversation with Sonny as Maggie awkwardly stood at his side.

And I was brought right back to the place I was days prior.

Old problems still existed.

The world didn't stop just because I went across the country.

"Ready to go?" I asked, leaving my arms draped over my girls' shoulders.

Bella hummed, burying her face into my side.

"I am so ready to go home." Kylie snorted, stepping away from me to walk alongside her friend.

I sighed, turning to kiss Bella's hair. "I'm exhausted."

"Me too," Bella whispered, and her chin wrinkled.

"Stop it. I'm home," I laughed.

"I know." The lip quivered.

"So cute." I nipped at that mouth. "How's things—how's…everything?" I looked to Sonny. He was the same, didn't have a tan.

"Good." He nodded. "It's good to be home…I'm exhausted."

"You're preaching to the choir," Bella said.

"We ready to go home…?" Aro looked to us all. "Lisa must be—"

"You didn't call Lisa?" Bella gasped.

Aro winced. "She knows I was somewhere doing something."

"Aro!" Bella punched his shoulder, and he laughed.

I ignored their conversation as we moseyed out to the car, and each one of us took our hoods, hats, and sunglasses off. There was no need to mask our faces at all.

My brother was waiting for us in Alex's minivan. He was excited to see us and whispered that he was ecstatic that it all worked out.

Him and me both . . . him and me both.

Before we pulled onto the ramp that would lead us to the highway, I waved to the Impala across from us—the one with the two FBI agents sitting in it. They were obviously waiting for us to come back from Bermuda.

They followed us until we reached Brooklyn. As soon as we got to Bay Ridge, they took off again, probably went back to headquarters, and that's when I was finally able to relax.

But not totally.

We dropped Sonny and Maggie off at their house and then drove up the block to our crib.

I didn't say much to Carlisle before he took off for his own house. But before he left, he reminded Bella and Kylie not to say a thing until the house was swept. Our daughter didn't understand, and we had to break some things down for her. Bella did, which…was great because she has a way of saying things that Kylie won't question.

My brother had been watching the house, but Feds are sneaky fucks.

Kylie went straight into her bedroom, said she was going to sleep until tomorrow.

And I practically chased Bella into our room.

"Your hair…" She rubbed the stubble on my head. "It's all gone." She pouted.

I smirked, brushing her hair with my fingers. "Yours is dark."

Bella smiled at me and then her lips touched mine. Our lip-lock was passionate as fuck—tongues tangling, hands roaming, but as soon as my back hit the mattress…I stopped.

My wife was still straddling me. "What's wrong?"

"I'm tired." I swallowed, cupping her breasts.

"I missed you." She lifted my shirt, started kissing my chest, and I wanted to kick my own ass. "You're that tired?" She got the vibe I was sending.

"Just lemme hold you." I wanted nothing more than to have her in my arms. "Just…c'mere." I pulled her down to my side, hugged her tightly once more. "We're home…we can relax."

"Relax." She yawned.

I smiled, staring at that pretty face, and this was my happy place.

At some point in time, my priorities, the shit that got my blood pumping had shifted. In this moment, I was the happiest I'd been in a long time. We were home. We were all exhausted, but we were safe.

Aro thought our travels were boring. Fuck, I thought that, too.

Meanwhile, I believe our lack of adventure had to do with the fact that we had no business carrying the job out ourselves.

Torches are passed for a reason.

We do our time.

We get our kicks.

And when it's no longer fun…

When the thought of the kill is more of a hassle than a thrill…

It's time to accept the inevitable.

That . . . with time comes change.

Thank you for reading.

Please leave me your thoughts.