Chapter Twenty Three
"How did you know I was here?" I demanded, putting my hands on my hips and glaring at him. Under my bravado I felt scared at the anger emanating from him. I had lied to him and put myself in danger.
"Sam called me," he hissed at me. "What the hell are you doing?"
"She nearly had it before you burst in," Kate said. "She's a shield. And she has the ability to protect others. She just needs to practise."
"No way," Jacob said. "It's too dangerous."
Kate grinned wickedly. "I'm not electrocuting her, I'm doing it to people Bella cares about. It gives her incentive." Then an idea seemed to come to her. With cold fear gripping my heart, I realised what she was about to do. Kate reached out a hand, her fingertips mere centimetres from Jacob's skin.
"NO!" I screamed. "He's human, you'll kill him!"
Kate's fingers closed around Jacob's arm and I grabbed at the invisible shield with all my might, throwing it out from me as the sparks danced around her fingertips. I felt the slippery surface slide over Jacob's body and it held, protecting him from the volts and zaps now flowing out of Kate's fingers.
Jacob was still standing, watching the lights crackle and dance on his skin, but clearly not feeling the slightest trace of pain at Kate's touch.
I could have cried with relief. I ran to Jacob, and threw myself into his arms, letting him hold me as I sobbed. My grip on the shield remained strong and I held it around both of us with little to no effort.
"See?" said Kate. "All you needed was a little motivation."
I turned to glare at her, wanting to slap the smile from her stupid face, but having enough sense not to antagonise a vampire.
"You can practise again tomorrow."
Jacob drove me home in the cruiser, leaving his car at the Cullens with Edward's promise that he would return it in the morning.
I wondered how much trouble I would be in with Jacob for going to the Cullens without telling anyone. We quietly let ourselves into Charlie's house and he followed me upstairs to the bedroom.
"Are you angry?" I asked as soon as he had closed the bedroom door.
He sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. "I don't know," he muttered, sitting on the bed and slumping forward. "I don't have a right to be angry so it would be unfair if I was."
I raised my eyebrows, surprised. "Of course you have a right to be angry," I said, kneeling in front of him and taking his hands in mine. "I put myself in danger."
"I've put myself in danger before," he reasoned with me. "You're your own person Bella and I'm not going to tell you what to do. Of course I want to keep you safe. But I'm just a human so there's no way for me to even do that." He looked bitter and I cupped his face in my hand.
"I thought you wanted to be human Jacob," I reminded him.
"I hate being so useless," he said and I understood his feeling. For the first time, I felt like I could actually contribute to this upcoming battle that everyone was forced to fight because of me.
We crawled into bed and I let myself be enveloped by his warmth. "Bella," he whispered, just as I was on the verge of falling asleep.
"Yeah?"
"I feel helpless," he admitted, his voice so quiet I nearly missed what he said. I rolled over and turned the lamp on, gazing at his beautiful face, currently looking dejected and forlorn. "At least before, both of us had to sit this fight out, but now, I have to sit on the sidelines with Karin, watching you put yourself in danger. I'm not sure I can do that."
"What do you want?" I asked him.
He shook his head. "I don't know. I don't want to transform – I want you more than anything else. But I hate feeling like this."
Fear crept into my chest. "Promise me you won't try and enter the fight as a human," I demanded.
He rolled his eyes. "I'm not stupid." He reached out and turned the light back off and once again I snuggled into him. "It's worth it – getting to keep you forever is worth it."
ooo
The next few days were jam packed with training and shield practise. In a rare moment of calm, Karin and I sat on the edge of the field, both leaning on the warm, furry body of Seth who lay on the ground behind us. We each had our hands wrapped around cups of hot coffee, trying hard to keep warm in the wintery air.
"So what happens after this?" Karin asked me quietly.
"I'm trying not to think of after," I murmured. "I'm so worried this isn't going to work. I've spent such a long time seeing the Volturi as these undefeatable characters, that I just can't imagine life afterwards."
"Okay," said Karin, "but say it does all work out. Say we defeat them and then life moves on – what then?"
I shrugged. "I suppose we go back to Seattle. I'll go back to the library, Jake will go back to the garage and we can finally have a quiet life."
Grinning, Karin said, "What's a quiet life?"
I laughed.
"Do you want to stay at the library forever?"
"I'm enjoying it for now," I said. "But no, not forever. Eventually I want to combine my two great loves and open a café book shop."
Unheard, Jacob had jogged up behind us. "Two great loves?" he demanded.
I laughed. "Yep – my two great loves – books and coffee."
"Oh you're in trouble," he joked, tickling me then catching my lips in a kiss. "You'd better add me to that list somewhere."
"So, a café book shop?" Karin continued as though we hadn't been interrupted. "Need a barista?"
"You're planning on staying in Seattle?" I asked her surprised. "I thought you'd go back to the UK."
She shrugged. "I don't have anything waiting for me back there, and besides, I like Seattle. Seth only just moved there and I want some time to start my life with him."
We had to end our conversation there when Seth hopped up and trotted over to the rest of the pack and we lost our warm back rest. They needed me as well to practice my shield again, and attempt to extend it to the hundred or so shape shifters and vampires that crowded the field.
I was glad when the light began to fade and we packed it in for the day. My head was starting to ache.
I caught up with the Cullens as we all trickled out of the clearing, heading to our respective homes. Edward and Carlisle were in heated discussion.
"What's up?" I asked them, concerned something had gone wrong.
"Alistair's gone," Edward spat, anger in his golden eyes. "He was too afraid to face the Volturi. He left at daybreak."
I rested a hand on his arm and he seemed to jump at my touch. For a moment, both of us looked at my hand and I removed it quickly, turning away from him, embarrassed at the awkwardness between us.
"He's only one," Carlisle reminded us quietly. "We have more than enough, and our plan is good. We have no reason for concern."
We said nothing else as we headed our separate ways, but I was looking forward to Thanksgiving day at home tomorrow, without the Cullens or vampires to worry about. I made one last quick trip to the supermarket that evening making sure I had ticked off everything on my shopping list. When I got home, I checked to make sure the turkey was defrosting and started making the sweet pies so they would be ready to put into the oven after Thanksgiving dinner.
Jacob helped knead dough and fill the pies and we joked and laughed as we worked. My face began to hurt from smiling and for the first time in weeks I felt truly happy.
ooo
"Where's Henry?" I asked over breakfast on Thanksgiving morning, my spoonful of porridge halfway to my mouth. I'd only now realised that I hadn't seen him for a few days.
Charlie shook the newspaper to straighten the crinkled pages and cleared his throat. "Went hiking a few days ago. Maybe he decided to camp out."
I pushed my chair back with such force it toppled over. Lowering the paper, Charlie looked at me with concern and I picked the chair up quickly, trying to mask the worry on my face.
"Sorry," I mumbled. "It's just weird, he wanted to spend Thanksgiving with us. He's probably still with the Clearwaters, I'll give Seth a call."
Seth picked up on the first ring, and I was glad to hear his cheery voice. "Bella! We'll be up at 12, ok? Mom has insisted on cooking like 10 different sides, so I hope you're hungry."
"Seth," I cut him off, trying to keep my voice calm as I casually strolled out of the kitchen then ran up the stairs to my room. "Is Henry down there with you?"
Jacob sat up in bed as I came into the room, rubbing an arm sleepily over his eyes.
"Uh, no? I thought he was staying with you. I haven't seen him since Monday."
"Do you know where he was going?"
"No, on Monday he said he was going for a hike."
I swore and quickly said goodbye before hanging up. Quickly, I explained the problem to Jacob who also cursed under his breath and whipped out his cell phone, calling Sam as I called Henry. His cell phone went straight to answer phone. I tried again and got the same result. Then I called Edward.
"Bella," Edward answered the phone, "Happy Thanksgiving."
"Edward," I hurriedly cut in, "Henry's gone missing. I can't get in touch with him and no one has seen him since Monday."
"Okay, calm down. I was just going hunting with Jasper and Emmett, we'll look for him instead."
"Edward, are you sure none of your visitors are hunting in the area?"
There was a pause on the end of the line. "I'm sure," he said finally. "I'll find Alice and see if she's seen anything."
We hung up and I chewed nervously on my thumb.
"Sam will take the others on patrol and look for him," Jacob said. "Bella, maybe he finally decided to go home?"
"Without telling me?"
"Well, maybe he is just hiking. Maybe he went camping for a few nights."
I rolled my eyes. "This is Henry we're talking about. The most nature he's experienced is taking a walk through Hyde Park, he'd have no idea what to do in the actual wild."
I felt sick but knew there was nothing I could do. Edward and Sam were both out looking for him, I had to simply sit and wait. I went back down to the kitchen and got started cooking the turkey.
ooo
Charlie's house was full with visitors. The Clearwaters and the Blacks came over for the celebrations and we set up tables outside despite the chill. With Sue's addition to the dinner table, we had a feast, including a full roast turkey, sides of yams, carrots, Brussel sprouts, roast potatoes, cranberry sauce and bread. Charlie was being heavy handed with the wine and our guests were smiling and laughing, enjoying the day and the company.
But I found I could barely eat anything. My stomach churned with worry about what had happened to Henry. I knew Sam had his pack out searching – Leah, Seth and Paul had only just joined us after being relieved by the others, and the Cullens were also out searching. But so far they had found nothing.
Could he have simply given up and gone home?
It didn't make any sense, though. Surely if he wanted to head back to the UK, he would have done that from Seattle, not trek all the way to Forks only to head home again. And Seth said that Henry's belongings were still in the guest room at the Clearwaters. The only thing missing was his walking pack.
I knew that something had happened to him. And that something was my fault. I never should have brought him here. As much as I wanted to trust the Cullens and their friends, I kept coming back to the fact that there were a dozen red-eyed vampires currently in the area. Maybe one of them had snuck out?
As the sun began to lower in the sky, the air cooled and, shivering, we packed up lunch and headed back inside. Sue and Rachel had taken over in the kitchen and refused all help to clean up.
With a sideways glance at Jacob, I walked down the hallway and out onto the front porch. Leah, Seth, Karin and Paul weren't far behind.
"What now?" I asked, letting Jacob drape an arm around me and pull me into his warm chest. "We have to find him. There must be a trail."
"We'll keep searching," said Paul. "Say thanks to Charlie for having us."
Seth leaned forward and kissed my cheek before he, Leah and Paul ran down the steps and off into the woods without a backward glance. I knew they would be joining up with Sam.
Without a word, the rest of us made our way back into the house. Charlie was watching a game on tv and Jacob joined him. Karin went to lend a hand in the kitchen and I wandered up to my bedroom, feeling nauseous.
I tried phoning Henry again but it went straight through to voicemail once more. Perhaps he had simply got lost. Maybe he was stuck out in the forest somewhere? If so, the wolves or the Cullens would find him.
I lay down on the bed and before I knew it, I had dozed off, battling uneasy dreams.
ooo
I woke early the next morning, bright sunlight streaming through the curtains, and could feel Jacob's warmth beside me. Quietly, I slipped out of bed and pulled on jeans and an old flannel shirt that I found in the back of my wardrobe. It was a little musty and wrinkled, but I didn't care. My thoughts were on Henry.
If he was lost in the woods, would he have survived another night? With such a clear night, the temperatures would have dipped well below zero.
I padded quietly out of the room and down the stairs. Charlie was already gone, his cruiser missing from the driveway. The station would be closed today, but as his deputy had the day off, Charlie would want to be there, keeping on top of everything. Briefly I wondered if I should enlist his help putting together a search party for Henry but I knew if vampires were involved, the last thing I wanted was for Charlie to get involved.
I flipped on the kettle and searched the cupboards for the coffee plunger I had bought Charlie last Christmas. I found it in the sink, half filled with old coffee dregs. Rolling my eyes, I stumbled over to the back door, cursing my clumsiness as I tripped over a chair leg, and shoved my feet into my warm boots. I let myself out into the cold morning sunlight and emptied the coffee dregs over the sparse garden, thinking that it needed all the help it could get.
A snapping branch caught my attention and I looked up through the trees, half expecting to see one of the large wolves patrolling my house as I knew they had been doing since my return. Instead, the sight that met me made my blood run cold. A scream froze in my throat, and I dropped the coffee plunger. I barely heard the glass shatter as it hit the cement.
In front of me stood Henry.
His eyes were gleaming red.
Please review!
