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When we arrived at my house, I left Edward in the entry hallway to do as he pleased while I hurried to my room to change my clothes. It took a while to get my sweaty legs out of the leather pants, which resulted in the fastest shower in human history.
I put on a pair of baggy jeans and a T-shirt to make it look like I'd put on the first thing my hand landed on. It wouldn't be far from the truth. After stepping into my trusty Converse, I rushed downstairs.
The first thing I heard were grunts, then the distinctive sound of punches being thrown.
I stopped in the kitchen doorway, staring perplexed at the scene. Edward had Jacob bent over the counter with his arms behind his back. I could see he'd broken Jake's nose by the insane amount of blood on his face.
"Whoa, what the hell, dude?" I grabbed his elbow and tugged.
Edward's narrowed eyes met mine before he slowly stepped away from Jacob. Once his arms were free, Jake made to strike back, but I shoved him back into the counter.
"What's wrong with you? Both of you!"
"He punched me first," Edward declared, pointing to his red jaw. It seemed like he was indestructible because I knew Jake's steel punch. I'd once made him punch me for real, and I regretted it to this day. My right ribs would never be the same again; he'd rearranged my insides.
"Are you twelve?" I rolled my eyes, going to his side. "Ice that and stop acting so impulsively," I spat at Jake, steering Edward to the door. "Does it hurt?"
"I'll be fine. I had no idea you had a guard dog."
"Jake's my best friend," I explained as we got in his car.
"Does he live with you?"
I snorted, reaching out to pat the hand curled on the gear shift. "Jealousy doesn't become you, darling."
Edward gritted his teeth, shifting gears and pressing the gas pedal. I refrained from pointing out the police might stop us, knowing full well they wouldn't do anything to him.
At the hospital, he parked in a spot designated for incoming ambulances, and I couldn't help but comment on how rude this was.
"I'm distraught. We're in a hurry," he deadpanned, half-amused.
"I thought we were fighting crimes," I insisted, refusing to get out of the car.
"Fuck." He spun the car at a ninety-degree angle so fast, I had to clutch at the handle above the window, slamming the brakes as he stopped at the closest parking spot. I didn't dare comment this one was allotted for disabled people. "Happy, Kitty?" He got out, slamming the door shut.
I joined him at the back of his car, where he looked around before taking my hand; his thumb nudged the indecent-size rock I was wearing. Before leaving my room, I'd put the ring on as a last-minute afterthought.
"Awesome," Edward muttered, pulling me closer and wrapping his arm around my waist. "Keep your head down, and don't stop walking."
I didn't understand why until we began to make our way to the hospital entrance. Reporters were swarming like ants. The flashes blinded me, and I pressed my face into Edward's arm. His expensive cologne smelled so good. I heard both our names being called, followed by a myriad of questions.
Once we were safely inside, Edward led me to the nurses' station, from where we were guided to the seventh floor and room 705.
"Jesus Christ. They can't give me a break," he grunted once we were in the elevator.
"I think we should kick some reporters' asses and threaten them about assaulting you," I said jovially.
"You have no idea how often I've toyed with that idea."
"It was a joke," I gasped.
He glances at me from the corner of his eye, his tongue wetting his lower lip. "I'm ready to suffocate him with a pillow if he remembers," he said casually.
"Whoa. Since when do you kill people?"
"Since tonight, if it's necessary." His grave tone had me stopping in place, so he had to drag me out of the elevator once we reached the seventh floor. "Let me do the talking."
We stepped inside his uncle's room, and all my braveness from patrolling the streets at night had flown out the window. Besides, he scared me to death after he attempted to choke me.
"Edward, thank God you were running late for our meeting. Someone attacked me in my office."
Edward shot me a relieved look since it was clear Dr. Cullen didn't remember the events from hours ago. "I heard. I was with Isabella."
I stepped on his foot with all my might for bringing me into the spotlight. He didn't even flinch – indestructible freak.
"Oh." Dr. Cullen's blue eyes focused on me, and I refused to squirm. Then he looked back at Edward. "Looks like she likes you enough to follow you to my deathbed."
"Stop with the dramatics, Carlisle," Edward muttered, walking closer to the bed. "You wanted to tell me something important when you called me earlier."
"I don't remember what was so important," he answered honestly. "However, I hope to be able to attend my own party."
I rolled my eyes, venturing to the window to give them faux privacy.
"So you like Swan now?" Dr. Cullen asked curiously.
"She's all right." I heard Edward's guarded voice answering.
"I told you she was pretty. She tight?"
I gripped the wall so I wouldn't turn around and punch the sleaze.
"Do you have any clue who attacked you?" Edward chose the diplomatic way to steer the subject in another direction.
"I bet it's that freak beating everyone up around the city."
I bit my tongue so hard that I tasted blood. I wanted to tell him he deserved it, he had it coming, and yes, he was correct. The freak, who was none other than his nephew, had landed him in the hospital.
"I called Aro to check my cameras."
"Your cameras are for show," Edward scoffed.
"How naïve of you, my dear nephew. The cameras and my dogs are all the protection I need."
My stomach turned, and I launched myself at the door. "I'm going to vomit." I heard Dr. Cullen commenting about Edward knocking me up, but I continued to search blindly for the toilets.
When my stomach was empty, and I felt hollow inside, I stumbled out into the hallway where Edward was waiting in front of the door, somberly.
"He's either fucking with me, or he's lied to me all along about the fucking cameras," he said, taking my hand. He guided me to the vending machines and bought me a soda.
"We have to check." I clung to his arm. "We have to go to Volturi."
"Are you out of your goddamn mind, Isabella?"
"Not us…but…the other us."
"Now that you're in the loop, I feel like this is some kinky game to you."
"It's not," I hissed. "With or without you, I'm going to Volturi."
I ambled toward the elevators, and he caught up with me easily. We couldn't continue our argument inside the metal box because of the other people squeezed in with us. Edward tugged the cowl of his hoodie over his head to obscure his identity.
Once inside the car, I turned to him, expecting a verbal agreement or disagreement.
When he pointed the car in the direction of my house, I thought he'd decided to back down or he was taking me home before going to his house to get changed. He parked in front of my garage, got out, and popped the trunk open to grab a large duffle bag.
"What's in there?" I asked curiously.
"My Halloween costume," he said dryly.
"You mean…"
"After you." He waved to the front door.
We found Jake still in the kitchen, sitting at the island, working on a Sudoku puzzle. His black eyes widened when he spotted my companion.
"You piece of shit! You broke my nose," Jake shouted, charging toward Edward.
"Whoa, van Damme." I stopped Jake before he could reach Edward. "Keep your punches. You might need to bail us out soon."
"What the hell is going on here, Bells?"
"I'll explain later; there's no time now." I led Edward to my room without thinking.
There was no time to send him to the guest bedroom, so I changed in the adjoined bathroom. Edward was clicking shut the armor around his biceps when I joined him. He put on his mask while I took mine out of my pocket. After stepping into my combat boots, we were ready to go.
Jake was standing in the middle of the entry hallway, looking intimidating, but his jaw dropped at the sight of us approaching. "Holy…fuck!"
Due to his heavy suit, Edward thumped down the stairs behind me in a Terminator-like way. Jake kept pointing behind me, then at me, speechless.
"Keep your phone close," I whispered. "We might need to be rescued."
"Cut the pessimism, Kitty," Edward muttered, heading out the door. He went to my bike, pleased to find I'd forgotten my keys in the ignition.
"Whoa. Wait! What are you doing?" I demanded.
He turned it around before straddling it. His eyes narrowed, or so I thought. I couldn't tell because of his mask and the darkness around us. It was so late at night; I wasn't used to leaving at this time. Without another choice of transport for myself, except the big Caddy Emmett used to take me around the city where I was needed, I slid behind him on the bike.
It felt like I was hugging a Kevlar armor soldier. Once I had my helmet on, we were off. I didn't have the time to chide him about not wearing one. But I bet his mask wasn't only to protect his identity but to protect his head in case of impact with a solid object.
I shouldn't have been surprised we went to Dr. Cullen's house, where Edward parked in the spot I'd parked earlier that night.
"See you inside."
In my haste to stop him, I grabbed at an object hanging from his belt, which turned out to be a cable. He eyed me amused, pressing a button to retract it.
"We're a team. We're in this mess together."
He pursed his lips, and I wanted to hide. This was the disapproving look he gave our usual suspects. It was intimidating and made me want to kneel at his feet and beg for forgiveness.
We traced my steps from hours ago, and thankfully, we didn't run into the dogs this time around. I was ready to go in search of a back door when Edward's hand shot up to stop me. A moment later, he had me on my back in the grass, his heavily-armored body crushing mine as he lay on top of me.
"Shh," he soothed, his eyes tracing the sound of movement from several feet ahead.
I tilted my head in that direction and noticed two sets of feet in front of the house, barely two yards away.
"How long until they're completely asleep?" One of the voices asked impatiently. I recognized it as the chief of police – Aro Volturi.
"They're big dogs. Maybe half an hour." The second voice sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn't place it. And he didn't seem to want to be there.
"If Carl wasn't my friend, I'd have put a bullet in each of his mutts to get it over with sooner."
"That could have affected the lenses."
Edward's eyes met mine, and he looked shocked, or so I thought. It was so inconvenient to read his expressions through his mask, which covered the upper half of his face.
After a while, Volturi finished his cigarette and urged his companion to return inside and check on the dogs.
"Fuck, he's smarter than I thought," Edward gasped, rolling on his back.
I took a big breath, running my fingers between my breasts. It felt like he'd crushed my sternum. "You're heavy," I complained.
He turned to look at me sharply, and I felt small and childish for complaining about such a thing. "Do you realize what this means?"
"No," I said honestly. "What lenses were they talking about?"
"Contact lenses that can record what's going on…what the person who wears them sees. In this case…the dogs."
"Contact lenses for dogs?" I repeated dumbly. "The dogs are his cameras."
Edward pursed his lips before springing to his feet in one fluid motion. I copied him, waiting to hear his plan. We needed a solid plan for this to go smoothly. It was nothing like we'd ever done before on the streets.
"Take your hair down. You go and distract Aro while I find the dogs."
"Excuse me? Distract him? Don't you mean…put him down?"
"No," he hissed. "I told you, this sexy eye mask does not give you vigilante vibes. Go in there and find him; look confused. Tell him you're looking for a Mr. C. Carlisle; that you are his flavor of the night."
I gasped, understanding the implication. "You want me to play the hooker role?"
He cupped my cheek, and I almost melted into his chest. "I'll make it up to you later, Kitty."
I was starting to like my nickname more and more. "Be careful," I whispered.
"Always am." He leaned closer, and I held my breath, waiting for his lips to touch mine. But all he did was take the scrunchy from my hair and stuffed it in his suit pocket before heading to the door.
He stopped next to it, gesturing for me to be the one to go inside first. I was to be seen.
He was not.
I opened the door slowly, and thankfully, no alarms were set. After taking two steps inside, I turned to let him know he could come, but he wasn't there anymore. This was one of the things I'd learned from our early times…he was fast…like a lethal feline.
I wished I had heels on to make my attire sexier and more believable for the part I was supposed to play.
It didn't take me long to find Volturi. He was at the wet bar, pouring himself a glass of whiskey.
"Daddy C?" I improvised because I could only bet Dr. Cullen was a giant perv.
Volturi spun around, his beady eyes seizing me up and down. "I could be your Daddy C, sweetheart. How did you get in here?"
My eyes found the wall clock behind him, and I was shocked to see it was two in the morning. "I was supposed to be here earlier, but I got held up at the club," I lied.
"Oh, poor thing. You just missed my friend, but I'm sure we can play together." He winked, and it made my stomach turn.
"Are you the big cop I see on TV?" I played the dumb card.
Volturi approached me, grabbing a handful of one of my breasts. I hadn't thought he'd get physical. I was going to punch Edward for this. "Want to see what else is big on me?"
Your ego?
Definitely not his prick. He gave me tiny dick vibes.
I swallowed my dignity and traced a hand over his pectoral. "Oh, is that so?" I asked silkily.
Our attention was drawn to his friend's raised voice from somewhere down the hall, then the distinctive sound of brawling.
"Wait for me here, sweet thing." He pushed me to one of the armchairs, but I wasn't going to listen.
I gave him a twenty seconds head start before I followed, keeping my body pressed to the walls as I inched closer to the brawl.
I was just around the corner of the room with the struggle when I heard two gunshots.
"What are you, Frankenstein?" Volturi sneered.
I saw Edward pushing Volturi into the wall closest to the door, inches away from where I was hiding in the shadows. "I'm your nightmares coming to life," he said slowly, keeping his forearm pressed against Volturi's throat. "You'd be smart not to call for reinforcement." He stepped away, stopping in the doorway. "Oh, and Frankenstein was the creator of the monster. Everyone gets them confused."
Volturi remained petrified in his spot as Edward came into the hallway. His eyes shot to me, but he continued walking to the front door. I hurried after him, feeling shaky.
We didn't speak at all on the way to his house, where he threw his mask to the floor of his garage before heading to one of his computers. I followed, watching confused as he pulled a paper tissue out of his leg pocket. On it sat five contact lenses, one for each mutt.
"How does it work? Do you have to put them in your eyes to see what they saw?" I asked curiously.
Edward pushed a button on the table, and part of it unfolded, showing technology that could put any forensics lab to shame. He placed one of the lenses in a specific slot, then plucked at his keyboard, his eyes on the three screens above, mounted on the wall.
There was a lot of irrelevant footage of the dogs lazing, eating, chasing each other, lounging in the living room with Dr. Cullen, and Edward kept fast-forwarding until the images changed. Suddenly, I saw myself frozen on the porch before doing the backflip.
I'd been so close to losing my right leg; I had no idea.
Edward huffed a breath. "Impressive."
"Thanks," I whispered.
The dog had backed to the middle of the front yard, and he had a clear view of me outside Dr. Cullen's office. He'd seen it all, up to the point when I was thrown to the floor.
Edward checked all the lenses. Only one dog had seen him using the award Dr. Cullen had received some years ago after performing a long and complicated surgery. So that was the object he'd hit his uncle with.
"Your fingerprints are all over that thing," I gasped.
Edward unwound the image, freezing it to show me he'd kept hold of the award with his hands through the sleeves of his hoodie. That must have made it harder to aim, but I'd stopped admiring his technique a long time ago.
"Now what?" I asked, untying my mask.
Hunching forward, he uttered two words.
"We wait."
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