39
The two days and nights they spent locked away inside the lavish hotel in Seattle were the best days and nights of Bella's existence. She never wanted to leave, wanted to stay wrapped in his arms. Feel Edward inside her, his hands and mouth loving every inch of her body. But like all good things, they wouldn't be able to stay locked away in their little bubble.
Aro Volturi was on the move. They'd left their home in Volterra, Italy and were making their way toward the United States. She couldn't explain how she knew this, how this connection she felt with Aro worked, but what worried her the most, what she hadn't shared with anyone, not even Edward, was if she could feel Aro, what stopped him from feeling her?
"We don't have to leave," Edward said, causing her to look over her shoulder at him. Once again, she was standing on the balcony overlooking the city. "Just say the word and I'll go downstairs and reserve this room for another night, another week, another month. However long you want."
"We can't." And when he sighed, she said, "We need time to prepare."
"Yeah, prepare," he said, curtly. "Then let's go prepare for the end of the fucking world."
And without giving her the chance to argue, to defend herself, he turned and walked back into the hotel room. While she had a moment of weakness, a moment of self-doubt, she knew in the end she would still sacrifice herself for her family, for human girls like Angela, who had somehow braved the stranger standing across the street. She didn't have to like it, though, so with one last look over the city, Bella turned and followed Edward back inside, where she found him standing next to the door, his arms folded in front of him.
She stopped in front of him, placing her hands on either side of his face. I love you.
His eyes closed and his hands covered hers as he thought, I love you, too. So much.
With their hands wrapped around each other's, they picked up their bags and walked out of their hotel room, down the hallway to the elevator. Edward reached over and pressed the down arrow and when the doors slid open, they found themselves facing two humans — one a male with dark black hair wearing a Seattle Mariners hat and a woman with long, silky blond hair that hung perfectly down her back. The two smiled, though they shifted uncomfortably as they made room for Edward and Bella.
"Thanks," he said, placing his hand on the doors and holding them open so Bella could step inside.
"Yeah, sure, no problem," the man stammered.
Edward walked in behind her and leaned against the side of the elevator. Once the doors were closed, he reached down and pressed the lobby button, even though it was already lit. He cleared his throat, drawing Bella's attention down to him, and he smiled before looking at the man. "Mariners are having a good season, yeah?"
"It's been okay," he replied, scooting closer to the blond next to her. Bella could hear their hearts racing, see the sweat starting to build on their brows, and she felt bad for them. They were scared of them, as they should have been. Like most humans, these two had no idea how easy it would be for them to snuff the life out of them.
"They'll get there. Just gotta get the bats swinging," Edward added.
"Yeah, yeah, sure."
The elevator stopped with a sudden jarring and the doors slid open. Edward barely raised him arm to motion for them to go first when the man had his arm wrapped around his lady and was ushering her out.
"You enjoyed that a little too much, love," Bella snickered low enough that only he could hear her.
"Gotta enjoy being a vampire while I still can. May not have a lot of perks, but making humans uncomfortable is one of them."
Bella frowned, but didn't say anything as the two walked out of the elevator, across the lobby, and out to where his car — a silver Aston Martin — was waiting for them. Once they'd placed their bags in the trunk, Edward opened the passenger door for her, but before she could slip inside, his arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her body against his just moments before his lips came down onto hers. He thrust his tongue deep into her mouth, and she felt her body tingling, needing his touch more than ever.
"Edward," she moaned, tangling her fingers in her hair and pulling his head back just as the couple from the elevator stopped next to them, their eyes widening and their mouths flopping open. "Did you need something?"
"Nothing," they murmured together before hurrying over to taxi and all but jumping inside.
"You're right," Bella laughed. "That was fun."
"That's all I'm saying!"
Edward kissed her again before releasing her and motioning for her to climb into the car. As he climbed in behind the wheel, Bella gave the hotel one last look, knowing this would be the one and only time they got to have an ounce of normalcy. The end of their world was indeed coming.
—Stay—
Edward pulled his car into the gargantuan garage just under three hours later and when they grabbed their bags and headed around to the front of the house, they found Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, Alice, Charlie and Renee standing on the front porch with two vampires Bella had never met. The first, the male, had dirty blond hair and blood-red eyes. He stood protectively in front of his mate, a woman with long black curly hair and the same blood-red eyes he had. They shifted their eyes from Edward to Bella before he spoke.
"She's the one you were telling us about?" There was a tone to his voice that grated on Bella's nerves, something that didn't sit well with her.
"Yep." Jasper moved so that he was standing between them, his body tense and rigid and Bella wondered if it was her emotions or theirs that had him on edge. "Peter, Charlotte, this is Bella." His butterscotch eyes shifted to her, softening as he smiled. "Bella, this is Peter and Charlotte. We, um, we fought in the newborn army together."
"Barely made it out alive, too," Peter quipped, folding his arms in front of him. "From the way Whitlock here talks, you're planning on turning us all back into our human forms again. Is that about right, sweetheart?"
Edward growled and started to crouch defensively, but Bella threw her hand out to stop him before saying, "Don't call me sweetheart. Only he gets to call me that."
"Fair enough, fair enough," Peter said, putting his hands up in front of him. "You didn't answer my question though, Bella."
"You already know the answer."
"What if we don't want to go back to being human?"
"Apparently, she don't give two shits," Alistair yelled from inside the house.
"You heard him."
"Have you thought about what kind of life you are forcing us back into?"
"What do you mean?"
Peter gestured toward Edward. "Your boy there was dying from the Spanish Flu when he was changed, wasn't he?"
Bella looked at Edward, who nodded.
"What happens if you turn us all back into our human forms and we're thrust back into that point of our lives?"
"That won't happen," she lied. To be honest, it wasn't a consideration she had made, but in the end, it didn't change anything. There was more than just them at risk. If Aro killed her, if he took her power, he would end the world and all the little humans would parish, and something told her Aro didn't give a damn about anyone other than himself.
"You can't know that," Charlotte argued. "You could damning us all back into Hell."
"Or, she could be giving us a second chance to live. To really live," Edward said, sliding his hand along her back, wrapping his fingers around her hip. "She's made her choice, so you might as well accept it. The rest of us have."
Edward kissed her cheek before taking her bag from her and leaping to the third story balcony and their bedroom. She sighed, knowing how hard this had been for him. All she had wanted was an eternity with him, yet she was making the decision to let him go.
"So, Aro's on the move," Alice said, clearing her throat and pulling everyone's attention to her. "I could see him until about five minutes ago when you and Edward got close enough for you to block me."
"Sorry," Bella murmured, ignoring the looks coming from Peter and Charlotte. "And yes, he's on the move. We maybe have fourteen days."
"Fourteen days before you damn us to a life we don't want. Aren't we fucking lucky our savior is here," Peter groused taking Charlotte's hand into his as they turned and walked back into the house, closing the door with resounding thud.
"I'm sorry about him," Jasper said, frowning. "We've all called for reinforcements. He may be a dick, but he's loyal and he will stand with us, Bella. Even if he's angry about it."
She nodded, unsure of what to say.
"We have others on the way, too," Emmett said, ending the brief moment of silence that surrounded them. "We cashed in all our chips, so to speak."
"Good. We'll need them," Bella said, quietly. "Where are Cain and Abel?"
"Inside with the others. They're expecting a large group of Sentinels to arrive in three days. Said they're on our side." Rosalie paused and looked at the house. "Jacob has been talking with the rest of the pack. They're a little hesitate to help, but he thinks he's convinced them. We're meeting with them tonight at the treaty line. Might help if you and Edward are there, see that you aren't the Anti-Christ."
"Okay."
Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, and Alice turned and headed into the house, leaving Bella alone with Charlie and Renee. Her parents waited until they were inside before they turned their attention back to her, their sadness rolling off of them in waves.
"Did you and Edward have a nice time in the city?" her mother asked, her voice tight and thick with emotions.
"Yeah, it was . . . it was nice. You know I've always loved Seattle."
"When you were little and you'd come see me, we'd spend the whole day there. Eating on the pier, going to the zoo and the aquarium," Charlie murmured. "I was going to take you that summer, but then you got sick, and I ended up coming to you instead."
"Yeah," she whispered, wrapping her arms around herself.
"It's okay, you know?"
"What's okay?" she asked him.
"To be angry about what you're going to do. To be angry that you have to give up your second chance at life. I mean, we're angry for you."
She nodded and looked toward the trees. "I am angry about it. I wanted more than a few extra months." She laughed and shook her head. "Edward and I were going to travel, see the world. He had . . . has so many places he wanted to show me, you know?"
"We do."
Bella looked back at her parents. "I'm sorry that I have to leave you like this. I never wanted to leave you, not again."
"We know, Bella." Renee shrugged her shoulders. "You've always been a selfless child. Even before you got sick, before it got too hard, you were always trying to bring me and Daddy back together. I wish hadn't lost so much time with you as a family."
"Can you promise me something?"
"Whatever you want, honey," Renee said, while Charlie simply nodded.
"Can you promise me that when you're human again, when you find yourself facing a life without me again, that you'll hold on to each other? Be happy, love each other. Just . . . just love each other."
"Of course," Charlie whimpered, reaching for Bella, who took his hand. He pulled her into his arms, wrapping her in his embrace. "We'll never stop loving each other, or you, Bells. We will always love you."
"I love you, too," she whispered, placing one hand on either side of their faces, wanting — no needing — to hold on to this moment for as long as she could.
The strangest feeling overcame her, though, as her eyes rolled backward and her body tensed to the point of being painful. She felt herself raise onto the tips of her toes before her feet left the ground entirely, and she screamed as a prickle started deep in her chest, spreading through her arms to the tips of her fingers. The prickle turned into a burning that shot through the tips of her fingers like bolts of lightning, and she felt herself being thrown backward across the front yard, hitting a tree with so much force, the trunk cracked up the middle and split in two. It hit the ground with a deafening thud that shook her like a rag doll.
Intense pain that she hadn't felt in three months, twelve days, and sixteen hours radiated throughout her head and she, once again, heard herself scream as she brought her hands up to her head, tangling her fingers into her long, brown locks. She could hear herself sobbing, bawling tearlessly as the pain became more and more intense, and she closed her eyes to give herself the briefest amount of relief, even if it didn't come.
"What the hell was that?"
When she looked up, through her hair that hung loosely in her face, she saw Carlisle and Esme running from inside the trees while Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, and Alice hurried out of the house with Tanya, Jacob, Kate, Garrett, Irina, and Carmen following. Alistair, Zafrina, Peter, and Charlotte were the last to trickle from inside the house, with Eleazar standing just inside the house with Cain and Abel next to him, almost like they were holding him back.
"Bella, sweetheart, you're scaring the shit out of us," Edward said, and a moment later, she felt his arm slid around her, pulling her against him. The pain dissipated, but she couldn't speak, she couldn't think, she couldn't comprehend anything, because in that moment, that brief, terrifying moment, one hundred percent of her attention was on the two people laid out unconsciously in the middle of the yard. Because though it was soft and delicate, she could hear their hearts beating, hear the flow of blood coursing through their veins. Somehow, and she didn't know how she had done it, Bella Swan had turned her parents back into humans.
Thank you for all the AMAZING reviews. Do me a solid and leave me a few more for this chapter. Just an estimate, but I would guess we have about ten chapters left.