7

Watching Bella leave with Carlisle and Edward had been harder than Charlie expected. Felt like his heart had been ripped out of his chest, leaving a hole in the middle. He fell onto the couch, burying his face in his hands, and cried. And Charlie wasn't a crier.

"We made the right decision," Renee said. "Didn't we?"

Charlie nodded and looked over at her, watching her linger around the front door. He stood up and walked over to her, placing his hands on her hips, sliding them around to her back as he pulled her into his arms.

"We did," he whispered. "They'll take care of her, keep her safe, give her the chance to live."

"Yeah," Renee whimpered.

Charlie brought his hands up, cupping her face. "You and me, Ren. You and me, remember?"

She nodded, leaning against his touch, but before he could kiss her, for the first time more years than he was proud of, he heard a vehicle slam to a stop in front of the house. He knew before he reached over and opened the door who it was going to be. Sure enough, standing at the edge of the yard was Billy Black, Jacob Black, Sam Uley, Paul LaHote, and Jared Cameron. While Billy was only about six foot tall, the four boys — Charlie refused to call them men seeing as Sam was the only one considered an adult, the other three barely the same age as his daughter — were well over six foot six, broad in the shoulders. They had shortly cropped hair, something new he had noticed as they each began shifting into giant wolves, at least according to Quileute legend.

Charlie and Renee shared a look before they stepped out onto the porch, folding their arms in front of them. They knew what was coming, had talked about having this very conversation, and about how the choice they had made for their daughter would cost them. It was a price they were willing to pay, of course. Bella had been worth every sacrifice they'd had to make.

"What are you doing here, Billy?"

"You know what we're doing here," he replied as the five of them matched their stance. "How could you do it, Charlie?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Billy rolled his eyes. "Don't act stupid. I know what you did. You gave her to them, didn't you? Ask those bloodsuckers to change her? Isn't that about right?"

Charlie pressed his lips together.

"Is that why you asked about our legends? Were you preparing to betray us? Betray me?"

"I was saving my daughter," he argued.

"Saving," Sam Uley scoffed, but clamped his lips together when Billy turned and glared at him.

"You understand what you've done, don't you, Charlie?" Billy asked, looking back at him and Renee.

He nodded. "I saved my daughter," he said again. "You remember her, don't you, Billy? The way Bella used to run around out on the reservation with Jacob there."

The younger of the Blacks looked at his father before staring at the ground, a mixture of anger and sorrow filling his features. Back in the day, before their world was full of tumors and therapy and medication, Bella and Jacob had been friends. Back when Bella had been strong enough to visit, before their world shattered and Charlie found himself flying to Arizona every other week, needing to be closer to his family.

Billy frowned. "Of course I do, but you should have told me."

"You would have stopped them, stopped me," Charlie argued. "And I couldn't let you do that, Billy."

"No, you'd rather she turns into one of them."

"I'd rather she live," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm selfish, Billy. I couldn't just stand by and watch my daughter waste away, watch her . . . watch her die," he whimpered, feeling his lips tremble. "She deserves a chance. A goddamn chance to live."

"We can't let this go," Billy said, shifting his hands onto his hips. "We'll find them, Charlie, and we'll kill them. All of them. Including her if they change her."

"You can't do that," Renee pleaded, grabbing Charlie's arm. "Please, just let them go. Let them save her. She deserves a chance to live."

Billy shook his head before he motioned for Sam, Jacob, Paul, and Jared to get into the back of his truck. "I'm sorry, Renee. You started a war when you asked the Cullen's to break the treaty. Now, we're going to end it."

Billy turned and climbed in behind the wheel, giving Charlie a look before he cranked the engine, and pulled away from the house, heading down the street.

"Do you think they'll find them?" Renee asked.

Charlie shook his head. "No."

"How can you be sure?"

Charlie looked down at her. "I can't, but we have to have faith that they'll take care of her."

"And whose going to take of me?" she asked, smiling as she turned, pressing her body against his.

"I will," he whispered. "If you'll let me."

"For as long as we live."

And for the first time in almost a decade, Charlie Swan kissed Renee.

—Stay—

"How will you do it?" Bella asked.

Edward tensed and looked over his shoulder at her. She'd moved into the backseat, where she could lay down, where she could try to block out the brightness with a blanket, but she found herself watching him. He was beautiful and elegant, and she wanted to feel him holding her again, keeping her against his chest. When his arms were around her, the pain was almost bearable.

"Will you suck my blood out, and then make me drink yours? Like in the movies. Will I call you master? Do your bidding?"

Edward laughed, the sound sending chills down her spine. "You watch too many movies."

"Guess that's a no," she quipped, shifting so that she was sitting up with her knees bent in front of her. She closed her eyes, laying her head on her knees. The constant throbbing in her head had shifted to sharp, stabbing pains.

"No, I won't suck your blood, or make you drink mine," he said, and when she looked at him, she saw him staring at the road in front of him. "Carlisle will give you morphine, to help ease the pain, but then I'll bite you, on several parts of your body," he added, his eyes shifting to hers through the mirror. "Arms, legs, neck. Get the venom into your bloodstream as quickly as we can. Hopefully it will speed up the process, make it easier."

"And then it will burn? That's what you said, right? My body will burn as the venom changes me?"

Edward nodded.

"And then what? I just wake up a vampire? Strong and fast?"

"Pretty much," he said, quietly. "Are you scared?"

"No."

"You're not?" he asked, sounding surprised.

"Should I be?" she asked.

"Most people would be," he said, turning off the main highway onto a small, icy road leading up the mountain.

"Why?"

"Because you won't be you anymore," he murmured.

"Sick? Fragile? Dying?" She closed her eyes again and buried her face against her knees. "Anything is better than existing like this."

"Yes, I suppose so."

Bella wasn't sure how long they had been in the car when she felt it come to a stop. She squinted as she lifted her head off her knees, the glare coming off the crisp snow had her whimpering. There was an energy in the air that overwhelmed her, made her body hurt, more than normal at least. She could feel her heart beating against her ribs, her lungs struggling to take in air, and she knew, she knew the end of her life was coming. One way, or another.

Edward was out of the car and by her side in a heartbeat, cradling her against this chest. "It's okay, love," he whispered, pressing his lips against her temple. "It's almost over."

"Edward," she breathed heavily, her eyes closing. "I can feel it coming. The end."

He kissed her head again before lifting her out of the car and carrying her into the large stone house. Waiting for them inside were Carlisle and Alice with more people than she's been prepared to handle. Each were beautiful in their own ways. Each with soft, ivory skin, perfect features, and an aura that intrigued her, but as she felt their eyes on her, she turned away from them. Overwhelmed with the feeling of them watching her, curious about the fragile human in the arms of the handsome vampire.

"Is she okay?" she heard Carlisle asked.

"No," Edward replied, and a moment later, she felt him lay her on a couch. She groaned, and turned onto her side, grabbing the side of her head as she screamed. "We should hurry. She doesn't have much time left."

"Tanya," Carlisle said, and she heard a woman say, "Take her into the guest room, down the hall, to the left. I hope you're making the right decision, Carlisle."

"Me too," he said, and Bella felt Edward lift her off the couch and carry her down the hallway, laying her on a bed. She groaned and rolled onto her left side, clawing at the pain inside her head. "It's okay, sweetheart."

Bella couldn't reply, all she could do was cry. The pain was the worst she'd ever felt, and that was saying something seeing as she'd spent the three years living in constant agony.

"Hurry, Carlisle," Edward pleaded with him, and when she looked at him, she found him kneeling next to the bed, his eyes locking on hers. "I'm sorry, love. I'm so sorry."

Bella stretched her arm toward him, but before he could take her hand, she felt her eyes roll into the back of her head, her body began to shake, and she felt herself being pulled into the darkness, wondering if she would ever get to look at her beautiful vampire again.

—Stay—

Edward felt his eyes widen as Bella began to seize.

"Roll her onto her side," Carlisle ordered, and he did as he was told, keeping hold of her tiny wrists to keep her from hurting herself, as silly as that seemed. "I'm going to administer the morphine, and give it a few minutes, and then I'll . . . I'll change her."

"She wants me to do it," he said, feeling Carlisle look at him. "She asked me, and I said I would, so let's not make a big deal out of it."

"Are you sure you can do it?"

Edward nodded, though he had to admit to being scared that he wouldn't be able to stop. He hadn't tasted human blood in almost fifty years, but it wasn't something one forgot. No matter how hard they tried, and he had done nothing over the last fifty years but try to forget the monster inside him.

"Okay," Carlisle simply said before pulling the vial of morphine out of his medical bag and filling a syringe.

"Will it help?" Edward asked. "The morphine, I mean. Will it help her?"

Carlisle frowned. "Probably not," he admitted as Bella stopped seizing and Edward released her wrists. "But it won't hurt her more, either."

Edward nodded, but didn't say anything as Carlisle inserted the needle into her arm, pushing the plunger slowly before tossing the used syringe into his medical bag.

"Why'd you agree to change her?" Carlisle asked. "What do you feel when you're around her?"

"Feel?" Edward whispered. "I don't know. Peace, calm, acceptance, need."

"You've never felt that before?"

He shook his head. "Just in other people's thoughts." He looked at Carlisle. "You and Esme, for example."

The man smiled, and had he been human, he might have blushed. "You're connected to her."

"But why?" he asked. "Why her? And why now?"

"Why not her, and why not now, Edward? Sometimes fate takes matters into its own hands, I guess." Carlisle walked around the bed, kneeling next to him. "It's time. Are you sure you can do it?"

"Yes." And he was.

Edward slid his hands under her, lifting her off the bed, her head falling backward. He inhaled a sharp breath before he leaned down and sunk his teeth into the tender, thin flesh on the side of her neck. Blood flooded his mouth, the taste was intoxicating, but when she groaned, he tore his teeth from her flesh, shifting his eyes up to hers, finding her watching him.

"I'm sorry, love," he murmured before lifting he left arm and biting her wrist.

Bella arched her back before she slumped back against the mattress, her eyes shifting back to Edward for a split second before they closed again. Edward looked toward Carlisle before he bit her other wrists and both ankles, falling back onto the floor, and listening as her heart fluttered and her breathing turned shallow, and he hoped that they hadn't been too late. He couldn't live in a world without her by his side. He just didn't know why she was so important to him, and that scared him.

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