Chapter 26

Heaven Is Waiting

January 15th

It was midnight when Quil and Fay finished their patrol. Jacob, Embry and Sam had taken over and Fay wished them luck before phasing out. She phased out close to her house and slipped on a large shirt before exiting the forest. She was surprised to see some of the lights in the house turned on. Quil had only just left Bella's house when Fay phased out and couldn't have made it home that quickly.

Fay smelt the air, even in her human form she could smell popcorn burning. She was pretty sure a robber wouldn't be making popcorn. She approached the house, her surprise of fining the lights on quickly wearing off as she became angry that someone was in her house without permission. She walked though one of the open glass doors and straight to the kitchen where the burnt smell was coming from.

"Paul what the hell are you doing here?" Fay asked stopping in the kitchen doorway. Paul was leaning against the kitchen counter picking through a bowl of burnt popcorn.

"Hey Fay. Dad kicked me out so I was hoping I could crash here for a couple days," he said looking up at her with tired eyes. He had been on morning shift and by the looks of it he hadn't slept at all throughout the day.

"Fine, just don't burn my house down," Fay said taking the bowl off the counter and dumping the cremated popcorn into the bin.

"It's the stupid microwaves fault. I didn't even do the full thirty-five minutes like the packet said." Paul said slouching back against the counter. Fay paused for a second before letting out a defeated sigh.

"Paul, it's three to five minutes not thirty-five minutes." Fay said turning to Paul. Her lips twitched in the direction of a smile and a tired laugh slipped from her mouth. She sounded just as tired as Paul looked. "You're never allowed to cook in my kitchen again."

"Sorry," Paul said watching Fay move around the kitchen. Fay pulled out three frozen pizzas putting each one on its own tray before placing them into the oven.

"Why did your dad kick you out?" Fay asked as she set the timer on the oven.

"I told him I wasn't going back to school," Paul said his eyes drifting away from Fay for the first time. The ceiling was now very interesting looking.

"What? Paul you can't stop going to school," Fay said in a scolding tone. It was a similar voice to the one his father had used on him earlier that day.

"There's not enough people to patrol and between patrol and work I don't have enough hours in the day to spend it sitting in school."

"This red head will be caught soon. You still need an education after that," Fay said reaching out to tilt his face back towards her. "This will all end one day Paul. You will still need to have a normal life after that." They stared at one another for a long moment, to long of a moment. Fay pulled her hand away when she noticed and brushed it agent's her shirt like she was trying to get the warmth of Paul's skin off it. Fay took a step back and Paul tried reaching for her but the sound of Quil entering the house stopped him.

"Pizza is going to be thirty minutes. I'm going to go get changed." Fay said excusing herself from the room. She passed Quil on her way to the stairs but didn't say anything to him.

"Hey Paul, what are you doing here?" Fay heard Quil ask as she reached the top of the stairs.

"I'm moving in for a bit," Paul said. Fay knew this was not the best idea and Sam was sure to have a fit when he found out. But that was a tomorrow problem.

"Cool." Quil said before starting up a conversation that Fay tuned out as she entered her bedroom. By the time she got back downstairs the pizzas were done and ready to serve up. The trio watched a movie while they ate and went to bed when the credits started rolling.

January 17th

Fay nocked on the door to the small red house. She knew Jacob would be asleep and listened to Billy's wheelchair as he moved to open the door.

"Fay dear how are you?" Billy said once the door was open. The older man looked tired, and Fay could see the current threats to the pack were weighing heavily on his shoulders. He offered her a smile, but it looked weak compared to his normal cheek breaking grins.

"Good thank you Billy. I hope I'm not bothering you," she said fidgeting on her feet.

"No dear. Jacob is still asleep I'm sure he will be up soon if you wanted to come in and wait?" Billy went to move out of the doorway to let Fay in but she held up a hand to stop him.

"No thank you Billy. I just wanted to drop this off for him," Fay said holding out a small blue box with a bright red ribbon tied around it.

"Thank you dear I'll make sure he gets it. How is it going with the red head?" Billy said taking the small box from Fay.

"Not great. She's fast, faster then any other cold one we've seen. Apparently Jacob and Embry chased her all the way to the Canadian border last night. I can't blame him for being tired after that."

"Yeah, I told the school he was sick but that's only a temporary fix," Billy let out a deep breath. "I don't want to stop him from being a teenager but it's just too much."

"Yeah Quil, Embry and Jared all went back to school today. Embry looked like hell. I don't know how they are going to handle it. Sam and Paul are on today." Even with the growing pack numbers there still didn't seem to be to many hours in the day.

"Paul's not going back to school?" Billy asked a questioning look on his face.

"He keeps saying he's dropping out until she's caught. I don't think Sam will push the issue until then. We need all the help we can get. He got in an argument with his dad over it though so he's staying at my house for the time being." Fay said.

"I'll give Josh a call, see if I can smooth things over at all. Thank you for opening your home to the boys I know it's a big help to Emily." Billy smiled.

"It's nothing. I've got to keep moving but we'll talk soon, I'm sure." Fay offered him a smile as she stepped back out into the rain.

"Stay safe out there Fay." Billy said.

"Thanks Billy."

…

Fay was caught off guard when Jacob phased into the mind link at shift change.

Where's Embry? Fay asked.

He's dead on his feet after school, I offered to swap. Dad said I can have tomorrow off but after that I need to go back. Jacob replied.

Yeah, same here. Grandpa has tried to convince mum I am doing something more important than school work but she has put her foot down, Quil added.

How are things over there? Jacob asked Quil.

Quite. Quil thought, an image of the Swan house appearing in the mind link.

There's been no sign of the red head today. Fay moved back into a run as Jacob began running his own track around the boarder.

Thanks for the birthday present Fay. I almost forgot it was today. Jacob said an image of the small blue box flashing into his mind.

Dam sorry man I forgot. Quil though, feeling guilty.

Jacob thought as he ran the rocky coastline.

What was in the box? Quil asked referring to the blue box Jacob had thought of. Quil was surprised Fay had been able to not think about the present or Jacob's birthday at all during their shift.

Jacob remembered opening the box playing the memory in his mind more for Fay then Quil. Fay could see Billy handing the small box to Jacob. The box looked even smaller in Jacob's large hands. He tugged at the red ribbon with two fingers and it fell off the box. He had to shimmy the lid to get it open and almost dropped it when the lid came off. Fay snickered mentally. It was a keychain Fay had made. A smooth stone the shape of two over lapping wolves hung from a hand woven chain with a key ring hook on the end.

I was a little disappointed it wasn't a bracelet like the old days. Jacob thought.

Sorry I didn't know your paw size. Fay thought thinking about how a bracelet would snap when someone phased. I'm sure you were sick of getting them anyways.

Definitely not, but I see your point it wouldn't have lasted long. Jacob said.

Quil? Fay asked wondering why he was being so quiet.

Quil? Jacob repeated when he didn't hear a response. They couldn't hear anything from Quils mind link, and a wave of dread and fear instantly washed over the pair. Quil! Jacob demanded.

Hey, where did you guys go? Quil asked.

What do you mean your mind-link was the one that went missing. Jacob said.

I haven't moved. Both your minds just disappeared I thought you must have phased out. Quil said his eyes still locked on the Swan house.

No we didn't. Fay said.

Then what happened? You guys were gone for a good minute. Quil replied.

No idea.

Do you think it might have something to do with what happened to you the other day? Jacob asked Fay.

Just blame the imprint. It must be something to do with that I don't know what else could be coursing it. Fay said trying to think of other reasons for the strange events.

The night was uneventful. Fay and Jacob spent a little time trying to work out how they had blocked Quil out of their mind link, but nothing seemed to work. It was early hours of the morning when Jared and Paul both phased in.

Where's Sam? Fay asked when no one else phased in.

He's meeting up with Harry to check the hunting party's plans. He should be here soon. Jared answered.

Ok well try not to get shot. Fay said. It was meant to be jokingly, but a few worried thoughts slipped around her mind.

We'll be fine. Paul said as he took up running the track Fay had been following.

See you guys later, Fay said phasing out. She wasn't close to her house, but the early morning walks didn't bother her. There was a mist in the air, but it wasn't raining yet so that was good as well. The forest was quiet, and she hoped things would stay that way for a while. But she knew all too well that was unlikely.