One more day – well, one and a half more days – and she would be back in La Push. Even if Grandpa Charlie wasn't discharged by then, she still wanted to be there with her mother, Sue, Bri, and everyone else.
It was sort of crazy how quickly they'd all become like a big family. She had always been close with Brianne and her parents, Seth had been like a fun uncle most of her life, and of course, Uncle Billy. If nothing had happened between Charlie and Sue, he might have gone all "Golden Girls" with him – or maybe more like "Plaid Buddies"? No, that didn't work. But her mother hadn't really been all that close with any of them. No problems she knew of, but it wasn't like anyone was coming down to see them, or she was spending hours on the phone with Leah or Mrs. Lahote or anything.
But now it was like they'd always been this way – warm, open, hanging out even when there was no real reason to. Emergencies and danger could do that, she supposed.
Her last class got cut short when the instructor had an emergency and had to leave, but Eliza was stuck waiting another forty-five minutes on campus before Leah would arrive to pick her up. It wasn't a great day, but it wasn't raining, and people were milling around outside, enjoying the dry, moderate weather, and she didn't want to waste it, either. She bought an energy drink from the vending machine and headed out to enjoy it at one of the picnic tables near the parking lot.
Braylon from the cafeteria tucked one arm behind him and waved at her as she passed him leaning against an emergency door. She shook her head with a smile; he really thought nobody knew about his vaping spot, but you could smell the cotton candy cloud from around the corner.
Eliza found a dry, mostly clean table, sat down, and dug around in her backpack for the bag of spicy nacho chips she knew was in there. Success! She opened the bag, cracked her can, and sighed as she took the first sip. Her mind wandered back to La Push, and the last night that things had been normal. Well, mostly normal.
She knew now that it had been the Cullen's old place Kenzie had been leading them toward, and Aiden's reaction meant he must have known at least something. But what? How much? She wasn't sure who his family was, but maybe they knew about the protectors, or at least took the stories seriously.
She had to get Aiden out of her mind. Bri might seem convinced there was something there and even gave him Eliza's number, but she hadn't heard from him directly; Roger hadn't mentioned him at all. They only hung out the one time, and it had been cut short by Mr. Lahote – at least his behavior finally made some sense.
She'd driven him home last, and sure, there had been a pleasant sort of tension in the air after he'd moved up to the front seat beside her, but that didn't mean it was anything more than a bit of attraction. He was just a hot guy who'd given her some brief attention during a weird time in her life, that's all. No, if there'd been a guy half as good-looking as him here, she'd have forgotten him entirely by now.
She shook the last of the chips into her mouth directly from the bag and picked up her drink, ready to take another sip.
"That stuff is terrible for your heart."
She startled at the girlish, musical voice behind her and spun around in her seat, hand on her chest. It was just some girl. She breathed a sigh of relief.
"Lost in my own head, sorry," she said, still breathing a little too heavily. The girl smiled, and Eliza couldn't place what seemed familiar about her. She wasn't in any of her classes; maybe they passed each other in the hallway a lot? She was very short, even with her impossibly high boots, and the contrast between her dark hair – nearly black – and light skin and eyes was quite striking. Her wool coat looked expensive. "I love your jacket."
"Why, thank you," she answered with a laugh, more amused than seemed right. As she looked at Eliza, her expression became almost sad and wistful, as if she was in the middle of replaying some memory of her.
She set down her drink and held out her hand. "I'm Eliza."
The girl didn't take it.
"I know who you are," she said and looked around before slipping into the seat across the table. Eliza tried again to recall how she knew this girl – no, she was a woman. Her light brown eyes carried too much weight for her to be a girl. "You're a remarkable young woman, and I'm not at all surprised to see it. I believe you're going to get through this; you and your mother, both. I wish I could say for certain, but it's just not clear."
Her heart felt faster, and she knew it wasn't the energy drink. This was another one of them – a Cold One – it had to be. But it wasn't like she could just come out and say that. There were people around, and if she was wrong, it could cause serious problems. Would she admit it anyway?
"OK, have we met? How do you know my mother?" Eliza demanded. The woman lifted her brows.
"Your ride is here," she answered, and Eliza spun around to see Leah's car squealing into the parking lot. When she turned back, she was gone; all that was in her place was a tiny piece of neatly folded paper. There was no trace of where she was now. She grabbed the paper and stuffed it into her pocket.
Leah was already out of the car and heading toward her.
"Come on, quick!" Leah shouted, earning a few looks from people around her. Eliza scurried toward her, and they headed back to the car, while Leah kept looking around. "The one that was at the house – it's here. It's getting stronger; it doesn't make sense."
Eliza stopped, and Leah grabbed her arm and kept walking, warning her that there wasn't time to wait.
"No, stop!" she said, pulling the paper from her pocket. Leah grimaced, and it confirmed she'd been right. She looked around again to see if the girl had come back.
"What the hell is this? Where is it from? It stinks."
"It's from one of them. I was talking with her," Eliza answered. Leah's jaw dropped. "I mean, I didn't know at first."
Leah was breathing heavily. "Let's just get back to the car."
She opened the note the moment the car doors were closed. The cursive was elegant and somewhat old-fashioned—not shockingly so, but more like something her great-grandmother would have written, rather than a young woman.
He's watching you, but we're watching him. Levavi oculos; you will be protected.
Eliza crumpled the note and tossed it by her feet.
"I don't want vampires watching me!" she groaned. "This is so weird."
Leah started the car and motioned for Eliza to buckle up.
"Makes sense," she said as they pulled out of the lot. "He can't read Bella's mind, right? I bet he can read yours, so who better to pull a stalker act on than her kid? Find out what she's like now, what she's into, her habits, all that shit."
Eliza shivered. "What do you think he wants?"
"I have no idea. I'm sure we'll find out soon enough."
She didn't respond, and just stared out the window as they drove home. She was starting to really worry—it was bad enough if he was stalking her mother by proxy to try and win her back, but what if it was something more sinister? If she was leading some blast from the past vampire to her mother just by having thoughts and memories, and he wanted to drink her blood or even do something worse, she would go crazy. Just because she was technically an adult, it didn't mean she was ready to lose her mommy.
Leah switched off the radio.
"Hey, you wanna go down tonight? Play hooky tomorrow?" Her tone was sympathetic, and Eliza appreciated that.
"No, I've got a quiz. I'll just stay inside and try to think about, like, zombie movies or something when my mind wanders." She gagged. "In case he's out there watching me."
Eliza's overnight bag was already in the trunk, and the plan was for Leah to show up early so there would be no gap between her last class and hitting the road for La Push. Steph couldn't change her shift, so despite how loudly Leah griped about it, she decided to stay home. After an initial freakout and a couple of nights at her parents' place, Steph accepted the wolf thing pretty well, but she didn't want to know anything more about it, and she didn't want it to dictate their lives. Eliza could totally respect that, and from what she could tell, Leah was – well, she was getting used to it. She was definitely a little bit off, like she was lost in her own head sometimes, but she was not about to pry. Leah was not the sort of person who appreciated anyone poking into her thoughts and feelings.
The last class let out a few minutes early again, but that was OK, she reminded herself. There was a plan in place. The cafeteria was mostly closed – no food service – but the coffee was still available, so she would grab one and sit by the window until Leah texted to say she was there. It was mostly empty, and Braylon snuck her a date square with a wink and a slightly dopey smile. Well, that's new, she thought. He was pretty nice, soft-spoken, and definitely had a cute thing going on, even when his bright red beard was stuffed into a hair net. Of course, the one time that they'd talked for more than a couple of minutes, he'd brought up how some government release about alien contact was a false flag to cover up some other crime and then switched right over to telling her about some game he downloaded that was so fun he didn't even care that it was a data mining thing. So, maybe Braylon was going to be a no. At least for her.
She was so lost in thought, sipping her coffee, that she forgot about her date square. She picked it up, ready to hold it up and nod another thanks to Braylon at his post behind the counter, when she realized he wasn't there. She was completely alone – and someone else was walking toward her table.
He looked different than before, but she knew exactly who he was: Edward Cullen. Her breath caught in her throat, and she started to get up, but he held out his hand and spoke.
"Don't get up. I don't want to hurt you; I just want to talk."
Oh, fuck no! No, no, no, no, no.
She saw his mouth twist and realized he was listening to her thoughts. And where the hell did Braylon go?
"Your friend," he started, sounding like he was choking on the word, "is fine. He's temporarily incapacitated, but he'll be back to 'toking' his few remaining brain cells away soon enough, I promise."
She pictured him slumped on the floor behind the counter, and it broke her heart a little. He was just so childlike and kind.
The man slid into the seat across from her and folded his hands. She noticed just how pale they were, like the belly of a trout, and wondered if they would be as easy to flay open. He chuckled.
"That's an apt comparison, though not one I've had the pleasure of hearing before. You're a creative girl, Eliza."
"What do you want from me?" she spat out.
"There's no need to be hostile. I don't want anything from you except a few minutes of your time. I would like to explain myself—if you'll listen." He smiled in a way she assumed he meant to be friendly, but it sent a cold shiver down her spine. What could he possibly have to say that mattered? "I don't believe you've been told the entire story of your mother and me."
She glared. "I think she might have some insight into her own life, don't you?"
"Some, yes," he conceded. "But that's my fault, I fear. The circumstances under which she and I parted ways were complicated, you see."
"This is bullshit. Can't you see that we don't want you around? Mom doesn't want you around, either."
"You are a feisty one, aren't you? Please let me finish." His tone was light, but his lips had hardened into a tight line. She knew that look; it wasn't the first time that someone acted like she was the aggressor just for speaking her mind. If he didn't kill her, it wouldn't be the last, either. He cleared his throat. "You're right to be wary, but I can assure you that I won't be doing any such thing."
She took a deep breath and rolled her hand impatiently. "Go ahead, then."
"As I was saying," he began again. Eliza couldn't help but roll her eyes. "As I was saying, I believe that Bella is under the impression that my departure was due to a lack of love on my part, a desire to be rid of her. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, my family and I fled Forks only for her protection."
"OK, so, mission accomplished. She's lived twenty years without a problem until you showed up."
She crossed her arms and watched him close his eyes and pinch the bridge of his nose. Good, she thought, be annoyed.
"You know, Miss Swan, this will only take longer if you insist on interjecting your every thought into the conversation. I can already hear them; you hardly need to speak them aloud."
What the actual fuck was this guy's problem? He'd swooped in when everyone was already stressed out about Grandpa Charlie and his recovery, just to add a bunch of worry for her mom and Jacob and all the other wolves. And then, even though he can freaking read minds, he can't see that the best thing he could possibly do is just leave her family alone? Like, what's your next plan, man – crashing a funeral to do a dramatic reading of your poetry?
"I've been exceedingly patient with you, girl," he snarled after her last thought.
"I didn't say anything! That's what you asked me to do!" she almost shouted and jumped at the volume of her own voice. As much as she wanted someone to walk in and rescue her from this, she wasn't sure that would actually be the outcome anymore.
To her surprise, Edward's gaze softened. "You're right, Eliza. That was my mistake." He reached out toward her arm, but she pulled back further; it would take more than that for her to allow him to touch her. He seemed to relax a little in his chair. "I just need to speak with Bella. I know she's suffered all these years, thinking that I never loved her, but you have to understand that I never stopped. Not one day has gone by that I wasn't haunted by her face and by the mistake I made in leaving her alone."
She almost felt sorry for him. It was pretty obvious that he was in a lot of pain and that things had not been good for him for a long time. He was older than her mom, though, by a lot – almost a hundred years, it seemed; he had to know that this wasn't the way to reach out to an ex-girlfriend. A call? A text? She was pretty sure her mother still used Facebook and Instagram – that would be an easy way to find her. Wouldn't a DM go a lot further than whatever this tactic was?
"I know that Bella told you about my sister's gift – her visions?" Before she could redirect her thoughts, Eliza recalled Alice's strange, beige eyes and the note she'd left. She was sure there was a flash of recognition in Edward's face, but he didn't acknowledge her thought. "She saw your grandfather's heart attack, and we thought he had passed away. Bella loved him so much that I knew she would need comfort, and I wanted to give her that. Instead, I found you. I truly hadn't meant to frighten you. You must believe me."
Eliza shrugged. It didn't overly concern her whether he'd meant to be menacing or not.
"You've both been in the presence of those wolves from then, though, and I haven't had my chance to simply talk with her. I know that if she could see things more clearly, she would be willing to meet with me, but there's no telling what sort of things you're both being told about my family and me. At the very least, I need to set the record straight and release her from the pain of rejection she's been carr–"
Edward stopped mid-word as Eliza's phone buzzed in her pocket, and she let the thought slip: Leah's here! Thank fuck!
His eyes blazed as she began to stand up.
"No, please! You can't go yet!"
She picked up her backpack and slung it over one shoulder.
"I have to go. Everyone is expecting me."
Before she could blink, he was standing beside her, gripping her upper arm firmly, though not too tight. Of course, any grip was too tight when a dead thing had its hands on you. She tried to remember to breathe.
"I need you to help me; don't you see?" His tone became pleading and almost shaky. "She'll never agree while he's messing with her mind, but she'll listen to you, Eliza. You're the only one who can help us. Please!"
She had not expected this turn of events—a century-old vampire begging like a desperate lunatic for her help in wooing her mother.
"Look, Edward. I'll tell her that you want to see her, but I can't promise anything." She'd tell her a hell of a lot more than that, she thought. Shit! Mind reader.
She looked up at Edward's face again, and his eyes were focused behind her, out the window. Before she had time to turn and look at what he was watching, she was flying. Or something. She felt her bag fly off her shoulder, and everything around her was blurry, spinning. Just as she began to register what was happening, she was being tossed, and her shoulder slammed into something hard but also soft, like padding. There was a sound like a car door slamming, and everything shook a little. She blinked and shook her head – she was in the back seat of a car, and before she could even sit up again, it jolted as the engine started and sped off.
