Good morning, loves! Please see the AN at the bottom.
Thank you to Mel and Pamela!
XXXIII
EPILOGUE
EDWARD
December 22, 1897
Darjeeling, India
I can sense from the moment I wake that something is wrong. There is a taste in the air, something sharp and unfamiliar, that unequivocally made my stomach roil.
Bella is not beside me, and though she has taken to rising early and setting herself by the window to watch the world wake, I know this time something is different.
I surge out of bed, my heart a solid stone in my chest as I quickly don my dressing robe. "Bella?" I call out, feeling the rock in my chest sink lower and lower. "Bella?" There is no answer.
I race from our room, instinctively knowing I will not find Bella anywhere, though all the while praying that I am somehow wrong.
My wife would never just leave me, which presents only one other terrible possibility.
I refuse to believe it. I push on through the house, my heartbeat growing more frantic the longer I cannot not find my beloved.
What if something happened to her… what if…
A door opens ahead, and I see Alice emerge in her own dressing gown, looking startled by the noise I am making in my search.
"Edward, what's wrong?"
I shake my head, lost for words as Jasper appears behind his wife.
"Have you seen Bella?" I finally manage to choke out.
Alice immediately goes pale, her slight body trembling. "No, no, no, no," she chants, her voice turning into a moan. "No, how … oh God, Jasper! It's happening!"
I have to turn from the hysterical woman and continue on in my search. I canot bring myself to believe in Alice's supposed visions of Bella. Not yet.
I nearly tear the house upside down in my search, and by the time I am ripping open that last wardrobe, I know the horrible, ugly truth. Bella is gone, snatched away from our life together like a leaf caught in the tides of the great oceans.
I can feel my panic, anguish, and fury all roll together into a tight knot inside my chest. She cannot be gone. She is my wife.
I take a steadying breath, trying to ease the tension in my chest. Bella isn't helpless. She is the strongest person I know, and her strength has proven itself ten times over. Somewhere in time and space, Bella is out there, having to be clever and brave enough to find her way back home. The very least I can do is lend to this situation the same courage.
I suck in a breath, willing it to calm my erratic heart. I may not be able to travel through time, but that does not mean I must be idle. I will find my wife, whenever she might be. I will work tirelessly, consult any number of experts. I will do whatever is needed in order to track her down, even if I must rewrite time itself to get to her.
This officially concludes book one. I know it's a horrible cliffhanger, so let me share some good news. Book two will post in this same story and will be posting on our next regularly scheduled posting day! Yes, that's right, there will be no gap in posting from book one to book two!
I hope you all have an absolutely wonderful holiday season. We'll see you again in the new year for the beginning of Omen! Be sure to check FB for all the teasers!
Cheers!
x