Morning, Lovelies!

Thank you to Mel!

CHAPTER TEN

Bella

"In every conceivable manner, the family is a link to our past, bridge to our future."

— Alex Haley

Time seemed to halt almost completely in the submarine.

Edward and I mostly spent our days trying to come up with some sort of plan of what to do next. Whenever we could get away with it though, we would excuse ourselves to our room where we spent hours exploring one another. I'd never been so open and vulnerable with another person before.

Edward had found a way into my heart, and now that he was there, I couldn't hold back even if I tried.

We'd spent the better part of six hours locked in a discussion about what all our possible moves might be until we'd finally succumbed to the tension mounting between us. Now, we were wrapped around one another, the sheets of our bed completely mussed, as we both came down from our orgasmic highs. Edward's head was nestled between my breasts, our bodies stretched out against one another, and his finger drew small patterns against my stomach.

"Bella?"

"Hm?" My eyes were closed, my body blissed-out and boneless.

"Why don't you ever menstruate?"

My eyes snapped open, and I half sat up, sending Edward sliding off of me. He rolled to the side, looking surprised.

"What?" I asked, my voice a strangled laugh.

Edward shrugged one shoulder. "I never see you on your period. Why is that?"

I blinked. Was this normal conversation to be having in a relationship? I had no idea. Peter had never asked me about my periods before.

"I… uh…" I stammered, so caught off guard I had no idea where to start.

"Do you think …" Edward hesitated, looking uncomfortable. "What I mean is, do you think you could be pregnant?"

I let out a sound that was definitely strangled and shook my head.

"Oh my god, okay hold on." I flung my hands up, shaking my head. "First of all, I am not pregnant," I said, probably with a little too much forcefulness. "I'm on birth control and it stops my periods," I explained.

Edward scowled. "I've never seen you take a pill," he objected.

I rolled my eyes. "I get the shot. And actually, I'm due for one sort of soon …" I glanced around the room, as if a calendar would magically appear and tell me the date.

"So no chance you're pregnant?" he asked.

I looked back at him. "I mean, there is always that small chance when you are sexually active, right? No birth control is completely effective." I shrugged. "But no, it's like a 99% chance I'm not pregnant."

Edward let out a breath and I watched his shoulders drop.

"What brought this on?"

Edward's gaze had traveled to the bedsheets, but it sprang up to my face again when I asked. "I don't know," he said with a shrug. "It's just this … I guess it's a hunch?" He sighed. "I feel like when Charlie did what he did to us …" He paused as I flinched, and I felt his fingers take mine into his warm hold. He brought my palm to his lips and pressed a kiss there. "When he did that, I feel like he was trying to make sure you got pregnant."

"Why would he do that?"

Edward's fingers wove through mine. "It's about preserving the legacy. If you're pregnant with my offspring, no one can fight our marriage, not without killing the three of us." He licked his lips and shook his head. "It would start an all-out war."

I frowned, trying to parse through his logic. I hated that he was making any sort of sense right now, especially since it meant admitting Charlie had been even to some small degree justified in his actions.

"Well, I'm not pregnant," I said, shaking my head and tugging my hand out of Edward's grasp to fold my arms over my stomach.

"You don't think," he corrected me.

My gaze flickered toward him anxiously. "I can't be," I said quietly. If I had been, surely the blood sample they took would have announced it.

Though … would they have told me what they found?

Edward was silent, his brilliant eyes looking me over before his shoulders slumped again, and I knew what was coming.

"We've never really talked about it," he said softly. "I mean, aside from our marriage contract." I swallowed hard and Edward continued. "At some point, we'll have to have children."

I grit my teeth. "Maybe if every Sixteen family stopped having kids, this whole nightmare of a life would go away."

Edward shrugged. "There's always someone else who would rise up to take power when they can," he said slowly. "There's no stopping that."

I bit my lip. So often I wished I could take my fate back, make the decision not to go to the Academy. What I wouldn't give for the bliss of ignorance.

But realistically, I knew that life never was mine. Charlie would have come for me, one way or another, and in an alternate reality, I wouldn't have Edward. I'd be alone, a complete pawn to Charlie's plans.

"Bella?"

I blinked and focused on Edward. "What?"

He frowned. "I asked if you wanted kids." He looked uncertain as he asked, and I felt my stomach tighten.

"I honestly don't know," I said softly. "It's not like I've had stellar role models for parenting."

Edward snorted. "Neither have I," he pointed out.

I smiled humorlessly. "I can't think of two more unqualified people to be parents."

Edward laughed and the sound shot through me, warming me from the inside out. "Agreed." He chuckled. "But we'll figure it out. We're smart enough to do that," he said, reaching for one of my hands. He unwound it from around my stomach and I let him.

"But not right now, right?" I asked.

Edward kissed my fingertips. "No, not right now," he agreed. "I want to get through this with the Sixteen, and then I want a few years showing you the world like you've never seen it." He smiled up at me as he pressed another kiss to the pad of my index finger. "Imagine the world at your feet, Bella. You're a goddess. You deserve to know what that view looks like."

I felt something flutter in me, something dark and hungry that only Edward seemed to draw out of me.

"I'd like that." I purred, sliding down the bed until I was beside him. Edward grinned and grabbed my hips, flipping me over his body as he rolled onto his back. I smiled as my hands splayed over his chest. "In fact, I'm liking the view already."

Edward laughed and tugged my face down until our lips were caught in a searing kiss.

"What are you waiting for, baby?" He moaned. "Claim your throne."

…

Captain Stevens looked tired as she entered the private dining room where Edward and I ate all our meals. I wasn't opposed to eating with the rest of the crew, but Edward had assured me that it was better this way. Apparently, we made the crew nervous, and if we were hanging around constantly, none of them would be able to lower their guard. I wasn't sure how to feel about that.

"Captain," Edward and I acknowledged, motioning to an open chair at the table. The captain gave us a grateful nod and took a seat, letting out a small breath.

"Thank you," she said as Edward gestured toward the table, indicating that the captain help herself. She leaned forward and poured herself a glass of water before she settled back in her seat.

"How is everything going?" I asked, wondering if the tension in her shoulders was from us or our voyage.

"The ice is thick," she said slowly. "It's taking longer than we anticipated to navigate." It wasn't fully winter yet, but that didn't stop the cold from taking over in the north. Much of the ocean was turning to ice on the surface, something the captain explained could impede our trip. We'd been on the run for nearly a week now and were still trying to navigate our way out of arctic waters. Apparently, Edward's escape plan before everything had gone to shit, had relied on his ability to contact a pilot he had on standby a few hours south of the island. Had things worked out the way he'd thought they would, we would have been out of the ice and into warmer, far less dangerous waters, both metaphorically and literally.

"Has there been any successful contact with Jasper?" I asked the captain.

We'd been working on getting communication from him all week, but thus far there had been nothing. I was praying to whatever higher power was out there that no one knew he aided our escape and that he'd been able to get off that island safely. I still wasn't entirely sure he was on our side, but right now, I wasn't exactly in a position to be turning away allies. I tried to quell my uncertainty as quietly as possible.

"No, not yet," the captain said with a purse of her lips. "I will inform you at once when we manage to get through."

I looked at Edward to see his eyebrows were furrowed, his face pensive. "Is it possible they are still meeting?" I asked him. What was Charlie doing? Was he fending off the rest of the Sixteen in the wake of our news, or had he been the one to betray us? If so, what could have possibly been his motive?

Edward blinked and looked at me. "It's possible," he acknowledged. "Jasper's a head, so he's a lot safer than we were." He let out a breath. "We need to know what went on in those chambers after we fled."

I glanced at Captain Stevens who looked carefully blank, as if she was pretending not to hear our conversation. "Captain, was there any success in reaching our second contact?"

The captain nodded. "Yes, in fact, that was what I've come here to tell you." At that, she smiled and it felt surprising to see such a genuine expression on someone's face. The Sixteen never gave anything away, not even Charlie when he seemed to be smug. There was always something hidden, a card held so close to the chest there was no guessing what it was. "We managed to make contact with your team, Mr. Cullen. Ms. Brandon will be calling within the hour."

I blinked. "Are we able to receive calls?"

The captain nodded. "We've surfaced for the time being. It should be no problem, provided the weather holds."

With that she finished off her glass of water and stood. "Thank you for the drink," she said, inclining her head toward us. "I'll inform you when the call is ready."

The captain slipped out of the dining room, leaving Edward and me to our thoughts.

"Do you think Alice has made any progress?" I asked, turning toward him.

"I hope so." He sighed. "God, I'm praying that we have something on that drive. Some sort of leverage. We're going to fucking need it after that bomb dropped."

I nodded in agreement. "Who do you think spilled the beans on us?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "Honestly, it could have been anyone."

"But your parents swore to keep us safe and Jasper rescued us immediately afterwards," I pointed out. "Which leaves only Charlie who knew about our marriage." Not once had Charlie shared any sort of contingency plan with me. As far as I knew, he'd been so sure of himself and his power that he didn't have any plan in place.

Was he that delusional with power, or was there something I was missing?

Edward looked at me. "You think he threw you under the bus?"

I shrugged. "Who the fuck knows what he did," I said, my tone surprisingly bitter. "He's a megalomaniac. He can spout bullshit about wanting me to take over his legacy all he wants, but at the end of the day, I know I mean nothing to him." Edward didn't respond, and I eyed him. "Do you disagree?" My voice rose with my surprise.

Edward blinked. "No, I …" He took a breath. "Honestly, I don't know. Charlie is hard to read. His actions feel random and impulsive, but I'm starting to see a pattern in them."

I frowned. "What pattern?"

Edward dragged in a deep breath. "He's making the world ready for you. Everything he's doing, it's the same thing I would probably do for our child."

My stomach roiled at that thought. "What?" I hissed. "You would not."

Edward shook his head. "I wouldn't fucking kidnap them and roofie them," he clarified. "But the way he's setting up the board, maneuvering the pieces into place? Fuck yes I would do that if it meant my child was taken care of."

Edward couldn't be right about this. Charlie didn't care about me, didn't care about anyone but himself. There was no way he was acting on anyone's best intentions but his own.

I didn't respond and it seemed that Edward didn't need me to. We finished our dinner in silence, both wrapped up in our thoughts, and by the time we were done, Captain Stevens had found us again and motioned us to follow her.

"We've made contact with Ms. Brandon. She's waiting for you on the bridge."

Edward and I hustled after her, and for the first time since stepping foot onto the sub, we found the bridge completely deserted. Where was everyone?

"I've sent the crew down for supper to give you some privacy," Captain Stevens explained. "You can find me in the mess when you are done. Press that button there to connect the speaker. Audio only, I'm afraid." With that, she gave us a tight smile before she slipped out of the room.

Turning to Edward, I took a deep breath before connecting the call.

"Alice?"

There was a moment of quiet and then Alice's voice came over the line. "Bella?"

I let out a harsh breath. "Alice, tell me you're okay."

She hummed. "Yeah, I mean. As okay as I can be." She sounded annoyed, but that was pretty typical for Alice.

"Is my team still there?" Edward asked.

"Yup, I'm basically a prisoner." Alice's voice turned acidic and I shook my head.

"Have you been able to make any headway with the flash drive?" I asked.

"Yes and no." Alice sighed. "I've cracked into it but there are layers of security I've never seen stored on a simple flash drive before. It's taking forever to decode."

I frowned. "That must be a good sign, right?" I asked, looking at Edward.

He shrugged while Alice answered. "I certainly hope so," she muttered.

"Are you still in Vermont?" I asked, turning back toward the speaker.

"No. As soon as you two took off, Edward's team moved me to a new location. Still in New England though."

Edward nodded like this wasn't a surprise to him. "We're trying to make our way toward you," he told her. "Did Captain Stevens explain?"

Alice hesitated. "Yeah. Are you really—"

"We need to find a safe place to meet," Edward said, cutting her off. "I need you to talk to my team and get them to coordinate somewhere off the coast. Once you have a spot, I need you to send a message to Captain Stevens. We'll rendezvous there as soon as possible."

Alice huffed. "God, you are so bossy," she hissed. "Did it ever occur to you that—"

"Alice," I sighed, cutting her off. "Please."

She let out a grunt. "You know what? Fine. But after this, we're done, okay? I don't want part in this anymore. I want off this psycho bus. Do you understand me?"

I winced and beside me, Edward rolled his eyes. "Alice, I don't know if it'll be so simple."

"I don't care," Alice hissed. "I'm done. I don't want to spend the rest of my life like this." She sighed. "I regret it every day that I came to find you, Bella."

Her words felt like a punch to my gut. I felt Edward's hand land on my back, rubbing soothing small circles.

"Enough, Alice," Edward warned. "We'll part ways when we're done, but we're also going to make sure you are safe. You know too much now. They might not let you walk away."

Alice made a noncommittal sound in response.

"Figure out a location, then contact us. We'll be there as quickly as possible."

"Fine," Alice agreed, and before I could say anything more, she hung up, leaving me feeling sick and hollow. I knew it wasn't technically my fault that Alice was in this situation, but I couldn't help feeling responsible anyway.

I was going to have to make it up to Alice once we were finally safe again.

If we were ever safe again.