His purpose, his reason was that tiny heartbeat. Edward had nurtured him. Edward loved that child. It was the only thing left of him that was good. That was the loss that had him scared. That was thing Edward was afraid of being without. Jumping through the flames Anna lit made him see. It wasn't her Edward couldn't bear to lose. Lucky was his, Anna would not take him. Edward wouldn’t let her.
Chapter 47
Anna's eyes opened suddenly. The dream was terrifying. A cold sweat rolled down her back. The heat was stifling. She could barely get enough breath. Her eyebrows furrowed inward as confusion broke over her. Anna reached out tentatively, feeling the bed at her side. Her skin tightened as the hairs on the back of her neck turned to needles.
“Edward?” Anna blinked her dead eyes. “Is that you?”
Edward pulled back just out of her arm’s reach, silent as death. He drank in her fear. It was like honey on his tongue. The little whimpers she made drew him in all the way from the woods outside. He loved the way her heartbeat slammed against her ribcage. Loved the way her breath caught in her throat. He watched her clumsily search for the source of his heat. Edward opened his mouth to apologize. Anna rolled awkwardly her hand feeling for the drawer on her nightstand. Edward’s eyes narrowed the words dying on his tongue. He knew Ellie had put the gun there. He did not know Anna knew about it. Rage lit a fire inside him.
He just wanted to talk to her. Convince her that leaving him was a bad idea. The flames Anna lit incinerated him. That fire turned everything he was to shit. He could snap her like a twig. Rip his son from her womb. Edward took in a slow breath forcing himself to count to ten. He needed Anna for just a little while longer. Let her give birth to his son and then he could finally do all the dark things he’d been fantasizing about.
“Edward, is that you? I hate it when you do this. Answer me!” Her voice shook, but beneath it was a thread of her own anger.
“What are you looking for, Anna?”
She hesitated a moment, her shoulders coming up. A breath fell out of her. “I didn't know it was you,” she answered. It was a loaded statement. She hated lying to him but flat out telling him that she didn’t trust him would only make things worse.
“You were looking for the gun,” he snapped. An unpleasant smirk split his thin lips.
“I didn't know it was you,” Anna repeated.
“Do you really think that gun would stop me? If I wanted to kill you, I would snap your neck, or maybe slit your throat. Watch as you bled to death,” he thundered. “Is that what you're so afraid of?”
All of Anna’s thoughts for his feelings were washed away with his tone of voice and his sick words. That was part of every worry she had about this baby, about their relationship. Anna’s dead eyes went hard, her lips tensing. “And you wonder why I'm so afraid of you?” She rolled onto her back having to work hard to finish the process of going over onto her other side. She came clumsily to her feet with the bed in between them. Anna took two steps toward the door.
Reese told her no matter how angry she got with Edward. She should never pick a fight with him. Reese told her that if Edward even seemed in the slightest bit annoyed she needed to find him or Vincent. So that’s where she headed, away from Edward and off to find one of the Wonder Twins. Anna counted the steps under her breath, reaching for the handle on the door. Anna came to a startled stop when she felt the heat explode over her. That trick of theirs tended to give the people who could see a heart attack. She worked hard to stifle the yelp.
“Where are you going?”
Anna shook. She swallowed past the tightness in her throat. Tears stung her eyes. “I don't want to fight with you, Edward.”
“No, you're afraid to fight with me,” Edward growled.
“Fine, I'm afraid of you. That's what you want to hear? I'm scared to death of you, and so is everyone else, even Ellie,” she snapped. Once the words left her lips, Anna regretted them instantly. Her face softened and her shoulders slumped. Anna couldn't see him and still she knew what those words had done to him. “I'm sorry, Edward.”
Edward sighed, his face splitting into a cruel grin. “They should be.”
“What?”
“You should be afraid of me. I'm not collared like her other pets, am I? I'm going to let you in on a secret, Anna. I never will be.”
Anna worked hard at being calm. She took in slow measured breaths. “Edward, please. I just want to go out on the deck with everyone else.”
“You want to leave. Sneak away with my sister's pets to guard you against me! You want to take my son away from me!” Edward was slowly advancing, and Anna was slowly, clumsily walking backward. Her legs hit the edge of the bed and she fell back on it. Her shallow breaths quickened.
“How did you-”
“How did I know? I can hear everything. You think I'm a monster. You haven't the imagination to fathom the horrible things I could do to you. All the ways I could make you scream!”
Chapter 48
Ellie leaned back against Vincent's chest, resting her head in the curve of his neck and shoulder. His long bangs tickled her face. She sat between his legs on the grass. Her left hand hooked around the crook of his arm. Her right, playing with the little golden frog pendant Vincent had given her. Vincent ran his hand through her hair absently, staring at the tree line. The sky was turning from blue to lavender. Little green flashes strafed across the sky like falling stars. Ellie loved the sound of his heartbeat. Vincent leaned forward, kissing the top of her head.
The few weeks since Ellie began making her plans had been easy. At least it was for them. Vincent and Reese had happily thrown themselves into the hunt for the Crazies as Ellie affectionately called them. Ellie made herself busy checking news feeds. They bought a map and began marking all of the possible murder scenes in red, printing out newspaper articles. It gave them something to take their minds off the looming problem of Edward. Today was the most relaxed Vincent had been, though, his paints may have helped with that. Ellie couldn't get there. She felt like a coward for not telling Anna she was going.
A cool wind blew past them. The side of Vincent's face pressed against her forehead. His arm rested on his raised knee. He waggled his fingers, letting them dance, and curl. Ellie stared at them, fascinated. They were stained with paint. Colors seeped into the lines of his flesh. Bright splotches covered his hands all the way up to his elbows. Vincent used to try so hard to keep still. He was afraid of his own movements. Afraid of his own strength. Vincent made a lot of progress in the last ten months they had been here.
He had streaks of paint in his hair from reaching up to push it out of his eyes. Blue stained the bridge of his nose. A splotch of orange dripped around his right eye. The t-shirt he wore was stiff in places from the paint. It was the only time Vincent wore color. Since coming to live here, he had the choice of his own clothes rather than whatever they could scrounge up. His shirts were usually black or gray. Every now and again he wore a white one. A pair of jeans and a plain V-necked t-shirt or a linen shirt that he left hanging open. Ellie loved those paint stained shirts of his. She stole them from him whenever possible.
Ellie smiled, breathing in deeply. This was another one of those moments. She’d been racking up quite a few of them lately. Ellie committed every sensation to her memory. She adored the warmth of his body. She luxuriated in the smell of his skin, the way his body felt folded around her. The last few weeks had been good. As close to good as the crazy situation of their life could be, at least. The boys were finally starting to relax about Edward. Sadly, that was another thing Ellie couldn't seem to do. Her brain kept screaming at her. Throwing up more little red flags, she worked hard to ignore. They could have left days ago. Ellie just couldn't force herself to go.
Vincent played with the spaghetti strap on her loose white tank top, with its splash of vibrant pinks and greens that spilled down from the top right corner. He pushed the sleeve of the cardigan she wore over it down on that side. Lifting the strap off her shoulder,
Vincent ran his finger along the inside all the way down to her breast, then back up again. Ellie reached up and back touching his neck. She could hear Charlie laughing, Vetler and Reese joking around. Charlie had relinquished the cooking gloves for one night, letting Vetler grill steaks out on the deck.
The pages of Vincent's sketchbook fluttered in the breeze next to them. His pencils, all varying lengths, fell down into the tall grass. When Ellie tore him away from his painting, she had to promise to let him sketch at least. When the muse says to paint, you paint, Vincent explained to her. Ellie didn't get it. She loved Vincent’s artwork. Thought everything he did was more than amazingly beautiful. Ellie had nothing like that, no special talents, no artistic abilities of any kind. She simply shrugged her shoulders and towed him out here to enjoy the sunset with her.
The song of the crickets put her at ease. The sound of Vincent's breathing made her smile. Vincent leaned his head back resting his chin on the top of her head for a moment. The first stars were beginning to shine in the sky above their heads. The sound of Anna and Edward arguing was ruining this moment for him. Vincent worked hard to ignore them, to focus on nothing but his Ellie.
Vincent touched his hand to her chin, guiding her face into a bare brush of silken lips. Ellie pulled away from him. His eyebrows furrowed, about to say something. Ellie turned around, coming to her knees clumsily, nearly falling against him. Vincent laughed. She was so clumsy, still. All Ellie could do about it was accept it would never get any better. Though, she wasn't thrilled about the smirk that spread across Vincent's face. He was full of unearthly litheness. It wasn't fair of him to mock her for being so pathetic.
“That's not nice, you know?” Ellie grumbled, frowning playfully.
“What's not nice?” Vincent asked, giving her an innocent look full of high eyebrows. That sexy devilish grin played across his full lips.
“Making fun of me.”
“I said nothing, not a thing,” he argued, his eyes sparkling with the humor in them. Vincent ran his hand over the back of her hair.
“You don't have to. I can read it all in that smile of yours.” Poking him in the chest playfully, Ellie scrunched her face up in mock annoyance. He laughed at her, with her. Vincent leaned into her wrapping his arms around her.
“Close your eyes,” Vincent demanded at the tail end of his laughter. His face went serious.
Ellie stopped moving, acquiescing. She relaxed against his arms, hanging there at the mercy of his embrace. Vincent's eyes danced over her face. He could not get over how beautiful everything about her was. Vincent touched the side of her face, ran the backs of his knuckles down her cheek. He took in a deep breath of her. Leaning in, Vincent touched the side of his face against hers.
“You shine so bright,” Vincent whispered. His breath was soft as any caress. “You will never comprehend what it is I feel for you, my Ellie. I will love you forever.”
Ellie smiled, her eyes still closed. “Only forever?”
Chapter 49
Reese tapped his beer bottle against Vetler's and gave him a smile over the clinking sound. He was rather enjoying himself. By the happy grin on Charlie's face so was she. He could see Vince holding Ellie just past the old oak tree. Saw Vince kissing her. It made the smile on Reese’s face wilt just a little at the edges. He was happy for them. Still, every time he saw them cuddling or sitting together, it threatened to rip his heart out of his chest.
Charlie caught his gaze and gave him a tight-lipped smile. The soft look in her eyes told him she understood. Her emotions let him know that as bad as she felt for him, Ellie and Vince belonged together. Reese cast a deep sigh and sat down on the built-in bench next to her, taking another long pull of his beer. From here, he didn't have to watch them. The corner of the house obscured them from his sight.
Fear, cold and gripping, sent icy fingers over his spine. Reese suddenly could not breathe. He couldn’t think. His hands began to shake. He could feel the color draining out of his face. Reese turned his head toward the house. It was Anna. Reese took in a deep shaking breath, working to clamp those heavy shields into place. Without Anna’s fear washing over him, Reese could breathe again. He stood up.
Reese shot a longing glance toward Vincent and Ellie. This would change everything. They knew this moment would come. This was his promise to Vince. Reese nodded. He set his beer on the bench next to Charlie. Reese had just a split second's hesitation. The idea of Ellie hating him was something he dreaded. He hadn’t known just how much until now. It was still not nearly as bad as Vince. Reese slipped into the open sliding glass doorway and headed for Edward's room, hoping selfishly that Edward could get a handle on it.
“Let me go,” Anna's voice trembled on the edge of panic. His grip on her arm shot a caustic fire over her. “Edward, you're hurting me!”
It spiraled down to this moment in time for him. Edward fought a hard, bloody battle against his Beast. The need to hear her screams. He was losing. That tiny spark that was still him reeled at what he was doing. His muscles were tense, his face a mask of rage. Anna’s fear was a blissful exhilaration. Like an addict, Edward needed it. All the other screams were shadows compared to hers.
It was Anna’s cries that he’d longed to hear. Edward still didn't understand why. That tiny spark of him still loved her. He loved her like he had never loved anyone ever before. Why did he crave her pain above all others? Edward pulled her forward a step crushing Anna’s body against his. He took in several dragging breaths. Edward felt it. Felt him. His son kicked him. His tiny feet slammed against Edward’s body. That sensation was enough to pull Edward back toward the edge by inches.
Edward blinked wide eyes down at her. The look of horror on Anna’s face would haunt his dreams. He swallowed past a dry mouth. His grip loosened a half beat before the dog came at him. The golden retriever launched himself at Edward. His jaws clamped down over his arm, his teeth ripping through Edward’s skin. Edward cried out. Anna pulled away from him. Burning rage flared once more smothering the tiny spark that was still Edward. His body began to shift.
Shane noticed the look on Reese's face. He watched Reese slip inside the house with a set to his shoulders. Shane sat the tongs down and spared a glance at Charlie. “You stay here,” he demanded.
A growl and a snarling bark made Shane’s feet move a bit quicker. He jogged toward the center island. Throwing the door back, Shane pulled the shotgun free. Reese gave him a look of warning just as he turned the corner to the bedroom. Vetler ignored him. He cocked the shotgun and held it to his shoulder as he moved down the hall.
Edward had Birdie by the throat. His muzzle and the front of his fur covered in blood. With a snap of Edward’s wrist, the dog’s neck shattered. Edward tossed the limp body of the dog out the door. Shane had to dodge his corpse. Reese stepped into Edward hurling a right hook to his solar plexus. Reese shifted as he moved. His muscles expanding, his bones breaking they forged themselves into a different shape.
Reese didn’t hold back in the least. A hit like that would have stopped Vince in his tracks. Edward barely registered it. Reese had a half second to look surprised before the powerful hit slammed into Reese cracking his sternum. Then he was flying through the air.
Anna tried to move past them. Edward lashed out, his claws slicing across her chest. Reese heard Anna scream. It was a blood and pain-drenched sound. She dropped to the floor, her knees crumpling. Reese heard her head slamming against the hardwood floor. It made a meaty THUD. Reese winced. There wasn’t a damned thing he could do for her. Reese pushed off the wall, rushing at Edward. Reese wanted to save his little brother from being a part of this. He was beginning to wonder if he could. Edward was much stronger than he would have ever imagined.
Vincent gave Ellie his most devilish lopsided grin. It made her skin tighten all over to see it. He laid his mouth against hers, a wet kiss. Vincent’s hands slipped up over the side of her neck, the line of her jaw. His hands glided between her velvety skin and her silken hair. He gave he
r one last open-mouthed brush of lips. His eyes opened. Ellie loved the color of them. They were such a soft shade of gray, like the sky after a spring rain.
“I love you, Ellie. Nothing can keep me from you. Tell me you know that. Tell me, you know that I will always come for you,” he whispered. His lips so close to her ear, she could feel them moving. Those words made Ellie smile. She didn't want this moment to end. Ellie touched a hand to each of his cheeks, her fingertips sliding across his smooth skin.
She opened her mouth to say something. Instead of her voice, she heard a shrill scream ring out. Before she knew it, Ellie was on her feet, Vincent's arms pulling her up. She ran toward the house. Vincent was gone. Ellie could hear the fight. She pulled the Heckler, pushing herself to run faster.
Two claws sliced across Edward’s side, just to heal again instantly before Reese's tapered razors even left his flesh. Reese hurled punch after punch pummeling his midsection. Punches so hard they split his skin. Edward took them, every one. Reese lashed out once more, a hook to the bottom of his chin that sent Edward sprawling backward.
Edward recovered quickly, too damn quick for Reese's taste. A powerful fist slammed against the side of Reese’s face, turning his bones to paste. Another blow sent shards of bone ripping into Reese’s brain. He cried out in fiery pain. “Vince!” Reese hated calling out to him, but there was no way in hell Reese could take Edward on his own.
Reese bent low dodging a powerful blow. His hand lashed out closing around Edward's wrist. Edward was strong. But he wasn't fast, and that would be the only thing that saved Reese. He twisted Edward’s wrist bending Edward's arm inward snapping every bone. Reese used the shattered arm to pull him off balance. He threw two blows to Edward’s kidneys, going for speed, rather than power.
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