I'd taken to wearing some of Alice's lingerie collection to sleep in at night—which weren't so revealing
compared to the scanty bikinis she'd packed for me when it came right down to it. I wondered if she'd
seen a vision of why I would want such things, and then shuddered, embarrassed by that thought.
I'd started out slow with innocent ivory satins, worried that revealing more of my skin would be the
opposite of helpful, but ready to try anything. Edward seemed to notice nothing, as if I were wearing the
same ratty old sweats I wore at home.
The bruises were much better now—yellowing in some places and disappearing altogether in others—so
tonight I pulled out one of the scarier pieces as I got ready in the paneled bathroom. It was black, lacy,
and embarrassing to look at even when it wasn't on. I was careful not to look in the mirror before I went
back to the bedroom. I didn't want to lose my nerve.
I had the satisfaction of watching his eyes pop open wide for just a second before he controlled his
expression.
"What do you think?" I asked, pirouetting so that he could see every angle.
He cleared his throat. "You look beautiful. You always do."
"Thanks," I said a bit sourly.
I was too tired to resist climbing quickly into the soft bed. He put his arms around me and pulled me
Generatedby ABC Amber LIT Converter, m/ml
against his chest, but this was routine—it was too hot to sleep without his cool body close.
"I'll make you a deal," I said sleepily.
"I will not make any deals with you," he answered.
"You haven't even heard what I'm offering."
"It doesn't matter."
I sighed. "Dang it. And I really wanted… Oh well."
He rolled his eyes.
I closed mine and let the bait sit there. I yawned.
It took only a minute—not long enough for me to zonk out.
"All right. What is it you want?"
I gritted my teeth for a second, fighting a smile. If there was one thing he couldn't resist, it was an
opportunity to give me something.
"Well, I was thinking… I know that the whole Dartmouth thing was just supposed to be a cover story,
but honestly, one semester of college probably wouldn't kill me," I said, echoing his words from long ago,
when he'd tried to persuade me to put off becoming a vampire. "Charlie would get a thrill out of
Dartmouth stories, I bet. Sure, it might be embarrassing if I can't keep up with all the brainiacs. Still…
eighteen, nineteen. It's really not such a big difference. It's not like I'm going to get crow's feet in the next
year."
He was silent for a long moment. Then, in a low voice, he said, "You would wait. You would stay
human."
I held my tongue, letting the offer sink in.
"Why are you doing this to me?" he said through his teeth, his tone suddenly angry. "Isn't it hard enough
without all of this?" He grabbed a handful of lace that was ruffled on my thigh. For a moment, I thought
he was going to rip it from the seam. Then his hand relaxed. "It doesn't matter. I won't make any deals
with you."
"I want to goto college."
"No, you don't. And there is nothing that is worth risking your life again. That's worth hurting you."
"But I do want to go. Well, it's not college as much as it's that I want—I want to be human a little while
longer."
He closed his eyes and exhaled through his nose. "You are making me insane, Bella. Haven't we had this
argument a million times, you always begging to be a vampire without delay?"
"Yes, but… well, I have a reason to be human that I didn't have before."
Generatedby ABC Amber LIT Converter, m/ml
"What's that?"
"Guess," I said, and I dragged myself off the pillows to kiss him.
He kissed me back, but not in a way that made me think I was winning. It was more like he was being
careful not to hurt my feelings; he was completely, maddeningly in control of himself. Gently, he pulled me
away after a moment and cradled me against his chest.
"You are so human, Bella. Ruled by your hormones." He chuckled.
"That's the whole point, Edward. I like this part of being human. I don't want to give it up yet. I don't
want to wait through years of being a blood-crazed newborn for some part of this to come back to me."
I yawned, and he smiled.
"You're tired. Sleep, love." He started humming the lullaby he'd composed for me when we first met.
"I wonder why I'm so tired," I muttered sarcastically. "That couldn't be part of your scheme or anything."
He just chuckled once and went back to humming.
"For as tired as I've been, you'd think I'd sleep better."
The song broke off. "You've been sleeping like the dead, Bella. You haven't said a word in your sleep
since we got here. If it weren't for the snoring, I'd worry you were slipping into a coma."
I ignored the snoring jibe; I didn't snore. "I haven't been tossing? That's weird. Usually I'm all over the
bed when I'm having nightmares. And shouting."
"You've been having nightmares?"
"Vivid ones. They make me so tired." I yawned. "I can't believe I haven't been babbling about them all
night."
"What are they about?"
"Different things—but the same, you know, because of the colors."
"Colors?"
"It's all so bright and real. Usually, when I'm dreaming, I know that I am. With these, I don't know I'm
asleep. It makes them scarier."
He sounded disturbed when he spoke again. "What is frightening you?"
I shuddered slightly. "Mostly …" I hesitated.
"Mostly?" he prompted.
I wasn't sure why, but I didn't want to tell him about the child in my recurring nightmare; there was
Generatedby ABC Amber LIT Converter, m/ml
something private about that particular horror. So, instead of giving him the full description, I gave him
just one element. Certainly enough to frighten me or anyone else.
"The Volturi," I whispered.
He hugged me tighter. "They aren't going to bother us anymore. You'll be immortal soon, and they'll have
no reason."
I let him comfort me, feeling a little guilty that he'd misunderstood. The nightmares weren't like that,
exactly. It wasn't that I was afraid for myself—I was afraid for the boy.
He wasn't the same boy as that first dream—the vampire child with the bloodred eyes who sat on a pile
of dead people I loved. This boy I'd dreamed of four times in the last week was definitely human; his
cheeks were flushed and his wide eyes were a soft green. But just like the other child, he shook with fear
and desperation as the Volturi closed in on us.
In this dream that was both new and old, I simply had to protect the unknown child. There was no other
option. At the same time, I knew that I would fail.
He saw the desolation on my face. "What can I do to help?"
I shook it off. "They're just dreams, Edward."
"Do you want me to sing to you? Ill sing all night if it will keep the bad dreams away."
"They're not all bad. Some are nice. So… colorful. Underwater, with the fish and the coral. It all seems
like it's really happening—I don't know that I'm dreaming. Maybe this island is the problem. It's really
bright here."
"Do you want to go home?"
"No. No, not yet. Can't we stay awhile longer?"
"We can stay as long as you want, Bella," he promised me.
"When does the semester start? I wasn't paying attention before."
He sighed. He may have started humming again, too, but I was under before I could be sure.
Later, when I awoke in the dark, it was with shock. The dream had been so very real… so vivid, so
sensory… I gasped aloud, now, disoriented by the dark room. Only a second ago, it seemed, I had been
under the brilliant sun.
"Bella?" Edward whispered, his arms tight around me, shaking me gently. "Are you all right, sweetheart?"
"Oh," I gasped again. Just a dream. Not real. To my utter astonishment, tears overflowed from my eyes
without warning, gushing down my face.
"Bella!" he said—louder, alarmed now. "What's wrong?" He wiped the tears from my hot cheeks with
cold, frantic fingers, but others followed.
Generatedby ABC Amber LIT Converter, m/ml
"It was only a dream." I couldn't contain the low sob that broke in my voice. The senseless tears were
disturbing,
but I couldn't get control of the staggering grief that gripped me. I wanted so badly for the dream to be
real.
"It's okay, love, you're fine. I'm here." He rocked me back and forth, a little too fast to soothe. "Did you
have another nightmare? It wasn't real, it wasn't real."
"Not a nightmare." I shook my head, scrubbing the back of my hand against my eyes. "It was a good
dream." My voice broke again.
"Then why are you crying?" he asked, bewildered.
"Because I woke up," I wailed, wrapping my arms around his neck in a chokehold and sobbing into his
throat.
He laughed once at my logic, but the sound was tense with concern.
"Everything's all right, Bella. Take deep breaths."
"It was so real," I cried. "I wanted it to be real."
"Tell me about it," he urged. "Maybe that will help."
"We were on the beach. …" I trailed off, pulling back to look with tear-filled eyes at his anxious angel's
face, dim in the darkness. I stared at him broodingly as the unreasonable grief began to ebb.
"And?" he finally prompted.
I blinked the tears out of my eyes, torn. "Oh, Edward …"
"Tell me, Bella," he pleaded, eyes wild with worry at the pain in my voice.
But I couldn't. Instead I clutched my arms around his neck again and locked my mouth with his
feverishly. It wasn't desire at all—it was need, acute to the point of pain. His response was instant but
quickly followed by his rebuff.
He struggled with me as gently as he could in his surprise, holding me away, grasping my shoulders.
"No, Bella," he insisted, looking at me as if he was worried that I'd lost my mind.
My arms dropped, defeated, the bizarre tears spilling in a fresh torrent down my face, a new sob rising
in my throat. He was right—I must be crazy.
He stared at me with confused, anguished eyes.
"I'm s-s-s-orry," I mumbled.
But he pulled me to him then, hugging me tightly to his marble chest.
Generatedby ABC Amber LIT Converter, m/ml
"I can't, Bella, I can't!" His moan was agonized.
"Please," I said, my plea muffled against his skin. "Please, Edward?"
I couldn't tell if he was moved by the tears trembling in my voice, or if he was unprepared to deal with
the suddenness of my attack, or if his need was simply as unbearable in that moment as my own. But
whatever the reason, he pulled my lips back to his, surrendering with a groan.
And we began where my dream had left off.
I stayed very still when I woke up in the morning and tried to keep my breathing even. I was afraid to
open my eyes.
I was lying across Edward's chest, but he was very still and his arms were not wrapped around me. That
was a bad sign. I was afraid to admit I was awake and face his anger—no matter whom it was directed
at today.
Carefully, I peeked through my eyelashes. He was staring up at the dark ceiling, his arms behind his
head. I pulled myself up on my elbow so that I could see his face better. It was smooth, expressionless.
"How much trouble am I in?" I asked in a small voice.
"Heaps," he said, but turned his head and smirked at me.
I breathed a sigh of relief. "I am sorry," I said. "I didn't mean… Well, I don't know exactly what that was
last night." I shook my head at the memory of the irrational tears, the crushing grief.
"You never did tell me what your dream was about."
"I guess I didn't—but I sort of showed you what it was about." I laughed nervously.
"Oh," he said. His eyes widened, and then he blinked. "Interesting."
"It was a very good dream," I murmured. He didn't comment, so a few seconds later I asked, "Am I
forgiven?"
"I'm thinking about it."
I sat up, planning to examine myself—there didn't seem to be any feathers, at least. But as I moved, an
odd wave of vertigo hit. I swayed and fell back against the pillows.
"Whoa… head rush."
His arms were around me then. "You slept for a long time. Twelve hours."
"Twelve?"How strange.
I gave myself a quick once-over while I spoke, trying to be inconspicuous about it. I looked fine. The
bruises on my arms were still a week old, yellowing. I stretched experimentally. I felt fine, too. Well,
better than fine, actually.
Generatedby ABC Amber LIT Converter, m/ml
"Is the inventory complete?"
I nodded sheepishly. "The pillows all appear to have survived."
"Unfortunately, I can't say the same for your, er, nightgown." He nodded toward the foot of the bed,
where several scraps of black lace were strewn across the silk sheets.
"That's too bad," I said. "I liked that one."
"I did, too."
"Were there any other casualties?" I asked timidly.
"I'll have to buy Esme a new bed frame," he confessed, glancing over his shoulder. I followed his gaze
and was shocked to see that large chunks of wood had apparently been gouged from the left side of the
headboard.
"Hmm." I frowned. "You'd think I would have heard that."
"You seem to be extraordinarily unobservant when your attention is otherwise involved."
"I was a bit absorbed," I admitted, blushing a deep red.
He touched my burning cheek and sighed. "I'm really going to miss that."
I stared at his face, searching for any signs of the anger or remorse I feared. He gazed back at me
evenly, his expression calm but otherwise unreadable.
"How are you feeling?'7
He laughed.
"What?" I demanded.
"You look so guilty—like you've committed a crime."
"I feel guilty," I muttered.
"So you seduced your all-too-willing husband. That's not a capital offense."
He seemed to be teasing.
My cheeks got hotter. "The word seduced implies a certain amount of premeditation."
"Maybe that was the wrong word," he allowed.
"You're not angry?"
He smiled ruefully. Tm not angry."
"Why not?"
Generatedby ABC Amber LIT Converter, m/ml
"Well. . ." He paused. "I didn't hurt you, for one thing. It was easier this time, to control myself, to
channel the excesses." His eyes flickered to the damaged frame again. "Maybe because I had a better
idea of what to expect."
A hopeful smile started to spread across my face. "I told you that it was all about practice."
He rolled his eyes.
My stomach growled, and he laughed. "Breakfast time for the human?" he asked.
"Please," I said, hopping out of bed. I moved too quickly, though, and had to stagger drunkenly to regain
my balance. He caught me before I could stumble into the dresser.
"Are you all right?"
"If I don't have a better sense of equilibrium in my next life, I'm demanding a refund."
I cooked this morning, frying up some eggs—too hungry to do anything more elaborate. Impatient, I
flipped them onto a plate after just a few minutes.
"Since when do you eat eggs sunny-side up?" he asked.
"Since now."
"Do you know how many eggs you've gone through in the last week?" He pulled the trash bin out from
under the sink—it was full of empty blue cartons.
"Weird," I said after swallowing a scorching bite. "This place is messing with my appetite." And my
dreams, and my already dubious balance. "But I like it here. Well probably have to leave soon, though,
won't we, to make it to Dartmouth in time? Wow, I guess we need to find a place to live and stuff, too."
He sat down next to me. "You can give up the college pretense now—you've gotten what you wanted.
And we didn't agree to a deal, so there are no strings attached."
I snorted. "It wasn't a pretense, Edward. I don't spend my free time plotting like some people do. What
can we do to wear Bella out today?" I said in a poor impression of his voice. He laughed, unashamed.
"I really do want a little more time being human." I leaned over to run my hand across his bare chest. "I
have not had enough."
He gave me a dubious look. "For this?" he asked, catching my hand as it moved down his stomach.
"Sex was the key all along?" He rolled his eyes. "Why didn't i think of that?" he muttered sarcastically. "I
could have saved myself a lot of arguments."
I laughed. "Yeah, probably."
"You are so human," he said again.
"I know."
A hint of a smile pulled at his lips. "We're going to Dartmouth? Really?"
Generatedby ABC Amber LIT Converter, m/ml
"I'll probably fail out in one semester."
"I'll tutor you." The smile was wide now. "You're going to love college."
"Do you think we can find an apartment this late?"
He grimaced, looking guilty. "Well, we sort of already have a house there. You know, just in case."
"You bought a house?"
"Real estate is a good investment."
I raised one eyebrow and then let it go. "So we're ready, then."
"I'll have to see if we can keep your 'before' car for a little longer___"
"Yes, heaven forbid I not be protected from tanks."
He grinned.
"How much longer can we stay?" I asked.
"We're fine on time. A few more weeks, if you want. And then we can visit Charlie before we go to
New Hampshire. We could spend Christmas with Renee___"
His words painted a very happy immediate future, one free of pain for everyone involved. The
Jacob-drawer, all but forgotten, rattled, and i amended the thought—for almost everyone.
This wasn't getting any easier. Now that I'd discovered exactly how good being human could be, it was
tempting to let my plans drift. Eighteen or nineteen, nineteen or twenty… Did it really matter? I wouldn't
change so much in a year. And being human with Edward… The choice got trickier every day.
"A few weeks," I agreed. And then, because there never seemed to be enough time, I added, "So I was
thinking—you know what I was saying about practice before?"
He laughed. "Can you hold on to that thought? I hear a boat. The cleaning crew must be here."
He wanted me to hold on to that thought. So did that mean he was not going to give me any more
trouble about practicing? I smiled.
"Let me explain the mess in the white room to Gustavo, and then we can go out. There's a place in the
jungle on the south—"
"I don't want to go out. i am not hiking all over the island today. I want to stay here and watch a movie."
He pursed his lips, trying not to laugh at my disgruntled tone. "All right, whatever you'd like. Why don't
you pick one out while I get the door?"
"I didn't hear a knock."
Generatedby ABC Amber LIT Converter, m/ml
He cocked his head to the side, listening. A half second later, a faint, timid rap on the door sounded. He
grinned and turned for the hallway.
I wandered over to the shelves under the big TV and started scanning through the titles. It was hard to
decide where to begin. They had more DVDs than a rental store.
I could hear Edward's low, velvet voice as he came back down the hall, conversing fluidly in what I
assumed was perfect Portuguese. Another, harsher, human voice answered in the same tongue.
Edward led them into the room, pointing toward the kitchen on his way. The two Brazilians looked
incredibly short and dark next to him. One was a round man, the other a slight female, both their faces
creased with lines. Edward gestured to me with a proud smile, and I heard my name mixed in with a
flurry of unfamiliar words. I flushed a little as I thought of the downy mess in the white room, which they
would soon encounter. The little man smiled at me politely.
But the tiny coffee-skinned woman didn't smile. She stared at me with a mixture of shock, worry, and
most of all, wide-eyed fear. Before I could react, Edward motioned for them to follow him toward the
chicken coop, and they were gone.
When he reappeared, he was alone. He walked swiftly to my side and wrapped his arms around me.
"What's with her?" I whispered urgently, remembering her panicked expression.
He shrugged, unperturbed. "Kaure's part Ticuna Indian. She was raised to be more superstitious—or
you could call it more aware—than those who live in the modern world. She suspects what I am, or
close enough." He still didn't sound worried. "They have their own legends here. The Libishomen—a
blood-drinking demon who preys exclusively on beautiful women." He leered at me.
Beautiful women only? Well, that was kind of flattering.
"She looked terrified," I said.
"She is—but mostly she's worried about you."
"Me?"
"She's afraid of why I have you here, all alone." He chuckled darkly and then looked toward the wall of
movies. "Oh well, why don't you choose something for us to watch? That's an acceptably human thing to
do."
"Yes, I'm sure a movie will convince her that you're human." I laughed and clasped my arms securely
around his neck, stretching up on my tiptoes. He leaned down so that I could kiss him, and then his arms
tightened around me, lifting me off the floor so he didn't have to bend.
"Movie, schmovie," I muttered as his lips moved down my throat, twisting my fingers in his bronze hair.
Then I heard a gasp, and he put me down abruptly. Kaure stood frozen in the hallway, feathers in her
black hair, a large sack of more feathers in her arms, an expression of horror on her face. She stared at
me, her eyes bugging out, as I blushed and looked down. Then she recovered herself and murmured
something that, even in an unfamiliar language, was clearly an apology. Edward smiled and answered in a
friendly tone. She turned her dark eyes away
Generatedby ABC Amber LIT Converter, m/ml
and continued down the hall.
"She was thinking what I think she was thinking, wasn't she?" I muttered.
He laughed at my convoluted sentence. "Yes."
"Here," I said, reaching out at random and grabbing a movie. "Put this on and we can pretend to watch
it."
It was an old musical with smiling faces and fluffy dresses on the front.
"Very honeymoonish," Edward approved.
While actors on the screen danced their way through a perky introduction song, I lolled on the sofa,
snuggled into Edward's arms.
"Will we move back into the white room now?" I wondered idly.
"I don't know… I've already mangled the headboard in the other room beyond repair—maybe if we
limit the destruction to one area of the house, Esme might invite us back someday."
I smiled widely. "So there will be more destruction?"
He laughed at my expression. "I think it might be safer if it's premeditated, rather than if I wait for you to
assault me again."
"It would only be a matter of time," I agreed casually, but my pulse was racing in my veins.
"Is there something the matter with your heart?"
"Nope. Healthy as a horse." I paused. "Did you want to go survey the demolition zone now?"
"Maybe it would be more polite to wait until we're alone. You may not notice me tearing the furniture
apart, but it would probably scare them."
In truth, I'd already forgotten the people in the other room. "Right. Drat."
Gustavo and Kaure moved quietly through the house while I waited impatiently for them to finish and
tried to pay attention to the happily-ever-after on the screen. I was starting to get sleepy—though,
according to Edward, I'd slept half the day—when a rough voice startled me. Edward sat up, keeping
me cradled against him, and answered Gustavo in flowing Portuguese. Gustavo nodded and walked
quietly toward the front door.
"They're finished," Edward told me.
"So that would mean that we're alone now?"
"How about lunch first?" he suggested.
I bit my lip, torn by the dilemma. I was pretty hungry.
Generatedby ABC Amber LIT Converter, m/ml
With a smile, he took my hand and led me to the kitchen. He knew my face so well, it didn't matter that
he couldn't read my mind.
"This is getting out of hand," I complained when I finally felt full.
"Do you want to swim with the dolphins this afternoon—burn off the calories?" he asked.
"Maybe later. I had another idea for burning calories."
"And what was that?"
"Well, there's an awful lot of headboard left—"
But I didn't finish. He'd already swept me up into his arms, and his lips silenced mine as he carried me
with inhuman speed to the blue room.
7. UNEXPECTED
The line of black advanced on me through the shroud-like mist. I could see their dark ruby eyes glinting
with desire, lusting for the kill. Their lips pulled back over their sharp, wet teeth—some to snarl, some to
smile.
I heard the child behind me whimper, but I couldn't turn to look at him. Though I was desperate to be
sure that he was safe, I could not afford any lapse in focus now.
They ghosted closer, their black robes billowing slightly with the movement. I saw their hands curl into
bone-colored claws. They started to drift apart, angling to come at us from all sides. We were
surrounded. We were going to die.
And then, like a burst of light from a flash, the whole scene was different. Yet nothing changed—the
Volturi still stalked toward us, poised to kill. All that really changed was how the picture looked to me.
Suddenly, I was hungry for it. I tvanfec/them to charge. The panic changed to bloodlust as I crouched
forward, a smile on my face, and a growl ripped through my bared teeth.
I jolted upright, shocked out of the dream.
The room was black. It was also steamy hot. Sweat matted my hair at the temples and rolled down my
throat.
I groped the warm sheets and found them empty.
"Edward?"
Just then, my fingers encountered something smooth and flat and stiff. One sheet of paper, folded in half.
I took the note with me and felt my way across the room to the light switch.
The outside of the note was addressed to Mrs. Cullen.
I'm hoping you won't wake and notice my absence, but, if you should, I'll be back very soon. I've just
gone to the mainland to hunt Go back to sleep and I'll be here when you wake again. I love you.
Generatedby ABC Amber LIT Converter, m/ml
I sighed. We'd been here about two weeks now, so I should have been expecting that he would have to
leave, but I hadn't been thinking about time. We seemed to exist outside of time here, just drifting along in
a perfect state.
I wiped the sweat off my forehead. I felt absolutely wide awake, though the clock on the dresser said it
was after one. I knew i would never be able to sleep as hot and sticky as I felt. Not to mention the fact
that if I shut off the light and closed my eyes, I was sure to see those prowling black figures in my head.
I got up and wandered aimlessly through the dark house, flipping on lights. It felt so big and empty
without Edward there. Different.
I ended up in the kitchen and decided that maybe comfort food was what I needed.
I poked around in the fridge until I found all the ingredients for fried chicken. The popping and sizzling of
the chicken in the pan was a nice, homey sound; I felt less nervous while it filled the silence.
It smelled so good that I started eating it right out of the pan, burning my tongue in the process. By the
fifth or sixth bite, though, it had cooled enough for me to taste it. My chewing slowed. Was there
something off about the flavor? I checked the meat, and it was white all the way through, but I wondered
if it was completely done. I took another experimental bite; I chewed twice. Ugh—definitely bad. I
jumped up to spit it into the sink. Suddenly, the chicken-and-oil smell was revolting. I took the whole
plate and shook it into the garbage, then opened the windows to chase away the scent. A coolish breeze
had picked up outside. It felt good on my skin.
I was abruptly exhausted, but i didn't want to go back to the hot room. So I opened more windows in
the TV room and lay on the couch right beneath them. I turned on the same movie we'd watched the
other day and quickly fell asleep to the bright opening song.
When I opened my eyes again, the sun was halfway up the sky, but it was not the light that woke me.
Cool arms were around me, pulling me against him. At the same time, a sudden pain twisted in my
stomach, almost like the aftershock of catching a punch in the gut.
Tm sorry," Edward was murmuring as he wiped a wintry hand across my clammy forehead. "So much
for thoroughness. I didn't think about how hot you would be with me gone. I'll have an air conditioner
installed before I leave again."
I couldn't concentrate on what he was saying. "Excuse me!" I gasped, struggling to get free of his arms.
He dropped his hold automatically. "Bella?"
I streaked for the bathroom with my hand clamped over my mouth. I felt so horrible that I didn't even
care—at first—that he was with me while I crouched over the toilet and was violently sick.
