THE TIME ALWAYS WENT SO QUICKLY. SOON BELLA WOULD NEED TO EAT another meal, and currently there was no food at all in my house; I planned to rectify that in the near future. Time to return to the human world. As long as we were together, it was not a burden but a joy.
So a meal, a little while to soak up her nearness, and then I’d have to leave her. I expected she would want to talk to Charlie alone before my introduction. But as soon as I turned onto her street, it was clear that my expectations for the afternoon were thwarted.
A 1987 Ford Tempo that had seen better days was parked in Charlie’s usual spot. And under the meager protection of the porch roof, a boy stood behind a man in wheelchair.
Bella beat him home, the old man thought. That’s unfortunate.
Hey, it’s Bella! The boy’s thoughts were much more enthusiastic.
I could think of only one reason that Billy Black would be unhappy to see Bella arrive before her father. And that reason involved a broken treaty. I would have confirmation soon enough; Billy hadn’t seen me yet.
“Has he forgotten who the treaty actually protects?” I hissed.
Bella glanced up at me, confused, though I doubted I’d spoken slowly enough for my words to be intelligible.
Jacob saw me in the driver’s seat just a second before Billy did.
Him again. So she must be dating him. His enthusiasm vanished.
NO! Billy’s thought was a shout, and then a mental groan. No.
I heard his half-articulated fears—should he tell his son to run? Was it already too late?—and then his guilt.
How did it know?
I saw that I was right, that this visit was no innocent social call.
Parking the truck against the curb, I locked eyes with the frightened man.
“This is crossing the line.” I enunciated clearly this time. I hoped he could read my lips.
Bella understood immediately. “He came to warn Charlie?” She sounded horrified by the idea.
I nodded, not breaking away from Billy’s stare. After a second more, he looked down.
“Let me deal with this,” Bella suggested.
As much as I would have loved to get out of the truck and stalk up to the helpless duo—to lean over them, intimidating, close enough that all the little signs of what I was would feel like they were screaming at the old man, to bare my teeth and snarl a warning in a voice that would sound anything but human, to watch his hair stand on end and hear his heart splutter with panic—I knew it was a bad idea. For one thing, Carlisle wouldn’t like it. For another, though the boy was well aware of the legends, he would never believe them. Unless I got in their faces and flaunted my less human side.
“That’s probably best,” I agreed. “Be careful, though. The child has no idea.”
Annoyance flashed suddenly across her face. I was confused until she spoke.
“Jacob is not that much younger than I am.”
It was the word child that had offended her.
“Oh, I know,” I teased.
Bella sighed and reached for the door handle, no happier about separating than I was.
“Get them inside so I can leave. I’ll be back around dusk,” I promised.
“Do you want my truck?”
“I could walk home faster than this truck moves.”
She smiled for a second, and then her face fell. “You don’t have to leave,” she murmured.
“Actually, I do.” I glanced at Billy Black. He was staring again, but he looked away quickly when he met my gaze. “After you get rid of them…” I felt a smile spreading across my face, a little too wide. “You still have to prepare Charlie to meet your new boyfriend.”
“Thanks a lot,” she moaned.
But while she clearly worried about Charlie’s reaction, I could see that she would go through with this. She would give me a label in her human world, something to let me belong there.
My smile softened. “I’ll be back soon.”
I appraised the humans on the porch one more time. Jacob Black was embarrassed, thinking caustic thoughts about his father for dragging him out to spy on Bella and her boyfriend. Billy Black was still suffused with fear, expecting me to suddenly begin butchering everyone in sight. It was insulting.
In that frame of mind, I leaned over to kiss Bella goodbye. Just to mess with the old man, I pressed my lips to her throat rather than her lips.
The agonized shouting in his head was nearly drowned out by the sound of Bella’s heart racing, and I wished the irritating humans would disappear.
But her eyes were on Billy now, appraising his distress.
“Soon,” she commanded. After one short, forlorn look, she opened the door and climbed out.
I sat very still as she jogged through the light rain to the door. “Hey, Billy. Hi, Jacob,” she said with forced enthusiasm. “Charlie’s gone for the day—I hope you haven’t been waiting long.”
“Not long,” the man said quietly. He kept glancing at me and then away again. He held up a brown paper bag. “I just wanted to bring this up.”
“Thanks. Why don’t you come in for a minute and dry off?”
She acted like she was unaware of his piercing stare, unlocking the door and then gesturing for them to enter, a smile glued to her face. She waited till they were inside the house to follow.
“Here, let me take that,” she said to Billy while she turned to shut the door behind her. Her eyes locked with mine for one instant, and then the door was closed.
I quickly moved from Bella’s truck to my usual tree before they could reach any windows that had a view of this side of the yard. I wasn’t going to leave until the Blacks did. If things were going to get tense with the tribe again, I needed to know exactly how far Billy was willing to go today.
“Fishing again? Down at the usual spot? Maybe I’ll run by and see him.” Even more urgent now. I didn’t know it had gotten so bad. Poor Bella, she doesn’t realize—
“No,” Bella protested sharply at the same time my teeth snapped together. “He was headed someplace new… but I have no idea where.”
Even through the walls, I could hear that her tone was seriously off. Billy also noticed.
What’s this? She doesn’t want me to see Charlie. She couldn’t know why I need to warn him.
I could see Bella’s expression as he analyzed it; her eyes flashed, her chin lifted stubbornly. It reminded him of one of his daughters, the one who never visited.
I need to talk to her alone.
“Jake,” he said slowly, “why don’t you go get that new picture of Rebecca out of the car? I’ll leave that for Charlie, too.”
“Where is it?”
Jacob’s pure, clear thoughts were all gloomy now, replaying the kiss in the truck. It affected him in a much different way than it did his father. He knew she was too old to think of him the way he wished she would, but it depressed him to see the proof. He sniffed once and then winced, distracted.
Something’s gone rancid in here, he thought, and I wondered if he was reacting to his father’s gift in the paper bag; I’d smelled nothing amiss this morning.
“I think I saw it in the trunk,” Billy lied smoothly. “You may have to dig for it.”
Neither Billy nor Bella spoke again until Jacob exited the front door, his shoulders slumped and his face down. He trudged to the car, ignoring the rain, and—with a sigh—started to sift through a pile of old clothes and forgotten junk. He was still rehashing the kiss, trying to decide how into it Bella was.
Billy and Bella were facing off in the hallway.
How do I start…?
Before he could say anything, Bella turned and walked away toward the kitchen. He watched her retreating figure for a second, and then followed.
The refrigerator door creaked, then rustling ensued.
Billy watched as she slammed the fridge and whirled around to face him. He noted the defensive set of her mouth.
Bella spoke first, her voice unfriendly. She’d obviously decided there was no point in acting oblivious. “Charlie won’t be back for a long time.”
She must be keeping that thing a secret for her own reasons. She needs to know, too. Maybe I can say enough to warn her without actually breaking the treaty.
“Thanks again for the fish fry.” Bella’s words were clearly a dismissal, but Billy didn’t think she looked surprised when he held his ground. She sighed and folded her arms across her chest.
“Bella,” Billy said, his voice no longer casual. It was deeper now, graver.
She held as perfectly still as it was possible for a human to stand and waited for him to continue.
“Bella,” he repeated. “Charlie is one of my best friends.”
“Yes.”
He said the words very slowly. “I noticed you’ve been spending time with one of the Cullens.”
“Yes,” she said again, barely veiling her hostility now.
He didn’t respond to her tone. “Maybe it’s none of my business, but I don’t think that is such a good idea.”
“You’re right,” she retorted. “It is none of your business.”
So angry.
His voice turned ponderous again as he considered his wording carefully. “You probably don’t know this, but the Cullen family has an unpleasant reputation on the reservation.”
Very careful. He stayed just barely on the right side of the line.
“Actually, I did know that.” Bella’s words flew hot and fast, in direct contrast to his. “But that reputation couldn’t be deserved, could it? Because the Cullens never set foot on the reservation, do they?”
This pulled him up short. She knows! She knows? How? And how could she…? She couldn’t. She can’t know the whole truth. The revulsion that colored his thoughts made my teeth grind again.
“That’s true,” he finally conceded. “You seem… well informed about the Cullens. More informed than I expected.”
“Maybe even better informed than you are?”
What could they have told her that would make her so defensive of them? Not the truth. Some romantic fairy tale, no doubt. Well, obviously she won’t be convinced by anything I have to say.
“Maybe.” He was annoyed to have to agree with her. “Is Charlie as well informed?”
He watched her expression get more evasive. “Charlie likes the Cullens a lot.”
Charlie doesn’t know anything.
“It’s not my business,” Billy said. “But it may be Charlie’s.”
Bella’s gaze dissected his expression for a long moment.
The girl looks like a lawyer.
“Though it would be my business, again, whether or not I think that it’s Charlie’s business, right?” she asked. It didn’t really sound like a question.
Again, they locked eyes.
Finally, Billy sighed.
Charlie wouldn’t believe me anyway. I can’t alienate him again. I need to be able to keep watch on this situation.
“Yes, I guess that’s your business, too.”
Bella sighed and her posture relaxed. “Thanks, Billy,” she said, her voice softer now.
“Just think about what you’re doing, Bella,” Billy urged.
Her answer was too quick. “Okay.”
Another thought caught my attention. I’d paid little notice to Jacob’s fruitless search, too focused on Billy and Bella’s standoff. But now he realized—
Oh man, I’m a moron. He wanted me out of the way.
Full of dismay over how his father might be embarrassing him, and with a measure of guilty fear that Bella might have told on him about the treaty breaking, Jacob slammed the trunk and loped toward the front door.
Billy heard the trunk and knew his time was up. He made his final plea.
“What I meant to say was… don’t do what you’re doing.”
Bella didn’t answer, but her expression was gentler now. Billy had a faint moment of hope that she was listening to him.
Jacob banged the front door open. Billy glanced over his shoulder, so I couldn’t see Bella’s reaction.
“There’s no picture anywhere in that car,” Jacob grumbled loudly.
“Hmm. I guess I left it at home,” Billy said.
“Great,” his son retorted with heavy sarcasm.
“Well, Bella, tell Charlie…” Billy waited for a beat before continuing. “That we stopped by, I mean.”
“I will,” she replied, voice sour again.
Jacob was surprised. “Are we leaving already?”
“Charlie’s gonna be out late,” Billy explained, already wheeling himself toward the door.
What was even the point of coming up? Jacob complained internally. Old man is getting senile. “Oh. Well, I guess I’ll see you later, then, Bella.”
“Sure,” Bella said.
“Take care,” Billy added in a warning voice.
Bella didn’t answer.
Jacob helped his father over the threshold and down the one step of the porch. Bella followed them to the door. She glanced toward the empty truck, then waved once toward Jacob and shut the door while Jacob was still loading his father into the car.
Though I would have liked to join Bella and talk over what had just happened, I knew my job wasn’t done yet. I heard her stamping up the stairs as I dropped from the tree and cut through the woods behind her house.
It was much more difficult to follow the Blacks in the daytime while on foot. I couldn’t very well pace them along the highway. I ducked in and out of the thicker knots of forest, listening for the thoughts of anyone close enough to see me. I beat them to the La Push turnoff, and chanced a full-tilt sprint across the rainy highway while the only visible car was headed in the other direction. Once I was on the west side of the road, there was plenty of cover. I waited for the old Ford to appear, then ran parallel to them through the dark trees.
The two weren’t talking. I wondered if I had missed any earlier recriminations from Jacob. The boy’s head was busy replaying the kiss again, and he was concluding morosely that Bella had been very into it.
Billy’s mind was caught up in a memory. I was surprised that I remembered this, too. From a different angle.
It was over two and a half years ago. My family had been in Denali at the time, just a short courtesy visit on our way from one semipermanent home to the next. Groundwork for the move back to Washington had included one unique chore. Carlisle already had his job lined up and Esme had bought her fixer-upper sight unseen. My siblings’ and my fake transcripts had been transferred to Forks High School. But the last step of preparation was the most important—while also the most atypical. Though we’d moved back to former homes in the past—after an appropriate amount of time had elapsed—we’d never had to give warning of our arrival before.
Carlisle had started with the internet. He’d found an amateur genealogist named Alma Young working out of the Makah Reservation. Pretending to be another family history enthusiast, he’d asked about any descendants of Ephraim Black who might still live in the area. Mrs. Young had been excited to give Carlisle the good news: Ephraim’s grandson and great-grandchildren all lived in La Push, just down the coast. Of course she didn’t mind giving Carlisle the phone number. She was sure Billy Black would be thrilled to hear from his very distant cousin.
I’d been in the house when Carlisle had made the next call, so of course I’d heard everything Carlisle had said. Billy was remembering his side of it now.
It had been such an ordinary day. The twins were out with friends, so it was just Billy and Jacob at home. Billy was teaching the boy how to whittle a sea lion out of madrona wood when the phone rang. He’d wheeled himself to the kitchen, leaving the child so focused on his work that he barely noticed his father leaving.
Billy had assumed it was Harry, or maybe Charlie. He’d answered with a cheerful “Hello!”
“Hello. Is this Billy Black?”
He didn’t recognize the voice on the other end of the line, but there was something sharp and clear about it that put his back up for some reason.
“Yes, this is Billy. Who’s asking?”
“My name is Carlisle Cullen,” the soft yet piercing voice told Billy, and it felt like the floor was falling out from under him. For a wild second, he’d thought he was having a nightmare.
This name and this keen-edged voice were part of a legend, a horror story. Though he’d been warned and prepared, it had all been such a very long time ago. Billy had never actually believed that one day he’d have to live in the same world as that horror story.
“Does my name mean anything to you?” the voice asked, and Billy noticed how young it sounded. Not hundreds of years old, as it should.
Billy had struggled to find his own voice. “Yes,” he finally rasped.
He thought he heard a faint sigh.
“That’s good,” the monster replied. “It makes it easier for us to fulfill our duty.”
Billy’s mind went numb as he realized what the monster was saying. Duty. He was speaking of the treaty. Billy struggled to remember the secret accords he’d so carefully memorized. If the monster said he had a duty to discharge, then that could only mean one thing.
All the blood drained from Billy’s face and the walls seemed to tilt around him, though he knew he was sitting safe and stable in his wheelchair.
“You’re coming back,” he choked out.
“Yes,” the monster agreed. “I know this must be… unpleasant for you to hear. But I assure you that your tribe is in no danger, nor are any of the people in Forks. We have not changed our ways.”
Billy couldn’t think of anything to say. He’d been locked into this treaty since before his birth. He wanted to object, to threaten… but treaty or no, there was nothing he could do.
“We’ll be living outside Forks.” The monster rattled off a set of numbers, and it took Billy a moment to realize they were coordinates, lines of longitude and latitude. He scrambled for something to write with, and came up with a black Sharpie but no paper.
“Again,” he demanded hoarsely.
The numbers came more slowly this time, and Billy scrawled them down his arm.
“I’m not sure how well you know the agreement—”
“I know it,” Billy interrupted. The blood drinkers got a five-mile radius around the location of their lair that was off limits for any member of the tribe. It was a small space compared to the land that belonged to the tribe, but in this moment it seemed like much too much.
How would they convince any of the children to obey this rule? He thought of his own headstrong daughters and his happy-go-lucky son. None of them believed any of the stories. And yet if they ever made an innocent mistake… they’d be fair game.
“Of course,” the monster said politely. “We know it very well, too. You have nothing to worry about. I’m sorry for any distress this causes you, but we will not impact your people in any way.”
Billy just listened, numb again.
“Our current plan is to live in Forks for about a decade.”
Billy’s heart stopped. Ten years.
“My children will be attending the local high school. I don’t know if any of your tribe’s children come up to the school—”
“No,” Billy whispered.
“Well, if anyone wishes to, I can assure you it will not be unsafe.”
The faces of the children of Forks flashed through Billy’s mind. Was there nothing he could do to protect them?
“Let me give you my number. We’d be happy to have a more cordial—”
“No,” Billy said, stronger this time.
“Of course. Whatever makes you most comfortable.”
And then a panicked thought intruded. The monster had spoken of his children.…
“How many?” Billy asked. His voice sounded like he was being strangled.
“Pardon me?”
“How many of you are there?”
For the first time, the smooth, confident voice hesitated. “Two more found our family many years ago. There are seven of us now.”
Very slowly and deliberately, Billy hung up the phone.
And then I had to stop running. I’d not quite reached the treaty line, but this particular memory made me loath to cut it too close. I turned north and headed homeward.
So nothing very helpful from Billy’s thoughts. I felt reasonably sure that he would follow the same pattern: return to his safe zone and contact his cronies. They would hash through the new information—which was pretty meager—and come to the same conclusion. There was nothing they could do. The treaty was their only protection.