𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞 / 𝐈𝐈𝐈.

18.

the taste

Though the storm ceased during the night, my cheeks are still red from the cold as I sit in the tent wishing I had a thermos of hot coffee as the white light of the sun spills in from the opening. Edward has left me to my own devices, going out to greet Seth as I collect myself.

I keep closing my eyes, expecting to open them, and realize everything from last night had been a lie. Some part of me is unwilling to believe that Edward had crossed the line and come after me and that I had taken him back in. My heart had been peeled open for him like a pomegranate with seeds for his taking. A parasite that I've allowed to fester, what's to stop me now?

I had allowed Edward to curse me in the first place, I'd been the one who'd first chased after him. Having wanted what wasn't mine to take, a forbidden fruit that had fallen into my grasp. Now, I was meeting the fate of biting in. The sweet deception had its consequences, and I'd rather take them standing.

"Is everything okay?" Edward asks as I stand and leave the tent. My eyes wincing against the bright sun that gleams on his skin. His hand reaches out and brushes a strand of dark hair behind my ear. There's a fear in his amber eyes, a worry that I'm regretting last night's events. Or maybe he's reprimanding himself for allowing it to go as far as it did. I can only imagine the chaos and noise filling his head right now. "Heather?"

"I'm fine, just tired," I promise him, looking up over my shoulder. 

For a lingering moment, he studies my face softly, trying to memorize every mark and line in the fear that we push each other away again. Then he tenses up, away from us, Seth lets out a low whine, and I don't even have to ask to know what's happened.

"It's started," Edward tells me, and despite my best efforts, I can practically see the chaos. Imagine the scene unfolding, the grotesque sound of stones cracking as limbs are torn from limbs. There won't be blood, just a distinct smell of smoke as they dispose of the newborns, setting the marred skin ablaze.

My breath hangs in the air as we wait, my hands buried deep in my pocket grasping at the plastic lighter that had been in Jay's car. It sits in the warmth of my hand as the wind picks up from the north and howls in my ears. The wind blows my hair against my red cheeks and ruffles Seth's coat of fur as he joins us, dark eyes shifting uneasily. That eery calm before the storm.

"Victoria," Edward whispers, his hands tightening around my arms as he searches the treeline. "She's coming."

"What?" In vain, I look where his eyes narrow and land, Seth growling in discomfort.

"Seth, go!" He orders the wolf, pulling at my jacket and setting his feet firm in the snow and rocks. "She saw that I wasn't in the field, and even with the storm managed to pick up on my scent. And she's not alone, she's brought company."

"Edward?" I don't know what we'll do as Seth dashes off into the underbrush, I'm a liability. Being here distracts Edward and will offset Victoria with how the blood races through my veins, pumping fast in my heart from fear.