WHEN THE STARS FORGET US - EMBRY CALL

38. repeating cycles

( when the stars forget us! )
↳ chapter thirty-eight ↲

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❝ I'M TRYING TO SAVE YOU. ❞
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     DANIEL DRAGGED A hand over his face, the lines of anger cut deep into his expression. He leaned forward, elbows braced against his knees, and looked straight at Talia. "The only reason I ever let you come here," he said, his voice low but razor-sharp, "was because I knew the Cullens were gone. Forks was safe. No vampires. No threats breathing down your neck. It was supposed to be normal here."

Talia blinked at him, her lips parting. "Safe?"

Daniel's jaw tightened. "But I made a mistake. A damn big one. I thought—" He cut himself off with a bitter laugh. "I thought you'd be fine with Charlie. That this town was quiet enough for you to just live like a normal girl. Go to school. Make friends. Stay away from all this supernatural garbage."

Joyce shifted in her seat, watching her husband with that calm, steady presence, but she didn't intervene. She knew better when his voice turned like that.

Daniel pointed a finger toward her, sharp and unwavering. "But I forgot about La Push and their ancestry and all of this caused you to get tangled up with her."

Talia's brows furrowed. "Her?"

"Bella." His voice spat the name like it was poison. "That girl has been nothing but trouble since she got fascinated with the Cullens. She's delusional, reckless, obsessed with one of the cold ones. And now look." His voice rose, his hand cutting through the air. "You followed her halfway across the damn world and ended up in front of the Volturi."

Talia's chest tightened. "It wasn't like that—"

"Yes, it was exactly like that!" Daniel snapped, his voice echoing in Emily's small kitchen. "You wouldn't have been anywhere near Italy if it weren't for her and her cursed little love story. And I'll tell you something right now, Natalia—" His finger slammed against the tabletop, making Nathan flinch. "I don't give a damn how much Bella Swan cries over her vampire boyfriend. She's dangerous. And the Cullens? I hate them. Every last one of them. They ruin everything they touch. And now they've put you in the Volturi's sights."

Silence fell heavy over the room. Talia's breath came shaky, her throat tight with the urge to defend Bella, to explain—but she couldn't find the words. Not when her father's fury burned that hot.

Embry shifted beside her, his hand brushing lightly against hers under the table—a grounding touch, even as her world tilted.