Aurora Borealis

Chapter 16

When Rosalie had called him in February to tell him that Bella was dead - had jumped off of a cliff of all things - Edward had thought his entire existence had gone up in flames. He had thought that he would never, never know pain like that ever again.

He had been so very wrong.

Harry hit the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

Edward was by his side in a second, his arms sliding behind Harry's head and pulling his body close. Blood was going everywhere, oozing out from the gaping hole in the wizard's chest.

Harry wasn't dead. But Edward could hear the slow thrum of his heart, the loud stuttering in what was supposed to be a steady rhythm.

His mate was dying.

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"What's going on," Bella demanded as soon as Blaise let her go. She stumbled a little once she was released from his hold, just managing to catch herself as she took in the grim expressions all around her. "What happened?"

Dread filled her when she got no answer. Her gaze swept over the area, but she saw no sight of Edward, Luna, or Harry. Nor did she see any of the wolves.

She couldn't figure out what was wrong. Everything had happened so fast.

Harry had just up and disappeared and right as he had done so Luna and Blaise had teleported onto the cliff side. Bella remembered Blaise grabbing her, and Seth running off into the trees, and then she had been teleported here.

There was a bonfire in the middle of the clearing, a thick wall of purple-black smoke hovering like a disease against the bright grass. Jasper stood closest to it, his shoulders tense and his arms slightly extended.

Bella squinted against the dark smoke and a small gasp escaped her when she caught sight of what was there.

A girl, curled into a small ball beside the burning remains of her companions. She was the youngest person in the clearing, barely over fifteen - and dark haired. Her eyes were focused on Bella, the irises a brilliant shade of red.

And surprisingly, she was extremely calm, for a newborn in the presence of a human.

"What's going on," Bella asked again, staring at the girl.

"She surrendered," Carlisle was the one to say. Bella blinked again before turning her attention fully on him.

"Okay, but that doesn't explain anything. Something happened. What was it?" Carlisle looked uncomfortable for a good moment. Bella narrowed her eyes at him. "Carlisle? Where's Harry? And Edward?"

"They're coming," Neville said into the silence. Bella turned to looking in the direction he was faced just in time to see Edward and Luna walk from the forest. Harry was Edward's arms, his face extraordinarily pale. There was blood all down the front of Edward's shirt and Bella had never seen him look so much like he was being burned alive.

Bella couldn't understand what she was seeing for a moment and then she made the connection. She felt the ground shift beneath her as she dropped to her knees. All the sound seemed to leave the area.

"No," she whispered.

"That idiot," Draco growled and he marched over to Edward, his wand out. Edward growled at him, but Draco rolled his eyes before saying, "I'm trying to heal him."

There were a couple of wand waves and then Draco cursed.

"I already tried all that," Luna murmured softly and there were tears in her eyes. "Nothing worked."