Lips of an Angel

Chapter 15-Agony

A/N

Although I have pre-written about thirty chapters of this story, I've just been going through chapter 16 to edit it before next week's post, and I decided to add a little something in there that wasn't originally planned. I suspect you'll all quite like it. Now, I'm afraid you've got a while to wait before there's any 'real' romance between E&B in this book, but you're on the run home now.

FYI -- my wi-fi has been horrifically dodgy for the last few days. I'm actually in a cafe posting this. Thank God for Costa Coffee wi-fi!! Enjoy this one!

Lucy xX

***

For a moment, Edward said nothing, and merely stared at me, not moving a muscle. Alice was still hissing and muttering in my ear about how I'd ruined everything, but I had ceased to care. All that this thing... whatever it was... had brought us was trouble. It ended now. It ended with Edward's decision. My future actions would not revolve around something that Alice refused to tell me about. If she'd told me what it was, I'd have been more open to other suggestions. But Edward was becoming more and more frightened, and he needed to have a way out, if he wanted one.

"I don't understand," Edward whispered after several seconds of silence.

"There are secrets in this house," Carlisle said, his voice steady. "I think you know that. There are secrets that we cannot tell. Bella is saying - we are saying - that if you cannot live with secrets like these, we will never force you to stay here. You are probably in a condition to move elsewhere now, if you wanted to. With your parents, say."

"Equally," Esme said, the vampiric equivalent to tears shining in her eyes. "You can stay, if you would like to. It's completely up to you, Edward."

"You can't tell me anything?" Edward asked.

"No," Carlisle and Esme said at the same time, their voices holding a pang of regret and sorrow.

"I just need to know," Edward murmured, closing his eyes. "Am I honestly safe here?"

"The dangers in this house few, Edward, and no different to yesterday," Carlisle said.

Esme sighed, her face smiling slightly, in a sad way. She cast her eyes downwards, and Edward regarded Carlisle for a moment. He was clearly running something over in his head, and I dreaded to think of what it was. Another question? We couldn't keep avoiding Edward's questions, giving him half answers that meant nothing.

"That's not what I asked, Carlisle," Edward said.

"No," came a startlingly beautiful, but ice-cold voice from the doorway. "You are not safe here. But neither are we."

Rosalie. Just great. I turned my head towards her and shot her a glare, but she completely ignored me, and instead fixed her gaze on the injured human in the middle of the room. Edward shrank back again at her presence, and I itched to reach out a hand and reassure him. Once again, Edward was wrecking havoc with my mind.

"We are putting you in danger at this very second," Rosalie said, flicking her long blond hair over her shoulder with majesty. "And you are putting us in danger every moment longer you sit there. I told you that this would be a bad idea, Carlisle. But you were insistent. This ends now."

Edward stared at Rosalie warily, his eyes watching her and taking in her stiff body posture and angry, cold, black eyes. Rosalie clearly felt Edward's eyes on her, as her head snapped to face his, and she threw him a freezing glance. Edward looked taken aback by her expression. It would all have to be incredibly confusing for the poor guy.

"You need to leave, Edward Cullen," Rosalie said. "You need to leave and never return. Never speak of the time you've had here, and never come into contact with us again. Or it will end badly. It's already going to-"