Burning Horizon

Burning Horizon; Here Comes the Cavalry...

Chapter Eight: Here Comes the Cavalry...

A sharp wrap on the French door interrupted our conversation. I speed over to greet our first arrivals.

"Tanya!" I breathed.

She stepped forward and bound my arms to my body as she yanked me into a strong hug.

"Bella, you must be so heartbroken!"

I shook my head. "My heart isn't broken; it's completely controlling my body at the moment."

Tanya dropped her hands gently to move onto Edward. Carmen stepped forward, her eyes deep and filled with pain. She had been the first to listen to our case and not fear Renesmee, she loved her. Carmen's eyes did not look into mine; instead they wandered, glancing down at the floor then at the shattered television set and back again.

"How long has it been?" She took in a deep breath. "How long have they had her?"

"Five days." I choked. I hadn't realised it had been so long, it had all seemed so fast for me. For her, it would have been torture. Edward must have seen my expression as I spoke.

"Bella, she'll be alright." He murmured in my ear.

Kate stepped to the side to clear the doorway and as a subtle hint to Edward.

"I'll speak to you later Edward." Tanya whispered as she glided further into the villa to greet the rest of the family.

I closed my eyes as Edward's arms curled tightly around my body and he scooped me up to cradle me into his chest - only opening them when my neck rubbed against the hot sand as he finally laid me down.

"You know that if I could, I would be ripping their throats out right now." Edward whispered, settling next to me with his arm curled around my waist.

I felt so useless. Why were we laid here in this blissful place when our daughter was in so much danger that I couldn't think of it without falling limp and lifeless once again?

I pulled a tiny bit of energy together to whisper a sentence. "That's what their probably doing to her as we speak."

Edward wrenched his arm from underneath me and disappeared behind the rocks.

How could I be so selfish, so self centred? I'd been falling to pieces so much that it would have been nearly impossible for him to stay together. Edward had to stay together, or I would completely crack.

"Edward, I'm sorry."

I pushed my body from the sand and slid behind the jagged rock face.

"Please, don't, apologize to me." Edward pulled his hands from the stone where two handprints had sunk in as easily as a knife would cut through butter, his face was so torn with pain that I couldn't bear to say anything else. "You have nothing at all to apologize for Bella."

"I do, I've been so ignorant and selfish and..."

He shook his head and pulled me to his body. "You are the most un-ignorant and un-selfish girl I have ever met. I can't bear to see you in this much pain." He squeezed my shoulder. "I hate them so much. They're killing us from the inside, tearing away at every opportunity to try and weaken us. If only they knew how much it's provoking us. They're so unbelievably, breath-takingly sick, I cannot see how no one has knocked them of the top spot by now."

My head snapped around instinctively as a new scent stung the air - wolf stench.

"Come on," I mumbled. "I'm going to need backup with him."