“Dad, how’s it him?” I asked. “How can he be alive?”
He didn’t answer but continued to stare at the broken pieces as if he could see Loren there.
“How is he alive?” I demanded. “I killed him! I put a bullet through his brain! I saw his dead eyes!”
The fear was back as it no longer needed to be squashed as my mother wasn’t here. I was panicking. The guy I had killed had called me to tell me he was coming to kill me. That did not happen!
“Kayla calm down,” Charlie said. “There’s no need to panic.”
“There’s every need,” I said. “I don’t know if আপনি noticed but Loren is alive!”
Charlie stared at the pieces again not talking to me. I wanted to know what he was thinking but that barrier was up again. Had he known about this? Was that why he had the barrier up?
“Do আপনি know how আপনি healed me?” he asked me.
“No.”
“Our abilities are in our blood. They run through our veins. Azdis have a kind of energy that, when practiced, they can manipulate into whatever they want. Your hands were covered in my blood and your hands were pressed to my stab wound and আপনি were desperate to save me. আপনি channelled your energy through to my blood which had my healing gift. That’s what healed me. If আপনি were older and আরো practiced আপনি wouldn’t have needed my blood but you’re young and আপনি needed extra help.”
“Has this something to do with Loren?” I asked.
“You didn’t control your energy,” he continued, looking at me. “It lingered in the air and healed Loren.”
My eyes widened and my হৃদয় stopped again.
“It’s not your fault,” Charlie ব্যক্ত quickly. “There was no way that আপনি could have anticipated using your own energy to save me. আপনি don’t how to use অথবা stop it. No Azdi does for sure. আপনি choose how to summon your own energy and how to banish it.”
“Dad, he’s alive,” I said, my breathing was quick as I began to hyperventilate. “I killed him and then brought him back to life and now he’s going to kill me!”
“Calm down,” Charlie put his hands on my shoulder, trying to steady me. “Breathe slowly and deeply.”
I did as he ব্যক্ত and my breathing returned to normal. But my fear increased.
“I don’t want to go back there!” I cried. “I don’t want to!”
I could see the cell again with me chained there. I could see Loren coming towards me with a gun pointing at my head. I saw me dead.
“Sshh baby,” Charlie hugged me and stroked my hair. “You’re not going back there.”
“Promise?” I sniffed.
“Promise.”


I was sleeping when Edward came back. He was lying পরবর্তি to me when I opened my eyes. It was still dark outside so it was early in the morning. He looked very worried and angry at the same time but when he noticed I was awake his face became completely smooth and he smiled at me.
“Hi,” he said, স্নেহ চুম্বন my forehead. “How are you?”
“He told you?” I asked, sitting up and pulling the scrunchie out of my hair.
“Who told me what?” he said, innocently.
I smoothed my hair down til I felt it looked reasonably ok.
“Charlie told আপনি Loren called today?” I played with the scrunchie in my hands. I twisted it around my fingers again and again, waiting on his answer.
“How did আপনি guess?” he asked.
“Your face is a complete blank,” I answered. “You’re never like that unless you’re disguising your emotions.”
He remained quiet.
“You came দ্বারা the front door?” I said, smiling. “I thought আপনি didn’t know how to knock.”
He chuckled slightly. I sensed his mood lightening.
“I wanted to speak to Charlie,” he replied. “Ask him for the cover story so I could tell Carlisle and the others. He told me then and asked if I would pass the message on to the wolves. He couldn’t discuss anything with them himself because আপনি the phone and he didn’t want to leave you.” He raised an eyebrow. “You broke the phone?”
“It scared me,” I defended myself. “I had killed the guy and he phoned my up for a chat. I got scared and threw the phone. A little too hard.”
“From what Charlie told me, it was a little আরো than a chat.”
I shuffled closer to him and continued to play with my scrunchie. He lightly put an arm around my shoulders.
“Are আপনি still scared?” he asked me. “If আপনি are আপনি shouldn’t be. I’m here to protect you.”
“There are ways around your protection,” I replied.
“And Emmett’s and Jasper’s and Rosalie’s and Alice’s?”
I stopped playing with the scrunchie and glared at him.
“You have all of your family looking after me?” He was enough but everyone else?
“No, Carlisle and Esme aren’t protecting you,” he replied. “Not that they don’t প্রণয় আপনি অথবা anything. It’s just Emmett, Jasper, Rosalie and Alice is enough.”
“I also have Charlie and the নেকড়ে protecting me,” I said. “I don’t need an entourage of ভ্যাম্পায়ার too. I think one অথবা two people will be enough.”
“We need everyone we can get. We weren’t enough last time.”
“Loren didn’t sound in a fit enough state to come after me,” I scoffed. “He couldn’t even laugh without nearly dying. Again.”
“You sound very confident,” Edward said, eyeing me suspiciously. “Could this be an act?”
The barrier went up. Edward wouldn’t know how scared I really was. If he did then he wouldn’t leave me ever. I know that I was scared and I know that this was the wrong way to act if you’re scared but Edward had a life. He needed to see his family and hunt. How could he do that if he was constantly soothing me?
“This is an act!” His golden eyes widened when he heard silence from my mind knowing a barrier was up. “Why are আপনি hiding your fear from me?”
I sighed.
“I’m scared. I’m really scared. Loren is coming after me to kill me. He promised that. But I don’t want আপনি to be constantly at my side because I’m scared. It isn’t right. আপনি have a life, Edward. I don’t want to ruin it.”
“You are my life,” he said, cupping my cheek in one hand.
I smiled. He was so sweet it was unbelievable.
“I want to protect you,” he said, স্নেহ চুম্বন my lips. “I want to keep আপনি from harm. I want আপনি to feel safe. Why is that hard to understand?”
“It isn’t,” I replied. “I understand completely. It’s just I don’t want it to take over you.”
He tilted his head to the side.
“You fear for me when your life is in danger?”
“I just don’t want আপনি to become so protective that আপনি forget to hunt and I end up wrapped in bubble মোড়ানো shoved in a bubble locked in a খিলান with a two feet thick steel door and all sharp objects are disposed of.”
He laughed.
“You really think I would do that?”
“I know আপনি would.”
He sighed.
“Kayla, I just want আপনি to be safe,” he said.
“I know, but an entourage of ভ্যাম্পায়ার when I already have নেকড়ে is unnecessary.”
He contemplated for a second.
“Fine, no entourage,” he agreed. “But Alice is allowed to watch out for আপনি and she and Jasper take আপনি if I have to leave.”
That seemed reasonable.
“Agreed.”
He smiled and I lay against his chest. I played with my scrunchie again, twisting it around my fingers and into circles and squares.
“Amazing how humans can be fascinated দ্বারা such small objects,” Edward chuckled.
“Hey, scrunchies are amazing,” I said. “They have like, a hundred and one uses.”
“Like what?” Edward asked.
“One: To tie my hair back.” I took both of Edward’s hands and slipped the scrunchie over his wrists. “Two: Handcuffs.”
He smiled wickedly and leaned in to চুম্বন me.
“Three: A useful device to strangle someone with,” a rasping voice in the darkness said.
Edward snarled and I screamed. Edward snapped the scrunchie with a quick simple movement and jumped at the person who had suddenly appeared in my room. I knew who was here. I recognised his rasping voice. I just didn’t think his promise would come true so soon.