“I love you both so much,” Ellie whispered. She let them go, and Edward took a grateful step back. Ellie looked at Vincent. “I can't ever thank you enough,” she whispered. Tears sparkled in her dancing green eyes.
Vincent blinked at her, his eyes wide. That was not the reaction he’d been dreading the entire time they were out there hunting. He smiled shyly. “I love you, El.” She smiled at him through her tears. Ellie brushed her spread fingertips over his face. “I swear, you guys are trying to turn me vegetarian,” she mocked. Vincent laughed at her.
“I'll hit the shower,” he said.
“Actually, we have problems,” she told them.
“What is it?” Vincent asked, concerned.
“I ran into one of us few hours back,” Reese said.
“You're sure?” Vincent asked. Reese simply looked at him. Vincent spared a glance at Ellie who stood there staring, unseeing at the wall. “This isn't your fault,” Vincent rushed to tell her.
“I let them out. Tell me how this isn't my fault,” she said with a sigh. “We need to protect Anna and Charlie,” Ellie said, sparing a glance at Anna. For some reason, her realization had not only warmed her to Anna. It made her protective of her. Anna couldn't protect herself, so Ellie would have to do it for her. She heaved a heavy sigh.
“I torched her. Ripped her damn heart out of her chest.” Vincent asked, “You think it's that one?”
“No. It’s a different one. I ran into him. Talked to him,” she said, giving his hand a squeeze.
“Whatever, it's done,” Edward said. “The question is what are we going to do about it?” He spared a longing glance at Anna but didn't dare go near her.
“We'll hunt him down,” Ellie said simply. “We have the thermate, and we have you guys. We'll find him and light the son of a bitch on fire.” Ellie looked at Anna. “I won’t let him get near you. I promise,” Ellie told her. Anna smiled. “While we're doing that you guys should start packing up the house. We need to be gone from here.”
“Wait, we can't just leave,” Edward argued.
“We can, and we will,” Ellie told him. “If he found us it's only a matter of time before someone else does.”
“You plan on killing him, problem solved.”
“You're killing me here, Edward.”
“Look, we'll hunt him down, and kill him. And then we'll talk about leaving,” Edward offered. Trying to placate her
Ellie heaved a sigh. “Fine,” she grumbled.
“So what’s your plan, Princess? Huh?” Shane asked shoving his hands into his pockets and leaning against the wall.
“Plan? Who needs a plan? I‘m going to use violence,” Ellie said, looking at Vetler. “We have the thermate and we have three immortal monsters. Plan,” she scoffed. “That dick doesn't stand a chance.” She looked at Anna and frowned. “We’ll take care of him. And don't worry, I will make personally sure the gash who hurt you dies screaming if she isn’t dead already,” Ellie assured her.
“Don't you mean they?” Shane asked Ellie.
She frowned at him. “You want to talk about someone who doesn't know me,” Ellie said. “You heard me, I let them out. I am going to help put him in the ground,” she told Vetler, but she hoped Edward was listening as well.
“Um,” Anna began. “You said something about getting my own gun.”
Edward looked first at her, then at Ellie. “You promised her a gun?” he asked incredulously.
“Yes, I did,” Ellie told him. “She can have my old Glock.”
Edward looked at her like she was insane. “She's blind,” he cried. As if she did not comprehend that concept.
“That doesn't mean she doesn't get to protect herself!” Ellie argued. Happy as she was to have him alive and well. Ellie was beginning to realize that she and Edward had very different views on the world in general.
“She has me to protect her!” Edward cried, his eyes hard. That also brought a shy smile to Anna's face.
Ellie let her head fall to one side. “You are just like Reese,” she snapped. “It's different being protected, and being able to protect yourself!” Ellie told him. “She needs to be able to protect herself, Edward.”
Reese looked up at her, his eyebrows cutting a wavering line across his forehead. It was so strange when she talked about the personality with him right there. He watched her. Watched the way her eyes lit up when she talked about him, even bitching about him. Reese shook his head.
“When?” Reese asked.
“Now,” Ellie said. “We're going to have to go into town, so go get cleaned up.”
Vincent stepped in front of Edward. “You're not ready for this,” Vincent told him. Edward opened his mouth to argue. “The second she even gets a scratch you will be on her. We would have to be more worried about you than we would the other one,” he explained. To the look on Edward’s face, Vincent said, “We will protect her!”
Edward sighed, his jaw bunching. Finally, after an inner war with himself, he relented. “All right.”
Ellie pulled on her Chucks and ran out to the shed. She reappeared a few minutes later. Edward sat on the couch staring at Anna. Charlie laid out breakfast. Ellie went straight to Vetler and showed him the Glock. It was maybe an inch bigger overall than the Heckler. Ellie slid the fully armed magazine inside and gave the bottom a slap. She hated that name. Reese taught her all she knew about guns. And Reese learned about rifles first. The M1A1 Garund had a clip, not a magazine. Reese always called it a clip. So Ellie always called it a clip. It sounded better anyway. She pulled back on the slide, chambering a round, and made sure to check the safety.
“I want you to show her the finer points,” Ellie told him.
Shane looked down at her. He was with Edward on this one. “She's blind. How am I going to get her to hit anything?”
Ellie shook her head, making a noise in her throat. “You have no idea what it's like to have to hide behind everyone else. To know that they are risking pain and death for you, and you have no way to repay that sacrifice.” Ellie sighed, her shoulders deflating. “Being the damsel in distress isn't all it's cracked up to be, Shane.”
He blinked at her. Shane was pretty sure that was the first time she called him by his name. He smiled at her, despite himself. “All right I'll show her, Princess.”
She glared at him for just a moment, giving her eyes a roll. “Thank you,” Ellie said, as she pulled on her leather jacket.
While Reese and Vincent got cleaned up, Ellie made herself busy in the shed. She measured out a small cup of the thermate, screwing the lid on carefully. She grabbed six of the pipe bombs they made and two bricks of the C4. Lastly, Ellie grabbed a handful of detonators. She packed the C4, and the pipe bombs in the main pocket of her bloodstained, torn black backpack. She hadn't seen it in a while. It used to be her constant companion. Ellie put the detonators and two extra clips in the smaller front pocket.
She made a promise to Anna. Ellie would find this bitch, and she would make sure that Anna never had to be afraid of her again. Ellie was grateful to have a mission again. She’d been dangling for far too long. They would take this guy out and then go back to the road. The thought of that made her smile. She took a moment to check the Heckler. Safety. Clip. Firing pin. It was almost a prayer. A ritual that calmed her, centered her chi. When Ellie was satisfied that she was prepared to go hunting. She slipped the backpack over one shoulder and headed back into the house.
Reese was pulling on his hiking boots, dressed in jeans and a white, long-sleeved thermal shirt. She could see his dog tags dancing as he moved. They made her smile. Vincent came down the steps. Jeans and a green flannel shirt hanging open to reveal his smooth chest. Ellie sat the backpack down gently and slipped out of her coat long enough to braid her long hair.
Charlie sighed. “Won't you at least eat something before you go?” Her voice was brittle, full of nervousness.
Vincent flashed her a smile. He hooked his arm around Charlie’s neck pulling her in for a hug. Som
ething that Shane was dealing better with lately. Though, he still watched Vincent carefully. “We will eat as soon as we get back,” Vincent assured her. Charlie looked up at him.
“All right, you just keep them safe,” Charlie tasked him. Vincent’s smile widened. He kissed her on top of the head.
“You know I will.”
“What's in the backpack?” Reese asked Ellie, eyeing the thing sitting upright near the door.
“Detonators, C4, few of the pipe bombs, and a cup and a half of the thermate. I put the flare in the truck,” she told him.
Both Edward and Reese blinked wide eyes at her list. “You weren't kidding, Squirt.”
“No, I'm not kidding. That asshole is roadkill.”
Edward stared at her for a long moment. Ellie was so hard. Her eyes were like stones that sparkled and shined. Edward swore he could feel her. Feel the brush of her mind, almost like with the inmates at the hospital. It made him shake his head. Edward did not like letting her go out there alone. His eyes slid over Vincent. For the first time, Edward trusted him to take care of her.
“Be careful, Elliot,” Edward said, his voice soft.
“I thought I told you never to call me that,” Ellie grumbled. It brought a smile to his face.
Chapter 29
Reese let Ellie get a good thirty yards out. She stared wide-eyed at the frozen blood at her feet. It brought back memories of watching Vincent and Reese tear at each other. Her heart slammed jarringly against her ribcage. Ellie used to think she was afraid of the mercs. She was wrong. She was cautious of them. But she didn’t know what true fear was until the idea of alone took root. Her time with Vincent made her understand that she wasn’t part of the world any longer. It made her admit the truth. She never really had been. You don’t question normal. At least not until you’ve had it taken away.
Vetler and Charlie, Anna even Edward, they had it taken away from them. And all of them wanted it back. All Ellie needed were her boys. The Hale brothers showed her a different world. Shadows she would never be able to leave. She loved Edward. But the frozen blood and torn earth beneath her feet marked the line Ellie realized that she’d been straddling. It was a blurry line that kept the world she knew and the world she loved separate.
Reese watched Ellie squat down and lay the palm of her hand against the torn earth. “Ya feel it don’t ya?”
Vincent nodded. “It’s familiar.”
“The freak we hunted down wasn’t nothing like this one,” Reese said, looking at his little brother. “He should a’ killed me, Vince.”
“Why didn’t he?”
Reese shook his head. “I swear to ya, I knew him. This ain’t one of Bennet’s crazies.” He took in a breath. “He scared me, Vince. We can’t let Ellie near this one.” Vincent looked at Reese and saw the fear in his eyes.
“Do you have a scent yet?” Ellie called.
Vincent and Reese shared one last knowing glance as she crossed the snowy field back to them. Reese plastered a smile on his face. “That’s the thing about a scent. It ain’t exactly perfect.”
Ellie frowned. “What do you mean?” she asked reaching out to Vincent. He grabbed her hand and pulled her into his arms. He folded her into his warmth and Ellie was more than just a little happy to have it. “You tracked us,” Ellie reminded him.
“Yeah, but me and Vince are connected. That made it a little easier. Then there’s ya.”
Ellie’s frown deepened as she looked up at him. “What’s wrong with me?”
“Vince was worried about ya. Ya was hurt. Ya slowed him down, Sunshine.”
“Are you working your way up to calling me a pathetic human again?”
“Much as we love ya, ya are, darlin’. Ya are human. This one don’t have ya dragging him down. He can move. I can cover a thousand miles in a day. Vince even more. I got his scent. I know what direction he’s headed. But he’s got a head start on us. Right now it’s a couple hundred miles from here. So it’s chase him down, or protect the safe house.”
Ellie’s frown dropped into scowl territory. They were three hours north of the house themselves. The world around them was deep snow and blowing cold. Nothing but trees and steep hills for all the directions she could see. “How come you couldn’t smell him at that house Anna sent us to?”
“The scene was a couple weeks old, El.”
Reese looked at Vincent. He kept his mouth shut about not believing this guy had anything to do with it. One argument at a time, convincing Ellie to leave this one alone was hard enough as it is. Letting Ellie in on the fact that he thought it was Edward would only net him a fight with her he didn’t want. Instead, he plastered a smile on his face and took her hand.
“I thought we was heading out to the world anyway. Ya wanted Edward safe. He’s more than safe now, darlin’. Nothing can touch him, thanks to Vince.”
Vincent frowned. He could read the admonishment in his older brother’s tone. Ellie looked up at him and nodded. Reese was right. She’d put this off for too long. “Alright.”
Vincent and Reese shared another of those glances.
Chapter 30
Ellie was not entirely happy that Vincent was out there alone. She paced back and forth in front of windows nervously for the second time that day. This was for looks more than anything else, proving to Anna that the guy wasn’t around here. If he was, Vincent figured going out there alone would get him to attack.
Reese walked up to her blocking the path of her pacing. Reese bent his head looking her in the eye. “He's fine, Goldie.”
“How do you know?”
Reese gave her the full weight of both his most jaw-clenching smile and his dazzling summer-sky blue eyes. He pointed to his head. “We're connected, remember. I can feel Vince. I can see through his eyes if I try hard enough. He’s safe, sweetheart.”
Ellie exhaled and threw her arms around him, laying her head against his chest. There had been entirely too many high emotions the past few days and Ellie needed Reese to hold her. Edward narrowed his eyes at them. Ellie melted against Reese, the texture of his shirt pressing against her face. “I don't know what I would do without the two of you,” Ellie breathed.
Edward exhaled annoyed. He swore he could almost feel Ellie. She tasted like stone. He couldn't concentrate on that feeling because the sounds of the room were driving him insane. Every footstep, every heartbeat, every breath, he could hear everything. And beneath it all was a faint tapping. Or what is it a thumping sound, just on the edge of his hearing? He wanted to go to Anna, but he was afraid. Edward could smell Anna, and boy did he want her so much. He was more than just a little jealous of Reese being able to put his arms around Ellie.
Twenty tense minutes later, Vincent came through the doorway in nothing but a tattered pair of jeans. No blood, Ellie took that as a good sign. But that also meant he hadn't found the guy either. The whole reason he went looking instead of Reese was because he was the faster of the two. And Reese hated to admit, the stronger. Reese was better at tracking, but neither of them really wanted to find this guy.
“Nothing. I did a sweep of a fifty-mile radius. He didn't jump out at me.”
“So you can't find him? What if he...” Anna's nerves were a knotted string that was more than just a little frayed at the moment.
“Anna, nothing is going to happen to you,” Vincent assured her.
“If he gets to within five miles of here I can feel him,” Reese guaranteed her.
“Really?”
“We ain’t going to let nothing hurt ya,” Reese said. Both Vincent and he shared another of those looks that annoyed Ellie. It was as if they’d said something to one another that no one else heard.
“Kay, so we should start packing now,” Ellie said to the room in general.
“You're still on the whole leaving here thing?” Edward asked making a face. He kept looking around the room.
“You're not?”
“Ellie-” Again, he made a face looking around him. It made Ellie raise her eyebr
ows at him. Edward’s eyes slid over the room. His face scrunched in annoyance. “What the hell is that sound?”
Ellie gave him a look. “What sound?”
Charlie walked back over to the counter, pulling her cookies out of the oven. Vincent closed his eyes, listening intently. He opened them and walked across the floor slowly. He stopped in front of Anna. Vincent blinked down at her. That devilish grin that Ellie found so sexy pulled at his lips. Edward cocked a brow in question. Vincent tilted his head to one side, focusing in on the sound. He wanted to be sure.
“You hear it too?” Edward asked.
Vincent looked at him that smile not slipping one inch. “Yeah. I hear it too.”
“Hear what?” Ellie asked, annoyed that she was left out.
“Charles, I think you should give Anna a once over,” Vincent said.
“Why?” Both Anna and Ellie said nearly at the same time.
“I think... she’s pregnant,” Vincent said.
The look on Edward's face was priceless. Reese laughed out loud. He could hear it now that he knew what he was looking for. He really had to strain, though. Ellie blinked her eyes a few times. She stared at Edward. She looked at Reese and laughed because there was nothing else she could do. Vincent plastered his lips together.
“Why do you look so damn happy about this?” Edward asked, in the most neutral tone he could muster.
Vincent looked at him. His smile lost just a little of that shine. His eyes slid from Edward to Ellie sitting on the arm of the couch on the other side of the room. Vincent took in a breath, rolling his bottom lip under. His tongue danced over it. He swallowed and looked back at Edward’s intensely curious eyes.
“We can't have children,” Vincent answered. “Susan,” he paused a moment, swallowing hard past the tightness that brought to his throat. Vincent exhaled, the smile on his lips wilting a little more. “She tried four different times to… what were the words, create a second generation subject,” Vincent said, nodding. His smile transformed into his irritating fake smirk.
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