Vincent threw his arms around the bear’s neck. Feet dangling, he grasped it with a power that nothing human possessed. The crack of bones shattering sounded over the howling wind. One foot caught purchase on the animal’s back. Then the other, giving Vincent leverage. He pulled his right arm back. Vincent ran his claws across the bear’s throat. Hot blood melted the snow at the bear’s feet.
Reese was suddenly standing next to her, his hand on her shoulder. Whether superhuman speed or not, she didn't know. Ellie had been too busy staring at the battle between Vincent and the massive grizzly bear. The gigantic beast toppled to the ground in front of them. Ellie swallowed, her chest heaving. She stared at Vincent as he came to his feet. Eyes closed, he tilted his head on one side rolling his jaw. The slashes and tears healed in on themselves as the darkness of his skin drew back.
Ellie came to her feet. She tripped over the massive furred arm as she worked to climb up over the bear’s snow caked fur. Wet with blood and snow, Ellie didn't care. She flung herself at Vincent. Breathing heavily, he caught her. “What are you doing here?” he asked, eyes still black. The rest of him had shifted down to his human guise.
Ellie’s look of utter relief crumbled into a scowl. She punched him on the arm. “What am I doing here?” Her face was angry, but her eyes were still filled with deliverance. Vincent gave her a look he’d never once leveled at her before. His face set into angry lines. He glared at her with hard eyes. The muscles in his shoulder tight, his neck corded. Tears sprang to Ellie’s eyes, and she hated herself for them. She hated letting him see that weakness.
Reese came up behind her closing a sleeping bag over her shuddering shoulders like a cloak. Reese pulled her into him, wrapping his arms around her. Ellie’s lips were turning a pale blue. Her face was ashen. Vincent shook his head. “You shouldn't have come after me,” he growled. Vincent looked up at Reese. “You shouldn't have brought her here.”
“So what, your plan was just to disappear, to leave me? You promised. You swore to me, you would never leave, Vincent!” Ellie cried, angry at herself for being such a girl. The idea of losing him made her heart slow. It made her blood run cold. Not that she could tell out here.
“El, stop! Just stop it,” he cried. “I’m doing you a favor. You’re never going to want to look at me. It’s over.” Vincent tried to give her a hard look, but even with his face dripping with blood, his eyes couldn't be cruel. He loved her too damn much.
“You're not going to kill him,” she said. “Vincent, you will have to kill me first.” She pushed back on the blanket. Ellie took a clumsy step into him baring her throat. “Do it, if that’s what you're going to do, then do it!”
“I already have!” He screamed at her. “I made him a monster. It's only a matter of time before he tears into you, and you know it!” He shouted, gesturing angrily. Ellie heard the pain in his voice, beneath the anger, beneath his bluster. It died away to a sorrowful moan that worked hard at sounding angry but didn’t. “If I don’t kill him, Ellie, he will kill you. He will snap and leave you broken at his feet. Better you hate me. I won’t watch it happen. I won’t let him hurt you.”
“Vincent,” she breathed.
“We'll leave,” Reese said. “Just the three of us!” He cried over the howling snow.
“I won't give up on him,” Ellie said, staggering toward Vincent. She was clumsier than usual. Ten minutes out here, out of the arms of Reese, and the frostbite was already affecting her. She fell. Vincent caught her. He pulled her into his embrace, closing his arms around her tightly. His hands flexed across her back.
In the face of Ellie, all that blind rage slid away. It left desperation in its wake. A deep, drowning sorrow, that filled him up. “I didn't give up on you, Vincent. He can be saved. He just needs to learn to control it,” she pleaded. “You gave him back to me, Vincent. You can't take him away.” Her voice was low, barely above a whisper. If it hadn't been him, he would never have heard her over the whistling wind.
“Ellie,” Vincent touched his bloodstained hands to her face. His voice broke. “I know what he is. I made him. I am evil; everything that comes from me is evil.”
Ellie would never understand why he hated himself the way he did. She pressed her hands against his wet, bloodstained chest. Ellie let the way she felt about him fill her up. Let it shine in her eyes.
“Vincent, you are a good man. You are a kind man, and I love you! I always will,” she told him. “Please, please, come back with me?” She shook and shuddered against him. “I need you, Vincent. If you don’t come back with me then I’ll spend the rest of my life right here with you.”
Those words rang a bell in his soul. Hearing her say that, knowing she meant it. Vincent would never be able to describe in words the way that made him feel. He was weak. He knew what he had to do. If leaving her was the right thing, he didn't want to be right. If loving her meant he had to bleed, he would gladly open his veins. He could never deny her. Vincent exhaled, swallowing past the lump in his throat. He touched the side of her head.
“I’ll follow you anywhere, El. I’m your slave.” Vincent smoothed a swath of her hair back behind her ear.
Reese gave him a look over her head. Vincent closed his eyes. He jerked his head at Reese, motioning him over. Reese closed his arms around her from behind, molding his body against hers. Sandwiched between the two infernos, she stopped shuddering. Vincent ran a lazy hand through his hair. He sighed, laying that hand against her cheek. “I can't tell you no. I'll give you everything I have. Do anything for you,” Vincent whispered.
It was just a matter of time. But Vincent would treasure those days in between. He would hope and pray that his weakness didn't doom her in the end. He would not leave her side while they were at the house. He would not let Edward come near her, for any reason. He and Reese shared another look over her head. Her determination, her loyalty to her brother was admirable, admirable and extremely fucking stupid. She knew, of anyone on earth. She knew what they could do. Ellie knew the destruction they could cause.
Her light washed over him pushing all those awful thoughts back. The light she shined with was Vincent’s North Star. With Ellie in his arms, all he could think about was the hope she brought into his darkness. It saved him. It saved Reese. That was why they loved her the way they did. It was why Vincent worshiped her.
“I love you, both of you,” Ellie told them. Vincent pulled her into his arms a little tighter as Reese grabbed the blanket and tucked it in around her. Reese laid a kiss against the top of her head. He cuddled back in behind her, wrapping his arms around her. She blinked her eyes up at Vincent. “We're going to be alright,” Ellie told them, turning her head slightly. “As long as I have you guys, we're going to be alright.” Ellie laid her face against Vincent's blood covered chest. She laid her ear over his beating heart. Taking Reese's hand, she laced her fingers between his.
Vincent took in a deep breath, just to blow it out slow. He looked over at Reese. “Think you can keep up?” Reese gave him a smile and a nod in answer. They took a moment to wrap Ellie in the other blanket. Not having to search, they made it to the truck in good time. Reese turned the truck on, cranking the heat as high as it would go. They both told her she had to keep the blankets. Curled up in Vincent’s lap he held her against him. He went to set her in the center of the bench seat, but she shook her head. Ellie needed to be in his arms. It was the only way she could let go. The only way she could relax.
Ellie pulled Vincent's arms around her, cuddling into him. The adrenaline from the close encounter of the bear kind had drained her, leaving her exhausted. Her limbs tingled. Vincent's strong and sure heartbeat lulled her into an uneasy sleep before they found the road again. Vincent brushed the hair out of her eyes, staring down into her face. Reese saw him sigh. He rolled his bottom lip, his pink tongue darting out over it. Reese looked down at Ellie to make sure she was out.
His voice so quiet he didn't think Ellie could hear it, even if she were awake, Reese told Vincent h
e wasn't going right back. Reese gave him brilliant blue eyes. “We ain’t got to go back at all.”
“I can't leave her. Doesn’t matter how hard I try,” Vincent said. His voice so full of dejection it made Reese's chest ache. “I can't let him gut Charlie.” Vincent’s eyes crashed with emotions. He looked at his older brother and sighed. “I really fucked up, this time, Reese.” Vincent shook his head. “He’s going to kill her.” He made a noise in his throat. “What's worse is she is so stupid, so damn in love with him. She’ll let it happen.”
Reese shook his head. No, he knew Ellie better than that. She already put a bullet in his head once. When it came down to it, Reese was sure she would fight back. Not that it would do her much good. Vincent was right about Edward killing her. She wouldn't run. They couldn't leave her there alone. There was only one option left that he could think of. Reese looked down at her, looked at the defeat in his baby brother’s eyes.
“All right, we go back, and the second he gives provocation. I'll rip his fucking head off. Ya ain't got to do this, Vince. She can hate me.”
Vincent exhaled, a small smile playing across his lips. Reese had no idea what that meant to him. Killing Edward would be no great blow to his conscience. He was even at the point where he hated him enough to do it without a second thought. It was Ellie hating him that Vincent couldn't take. “Thank you, Reese. Thank you for not taking her from me.”
“She's your girl, Vince,” Reese said. “I can't say I don't love her. I won't take her from ya, not like that,” Reese told him. Vincent nodded at him, a smile spreading across his face.
“She is never out of one of our sights, same goes for Charlie,” Vincent told him. Reese nodded. He rather liked Charlie. Admittedly, he wasn't nearly as close as her and Vince. But she was a good woman. He would never say so out loud but, he kind of liked Vetler too. Reese felt a pang for Anna. “He isn't going to go down easy,” Vincent warned.
Reese flashed his brother a smile. “The big ones never do.”
Ellie made a sound, a whimper that let them both know she was locked inside one of her nightmares again. Vincent pulled the sleeping bag up over her shoulder. He whispered to her that she was going to be alright. That he was here. That she was safe. Her twitching stopped and she cuddled into him, relaxing. Reese chuckled to himself.
“What?” Vincent asked.
“I can't believe ya didn't think she’d come after ya?” he said, shaking his head. “That girl, annoying as she is,” Reese said with a smile. “Really does love ya, Vince.”
“I don't know why?” Vincent said, looking down at her. He heaved a heavy sigh, his shoulders moving with it.
Reese gave him another smile. “I do.”
Chapter 43
Edward stood on the front porch watching the truck creep up the long drive. Reese looked at Ellie. “Last chance, Sunshine. We could be on the road to nowhere before ya know it.”
Ellie took in a chest swelling breath. She wanted to. God, she wanted to. Ellie’s eyes fell on her big brother. She wanted to believe the reason she had to stay was because Edward needed her. The truth was Charlie, Vetler, and Anna needed her to save them from Edward.
“I can’t,” Ellie whispered.
Reese and Vincent shared one of those looks that bothered Ellie so much. Reese dropped his head. He wanted to argue but didn’t bother. Vincent hopped out. Ellie followed close behind still wrapped in one of the sleeping bags. She looked rough. Her hair was wind torn, caked with blood on one side. Her eyes were bleary. She was beginning to get her color back, but it was slow going. Ellie’s stomach growled. Vincent smirked at her. His mood had improved immensely with Reese's promise. Vincent hooked his arm over her shoulder, pulling her in close. He laid a kiss on her cheek. The truck was still running. Ellie turned toward it with a brow cocked in question. Reese backed up and swung the Dodge around.
“Where is he going?” Ellie asked. “He’s not angry? Is he?” Vincent had come back with her. That tension hadn’t ebbed, though. That had Ellie worried.
Both the Hale brothers knew how this was going to end. The only thing they could control was how much blood spilled to the floor. Vetler wanted to run. Vincent would try talking to Charlie about it again. Reese was off tending to the other half of that plan.
Vincent flashed her a smile. He ran a lazy hand through his feathery hair. “It's a surprise,” he said. Knowing full well those were three words she hated beyond all else. Ellie frowned at him. She sneezed. Her frown turned into a sneer. She could feel it coming on already. Playing in the snow made her sick.
“Glad to see you safe, Squirt,” Edward said opening his arms. “Three days and no phone call?” Ellie tried not to frown at his veiled admonishment. Vincent hesitated a second before he let her go. Ellie tromped up the steps with Vincent less than a step behind. Vincent watched, his eyes narrow.
Ellie looked at Edward. She missed his short hair, missed his clean-shaven cheeks. Ellie realized she missed her brother. She missed the man he was before all this happened. She threw her arms around him and blinked at the tears that stung her eyes. “No signal, we were up in the mountains,” Ellie said, rubbing at her nose.
Edward raised an eyebrow at that. “What happened to you? You look like Carrie on prom night?” Edward asked, giving her a tight squeeze. He was happy she was safe. Edward lifted her easily off her feet, swinging her back and forth like he did when she was eight. He sat her back on the wooden decking of the porch and mussed her hair.
Vincent draped his arm around Ellie's shoulders. “We had a close call with a bear,” Vincent answered.
Edward laughed. “Now you're picking on bears?” He touched the side of Ellie’s bloodstained cheek, but his eyes were all for Vincent.
“How are you and Anna?” Ellie asked.
Edward gave her a warm smile, his unearthly tri-color blue eyes shining. “The miracle of Charlie. She smoothed it over, I think,” he told her. “At least for now.”
Ellie nodded, sniffing. She made a face. “Ugh. I think I'm getting a cold,” Ellie whined as she stomped into the house. Vincent went to follow. Edward stopped him, his hand on the front of Vincent’s shoulder. Vincent worked hard not to growl.
“Everything all right?” Edward asked, that warm smile disappearing.
Vincent made note of how strong the grip on his shoulder was. “Yeah,” Vincent said with a nod. He forced his face neutral. “I think everything is going to be all right,” Vincent told him. His eyes slid over Edward appraisingly. Edward was almost an inch taller than Vincent. He had a linebacker’s build, dressed in a loose Indianapolis Colt's jersey, and a pair of jeans. His blond hair pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck.
His eyes narrowed. “Bears?”
“She got a little too close to my lunch,” Vincent explained. That brought the smile back to Edward's face. He swore Ellie’s courage could be bigger than her brain sometimes. He rolled his eyes at the thought of it. Edward was surprised at how little concern he had when it came to her safety. He snorted, shaking his head.
“Charlie's on the war path. I'd watch my back if I were you,” Edward said with a chuckle.
Vincent gave him that fake little smirk Ellie hated. “I'll do that.” Vincent headed into the gloom that was the dining room.
Ellie sat on the couch with the sleeping bag wrapped around her like a cloak. Charlie was indeed the most pissed off he had ever seen her. “A phone call,” Charlie called out when he came inside. “I know you know how to work them.”
Ellie winced every time Charlie slammed a pot making faces at the noises. Vincent crossed the floor over to her. He hooked his arm around Charlie’s shoulder pulling her in for a hug.
“I'm sorry,” Vincent told her. He sincerely was. He didn't like making Charlie worry. He certainly didn't like making her mad. Vincent gave her wide, penitent eyes, sparing a glance at Ellie who was chuckling at him. She wiped at her nose with the sleeve of her shirt with a loud sniff.
“You should be,”
Charlie cried. “I have been worried about the three of you.” Charlie's large bosom heaved. She slammed another dish into the sink. Her face an irritated mask, eyes hard, Charlie was so angry her hands shook.
“It won't happen again. I have learned the error of my ways,” Vincent said looking apologetic. He flashed her a smile. “Promise.”
“Hey, there is Zan. Where’s the other Wonder Twin?” Vetler said as he walked into the kitchen. “I take it all is well?” he asked, shooting a concerned glance at Ellie leaning against the arm of the couch. He stepped up behind Charlie. Closing his arms around her, he clasped them beneath her large breasts. Charlie leaned into him with a small smile. Seeing the two of them so happy made Vincent grin. Charlie deserved someone that would love her and treat her right. Vetler was proving to be that man.
“He's off getting something special for El,” Vincent told him. “How’s Anna?”
“She's alright,” Charlie said. Her anger melted away a little.
Edward came through the door. Walking over to Ellie, he mussed her hair. Ellie frowned. Vetler's eyes narrowed when he saw Vincent tense. His eyes go hard. Vetler looked at Ellie and Edward. “Now that you're home safe. I think I'm going to get something to eat,” Edward told her.
Ellie sniffed. “Stay away from bears. I was under the impression they went down with much less of a fight,” she said glaring at Vincent.
“Safe as houses, little one. Safe as houses,” Edward said with a smile. He could say his quarry was a hell of a lot less dangerous than the animals foolish enough to still be sticking around here. They tasted better too. Edward didn't bother slipping into his shoes. As a matter of fact, he pulled his shirt off and folded it gently. “You sure you're okay, little Lottey?” Edward asked one last time.
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