Chapter Twenty-One

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Casualties of War

I backed away from what was left of our ragged little army; noticing as I did, the remaining members of our troupe were there as well, it seemed that Alice and Luca had been the only casualties. I glanced towards Voltera and was amazed to see a thick stream of purple smoke floating above the city, amazement flooded me and I wondered who, in that amazingly strong contingent of vampires, had been destroyed by the force that was my family. Daddy wrapped his arm around my shoulders and guided me into the house, as he did he whispered “Aro, Renata, Demetri, and Felix are gone. The others, or what is left of the others, are probably regrouping but I think the fact that we have destroyed three of their strongest fighters  and one of their oldest and most powerful that they may decide against coming after us. To know this for certain we need to get Alice back to full strength. She will need at least a couple of weeks to heal and there are no guarantees that she will ever be the same. How’s Jacob?” I started guiltily because I had momentarily forgotten Jacob in me grief over Alice, I sighed and said “He is resting. I don’t know how badly he is hurt or how badly they mistreated him and I need Carlisle to check him over to be sure but he seems okay.” As we reached the door my father hissed in disbelief “They have come for us already.” And it took me several seconds, in which they had group themselves into battle formation, before I realised and said in a squeaky voice I barely recognised as my own “No! It isn’t them, it’s Alyssa. She helped us escape. Without her we wouldn’t have made it out alive.” I could tell by the looks on their faces that they didn’t believe me so I said to my father “I’m serious, you of all people would know if I was lying to you or if she was hiding something.” I watched as my father concentrated on Alyssa’s thoughts and he seemed relieved to hear what he had within them because he said “Renesmee is right she is here to help and with Alice out of commission right now we need all the help we can get; and Alyssa, being able to see the wolves and Renesmee, will come in handy.” I turned away from the rest of the group assembled on the front yard and as I did this Daddy grumbled “She just saw us working together, and I thought Alice was smug when she was right about something and people doubt her, this one is worse.” I chuckled under my breath and continued into the house. The others followed and once we were safely within the walls of our hide-out they separated. Carlisle, Emmett, and Jasper carried Alice up the stairs and into one of the rooms on the second floor; Esme, Rosalie, Momma and I went into the front room of the downstairs area and saw to Jake. I watched as Daddy consoled the remaining members of Luca’s pack before welcoming back the stolen members of our pack.

It wasn’t until I sat beside Jake in the relative safety of our hide-out that the anxiety that I had been feeling swamped me. I felt my hands start to shake and that was quickly followed by my entire body; I was shaking so hard that my teeth were clicking together. I felt Momma come and stand beside me and all I wanted was to breakdown and cry but I knew that once I started I probably wouldn’t be able to stop. Her hand rested on my shoulder and her musical voice floated softly to me “It’s gonna be ok. I promise you nothing bad will happen to either you or your baby. Carlisle will make sure of that, we all will make sure of that.” It wasn’t until she mentioned the baby that I had even thought about the small life growing inside of me but once she mentioned it that small life took centre-stage within my thoughts and I started to panic all over again. I truly didn’t think that I was ready to be a Mom, I was barely ready to be a wife, but here I was – both those things and with a husband who had not regained consciousness since we had made it back to base. I dropped my head and stared down at my hand as it lay next to Jacob’s, I was once again struck by the difference in our colouring and the difference in our size. It was as I sat staring down at his large hand that it suddenly moved and his hand covered mine. I started and my eyes flew to the face of the man I loved. He smiled up at me and whispered “Hey Nessie.” I sat stunned for a second before tears fell onto my cheeks and I threw my body over his, sobbing as I let go of the pain, anger, fear and distress that I had been feeling. He held me as I cried and it was only once my tears subsided that I raised my head, it was as I did this that I caught the grimace of pain he couldn’t quite hide. I pulled away from him and said “Oh my God Jake, I am so sorry. Where is it hurting? What can I do? Is there anything you need?” I could hear the hysteria creeping into my voice and I forced myself to quash it. My hands fluttered like the wings of a moth as I sat uselessly beside him, he moved and captured both of my wrists in one of his hands and said “That’s enough Ness. I am fine, nothing a few hours won’t fix. I want to know how you are, how both of you are.” I dropped my gaze and Mumbled “I’m fine, honestly.”

A sound swept through the room, the sound of a light breeze, and I looked away from Jacob in time to see my mother closing the door to the room we were in to give us some privacy, pointless really considering their hearing but I appreciated it all the same. I sat staring at the door for longer than strictly necessary but I couldn’t bring myself to look at Jake without showing him the fear and distress I was feeling. I had forgotten that our hands were still touching. “I’m sorry for doing this to you Ness.” As his whispered words reached my ears I turned to look at him, the questioning look on my face made him chuckle before he grimaced in pain. He raised one eyebrow and looked pointedly down at our joined hands and I closed my eyes with frustration, I smiled with false cheerfulness before saying “Jake it isn’t your fault that the Volturi blind-sided us. How were you supposed to know? I am just glad that you’re back and in one relative piece.” I could hear the out of control edge to my words and I knew that Jacob heard them too. He smiled sadly up at me and said “Honey you know that isn’t why I’m apologising. I should have taken more care with you; I shouldn’t have put you in this situation, I knew better but the only thing I can say is that I love you and I will be here for you; no matter what.” I dropped my eyes half way through his speech and I was only aware of crying when I watched a crystalline drop hit his chest, quickly followed in rapid succession by another and another. He shifted into a sitting position, completely ignoring my protests, and gathered me into his arms. I wrapped my arms around his body as far as I could and clung tightly to him. This was what I had feared I would never get to do again and I knew that he had been feeling the same way. We clung to each other for several minutes until I heard my father and the others coming down from upstairs. I pulled away from Jake and sighed loudly “Alice.” Jake looked puzzled before his eyes clouded in grief and he asked “She got hurt?” I nodded and said “Badly but not that badly that they can’t put her back together.” He swallowed and nodded his head before swinging his legs over the edge of the lounge he had been lying on. I yelped “What are you thinking? Lay back down this instant!” He smiled and said “I can’t just lie here; I need to thank your family and mine for rescuing us, especially considering the cost.” I stuttered and tried to push him back down but it didn’t work, even in his extremely weakened state he was so much stronger than I was. I helped him stand in a semi-upright position before putting his arm over my shoulder, he looked down amusedly before saying “Honey that isn’t really gonna help.” I glared at him and said “Humour me please. I want you to lean on me. You have been through a lot in the last couple of days.” He smiled before dropping a kiss on my mouth and a hand to my stomach; a stomach which jumped and rolled at his touch. I stared mutely up at him as he said “I love you, both, very much.” I shook my head and said “What if Aro was wrong and I’m not pregnant?” I was shocked when a very wolfish grin spread across his face before he said “Then we’ll have to practise until you are.” I felt a hot blush flood my cheeks and I had to look away from the passion in his eyes. I cleared my throat and said brusquely “Since you insist on being up, let’s go and see how the rest of my family are faring.” I felt his chuckle as it vibrated through his body.

We walked across the room and we had barely made it to the doorway before an intense feeling of despair and pain washed over us. Jake looked down at me asking “Jasper?” I nodded saying “He can’t control it. He is so scared and angry and frustrated that there isn’t more that he can do. His pain and fury are cloaking the entire house, the next couple of days are gonna be hell around here considering that we were already on edge and fearful but having it magnified… let’s just say that emotions are gonna run crazy if Jazz doesn’t snap out of it soon.” and with his arm wrapped around me we walked into the kitchen. We had just cleared the threshold when there was a fierce clashing sound, like a rock slide, and I panicked thinking the Volturi had attacked. I was pulled away from Jake and I cried out in surprise. It took my fried brain a second to realise that the sound had been my Dad and Emmett slamming into Jasper as he lunged for Jacob. I looked to where Jacob stood leaning against the door frame, his face set in a mask of surprise and horror. I broke free of Momma’s restraining hold and crossed to Jake’s side, when I got there I turned towards Jasper and snarled “What the hell are you thinking?” I touched Jacob to make sure he was okay and I saw the slight nod of his head to reassure me of his well-being, once I was sure he was okay I advanced on Jasper. I stalked across the kitchen to where he had been slammed down into a chair, held in place by the large strong hands of Dad, Emmett, and Carlisle. I bent over him and all the frustration, anger, pain, and fear I had been feeling on my own- magnified by his own emotions- exploded. I opened my mouth and was stunned to hear the screaming words I threw at Jasper. “I know you’re scared and angry but attacking us is stupid, Alice knew what she was getting into and she would be extremely pissed at you for acting this way. I can’t believe you would attack Jacob, this isn’t his fault. He is a victim here, so are the other wolves and so is Alice, so snap out of this state of mind. If you want to know if Alice is gonna be ok ask Alyssa.” I stopped when I felt Jacob’s arms come around my waist, in gentle restraint, because it was then that I realised what I had been doing. I looked back at Jasper to see his head thrown back and a stunned expression on his face. There were several seconds of silence before Emmett said insultingly “That is a good idea and how come we didn’t think about asking Alyssa?” I shot him a dangerous look before stalking past the chair that my family had Jasper strapped to, without another glance at their captive, and went and stood beside Carlisle. I reached out a hand and touched his wrist, he cocked his head to assess the whole Jasper situation before letting him go and preceding me back towards the door to Jacob.

He stopped in front of Jake and said “I would like to examine you to make sure that there will be no lasting damage from your time spent in captivity.” Jacob rolled his eyes but kept his smart ass remark to himself instead he said “Where do you want me?” I sucked in a breath at the images that question created, even while his body was bruised and beaten I found him beautiful. I heard a sharp intake of breath and a low “Renesmee! I don’t think that was what Carlisle meant.” from my Daddy but I couldn’t bring myself to be ashamed of finding my husband beautiful. I just rolled my eyes and followed Carlisle and Jacob through the lower rooms of the house and up the stairs to the room where Alice lay; quiet and unmoving. Even up here a whole house away from Jasper the air was thick with fear and pain, I guess it was amazing the strength of his gift, something that had only been muted before. It was hard to see her lying so still when all I had ever known was her boundless energy and constant movements, but to add to that Jazz’s feelings I was emotionally overwhelmed. I moved closer to her side as Carlisle helped Jake sit on a spare bed, I could see the placed where her body had been torn apart and ugly red welts were it had been rejoined. I sat beside her and lent over kissing her face saying “I’m sorry Auntie Alice, you never wanted to come and you knew deep down that something wasn’t right, but thank you for helping.” There was no response and I felt my eyes well with tears before I took a deep breath to try and control my emotions. I shifted into a standing position and crossed to Carlisle side as he treated Jacob. I reached the bedside just as he slid a needle into Jake’s veins, my stomach heaved and my head spun in increasingly darkening circles. I moaned, the sound drawing both sets of their eyes to my face, I opened my mouth to tell them that I was okay but nothing came out and darkness overtook my vision.