When they are present,
one must fear the fire they cast from their fingers,
the earth they move beneath your feet,
the wind that cuts flesh like an oft-bloodied blade,
and the water that rises up the back of your throat,
drowning you from within.
~ House of Tremere (Vampire: The Dark Ages), Robin Laws
Not even during the fight had I witnessed Bella so breathtaking in her strength. She practiced her powers with her mother, Renée, and it was awe-inspiring. We gathered in an open area near a river, and the two of them manipulated the elements of the earth as though it was the most natural thing ever done. Water, rocks, the ground itself, flung past our heads at breakneck speeds. If Renée could send a boulder from the stream moving, careening and tumbling downstream, the water parted out of her way. When Bella tried to move the earth beneath a tree, the tree toppled over with a loud crash.
And through it all, Bella giggled like a young girl. Every accomplishment earned praise from her long lost mother, and deep frowns etching themselves between Charlie's eyes. He was a nervous sort, mostly worried for the safety of his wife. He stressed over what the Volturi would do to her if they ever caught her. How they could use her against innocent people as a weapon of destruction. And he knew without a doubt that he would die if this happened, either by the hand of the Volturi guard or from being separated from his bonded mate. I felt his fear and empathized. I listened to his thoughts and understood the basic reason for them—love was a terrifying emotion.
He was odd, though, in his feelings toward his daughter; his memories of her were fond, and I enjoyed seeing Bella as a little girl. She was quite mesmerizing with her large brown eyes and long lashes, her pale skin and round cheeks. However, his current thoughts concerning her were more centered around ambivalence; he did not love her the same as he had, but neither did he hate her. He saw her as an enjoyment for the one true love in his life—Renée. So long as his wife was happy, he tolerated Bella's presence. It disconcerted me greatly.
A ball of fire whizzed by my ear, interrupting my thoughts.
"Sorry!" Bella called apologetically.
"How did you manage that?" I inquired.
"Um, two rocks slammed together, creating a spark. And then that spark grew into fire, which I realized I could encourage to grow. Only I couldn't control it as I thought I could, and it got away from me." Her expression was quite sheepish.
"You'll forgive me for being more than a little worried over fire, my love."
"You're afraid of fire?" she asked, her nose wrinkling adorably.
"It is the only way to kill a vampire," Carlisle answered for me.
I frowned as Charlie tucked that information away for later inspection. I would have to be vigilant with that one.
Esme laughed. "We are all a little uncomfortable around fire, yes."
"I'll try to keep from doing that again," Bella assured us all.
"But this means you surpass my abilities with terrakinesis, Bella. You possess elemental manipulation," Renée declared.
It was comical the way Bella's eyes widened. "What does that mean?"
"You can control the four essential elements: earth, fire, wind, and water. It was you that parted the water for the boulder I threw, and you created the fireball."
"Seth is going to get a kick out of this!"
Bella had spoken to Harry and Sue, who were tied up between work and the council. If we had planned to extend our trip they would have joined us, but we were leaving tomorrow. The Swans were coming with us for now, though Charlie was against the idea. He would gladly follow Renée to the ends of the earth, and I knew the feeling well, so I did not speak of it aloud.
"We should practice your shifting, Bella," her mother said.
Bella blushed, and I easily read the look on her face. "Not in front of everyone."
Renée laughed. "I guess you're right. I'm so used to it just being your father and I, and I forgot that we'd basically both be naked."
"I need advice on why I got so tired after shifting from a bird back to human."
I tuned the two of them out for a moment, which I actually found difficult. I was accustomed to hearing multiple conversations at once and learning how to choose who to listen to, but Bella's voice would always be the loudest. I dug more into Charlie's mind as he thought of changing into a werewolf; he was mottled in color the way most of the wolves were, grey and white with bits of brown. It was hot in his wolf form, here in the rainforest, so he was thinking maybe the Olympic Mountain Range would be a nice change of climate. He also wondered if the legends of werewolves taking out vampires was accurate.
"Yes, sometimes," I said while staring straight at him. "But I would think twice about destroying your daughter's extended family. You would devastate her, and in turn, Renée." I watched his pupils dilate and heard the quickening of his heartbeat. "There is also a greater chance of the vampire having success over the werewolf," I said mildly.
It did not appear that Bella had heard me, or even Renée. But my parents had, and they watched Charlie with a new sense of caution. I could not place what was wrong with him; surely he felt a familial bond with his daughter, though they had been apart for so long. He seemed more of a mind with his father, and I would have believed that would be the last person he would wish to emulate.
"Do you find you have that much in common with your father after all?" I asked him directly.
He looked barely older than me; more resembling a brother to Bella than her father. Charlie's thoughts turned volatile at my comment. He never wanted to be Quil.
"I've spent too much time away from other people," he mumbled. "I love her, but I'm scared, okay?"
"Loving her does not hurt; rather it expands the heart to a size previously unknown. Bella is many things, such as kind and selfless and strong and very, very intelligent. She did not seek you out to ruin your lives, but to find answers and to share the love she has inside her."
Charlie was silent once again, but his mind was working quickly. He saw the wisdom of my words, but the fear held him back. Still, I was mostly confident that he would take it under advisement.
Bella's shoulders slumped after whisking a stream of water across the river to the other side. She sought me out with her gaze, and I gave her a gentle smile.
"I'm exhausted," she admitted.
"We can be done for the day, of course," Renée was quick to say. "I think Charlie and I will go home and pack, if that's okay with all of you."
We spent a few minutes saying goodbye and planning to meet in the morning in time for the flight Carlisle had booked. I wrapped an arm around Bella's shoulder as she trudged back to the house of the three Amazonian sisters. "Are you in need of a nap?" I asked her.
"I think a short one. The exhaustion is mostly mental."
"So if I made plans for us, would you be interested?"
She looked up at me, her rich brown eyes sparkling. "What sort of plans did you have in mind?"
"I was thinking of going back to where we landed, in Manaus, and booking a hotel for the two of us. Eating for you, sightseeing for us, a big comfy bed in private for us… " I trailed off.
"I think I'm absolutely in. And I'll skip the nap, because we have to drive back out anyway." She bit her lip, the pinkness turning white as she chewed on it. I pressed my thumb to her lip to release it from her teeth.
"What are you thinking?"
"How will the others get back to Manaus tomorrow for our flight? And won't everyone know why we're leaving?"
I chuckled at her. "They would know more if we stuck around and I pounced on you in their presence." Her blush was so deep I laughed out loud. "The sisters have a vehicle that they keep behind the house. Carlisle and Esme would take Charlie and Renée in that, along with whichever sister was willing to accompany them. Or I could run with you into the city, and we could leave the rental here."
"I really don't want to put them out. Would it be hard to run that far with our luggage?"
"It would be a juggle with you and the suitcases," I conceded.
"You aren't a pack mule," she agreed. "Let's see if they're willing to shuffle the vehicles."
In the end, Carlisle ran to the treehouse to ask Bella's parents what they thought. Charlie said he had an old hummer that they used for their supply runs. Carlisle and Esme insisted they wanted to catch up with their old friends, and they decided to go ahead and stay with Kachiri, Senna, and Zafrina.
I was positive I could find a hotel without needing to use the ridiculous antenna at the back of the house in order to find a signal for my phone. Bella grabbed her stuff, the very little she'd taken out earlier in the day, and I packed up the jeep. Hugs and farewells took longer than I expected, but soon we were on our way.
I highly anticipated the evening to come with just Bella and myself.
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