Devil Incarnate Chapter Twenty-four

With the French doors open to the sounds of the night, Bella heard the whir of the garage door opening. A few moments later, headlights cut through the oppressive darkness. She counted three sets before they rounded the curve in the driveway.

The last vehicle cleared the property at the same time as she shimmied down the balcony supports. Her muscles recalled the times she and Edward had done this as a pair, her movements automatic. Though she was now alone, the maneuvers were the same. When she reached the pea gravel, she crouched to gather her bearings. The cameras were on each corner of the house, over each doorway, and stationed within the trees. Sucking in a breath, Bella sprinted across her lawn, feeling like an escaped prisoner. As long as she made it through the thicket near the west side, she could use the gate in the wall and be gone before anyone knew it. 

Her heart slowed as she concentrated. At times like this, she often wondered if she was born for it. The danger, the violence, the stealth. Hearing nothing but tiny creatures scuttling through the bracken, she raced to the wall. There was one small section without barbed wire, the one she and Edward had used a millennium ago when they knew the house was under watch. She stopped in front of the gate, reaching into her pack to pull out a tool. One snip to the electrical on her side, and she dismantled the alarm. Using her key, she unlocked the gate and slipped through, quickly locking the handle before closing it back. She could only pray no one was lurking outside, hoping to use the gate to their advantage now that she'd rendered it nearly useless. 

There was still a bit of grass to move through before reaching the road, but she spotted the waiting vehicle. Running up to it, she opened the passenger door and slid in.

"Hey, Mrs. C. I got your text, but I don't understand why you need a ride."

Glancing at Caitriona's boyfriend, Bella cringed at what she’d resorted to doing. "Justin, please drive toward the waterfront."

"No problem."

He put the car in drive and eased away from the curb, checking his mirrors and moving at barely above idle speed. They reached the corner, and he flipped on his signal, inching around the bend. 

Jesus Christ, talk about baby driver. "Why are you driving so slow?"

"You're my girlfriend's mom! If you tell my mom I was speeding, she'll have my behind."

Bella sighed, dragging her thumb and forefinger down her nose. "If you don't get a move on, you'll have my boot up your ass! This isn't a Sunday drive, it's life or death."

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Cullen, but your safety comes first. Now, will you please stop talking so I can concentrate on the road?" Justin pressed the accelerator, reaching a whopping thirty-five. 

"Oh my God, you have to switch with me."

Justin cruised to a stop at a red light and turned to face her. "But you're not an approved driver on my insurance."

"Get. Out." She stepped out and circled the car, reining in her temper the best she could. When he reluctantly climbed out of the driver's seat, she pointed to the back. "Get in, put your head down, and no talking."

"Yes, ma'am."

Bella sped through the city streets, stopping a few blocks shy of her destination. "Justin, do you care about Cat at all?"

His head popped up behind her. "Of course, Mrs. C!"

"Then go home, and never speak of this to anyone."

"O-okay."

Bella only glanced back once to make certain he'd left the vicinity, then jogged as close as she could manage to the building. The weapons on the roof rotated as if they were all-seeing, huge cannon-like guns that appeared big enough to take out a city block. Three blacked-out SUVs entered the nearest gate with a wave through from the guard. Heated prickles covered her skin like evil goosebumps. 

Her husband had been ushered in by Zion as a trusted ally, a friend, yet she’d been informed this was an undercover op. Nausea pooled, threatening to shoot vomit up her esophagus. Breathing through her nose, Bella took a second to assess the situation.

Other than the fact she’d been right, she had to focus on what to do next. Getting inside was paramount, more so now that it seemed her husband was in on the plot to destroy the world. Had he intended her children to die? If Quinn had accompanied them, did he wish for the girls and herself to be swept up in the tide of destruction caused by a bioweapon? For what? Money? He had plenty, and the power to go along with it. 

Sickness swirled in her belly, refusing to let her think. Instead, she acted on instinct. Rushing to the fence, she slit the guard’s throat before he could turn and shout, sliding through the gate a millisecond before it closed. Panic tried to crowd her senses, her vision graying around the edges and her breathing sharp. One last look behind her, at the life she used to know, showed nothing but a body bleeding out on the ground and eerie silence. With no one following her, she made the decision to stick to the shadows and go in on the ground floor. No sense scaling a building if she didn't have to.

The doors were locked but easily picked, at least for someone with her skills. She had a moment to wonder why the ‘fortress’ wasn’t protected better when she heard voices. Slithering behind a concrete post, Bella hid. 

And heard more than she’d bargained for.

“So we’re in agreement, then.” Edward. Ice ran through her veins, her heart beating against her ribs like a hummingbird’s wings against a cage.

“Da. Money in exchange for names.”

“And the shelter when the time comes,” she heard Edward demand.

“Of course. We wouldn't want pretty face blowing up.”

Someone smothered a laugh; Seamus? Oh, God. They were all in on it.

“My men will go with you. Jasper, Seamus,” Edward ordered.

Sweat coated her palms, and she rubbed them on her pants. What the fuck was she going to do now? Footsteps moved in the other direction until she was left in silence once again.

The bomb was there somewhere. Edward could make all the deals he wanted, but they couldn't move forward without the bomb. If it were hers, she’d keep it in a safe place in the bowels of the building. Turning to find her way down, she found herself face to face with a tall, lean man in all-black with his face and head covered in a balaclava. Swallowing thickly, she settled into a fighting stance. 

Her intuition told her she knew who it was, the tingling in her spine making it obvious. Her brain refused to cooperate, though. It couldn't be him.

It simply couldn't.

Neither of them spoke. For endless moments, neither of them moved. 

When he struck lightning fast, she blocked. She kicked high, but he caught her foot and shoved, nearly pushing her off balance. Heart and stomach competed for the tight space in her throat, but she wouldn't relent. As she went for her weapon, he knocked it out of her hand. Pain bloomed through her bones, but she merely tightened her fist against it. The next blow whistled by her face, and she bit her tongue so hard the iron taste of blood flooded her mouth. The shock of it caused her mouth to freeze open until she could blink back the tears and grit her teeth. Backing up, she gave herself space to whip her knife from the sheath on her belt. Holding it in one hand, she prepared to both block and strike. 

A blow to the back of her head took her down before her next inhale. The man in front heaved her over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes, his movements lithe, smooth, stalking forward exactly like a jungle cat. She had a moment to think Edward before her world went black.

Awaking with a start, she found herself strapped into a chair and tied at the ankles and wrists. Desperate to fix everything, she struggled to get free, but he’d left her there without a word. Time passed, in which she thought about her life from the moment she’d met Edward in high school to the time they’d shared in Forks before his grandmother passed, down to the minutes preceding the first message from Zion. How was it possible to believe so thoroughly in someone, only to be proven wrong repeatedly?

The door opened with a soft click, a shaft of blinding light revealing a shadow man in the opening. With a flick of his wrist, he flooded the room with light. Blinking, Bella tried to focus on the man towering over her seated form.

Recognition rammed her in the gut, stealing all hope for an escape. So it was him. A large part of her was disappointed that she hadn't been able to defeat him in a hand-to-hand fight, but he’d also cheated. "Why am I here?"

Edward replied, "This is karma coming back around, Bella. You can't run from it any more than you can run from your past."

The room filled with people; Zion men she didn’t recognize, but also Quinn, Seamus, and Jasper. It hurt her heart to see her son used against her.

"If you think I'll meekly accept whatever you've deemed as my fate, you're out of your mind." 

Her husband circled her chair, clucking his tongue. "You always were so stubborn."

Who wouldn't be stubborn when faced with the end of the world? Did he honestly expect her to acquiesce after discovering he was part of the entire plot? Shifting her feet, she tried to wiggle them free of their restraints. "We had an agreement." 

Of course, the agreement was that she wouldn’t go against him, but he wasn't supposed to team up with the enemy, either. He was supposed to take them out and save the world.

His laugh grated her ears. "Let's just say I received a better offer." 

"I won't give you anything, no matter what you do to me."

"Oh, Bella," he crooned in that hypnotic voice of his. "Do you honestly think there's anything I couldn't have from you if I wished it?"

Any other circumstance would have had her throbbing for him after a line like that, but they both knew he wasn't after her pussy at the moment. She’d given him everything over the years, from her body to her mind and soul. She’d given him children, given him unconditional love, and she’d put her life on the line for him time and again. "Arrogant fucking bastard. I saved your life!"

He gripped her chin between his thumb and forefinger, burning her skin with his touch. "I was never yours to save."

Sadly, it seemed that was true. The man standing before her now was a stranger. He’d never truly been hers if he was capable of these atrocities.

"Life ruined, but so desperate to live," he murmured, moving toward the door. "Since I caught you trying to break in and steal the weapon, you've given me no choice."

Jasper spoke up, clearly bored. "Just get it over with already."

Murmurs of agreement sounded from the men near the door. Zion wouldn't want any survivors after releasing their bomb, except the ones they could control like puppets. 

"You have to die," someone from the back said. The voice was familiar, yet she couldn't put her finger on who he was.

Pushing at Edward, Quinn shouted, "You can't do this!"

Jasper sneered at Quinn. "Shut your mouth, boy."

If there had been the chance, she would have punched Jasper square in the nose for speaking to Quinn in that manner. As it was, she realized she didn't have much longer before their demands were satisfied.

"There has to be another way, Uncle Jasper." Quinn’s tears were Bella’s undoing. Agonizing for him and the rest of their family, Bella felt hot tears finally scalding her cheeks. 

"Don't make me restrain you." Turning, Jasper faced the group of men congregating near the door. Someone shifted, and Bella bit her lip to keep from gasping. The voice and face came together, and stark clarity flooded her mind.

"End her," the man said. "Do it now."

Without a moment's hesitation, Edward raised his gun and shot Bella dead center in the chest. 

Chaos overcame the small square room as Quinn rushed to his mother. Her chair had toppled over, and he pressed his face to her bloody shirt. With a roar, he surged to his feet and lunged at his father. "You killed her! Fucking bastard, I can't believe you went through with it!" 

Punching and shoving, Quinn battered Edward while stained with his mother’s blood.

"Enough!" Edward pushed Quinn off him. "Shut up and remember your place."

Jasper escorted the men from the room, who wanted to goggle at the scene before them. There was money to exchange now that they’d upheld their end of the bargain. The Cullens had made a deal with the devil, and it was time for the devil to pay up.

Justin

Balaclava