Midnight Sun(68)

passenger door was closest to Bella. I threw that open, and she was already running toward the car.
"Get in," I snarled.
What the hell?
Knew this was a bad idea! She's not alone.
Should I run?
Think I'm going to throw up...
Bella jumped through the open door without hesitating, pulling the door shut behind her.
And then she looked up at me with the most trustful expression I had ever seen on a human face, and all
my violent plans crumbled.
It took much, much less than a second for me to see that I could not leave her in the car in order to deal
with the four men in the street. What would I tell her, not to watch? Ha! When did she ever do what I
asked? When did she ever do the safe thing?
Would I drag them away, out of her sight, and leave her alone here? It was a long shot that another
dangerous human would be prowling the streets of Port Angeles tonight, but it was a long shot that#p#分页标题#e#
there was even the first! Like a magnet, she drew all things dangerous toward herself. I could not let her
out of my sight.
It would feel like part of the same motion to her as I accelerated, taking her away from her pursuers so
quickly that they gaped after my car with uncomprehending expressions. She would not recognize my
instant of hesitation. She would assume the plan was escape from the beginning.
I couldn't even hit him with my car. That would frighten her.
I wanted his death so savagely that the need for it rang in my ears and clouded my sight and was a flavor
on my tongue. My muscles were coiled with the urgency, the craving, the necessity of it. I 'had to kill
him. I would peel him slowly apart, piece by piece, skin from muscle, muscle from bone...
Except that the girl-the only girl in the world-was clinging to her seat with both hands, staring at me, her
eyes still wide and utterly trusting. Vengeance would have to wait.
"Put on your seatbelt," I ordered. My voice was rough with the hate and bloodlust. Not the usual
bloodlust. I would not sully myself by taking any part of that man inside me.
She locked the seatbelt into place, jumping slightly at the sound it made. That little sound made her
jump, yet she did not flinch as I tore through the town, ignoring all traffic guides. I could feel her eyes on
me. She seemed oddly relaxed. It didn't make sense to me-not with what she'd just been through.
"Are you okay?" she asked, her voice rough with stress and fear.
She wanted to know if I was okay?
I thought about her question for a fraction of a second. Not long enough for her to notice the hesitation.
Was I okay?
"No," I realized, and my tone seethed with rage.
I took her to the same unused drive where I'd spent the afternoon engaged in the poorest surveillance
ever kept. It was black now under the trees.
I was so furious that my body froze in place there, utterly motionless. My ice-locked hands ached to
crush her attacker, to grind him into pieces so mangled that his body could never be identified....
But that would entail leaving her here alone, unprotected in the dark night.
"Bella?" I asked through my teeth.
"Yes?" she responded huskily. She cleared her throat.
"Are you all right?" That was really the most important thing, the first priority. Retribution was
secondary. I knew that, but my body was so filled with rage that it was hard to think.
"Yes." Her voice was still thick-with fear, no doubt.
And so I could not leave her.
Even if she wasn't at constant risk for some infuriating reason-some joke the universe was playing on
me-even if I could be sure that she would be perfectly safe in my absence, I could not leave her alone in
the dark.
She must be so frightened.
Yet I was in no condition to comfort her-even if I knew exactly how that was to be accomplished, which I
did not. Surely she could feel the brutality radiating out of me,
surely that much was obvious. I would frighten her even more if I could not calm the lust for slaughter
boiling inside me.
I needed to think about something else.
"Distract me, please," I pleaded.
"I'm sorry, what?"
I barely had enough control to try to explain what I needed.
"Just prattle about something unimportant until I calm down," I instructed, my jaw still locked. Only the
fact that she needed me held me inside the car. I could hear the man's thoughts, his disappointment and
anger... I knew where to find him... I closed my eyes, wishing that I couldn't see anyway...
"Um..." She hesitated-trying to make sense of my request, I imagined. "I'm going to run over Tyler
Crowley tomorrow before school?" She said this like it was a question.
Yes-this was what I needed. Of course Bella would come up with something unexpected. Like it had
been before, the threat of violence coming through her lips was hilarious-so comical it was jarring. If I
had not been burning with the urge to kill, I would have laughed.