Edward, Alice called urgently.
Suddenly I was staring into a bright circle of sunlight, caught up in one of Alice's visions.
It was a place I knew well, the place I'd just considered taking Bella-a little meadow where no one ever
went beside myself. A quiet, pretty place where I could count on being alone-far enough from any trail
or human habitation that even my mind could have peace and quiet.#p#分页标题#e#
Alice recognized it, too, because she had seen me there not so long ago in another vision-one of those
flickering, indistinct visions that Alice had shown me the morning I'd saved Bella from the van.
In that flickering vision, I hadn't been alone. And now it was clear-Bella was with me there. So I was
brave enough. She stared at me, rainbows dancing across her face, her eyes fathomless.
It's the same place, Alice thought, her mind full of a horror that did not match the vision. Tension,
perhaps, but horror? What did she mean, the same place? And then I saw it.
Edward! Alice protested shrilly. I love her, Edward!
I shut her out viciously.
She didn't love Bella the way I did. Her vision was impossible. Wrong. She was blinded somehow, seeing
impossibilities.
Not even a half a second had passed. Bella was looking curiously at my face, waiting for me to approve
her request. Had she seen the flash of dread, or had it been too quick for her?
I focused on her, on our unfinished conversation, pushing Alice and her flawed, lying visions far from my
thoughts. They didn't deserve my attention. I wasn't able to keep up the playful tone of our banter,
though.
"Won't you want to tell your father that you're spending the day with me?" I asked, darkness seeping
into my voice.
I shoved at the visions again, trying to push them farther away, to keep them from flickering through my
head.
"With Charlie, less is always more," Bella said, certain of this fact. "Where are we going, anyway?"
Alice was wrong. Dead wrong. There was no chance of that. And it was just an old vision, invalid now.
Things had changed.
"The weather will be nice," I told her slowly, fighting the panic and indecision.
Alice was wrong. I would continue as if I hadn't heard or seen anything. "So I'll be staying out of the
public eye...and you can stay with me, if you'd like to."
Bella caught the significance at once; her eyes were bright and eager. "And you'll show me what you
meant, about the sun?"
Maybe, like so many times before, her reaction would be the opposite of what I expected. I smiled at
that possibility, struggling to return to the lighter moment. "Yes. But..." She hadn't said yes. "If you don't
want to be...alone with me, I'd still rather you didn't go to Seattle by yourself. I shudder to think of the
trouble you could find in a city that size."
Her lips pressed together; she was offended. "Phoenix is three times bigger than Seattle-just in
population. In physical size-"
"But apparently your number wasn't up in Phoenix," I said, cutting off her justifications. "So I'd rather
you stayed with me."
She could stay forever and it would not be long enough. I shouldn't think that way. We didn't have
forever. The passing seconds counted more than they ever had before; each second changed her while I
remained untouched.
"As it happens, I don't mind being alone with you," she said.
No-because her instincts were backwards.
"I know." I sighed. "You should tell Charlie, though."
"Why in the world would I do that?" she asked, sounding horrified.
I glared at her, the visions I couldn't quite manage to repress swirling sickeningly through my head.
"To give me some small incentive to bring you back," I hissed. She should give me that much-one
witness to compel me to be cautious.
Why had Alice forced this knowledge on me now?
Bella swallowed loudly, and stared at me for a long moment. What did she see? "I think I'll take my
chances," she said.
Ugh! Did she get some thrill out of risking her life? Some shot of adrenaline she craved? I scowled at
Alice, who met my glare with a warning glance. Beside her, Rosalie was glowering furiously, but I
couldn't have cared less. Let her destroy the car. It was just a toy.
"Let's talk about something else," Bella suggested suddenly.
I looked back at her, wondering how she could be so oblivious to what really mattered. Why wouldn't
she see me for the monster I was?
"What do you want to talk about?"
Her eyes darted to the left and then the right, as if checking to make sure there were no eavesdroppers.
She must be planning to introduce another myth-related topic.
Her eyes froze for a second and her body stiffened, and then she looked back to me. "Why did you go to
that Goat Rocks place last weekend...to hunt? Charlie said it wasn't a good place to hike, because of
bears."