He let go of my hand and pointed toward the southern edge of the beach, where the flat, rocky half-moon dead-ended against the sheer sea cliffs. I stared, uncomprehending.
“Didn’t I promise to take you cliff diving?”
I shivered.
“Yeah, it’ll be pretty cold—not as cold as it is today. Can you feel the weather changing? The pressure? It will be warmer tomorrow. You up for it?”
The dark water did not look inviting, and, from this angle, the cliffs looked even higher than before.
But it had been days since I’d heard Edward’s voice. That was probably part of the problem. I was addicted to the sound of my delusions. It made things worse if I went too long without them. Jumping off a cliff was certain to remedy that situation.
“Sure, I’m up for it. Fun.”
“It’s a date,” he said, and draped his arm around my shoulders.
“Okay—now let’s go get you some sleep.” I didn’t like the way the circles under his eyes were beginning to look permanently etched onto his skin.
I woke early the next morning and snuck a change of clothes out to the truck. I had a feeling that Charlie would approve of today’s plan just about as much as he would approve of the motorcycle.
The idea of a distraction from all my worries had me almost excited. Maybe it would be fun. A date with Jacob, a date with Edward... I laughed darkly to myself. Jake could say what he wanted about us being a messed-up pair—I was the one who was truly messed up. I made the werewolf seem downright normal.
I expected Jacob to meet me out front, the way he usually did when my noisy truck announced my arrival. When he didn’t, I guessed that he might still be sleeping. I would wait—let him get as much rest as he could. He needed his sleep, and that would give the day time to warm a bit more. Jake had been right about the weather, though; it had changed in the night. A thick layer of clouds pressed heavily on the atmosphere now, making it almost sultry; it was warm and close under the gray blanket. I left my sweater in the truck.
I knocked quietly on the door.
“C’mon in, Bella,” Billy said.
He was at the kitchen table, eating cold cereal.
“Jake sleeping?”
“Er, no.” He set his spoon down, and his eyebrows pulled together.
“What happened?” I demanded. I could tell from his expression that something had.
“Embry, Jared, and Paul crossed a fresh trail early this morning. Sam and Jake took off to help. Sam was hopeful—she’s hedged herself in beside the mountains. He thinks they have a good chance to finish this.”
“Oh, no, Billy,” I whispered. “Oh, no.”
He chuckled, deep and low. “Do you really like La Push so well that you want to extend your sentence here?”
“Don’t make jokes, Billy. This is too scary for that.”
“You’re right,” he agreed, still complacent. His ancient eyes were impossible to read. “This one’s tricky.”
I bit my lip.
“It’s not as dangerous for them as you think it is. Sam knows what he’s doing. You’re the one that you should worry about. The vampire doesn’t want to fight them. She’s just trying to find a way around them...to you.”
“How does Sam know what he’s doing?” I demanded, brushing aside his concern for me. “They’ve only killed just the one vampire—that could have been luck.”
“We take what we do very seriously, Bella. Nothing’s been forgotten. Everything they need to know has been passed down from father to son for generations.”
That didn’t comfort me the way he probably intended it to. The memory of Victoria, wild, catlike, lethal, was too strong in my head. If she couldn’t get around the wolves, she would eventually try to go through them.
Billy went back to his breakfast; I sat down on the sofa and flipped aimlessly though the TV channels. That didn’t last long. I started to feel closed in by the small room, claustrophobic, upset by the fact that I couldn’t see out the curtained windows.
“I’ll be at the beach,” I told Billy abruptly, and hurried out the door.
Being outside didn’t help as much as I’d hoped. The clouds pushed down with an invisible weight that kept the claustrophobia from easing. The forest seemed strangely vacant as I walked toward the beach. I didn’t see any animals—no birds, no squirrels. I couldn’t hear any birds, either. The silence was eerie; there wasn’t even the sound of wind in the trees.
I knew it was all just a product of the weather, but it still made me edgy. The heavy, warm pressure of the atmosphere was perceptible even to my weak human senses, and it hinted at something major in the storm department. A glance at the sky backed this up; the clouds were churning sluggishly despite the lack of breeze on the ground. The closest clouds were a smoky gray, but between the cracks I could see another layer that was a gruesome purple color. The skies had a ferocious plan in store for today. The animals must be bunkering down.