The Twilight Saga Collection part 2(137)
and encouraging enthusiasm.
Every writer needs an independent bookstore for a friend;
I’m so grateful for my hometown supporters at Changing Hands Bookstore
in Tempe, Arizona, and especially to Faith Hochhalter,
who has brilliant taste in literature.
I am in your debt, rock gods of Muse, for yet another inspiring album.
Thank you for continuing to create my favorite writing music.
I am also grateful to all the other bands on my playlist
who help me through the writer’s block, and to my new discoveries,
Ok Go, Gomez, Placebo, Blue October, and Jack’s Mannequin.
Most of all, a gargantuan thank-you to all of my fans.
I firmly believe that my fans are the most attractive, intelligent,
exciting, and dedicated fans in the whole world.
I wish I could give you each a big hug and a Porsche 911 Turbo.
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 by Stephenie Meyer
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Little, Brown and Company
Hachette Book Group
237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Visit our website at www.HachetteBookGroup.com
First eBook Edition: August 2008
Little, Brown and Company is a division of Hachette Book Group USA, Inc.
The Little, Brown name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group USA, Inc.
Epigraph for Book Three from Empire by Orson Scott Card. A Tor Book. Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC. Copyright © 2006 by Orson Scott Card. Reprinted with permission of the author.
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
ISBN: 978-0-316-03283-4
Contents
Cover
Copyright
BOOK ONE: BELLA
Preface
1. Engaged
2. Long Night
3. Big Day
4. Gesture
5. Isle Esme
6. Distractions
7. Unexpected
BOOK TWO: JACOB
Preface
8. Waiting For The Damn Fight To Start Already
9. Sure As Hell Didn’t See That One Coming
10. Why Didn’t I Just Walk Away? Oh Right, Because I’m An Idiot.
11. The Two Things At The Very Top Of My Things-I-Never-Want-To-Do List
12. Some People Just Don’t Grasp The Concept Of “Unwelcome”
13. Good Thing I’ve Got A Strong Stomach
14. You Know Things Are Bad When You Feel Guilty For Being Rude To Vampires
15. Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock
16. Too-Much-Information Alert
17. What Do I Look Like? The Wizard Of Oz? You Need A Brain? You Need A Heart? Go Ahead. Take Mine. Take Everything I Have.
18. There Are No Words For This.
BOOK THREE: BELLA
Preface
19. Burning
20. New
21. First Hunt
22. Promised
23. Memories
24. Surprise
25. Favor
26. Shiny
27. Travel Plans
28. The Future
29. Defection
30. Irresistible
31. Talented
32. Company
33. Forgery
34. Declared
35. Deadline
36. Bloodlust
37. Contrivances
38. Power
39. The Happily Ever After
Vampire Index
Acknowledgments
This book is dedicated to my ninja/agent, Jodi Reamer.
Thank you for keeping me off the ledge.
And thanks also to my favorite band,
the very aptly named Muse,
for providing a saga’s worth of inspiration.
BOOK ONE
bella
CONTENTS
PREFACE
1. ENGAGED
2. LONG NIGHT
3. BIG DAY
4. GESTURE
5. ISLE ESME
6. DISTRACTION
7. UNEXPECTED
Childhood is not from birth to a certain age and at a certain age
The child is grown, and puts away childish things.
Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies.
Edna St. Vincent Millay
PREFACE
I’d had more than my fair share of near-death experiences; it wasn’t something you ever really got used to.
It seemed oddly inevitable, though, facing death again. Like I really was marked for disaster. I’d escaped time and time again, but it kept coming back for me.
Still, this time was so different from the others.
You could run from someone you feared, you could try to fight someone you hated. All my reactions were geared toward those kinds of killers—the monsters, the enemies.
When you loved the one who was killing you, it left you no options. How could you run, how could you fight, when doing so would hurt that beloved one? If your life was all you had to give your beloved, how could you not give it?
If it was someone you truly loved?
1. ENGAGED
No one is staring at you, I promised myself. No one is staring at you. No one is staring at you.
But, because I couldn’t lie convincingly even to myself, I had to check.
As I sat waiting for one of the three traffic lights in town to turn green, I peeked to the right—in her minivan, Mrs. Weber had turned her whole torso in my direction. Her eyes bored into mine, and I flinched back, wondering why she didn’t drop her gaze or look ashamed. It was still considered rude to stare at people, wasn’t it? Didn’t that apply to me anymore?