was too afraid to tell her." I tried to swallow past a tight, dry throat and winced at the painful sandpapery burn. When my voice came again, it was barely a whisper. "There was a time when it got so bad I almost told her anyway, but he knew. Nathan could tell I was close. So he broke my cat's neck and left her on my bed." "Jesus Christ." His chest was heaving. "He wasn't just fucked up, he was insane. And he was touching you...Eva ." "The servants had to know," I went on numbly, staring at my twisted hands. I just wanted to get it over with, to get it all out so I could put it back into the box in my mind where I forgot about it in my day-to-day life. "The fact that they didn't say anything either told me they were scared, too. They were grownups and they didn't say a word. I was a child. What could I do if they wouldn't do anything?" "How did you get out?" he asked hoarsely. "When did it end?" "When I was fourteen
" Alice was already off the couch, phone in hand, dialing. I stared at the precise rendering of my mother's family room. Uncharacteristically, Jasper slid closer to me. He lightly touched his hand to my shoulder, and the physical contact seemed to make his calming influence stronger. The panic stayed dull, unfocused. Alice's lips were trembling with the speed of her words, the low buzzing impossible to decipher. I couldn't concentrate. "Bella," Alice said. I looked at her numbly. "Bella, Edward is coming to get you. He and Emmett and Carlisle are going to take you somewhere, to hide you for a while." "Edward is coming?" The words were like a life vest, holding my head above the flood. "Yes, he's catching the first flight out of Seattle. We'll meet him at the airport, and you'll leave with him." "But, my mother... he came here for my mother, Alice!" Despite Jasper, the hysteria bubbled up in my voice. "Jasper and I will stay till she's safe." "I can't win, Alice
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