Eclipse (Twilight, #3)

by Stephenie Meyer

“It’s open.” “I was curious.” “I’m shocked, Sheriff. That’s a federal crime.”

Do you realize that your insatiable pull for all things deadly was strong enough to recover a pack of mutant canines from extinction? If we could bottle your luck, we’d have a weapon of mass destruction on our hands.”

Edward and Alice playing chess was one of the funniest things I’d ever seen. They’d sat there nearly motionless, staring at the board, while Alice foresaw the moves he would make and he picked the moves she would make in return out of her head. They played most of the game in their minds; I think they’d each moved two pawns when Alice suddenly flicked her king over and surrendered. It took all of three minutes.

This morning there had been a note left on my pillow: I’ll be back so soon you won’t have time to miss me. Look after my heart—I‘ve left it with you.

I arranged the magnets on the fridge into a perfect line. Maybe I was developing obsessive-compulsive disorder.

“But I am a werewolf,” he said unwillingly. “And he is a vampire,” he added with obvious revulsion. “And I’m a Virgo!”

“Quil will be the best, kindest big brother any kid ever had. There isn’t a toddler on the planet that will be more carefully looked after than that little girl will be. And then, when she’s older and needs a friend, he’ll be more understanding, trustworthy, and reliable than anyone else she knows. And then, when she’s grown up, they’ll be as happy as Emily and Sam.”

Dream happy dreams. You are the only one who has ever touched my heart. It will always be yours.

The way he stared at her! It was like a blind man seeing the sun for the first time. Like a collector finding an undiscovered Da Vinci, like a mother looking into the face of her newborn child.

Taha Aki wore one bag around his neck, so he would be warned if the creature ever tried to put himself together again.” Old Quil paused and looked at Billy. Billy pulled out a leather thong from around his neck. Hanging from the end was a small bag, blackened with age.

They’d learned how to fight the cold ones, and they passed the knowledge on, wolf mind to wolf mind, spirit to spirit, father to son.

I was trying to imagine the face of the unnamed woman who had saved the entire tribe, the third wife. Just a human woman, with no special gifts or powers. Physically weaker and slower than any of the monsters in the story. But she had been the key, the solution. She’d saved her husband, her young sons, her tribe. I wish they’d remembered her name.…

This killer—if, in fact, it is one person—would then be responsible for 39 linked homicides and disappearances within the last three months alone. In comparison, Ridgway’s 48-count murder spree was scattered over a 21-year period. If these deaths can be linked to one man, then this is the most violent rampage of serial murder in American history.

Jasper’s face was unreadable as he pushed the sleeve of his thin sweater higher up his arm. At first my eyes could not make sense of the texture that was layered thickly across the skin. Curved half-moons crisscrossed in a feathery pattern that was only visible, white on white as it was, because the bright glow of the lamp beside him threw the slightly raised design into relief, with shallow shadows outlining the shapes. And then I grasped that the pattern was made of individual crescents like the one on his wrist… the one on my hand.

“Emmett and I were away hunting. Jasper shows up, covered in battle scars, towing this little freak”—he nudged Alice playfully—“who greets them all by name, knows everything about them, and wants to know which room she can move into.”

Some of that dignity was lost when Edward insisted again on delivering me to the border line like a child being exchanged by custodial guardians.

“Hey, it’s the least I can do—I offered eternal servitude, remember. I’m your slave for life.” “I don’t want a slave!”

Even more embarrassingly, something I would never say aloud, I wanted his venom to poison my system. It would make me belong to him in a tangible, quantifiable way.

But he’s not your whole life, either. Not anymore. Maybe he was once, but he left. And now he’s just going to have to deal with the consequence of that choice—me. ”

“I hate you, Jacob Black.” “That’s good. Hate is a passionate emotion.” “I’ll give you passionate,” I muttered under my breath. “Murder, the ultimate crime of passion.”

“What did he do?” “He kissed me,” I growled. All I heard on the other end of the line was the sound of an engine accelerating.

Emmett was sitting beside her, one hand reached under the Jeep toward her. It took me a moment to realize that he was acting as the jack.

The right thing isn’t always real obvious. Sometimes the right thing for one person is the wrong thing for someone else. So… good luck figuring that out.”

They’d all reassured me; Alice reaching up to pat my head as I left, eyeing Jasper meaningfully until a flood of peace swirled around me, Esme kissing my forehead and promising me everything was all right, Emmett laughing boisterously and asking why I was the only one who was allowed to fight with werewolves.…

“Charlie?” I gasped. “He’ll be with Billy,” Jacob assured me quickly. “If my dad has to commit a murder to get him there, he’ll do it. Probably it won’t take that much. It’s this Saturday, right? There’s a game.”

Two voices struggled inside me. One that wanted to be good and brave, and one that told the good one to keep her mouth shut.

“You know, I never had a dog,” I mused. “I always wanted one, but Renée’s allergic.” Jacob laughed; his body shook under me.

“That’s not what I meant. I already know how strong you are. You didn’t have to break the furniture.”

“This is unbearable. So many things I’ve wanted to give you—and this is what you decide to demand. Do you have any idea how painful it is, trying to refuse you when you plead with me this way?”

“I said I would marry you, and I will. I promise. I swear. If you want, I’ll sign a contract in my own blood.” “Not funny,”

The urge to fight must be a defining characteristic of the Y chromosome. They were all the same.

My entire being shies away from any course that could inspire that kind of pain again.”

I wondered if the Cullens and the Quileutes weren’t just playing up that whole odor issue because of their prejudices. Everyone smelled fine to me.

“Get out of my head.” “I wish I could. You have no idea how loud your little fantasies are. It’s like you’re shouting them at me.”

I had to get over this irrational feeling that Jacob belonged in my life. He couldn’t belong with me, could not be my Jacob, when I belonged to someone else.

As if I were looking through the filter of Jacob’s thoughts, I could see exactly what I was going to give up, exactly what this new self-knowledge would not save me from losing. I could see Charlie and Renée mixed into a strange collage with Billy and Sam and La Push. I could see years passing, and meaning something as they passed, changing me. I could see the enormous red-brown wolf that I loved, always standing as protector if I needed him. For the tiniest fragment of that second, I saw the bobbing heads of two small, black-haired children, running away from me into the familiar forest. When they disappeared, they took the rest of the vision with them.

“He makes me look like the patron saint of ethics.”

Edward stretched out his arm, his hand curled into a fist. Seth grinned, revealing the long row of dagger teeth, and bumped his nose against Edward’s hand. “Nice teamwork,”

Sam is trying to get him to phase back to his human form. That will make treating him easier.” Carlisle smiled slightly. “I’ve never been to veterinary school.”

You are safe inside your mind. No one can reach you there.

“And Edward was really… nice. He seemed as worried about Jacob as you are—like that was his brother lying there. The look in his eyes…”

“‘I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!’”

“It’s a good thing you’re bulletproof.” I sighed. “I’m going to need that ring. It’s time to tell Charlie.”