More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
“Did you two get into a fight?” he asked. “Edward!” I sang, throwing myself at him. “Hi, there.” He laughed and wrapped his arms around me. “Are you trying to distract me? It’s working.”
Edward’s expression hardened. “It gets easier. After a few decades, everyone you know is dead. Problem solved.”
“So that’s why Sam is all black,” Quil muttered under his breath, grinning. “Black heart, black fur.”
“And your chocolate fur reflects what?” Sam whispered back to Quil. “How sweet you are?”
“This is the story of the third wife’s sacrifice.
Remember this
“Taha Aki’s third wife had just seen her son die before her. Now her husband fought, and she had no hope that he could win.
“And then the third wife did something the Cold Woman did not expect. She fell to her knees at the blood drinker’s feet and plunged the knife into her own heart.
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.…
I sighed heavily. “Is there any point in arguing?” “None at all.” “Okay, Alice. I’ll be there. And I’ll hate every minute of it. Promise.” “That’s the spirit! By the way, I love my gift. You shouldn’t have.” “Alice, I didn’t!” “Oh, I know that. But you will.”
“Amazing,” Edward muttered. “How can someone so tiny be so annoying?” Alice laughed. “It’s a talent.”
“I’m not that girl, Edward. The one who gets married right out of high school like some small-town hick who got knocked up by her boyfriend!
You're about to be
And I’d always been too intimidated by the tall, blond vampire who looked like a brooding movie star to ask him outright.
Be nice to Jasper
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.
“Yes,” he agreed. “When I was human, I lived in Houston, Texas. I was almost seventeen years old when I joined the Confederate Army in 1861.
Jasper they could never make me hate you
You’ve kept me waiting a long time,’ she said.” I didn’t realize Alice had come to stand behind me again. “And you ducked your head, like a good Southern gentleman, and said, ‘I’m sorry, ma’am.’” Alice laughed at the memory. Jasper smiled down at her. “You held out your hand, and I took it without stopping to make sense of what I was doing. For the first time in almost a century, I felt hope.”
“YOU CAN’T BE SERIOUS,” I SAID WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. “YOU’VE completely lost your mind!” “Say whatever you like about me,” Alice answered. “The party is still on.”
Edward’s patience was endless. He waited politely through the whole conversation, just playing with my hair and smiling whenever I looked up.
Swoon
“Stronger than Emmett?” The grin got bigger. “Yes. Do me a favor and challenge him to an arm-wrestling match. It would be a good experience for him.”
If I didn’t watch myself, I might end up writing my History essay on the vampire wars of the South.
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.
I tried to imagine telling my parents that I was getting married this summer. Telling Angela and Ben and Mike. I couldn’t. I couldn’t think of the words to say. It would be easier to tell them I was becoming a vampire.
“I’m in love with you, Bella,” Jacob said in a strong, sure voice. “Bella, I love you. And I want you to pick me instead of him. I know you don’t feel that way, but I need the truth out there so that you know your options. I wouldn’t want a miscommunication to stand in our way.”
“Until your heart stops beating, Bella,” he said. “I’ll be here—fighting. Don’t forget that you have options.”
I pulled my arm back and then let it snap forward, punching him in the mouth with as much power as I could force out of my body. There was a crunching sound. “Ow! OW!” I screamed, frantically hopping up and down in agony while I clutched my hand to my chest. It was broken, I could feel it.
“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.”
“Why did she hit you?” “Because I kissed her,” Jacob said, unashamed. “Good for you, kid,” Charlie congratulated him.
“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.
In the other room, Charlie spoke again. “Maybe you ought to take off, Jake,” he suggested. “I think I’ll hang out here, if you don’t mind.” “Your funeral,” Charlie muttered.
“I didn’t say I would fight fair.” “Neither did I.” “Best of luck.” Jacob nodded. “Yes, may the best man win.” “That sounds about right… pup.”
Emmett grinned. “Fall down again, Bella?” I glared at him fiercely. “No, Emmett. I punched a werewolf in the face.” Emmett blinked, and then burst into a roar of laughter.
I was conscious of cheering in the back of the gym, and I looked around to see Jacob pulling Charlie to his feet, both of them hooting in encouragement. I could just make out the top of Billy’s head beside Jake’s elbow. I managed to throw them an approximation of a smile.
“What was she thinking about, anyway? To keep you out, I mean.” His eyes flashed down to my face, and narrowed in suspicion. “She was translating the Battle Hymn of the Republic into Arabic, actually. When she finished that, she moved on to Korean sign language.”
Sometimes the right thing for one person is the wrong thing for someone else.
“I think I’m underdressed.” “You’re perfect,” Edward disagreed. “You’ll do,” Alice amended.
Jasper appeared quite literally out of nowhere. One second it was just Alice and me against the wall, Jacob blocking our exit, and then Jasper was standing on the other side of Jake’s arm, his expression terrifying. Jacob slowly pulled his arm back. It seemed like the best move, going with the assumption that he wanted to keep that arm.
“The decision’s been made.” “You’re going to Seattle?” “No.” I felt the color drain out of my face. My stomach lurched. “They’re coming here,” I choked out.
“You know what I think?” I asked Edward. He laughed. “No.”
Out of nowhere she was perched on Jasper’s back, her lips at his neck. “Gotcha,” she said, and kissed his throat. Jasper chuckled, shaking his head. “You truly are one frightening little monster.”
“I’ve got my eye on you, Bella,” she whispered suddenly, her voice pitched so low that I could barely hear, though her lips were at my ear.
She knows
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.
“Bella,” he murmured, his voice warm and velvet. “Would you please stop trying to take your clothes off?” “Do you want to do that part?” I asked, confused.
“Now, of course, it might be too late for me, even if you are right about my soul.” “No, it isn’t,” I argued angrily. “‘Thou shalt not kill’ is commonly accepted by most major belief systems. And I’ve killed a lot of people, Bella.”
“So that’s it. You won’t sleep with me until we’re married.” “Technically, I can’t ever sleep with you.” I rolled my eyes. “Very mature, Edward.”
“Now, I want to do this right. Please, please, keep in mind that you’ve already agreed to this, and don’t ruin it for me.” “Oh, no,” I gasped as he slid down onto one knee. “Be nice,” he muttered.
“I promise to love you forever—every single day of forever. Will you marry me?”
“Bella, could I please speak to you alone?” Alice asked swiftly. “You’re about to make my life harder than it needs to be, Alice,” Edward warned her through his teeth.
“What’s wrong, Alice?” “Don’t you love me?” she asked in that same sad tone. “Of course I do. You know that.” “Then why do I see you sneaking off to Vegas to get married without inviting me?”
“What?” I demanded. “How much do you love me, Bella?” “Why?”
“I’ll owe you for a decade.” “You’d owe me for a century!” Her eyes glowed. “Is that a yes?” “No! I don’t want to do this!”
“I’ll never, never ever forgive you for this, Alice.” “Yay!” she squealed, clapping her hands together. “That’s not a yes!” “But it will be,” she sang.
