Breaking Dawn - Stephenie Meyer [175]
Im overreacting, I assured them quickly. Its okay, I think. Hold on.
I pulled out my cell phone and hit the speed dial. Edward answered on the first ring. Jacob and Renesmee listened intently to my side as I filled Edward in.
Come, bring Carlisle, I trilled so fast I wondered if Jacob could keep up. I saw Irina, and she saw me, but then she saw Jacob and she got mad and ran away, I think. She hasnt shown up here-yet, anyway-but she looked pretty upset so maybe she will. If she doesnt, you and Carlisle have to go after her and talk to her. I feel so bad.
Jacob rumbled.
Well be there in half a minute, Edward assured me, and I could hear the whoosh of the wind his running made.
We darted back to the long meadow and then waited silently as Jacob and I listened carefully for the sound of an approach we did not recognize.
When the sound came, though, it was very familiar. And then Edward was at my side, Carlisle a few seconds behind. I was surprised to hear the heavy pad of big paws following behind Carlisle. I supposed I shouldnt have been shocked. With Renesmee in even a hint of danger, of course Jacob would call in reinforcements.
She was up on that ridge, I told them at once, pointing out the spot. If Irina was fleeing, she already had quite a head start. Would she stop and listen to Carlisle? Her expression before made me think not. Maybe you should call Emmett and Jasper and have them come with you. She looked really upset. She growled at me.
What? Edward said angrily.
Carlisle put a hand on his arm. Shes grieving. Ill go after her.
Im coming with you, Edward insisted.
They exchanged a long glance-perhaps Carlisle was measuring Edwards irritation with Irina against his helpfulness as a mind reader. Finally, Carlisle nodded, and they took off to find the trail without calling for Jasper or Emmett.
Jacob huffed impatiently and poked my back with his nose. He must want Renesmee back at the safety of the house, just in case. I agreed with him on that, and we hurried home with Seth and Leah running at our flanks.
Renesmee was complacent in my arms, one hand still resting on my face. Since the hunting trip had been aborted, she would just have to make do with donated blood. Her thoughts were a little smug.
* * *
28. THE FUTURE
Carlisle and Edward had not been able to catch up with Irina before her trail disappeared into the sound. Theyd swum to the other bank to see if her trail had picked up in a straight line, but there was no trace of her for miles in either direction on the eastern shore.
It was all my fault. She had come, as Alice had seen, to make peace with the Cullens, only to be angered by my camaraderie with Jacob. I wished Id noticed her earlier, before Jacob had phased. I wished wed gone hunting somewhere else.
There wasnt much to be done. Carlisle had called Tanya with the disappointing news. Tanya and Kate hadnt seen Irina since theyd decided to come to my wedding, and they were distraught that Irina had come so close and yet not returned home; it wasnt easy for them to lose their sister, however temporary the separation might be. I wondered if this brought back hard memories of losing their mother so many centuries ago.
Alice was able to catch a few glimpses of Irinas immediate future, nothing too concrete. She wasnt going back to Denali, as far as Alice could tell. The picture was hazy. All Alice could see was that Irina was visibly upset; she wandered in the snow-swathed wilderness-to the north? To the east?-with a devastated expression. She made no decisions for a new course beyond her directionless grieving.
Days passed and, though of course I forgot nothing, Irina and her pain moved to the back of my mind. There were more important things to think of now. I would leave for Italy in just a few days. When I got back, wed all be off to South America.
Every detail had been gone over a hundred times already. We would start with the Ticunas, tracing their legends as well as we could at the source. Now that it was accepted that Jacob would come with us, he figured prominently