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JASPER
The first time I ever saw her, my eyes swept over her like she was any other newborn in Maria’s army. There was nothing special about her. She was just like all the others — confused about this new life and violent with bloodlust.
Maria had turned Evelyn after we conquered another territory. The girl had hid in a secret room that her father had built to protect his wife and daughter while he and his two sons took care of whatever was threatening their family. But Maria was a bigger threat than any human could ever hope to defeat, and one that any man would lower his guard for.
It didn’t take long for Maria to find the women after she had drained the men. Evelyn’s mother had tried to shield her and begged for Maria to spare her daughter. In a way, Maria granted the woman’s last wish. Though Evelyn died that night, she was reborn three days later, her eyes now bright, crimson red.
I trained her with the other newborns in order to get them ready for battle. She was a quick learner and surprisingly good at following directions. It wasn’t long before I noticed that she had a power.
I had found her trying to persuade one of the other newborns to create a distraction so she could run off. When I walked towards them, she looked at me. As soon as she broke eye contact with him, the other newborn growled and tried to attack her. She snarled as she turned to fight him. Evelyn easily got the upper hand and ripped his arms off, throwing them across the barn. Only then did she look back at me, her lip curling as anger and anxiety rolled off her in waves.
That night, I went to see Maria to tell her of Evelyn’s power. She demanded to see it for herself, so I brought her to see the new vampire. Maria told her to persuade me to turn my back on the group of newborns — something I never risked because they couldn’t be trusted not to try to attack me.
Evelyn lifted her chin at the challenge. She turned towards me and locked her eyes on mine. Her full lips pulled into a smile as a warmth spread through my body. Everything else faded away except for her. She murmured Maria’s order to me in a sweet, melodic voice. I turned around without a second thought and Evelyn followed me, making sure never to let her eyes leave mine. When my back was to the group of newborns, she looked away from me, towards Maria. I turned back around instantly, eyeing the newborns cautiously. From the corner of my eye, I could see Maria grinning widely.
After we left the barn that night, Maria ordered that Evelyn would be the only one of her group to survive past her year mark. She knew that Evelyn’s ability could be very powerful, and therefore useful to her. All the newborn had to do was survive the upcoming battles.
During the next battle, I had been told to watch Evelyn closer than usual and see how well she fought. I had gotten distracted by two newborns that attacked me together when I heard Evelyn call out. The sharp cry had me rush through ripping apart my own newborns, only to see Evelyn fighting her own pair of vampires. It was clear that they were overwhelming her. Unexpected rage filled me and I quickly tore them off her, helping her tear their limbs from their bodies to toss them into the fire raging in the middle of the town. Her red eyes met mine and suddenly, my entire world shifted.
Somehow, over the course of the few weeks that she had lived in this new life, I had repressed and overlooked the bond that had formed between us. Evelyn was my mate, my true mate, the one I was destined to spend the rest of my existence with. Everything made sense now. I had been drawn to her from the moment I saw her, but I had been so focused on training newborns and looking for any potential threat or betrayal that I ignored the pull, and the love that I could feel flowing from Evelyn.
I watched her more often from then on. I had to be extremely careful. Maria had claimed me as her lover years ago, and there was no doubt in my mind that she would see a relationship between Evelyn and I as a betrayal. She would have either or both of us killed for it.
Evelyn seemed to know we had to be careful too. I could still feel her love for me every time I was near enough to her, but she never indicated that she had any feelings for me whatsoever. That was good, it meant that she was smart — smarter than the other newborns I had trained.
The first night we were ever alone together — the first night she had ever touched me — I swore my heart started beating again for the first time in decades.
Maria had ordered me to destroy the group of newborns Evelyn was created with. She was the only one to be spared. I had always hated the task. I could feel their fear and pain every time I wrenched their heads from their shoulders. The guilt clawed at me. I kept an indifferent mask on my face to not let anyone see.
I could feel her eyes on me as I left the city. I found a small river a couple miles from outside of the city and sat down beside it, watching the clear water trickle around the rocks. I caught her scent — lavender and rose and orange — a few minutes later. She didn’t say a word as she lowered herself to the ground beside me and placed her hand over mine. I turned my hand over and twined our fingers together before whispering so low that she had to lean closer to hear me, “I love you too.” Evelyn squeezed my hand gently. She seemed to know that she didn’t have to say the words for me, that I could feel her love.
We began to meet up secretly after that night. I would leave whatever new city Maria and her army had taken while the others were busy ravaging it and Evelyn would follow my scent. It was always a risk, but we never got caught. No one knew that we were in love and it needed to stay that way. We couldn’t risk anyone saying anything to Maria.
Evelyn and I didn’t even talk sometimes when we met up. Those nights were always the nights we met up after I had to dispose of other newborns. She seemed to sense the toll it took on me to take the lives of those Maria deemed useless. She would always just sit down beside me and place her hand in my waiting one. We would sit in silence together until I felt the love overcome the pain.
Other times, though, we couldn’t seem to speak enough. We whispered together for hours, telling each other about what we could remember about our lives before Maria had turned us and about the dreams and hopes we had as humans. The more I learned about Evelyn, the more I fell in love with her.
The first night she kissed me, I knew then that Heaven must be real.
We had snuck away again like we had every other night. We both had a few new bite marks to add to the growing collection on our bodies. I had been eyeing the new one on her shoulder when Evelyn leaned close to me. My eyes flicked up to meet hers as she hesitated, barely half an inch between our lips. Her desire pulsed between us fiercely and my own was just as strong. I closed the distance between us a fraction of a second later.
Her lips were as soft as the petals of a rose. Her ink-black hair was like silk sliding between my fingers. Her gentle hands wrapped themselves in my honey-colored hair, pulling me closer.
Evelyn ended up on her back underneath me. I wasn’t sure how we ever managed to pull ourselves apart. When we broke our kiss, she stroked her fingertips along my cheek, a small smile on her lips. Her look made me want to kiss her again, but we had already stayed out of the city longer than usual and I was hesitant to risk our luck.
I whispered, “I love you,” before getting up and heading back towards Maria’s army. I took over a patrol position to watch for Evelyn’s return. She passed by me with just a curt nod, the usual greeting between those in Maria’s ranks, as if the past hour hadn’t even happened. But I could feel her love, even stronger than normal this time, and I was careful to bite back the smile that threatened to form.
The years passed and soon, Evelyn had been by mine and Maria’s side for just over ten years. Our relationship was still the best-kept secret in the world. No one had any idea that Eve and I were mates. But I could tell that she was growing tired of living like this — creating and destroying newborns over and over again just to keep fighting other vampires. She believed there had to be more to this existence than fighting an endless, pointless war.
We began to plan our escape, but it was complicated and risky. I knew that if we both ran at the same time, Maria would be far more likely to come looking for us. We were much more useful to her than others without abilities. She wouldn’t stop until we were dead or back in her service. If we escaped separately, however, Maria hopefully wouldn’t be too suspicious and would be more willing to just let us go. She would likely send someone after whichever one of us disappeared, but she would be more likely to give up easily.
Our chance came one night when Maria had ordered me to destroy another round of newborns. Peter, a vampire I had befriended and who often helped me get rid of other newborns, suddenly became fiercely protective of one newborn meant to die. For weeks, he had been trying to convince me to preserve a few from this group, but I never expected his reason was because he was mated to one of them.
I hesitated as I looked at Peter shielding his mate. How could I destroy them for the love they felt, when I myself knew how strong that bond was?
“I’ll let you go, if you do me a favor,” I offered.
Peter shifted slightly, cautious trust radiating out from him. He nodded.
“Take Evelyn with you.”
Peter and Charlotte’s eyes both widened. We stared at each other before I saw the realization in their eyes as Eve appeared beside me and linked her fingers with mine. I knew she would have been listening — she always watched me on purge days, waiting for the moment I would slip away so she could join me.
“Okay,” Peter agreed. Then he added urgently, “We must go quickly.”
I nodded and turned to face Eve. I touched her cheek softly. I could feel her love for me, her hope that we could truly escape, her anguish that we had to separate.
“This is our best chance,” I whispered to her.
“I know,” she replied quietly, squeezing my hand, “but I don’t want to leave without you. Jasper, what if I never see you again?”
I kissed her fiercely, using my ability to calm her. “You must go,” I breathed against her lips. “It’s safer this way. And I promise you, the moment I am able, I am going to come after you.”
Eve wrapped her arms around me, hugging me for the first time. It was the closest we had ever been to each other in all the years we had spent together. It was too risky to have our scents all over each other. My breath caught in my throat at the intimate gesture. I held her as close as I could, savoring the last contact I would have with her for likely a few years.
“I love you, Jasper,” she murmured.
It was the first time I had ever heard her say the words. I hoped it wouldn’t be the last.
“I love you too, Eve.” I pulled away from her reluctantly and ordered the three of them, “Go. I won’t report for a few minutes. Make your trail hard to follow. I will find you,” I added, looking at my mate.
She nodded, then turned and ran with the other two. Eve glanced back over her shoulder once, her crimson eyes meeting mine one last time.
EVE
Peter, Charlotte, and I ran for an entire day without slowing down or stopping. The sun rose and set again but we just kept moving. We even ran through a river for a while to help disguise our trail. In the back of my mind, I couldn’t help but wonder how Jasper would ever find us. I shook my head and pushed the thought away. He would find us — he would find me.
I stayed with Peter and Charlotte for a while. They were kind to me, and they were good company, but after a year, I had grown jealous. I had to witness their love for each other and it made me resentful towards them, no matter how much I tried not to be. I was angry that they were together while Jasper and I were apart. So I left them. I told them that if Jasper found them before he found me to let him know that I would be in the northern United States. Peter and Charlotte seemed to understand why I was leaving and they apologized, but I assured them that I would be alright. I just had to wait for Jasper. Once we were reunited, everything would be good again.
I traveled through the United States for the next twenty years, waiting for him. My heart ached more and more with each day that passed without any sign of him. I was losing hope every week. I never heard from or saw Peter and Charlotte again either.
Two more decades passed. I had been searching for Jasper desperately everywhere I went. I even risked sneaking back down south, to where I knew Maria’s army was still fighting. I compelled one of her older vampires to tell me about Jasper. He had escaped decades ago, only five years after I had.
If he was out here, then why hadn’t he found me yet? The thought that he might be dead made my heart shatter into tiny pieces. Just wondering if he was still alive caused me unbearable agony, but what other explanation was there for us not finding each other after so long? It had been thirty-five years since he escaped Maria’s army. Surely he would have found me by now if he was alive.
I wasn’t sure how much time had passed while I was grieving, only that it had to be years. I hid away in a remote part of the Colorado Rockies, barely able to even get myself to drink, even as the thirst shoved sharp, white-hot knives down my throat. That pain was nothing compared to knowing that my mate, my true love, my Jasper, was gone.
I was jolted out of my comatose depression when a man passed too close to my hiding spot in the mountains. I was about to attack him when I saw his face. In that moment, he looked so much like Jasper that I just froze. I slowly sank back into the trees, watching as the man made his way back to the trail he had wandered off of, none the wiser that he was almost killed by a vampire. That encounter was enough to bring me out of my hiding spot.
As a last resort, I ended up traveling the world in search of any sign that Jasper was alive, that he was still searching for me. I had a run in with the Volturi and the result of that soured my mood even further for the next decade. Aro was adamant that I joined his guard because of my persuasive power. I politely refused and the Volturi reluctantly let me go on my way.
By the time I was nearly a century old, I had lost any hope that Jasper was alive. It had been seventy years since I had last been by Jasper’s side. Now, I moved through life completely numb to everything around me. I only felt the agony of knowing that my mate was dead. I fed only when the burn in my throat became too irritating to ignore. I spent my time alone, thinking back to the memories of my stolen nights with Jasper. I replayed them over and over again in my mind so much that even if I didn’t have a perfect memory, I would surely have memorized every aspect of our conversations by now.
Every part of him was perfectly preserved in my mind. His deep, thickly accented voice. His gentle touch and soft skin. His sweet scent of honeysuckle and orange and oakwood. Sometimes, if the moment was just right, I could close my eyes and pretend as if I was living those memories again, with Jasper only inches from me. What I wouldn’t give to live in my memories of Jasper forever.
EDWARD
I was the only one in our family besides Jasper and Alice that knew about Evelyn. I only knew about her because I had seen her countless times in Jasper’s thoughts. He never spoke about her to anyone. It caused him too much pain, since he believed that she had died before he could find her. He blamed himself for her death because he hadn’t left with her that night.
That was why, when I opened the front door to find Evelyn waiting on the porch patiently, I was shocked. I was quick to hide my surprise, though, and Evelyn did not seem to suspect anything was wrong. I listened closely to her thoughts. I was surprised once again when it seemed that she had no idea that Jasper was a part of our family.
Evelyn smiled at me and greeted, “Hello. I heard that you are going to stand against the Volturi.”
Her thoughts gave away her true intentions. She had only come to help us because she didn’t like the Volturi, and she believed Jasper was dead. She thought that she had nothing left to lose if the Volturi attacked us — she was willing to die in hopes that her death would reunite her with Jasper.
“We do not intend to fight them if we can avoid it,” I replied, “but we are hoping to gather enough people to force them to listen to the truth.”
“May I ask what crime you are accused of?”
“They believe that we have created an immortal child.” Evelyn’s smile dropped and she bristled. I quickly said, “We did not. We can show you the truth, if you give us the chance.”
Evelyn hesitated, then nodded. I stepped aside and gestured for her to walk into the house. She did so slowly and I shut the door behind her. I called, “Bella?”
My wife walked into the front room, a guarded expression on her face as she held our daughter, Renesmee, in her arms. Evelyn’s eyes widened and she simply stared at my daughter for a moment in shock. When Renesmee reached her hand out to show Evelyn her story, the woman flinched back out of instinct. She relaxed a moment later and allowed Renesmee to press her small hand to her cheek.
I watched everything she showed the vampire through Evelyn’s thoughts. Jasper did not appear in Renesmee’s story, and I wasn’t sure if I was glad or disappointed that Evelyn still didn’t know the truth.
Renesmee pulled her hand away. Evelyn smiled at her gently.
“I see. . . . Amazing,” she commented, her eyes moving to look at Bella. She was shocked that Bella had survived the pregnancy. Evelyn’s red eyes flicked up to meet mine. “I will be a witness for your family and fight for you if it comes to it.”
“Thank you,” Bella and I said together.
Evelyn nodded. I said, “You are free to come and go as you want, of course, but we ask that you hunt outside of the state. Our residence here is permanent and we cannot draw attention to it.”
“Of course,” she agreed with a smile. She tilted her head very slightly and I heard the question run through her mind before she spoke, “Your eyes. . . . I’ve never seen anything like them. Why aren’t they red?”
“We survive on animals, not humans.”
“Hm,” she hummed as she contemplated my answer. I hid a wince as her thoughts immediately drifted towards Jasper as she wondered if an animal diet would have helped the guilt he felt after feeding. I almost wanted to tell her that she was right, that it did help him.
Evelyn joined the other vampires that had agreed to help us in the living room. Later in the day, Peter and Charlotte, Jasper’s friends, arrived back from a hunting trip. When they saw Evelyn seated among the other nomads, they stopped dead in their tracks, their eyes wide in surprise. Just like Jasper, they believed that she had died long ago.
Charlotte was the first to rush over and embrace the other woman. “We thought you were dead!”
Evelyn smiled her fake smile again, trying to seem happy in front of her old friends as Peter hugged her.
“We should catch up,” he said.
He took Evelyn’s hand and she let him lead her outside, far away from the house so the others wouldn’t hear their conversation. I followed them at a distance so they wouldn’t know that I was listening to them.
“You have no idea, do you?” Peter asked.
Evelyn gave him a confused look. “What do you mean?”
“Jasper.”
She flinched at the mention of his name, then mumbled dejectedly, “I know he’s dead, Peter.”
Peter grasped her arms tightly. His voice was desperate as he said, “Jasper is alive, Evelyn. This is his coven.”
Evelyn’s thoughts raced through her mind as she tried to process his words. She had been convinced that her mate was dead for over half a century.
“What?” she gasped. “He’s alive?”
“Yes.”
“Oh,” she breathed. Evelyn thought, ‘He’s alive. He’s not dead. . . . Jasper is alive!’
“But . . . you should know.” Peter hesitated. “He . . . he found a mate.”
I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Evelyn as she fell to her knees, overwhelmed by the shock and pain coursing through her. Peter kneeled down with her, sorry that his words hurt his friend.
“I’m sorry, Eve,” Peter apologized quietly. “I know how close you were to him.”
“Is he here?” Evelyn whispered, her voice shaky.
“No. Edward said Jasper and Alice, his mate, fled right after Alice saw that the Volturi were coming in one of her visions. . . . Will you stay?”
Evelyn nodded. “Yes. I want to be a witness for the child, and I will fight if it comes to that. . . . But I will leave again as soon as it’s done . . . if I’m not dead.”
“I’m truly sorry, Eve.”
The two of them stood and she smiled weakly at him. Peter didn’t notice the pain hidden in Evelyn’s eyes, but I did.
“Peter, I knew a long time ago that I had lost him. . . . I just didn’t know I had lost him in this way. I am okay.”
She turned and walked further into the forest. Peter watched her worriedly for a moment before heading back to the house. I decided to follow Evelyn.
When she decided that she was far enough away, Evelyn fell to her knees again, gasping out a dry sob and wishing that she could cry. Her thoughts were painful, but I listened to them anyway.
‘It’s like I lost him all over again. . . . This hurts worse than when I was burning. How is it fair that he’s not my mate when this feels like torture? Would the world be so cruel to make him my mate while his mate is someone else? Am I destined to live through this agony until I can find someone willing to kill me? Did he even look for me at all? Or did he meet her the same way he met me, in Maria’s army? He must not ever think about me, or Edward would have recognized me. He forgot all about me the moment he met her. ’
EVE
The Cullen house began to fill with more vampires as I fell back into my usual routine of despair and numbness. I kept my distance from everyone else so my mood wouldn’t affect them. I didn’t want to subject anyone else to my misery.
I helped train the few vampires that didn’t have much fighting experience. I was useful in helping them learn to fight, thanks to the time I spent learning from Jasper when we were in Maria’s army. Then, Edward told the others about my ability and the Cullens began to hope that I could subtly persuade the Volturi to leave their family in peace. I agreed to at least try.
My power had developed significantly since I escaped Maria’s army. I no longer needed to maintain eye contact with my target, I just needed them within a certain range. There was still a limitation to my ability, though. If they had already made up their minds firmly, my persuasion would not be able to change their minds.
It was finally time for the confrontation with the Volturi ten days after I had met the Cullens. We all gathered in the clearing the day the snow stuck to the ground instead of melting. I was positioned just behind the front line, close to Peter and Charlotte. I waited anxiously while the Volturi approached and played out their charade of a trial.
I tried time and time again to influence their decisions, but Edward’s subtle shake of his head let me know that nothing was working. I whispered a near-silent apology to the couple. Edward whispered back his thanks that I tried and Bella nodded with him.
My hands twitched with anticipation when Bella warned us that the Volturi guards were trying to break through her shield. We began picking our opponents. I growled that I wanted Aro — his obsession with abilities reminded me too much of Maria.
“Just like old times,” Peter murmured to me as we all prepared for the oncoming attack. I grinned at him.
“See you on the other side,” I whispered back. Charlotte gave me an admonished look while Peter just grinned back.
“Yes!” Edward hissed, drawing my attention to him. “Aro?”
I watched, confused and cautious and on edge, as the two conversed. Edward seemed determined to get Aro to tell us exactly why they considered Renesmee a danger to our existence. It all appeared to revolve around the fact that no one knew how the young hybrid would act as she continued to grow.
Aro’s eyes narrowed as he said, “She is absolutely unique. Her future can only be guessed at.”
“Not absolutely unique,” Edward replied. “Rare, certainly, but not one of a kind. . . . Why don’t you join us, Alice?”
Alice.
Alice.
Jasper’s mate.
Pain washed through me, raw and fresh and stinging deep.
“Alice,” Aro breathed.
I could feel the buzz of the joy of the others around me, but I was rooted to the spot, my dead heart breaking in my chest.
Within half a second, Alice stood on the other side of Edward, a fair distance away from me. I barely even glimpsed her face before my eyes were locked onto Jasper, who stood by her side. I paid no attention to the conversation happening with the Volturi as I stared at him. I felt Charlotte’s hand grasp mine but my own hand was limp in hers.
I knew my memories were absolutely perfect, but seeing Jasper in person after so long was so much better. He had more bite marks than he did the last time I saw him and his eyes were golden now, but otherwise, he was exactly the same. Tall and lean yet muscular, with shoulder-length honey-blonde hair. He was still so incredibly beautiful.
But then he shifted his body to a protective position in front of Alice and I had to tear my eyes away from him. I gripped Charlotte’s hand and she squeezed my fingers in return to try to comfort me.
“Is it really over?” I heard Bella whisper.
“Yes. They’ve given up,” Edward replied.
Everyone began to celebrate. Charlotte pulled away from me to hug Peter tightly. I watched the others as they all hugged and kissed their mates. Jasper was pulled into an embrace with Alice and Esme. Pain rippled through my chest and I turned, intent on leaving before I could get hurt anymore.
JASPER
As Esme pulled me and Alice into a tight hug, a gust of wind carried a scent towards me that I hadn’t caught in nearly a century.
Lavender. Rose. Orange.
My head snapped towards where the wind was blowing from. I froze when I saw her. It had to be her. No one else smelled like her. No one else had her beautiful, long, soft-as-silk, ink-black, wavy hair, which was currently tied up exactly the way she had always put it up when she fought with me under Maria.
I ripped myself away from Alice and Esme. Everything else faded away as I ran towards her. I caught her hand in mine and she turned to face me.
She looked exactly the same as she had so long ago. She was gorgeous. Her beauty was beyond any other person I had ever seen. I took her face in my hands, my eyes locked on hers.
“You’re alive,” I whispered desperately. “I searched for you for so long. . . . I can’t believe that you’re here. You’re here.”
Confusion ran through me when Eve pulled away from my grasp and took a step back. Finally, my shock eased up enough so that I could feel her emotions. I almost fell to my knees at the pain and grief that radiated from her.
“Eve?” I asked, confused.
Wasn’t she happy to see me?
“Don’t,” Eve whispered, her voice quiet and thick with emotion. My heart broke at the pain in her voice. “Don’t make this harder for me.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I’m leaving,” she said. My own fear and pain rushed through my veins. I couldn’t lose her again. “You have a life here, with your coven, with your . . . mate. I won’t disrupt that for you.”
“You’re my mate,” I murmured, confused.
Why was she saying these things?
“Am I?” Eve spat. I flinched at her outburst of anger. She had never been angry with me before. “You stopped looking for me.”
I took a step towards her and took her face in my hands again hesitantly. My heart melted when she didn’t pull away.
“Listen to me, please,” I begged. “I searched for you for forty years. Then Alice told me that you were dead. I would never have given up if I thought you were alive, Eve, I swear to you. . . . She told me Maria found you and killed you for escaping.”
“But you stayed with her,” Eve whispered miserably, venom pooling in her eyes like tears.
I looked down as my hands fell from her face. I was ashamed that I had given up so easily and that I had given in to what Alice wanted.
“I searched for you for decades. I looked for you everywhere I could. . . . Alice found me and agreed to help me look for you. Twenty years later, she had a vision that you died and said that it was too late, that you were gone,” I said, my voice breaking. “Eve, from the moment you escaped, I was in agony from being away from you. When I thought you died, I wanted to die. I begged everyone we met to kill me. They all refused, and only a year later, we found the Cullens. . . . I didn’t know what else to do but to stay. Nothing mattered to me anymore. As time passed, I wasn’t completely miserable anymore. I was nowhere near happy, not by any means, but I was surviving. So I stayed. But I never forgot about you,” I promised, looking up to meet her crimson eyes again. “I’ve thought about you every second since the moment I let you go.”
Half a second passed before Eve pulled me into her arms. I let out a breath and held her as close as I could. I buried my nose in her hair and breathed her in. I had missed her sweet scent for far too long.
“I’m so sorry I didn’t leave with you,” I mumbled against her hair, my eyes shut tightly. I held her even tighter. “Letting you go without me was the worst mistake I’ve ever made.”
“We found each other again,” Eve replied softly as she threaded her fingers through my hair.
“Stay here, with me,” I begged. I quickly added, “Or I can go with you. I don’t care. I just don’t ever want to be apart from you ever again.”
“I’ll stay.”
We broke apart just enough to look into each other’s eyes.
For one entire, perfect second, no one existed except me and Eve. I could feel her love and her desire stronger than I ever had before. I let my own love flood into her and she grinned, then pulled me into a kiss. I held her close, afraid that if I let her go, I would lose her again. I let myself forget about everything else. Nothing existed outside of her lips on mine, her hands in my hair, her body pressed against mine. She was the center of my universe.
Someone cleared their throat. We broke apart reluctantly, though I kept my arm firmly around her waist. Eve leaned into my side and slipped her arm around me.
Most of the group had left already. Peter and Charlotte were the only nomads who lingered, but just long enough for both of them to smile at the pair of us and give us an approving nod before disappearing into the trees. Only the Cullens, Nahuel, and Hulien remained now.
Confusion rolled off my family in huge waves. I expected it — I had never corrected any of them when they said Alice was my mate. Once I was told that Eve was dead, I lived mostly on autopilot until recently, when Bella’s safety demanded more of my attention. They never truly knew me or how I was before I lost Eve. I was already grieving when they met me. I didn’t care what they thought. I was so consumed with the pain of losing my mate that I let Alice tell them whatever she wanted because nothing mattered to me anymore. Only Edward knew the truth of why I was so withdrawn, why I struggled so much with this lifestyle. I owed him everything for keeping my secret from all of them.
“Jasper,” Carlisle began. I held my hand up to stop him.
“I will explain everything, I promise. But I need some time alone with Eve before I do.”
He nodded. Everyone began to walk back to the house. My eyes drifted to Alice as she passed us and rage coiled in my stomach. She had lied to me for so long. She had kept me from finding Eve. She had forced both me and Eve to go through decades of pain and grief.
“Jasper,” Eve whispered.
I almost melted. I had not heard my name from her lips in nearly a century and it made my heart throb with love for my mate. I turned to face her and my anger faded instantly. I reached up to touch her cheek.
“I love you,” I murmured.
“I love you too,” she replied softly.
We sat down in the snow beside each other. Eve rested her head on my shoulder and I leaned my head against hers. She laughed softly and the warmth of her joy flooded into me, making me smile.
“I feel as if I’ve just woken up from the most horrible nightmare,” Eve said, squeezing my hand tightly. “Is it possible that you’re actually here with me? Or have I finally lost my mind?”
“I’m here,” I promised quietly. “I will always be with you.”
I pulled her onto my lap, burying my face in the crook of her neck as my arms curled around her waist. Her fingers combed through my hair. I leaned into her affectionate touch.
“Will you tell me about what happened after I left?”
I nodded and pulled my face away from her neck. Eve rested one hand on my face and stroked my cheek as I spoke.
“I had to be careful about choosing when to leave. After you left, Maria grew more suspicious and more vigilant. I had to wait five years before another chance came. . . . I left and found Peter and Charlotte two years later.” Eve whimpered, her fingers gripping my hair tighter. I brushed my nose against her skin as I said, “They said you had left them after a year, but that you were still in the United States, so I began to search for you. . . . I looked everywhere, but I just couldn’t find you, or even anyone who had ever seen you. I started to get desperate, and depressed. I kept thinking about what you said that night, about us never seeing each other again. What if you were right?”
Eve pressed a kiss to my forehead and waited for me to continue.
“I met Alice after I had been searching for you for thirteen years. She quickly offered to help me look. I agreed, since I thought that her ability would help. She’s a seer — she has visions of the future. . . . Now that I know you are alive, I think she was lying to me. I think anytime you or I got too close to each other, she guided me away from you. And then, thirty-two years after we met, she told me she had a vision that Maria had found and killed you.”
My voice broke. Eve hugged me tightly and brushed her fingers through my hair, whispering, “I’m here, Jasper. I’m alive.”
“I was destroyed,” I mumbled. “I begged her to kill me, but she refused. She dragged me along with her to meet the Cullens, and I begged them to kill me too. No one would. . . . I have been so numb to almost everything but my grief for the past few decades since I had been told that you were dead. I only stayed because I didn’t know what else to do, or where else to go. You were the center of my world and, as far as I knew, you were gone forever. I have never been happy since that last night I saw you. . . . But I have grown to love the Cullens. They are my family.”
“Do you think they’ll like me?” she asked quietly, twisting my hair around her finger.
“They will love you.”
I kissed her. I wasn’t sure how long we sat there, just kissing each other. A year could have passed and I doubted either one of us would have noticed, or cared.
When we finally pulled away from each other, Eve told me about how she had lived after leaving Peter and Charlotte. My heart ached for her when she told me how long she believed I was dead, and how she hid away for over a decade because the misery was too much. I was so thankful that she had a run in with the Volturi that angered her enough to bring her to Forks to help my family. Who knows how much longer we would have been separated if she hadn’t?
I brushed a loose curl of her hair behind her ear. I said, “I’m here, and I’m yours forever. Nothing and no one will ever keep us apart again, I promise you.”
Eve smiled and kissed me again. When we broke apart, I just stared at her for a while. Her crimson eyes traced along my face and I saw her linger on the bite marks on my throat. She reached up to trace them gently with her fingertips.
“How many new ones?”
“Fifty-seven,” I told her. “All but one are from when I was still in Maria’s army.”
“And the other one?”
“That’s a long story,” I said with a small smile. The corner of her lips pulled up in a slight smirk as she raised an eyebrow. “One that I promise I will tell you. But it’s more Edward and Bella’s story than mine.”
She nodded. I traced one of her old bite marks on her shoulder. “Do you have any new ones?”
“No,” Eve laughed. “I’m exactly as you left me.”
I smiled. “Perfect.”
Eve rolled her eyes. She brushed my hair from my face and said, “You know, the gold suits you better than the red ever did. . . . Does it help? Feeding on animals, I mean? I know how hard it was for you when you drank from humans.”
“It does. The taste is worse, but I don’t feel their emotions, at least.”
“Good,” she whispered. She brushed her hand along my chest. “I remember how horrible you always felt after. I always felt so useless on those nights.”
My arms tightened around her waist. “You were the only thing that helped me those nights. Just being near you, feeling your love, always brought me back.”
“And after I left?”
“It got worse,” I admitted, glancing away from her eyes. “It wasn’t until I met the Cullens and started feeding on animals that I got better. But it was marginal compared to the depression I was in from thinking I lost you.”
Eve tucked her head in the crook of my neck as she hugged me. She mumbled against my skin, “I don’t know how either of us survived, but I’m so glad we did.”
I closed my eyes as I held her close. I never wanted to let her go again. I grinned against her hair when I realized I would never have to.