3 eclipse月食-第71部分
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“Neither side meant any harm;” Edward whispered; peace…making now。
“And when does this little truce end?” Jacob asked。 “First light? Or do we wait until after the fight?”
There was a pause as they both considered。
“First light;” they whispered together; and then laughed quietly。
“Sleep well; Jacob;” Edward murmured。 “Enjoy the moment。”
It was quiet again; and the tent held still for a few minutes。 The wind seemed to have decided that it wasn’t
going to flatten us after all; and was giving up the fight。
Edward groaned softly。 “I didn’t mean that quite so literally。”
“Sorry;” Jacob whispered。 “You could leave; you know — give us a little privacy。”
“Would you like me to help you sleep; Jacob?” Edward offered。
“You could try;” Jacob said; unconcerned。 “It would be interesting to see who walked away; wouldn’t it?”
“Don’t tempt me too far; wolf。 My patience isn’t that perfect。”
Jacob whispered a laugh。 “I’d rather not move just now; if you don’t mind。”
Edward started humming to himself; louder than usual — trying to drown out Jacob’s thoughts; I assumed。
But it was my lullaby he hummed; and; despite my growing discomfort with this whispered dream; I sank
deeper into unconsciousness 。 。 。 into other dreams that made better sense。 。 。 。
23。 MONSTER
WHEN I WOKE UP IN THE MORNING; IT WAS VERY bright — even inside the tent; the sunlight hurt my eyes。 And
I was sweating; as Jacob had predicted。 Jacob was snoring lightly in my ear; his arms still wrapped around
me。
I pulled my head away from his feverishly warm chest and felt the sting of the cold morning on my clammy
cheek。 Jacob sighed in his sleep; his arms tightened unconsciously。
I squirmed; unable to loosen his hold; struggling to lift my head enough to see。 。 。 。
Edward met my gaze evenly。 His expression was calm; but the pain in his eyes was unconcealed。
“Is it any warmer out there?” I whispered。
“Yes。 I don’t think the space heater will be necessary today。”
I tried to get to the zipper; but I couldn’t free my arms。 I strained; fighting against Jacob’s inert strength。
Jacob muttered; still fast asleep; his arms constricting again。
“Some help?” I asked quietly。
Edward smiled。 “Did you want me to take his arms all the way off?”
“No; thank you。 Just get me free。 I’m going to get heat stroke。”
Edward unzipped the sleeping bag in a swift; abrupt movement。 Jacob fell out; his bare back hitting the icy
floor of the tent。
“Hey!” he complained; his eyes flying open。 Instinctively; he flinched away from the cold; rolling onto me。 I
gasped as his weight knocked the breath out of me。
And then his weight was gone。 I felt the impact as Jacob flew into one of the tent poles and the tent
shuddered。
The growling erupted from all around。 Edward was crouching in front of me; and I couldn’t see his face;
but the snarls were ripping angrily out of his chest。 Jacob was half…crouched; too; his whole body quivering;
while growls rumbled through his clenched teeth。 Outside the tent; Seth Clearwater’s vicious snarls echoed off
the rocks。
“Stop it; stop it!” I yelled; scrambling awkwardly to put myself between them。 The space was so small that
I didn’t have to stretch far to put one hand on each of their chests。 Edward wrapped his hand around my
waist; ready to yank me out of the way。
“Stop it; now;” I warned him。
Under my touch; Jacob began to calm himself。 The shaking slowed; but his teeth were still bared; his eyes
furiously focused on Edward。 Seth continued to growl; a long unbroken sound; a violent background to the
sudden silence in the tent。
“Jacob?” I asked; waiting until he finally dropped his glare to look at me。 “Are you hurt?”
“Of course not!” he hissed。
I turned to Edward。 He was looking at me; his expression hard and angry。 “That wasn’t nice。 You should
say sorry。”
His eyes widened in disgust。 “You must be joking — he was crushing you!”
“Because you dumped him on the floor! He didn’t do it on purpose; and he didn’t hurt me。”
Edward groaned; revolted。 Slowly; he looked up to glare at Jacob with hostile eyes。 “My apologies; dog。”
“No harm done;” Jacob said; a taunting edge to his voice。
It was still cold; though not as cold as it had been。 I curled my arms around my chest。
“Here;” Edward said; calm again。 He took the parka off the floor and wrapped it over the top of my coat。
“That’s Jacob’s;” I objected。
“Jacob has a fur coat;” Edward hinted。
“I’ll just use the sleeping bag again; if you don’t mind。” Jacob ignored him; climbing around us and sliding
into the down bag。 “I wasn’t quite ready to wake up。 That wasn’t the best night’s sleep I ever had。”
“It was your idea;” Edward said impassively。
Jacob was curled up; his eyes already closed。 He yawned。 “I didn’t say it wasn’t the best night I’ve ever
spent。 Just that I didn’t get a lot of sleep。 I thought Bella was never going to shut up。”
I winced; wondering what might have come out of my mouth in my sleep。 The possibilities were horrifying。
“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself;” Edward murmured。
Jacob’s dark eyes fluttered open。 “Didn’t you have a nice night; then?” he asked; smug。
“It wasn’t the worst night of my life。”
“Did it make the top ten?” Jacob asked with perverse enjoyment。
“Possibly。”
Jacob smiled and closed his eyes。
“But;” Edward went on; “if I had been able to take your place last night; it would not have made the top
ten of the best nights of my life。 Dream about that。”
Jacob’s eyes opened into a glare。 He sat up stiffly; his shoulders tense。
“You know what? I think it’s too crowded in here。”
“I couldn’t agree more。”
I elbowed Edward in the ribs — probably giving myself a bruise。
“Guess I’ll catch up on my sleep later; then。” Jacob made a face。 “I need to talk to Sam anyway。”
He rolled to his knees and grabbed the door’s zipper。
Pain crackled down my spine and lodged in my stomach as I abruptly realized that this could be the last
time I would see him。 He was going back to Sam; back to fight the horde of bloodthirsty newborn vampires。
“Jake; wait —” I reached after him; my hand sliding down his arm。
He jerked his arm away before my fingers could find purchase。
“Please; Jake? Won’t you stay?”
“No。”
The word was hard and cold。 I knew my face gave away my pain; because he exhaled and half a smile
softened his expression。
“Don’t worry about me; Bells。 I’ll be fine; just like I always am。” He forced a laugh。 “’Sides; you think I’m
going to let Seth go in my place — have all the fun and steal all the glory? Right。” He snorted。
“Be careful —”
He shoved out of the tent before I could finish。
“Give it a rest; Bella;” I heard him mutter as he re…zipped the door。
I listened for the sound of his retreating footsteps; but it was perfectly still。 No more wind。 I could hear
morning birdsong far away on the mountain; and nothing else。 Jacob moved in silence now。
I huddled in my coats; and leaned against Edward’s shoulder。 We were quiet for a long time。
“How much longer?” I asked。
“Alice told Sam it should be an hour or so;” Edward said; soft and bleak。
“We stay together。 No matter what。”
“No matter what;” he agreed; his eyes tight。
“I know;” I said。 “I’m terrified for them; too。”
“They know how to handle themselves;” Edward assured me; purposely making his voice light。 “I just hate
missing the fun。”
Again with the fun。 My nostrils flared。
He put his arm around my shoulder。 “Don’t worry;” he urged; and then he kissed my forehead。
As if there was any way to avoid that。 “Sure; sure。”
“Do you want me to distract you?” He breathed; running his cold fingers along my cheekbone。
I shivered involuntarily; the morning was still frosty。
“Maybe not right now;” he answered himself; pulling his hand away。
“There are other ways to distract me。”
“What would you like?”
“You could tell me about your ten best nights;” I suggested。 “I’m curious。”
He laughed。 “Try to guess。”
I shook my head。 “There’re too many nights I don’t know about。 A century of them。”
“I’ll narrow it down for you。 All of my best nights have happened since I met you。”
“Really?”
“Yes; really — and by quite a wide margin; too。”
I thought for a minute。 “I can only think of mine;” I admitted。
“They might be the same;” he encouraged。
“Well; there was the first night。 The night you stayed。”
“Yes; that’s one of mine; too。 Of course; you were unconscious for my favorite part。”
“That’s right;” I remembered。 “I was talking that night; too。”
“Yes;” he agreed。
My face got hot as I wondered again what I might have said while sleeping in Jacob’s arms。 I couldn’t
remember what I’d dreamed about; or if I’d dreamed at all; so that was no help。
“What did I say last night?” I whispered more quietly than before。
He shrugged instead of answering; and I winced。
“That bad?”
“Nothing too horrible;” he sighed。
“Please tell me。”
“Mostly you said my name; the same as usual。”
“That’s not bad;” I agreed cautiously。
“Near the end; though; you started mumbling some nonsense about ‘Jacob; my Jacob。’” I could hear the
pain; even in the whisper。 “Your Jacob enjoyed that quite a lot。”
I stretched my neck up; straining to reach my lips to the edge of his jaw。 I couldn’t see into his eyes。 He
was staring up at the ceiling of the tent。
“Sorry;” I murmured。 “That’s just the way I differentiate。”
“Differentiate?”
“Between Dr。 Jekyll and Mr。 Hyde。 Between the Jacob I like and the one who annoys the hell out of me;”
I explained。
“That makes sense。” He sou