"Bella," he breathed. "I'm growing a little weary of having to constantly encourage you." He added quietly, apologetically, "Don't forget that this was your idea."
"It was the best idea—of course it was mine."
His answering smile was bleak and disappeared immediately. "Guess you don't need as much encouragement as you like to act like you need," he mumbled under his breath.
"Why did this happen?" I asked, my voice catching. And then I asked a question I'd heard other people ask, and never understood: "Why me?"
He stared blankly at the road ahead, into the naked panic ahead of us. "It's my fault—I was a fool to expose you like that, to expose you to my world... my ugly world." The rage in his voice was directed internally, into his guts.
"That's not what I meant," I insisted. "I was there, big deal. It didn't bother the other two. Why did this Yames character decide to kill me? There are people all over the place. Has he ever even been to a mall? An airport? Why me?"
He hesitated, thinking before answering.
"I got a good look at his mind tonight," he began in a low voice. "I'm not sure if there's anything I could have done to avoid this, once he saw you. It is partially your fault." His voice was wry. "If you didn't smell so appallingly lusciously awesome, he might not have been so bothered. But when I defended you... well, that made it a lot worse. He's not used to being...thwarted, as we say, no matter how insignificant the object. His existence is consumed with tracking, and a challenge is all he asks of life. Sometimes this question, this quest of an existence, comes back at him, the waves of desire reflecting back when they hit something that will not absorb them. That's you. That's you, Bella. You amplify desire at a molecular level by denying it. Suddenly, we've presented him with a beautiful challenge—a large clan of strong fighters all bent on protecting one vulnerable element. You wouldn't believe how euphoric he is now. It's his favorite game, and we've just made it the most exciting match ever. You wouldn't believe how much I've thought about this."

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Chapter 19

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