The Witch and Her Vampire

Twenty-Two

Carina's P.O.V.
I glanced down at the baseball uniform I wore, and rolled my eyes at a grinning Alice who stood in the center of the field. She was the one who had convinced me to dress up, much like the others had. Hermione found it quite  amusing and had even snapped pictures.

"It's time!" called Alice.

I grabbed a bat—as my turn was up first—and twisted my hat sideways, before making my way up to where Esme and Bella—who I could remember meeting as a child—were standing.

I readied myself as Alice threw the ball, and decided to use a little magic to charge up my strength.

I swung, and the ball went soaring across the field, Edward running after it; I threw the bat to the ground and sprinted around first, second, and third base, and just managed to skid onto home when Esme lowered the ball.

Sending a grin to Edward, I turned away to watch Rosalie go up to bat.

She smirked as she readied herself, and when the ball impacted with the bat, it made a very loud clapping sound like thunder; she dropped the bat and took off at a run, vampire speed.

"I can see why you need the thunder," said Bella, slightly in awe as she watched. "That's gotta be a home run, right?"

"Edward's very fast," Esme told her, smiling slightly as she waited. Not even a second later the ball was in her hands and she had tapped it to the base just before Rosalie slid to a stop in the dirt beside it.

She'd never looked better.

Bella, who had crouched to get a better look, looked sheepish as she made the call, jerking her thumb back. "Out."

Rosalie and Bella stood, and the blonde towered over Bella for a moment, glaring.

"Come on, Rosie, it's just a game," I called. She raised a brow at me, but didn't speak as she stalked over to Carlisle. I watched her go, my own brows raising.

"She isn't very happy with you at the moment," remarked Hermione, crossing her arms. "Or, rather, me."

"Oh?" My eyes were still locked on Rose, who was currently looking away.

My best friend chuckled. "Carina, she's jealous. She thinks we have something going on."

"Ah." I forced my gaze away from the blonde beauty and faced Hermione. "See, I noticed something was off, but..." I shrugged.

"You chose not to think about it."

"Exactly." I paused and lowered my voice. "Is it bad that when we first arrived, I wanted to just...I don't know, throw myself at her?" I could feel heat rush to my cheeks.

Hermione shook her head. "Of course not. While you're an independent girl, you haven't seen your soulmate in six years, so it's really a wonder you suppressed the urge so well." She nudged me. "When are we going to go see your cousin?"

"In a couple days." I let out a breath. "May as well get settled first."

Before she could say anything, we heard Alice calling for everyone to stop, and that they—the nomads they had told us about prior to the game—were coming.

Exchanging looks, Hermione and I pulled out our wands and rushed over to where everyone was crowded. We kept closely to each other's sides as the Cullens bunched around us, mainly around Bella, the only defenseless one here.

Suddenly, Rosalie was crouched in front if me, face to face with the red haired nomad known as Victoria, snarling furiously.

I tensed, and Hermione edged closer to me, both if us gripping our wands tightly as we assessed the situation.

When I saw the way James was staring at Bella, as though she were a meal, I sprung into action and squeezed past Rosalie.

"Expelliarmus!" I muttered, causing James to fly backward and Victoria to lunge for me.

Both Hermione and Rosalie reacted at the same time.

"Protego!" cried Hermione, while Rosalie was in front if me in an instant and swiftly threw Victoria away, a deep growl rumbling in her chest.

"James, Victoria, let's go," commanded Laurent, carefully backing away from us. His coven mates followed, though neither looked happy about it as the three ran off.

The shield that had been shimmering in front of me disappeared, and I put my wand away, looking to Hermione with raised brows. Really?

She shrugged. Instinct.

I rolled my eyes playfully. Of course.  Hermione and I had the same sort of "bloody scary mind reading thing" as Ron so delicately put it, that Harry and I had. I smiled a little at her. But, thanks.

She smirked back. No problem.

Without warning, I was abruptly scooped up and held close to someone, and when I glanced up, I could see that it was Rosalie, cradling me to her chest.

"What's happening here?" I raised a brow at her.

"We have to get back," growled Rosalie, casting an angry look in the direction Edward and Bella had went. "And I'm taking you. Emmett has your friend. Hold on tight."

And with those words, she sprinted off.

With a sigh, I wrapped my arms around her and buried my face in the crook of her neck, breathing in her scent as we went.