Warrior || Jasper Hale {1}

Chapter 23

Bella was sitting on her bed in the hotel room, a frown pulling at her lips, as she waited for Alice and Jasper to give her word on their next move. She knew James would do whatever was necessary to win his sick game, but she refused to let anyone get hurt because of her. She was just some meaningless human. She held no real purpose in life, and she understood that more than anyone else. Now Ellie had given up her scent to protect her. Edward, Carlisle and Emmett were chasing the monstrosity who wanted her. Everyone was giving everything up for her, and that was the furthest thing from what she wanted. If anything happened to any of them, she would never forgive herself.

The only reasonable thing to do would be actually meeting James and giving him what he wanted. Bella knew giving herself up was irresponsible, but it was the best option in her mind. She couldn't let him hurt Edward or his family. So she would go to him. She would take the fall for her extended family and save them all from the monster hunting her.

"Aww, Bells, don't be sad," Ellie said, having appeared out of thin air and nearly giving Bella a heart attack.

"Jeez, E! Don't do that," Bella said, her hand placed over her chest as if holding it would slow the pace of her racing heart.

"Sorry," Ellie blushed, knowing she had scared the girl. "I just thought it better to pop in on you, rather than torture Jasper more. I've lessened my blood's potency, but it's not erased as usual."

"They're not back just yet," Bella said, her brown eyes following the emissary she considered a best friend. "They were making arrangements for a plane."

Bella allowed her thoughts to wonder how the girl had managed to conceal her scent without her ring, but she didn't want to intrude on her protection methods. So she turned her attention to the blonde emissary to see if she could find out on her own. She noticed the girl had changed out of the clothing she had been wearing to throw James off of her trail and was wearing her typical black clothing paired with a black leather jacket, her guns and knives still rested in her holsters and a portable coffee cup rested in her hands. Not seeing an immediate answer, she pushed aside her concerns and asked anyway.

"If I'm wearing your ring, how are you concealing your scent?"

Ellie lifted the portable cup and shook it gently, "I put the petals straight into my system."

"What?" Bella asked, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"I crushed up some of the vervain petals that I'm growing on my porch and brewed them in some tea," Ellie explained, shrugging her shoulders. "It's efficient enough to disguise my scent on short notice. I just don't think it would be wise to kiss Jazz anytime soon."

Bella lifted an eyebrow, "Why not?"

Ellie lifted her eyes to meet Bella's. The question was simple, but the answer was not one she wanted to allow anyone to know. The only upside to answering her question was that Bella's mind was safe. She wouldn't unwittingly give anyone that kind of information. Ellie didn't believe she would give the information up regardless, but it was something she had to be cautious with. She would give her a simplified version of the real answer. "It would be dangerous."

"How?"

Ellie had to give it to her. She was relentless in her pursuit of information, but the curiosity that Bella held, while helpful in gaining knowledge that she wanted, was a liability to her safety. She should have known Bella wouldn't accept such a vague answer. "It's dangerous information to hold. Are you sure you can handle it?"

"Contrary to popular belief, I'm not a baby," Bella said, desperate to learn all she could about this new world. "I can handle whatever is being thrown at me."