May We Meet Again Teaser

 "Get the Rover ready to go," I said woodenly, unclipping my radio. "We need to find them. Bella cannot be taken back to the Drop Ship. Jacob will … he'll …" I stood up and tried to not cry. I had to be strong for my Bella.

I was failing miserably.

"We can't take the Rover. Not today," Jasper said, pointing to the dead battery. "It needs to charge for at least eight hours."

"Then, find something else to cover the ground!" I yelled, turning to face Jasper. "Run! Just get her back!" I wanted to take off into the forest, but strong arms stopped him. Peter tackled me back to the ground. "Get the fuck off me. I need to find her!"

"Bella would tell you not to go off half-cocked, Edward," Peter said. "Radio your team."

Scowling at Peter, I opened a channel to the command center. "Cullen to Command Center, Mallory come in?"

"Yorkie here. Mallory was on the overnight shift," Eric said. "How can I help you, Commander?"

Swallowing down bile, I spoke to Eric. "Can you pull up the security feeds in the garage? Bella was called up here for a medical emergency, but there wasn't an emergency. There's also no Bella. She was taken by someone from the Drop Ship."

"I remember that call," Eric said. "It came from a different channel than we use for medical."

"What channel?" I pressed.

"One we don't use … channel fourteen," Eric replied. "We can hear all the conversations, but we have to turn to the channel in order to respond. Anyway, I didn't recognize the voice, either."

The update for May We Meet Again will be posted on Friday. I have curriculum night on Thursday and will not get home until after nine at night. Thank you for your patience. :-)

A Modern Day Fairy Tale Teaser

It's been awhile since I've updated ... here's a repeat teaser for A Modern Day Fairy Tale. The update will be posted on Friday. :-)

After dinner, we sat down in the living room to exchange gifts. Bella was chatting with my brother, who was enamored with her. They smiled easily with each other. I could see him become protective of her, welcoming her into our fold. Mom and Dad were talking with Charlie and Linda. I sat down next to Alice, who was scowling at the Christmas tree.

“Would you like something sweet? Some coffee?” I asked. She didn’t respond, only shrugging. “Alice, we’ve extended an invitation to you and to your family. Charlie, Linda and Bella have accepted the invitation with graciously. You, on the other hand? Have not.”

“It’s because I’m being treated like a criminal,” she grumbled, her nose wrinkled. “Some military guy pulled me into an interrogation room and grilled me like I was …”

“You do know why, Alice?” I asked. “Did he show you the blog post?” She ignored the question, her hard gaze focused on the tree. Her lips were pursed and I could hear her teeth grinding. “Your silence says so much, Alice. You’d do that to your sister? Appalling, really. You sold your soul to the devil, just to make your sister hurt?” I sat back, holding the brandy snifter. “It’s only a matter of time. Trust me, Alice.”

“You don’t know anything,” she sneered. She shot up, leaving the room and heading toward her room. I blinked to Renata. She gave me a curt nod, following Alice. Her true colors were showing and not painting her in a positive light.

“Masen, help me with the presents,” Emmett said, arching a brow.

I stood up, brushing off my dress pants and walking to the tree. It was overflowing with gifts to Bella and her family. We rarely exchanged gifts with each other since we had the means to get whatever we wanted, when we wanted it. We didn’t act like entitled royals. We gave a lot back to our country with donations and our service. “Wow, Mom and Dad really went all out for Bella, Charlie, Linda and Alice,” I chuckled.

“Speaking of Alice,” Emmett grumbled, tugging on my arm. He dragged me to the far side of the tree. “I spoke to Felix, who had a conversation with everyone on staff.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. She did get access from the phone by befriending a servant. That servant has been fired and is in prison,” Emmett explained.

“Did the servant say why?” I asked, my clenching into hands into rigid fists. “All servants sign an NDA. They’re paid well. I don’t understand.”