The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide (77 page)

We had forever. And Nessie was going to be fine and healthy
and strong. Like the half-human Nahuel, in a hundred and fifty years she would still be young. And we would all be together.

Happiness expanded like an explosion inside me—so extreme, so violent that I wasn’t sure I’d survive it.

Chapter 39
“Bella!” Edward whispered in shock.

I knew it was working then, so I concentrated even harder, dredging up the specific memories I’d saved for this moment, letting them flood my mind, and hopefully his as well.

Some of the memories were not clear—dim human memories, seen through weak eyes and heard through weak ears: the first time I’d seen his face… the way it felt when he’d held me in the meadow… the sound of his voice through the darkness of my faltering consciousness when he’d saved me from James… his face as he waited under a canopy of flowers to marry me… every precious moment from the island… his cold hands touching our baby through my skin…

And the sharp memories, perfectly recalled: his face when I’d opened my eyes to my new life, to the endless dawn of immortality… that first kiss… that first night…

And the sharp memories, perfectly recalled: his face when I’d opened my eyes to my new life, to the endless dawn of immortality… that first kiss… that first night…

“I
heard
you,” he breathed. “How? How did you do that?”

“Zafrina’s idea. We practiced with it a few times.”

He was dazed. He blinked twice and shook his head.

“Now you know,” I said lightly, and shrugged. “No one’s ever loved anyone as much as I love you.”

Page 55
It was impossible to mistake the noise. The
boom boom boom
of the bass, the video-game soundtrack, the snarling. Totally our crowd.

Page 83
The sound of the thudding music that greeted my approach was accompanied by the unmistakable sweet, smoky scent of a burning vampire. My panic went into overdrive. I could just as easily die inside the house as outside.

Page 9
I turned off my brain. It was time to hunt. I took a deep breath, drawing in the scent of the blood inside the humans below. They weren’t the only humans around, but they were the closest. Who you were going to hunt was the kind of decision you had to make before you scented your prey. It was too late now to choose anything.

Page 13
I followed him up the alley wall, and then we swung across the girders under the freeway. The lights from the cars below didn’t touch us. I thought how stupid people were, how oblivious, and I was glad I wasn’t one of the clueless.

Page 35
We sat in silence, pondering this. I mostly thought about how much I didn’t know. And why hadn’t I worried about everything I didn’t know before now? It was like talking to Diego had cleared my head. For the first time in three months,
blood
was not the main thing in there.

Diego’s perspective

Pages 49–50
Diego grinned at me, his face beautiful with light, and suddenly, with a deep lurch in my stomach, I realized that the
whole BFF thing was way off the mark. For me, anyway. It was just that fast.

His grin softened a little bit into just the hint of a smile. His eyes were wide like mine. All awe and lights. He touched my face, the way he’d touched my hand, as if he was trying to understand the shine.

“So pretty,” he said. He left his hand against my cheek.

Pages 57–58
“I see the little girl made it, too,” said a new voice, and I shuddered because it was Raoul. I felt a little bit of relief that he didn’t know my name, but mostly I just felt horrified that he’d noticed me at all.

“Yeah, she followed me.” I couldn’t see Diego, but I knew he was shrugging.

“Aren’t you the savior of the hour?” Raoul said snidely.

“We don’t get extra points for being morons.”…

“Interesting attitude you got, Diego. You think that Riley likes you so much he’s gonna care if I kill you. I think you’re wrong. But either way, for tonight, he already thinks you’re dead.”

Page 113
Riley had better control of them than I had thought possible.

Still, it was mostly repetition. I noticed Riley saying the same things over and over and over again.
Work together, watch your back, don’t go at her head-on; work together, watch your back, don’t go at him head-on; work together, watch your back, don’t go at her head-on.
It was kind of ridiculous, really, and made the group seem exceptionally stupid. But I was sure I would have been just as stupid if I’d been in the thick of the fight with them rather than watching calmly from the sidelines with Fred.

It reminded me in a way of how Riley had drilled into us our fear of the sun. Constant repetition.

Pages 89–90
And I suddenly realized something stupendously obvious. It was the solution that had tickled the edges of my understanding before, when I was tracking the vampire herd to this place with Diego….

We didn’t have to come back the other night! We
shouldn’t
have! Why hadn’t I thought of it then?…

We could disappear, and Riley would have to make do with nineteen vampires, or make some new ones quick. Either way, not our problem.

I couldn’t wait to tell Diego my plan. My gut instinct was that he would feel the same. Hopefully.

Pages 105–106
His face was not twisted in rage, the way it usually was when he was angry; it was calm and cold, smooth and beautiful, his mouth curled at the edges into a small smile. I suddenly had the impression that this was a new Riley. Something had changed him, hardened him, but I couldn’t imagine what could have happened in one night to create that cruel, perfect smile.

Page 115
Kristie and Raoul growled, and both of their companies followed suit immediately. I was surprised to see it, but they did look like an army in that moment. Not that they were marching in formation or anything, but there was just something uniform about the response. Like they all were part of one big organism.

I could see that the idea of a real fight—of being not only allowed but encouraged to rip and burn—was almost as exciting as hunting.

Pages 133–134
It took them a minute, but everyone started to realize that this was it, and they got quieter and more fierce. I could see that the idea of a real fight—of being not only allowed but encouraged to rip and burn—was almost as exciting as hunting. It appealed to people like Raoul and Jen and Sara.

Fred’s perspective

Pages 136–137
“You’re not going?”

Fred shook his head. “Of course not. It’s obvious we’re not being told what we need to know. I’m not going to be Riley’s pawn…. I’m out. I’m going to explore on my own, see the world.”

Page 143
But it didn’t feel like I had a choice. I headed south in a flat-out sprint again. I had to go get Diego. Drag him away if it came to that. We could catch up with Fred. Or take off on our own. We needed to run. I would tell Diego how Riley had lied. He would see that Riley had no intention of helping us fight the battle he’d set up. There was no reason to help him anymore….

And then I heard the snarling and screaming and screeching explode from ahead and I knew the fight was happening and I was too late to beat Diego there. I only ran faster. Maybe I could still save him.

Pages 162–163
I was of two minds about survival anyway. I didn’t want to die, I didn’t want pain, but what was the point? Everyone else was dead. Diego had been dead for days.

His name was right on my lips. I almost whispered it aloud. Instead, I gripped my skull with both hands and tried to think about something that wouldn’t hurt.

O
ne of the things I most enjoy about Twilight fans is their creativity. I remember the first time I saw a piece of original artwork inspired by my book…. I was speechless. I was so flattered and impressed by the talent and effort that had been spent on illustrating my story. Since then, I’ve seen thousands of original drawings, paintings, and even videos, and I always love getting to experience what the fans are seeing in their heads when they read. Here is just a small sample of the talent and imagination that the fans bring to the Twilight world.