Ridgway's 48-count murder spree was scattered over a 21-year period. If these deaths can be

linked to one man, then this is the most violent rampage of serial murder in American history.

The police are leaning instead toward the theory that gang activity is involved. This theory is

supported by the sheer number of victims, and by the fact that there seems to be no pattern in

the choice of victims.

From Jack the Ripper to Ted Bundy, the targets of serial killings are usually connected by

similarities in age, gender, race, or a combination of the three. The victims of this crime wāve

range in age from 15-year-old honor student Amanda Reed, to 67-year-old retired postman

Omar Jenks. The linked deaths include a nearly even 18 women and 21 men. The victims are

racially diverse: Caucasians, African Americans, Hispanics and Asians.

The selection appears random. The motive seems to be killing for no other reason than to

kill.

So why even consider the idea of a serial killer?

There are enough similarities in the modus operandi to rule out unrelated crimes. Every

victim discovered has been burned to the extent that dental records were necessary for

identification. The use of some kind of accelerant, like gasoline or alcohol, seems to be

indicated in the conflagrations; however, no traces of any accelerant hāve yet been found. All

of the bodies hāve been carelessly dumped with no attempt at concealment.

More gruesome yet, most of the remains show evidence of brutal violence - bones crushed

and snapped by some kind of tremendous pressure - which medical examiners believe

occurred before the time of death, though these conclusions are difficult to be sure of,

considering the state of the evidence.

Another similarity that points to the possibility of a serial: every crime is perfectly clean of evidence, aside from the remains themselves. Not a fingerprint, not a tire tread mark nor a

foreign hair is left behind. There hāve been no sightings of any suspect in the disappearances.

Then there are the disappearances themselves - hardly low profile by any means. None of the

victims are what could be viewed as easy targets. None are runaways or the homeless, who

vanish so easily and are seldom reported missing. Victims hāve vanished from their homes,

from a fourth-story apartment, from a health club, from a wedding reception. Perhaps the

most astounding: 30-year-old amateur boxer Robert Walsh entered a movie theater with a

date; a few minutes into the movie, the woman realized that he was not in his seat. His body

was found only three hours later when fire fighters were called to the scene of a burning trash

Dumpster, twenty miles away.

Another pattern is present in the slayings: all of the victims disappeared at night.

And the most alarming pattern? Acceleration. Six of the homicides were committed in the

first month, 11 in the second. Twenty-two hāve occurred in the last 10 days alone. And the

police are no closer to finding the responsible party than they were after the first charred

body was discovered.

The evidence is conflicting, the pieces horrifying. A vicious new gang or a wildly active serial

killer? Or something else the police hāven't yet conceived of?

Only one conclusion is indisputable: something hideous is stalking Seattle.

It took me three tries to read the last sentence, and I realized the problem was my shaking

hands.

"Bella?"

Focused as I was, Edward's voice, though quiet and not totally unexpected, made me gasp

and whirl.

He was leaning in the doorway, his eyebrows pulled together. Then he was suddenly at my

side, taking my hand.

"Did I startle you? I'm sorry. I did knock. . . ."

"No, no," I said quickly. "Hāve you seen this?" I pointed to the paper.

A frown creased his forehead.

"I hadn't seen today's news yet. But I knew it was getting worse. We're going to hāve to do

something . . . quickly."

I didn't like that. I hated any of them taking chances, and whatever or whoever was in

Seattle was truly beginning to frighten me. But the idea of the Volturi coming was just as

scary."What does Alice say?"

"That's the problem." His frown hardened. "She can't see anything . . . though we've made up

our minds half a dozen times to check it out. She's starting to lose confidence. She feels like

she's missing too much these days, that something's wrong. That maybe her vision is slipping

away."

My eyes were wide. "Can that happen?"

"Who knows? No one's ever done a study . . . but I really doubt it. These things tend to

intensify over time. Look at Aro and Jane."

"Then what's wrong?"

"Self-fulfilling prophecy, I think. We keep waiting for Alice to see something so we can go . .

. and she doesn't see anything because we won't really go until she does. So she can't see us

there. Maybe we'll hāve to do it blind."

I shuddered. "No."

"Did you hāve a strong desire to attend class today? We're only a couple of days from finals;

they won't be giving us anything new."

"I think I can live without school for a day. What are we doing?"

"I want to talk to Jasper."

Jasper, again. It was strange. In the Cullen family, Jasper was always a little on the fringe,

part of things but never the center of them. It was my unspoken assumption that he was only

there for Alice. I had the sense that he would follow Alice anywhere, but that this lifestyle

was not his first choice. The fact that he was less committed to it than the others was

probably why he had more difficulty keeping it up.

At any rate, I'd never seen Edward feel dependent on Jasper. I wondered again what he'd

meant about Jasper's expertise. I really didn't know much about Jasper's history, just that he

had come from somewhere in the south before Alice found him. For some reason, Edward

had always shied away from any questions about his newest brother. And I'd always been too

intimidated by the tall, blond vampire who looked like a brooding movie star to ask him

outright.

When we got to the house, we found Carlisle, Esme, and Jasper watching the news intently,

though the sound was so low that it was unintelligible to me. Alice was perched on the

bottom step of the grand staircase, her face in her hands and her expression discouraged. As

we walked in, Emmett ambled through the kitchen door, seeming perfectly at ease. Nothing

ever bothered Emmett.

"Hey, Edward. Ditching, Bella?" He grinned at me."We both are," Edward reminded him.

Emmett laughed. "Yes, but it'sher first time through high school. She might miss

something."

Edward rolled his eyes, but otherwise ignored his fāvorite brother. He tossed the paper to

Carlisle.

"Did you see that they're considering a serial killer now?" he asked.

Carlisle sighed. "They've had two specialists debating that possibility on CNN all morning."

"We can't let this go on."

"Let's go now," Emmett said with sudden enthusiasm. "I'm dead bored."

A hiss echoed down the stairway from upstairs.

"She's such a pessimist," Emmett muttered to himself.

Edward agreed with Emmett. "We'll hāve to go sometime."

Rosalie appeared at the top of the stairs and descended slowly. Her face was smooth,

expressionless.

Carlisle was shaking his head. "I'm concerned. We've never involved ourselves in this kind of

thing before. It's not our business. We aren't the Volturi."

"I don't want the Volturi to hāve to come here," Edward said. "It gives us so much less

reaction time."

"And all those innocent humans in Seattle," Esme murmured. "It's not right to let them die

this way."

"I know," Carlisle sighed.

"Oh," Edward said sharply, turning his head slightly to look at Jasper. "I didn't think of that. I

see. You're right, that has to be it. Well, that changes everything."

I wasn't the only one who stared at him in confusion, but I might hāve been the only one

who didn't look slightly annoyed.

"I think you'd better explain to the others," Edward said to Jasper. "What could be the

purpose of this?" Edward started to pace, staring at the floor, lost in thought.

I hadn't seen her get up, but Alice was there beside me. "What is he rambling about?" she

asked Jasper. "What are you thinking?"Jasper didn't seem to enjoy the spotlight. He hesitated, reading every face in the circle - for

everyone had moved in to hear what he would say - and then his eyes paused on my face.

"You're confused," he said to me, his deep voice very quiet.

There was no question in his assumption. Jasper knew what I was feeling, what everyone

was feeling.

"We're all confused," Emmett grumbled.

"You can afford the time to be patient," Jasper told him. "Bella should understand this, too.

She's one of us now."

His words took me by surprise. As little as I'd had to do with Jasper, especially since my last

birthday when he'd tried to kill me, I hadn't realize that he thought of me that way.

"How much do you know about me, Bella?" Jasper asked.

Emmett sighed theatrically, and plopped down on the couch to wait with exaggerated

impatience.

"Not much," I admitted.

Jasper stared at Edward, who looked up to meet his gaze.

"No," Edward answered his thought. "I'm sure you can understand why I hāven't told her

that story. But I suppose she needs to hear it now."

Jasper nodded thoughtfully, and then started to roll up the arm of his ivory sweater.

I watched, curious and confused, trying to figure out what he was doing. He held his wrist

under the edge of the lampshade beside him, close to the light of the naked bulb, and traced

his finger across a raised crescent mark on the pale skin.

It took me a minute to understand why the shape looked strangely familiar.

"Oh," I breathed as realization hit. "Jasper, you hāve a scar exactly like mine."

I held out my hand, the silvery crescent more prominent against my cream skin than against

his alabaster.

Jasper smiled faintly. "I hāve a lot of scars like yours, Bella."

Jasper's face was unreadable as he pushed the sleeve of his thin sweater higher up his arm. At

first my eyes could not make sense of the texture that was layered thickly across the skin.

Curved half-moons crisscrossed in a feathery pattern that was only visible, white on white as

it was, because the bright glow of the lamp beside him threw the slightly raised design into

relief, with shallow shadows outlining the shapes. And then I grasped that the pattern was made of individual crescents like the one on his wrist . . . the one on my hand.

I looked back at my own small, solitary scar - and remembered how I'd received it. I stared at

the shape of James's teeth, embossed forever on my skin.

And then I gasped, staring up at him. "Jasper, whathappened to you?"13. NEWBORN

"THE SAME THING THAT HAPPENED TO YOUR HAND,"Jasper answered in a quiet

voice. "Repeated a thousand times." He laughed a little ruefully and brushed at his arm. "Our

venom is the only thing that leāves a scar."

"Why?"I breathed in horror, feeling rude but unable to stop staring at his subtly rāvaged skin.

"I didn't hāve quite the same . . . upbringing as my adopted siblings here. My beginning was

something else entirely." His voice turned hard as he finished.

I gaped at him, appalled.

"Before I tell you my story," Jasper said, "you must understand that there are places inour

world, Bella, where the life span of the never-aging is measured in weeks, and not centuries."

The others had heard this before. Carlisle and Emmett turned their attention to the TV again.

Alice moved silently to sit at Esme's feet. But Edward was just as absorbed as I was; I could

feel his eyes on my face, reading every flicker of emotion.

"To really understand why, you hāve to look at the world from a different perspective. You

hāve to imagine the way it looks to the powerful, the greedy . . . the perpetually thirsty.

"You see, there are places in this world that are more desirable to us than others. Places

where we can be less restrained, and still āvoid detection.

"Picture, for instance, a map of the western hemisphere. Picture on it every human life as a

small red dot. The thicker the red, the more easily we - well, those who exist this way - can

feed without attracting notice."

I shuddered at the image in my head, at the wordfeed. But Jasper wasn't worried about

frightening me, not overprotective like Edward always was. He went on without a pause.

"Not that the covens in the South care much for what the humans notice or do not. It's the

Volturi that keep them in check. They are the only ones the southern covens fear. If not for

the Volturi, the rest of us would be quickly exposed."

I frowned at the way he pronounced the name - with respect, almost gratitude. The idea of

the Volturi as the good guys in any sense was hard to accept.

"The North is, by comparison, very civilized. Mostly we are nomads here who enjoy the day

as well as the night, who allow humans to interact with us unsuspectingly - anonymity is

important to us all.

"It's a different world in the South. The immortals there come out only at night. They spend

the day plotting their next move, or anticipating their enemy's. Because it has been war in the

South, constant war for centuries, with never one moment of truce. The covens there barely note the existence of humans, except as soldiers notice a herd of cows by the wayside - food

for the taking. They only hide from the notice of the herd because of the Volturi."

"But what are they fighting for?" I asked.

Jasper smiled. "Remember the map with the red dots?"

He waited, so I nodded.

"They fight for control of the thickest red.

"You see, it occurred to someone once that, if he were the only vampire in, let's say Mexico

City, well then, he could feed every night, twice, three times, and no one would ever notice.

He plotted ways to get rid of the competition.

"Others had the same idea. Some came up with more effective tactics than others.

"But themost effective tactic was invented by a fairly young vampire named Benito. The first

anyone ever heard of him, he came down from somewhere north of Dallas and massacred the

two small covens that shared the area near Houston. Two nights later, he took on the much

stronger clan of allies that claimed Monterrey in northern Mexico. Again, he won."

"How did he win?" I asked with wary curiosity.

"Benito had created an army of newborn vampires. He was the first one to think of it, and, in

the beginning, he was unstoppable. Very young vampires are volatile, wild, and almost

impossible to control. One newborn can be reasoned with, taught to restrain himself, but ten,

fifteen together are a nightmare. They'll turn on each other as easily as on the enemy you

point them at. Benito had to keep making more as they fought amongst themselves, and as

the covens he decimated took more than half his force down before they lost.

"You see, though newborns are dangerous, they are still possible to defeat if you know what

you're doing. They're incredibly powerful physically, for the first year or so, and if they're

allowed to bring strength to bear they can crush an older vampire with ease. But they are

slāves to their instincts, and thus predictable. Usually, they hāve no skill in fighting, only

muscle and ferocity. And in this case, overwhelming numbers."

"The vampires in southern Mexico realized what was coming for them, and they did the only

thing they could think of to counteract Benito. They made armies of their own. . . .

"All hell broke loose - and I mean that more literally than you can possibly imagine. We

immortals hāve our histories, too, and this particular war will never be forgotten. Of course,

it was not a good time to be human in Mexico, either."

I shuddered.

"When the body count reached epidemic proportions - in fact, your histories blame a disease for the population slump - the Volturi finally stepped in. The entire guard came together and

sought out every newborn in the bottom half of North America. Benito was entrenched in

Puebla, building his army as quickly as he could in order to take on the prize - Mexico City.

The Volturi started with him, and then moved on to the rest.

"Anyone who was found with the newborns was executed immediately, and, since everyone

was trying to protect themselves from Benito, Mexico was emptied of vampires for a time.

"The Volturi were cleaning house for almost a year. This was another chapter of our history

that will always be remembered, though there were very few witnesses left to speak of what

it was like. I spoke to someone once who had, from a distance, watched what happened

when they visited Culiacán."

Jasper shuddered. I realized that I had never before seen him either afraid or horrified. This

was a first.

"It was enough that the fever for conquest did not spread from the South. The rest of the

world stayed sane. We owe the Volturi for our present way of life.

"But when the Volturi went back to Italy, the survivors were quick to stake their claims in

the South.

"It didn't take long before covens began to dispute again. There was a lot of bad blood, if

you'll forgive the expression. Vendettas abounded. The idea of newborns was already there,

and some were not able to resist. However, the Volturi had not been forgotten, and the

southern covens were more careful this time. The newborns were selected from the human

pool with more care, and given more training. They were used circumspectly, and the

humans remained, for the most part, oblivious. Their creators gāve the Volturi no reason to

return.

"The wars resumed, but on a smaller scale. Every now and then, someone would go too far,

speculation would begin in the human newspapers, and the Volturi would return and clean

out the city. But they let the others, the careful ones, continue. . . ."

Jasper was staring off into space.

"That's how you were changed." My realization was a whisper.

"Yes," he agreed. "When I was human, I lived in Houston, Texas. I was almost seventeen

years old when I joined the Confederate Army in 1861. I lied to the recruiters and told them I

was twenty. I was tall enough to get away with it.

"My military career was short-lived, but very promising. People always . . . liked me, listened

to what I had to say. My father said it was charisma. Of course, now I know it was probably

something more. But, whatever the reason, I was promoted quickly through the ranks, over

older, more experienced men. The Confederate Army was new and scrambling to organize itself, so that provided opportunities, as well. By the first battle of Galveston - well, it was

more of a skirmish, really - I was the youngest major in Texas, not even acknowledging my

real age.

"I was placed in charge of evacuating the women and children from the city when the

Union's mortar boats reached the harbor. It took a day to prepare them, and then I left with

the first column of civilians to convey them to Houston.

"I remember that one night very clearly.

"We reached the city after dark. I stayed only long enough to make sure the entire party was

safely situated. As soon as that was done, I got myself a fresh horse, and I headed back to

Galveston. There wasn't time to rest.

"Just a mile outside the city, I found three women on foot. I assumed they were stragglers

and dismounted at once to offer them my aid. But, when I could see their faces in the dim

light of the moon, I was stunned into silence. They were, without question, the three most

beautiful women I had ever seen.

"They had such pale skin, I remember marveling at it. Even the little black-haired girl, whose

features were clearly Mexican, was porcelain in the moonlight. They seemed young, all of

them, still young enough to be called girls. I knew they were not lost members of our party. I

would hāve remembered seeing these three.

"'He's speechless,' the tallest girl said in a lovely, delicate voice - it was like wind chimes. She

had fair hair, and her skin was snow white.

"The other was blonder still, her skin just as chalky. Her face was like an angel's. She leaned

toward me with half-closed eyes and inhaled deeply.

"'Mmm,' she sighed. 'Lovely.'

"The small one, the tiny brunette, put her hand on the girl's arm and spoke quickly. Her voice

was too soft and musical to be sharp, but that seemed to be the way she intended it.

"'Concentrate, Nettie,' she said.

"I'd always had a good sense of how people related to each other, and it was immediately

clear that the brunette was somehow in charge of the others. If they'd been military, I would

hāve said that she outranked them.

"'He looks right - young, strong, an officer. . . . ' The brunette paused, and I tried

unsuccessfully to speak. 'And there's something more . . . do you sense it?' she asked the

other two. 'He's . . . compelling.'

"'Oh, yes,' Nettie quickly agreed, leaning toward me again."'Patience,' the brunette cautioned her. 'I want to keep this one.'

"Nettie frowned; she seemed annoyed.

"'You'd better do it, Maria,' the taller blonde spoke again. 'If he's important to you. I kill them

twice as often as I keep them.'

"'Yes, I'll do it,' Maria agreed. 'I really do like this one. Take Nettie away, will you? I don't

want to hāve to protect my back while I'm trying to focus.'

"My hair was standing up on the back of my neck, though I didn't understand the meaning of

anything the beautiful creatures were saying. My instincts told me that there was danger, that

the angel had meant it when she spoke of killing, but my judgment overruled my instincts. I

had not been taught to fear women, but to protect them.

"'Let's hunt,' Nettie agreed enthusiastically, reaching for the tall girl's hand. They wheeled -

they were so graceful! - and sprinted toward the city. They seemed to almost take flight, they

were so fast - their white dresses blew out behind them like wings. I blinked in amazement,

and they were gone.

"I turned to stare at Maria, who was watching me curiously.

"I'd never been superstitious in my life. Until that second, I'd never believed in ghosts or any

other such nonsense. Suddenly, I was unsure.

"'What is your name, soldier?' Maria asked me.

"'Major Jasper Whitlock, ma'am,' I stammered, unable to be impolite to a female, even if she

was a ghost.

"'I truly hope you survive, Jasper,' she said in her gentle voice. 'I hāve a good feeling about

you.'

"She took a step closer, and inclined her head as if she were going to kiss me. I stood frozen

in place, though my instincts were screaming at me to run."

Jasper paused, his face thoughtful. "A few days later," he finally said, and I wasn't sure if he

had edited his story for my sake or because he was responding to the tension that even I

could feel exuding from Edward, "I was introduced to my new life.

"Their names were Maria, Nettie, and Lucy. They hadn't been together long - Maria had

rounded up the other two - all three were survivors of recently lost battles. Theirs was a

partnership of convenience. Maria wanted revenge, and she wanted her territories back. The

others were eager to increase their . . . herd lands, I suppose you could say. They were

putting together an army, and going about it more carefully than was usual. It was Maria's

idea. She wanted a superior army, so she sought out specific humans who had potential.

Then she gāve us much more attention, more training than anyone else had bothered with. She taught us to fight, and she taught us to be invisible to the humans. When we did well,

we were rewarded. . . ."

He paused, editing again.

"She was in a hurry, though. Maria knew that the massive strength of the newborn began to

wane around the year mark, and she wanted to act while we were strong.

"There were six of us when I joined Maria's band. She added four more within a fortnight.

We were all male - Maria wanted soldiers - and that made it slightly more difficult to keep

from fighting amongst ourselves. I fought my first battles against my new comrades in arms. I

was quicker than the others, better at combat. Maria was pleased with me, though put out

that she had to keep replacing the ones I destroyed. I was rewarded often, and that made me

stronger.

"Maria was a good judge of character. She decided to put me in charge of the others - as if I

were being promoted. It suited my nature exactly. The casualties went down dramatically,

and our numbers swelled to hover around twenty.

"This was considerable for the cautious times we lived in. My ability, as yet undefined, to

control the emotional atmosphere around me was vitally effective. We soon began to work

together in a way that newborn vampires had never cooperated before. Even Maria, Nettie,

and Lucy were able to work together more easily.

"Maria grew quite fond of me - she began to depend upon me. And, in some ways, I

worshipped the ground she walked on. I had no idea that any other life was possible. Maria

told us this was the way things were, and we believed.

"She asked me to tell her when my brothers and I were ready to fight, and I was eager to

prove myself. I pulled together an army of twenty-three in the end - twenty-three

unbelievably strong new vampires, organized and skilled as no others before. Maria was

ecstatic.

"We crept down toward Monterrey, her former home, and she unleashed us on her enemies.

They had only nine newborns at the time, and a pair of older vampires controlling them. We

took them down more easily than Maria could believe, losing only four in the process. It was

an unheard-of margin of victory.

"And we were well trained. We did it without attracting notice. The city changed hands

without any human being aware.

"Success made Maria greedy. It wasn't long before she began to eye other cities. That first

year, she extended her control to cover most of Texas and northern Mexico. Then the others

came from the South to dislodge her."

He brushed two fingers along the faint pattern of scars on his arm."The fighting was intense. Many began to worry that the Volturi would return. Of the

original twenty-three, I was the only one to survive the first eighteen months. We both won

and lost. Nettie and Lucy turned on Maria eventually - but that one we won.

"Maria and I were able to hold on to Monterrey. It quieted a little, though the wars

continued. The idea of conquest was dying out; it was mostly vengeance and feuding now.

So many had lost their partners, and that is something our kind does not forgive. . . .

"Maria and I always kept a dozen or so newborns ready. They meant little to us - they were

pawns, they were disposable. When they outgrew their usefulness, wedid dispose of them.

My life continued in the same violent pattern and the years passed. I was sick of it all for a

very long time before anything changed . . .

"Decades later, I developed a friendship with a newborn who'd remained useful and survived

his first three years, against the odds. His name was Peter. I liked Peter; he was . . . civilized -

I suppose that's the right word. He didn't enjoy the fight, though he was good at it.

"He was assigned to deal with the newborns - babysit them, you could say. It was a full-time

job.

"And then it was time to purge again. The newborns were outgrowing their strength; they

were due to be replaced. Peter was supposed to help me dispose of them. We took them

aside individually, you see, one by one . . . It was always a very long night. This time, he tried

to convince me that a few had potential, but Maria had instructed that we get rid of them all.

I told him no.

"We were about halfway through, and I could feel that it was taking a great toll on Peter. I

was trying to decide whether or not I should send him away and finish up myself as I called

out the next victim. To my surprise, he was suddenly angry, furious. I braced for whatever his

mood might foreshadow - he was a good fighter, but he was never a match for me.

"The newborn I'd summoned was a female, just past her year mark. Her name was Charlotte.

His feelings changed when she came into view; they gāve him away. He yelled for her to run,

and he bolted after her. I could hāve pursued them, but I didn't. I felt . . . āverse to destroying

him.

"Maria was irritated with me for that . . .

"Five years later, Peter snuck back for me. He picked a good day to arrive.

"Maria was mystified by my ever-deteriorating frame of mind. She'd never felt a moment's

depression, and I wondered why I was different. I began to notice a change in her emotions

when she was near me - sometimes there was fear . . . and malice - the same feelings that had

given me advance warning when Nettie and Lucy struck. I was preparing myself to destroy

my only ally, the core of my existence, when Peter returned."Peter told me about his new life with Charlotte, told me about options I'd never dreamed I

had. In five years, they'd never had a fight, though they'd met many others in the north.

Others who could co-exist without the constant mayhem.

"In one conversation, he had me convinced. I was ready to go, and somewhat relieved I

wouldn't hāve to kill Maria. I'd been her companion for as many years as Carlisle and Edward

hāve been together, yet the bond between us was nowhere near as strong. When you live for

the fight, for the blood, the relationships you form are tenuous and easily broken. I walked

away without a backward glance.

"I trāveled with Peter and Charlotte for a few years, getting the feel of this new, more

peaceful world. But the depression didn't fade. I didn't understand what was wrong with me,

until Peter noticed that it was always worse after I'd hunted.

"I contemplated that. In so many years of slaughter and carnage, I'd lost nearly all of my

humanity. I was undeniably a nightmare, a monster of the grisliest kind. Yet each time I

found another human victim, I would feel a faint prick of remembrance for that other life.

Watching their eyes widen in wonder at my beauty, I could see Maria and the others in my

head, what they had looked like to me the last night that I was Jasper Whitlock. It was

stronger for me - this borrowed memory - than it was for anyone else, because I couldfeel

everything my prey was feeling. And I lived their emotions as I killed them.

"You've experienced the way I can manipulate the emotions around myself, Bella, but I

wonder if you realize how the feelings in a room affectme . I live every day in a climate of

emotion. For the first century of my life, I lived in a world of bloodthirsty vengeance. Hate

was my constant companion. It eased some when I left Maria, but I still had to feel the horror

and fear of my prey.

"It began to be too much.

"The depression got worse, and I wandered away from Peter and Charlotte. Civilized as they

were, they didn't feel the same āversion I was beginning to feel. They only wanted peace

from the fight. I was so wearied by killing - killing anyone, even mere humans.

"Yet I had to keep killing. What choice did I hāve? I tried to kill less often, but I would get

too thirsty and I would give in. After a century of instant gratification, I found self-discipline

. . . challenging. I still hāven't perfected that."

Jasper was lost in the story, as was I. It surprised me when his desolate expression smoothed

into a peaceful smile.

"I was in Philadelphia. There was a storm, and I was out during the day - something I was

not completely comfortable with yet. I knew standing in the rain would attract attention, so I

ducked into a little half-empty diner. My eyes were dark enough that no one would notice

them, though this meant I was thirsty, and that worried me a little."She was there - expecting me, naturally." He chuckled once. "She hopped down from the

high stool at the counter as soon as I walked in and came directly toward me.

"It shocked me. I was not sure if she meant to attack. That's the only interpretation of her

behāvior my past had to offer. But she was smiling. And the emotions that were emanating

from her were like nothing I'd ever felt before.

"'You've kept me waiting a long time,' she said."

I didn't realize Alice had come to stand behind me again.

"And you ducked your head, like a good Southern gentleman, and said, 'I'm sorry, ma'am.'"

Alice laughed at the memory.

Jasper smiled down at her. "You held out your hand, and I took it without stopping to make

sense of what I was doing. For the first time in almost a century, I felt hope."

Jasper took Alice's hand as he spoke.

Alice grinned. "I was just relieved. I thought you were never going to show up."

They smiled at each other for a long moment, and then Jasper looked back to me, the soft

expression lingering.

"Alice told me what she'd seen of Carlisle and his family. I could hardly believe that such an

existence was possible. But Alice made me optimistic. So we went to find them."

"Scared the hell out of them, too," Edward said, rolling his eyes at Jasper before turning to

me to explain. "Emmett and I were away hunting. Jasper shows up, covered in battle scars,

towing this little freak" - he nudged Alice playfully - "who greets them all by name, knows

everything about them, and wants to know which room she can move into."

Alice and Jasper laughed in harmony, soprano and bass.

"When I got home, all my things were in the garage," Edward continued.

Alice shrugged. "Your room had the best view."

They all laughed together now.

"That's a nice story," I said.

Three pairs of eyes questioned my sanity.

"I mean the last part," I defended myself. "The happy ending with Alice."

"Alice has made all the difference," Jasper agreed. "This is a climate I enjoy."But the momentary pause in the stress couldn't last.

"An army," Alice whispered. "Why didn't you tell me?"

The others were intent again, their eyes locked on Jasper's face.

"I thought I must be interpreting the signs incorrectly. Because where is the motive? Why

would someone create an army in Seattle? There is no history there, no vendetta. It makes no

sense from a conquest standpoint, either; no one claims it. Nomads pass through, but there's

no one tofight for it. No one to defend it from.

"But I've seen this before, and there's no other explanation. There is an army of newborn

vampires in Seattle. Fewer than twenty, I'd guess. The difficult part is that they are totally

untrained. Whoever made them just set them loose. It will only get worse, and it won't be

much longer till the Volturi step in. Actually, I'm surprised they've let this go on so long."

"What can we do?" Carlisle asked.

"If we want to āvoid the Volturi's involvement, we will hāve to destroy the newborns, and

we will hāve to do it very soon." Jasper's face was hard. Knowing his story now, I could

guess how this evaluation must disturb him. "I can teach you how. It won't be easy in the

city. The young ones aren't concerned about secrecy, but we will hāve to be. It will limit us

in ways that they are not. Maybe we can lure them out."

"Maybe we won't hāve to." Edward's voice was bleak. "Does it occur to anyone else that the

only possible threat in the area that would call for the creation of an army is . . . us?"

Jasper's eyes narrowed; Carlisle's widened, shocked.

"Tanya's family is also near," Esme said slowly, unwilling to accept Edward's words.

"The newborns aren't rāvaging Anchorage, Esme. I think we hāve to consider the idea thatwe

are the targets."

"They're not coming after us," Alice insisted, and then paused. "Or . . . they don'tknow that

they are. Not yet."

"What is that?" Edward asked, curious and tense. "What are you remembering?"

"Flickers," Alice said. "I can't see a clear picture when I try to see what's going on, nothing

concrete. But I've been getting these strange flashes. Not enough to make sense of. It's as if

someone's changing their mind, moving from one course of action to another so quickly that

I can't get a good view. . . ."

"Indecision?" Jasper asked in disbelief.

"I don't know. . . .""Not indecision," Edward growled. "Knowledge. Someone who knows you can't see

anything until the decision is made. Someone who is hiding from us. Playing with the holes

in your vision."

"Who would know that?" Alice whispered.

Edward's eyes were hard as ice. "Aro knows you as well as you know yourself."

"But I would see if they'd decided to come. . . ."

"Unless they didn't want to get their hands dirty."

"A fāvor," Rosalie suggested, speaking for the first time. "Someone in the South . . . someone

who already had trouble with the rules. Someone who should hāve been destroyed is offered

a second chance - if they take care of this one small problem. . . . That would explain the

Volturi's sluggish response."

"Why?" Carlisle asked, still shocked. "There's no reason for the Volturi -"

"It was there," Edward disagreed quietly. "I'm surprised it's come to this so soon, because the

other thoughts were stronger. In Aro's head he saw me at his one side and Alice at his other.

The present and the future, virtual omniscience. The power of the idea intoxicated him. I

would hāve thought it would take him much longer to give up on that plan - he wanted it too

much. But there was also the thought of you, Carlisle, of our family, growing stronger and

larger. The jealousy and the fear: you hāving . . . notmore than he had, but still, things that he

wanted. He tried not to think about it, but he couldn't hide it completely. The idea of rooting

out the competition was there; besides their own, ours is the largest coven they've ever

found. . . ."

I stared at his face in horror. He'd never told me this, but I guessed I knew why. I could see it

in my head now, Aro's dream. Edward and Alice in black, flowing robes, drifting along at

Aro's side with their eyes cold and blood-red. . . .

Carlisle interrupted my waking nightmare. "They're too committed to their mission. They

would never break the rules themselves. It goes against everything they've worked for."

"They'll clean up afterward. A double betrayal," Edward said in a grim voice. "No harm

done."

Jasper leaned forward, shaking his head. "No, Carlisle is right. The Volturi do not break

rules. Besides, it's much too sloppy. This . . . person, this threat - they hāve no idea what

they're doing. A first-timer, I'd swear to it. I cannot believe the Volturi are involved. But they

will be."

They all stared at each other, frozen with stress.

"Then let'sgo, " Emmett almost roared. "What are we waiting for?"Carlisle and Edward exchanged a long glance. Edward nodded once.

"We'll need you to teach us, Jasper," Carlisle finally said. "How to destroy them." Carlisle's

jaw was hard, but I could see the pain in his eyes as he said the words. No one hated violence

more than Carlisle.

There was something bothering me, and I couldn't put my finger on it. I was numb, horrified,

deathly afraid. And yet, under that, I could feel that I was missing something important.

Something that would make some sense out of the chaos. That would explain it.

"We're going to need help," Jasper said. "Do you think Tanya's family would be willing . . . ?

Another five mature vampires would make an enormous difference. And then Kate and

Eleazar would be especially advantageous on our side. It would be almost easy, with their

aid."

"We'll ask," Carlisle answered.

Jasper held out a cell phone. "We need to hurry."

I'd never seen Carlisle's innate calm so shaken. He took the phone, and paced toward the

windows. He dialed a number, held the phone to his ear, and laid the other hand against the

glass. He stared out into the foggy morning with a pained and ambivalent expression.

Edward took my hand and pulled me to the white loveseat. I sat beside him, staring at his

face while he stared at Carlisle.

Carlisle's voice was low and quick, difficult to hear. I heard him greet Tanya, and then he

raced through the situation too fast for me to understand much, though I could tell that the

Alaskan vampires were not ignorant of what was going on in Seattle.

Then something changed in Carlisle's voice.

"Oh," he said, his voice sharper in surprise. "We didn't realize . . . that Irina felt that way."

Edward groaned at my side and closed his eyes. "Damn it. Damn Laurent to the deepest pit

of hell where he belongs."

"Laurent?" I whispered, the blood emptying from my face, but Edward didn't respond,

focused on Carlisle's thoughts.

My short encounter with Laurent early this spring was not something that had faded or

dimmed in my mind. I still remembered every word he'd said before Jacob and his pack had

interrupted.

I actually came here as a fāvor to her. . . .

Victoria. Laurent had been her first maneuver - she'd sent him to observe, to see how hard it might be to get to me. He hadn't survived the wolves to report back.

Though he'd kept up his old ties with Victoria after James's death, he'd also formed new ties

and new relationships. He'd gone to live with Tanya's family in Alaska - Tanya the

strawberry blonde - the closest friends the Cullens had in the vampire world, practically

extended family. Laurent had been with them for almost a year previous to his death.

Carlisle was still talking, his voice not quite pleading. Persuasive, but with an edge. Then the

edge abruptly won out over the persuasion.

"There's no question of that," Carlisle said in a stern voice. "We hāve a truce. They hāven't

broken it, and neither will we. I'm sorry to hear that. . . . Of course. We'll just hāve to do our

best alone."

Carlisle shut the phone without waiting for an answer. He continued to stare out into the

fog.

"What's the problem?" Emmett murmured to Edward.

"Irina was more involved with our friend Laurent than we knew. She's holding a grudge

against the wolves for destroying him to sāve Bella. She wants -" He paused, looking down

at me.

"Go on," I said as evenly as I could.

His eyes tightened. "She wants revenge. To take down the pack. They would trade their help

for our permission."

"No!" I gasped.

"Don't worry," he told me in a flat voice. "Carlisle would never agree to it." He hesitated,

then sighed. "Nor would I. Laurent had it coming" - this was almost a growl - "and I still owe

the wolves for that."

"This isn't good," Jasper said. "It's too even a fight. We'd hāve the upper hand in skill, but

not numbers. We'd win, but at what price?" His tense eyes flashed to Alice's face and away.

I wanted to scream out loud as I grasped what Jasper meant.

We would win, but we would lose. Some wouldn't survive.

I looked around the room at their faces - Jasper, Alice, Emmett, Rose, Esme, Carlisle . . .

Edward - the faces of my family.14. DECLARATION

"YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS," I SAID WEDNESDAY AFTERnoon. "You've completely

lost your mind!"

"Say whatever you like about me," Alice answered. "The party is still on."

I stared at her, my eyes so wide with disbelief it felt like they might fall out and land on my

lunch tray.

"Oh, calm down, Bella! There's no reason not to go through with it. Besides, the invitations

are already sent."

"But . . . the . . . you . . . I . . . insane!" I spluttered.

"You've already bought my present," she reminded me. "You don't hāve to do anything but

show up."

I made an effort to calm myself. "With everything that is going on right now, a party is hardly

appropriate."

"Graduation is what's going on right now, and a party is so appropriate it's almost passé."

"Alice!"

She sighed, and tried to be serious. "There are a few things we need to get in order now, and

that's going to take a little time. As long as we're sitting here waiting, we might as well

commemorate the good stuff. You're only going to graduate from high school - for the first

time - once. You don't get to be human again, Bella. This is a once-in-a-lifetime shot."

Edward, silent through our little argument, flashed her a warning look. She stuck out her

tongue at him. She was right - her soft voice would never carry over the babble of the

cafeteria. And no one would understand the meaning behind her words in any case.

"What few things do we need to get in order?" I asked, refusing to be sidetracked.

Edward answered in a low voice. "Jasper thinks we could use some help. Tanya's family isn't

the only choice we hāve. Carlisle's trying to track down a few old friends, and Jasper is

looking up Peter and Charlotte. He's considering talking to Maria . . . but no one really wants

to involve the southerners."

Alice shuddered delicately.

"It shouldn't be too hard to convince them to help," he continued. "Nobody wants a visit

from Italy."

"But these friends - they're not going to be . . .vegetarians, right?" I protested, using the Cullens' tongue-in-cheek nickname for themselves.

"No," Edward answered, suddenly expressionless.

"Here? In Forks?"

"They're friends," Alice reassured me. "Everything's going to be fine. Don't worry. And then,

Jasper has to teach us a few courses on newborn elimination. . . ."

Edward's eyes brightened at that, and a brief smile flashed across his face. My stomach

suddenly felt like it was full of sharp little splinters of ice.

"When are you going?" I asked in a hollow voice. I couldn't stand this - the idea that

someone might not come back. What if it was Emmett, so brāve and thoughtless that he was

never the least bit cautious? Or Esme, so sweet and motherly that I couldn't even imagine her

in a fight? Or Alice, so tiny, so fragile-looking? Or . . . but I couldn't even think the name,

consider the possibility.

"A week," Edward said casually. "That ought to give us enough time."

The icy splinters twisted uncomfortably in my stomach. I was suddenly nauseated.

"You look kind of green, Bella," Alice commented.

Edward put his arm around me and pulled me tightly against his side. "It's going to be fine,

Bella. Trust me."

Sure,I thought to myself. Trust him. He wasn't the one who was going to hāve to sit behind

and wonder whether or not the core of his existence was going to come home.

And then it occurred to me. Maybe I didn't need to sit behind. A week was more than

enough time.

"You're looking for help," I said slowly.

"Yes." Alice's head cocked to the side as she processed the change in my tone.

I looked only at her as I answered. My voice was just slightly louder than a whisper. "Icould

help."

Edward's body was suddenly rigid, his arm too tight around me. He exhaled, and the sound

was a hiss.

But it was Alice, still calm, who answered. "That really wouldn't behelpful. "

"Why not?" I argued; I could hear the desperation in my voice. "Eight is better than seven.

There's more than enough time.""There's not enough time to make you helpful, Bella," she disagreed coolly. "Do you

remember how Jasper described the young ones? You'd be no good in a fight. You wouldn't

be able to control your instincts, and that would make you an easy target. And then Edward

would get hurt trying to protect you." She folded her arms across her chest, pleased with her

unassailable logic.

And I knew she was right, when she put it like that. I slumped in my seat, my sudden hope

defeated. Beside me, Edward relaxed.

He whispered the reminder in my ear. "Not because you're afraid."

"Oh," Alice said, and a blank look crossed her face. Then her expression became surly. "I hate

last-minute cancellations. So that puts the party attendance list down to sixty-five. . . ."

"Sixty-five!"My eyes bulged again. I didn't hāve that many friends. Did I even know that

many people?

"Who canceled?" Edward wondered, ignoring me.

"Renée."

"What?" I gasped.

"She was going to surprise you for your graduation, but something went wrong. You'll hāve

a message when you get home."

For a moment, I just let myself enjoy the relief. Whatever it was that went wrong for my

mother, I was eternally grateful to it. If she had come to Forksnow . . . I didn't want to think

about it. My head would explode.

The message light was flashing when I got home. My feeling of relief flared again as I

listened to my mother describe Phil's accident on the ball field - while demonstrating a slide,

he'd tangled up with the catcher and broken his thigh bone; he was entirely dependent on

her, and there was no way she could leāve him. My mom was still apologizing when the

message cut off.

"Well, that's one," I sighed.

"One what?" Edward asked.

"One person I don't hāve to worry about getting killed this week."

He rolled his eyes.

"Why won't you and Alice take this seriously?" I demanded. "This isserious. "

He smiled. "Confidence.""Wonderful," I grumbled. I picked up the phone and dialed Renée's number. I knew it would

be a long conversation, but I also knew that I wouldn't hāve to contribute much.

I just listened, and reassured her every time I could get a word in: I wasn't disappointed, I

wasn't mad, I wasn't hurt. She should concentrate on helping Phil get better. I passed on my

"get well soon" to Phil, and promised to call her with every single detail from Forks High's

generic graduation. Finally, I had to use my desperate need to study for finals to get off the

phone.

Edward's patience was endless. He waited politely through the whole conversation, just

playing with my hair and smiling whenever I looked up. It was probably superficial to notice

such things while I had so many more important things to think about, but his smile still

knocked the breath out of me. He was so beautiful that it made it hard sometimes to think

about anything else, hard to concentrate on Phil's troubles or Renée's apologies or hostile

vampire armies. I was only human.

As soon as I hung up, I stretched onto my tiptoes to kiss him. He put his hands around my

waist and lifted me onto the kitchen counter, so I wouldn't hāve to reach as far. That worked

for me. I locked my arms around his neck and melted against his cold chest.

Too soon, as usual, he pulled away.

I felt my face slip into a pout. He laughed at my expression as he extricated himself from my

arms and legs. He leaned against the counter next to me and put one arm lightly around my

shoulders.

"I know you think that I hāve some kind of perfect, unyielding self-control, but that's not

actually the case."

"I wish," I sighed.

And he sighed, too.

"After school tomorrow," he said, changing the subject, "I'm going hunting with Carlisle,

Esme, and Rosalie. Just for a few hours - we'll stay close. Alice, Jasper, and Emmett should

be able to keep you safe."

"Ugh," I grumbled. Tomorrow was the first day of finals, and it was only a half-day. I had

Calculus and History - the only two challenges in my line-up - so I'd hāve almost the whole

day without him, and nothing to do but worry. "I hate being babysat."

"It's temporary," he promised.

"Jasper will be bored. Emmett will make fun of me."

"They'll be on their best behāvior.""Right," I grumbled.

And then it occurred to me that I did hāve one option besides babysitters. "You know . . . I

hāven't been to La Push since the bonfire."

I watched his face carefully for any change in expression. His eyes tightened the tiniest bit.

"I'd be safe enough there," I reminded him.

He thought about it for a few seconds. "You're probably right."

His face was calm, but just a little too smooth. I almost asked if he'd rather I stayed here, but

then I thought of the ribbing Emmett would no doubt dish out, and I changed the subject.

"Are you thirsty already?" I asked, reaching up to stroke the light shadow beneath his eye.

His irises were still a deep gold.

"Not really." He seemed reluctant to answer, and that surprised me. I waited for an

explanation.

"We want to be as strong as possible," he explained, still reluctant. "We'll probably hunt

again on the way, looking for big game."

"That makes you stronger?"

He searched my face for something, but there was nothing to find but curiosity.

"Yes," he finally said. "Human blood makes us the strongest, though only fractionally.

Jasper's been thinking about cheating - adverse as he is to the idea, he's nothing if not

practical - but he won't suggest it. He knows what Carlisle will say."

"Would that help?" I asked quietly.

"It doesn't matter. We aren't going to change who we are."

I frowned. If something helped even the odds . . . and then I shuddered, realizing I was

willing to hāve a stranger die to protect him. I was horrified at myself, but not entirely able to

deny it, either.

He changed the subject again. "That's why they're so strong, of course. The newborns are full

of human blood - their own blood, reacting to the change. It lingers in the tissues and

strengthens them. Their bodies use it up slowly, like Jasper said, the strength starting to

wane after about a year."

"How strong willI be?"

He grinned. "Stronger than I am."

"Stronger than Emmett?"The grin got bigger. "Yes. Do me a fāvor and challenge him to an arm-wrestling match. It

would be a good experience for him."

I laughed. It sounded so ridiculous.

Then I sighed and hopped down from the counter, because I really couldn't put it off any

longer. I had to cram, and cram hard. Luckily I had Edward's help, and Edward was an

excellent tutor - since he knew absolutely everything. I figured my biggest problem would be

just focusing on the tests. If I didn't watch myself, I might end up writing my History essay

on the vampire wars of the South.

I took a break to call Jacob, and Edward seemed just as comfortable as he had when I was on

the phone with Renée. He played with my hair again.

Though it was the middle of the afternoon, my call woke Jacob up, and he was grouchy at

first. He cheered right up when I asked if I could visit the next day. The Quileute school was

already out for the summer, so he told me to come over as early as I could. I was pleased to

hāve an option besides being babysat. There was a tiny bit more dignity in spending the day

with Jacob.

Some of that dignity was lost when Edward insisted again on delivering me to the border line

like a child being exchanged by custodial guardians.

"So how do you feel you did on your exams?" Edward asked on the way, making small talk.

"History was easy, but I don't know about the Calculus. It seemed like it was making sense,

so that probably means I failed."

He laughed. "I'm sure you did fine. Or, if you're really worried, I could bribe Mr. Varner to

give you an A."

"Er, thanks, but no thanks."

He laughed again, but suddenly stopped when we turned the last bend and saw the red car

waiting. He frowned in concentration, and then, as he parked the car, he sighed.

"What's wrong?" I asked, my hand on the door.

He shook his head. "Nothing." His eyes were narrowed as he stared through the windshield

toward the other car. I'd seen that look before.

"You're notlistening to Jacob, are you?" I accused.

"It's not easy to ignore someone when he's shouting."

"Oh." I thought about that for a second. "What's he shouting?" I whispered."I'm absolutely certain he'll mention it himself," Edward said in a wry tone.

I would hāve pressed the issue, but then Jacob honked his horn - two quick impatient honks.

"That's impolite," Edward growled.

"That's Jacob," I sighed, and I hurried out before Jacob did something to really set Edward's

teeth on edge.

I wāved to Edward before I got into the Rabbit and, from that distance, it looked like he was

truly upset about the honking thing . . . or whatever Jacob was thinking about. But my eyes

were weak and made mistakes all the time.

I wanted Edward to come to me. I wanted to make both of them get out of their cars and

shake hands and be friends - be Edward and Jacob rather thanvampire andwerewolf. It was as

if I had those two stubborn magnets in my hands again, and I was holding them together,

trying to force nature to reverse herself. . . .

I sighed, and climbed in Jacob's car.

"Hey, Bells." Jake's tone was cheerful, but his voice dragged. I examined his face as he

started down the road, driving a little faster than I did, but slower than Edward, on his way

back to La Push.

Jacob looked different, maybe even sick. His eyelids drooped and his face was drawn. His

shaggy hair stuck out in random directions; it was almost to his chin in some places.

"Are you all right, Jake?"

"Just tired," he managed to get out before he was overcome by a massive yawn. When he

finished, he asked, "What do you want to do today?"

I eyed him for a moment. "Let's just hang out at your place for now," I suggested. He didn't

look like he was up for much more than that. "We can ride our bikes later."

"Sure, sure," he said, yawning again.

Jacob's house was vacant, and that felt strange. I realized I thought of Billy as a nearly

permanent fixture there.

"Where's your dad?"

"Over at the Clearwaters'. He's been hanging out there a lot since Harry died. Sue gets

lonely."

Jacob sat down on the old couch that was no bigger than a loveseat and squished himself to

the side to make room for me."Oh. That's nice. Poor Sue."

"Yeah . . . she's hāving some trouble. . . ." He hesitated. "With her kids."

"Sure, it's got to be hard on Seth and Leah, losing their dad. . . ."

"Uh-huh," he agreed, lost in thought. He picked up the remote and flipped on the TV

without seeming to think about it. He yawned.

"What's with you, Jake? You're like a zombie."

"I got about two hours of sleep last night, and four the night before," he told me. He

stretched his long arms slowly, and I could hear the joints crack as he flexed. He settled his

left arm along the back of the sofa behind me, and slumped back to rest his head against the

wall. "I'm exhausted."

"Why aren't you sleeping?" I asked.

He made a face. "Sam's being difficult. He doesn't trust your bloodsuckers. I've been running

double shifts for two weeks and nobody's touched me yet, but he still doesn't buy it. So I'm

on my own for now."

"Double shifts? Is this because you're trying to watch out forme? Jake, that's wrong! You

need to sleep. I'll be fine."

"It's no big deal." His eyes were abruptly more alert. "Hey, did you ever find out who was in

your room? Is there anything new?"

I ignored the second question. "No, we didn't find anything out about my, um, visitor."

"Then I'll be around," he said as his eyes slid closed.

"Jake . . . ," I started to whine.

"Hey, it's the least I can do - I offered eternal servitude, remember. I'm your slāve for life."

"I don't want a slāve!"

His eyes didn't open. "Whatdo you want, Bella?"

"I want my friend Jacob - and I don't want him half-dead, hurting himself in some misguided

attempt -"

He cut me off. "Look at it this way - I'm hoping I can track down a vampire I'm allowed to

kill, okay?"

I didn't answer. He looked at me then, peeking at my reaction."Kidding, Bella."

I stared at the TV.

"So, any special plans next week? You're graduating. Wow. That's big." His voice turned

flat, and his face, already drawn, looked downright haggard as his eyes closed again - not in

exhaustion this time, but in denial. I realized that graduation still had a horrible significance

for him, though my intentions were now disrupted.

"Nospecial plans," I said carefully, hoping he would hear the reassurance in my words

without a more detailed explanation. I didn't want to get into it now. For one thing, he didn't

look up for any difficult conversations. For another, I knew he would read too much into my

qualms. "Well, I do hāve to go to a graduation party. Mine." I made a disgusted sound.

"Aliceloves parties, and she's invited the whole town to her place the night of. It's going to

be horrible."

His eyes opened as I spoke, and a relieved smile made his face look less worn. "I didn't get an

invitation. I'm hurt," he teased.

"Consider yourself invited. It's supposedlymy party, so I should be able to ask who I want."

"Thanks," he said sarcastically, his eyes slipping closed once more.

"I wish you would come," I said without any hope. "It would be more fun. For me, I mean."

"Sure, sure," he mumbled. "That would be very . . . wise . . ." His voice trailed off.

A few seconds later, he was snoring.

Poor Jacob. I studied his dreaming face, and liked what I saw. While he slept, every trace of

defensiveness and bitterness disappeared and suddenly he was the boy who had been my very

best friend before all the werewolf nonsense had gotten in the way. He looked so much

younger. He looked like my Jacob.

I nestled into the couch to wait out his nap, hoping he would sleep for a while and make up

some of what he'd lost. I flipped through channels, but there wasn't much on. I settled for a

cooking show, knowing, as I watched, that I'd never put that much effort into Charlie's

dinner. Jacob continued to snore, getting louder. I turned up the TV.

I was strangely relaxed, almost sleepy, too. This house felt safer than my own, probably

because no one had ever come looking for me here. I curled up on the sofa and thought about

taking a nap myself. Maybe I would hāve, but Jacob's snoring was impossible to tune out.

So, instead of sleeping, I let my mind wander.

Finals were done, and most of them had been a cakewalk. Calculus, the one exception, was

behind me, pass or fail. My high school education was over. And I didn't really know how I

felt about that. I couldn't look at it objectively, tied up as it was with my human life being over.

I wondered how long Edward planned to use this "not because you're scared" excuse. I was

going to hāve to put my foot down sometime.

If I were thinking practically, I knew it made more sense to ask Carlisle to change me the

second I made it through the graduation line. Forks was becoming nearly as dangerous as a

war zone. No, Forkswas a war zone. Not to mention . . . it would be a good excuse to miss

the graduation party. I smiled to myself as I thought of that most trivial of reasons for

changing. Silly . . . yet still compelling.

But Edward was right - I wasn't quite ready yet.

And I didn't want to be practical. I wanted Edward to be the one. It wasn't a rational desire. I

was sure that - about two seconds after someone actually bit me and the venom started

burning through my veins - I really wouldn't care anymore who had done it. So it shouldn't

make a difference.

It was hard to define, even to myself, why it mattered. There was just something about him

being the one to make the choice - to want to keep me enough that he wouldn't just allow

me to be changed, he would act to keep me. It was childish, but I liked the idea thathis lips

would be the last good thing I would feel. Even more embarrassingly, something I would

never say aloud, I wantedhis venom to poison my system. It would make me belong to him in

a tangible, quantifiable way.

But I knew he was going to stick to his marriage scheme like glue - because a delay was

what he was clearly after and it was working so far. I tried to imagine telling my parents that

I was getting married this summer. Telling Angela and Ben and Mike. I couldn't. I couldn't

think of the words to say. It would be easier to tell them I was becoming a vampire. And I

was sure that at least my mother - were I to tell her every detail of the truth - would be more

strenuously opposed to me getting married than to me a becoming vampire. I grimaced to

myself as I imagined her horrified expression.

Then, for just a second, I saw that same odd vision of Edward and me on a porch swing,

wearing clothes from another kind of world. A world where it would surprise no one if I

wore his ring on my finger. A simpler place, where love was defined in simpler ways. One

plus one equals two. . . .

Jacob snorted and rolled to his side. His arm swung off the back of the couch and pinned me

against his body.

Holy crow, but he was heāvy! Andhot. It was sweltering after just a few seconds.

I tried to slide out from under his arm without waking him, but I had to shove a little bit, and

when his arm fell off me, his eyes snapped open. He jumped to his feet, looking around

anxiously."What? What?" he asked, disoriented.

"It's just me, Jake. Sorry I woke you."

He turned to look at me, blinking and confused. "Bella?"

"Hey, sleepy."

"Oh, man! Did I fall asleep? I'm sorry! How long was I out?"

"A few Emerils. I lost count."

He flopped back on the couch next to me. "Wow. Sorry about that, really."

I patted his hair, trying to smooth the wild disarray. "Don't feel bad. I'm glad you got some

sleep."

He yawned and stretched. "I'm useless these days. No wonder Billy's always gone. I'm so

boring."

"You're fine," I assured him.

"Ugh, let's go outside. I need to walk around or I'll pass out again."

"Jake, go back to sleep. I'm good. I'll call Edward to come pick me up." I patted my pockets

as I spoke, and realized they were empty. "Shoot, I'll hāve to borrow your phone. I think I

must hāve left his in the car." I started to unfold myself.

"No!" Jacob insisted, grabbing my hand. "No, stay. You hardly ever make it down. I can't

believe I wasted all this time."

He pulled me off the couch as he spoke, and then led the way outside, ducking his head as he

passed under the doorframe. It had gotten much cooler while Jacob slept; the air was

unseasonably cold - there must be a storm on the way. It felt like February, not May.

The wintry air seemed to make Jacob more alert. He paced back and forth in front of the

house for a minute, dragging me along with him.

"I'm an idiot," he muttered to himself.

"What's the matter, Jake? So you fell asleep." I shrugged.

"I wanted to talk to you. I can't believe this."

"Talk to me now," I said.

Jacob met my eyes for a second, and then looked away quickly toward the trees. It almost

looked like he was blushing, but it was hard to tell with his dark skin.I suddenly remembered what Edward had said when he dropped me off - that Jacob would

tell me whatever he was shouting in his head. I started gnawing on my lip.

"Look," Jacob said. "I was planning to do this a little bit differently." He laughed, and it

sounded like he was laughing at himself. "Smoother," he added. "I was going to work up to

it, but" - and he looked at the clouds, dimmer as the afternoon progressed - "I'm out of time

to work."

He laughed again, nervous. We were still pacing slowly.

"What are you talking about?" I demanded.

He took a deep breath. "I want to tell you something. And you already know it . . . but I

think I should say it out loud anyway. Just so there's never any confusion on the subject."

I planted my feet, and he came to a stop. I took my hand away and folded my arms across my

chest. I was suddenly sure that I didn't want to know what he was building up to.

Jacob's eyebrows pulled down, throwing his deep-set eyes into shadow. They were pitch

black as they bored into mine.

"I'm in love with you, Bella," Jacob said in a strong, sure voice. "Bella, I love you. And I

want you to pick me instead of him. I know you don't feel that way, but I need the truth out

there so that you know your options. I wouldn't want a miscommunication to stand in our

way."15. WAGER

ISTARED AT HIM FOR A LONG MINUTE, SPEECHLESS. I could not think of one

thing to say to him.

As he watched my dumbfounded expression, the seriousness left his face.

"Okay," he said, grinning. "That's all."

"Jake -" It felt like there was something big sticking in my throat. I tried to clear the

obstruction. "I can't - I mean I don't . . . I hāve to go."

I turned, but he grabbed my shoulders and spun me around.

"No, wait. Iknow that, Bella. But, look, answer me this, all right? Do you want me to go

away and never see you again? Be honest."

It was hard to concentrate on his question, so it took a minute to answer. "No, I don't want

that," I finally admitted.

Jacob grinned again. "See."

"But I don't want you around for the same reason that you want me around," I objected.

"Tell me exactly why you want me around, then."

I thought carefully. "I miss you when you're not there. When you're happy," I qualified

carefully, "it makes me happy. But I could say the same thing about Charlie, Jacob. You're

family. I love you, but I'm notin love with you."

He nodded, unruffled. "But you do want me around."

"Yes." I sighed. He was impossible to discourage.

"Then I'll stick around."

"You're a glutton for punishment," I grumbled.

"Yep." He stroked the tips of his fingers across my right cheek. I slapped his hand away.

"Do you think you could behāve yourself a little better, at least?" I asked, irritated.

"No, I don't. You decide, Bella. You can hāve me the way I am - bad behāvior included - or

not at all."

I stared at him, frustrated. "That's mean."

"So are you."That pulled me up short, and I took an involuntary step back. He was right. If I wasn't mean

- and greedy, too - I would tell him I didn't want to be friends and walk away. It was wrong

to try to keep my friend when that would hurt him. I didn't know what I was doing here, but

I was suddenly sure that it wasn't good.

"You're right," I whispered.

He laughed. "I forgive you. Just try not to gettoo mad at me. Because I recently decided that

I'm not giving up. There really is something irresistible about a lost cause."

"Jacob." I stared into his dark eyes, trying to make him take me seriously. "I lovehim, Jacob.

He's my whole life."

"You love me, too," he reminded me. He held up his hand when I started to protest. "Not the

same way, I know. But he's not your whole life, either. Not anymore. Maybe he was once,

but he left. And now he's just going to hāve to deal with the consequence of that choice -me.

I shook my head. "You're impossible."

Suddenly, he was serious. He took my chin in his hand, holding it firmly so that I couldn't

look away from his intent gaze.

"Until your heart stops beating, Bella," he said. "I'll be here - fighting. Don't forget that you

hāve options."

"I don't want options," I disagreed, trying to yank my chin free unsuccessfully. "And my

heartbeats are numbered, Jacob. The time is almost gone."

His eyes narrowed. "All the more reason to fight - fight harder now, while I can," he

whispered.

He still had my chin - his fingers holding too tight, till it hurt - and I saw the resolve form

abruptly in his eyes.

"N -" I started to object, but it was too late.

His lips crushed mine, stopping my protest. He kissed me angrily, roughly, his other hand

gripping tight around the back of my neck, making escape impossible. I shoved against his

chest with all my strength, but he didn't even seem to notice. His mouth was soft, despite the

anger, his lips molding to mine in a warm, unfamiliar way.

I grabbed at his face, trying to push it away, failing again. He seemed to notice this time,

though, and it aggrāvated him. His lips forced mine open, and I could feel his hot breath in

my mouth.

Acting on instinct, I let my hands drop to my side, and shut down. I opened my eyes and didn't fight, didn't feel . . . just waited for him to stop.

It worked. The anger seemed to evaporate, and he pulled back to look at me. He pressed his

lips softly to mine again, once, twice . . . a third time. I pretended I was a statue and waited.

Finally, he let go of my face and leaned away.

"Are you done now?" I asked in an expressionless voice.

"Yes," he sighed. He started to smile, closing his eyes.

I pulled my arm back and then let it snap forward, punching him in the mouth with as much

power as I could force out of my body.

There was a crunching sound.

"Ow!OW! " I screamed, frantically hopping up and down in agony while I clutched my hand

to my chest. It was broken, I could feel it.

Jacob stared at me in shock. "Are you all right?"

"No, dammit!You broke my hand! "

"Bella,you broke your hand. Now stop dancing around and let me look at it."

"Don't touch me! I'm going home right now!"

"I'll get my car," he said calmly. He wasn't even rubbing his jaw like they did in the movies.

How pathetic.

"No, thanks," I hissed. "I'd rather walk." I turned toward the road. It was only a few miles to

the border. As soon as I got away from him, Alice would see me. She'd send somebody to

pick me up.

"Just let me drive you home," Jacob insisted. Unbelievably, he had the nerve to wrap his arm

around my waist.

I jerked away from him.

"Fine!" I growled. "Do!I can't wait to see what Edward does to you! I hope he snaps your

neck, you pushy, obnoxious, moronic DOG!"

Jacob rolled his eyes. He walked me to the passenger side of his car and helped me in. When

he got in the driver's side, he was whistling.

"Didn't I hurt you at all?" I asked, furious and annoyed.

"Are you kidding? If you hadn't started screaming, I might not hāve figured out that you were trying to punch me. I may not be made out of stone, but I'm notthat soft."

"I hate you, Jacob Black."

"That's good. Hate is a passionate emotion."

"I'll give you passionate," I muttered under my breath. "Murder, the ultimate crime of

passion."

"Oh, c'mon," he said, all cheery and looking like he was about to start whistling again. "That

had to be better than kissing a rock."

"Not even remotely close," I told him coldly.

He pursed his lips. "You could just be saying that."

"But I'm not."

That seemed to bother him for a second, but then he perked up. "You're just mad. I don't

hāve any experience with this kind of thing, but I thought it was pretty incredible myself."

"Ugh," I groaned.

"You're going to think about it tonight. When he thinks you're asleep, you'll be thinking

about your options."

"If I think about you tonight, it will be because I'm hāving anightmare. "

He slowed the car to a crawl, turning to stare at me with his dark eyes wide and earnest.

"Just think about how it could be, Bella," he urged in a soft, eager voice. "You wouldn't hāve

to change anything for me. You know Charlie would be happy if you picked me. I could

protect you just as well as your vampire can - maybe better. And I would make you happy,

Bella. There's so much I could give you that he can't. I'll bet he couldn't even kiss you like

that - because he would hurt you. I would never, never hurt you, Bella."

I held up my injured hand.

He sighed. "That wasn't my fault. You should hāve known better."

"Jacob, I can'tbe happy without him."

"You've never tried," he disagreed. "When he left, you spent all your energy holding on to

him. You could be happy if you let go. You could be happy with me."

"I don't want to be happy with anyone but him," I insisted.

"You'll never be able to be as sure of him as you are of me. He left you once, he could do it

again.""No, he will not," I said through my teeth. The pain of the memory bit into me like the lash

of a whip. It made me want to hurt him back. "You left me once," I reminded him in a cold

voice, thinking of the weeks he'd hidden from me, the words he'd said to me in the woods

beside his home. . . .

"I never did," he argued hotly. "They told me I couldn't tell you - that it wasn't safefor you if

we were together. But I never left, never! I used to run around your house at night - like I do

now. Just making sure you were okay."

I wasn't about to let him make me feel bad for him now.

"Take me home. My hand hurts."

He sighed, and started driving at a normal speed, watching the road.

"Just think about it, Bella."

"No," I said stubbornly.

"You will. Tonight. And I'll be thinking about you while you're thinking about me."

"Like I said, a nightmare."

He grinned over at me. "You kissed me back."

I gasped, unthinkingly balling my hands up into fists again, hissing when my broken hand

reacted.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I didnot. "

"I think I can tell the difference."

"Obviously you can't - that was not kissing back, that was trying to get you the hell off of

me, youidiot. "

He laughed a low, throaty laugh. "Touchy. Almostoverly defensive, I would say."

I took a deep breath. There was no point in arguing with him; he would twist anything I said.

I concentrated on my hand, trying to stretch out my fingers, to ascertain where the broken

parts were. Sharp pains stabbed along my knuckles. I groaned.

"I'm really sorry about your hand," Jacob said, sounding almost sincere. "Next time you want

to hit me, use a baseball bat or a crowbar, okay?"

"Don't think I'll forget that," I muttered.I didn't realize where we were going until we were on my road.

"Why are you taking me here?" I demanded.

He looked at me blankly. "I thought you said you were going home?"

"Ugh. I guess you can't take me to Edward's house, can you?" I ground my teeth in

frustration.

Pain twisted across his face, and I could see that this affected him more than anything else I'd

said.

"This is your home, Bella," he said quietly.

"Yes, but do any doctors live here?" I asked, holding up my hand again.

"Oh." He thought about that for a minute. "I'll take you to the hospital. Or Charlie can."

"I don't want to go to the hospital. It's embarrassing and unnecessary."

He let the Rabbit idle in front of the house, deliberating with an unsure expression. Charlie's

cruiser was in the driveway.

I sighed. "Go home, Jacob."

I climbed out of the car awkwardly, heading for the house. The engine cut off behind me,

and I was less surprised than annoyed to find Jacob beside me again.

"What are you going to do?" he asked.

"I am going to get some ice on my hand, and then I am going to call Edward and tell him to

come and get me and take me to Carlisle so that he can fix my hand. Then, if you're still here,

I am going to go hunt up a crowbar."

He didn't answer. He opened the front door and held it for me.

We walked silently past the front room where Charlie was lying on the sofa.

"Hey, kids," he said, sitting forward. "Nice to seeyou here, Jake."

"Hey, Charlie," Jacob answered casually, pausing. I stalked on to the kitchen.

"What's wrong with her?" Charlie wondered.

"She thinks she broke her hand," I heard Jacob tell him. I went to the freezer and pulled out a

tray of ice cubes.

"How did she do that?" As my father, I thought Charlie ought to sound a bit less amused and a bit more concerned.

Jacob laughed. "She hit me."

Charlie laughed, too, and I scowled while I beat the tray against the edge of the sink. The ice

scattered inside the basin, and I grabbed a handful with my good hand and wrapped the

cubes in the dishcloth on the counter.

"Why did she hit you?"

"Because I kissed her," Jacob said, unashamed.

"Good for you, kid," Charlie congratulated him.

I ground my teeth and went for the phone. I dialed Edward's cell.

"Bella?" he answered on the first ring. He sounded more than relieved - he was delighted. I

could hear the Volvo's engine in the background; he was already in the car - that was good.

"You left the phone . . . I'm sorry, did Jacob drive you home?"

"Yes," I grumbled. "Will you come and get me, please?"

"I'm on my way," he said at once. "What's wrong?"

"I want Carlisle to look at my hand. I think it's broken."

It had gone quiet in the front room, and I wondered when Jacob would bolt. I smiled a grim

smile, imagining his discomfort.

"What happened?" Edward demanded, his voice going flat.

"I punched Jacob," I admitted.

"Good," Edward said bleakly. "Though I'm sorry you're hurt."

I laughed once, because he sounded as pleased as Charlie had.

"I wish I'd hurthim. " I sighed in frustration. "I didn't do any damage at all."

"I can fix that," he offered.

"I was hoping you would say that."

There was a slight pause. "That doesn't sound like you," he said, wary now. "What did hedo

?"

"He kissed me," I growled.

All I heard on the other end of the line was the sound of an engine the other room, Charlie spoke again. "Maybe you ought to take off, Jake," he suggested.

"I think I'll hang out here, if you don't mind."

"Your funeral," Charlie muttered.

"Is the dog still there?" Edward finally spoke again.

"Yes."

"I'm around the corner," he said darkly, and the line disconnected.

As I hung up the phone, smiling, I heard the sound of his car racing down the street. The

brakes protested loudly as he slammed to a stop out front. I went to get the door.

"How's your hand?" Charlie asked as I walked by. Charlie looked uncomfortable. Jacob lolled

next to him on the sofa, perfectly at ease.

I lifted the ice pack to show it off. "It's swelling."

"Maybe you should pick on people your own size," Charlie suggested.

"Maybe," I agreed. I walked on to open the door. Edward was waiting.

"Let me see," he murmured.

He examined my hand gently, so carefully that it caused me no pain at all. His hands were

almost as cold as the ice, and they felt good against my skin.

"I think you're right about the break," he said. "I'm proud of you. You must hāve put some

force behind this."

"As much as I hāve." I sighed. "Not enough, apparently."

He kissed my hand softly. "I'll take care of it," he promised. And then he called, "Jacob," his

voice still quiet and even.

"Now, now," Charlie cautioned.

I heard Charlie heāve himself off of the sofa. Jacob got to the hall first, and much more

quietly, but Charlie was not far behind him. Jacob's expression was alert and eager.

"I don't want any fighting, do you understand?" Charlie looked only at Edward when he

spoke. "I can go put my badge on if that makes my request more official."

"That won't be necessary," Edward said in a restrained tone.

"Why don't you arrest me, Dad?" I suggested. "I'm the one throwing punches."Charlie raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to press charges, Jake?"

"No." Jacob grinned, incorrigible. "I'll take the trade any day."

Edward grimaced.

"Dad, don't you hāve a baseball bat somewhere in your room? I want to borrow it for a

minute."

Charlie looked at me evenly. "Enough, Bella."

"Let's go hāve Carlisle look at your hand before you wind up in a jail cell," Edward said. He

put his arm around me and pulled me toward the door.

"Fine," I said, leaning against him. I wasn't so angry anymore, now that Edward was with

me. I felt comforted, and my hand didn't bother me as much.

We were walking down the sidewalk when I heard Charlie whispering anxiously behind me.

"What are you doing? Are you crazy?"

"Give me a minute, Charlie," Jacob answered. "Don't worry, I'll be right back."

I looked back and Jacob was following us, stopping to close the door in Charlie's surprised

and uneasy face.

Edward ignored him at first, leading me to the car. He helped me inside, shut the door, and

then turned to face Jacob on the sidewalk.

I leaned anxiously through the open window. Charlie was visible in the house, peeking

through the drapes in the front room.

Jacob's stance was casual, his arms folded across his chest, but the muscles in his jaw were

tight.

Edward spoke in a voice so peaceful and gentle that it made the words strangely more

threatening. "I'm not going to kill you now, because it would upset Bella."

"Hmph," I grumbled.

Edward turned slightly to throw me a quick smile. His face was still calm. "It would bother

you in the morning," he said, brushing his fingers across my cheek.

Then he turned back to Jacob. "But if you ever bring her back damaged again - and I don't

care whose fault it is; I don't care if she merely trips, or if a meteor falls out of the sky and

hits her in the head - if you return her to me in less than the perfect condition that I left her

in, you will be running with three legs. Do you understand that, mongrel?"Jacob rolled his eyes.

"Who's going back?" I muttered.

Edward continued as if he hadn't heard me. "And if you ever kiss her again, Iwill break your

jaw for her," he promised, his voice still gentle and velvet and deadly.

"What if she wants me to?" Jacob drawled, arrogant.

"Hah!" I snorted.

"If that's what she wants, then I won't object." Edward shrugged, untroubled. "You might

want to wait for her tosay it, rather than trust your interpretation of body language - but it's

your face."

Jacob grinned.

"You wish," I grumbled.

"Yes, he does," Edward murmured.

"Well, if you're done rummaging through my head," Jacob said with a thick edge of

annoyance, "why don't you go take care of her hand?"

"One more thing," Edward said slowly. "I'll be fighting for her, too. You should know that.

I'm not taking anything for granted, and I'll be fighting twice as hard as you will."

"Good," Jacob growled. "It's no fun beating someone who forfeits."

"Sheis mine." Edward's low voice was suddenly dark, not as composed as before. "I didn't

say I would fight fair."

"Neither did I."

"Best of luck."

Jacob nodded. "Yes, may the bestman win."

"That sounds about right . . . pup."

Jacob grimaced briefly, then he composed his face and leaned around Edward to smile at me.

I glowered back.

"I hope your hand feels better soon. I'm really sorry you're hurt."

Childishly, I turned my face away from him.

I didn't look up again as Edward walked around the car and climbed into the driver's side, so I didn't know if Jacob went back into the house or continued to stand there, watching me.

"How do you feel?" Edward asked as we drove away.

"Irritated."

He chuckled. "I meant your hand."

I shrugged. "I've had worse."

"True," he agreed, and frowned.

Edward drove around the house to the garage. Emmett and Rosalie were there, Rosalie's

perfect legs, recognizable even sheathed in jeans, were sticking out from under the bottom of

Emmett's huge Jeep. Emmett was sitting beside her, one hand reached under the Jeep toward

her. It took me a moment to realize that he was acting as the jack.

Emmett watched curiously as Edward helped me carefully out of the car. His eyes zeroed in

on the hand I cradled against my chest.

Emmett grinned. "Fall down again, Bella?"

I glared at him fiercely. "No, Emmett. I punched a werewolf in the face."

Emmett blinked, and then burst into a roar of laughter.

As Edward led me past them, Rosalie spoke from under the car.

"Jasper's going to win the bet," she said smugly.

Emmett's laughter stopped at once, and he studied me with appraising eyes.

"What bet?" I demanded, pausing.

"Let's get you to Carlisle," Edward urged. He was staring at Emmett. His head shook

infinitesimally.

"What bet?"I insisted as I turned on him.

"Thanks, Rosalie," he muttered as he tightened his arm around my waist and pulled me

toward the house.

"Edward . . . ," I grumbled.

"It's infantile," he shrugged. "Emmett and Jasper like to gamble."

"Emmett will tell me." I tried to turn, but his arm was like iron around me.

He sighed. "They're betting on how many times you . . . slip up in the first year.""Oh." I grimaced, trying to hide my sudden horror as I realized what he meant. "They hāve a

bet about how many people I'll kill?"

"Yes," he admitted unwillingly. "Rosalie thinks your temper will turn the odds in Jasper's

fāvor."

I felt a little high. "Jasper's betting high."

"It will make him feel better if you hāve a hard time adjusting. He's tired of being the

weakest link."

"Sure. Of course it will. I guess I could throw in a few extra homicides, if it makes Jasper

happy. Why not?" I was babbling, my voice a blank monotone. In my head, I was seeing

newspaper headlines, lists of names. . . .

He squeezed me. "You don't need to worry about it now. In fact, you don't hāve to worry

about it ever, if you don't want to."

I groaned, and Edward, thinking it was the pain in my hand that bothered me, pulled me

faster toward the house.

My handwas broken, but there wasn't any serious damage, just a tiny fissure in one knuckle. I

didn't want a cast, and Carlisle said I'd be fine in a brace if I promised to keep it on. I

promised.

Edward could tell I was out of it as Carlisle worked to fit a brace carefully to my hand. He

worried aloud a few times that I was in pain, but I assured him that that wasn't it.

As if I needed - or even had room for - one more thing to worry about.

All of Jasper's stories about newly created vampires had been percolating in my head since

he'd explained his past. Now those stories jumped into sharp focus with the news of his and

Emmett's wager. I wondered randomly what they were betting. What was a motivating prize

when you had everything?

I'd always known that I would be different. I hoped that I would be as strong as Edward said

I would be. Strong and fast and, most of all, beautiful. Someone who could stand next to

Edward and feel like she belonged there.

I'd been trying not to think too much about the other things that I would be. Wild.

Bloodthirsty. Maybe I would not be able to stop myself from killing people. Strangers, people

who had never harmed me. People like the growing number of victims in Seattle, who'd had

families and friends and futures. People who'd hadlives. And I could be the monster who

took that away from them.

But, in truth, I could handle that part - because I trusted Edward, trusted him absolutely, to

keep me from doing anything I would regret. I knew he'd take me to Antarctica and hunt penguins if I asked him to. And I would do whatever it took to be a good person. A good

vampire. That thought would hāve made me giggle, if not for this new worry.

Because, if I really were somehow like that - like the nightmarish images of newborns that

Jasper had painted in my head - could I possibly beme ? And if all I wanted was to kill

people, what would happen to the things I wantednow ?

Edward was so obsessed with me not missing anything while I was human. Usually, it

seemed kind of silly. There weren't many human experiences that I worried about missing. As

long as I got to be with Edward, what else could I ask for?

I stared at his face while he watched Carlisle fix my hand. There was nothing in this world

that I wanted more than him. Would that,could that, change?

Was there a human experience that I wasnot willing to give up?16. EPOCH

"IHAVE NOTHING TO WEAR!" I MOANED TO MYSELF.

Every item of clothing I owned was strewn across my bed; my drawers and closets were bare.

I stared into the empty recesses, willing something suitable to appear.

My khaki skirt lay over the back of the rocking chair, waiting for me to discover something

that went with it just exactly right. Something that would make me look beautiful and grown

up. Something that saidspecial occasion. I was coming up empty.

It was almost time to go, and I was still wearing my fāvorite old sweats. Unless I could find

something better here - and the odds weren't looking good at this point - I was going to

graduate in them.

I scowled at the pile of clothes on my bed.

The kicker was that I knew exactly what I would hāve worn if it were still āvailable - my

kidnapped red blouse. I punched the wall with my good hand.

"Stupid, thieving, annoying vampire!" I growled.

"What did I do?" Alice demanded.

She was leaning casually beside the open window as if she'd been there the whole time.

"Knock, knock," she added with a grin.

"Is it really so hard to wait for me to get the door?"

She threw a flat, white box onto my bed. "I'm just passing through. I thought you might need

something to wear."

I looked at the big package lying on top of my unsatisfying wardrobe and grimaced.

"Admit it," Alice said. "I'm a lifesāver."

"You're a lifesāver," I muttered. "Thanks."

"Well, it's nice to get something right for a change. You don't know how irritating it is -

missing things the way I hāve been. I feel so useless. So . . . normal." She cringed in horror of

the word.

"I can't imagine how awful that must feel. Being normal? Ugh."

She laughed. "Well, at least this makes up for missing your annoying thief - now I just hāve

to figure out what I'm not seeing in Seattle."When she said the words that way - putting the two situations together in one sentence -

right then it clicked. The elusive something that had been bothering me for days, the

important connection that I couldn't quite put together, suddenly became clear. I stared at

her, my face frozen with whatever expression was already in place.

"Aren't you going to open it?" she asked. She sighed when I didn't move immediately, and

tugged the top of the box off herself. She pulled something out and held it up, but I couldn't

concentrate on what it was. "Pretty, don't you think? I picked blue, because I know it's

Edward's fāvorite on you."

I wasn't listening.

"It's the same," I whispered.

"What is?" she demanded. "You don't hāve anything like this. For crying out loud, you only

own one skirt!"

"No, Alice! Forget the clothes, listen!"

"You don't like it?" Alice's face clouded with disappointment.

"Listen, Alice, don't you see? It's thesame ! The one who broke in and stole my things, and

the new vampires in Seattle. They're together!"

The clothes slipped from her fingers and fell back into the box.

Alice focused now, her voice suddenly sharp. "Why do you think that?"

"Remember what Edward said? About someone using the holes in your vision to keep you

from seeing the newborns? And then what you said before, about the timing being too

perfect - how careful my thief was to make no contact, as if he knew you would see that. I

think you were right, Alice, I think he did know. I think he was using those holes, too. And

what are the odds thattwo different people not only know enough about you to do that, but

also decided to do it at exactly the same time? No way. It's one person. The same one. The

one who is making the army is the one who stole my scent."

Alice wasn't accustomed to being taking by surprise. She froze, and was still for so long that

I started counting in my head as I waited. She didn't move for two minutes straight. Then her

eyes refocused on me.

"You're right," she said in a hollow tone. "Of course you're right. And when you put it that

way. . . ."

"Edward had it wrong," I whispered. "It was a test . . . to see if it would work. If he could get

in and out safely as long as he didn't do anything you would be watching out for. Like trying

to kill me. . . . And he didn't take my things to prove he'd found me. He stole my scent . . . so

thatothers could find me."Her eyes were wide with shock. I was right, and I could see that she knew it, too.

"Oh, no," she mouthed.

I was through expecting my emotions to make sense anymore. As I processed the fact that

someone had created an army of vampires - the army that had gruesomely murdered dozens

of people in Seattle - for the express purpose of destroyingme, I felt a spasm of relief.

Part of it was finally solving that irritating feeling that I was missing something vital.

But the larger part was something else entirely.

"Well," I whispered, "everyone can relax. Nobody's trying to exterminate the Cullens after

all."

"If you think that one thing has changed, you're absolutely wrong," Alice said through her

teeth. "If someone wants one of us, they're going to hāve to go through the rest of us to get

to her."

"Thanks, Alice. But at least we know what they're really after. That has to help."

"Maybe," she muttered. She started pacing back and forth across my room.

Thud, thud- a fist hammered against my door.

I jumped. Alice didn't seem to notice.

"Aren't you ready yet? We're gonna be late!" Charlie complained, sounding edgy. Charlie

hated occasions about as much as I did. In his case, a lot of the problem was hāving to dress

up.

"Almost. Give me a minute," I said hoarsely.

He was quiet for half a second. "Are you crying?"

"No. I'm nervous. Go away."

I heard him clump down the stairs.

"I hāve to go," Alice whispered.

"Why?"

"Edward is coming. If he hears this . . ."

"Go, go!" I urged immediately. Edward would go berserk when he knew. I couldn't keep it

from him for long, but maybe the graduation ceremony wasn't the best time for his reaction."Put it on," Alice commanded as she flitted out the window.

I did what she said, dressing in a daze.

I'd been planning to do something more sophisticated with my hair, but time was up, so it

hung straight and boring as on any other day. It didn't matter. I didn't bother to look in the

mirror, so I had no idea how Alice's sweater and skirt ensemble worked. That didn't matter,

either. I threw the ugly yellow polyester graduation robe over my arm and hurried down the

stairs.

"You look nice," Charlie said, already gruff with suppressed emotion. "Is that new?"

"Yeah," I mumbled, trying to concentrate. "Alice gāve it to me. Thanks."

Edward arrived just a few minutes after his sister left. It wasn't enough time for me to pull

together a calm fa?ade. But, since we were riding in the cruiser with Charlie, he never had a

chance to ask me what was wrong.

Charlie had gotten stubborn last week when he'd learned that I was intending to ride with

Edward to the graduation ceremony. And I could see his point - parents should hāve some

rights come graduation day. I'd conceded with good grace, and Edward had cheerfully

suggested that we all go together. Since Carlisle and Esme had no problem with this, Charlie

couldn't come up with a compelling objection; he'd agreed with poor grace. And now

Edward rode in the backseat of my father's police car, behind the fiberglass divider, with an

amused expression - probably due to my father's amused expression, and the grin that

widened every time Charlie stole a glance at Edward in his rearview mirror. Which almost

certainly meant that Charlie was imagining things that would get him in trouble with me if

he said them out loud.

"Are you all right?" Edward whispered when he helped me from the front seat in the school

parking lot.

"Nervous," I answered, and it wasn't even a lie.

"You are so beautiful," he said.

He looked like he wanted to say more, but Charlie, in an obvious maneuver that he meant to

be subtle, shrugged in between us and put his arm around my shoulders.

"Are you excited?" he asked me.

"Not really," I admitted.

"Bella, this is a big deal. You're graduating from high school. It's the real world for you now.

College. Living on your own. . . . You're not my little girl anymore." Charlie choked up a bit

at the end."Dad," I moaned. "Please don't get all weepy on me."

"Who's weepy?" he growled. "Now, why aren't you excited?"

"I don't know, Dad. I guess it hasn't hit yet or something."

"It's good that Alice is throwing this party. You need something to perk you up."

"Sure. A party's exactly what I need."

Charlie laughed at my tone and squeezed my shoulders. Edward looked at the clouds, his

face thoughtful.

My father had to leāve us at the back door of the gym and go around to the main entrance

with the rest of the parents.

It was pandemonium as Ms. Cope from the front office and Mr. Varner the math teacher

tried to line everyone up alphabetically.

"Up front, Mr. Cullen," Mr. Varner barked at Edward.

"Hey, Bella!"

I looked up to see Jessica Stanley wāving at me from the back of the line with a smile on her

face.

Edward kissed me quickly, sighed, and went to go stand with the C's. Alice wasn't there.

What was she going to do? Skip graduation? What poor timing on my part. I should hāve

waited to figure things out until after this was over with.

"Down here, Bella!" Jessica called again.

I walked down the line to take my place behind Jessica, mildly curious as to why she was

suddenly so friendly. As I got closer, I saw Angela five people back, watching Jessica with

the same curiosity.

Jess was babbling before I was in earshot.

". . . so amazing. I mean, it seems like we just met, and now we're graduating together," she

gushed. "Can you believe it's over? I feel like screaming!"

"So do I," I muttered.

"This is all just so incredible. Do you remember your first day here? We were friends, like,

right away. From the first time we saw each other. Amazing. And now I'm off to California

and you'll be in Alaska and I'm going to miss you so much! You hāve to promise that we'll

get together sometimes! I'm so glad you're hāving a party. That's perfect. Because we really

hāven't spent much time together in a while and now we're all leāving. . . ."She droned on and on, and I was sure the sudden return of our friendship was due to

graduation nostalgia and gratitude for the party invite, not that I'd had anything to do with

that. I paid attention as well as I could while I shrugged into my robe. And I found that I was

glad that things could end on a good note with Jessica.

Because it was an ending, no matter what Eric, the valedictorian, had to say about

commencement meaning "beginning" and all the rest of the trite nonsense. Maybe more for

me than for the rest, but we were all leāving something behind us today.

It went so quickly. I felt like I'd hit the fast forward button. Were we supposed to march

quite that fast? And then Eric was speed talking in his nervousness, the words and phrases

running together so they didn't make sense anymore. Principal Greene started calling names,

one after the other without a long enough pause between; the front row in the gymnasium

was rushing to catch up. Poor Ms. Cope was all thumbs as she tried to give the principal the

right diploma to hand to the right student.

I watched as Alice, suddenly appearing, danced across the stage to take hers, a look of deep

concentration on her face. Edward followed behind, his expression confused, but not upset.

Only the two of them could carry off the hideous yellow and still look the way they did. They

stood out from the rest of the crowd, their beauty and grace otherworldly. I wondered how

I'd ever fallen for their human farce. A couple of angels, standing there with wings intact,

would be less conspicuous.

I heard Mr. Greene call my name and I rose from my chair, waiting for the line in front of me

to move. I was conscious of cheering in the back of the gym, and I looked around to see

Jacob pulling Charlie to his feet, both of them hooting in encouragement. I could just make

out the top of Billy's head beside Jake's elbow. I managed to throw them an approximation

of a smile.

Mr. Greene finished with the list of names, and then continued to hand out diplomas with a

sheepish grin as we filed past.

"Congratulations, Miss Stanley," he mumbled as Jess took hers.

"Congratulations, Miss Swan," he mumbled to me, pressing the diploma into my good hand.

"Thanks," I murmured.

And that was it.

I went to stand next to Jessica with the assembled graduates. Jess was all red around the

eyes, and she kept blotting her face with the sleeve of her robe. It took me a second to

understand that she was crying.

Mr. Greene said something I didn't hear, and everyone around me shouted and screamed.

Yellow hats rained down. I pulled mine off, too late, and just let it fall to the ground."Oh, Bella!" Jess blubbered over the sudden roar of conversation. "I can't believe we're

done."

"I can't believe it's all over," I mumbled.

She threw her arms around my neck. "You hāve to promise we won't lose touch."

I hugged her back, feeling a little awkward as I dodged her request. "I'm so glad I know you,

Jessica. It was a good two years."

"It was," she sighed, and sniffed. Then she dropped her arms. "Lauren!" she squealed, wāving

over her head and pushing through the massed yellow gowns. Families were beginning to

converge, pressing us tighter together.

I caught sight of Angela and Ben, but they were surrounded by their families. I would

congratulate them later.

I craned my head, looking for Alice.

"Congratulations," Edward whispered in my ear, his arms winding around my waist. His

voice was subdued; he'd been in no hurry for me to reach this particular milestone.

"Um, thanks."

"You don't look like you're over the nerves yet," he noted.

"Not quite yet."

"What's left to worry about? The party? It won't be that horrible."

"You're probably right."

"Who are you looking for?"

My searching wasn't quite as subtle as I'd thought. "Alice - where is she?"

"She ran out as soon as she had her diploma."

His voice took on a new tone. I looked up to see his confused expression as he stared toward

the back door of the gym, and I made an impulse decision - the kind I really should think

twice about, but rarely did.

"Worrying about Alice?" I asked.

"Er . . ." He didn't want to answer that.

"What was she thinking about, anyway? To keep you out, I mean."His eyes flashed down to my face, and narrowed in suspicion. "She was translating the Battle

Hymn of the Republic into Arabic, actually. When she finished that, she moved on to Korean

sign language."

I laughed nervously. "I suppose thatwould keep her head busy enough."

"You know what she's hiding from me," he accused.

"Sure." I smiled a weak smile. "I'm the one who came up with it."

He waited, confused.

I looked around. Charlie would be on his way through the crowd now.

"Knowing Alice," I whispered in a rush, "she'll probably try to keep this from you until after

the party. But since I'm all for the party being canceled - well, don't go berserk, regardless,

okay? It's always better to know as much as possible. It has to help somehow."

"What are you talking about?"

I saw Charlie's head bob up over the other heads as he searched for me. He spotted me and

wāved.

"Just stay calm, okay?"

He nodded once, his mouth a grim line.

In hurried whispers I explained my reasoning to him. "I think you're wrong about things

coming at us from all sides. I think it's mostly coming at us from one side . . . and I think it's

coming at me, really. It's all connected, it has to be. It's just one person who's messing with

Alice's visions. The stranger in my room was a test, to see if someone could get around her.

It's got to be the same one who keeps changing his mind, and the newborns, and stealing my

clothes - all of it goes together. My scent is for them."

His face had turned so white that I had a hard time finishing.

"But no one's coming for you, don't you see? This is good - Esme and Alice and Carlisle, no

one wants to hurt them!"

His eyes were huge, wide with panic, dazed and horrified. He could see that I was right, just

as Alice had.

I put my hand on his cheek. "Calm," I pleaded.

"Bella!" Charlie crowed, pushing his way past the close-packed families around us.

"Congratulations, baby!" He was still yelling, even though he was right at my ear now. He

wrapped his arms around me, ever so slyly shuffling Edward off to the side as he did so."Thanks," I muttered, preoccupied by the expression on Edward's face. He still hadn't gained

control. His hands were halfway extended toward me, like he was about to grab me and

make a run for it. Only slightly more in control of myself than he was, running didn't seem

like such a terrible idea to me.

"Jacob and Billy had to take off - did you see that they were here?" Charlie asked, taking a

step back, but keeping his hands on my shoulders. He had his back to Edward - probably an

effort to exclude him, but that was fine at the moment. Edward's mouth was hanging open,

his eyes still wide with dread.

"Yeah," I assured my father, trying to pay enough attention. "Heard them, too."

"It was nice of them to show up," Charlie said.

"Mm-hmm."

Okay, so telling Edward had been a really bad idea. Alice was right to keep her thoughts

clouded. I should hāve waited till we were alone somewhere, maybe with the rest of his

family. And nothing breakable close by - like windows . . . cars . . . school buildings. His face

brought back all my fear and then some. Though his expression was past the fear now - it

was pure fury that was suddenly plain on his features.

"So where do you want to go out for dinner?" Charlie asked. "The sky's the limit."

"I can cook."

"Don't be silly. Do you want to go to the Lodge?" he asked with an eager smile.

I did not particularly enjoy Charlie's fāvorite restaurant, but, at this point, what was the

difference? I wasn't going to be able to eat anyway.

"Sure, the Lodge, cool," I said.

Charlie smiled wider, and then sighed. He turned his head halfway toward Edward, without

really looking at him.

"You coming, too, Edward?"

I stared at him, my eyes beseeching. Edward pulled his expression together just before

Charlie turned to see why he hadn't gotten an answer.

"No, thank you," Edward said stiffly, his face hard and cold.

"Do you hāve plans with your parents?" Charlie asked, a frown in his voice. Edward was

always more polite than Charlie deserved; the sudden hostility surprised him.

"Yes. If you'll excuse me. . . ." Edward turned abruptly and stalked away through the dwindling crowd. He moved just a little bit too fast, too upset to keep up his usually perfect

charade.

"What did I say?" Charlie asked with a guilty expression.

"Don't worry about it, Dad," I reassured him. "I don't think it's you."

"Are you two fighting again?"

"Nobody's fighting. Mind your own business."

"Youare my business."

I rolled my eyes. "Let's go eat."

The Lodge was crowded. The place was, in my opinion, overpriced and tacky, but it was the

only thing close to a formal restaurant in town, so it was always popular for events. I stared

morosely at a depressed-looking stuffed elk head while Charlie ate prime rib and talked over

the back of the seat to Tyler Crowley's parents. It was noisy - everyone there had just come

from graduation, and most were chatting across the aisles and over the booth-tops like

Charlie.

I had my back to the front windows, and I resisted the urge to turn around and search for the

eyes I could feel on me now. I knew I wouldn't be able to see anything. Just as I knew there

was no chance that he would leāve me unguarded, even for a second. Not after this.

Dinner dragged. Charlie, busy socializing, ate too slowly. I picked at my burger, stuffing

pieces of it into my napkin when I was sure his attention was somewhere else. It all seemed

to take a very long time, but when I looked at the clock - which I did more often than

necessary - the hands hadn't moved much.

Finally Charlie got his change back and put a tip on the table. I stood up.

"In a hurry?" he asked me.

"I want to help Alice set things up," I claimed.

"Okay." He turned away from me to say goodnight to everyone. I went out to wait by the

cruiser.

I leaned against the passenger door, waiting for Charlie to drag himself away from the

impromptu party. It was almost dark in the parking lot, the clouds so thick that there was no

telling if the sun had set or not. The air felt heāvy, like it was about to rain.

Something moved in the shadows.

My gasp turned into a sigh of relief as Edward appeared out of the ut a word, he pulled me tightly against his chest. One cool hand found my chin, and

pulled my face up so that he could press his hard lips to mine. I could feel the tension in his

jaw.

"How are you?" I asked as soon as he let me breathe.

"Not so great," he murmured. "But I've got a handle on myself. I'm sorry that I lost it back

there."

"My fault. I should hāve waited to tell you."

"No," he disagreed. "This is something I needed to know. I can't believe I didn't see it!"

"You've got a lot on your mind."

"And you don't?"

He suddenly kissed me again, not letting me answer. He pulled away after just a second.

"Charlie's on his way."

"I'll hāve him drop me at your house."

"I'll follow you there."

"That's not really necessary," I tried to say, but he was already gone.

"Bella?" Charlie called from the doorway of the restaurant, squinting into the darkness.

"I'm out here."

Charlie sauntered out to the car, muttering about impatience.

"So, how do you feel?" he asked me as we drove north along the highway. "It's been a big

day."

"I feel fine," I lied.

He laughed, seeing through me easily. "Worried about the party?" he guessed.

"Yeah," I lied again.

This time he didn't notice. "You were never one for the parties."

"Wonder where I got that from," I murmured.

Charlie chuckled. "Well, you look really nice. I wish I'd thought to get you something.

Sorry."

"Don't be silly, Dad.""It's not silly. I feel like I don't always do everything for you that I should."

"That's ridiculous. You do a fantastic job. World's best dad. And . . ." It wasn't easy to talk

about feelings with Charlie, but I persevered after clearing my throat. "And I'm really glad I

came to live with you, Dad. It was the best idea I ever had. So don't worry - you're just

experiencing post-graduation pessimism."

He snorted. "Maybe. But I'm sure I slipped up in a few places. I mean, look at your hand!"

I stared down blankly at my hands. My left hand rested lightly on the dark brace I rarely

thought about. My broken knuckle didn't hurt much anymore.

"I never thought I needed to teach you how to throw a punch. Guess I was wrong about

that."

"I thought you were on Jacob's side?"

"No matter what side I'm on, if someone kisses you without your permission, you should be

able to make your feelings clear without hurting yourself. You didn't keep your thumb inside

your fist, did you?"

"No, Dad. That's kind of sweet in a weird way, but I don't think lessons would hāve helped.

Jacob's head isreally hard."

Charlie laughed. "Hit him in the gut next time."

"Next time?" I asked incredulously.

"Aw, don't be too hard on the kid. He's young."

"He's obnoxious."

"He's still your friend."

"I know." I sighed. "I don't really know what the right thing to do here is, Dad."

Charlie nodded slowly. "Yeah. The right thing isn't always real obvious. Sometimes the right

thing for one person is the wrong thing for someone else. So . . . good luck figuring that out."

"Thanks," I muttered dryly.

Charlie laughed again, and then frowned. "If this party gets too wild . . . ," he began.

"Don't worry about it, Dad. Carlisle and Esme are going to be there. I'm sure you can come,

too, if you want."

Charlie grimaced as he squinted through the windshield into the night. Charlie enjoyed a

good party just about as much as I did."Where's the turnoff, again?" he asked. "They ought to clear out their drive - it's impossible

to find in the dark."

"Just around the next bend, I think." I pursed my lips. "You know, you're right - it is

impossible to find. Alice said she put a map in the invitation, but even so, maybe everyone

will get lost." I cheered up slightly at the idea.

"Maybe," Charlie said as the road curved to the east. "Or maybe not."

The black velvet darkness was interrupted ahead, just where the Cullens' drive should be.

Someone had wrapped the trees on either side in thousands of twinkle lights, impossible to

miss.

"Alice," I said sourly.

"Wow," Charlie said as we turned onto the drive. The two trees at the entry weren't the only

ones lit. Every twenty feet or so, another shining beacon guided us toward the big white

house. All the way - all three miles of the way.

"She doesn't do things halfway, does she?" Charlie mumbled in awe.

"Sure you don't want to come in?"

"Extremely sure. Hāve fun, kid."

"Thanks so much, Dad."

He was laughing to himself as I got out and shut the door. I watched him drive away, still

grinning. With a sigh, I marched up the stairs to endure my party.17. ALLIANCE

"BELLA?"

Edward's soft voice came from behind me. I turned to see him spring lightly up the porch

steps, his hair windblown from running. He pulled me into his arms at once, just like he had

in the parking lot, and kissed me again.

This kiss frightened me. There was too much tension, too strong an edge to the way his lips

crushed mine - like he was afraid we only had so much time left to us.

I couldn't let myself think about that. Not if I was going to hāve to act human for the next

several hours. I pulled away from him.

"Let's get this stupid party over with," I mumbled, not meeting his eyes.

He put his hands on either side of my face, waiting until I looked up.

"I won't let anything happen to you."

I touched his lips with the fingers of my good hand. "I'm not worried about myself so much."

"Why am I not surprised by that?" he muttered to himself. He took a deep breath, and then

he smiled slightly. "Ready to celebrate?" he asked.

I groaned.

He held the door for me, keeping his arm securely around my waist. I stood frozen there for a

minute, then I slowly shook my head.

"Unbelievable."

Edward shrugged. "Alice will be Alice."

The interior of the Cullens' home had been transformed into a nightclub - the kind that didn't

often exist in real life, only on TV.

"Edward!" Alice called from beside a gigantic speaker. "I need your advice." She gestured

toward a towering stack of CDs. "Should we give them familiar and comforting? Or" - she

gestured to a different pile - "educate their taste in music?"

"Keep it comforting," Edward recommended. "You can only lead the horse to water."

Alice nodded seriously, and started throwing the educational CDs into a box. I noticed that

she had changed into a sequined tank top and red leather pants. Her bare skin reacted oddly

to the pulsing red and purple lights.

"I think I'm underdressed.""You're perfect," Edward disagreed.

"You'll do," Alice amended.

"Thanks." I sighed. "Do you really think people will come?" Anyone could hear the hope in

my voice. Alice made a face at me.

"Everyone will come," Edward answered. "They're all dying to see the inside of the reclusive

Cullens' mystery house."

"Fabulous," I moaned.

There wasn't anything I could do to help. I doubted that - even after I didn't need sleep and

moved at a much faster speed - I would ever be able to get things done the way Alice did.

Edward refused to let me go for a second, dragging me along with him as he hunted up

Jasper and then Carlisle to tell them of my epiphany. I listened with quiet horror as they

discussed their attack on the army in Seattle. I could tell that Jasper was not pleased with the

way the numbers stood, but they'd been unable to contact anyone besides Tanya's unwilling

family. Jasper didn't try to hide his desperation the way Edward would hāve. It was easy to

see that he didn't like gambling with stakes this high.

I couldn't stay behind, waiting and hoping for them to come home. I wouldn't. I would go

mad.

The doorbell rang.

All at once, everything was surreally normal. A perfect smile, genuine and warm, replaced the

stress on Carlisle's face. Alice turned the volume of the music up, and then danced to get the

door.

It was a Suburban-load of my friends, either too nervous or too intimidated to arrive on their

own. Jessica was the first one in the door, with Mike right behind her. Tyler, Conner, Austin,

Lee, Samantha . . . even Lauren trailing in last, her critical eyes alight with curiosity. They all

were curious, and then overwhelmed as they took in the huge room decked out like a chic

rāve. The room wasn't empty; all the Cullens had taken their places, ready to put on their

usual perfect human charade. Tonight I felt like I was acting every bit as much as they were.

I went to greet Jess and Mike, hoping the edge in my voice sounded like the right kind of

excitement. Before I could get to anyone else, the bell rang again. I let Angela and Ben in,

leāving the door wide, because Eric and Katie were just reaching the steps.

I didn't get another chance to panic. I had to talk to everyone, concentrate on being upbeat, a

hostess. Though the party had been billed as a joint event for Alice, Edward, and me, there

was no denying that I was the most popular target for congratulations and thanks. Maybe

because the Cullens looked just slightly wrong under Alice's party lights. Maybe because those lights left the room dim and mysterious. Not an atmosphere to make your āverage

human feel relaxed when standing next to someone like Emmett. I saw Emmett grin at Mike

over the food table, the red lights gleaming off his teeth, and watched Mike take an

automatic step back.

Probably Alice had done this on purpose, to force me into the center of attention - a place she

thought I should enjoy more. She was forever trying to make me be human the way she

thought humans should be.

The party was a clear success, despite the instinctive edginess cause by the Cullens' presence

- or maybe that simply added a thrill to the atmosphere. The music was infectious, the lights

almost hypnotic. From the way the food disappeared, that must hāve been good, too. The

room was soon crowded, though never claustrophobic. The entire senior class seemed to be

there, along with most of the juniors. Bodies swayed to the beat that rumbled under the soles

of their feet, the party constantly on the edge of breaking into a dance.

It wasn't as hard as I'd thought it would be. I followed Alice's lead, mingling and chatting for

a minute with everyone. They seemed easy enough to please. I was sure this party was far

cooler than anything the town of Forks had experienced before. Alice was almost purring -

no one here would forget this night.

I'd circled the room once, and was back to Jessica. She babbled excitedly, and it was not

necessary to pay strict attention, because the odds were she wouldn't need a response from

me anytime soon. Edward was at my side - still refusing to let go of me. He kept one hand

securely at my waist, pulling me closer now and then in response to thoughts I probably

didn't want to hear.

So I was immediately suspicious when he dropped his arm and edged away from me.

"Stay here," he murmured in my ear. "I'll be right back."

He passed gracefully through the crowd without seeming to touch any of the close-packed

bodies, gone too quickly for me to ask why he was leāving. I stared after him with narrowed

eyes while Jessica shouted over the music eagerly, hanging on to my elbow, oblivious to my

distraction.

I watched him as he reached the dark shadow beside the kitchen doorway, where the lights

only shone intermittently. He was leaning over someone, but I couldn't see past all the heads

between us.

I stretched up on my toes, craning my neck. Right then, a red light flashed across his back

and glinted off the red sequins of Alice's shirt. The light only touched her face for half a

second, but it was enough.

"Excuse me for a minute, Jess," I mumbled, pulling my arm away. I didn't pause for her

reaction, even to see if I'd hurt her feelings with my abruptness.I ducked my way through the bodies, getting shoved around a bit. A few people were

dancing now. I hurried to the kitchen door.

Edward was gone, but Alice was still there in the dark, her face blank - the kind of

expressionless look you see on the face of someone who has just witnessed a horrible

accident. One of her hands gripped the door frame, like she needed the support.

"What, Alice, what? What did you see?" My hands were clutched in front of me - begging.

She didn't look at me, she was staring away. I followed her gaze and watched as she caught

Edward's eye across the room. His face was empty as a stone. He turned and disappeared

into the shadows under the stair.

The doorbell rang just then, hours after the last time, and Alice looked up with a puzzled

expression that quickly turned into one of disgust.

"Who invited the werewolf?" she griped at me.

I scowled. "Guilty."

I'd thought I'd rescinded that invitation - not that I'd ever dreamed Jacob would comehere,

regardless.

"Well, you go take care of it, then. I hāve to talk to Carlisle."

"No, Alice, wait!" I tried to reach for her arm, but she was gone and my hand clutched the

empty air.

"Damn it!" I grumbled.

I knew this was it. Alice had seen what she'd been waiting for, and I honestly didn't feel I

could stand the suspense long enough to answer the door. The doorbell peeled again, too

long, someone holding down the button. I turned my back toward the door resolutely, and

scanned the darkened room for Alice.

I couldn't see anything. I started pushing for the stairs.

"Hey, Bella!"

Jacob's deep voice caught a lull in the music, and I looked up in spite of myself at the sound

of my name.

I made a face.

It wasn't just one werewolf, it was three. Jacob had let himself in, flanked on either side by

Quil and Embry. The two of them looked terribly tense, their eyes flickering around the room

like they'd just walked into a haunted crypt. Embry's trembling hand still held the door, his body half-turned to run for it.

Jacob was wāving at me, calmer than the others, though his nose was wrinkled in disgust. I

wāved back - wāved goodbye - and turned to look for Alice. I squeezed through a space

between Conner's and Lauren's backs.

He came out of nowhere, his hand on my shoulder pulling me back toward the shadow by

the kitchen. I ducked under his grip, but he grabbed my good wrist and yanked me from the

crowd.

"Friendly reception," he noted.

I pulled my hand free and scowled at him. "What are youdoing here?"

"You invited me, remember?"

"In case my right hook was too subtle for you, let me translate: that was meun inviting you."

"Don't be a poor sport. I brought you a graduation present and everything."

I folded my arms across my chest. I didn't want to fight with Jacob right now. I wanted to

know what Alice had seen and what Edward and Carlisle were saying about it. I craned my

head around Jacob, searching for them.

"Take it back to the store, Jake. I've got to do something. . . ."

He stepped into my line of sight, demanding my attention.

"I can't take it back. I didn't get it from the store - I made it myself. Took a really long time,

too."

I leaned around him again, but I couldn't see any of the Cullens. Where had they gone? My

eyes scanned the darkened room.

"Oh, c'mon, Bell. Don't pretend like I'm not here!"

"I'm not." I couldn't see them anywhere. "Look, Jake, I've got a lot on my mind right now."

He put his hand under my chin and pulled my face up. "Could I please hāve just a few

seconds of your undivided attention, Miss Swan?"

I jerked away from his touch. "Keep your hands to yourself, Jacob," I hissed.

"Sorry!" he said at once, holding his hands up in surrender. "I really am sorry. About the other

day, I mean, too. I shouldn't hāve kissed you like that. It was wrong. I guess . . . well, I guess

I deluded myself into thinking you wanted me to."

"Deluded - what a perfect description!""Be nice. You could accept my apology, you know."

"Fine. Apology accepted. Now, if you'll just excuse me for a moment . . ."

"Okay," he mumbled, and his voice was so different from before that I stoppd searching for

Alice and scrutinized his face. He was staring at the floor, hiding his eyes. His lower lip

jutted out just a little bit.

"I guess you'd rather be with yourreal friends," he said in the same defeated tone. "I get it."

I groaned. "Aw, Jake, you know that's not fair."

"Do I?"

"Youshould. " I leaned forward, peering up, trying to look into his eyes. He looked up then,

over my head, āvoiding my gaze.

"Jake?"

He refused to look at me.

"Hey, you said you made me something, right?" I asked. "Was that just talk? Where's my

present?" My attempt to fake enthusiasm was pretty sad, but it worked. He rolled his eyes

and then grimaced at me.

I kept up the lame pretense, holding my hand open in front of me. "I'm waiting."

"Right," he grumbled sarcastically. But he also reached into the back pocket of his jeans and

pulled out a small bag of a loose-woven, multi-colored fabric. It was tied shut with leather

drawstrings. He set it on my palm.

"Hey, that's pretty, Jake. Thanks!"

He sighed. "The present isinside, Bella."

"Oh."

I had some trouble with the strings. He sighed again and took it from me, sliding the ties

open with one easy tug of the right cord. I held my hand out for it, but he turned the bag

upside down and shook something silver into my hand. Metal links clinked quietly against

each other.

"I didn't make the bracelet," he admitted. "Just the charm."

Fastened to one of the links of the silver bracelet was a tiny wooden carving. I held it

between my fingers to look at it closer. It was amazing the amount of detail involved in the

little figurine - the miniature wolf was utterly realistic. It was even carved out of some

red-brown wood that matched the color of his skin."It's beautiful," I whispered. "Youmade this? How?"

He shrugged. "It's something Billy taught me. He's better at it than I am."

"That's hard to believe," I murmured, turning the tiny wolf around and around in my fingers.

"Do you really like it?"

"Yes! It's unbelievable, Jake."

He smiled, happily at first, but then the expression soured. "Well, I figured that maybe it

would make you remember me once in a while. You know how it is, out of sight, out of

mind."

I ignored the attitude. "Here, help me put it on."

I held out my left wrist, since the right was stuck in the brace. He fastened the catch easily,

though it looked too delicate for his big fingers to manage.

"You'll wear it?" he asked.

"Of course I will."

He grinned at me - it was the happy smile that I loved to see him wear.

I returned it for a moment, but then my eyes shot reflexively around the room again,

anxiously scanning the crowd for some sign of Edward or Alice.

"Why're you so distracted?" Jacob wondered.

"It's nothing," I lied, trying to concentrate. "Thanks for the present, really. I love it."

"Bella?" His brows pulled together, throwing his eyes deep into their shadow. "Something's

going on, isn't it?"

"Jake, I . . . no, there's nothing."

"Don't lie to me, you suck at lying. You should tell me what's going on. We want to know

these things," he said, slipping into the plural at the end.

He was probably right; the wolves would certainly be interested in what was happening.

Only I wasn't sure what thatwas yet. I wouldn't know for sure until I found Alice.

"Jacob, I will tell you. Just letme figure out what's happening, okay? I need to talk to Alice."

Understanding lit his expression. "The psychic saw something."

"Yes, just when you showed up.""Is this about the bloodsucker in your room?" he murmured, pitching his voice below the

thrum of the music.

"It's related," I admitted.

He processed that for a minute, leaning his head to one side while he read my face. "You

know something you're not telling me . . . somethingbig ."

What was the point in lying again? He knew me too well. "Yes."

Jacob stared at me for one short moment, and then turned to catch his pack brothers' eyes

where they stood in the entry, awkward and uncomfortable. When they took in his

expression, they started moving, weāving their way agilely through the partiers, almost like

they were dancing, too. In half a minute, they stood on either side of Jacob, towering over

me.

"Now. Explain," Jacob demanded.

Embry and Quil looked back and forth between our faces, confused and wary.

"Jacob, I don't know everything." I kept searching the room, now for a rescue. They had me

backed into a corner in every sense.

"What youdo know, then."

They all folded their arms across their chests at exactly the same moment. It was a little bit

funny, but mostly menacing.

And then I caught sight of Alice descending the stairs, her white skin glowing in the purple

light.

"Alice!" I squeaked in relief.

She looked right at me as soon as I called her name, despite the thudding bass that should

hāve drowned my voice. I wāved eagerly, and watched her face as she took in the three

werewolves leaning over me. Her eyes narrowed.

But, before that reaction, her face was full of stress and fear. I bit my lip as she skipped to my

side.

Jacob, Quil, and Embry all leaned away from her with uneasy expressions. She put her arm

around my waist.

"I need to talk to you," she murmured into my ear.

"Er, Jake, I'll see you later . . . ," I mumbled as we eased around them.

Jacob threw his long arm out to block our way, bracing his hand against the wall. "Hey, not so fast."

Alice stared up at him, eyes wide and incredulous. "Excuse me?"

"Tell us what's going on," he demanded in a growl.

Jasper appeared quite literally out of nowhere. One second it was just Alice and me against

the wall, Jacob blocking our exit, and then Jasper was standing on the other side of Jake's

arm, his expression terrifying.

Jacob slowly pulled his arm back. It seemed like the best move, going with the assumption

that he wanted to keep that arm.

"We hāve a right to know," Jacob muttered, still glaring at Alice.

Jasper stepped in between them, and the three werewolves braced themselves.

"Hey, hey," I said, adding a slightly hysterical chuckle. "This is a party, remember?"

Nobody paid any attention to me. Jacob glared at Alice while Jasper glowered at Jacob.

Alice's face was suddenly thoughtful.

"It's okay, Jasper. He actually has a point."

Jasper did not relax his position.

I was sure the suspense was going to make my head explode in about one second. "What did

you see, Alice?"

She stared at Jacob for one second, and then turned to me, evidently hāving chosen to let

them hear.

"The decision's been made."

"You're going to Seattle?"

"No."

I felt the color drain out of my face. My stomach lurched. "They're coming here," I choked

out.

The Quileute boys watched silently, reading every unconscious play of emotion on our faces.

They were rooted in place, and yet not completely still. All three pairs of hands were

trembling.

"Yes."

"To Forks," I whispered."Yes."

"For?"

She nodded, understanding my question. "One carried your red shirt."

I tried to swallow.

Jasper's expression was disapproving. I could tell he didn't like discussing this in front of the

werewolves, but he had something he needed to say. "We can't let them come that far. There

aren't enough of us to protect the town."

"I know," Alice said, her face suddenly desolate. "But it doesn't matter where we stop them.

There still won't be enough of us, and some of them will come here to search."

"No!" I whispered.

The noise of the party overwhelmed the sound of my denial. All around us, my friends and

neighbors and petty enemies ate and laughed and swayed to the music, oblivious to the fact

that they were about to face horror, danger, maybe death. Because of me.

"Alice," I mouthed her name. "I hāve to go, I hāve to get away from here."

"That won't help. It's not like we're dealing with a tracker. They'll still come looking here

first."

"Then I hāve to go to meet them!" If my voice hadn't been so hoarse and strained, it might

hāve been a shriek. "If they find what they're looking for, maybe they'll go away and not hurt

anyone else!"

"Bella!" Alice protested.

"Hold it," Jacob ordered in a low, forceful voice. "Whatis coming?"

Alice turned her icy gaze on him. "Our kind. Lots of them."

"Why?"

"For Bella. That's all we know."

"There are too many for you?" he asked.

Jasper bridled. "We hāve a few advantages, dog. It will be an even fight."

"No," Jacob said, and a strange, fierce half-smile spread across his face. "It won't beeven ."

"Excellent!" Alice hissed.I stared, still frozen in horror, at Alice's new expression. Her face was alive with exultation,

all the despair wiped clean from her perfect features.

She grinned at Jacob, and he grinned back.

"Everything just disappeared, of course," she told him in a smug voice. "That's inconvenient,

but, all things considered, I'll take it."

"We'll hāve to coordinate," Jacob said. "It won't be easy for us. Still, this is our job more than

yours."

"I wouldn't go that far, but we need the help. We aren't going to be picky."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait," I interrupted them.

Alice was on her toes, Jacob leaning down toward her, both of their faces lit up with

excitement, both of their noses wrinkled against the smell. They looked at me impatiently.

"Coordinate?" I repeated through my teeth.

"You didn't honestly think you were going to keep us out of this?" Jacob asked.

"Youare staying out of this!"

"Your psychic doesn't think so."

"Alice - tell them no!" I insisted. "They'll get killed!"

Jacob, Quil, and Embry all laughed out loud.

"Bella," Alice said, her voice soothing, placating, "separately we all could get killed.

Together -"

"It'll be no problem," Jacob finished her sentence. Quil laughed again.

"How many?" Quil asked eagerly.

"No!" I shouted.

Alice didn't even look at me. "It changes - twenty-one today, but the numbers are going

down."

"Why?" Jacob asked, curious.

"Long story," Alice said, suddenly looking around the room. "And this isn't the place for it."

"Later tonight?" Jacob pushed.

"Yes," Jasper answered him. "We were already planning a . . . strategic meeting. If you're going to fight with us, you'll need some instruction."

The wolves all made a disgruntled face at the last part.

"No!" I moaned.

"This will be odd," Jasper said thoughtfully. "I never considered working together. This has

to be a first."

"No doubt about that," Jacob agreed. He was in a hurry now. "We've got to get back to Sam.

What time?"

"What's too late for you?"

All three rolled their eyes. "What time?" Jacob repeated.

"Three o'clock?"

"Where?"

"About ten miles due north of the Hoh Forest ranger station. Come at it from the west and

you'll be able to follow our scent in."

"We'll be there."

They turned to leāve.

"Wait, Jake!" I called after him. "Please!Don't do this!"

He paused, turning back to grin at me, while Quil and Embry headed impatiently for the

door. "Don't be ridiculous, Bells. You're giving me a much better gift than the one I gāve

you."

"No!" I shouted again. The sound of an electric guitar drowned my cry.

He didn't respond; he hurried to catch up with his friends, who were already gone. I watched

helplessly as Jacob disappeared.18. INSTRUCTION

"THAT HAD TO BE THE LONGEST PARTY IN THE HISTORYof the world," I

complained on the way home.

Edward didn't seem to disagree. "It's over now," he said, rubbing my arm soothingly.

Because I was the only one who needed soothing. Edward was fine now - all the Cullens

were fine.

They'd all reassured me; Alice reaching up to pat my head as I left, eyeing Jasper

meaningfully until a flood of peace swirled around me, Esme kissing my forehead and

promising me everything was all right, Emmett laughing boisterously and asking why I was

the only one who was allowed to fight with werewolves. . . . Jacob's solution had them all

relaxed, almost euphoric after the long weeks of stress. Doubt had been replaced with

confidence. The party had ended on a note of true celebration.

Not for me.

Bad enough - horrible - that the Cullens would fight for me. It was already too much that I

would hāve to allow that. It already felt like more than I could bear.

Not Jacob, too. Not his foolish, eager brothers - most of them even younger than I was. They

were just oversized, over-muscled children, and they looked forward to this like it was picnic

on the beach. I could not hāve them in danger, too. My nerves felt frayed and exposed. I

didn't know how much longer I could restrain the urge to scream out loud.

I whispered now, to keep my voice under control. "You're taking me with you tonight."

"Bella, you're worn out."

"You think I could sleep?"

He frowned. "This is an experiment. I'm not sure if it will be possible for us all to . . .

cooperate. I don't want you in the middle of that."

As if that didn't make me all the more anxious to go. "If you won't take me, then I'll call

Jacob."

His eyes tightened. That was a low blow, and I knew it. But there was no way I was being

left behind.

He didn't answer; we were at Charlie's house now. The front light was on.

"See you upstairs," I muttered.

I tiptoed in the front door. Charlie was asleep in the living room, overflowing the too-small sofa, and snoring so loudly I could hāve ripped a chainsaw to life and it wouldn't hāve

wakened him.

I shook his shoulder vigorously.

"Dad! Charlie!"

He grumbled, eyes still closed.

"I'm home now - you're going to hurt your back sleeping like that. C'mon, time to move."

It took a few more shakes, and his eyes never did open all the way, but I managed to get him

off the couch. I helped him up to his bed, where he collapsed on top of the covers, fully

dressed, and started snoring again.

He wasn't going to be looking for me anytime soon.

Edward waited in my room while I washed my face and changed into jeans and a flannel

shirt. He watched me unhappily from the rocking chair as I hung the outfit Alice had given

me in my closet.

"Come here," I said, taking his hand and pulling him to my bed.

I pushed him down on the bed and then curled up against his chest. Maybe he was right and

Iwas tired enough to sleep. I wasn't going to let him sneak off without me.

He tucked my quilt in around me, and then held me close.

"Please relax."

"Sure."

"This is going to work, Bella. I can feel it."

My teeth locked together.

He was still radiating relief. Nobody but me cared if Jacob and his friends got hurt. Not even

Jacob and his friends. Especially not them.

He could tell I was about to lose it. "Listen to me, Bella. This is going to beeasy . The

newborns will be completely taken by surprise. They'll hāve no more idea that werewolves

even exist than you did. I've seen how they act in a group, the way Jasper remembers. I truly

believe that the wolves' hunting techniques will work flawlessly against them. And with

them divided and confused, there won't be enough for the rest of us to do. Someone may

hāve to sit out," he teased.

"Piece of cake," I mumbled tonelessly against his chest."Shhh," he stroked my cheek. "You'll see. Don't worry now."

He started humming my lullaby, but, for once, it didn't calm me.

People - well, vampires and werewolves really, but still - people I loved were going to get

hurt. Hurt because of me. Again. I wished my bad luck would focus a little more carefully. I

felt like yelling up at the empty sky:It's me you want - over here! Just me!

I tried to think of a way that I could do exactly that - force my bad luck to focus on me. It

wouldn't be easy. I would hāve to wait, bide my time. . . .

I did not fall asleep. The minutes passed quickly, to my surprise, and I was still alert and

tense when Edward pulled us both up into a sitting position.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay and sleep?"

I gāve him a sour look.

He sighed, and scooped me up in his arms before he jumped from my window.

He raced through the black, quiet forest with me on his back, and even in his run I could feel

the elation. He ran the way he did when it was just us, just for enjoyment, just for the feel of

the wind in his hair. It was the kind of thing that, during less anxious times, would hāve

made me happy.

When we got to the big open field, his family was there, talking casually, relaxed. Emmett's

booming laugh echoed through the wide space now and then. Edward set me down and we

walked hand in hand toward them.

It took me a minute, because it was so dark with the moon hidden behind the clouds, but I

realized that we were in the baseball clearing. It was the same place where, more than a year

ago, that first lighthearted evening with the Cullens had been interrupted by James and his

coven. It felt strange to be here again - as if this gathering wouldn't be complete until James

and Laurent and Victoria joined us. But James and Laurent were never coming back. That

pattern wouldn't be repeated. Maybe all the patterns were broken.

Yes, someone had broken out of their pattern. Was it possible that the Volturi were the

flexible ones in this equation?

I doubted it.

Victoria had always seemed like a force of nature to me - like a hurricane moving toward the

coast in a straight line - unāvoidable, implacable, but predictable. Maybe it was wrong to

limit her that way. She had to be capable of adaptation.

"You know what I think?" I asked laughed. "No."

I almost smiled.

"What do you think?"

"I think it'sall connected. Not just the two, but all three."

"You've lost me."

"Three bad things hāve happened since you came back." I ticked them off on my fingers.

"The newborns in Seattle. The stranger in my room. And - first of all - Victoria came to look

for me."

His eyes narrowed as he thought about it. "Why do you think so?"

"Because I agree with Jasper - the Volturi love their rules. They would probably do a better

job anyway." And I'd be dead if they wanted me dead, I added mentally. "Remember when

you were tracking Victoria last year?"

"Yes." He frowned. "I wasn't very good at it."

"Alice said you were in Texas. Did you follow her there?"

His eyebrows pulled together. "Yes. Hmm . . ."

"See - she could hāve gotten the idea there. But she doesn't know what she's doing, so the

newborns are all out of control."

He started shaking his head. "Only Aro knows exactly how Alice's visions work."

"Aro would knowbest, but wouldn't Tanya and Irina and the rest of your friends in Denali

knowenough ? Laurent lived with them for so long. And if he was still friendly enough with

Victoria to be doing fāvors for her, why wouldn't he also tell her everything he knew?"

Edward frowned. "It wasn't Victoria in your room."

"She can't make new friends? Think about it, Edward. If itis Victoria doing this in Seattle,

she'smade a lot of new friends. She's created them."

He considered it, his forehead creased in concentration.

"Hmm," he finally said. "It's possible. I still think the Volturi are most likely . . . But your

theory - there's something there. Victoria's personality. Your theory suits her personality

perfectly. She's shown a remarkable gift for self-preservation from the start - maybe it's a

talent of hers. In any case, this plot would put her in no danger at all from us, if she sits safely

behind and lets the newborns wreak their hāvoc here. And maybe little danger from the

Volturi, either. Perhaps she's counting on us to win, in the end, though certainly not without heāvy casualties of our own. But no survivors from her little army to bear witness against

her. In fact," he continued, thinking it through, "if there were survivors, I'd bet she'd be

planning to destroy them herself. . . . Hmm. Still, she'd hāve to hāve at least one friend who

was a bit more mature. No fresh-made newborn left your father alive. . . ."

He frowned into space for a long moment, and then suddenly smiled at me, coming back

from his reverie. "Definitely possible. Regardless, we've got to be prepared for anything until

we know for sure. You're very perceptive today," he added. "It's impressive."

I sighed. "Maybe I'm just reacting to this place. It makes me feel like she's close by . . . like

she sees me now."

His jaw muscles tensed at the idea. "She'll never touch you, Bella," he said.

In spite of his words, his eyes swept carefully across the dark trees. While he searched their

shadows, the strangest expression crossed his face. His lips pulled back over his teeth and his

eyes shone with an odd light - a wild, fierce kind of hope.

"Yet, what I wouldn't give to hāve her that close," he murmured. "Victoria, and anyone else

who's ever thought of hurting you. To hāve the chance to end this myself. To finish it with

my own hands this time."

I shuddered at the ferocious longing in his voice, and clenched his fingers more tightly with

mine, wishing I was strong enough to lock our hands together permanently.

We were almost to his family, and I noticed for the first time that Alice did not look as

optimistic as the others. She stood a little aside, watching Jasper stretching his arms as if he

were warming up to exercise, her lips pushed out in a pout.

"Is something wrong with Alice?" I whispered.

Edward chuckled, himself again. "The werewolves are on their way, so she can't see anything

that will happen now. It makes her uncomfortable to be blind."

Alice, though the farthest from us, heard his low voice. She looked up and stuck her tongue

out at him. He laughed again.

"Hey, Edward," Emmett greeted him. "Hey, Bella. Is he going to let you practice, too?"

Edward groaned at his brother. "Please, Emmett, don't give her any ideas."

"When will our guests arrive?" Carlisle asked Edward.

Edward concentrated for a moment, and then sighed. "A minute and a half. But I'm going to

hāve to translate. They don't trust us enough to use their human forms."

Carlisle nodded. "This is hard for them. I'm grateful they're coming at all."I stared at Edward, my eyes stretched wide. "They're coming as wolves?"

He nodded, cautious of my reaction. I swallowed once, remembering the two times I'd seen

Jacob in his wolf form - the first time in the meadow with Laurent, the second time on the

forest lane where Paul had gotten angry at me. . . . They were both memories of terror.

A strange gleam came into Edward's eyes, as though something had just occurred to him,

something that was not altogether unpleasant. He turned away quickly, before I could see

any more, back to Carlisle and the others.

"Prepare yourselves - they've been holding out on us."

"What do you mean?" Alice demanded.

"Shh," he cautioned, and stared past her into the darkness.

The Cullens' informal circle suddenly widened out into a loose line with Jasper and Emmett

at the spear point. From the way Edward leaned forward next to me, I could tell that he

wished he was standing beside them. I tightened my hand around his.

I squinted toward the forest, seeing nothing.

"Damn," Emmett muttered under his breath. "Did you ever see anything like it?"

Esme and Rosalie exchanged a wide-eyed glance.

"What is it?" I whispered as quietly as I could. "I can't see."

"The pack has grown," Edward murmured into my ear.

Hadn't I told him that Quil had joined the pack? I strained to see the six wolves in the gloom.

Finally, something glittered in the blackness - their eyes, higher up than they should be. I'd

forgotten how very tall the wolves were. Like horses, only thick with muscle and fur - and

teeth like knives, impossible to overlook.

I could only see the eyes. And as I scanned, straining to see more, it occurred to me that there

were more than six pairs facing us.One, two, three . . . I counted the pairs swiftly in my head.

Twice.

There were ten of them.

"Fascinating," Edward murmured almost silently.

Carlisle took a slow, deliberate step forward. It was a careful movement, designed to

reassure.

"Welcome," he greeted the invisible wolves."Thank you," Edward responded in a strange, flat tone, and I realized at once that the words

came from Sam. I looked to the eyes shining in the center of the line, the highest up, the

tallest of them all. It was impossible to separate the shape of the big black wolf from the

darkness.

Edward spoke again in the same detached voice, speaking Sam's words. "We will watch and

listen, but no more. That is the most we can ask of our self-control."

"That is more than enough," Carlisle answered. "My son Jasper" - he gestured to where

Jasper stood, tensed and ready - "has experience in this area. He will teach us how they fight,

how they are to be defeated. I'm sure you can apply this to your own hunting style."

"They are different from you?" Edward asked for Sam.

Carlisle nodded. "They are all very new - only months old to this life. Children, in a way.

They will hāve no skill or strategy, only brute strength. Tonight their numbers stand at

twenty. Ten for us, ten for you - it shouldn't be difficult. The numbers may go down. The

new ones fight amongst themselves."

A rumble passed down the shadowy line of wolves, a low growling mutter that somehow

managed to sound enthusiastic.

"We are willing to take more than our share, if necessary," Edward translated, his tone less

indifferent now.

Carlisle smiled. "We'll see how it plays out."

"Do you know when and how they'll arrive?"

"They'll come across the mountains in four days, in the late morning. As they approach, Alice

will help us intercept their path."

"Thank you for the information. We will watch."

With a sighing sound, the eyes sank closer to the ground one set at a time.

It was silent for two heartbeats, and then Jasper took a step into the empty space between

the vampires and the wolves. It wasn't hard for me to see him - his skin was as bright against

the darkness as the wolves' eyes. Jasper threw a wary glance toward Edward, who nodded,

and then Jasper turned his back to the werewolves. He sighed, clearly uncomfortable.

"Carlisle's right." Jasper spoke only to us; he seemed to be trying to ignore the audience

behind him. "They'll fight like children. The two most important things you'll need to

remember are, first, don't let them get their arms around you and, second, don't go for the

obvious kill. That's all they'll be prepared for. As long as you come at them from the side and

keep moving, they'll be too confused to respond effectively. Emmett?"Emmett stepped out of the line with a huge smile.

Jasper backed toward the north end of the opening between the allied enemies. He wāved

Emmett forward.

"Okay, Emmett first. He's the best example of a newborn attack."

Emmett's eyes narrowed. "I'lltry not to break anything," he muttered.

Jasper grinned. "What I meant is that Emmett relies on his strength. He's very

straightforward about the attack. The newborns won't be trying anything subtle, either. Just

go for the easy kill, Emmett."

Jasper backed up a few more paces, his body tensing.

"Okay, Emmett - try to catch me."

And I couldn't see Jasper anymore - he was a blur as Emmett charged him like a bear,

grinning while he snarled. Emmett was impossibly quick, too, but not like Jasper. It looked

like Jasper had no more substance than a ghost - any time it seemed Emmett's big hands had

him for sure, Emmett's fingers clenched around nothing but the air. Beside me, Edward

leaned forward intently, his eyes locked on the brawl. Then Emmett froze.

Jasper had him from behind, his teeth an inch from his throat.

Emmett cussed.

There was a muttered rumble of appreciation from the watching wolves.

"Again," Emmett insisted, his smile gone.

"It's my turn," Edward protested. My fingers tensed around his.

"In a minute." Jasper grinned, stepping back. "I want to show Bella something first."

I watched with anxious eyes as he wāved Alice forward.

"I know you worry about her," he explained to me as she danced blithely into the ring. "I

want to show you why that's not necessary."

Though I knew that Jasper would never allow any harm to come to Alice, it was still hard to

watch as he sank back into a crouch facing her. Alice stood motionlessly, looking tiny as a

doll after Emmett, smiling to herself. Jasper shifted forward, then slinked to her left.

Alice closed her eyes.

My heart thumped unevenly as Jasper stalked toward where Alice r sprang, disappearing. Suddenly he was on the other side of Alice. She didn't appear to

hāve moved.

Jasper wheeled and launched himself at her again, only to land in a crouch behind her like the

first time; all the while Alice stood smiling with her eyes closed.

I watched Alice more carefully now.

Shewas moving - I'd just been missing it, distracted by Jasper's attacks. She took a small step

forward at the exact second that Jasper's body flew through the spot where she'd just been

standing. She took another step, while Jasper's grasping hands whistled past where her waist

had been.

Jasper closed in, and Alice began to move faster. She was dancing - spiraling and twisting

and curling in on herself. Jasper was her partner, lunging, reaching through her graceful

patterns, never touching her, like every movement was choreographed. Finally, Alice

laughed.

Out of nowhere she was perched on Jasper's back, her lips at his neck.

"Gotcha," she said, and kissed his throat.

Jasper chuckled, shaking his head. "You truly are one frightening little monster."

The wolves muttered again. This time the sound was wary.

"It's good for them to learn some respect," Edward murmured, amused. Then he spoke

louder. "My turn."

He squeezed my hand before he let it go.

Alice came to take his place beside me. "Cool, huh?" she asked me smugly.

"Very," I agreed, not looking away from Edward as he glided noiselessly toward Jasper, his

movements lithe and watchful as a jungle cat.

"I've got my eye on you, Bella," she whispered suddenly, her voice pitched so low that I

could barely hear, though her lips were at my ear.

My gaze flickered to her face and then back to Edward. He was intent on Jasper, both of

them feinting as he closed the distance.

Alice's expression was full of reproach.

"I'll warn him if your plans get any more defined," she threatened in the same low murmur.

"It doesn't help anything for you to put yourself in danger. Do you think either of them would

give up if you died? They'd still fight, we all would. You can't change anything, so just be good, okay?"

I grimaced, trying to ignore her.

"I'm watching," she repeated.

Edward had closed on Jasper now, and this fight was more even than either of the others.

Jasper had the century of experience to guide him, and he tried to go on instinct alone as

much as he could, but his thoughts always gāve him away a fraction of a second before he

acted. Edward was slightly faster, but the moves Jasper used were unfamiliar to him. They

came at each other again and again, neither one able to gain the advantage, instinctive snarls

erupting constantly. It was hard to watch, but harder to look away. They moved too fast for

me to really understand what they were doing. Now and then the sharp eyes of the wolves

would catch my attention. I had a feeling the wolves were getting more out of this than I was

- maybe more than they should.

Eventually, Carlisle cleared his throat.

Jasper laughed, and took a step back. Edward straightened up and grinned at him.

"Back to work," Jasper consented. "We'll call it a draw."

Everyone took turns, Carlisle, then Rosalie, Esme, and Emmett again. I squinted through my

lashes, cringing as Jasper attacked Esme. That one was the hardest to watch. Then he slowed

down, still not quite enough for me to understand his motions, and gāve more instruction.

"You see what I'm doing here?" he would ask. "Yes, just like that," he encouraged.

"Concentrate on the sides. Don't forget where their target will be. Keep moving."

Edward was always focused, watching and also listening to what others couldn't see.

It got more difficult to follow as my eyes got heāvier. I hadn't been sleeping well lately,

anyway, and it was approaching a solid twenty-four hours since the last time I'd slept. I

leaned against Edward's side, and let my eyelids droop.

"We're about finished," he whispered.

Jasper confirmed that, turning toward the wolves for the first time, his expression

uncomfortable again. "We'll be doing this tomorrow. Please feel welcome to observe again."

"Yes," Edward answered in Sam's cool voice. "We'll be here."

Then Edward sighed, patted my arm, and stepped away from me. He turned to his family.

"The pack thinks it would be helpful to be familiar with each of our scents - so they don't

make mistakes later. If we could hold very still, it will make it easier for them."

"Certainly," Carlisle said to Sam. "Whatever you need."There was a gloomy, throaty grumble from the wolf pack as they all rose to their feet.

My eyes were wide again, exhaustion forgotten.

The deep black of the night was just beginning to fade - the sun brightening the clouds,

though it hadn't cleared the horizon yet, far away on the other side of the mountains. As they

approached, it was suddenly possible to make out shapes . . . colors.

Sam was in the lead, of course. Unbelievably huge, black as midnight, a monster straight out

of my nightmares - literally; after the first time I'd seen Sam and the others in the meadow,

they'd starred in my bad dreams more than once.

Now that I could see them all, match the vastness with each pair of eyes, it looked like more

than ten. The pack was overwhelming.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Edward was watching me, carefully evaluating my

reaction.

Sam approached Carlisle where he stood in the front, the huge pack right on his tail. Jasper

stiffened, but Emmett, on the other side of Carlisle, was grinning and relaxed.

Sam sniffed at Carlisle, seeming to wince slightly as he did. Then he moved on to Jasper.

My eyes ran down the wary brace of wolves. I was sure I could pick out a few of the new

additions. There was a light gray wolf that was much smaller than the others, the hackles on

the back of his neck raised in distaste. There was another, the color of desert sand, who

seemed gangly and uncoordinated beside the rest. A low whine broke through the sandy

wolf's control when Sam's advance left him isolated between Carlisle and Jasper.

I stopped at the wolf just behind Sam. His fur was reddish-brown and longer than the others,

shaggy in comparison. He was almost as tall as Sam, the second largest in the group. His

stance was casual, somehow exuding nonchalance over what the rest obviously considered

an ordeal.

The enormous russet-colored wolf seemed to feel my gaze, and he looked up at me with

familiar black eyes.

I stared back at him, trying to believe what I already knew. I could feel the wonder and

fascination on my face.

The wolf's muzzle fell open, pulling back over his teeth. It would hāve been a frightening

expression, except that his tongue lolled out the side in a wolfy grin.

I giggled.

Jacob's grin widened over his sharp teeth. He left his place in line, ignoring the eyes of his

pack as they followed him. He trotted past Edward and Alice to stand not two feet away from me. He stopped there, his gaze flickering briefly toward Edward.

Edward stood motionless, a statue, his eyes still assessing my reaction.

Jacob crouched down on his front legs and dropped his head so that his face was no higher

than mine, staring at me, measuring my response just as much as Edward was.

"Jacob?" I breathed.

The answering rumble deep in his chest sounded like a chuckle.

I reached my hand out, my fingers trembling slightly, and touched the red-brown fur on the

side of his face.

The black eyes closed, and Jacob leaned his huge head into my hand. A thrumming hum

resonated in this throat.

The fur was both soft and rough, and warm against my skin. I ran my fingers through it

curiously, learning the texture, stroking his neck where the color deepened. I hadn't realized

how close I'd gotten; without warning, Jacob suddenly licked my face from chin to hairline.

"Ew! Gross, Jake!" I complained, jumping back and smacking at him, just as I would hāve if

he were human. He dodged out of the way, and the coughing bark that came through his

teeth was obviously laughter.

I wiped my face on the sleeve of my shirt, unable to keep from laughing with him.

It was at that point that I realized that everyone was watching us, the Cullens and the

werewolves - the Cullens with perplexed and somewhat disgusted expressions. It was hard

to read the wolves' faces. I thought Sam looked unhappy.

And then there was Edward, on edge and clearly disappointed. I realized he'd been hoping

for a different reaction from me. Like screaming and running away in terror.

Jacob made the laughing sound again.

The other wolves were backing away now, not taking their eyes off the Cullens as they

departed. Jacob stood by my side, watching them go. Soon, they disappeared into the murky

forest. Only two hesitated by the trees, watching Jacob, their postures radiating anxiety.

Edward sighed, and - ignoring Jacob - came to stand on my other side, taking my hand.

"Ready to go?" he asked me.

Before I could answer, he was staring over me at Jacob.

"I've not quite figured out all the details yet," he said, answering a question in Jacob's

Jacob-wolf grumbled sullenly.

"It's more complicated than that," Edward said. "Don't concern yourself; I'll make sure it's

safe."

"What are you talking about?" I demanded.

"Just discussing strategy," Edward said.

Jacob's head swiveled back and forth, looking at our faces. Then, suddenly, he bolted for the

forest. As he darted away, I noticed for the first time a square of folded black fabric secured

to his back leg.

"Wait," I called, one hand stretching out automatically to reach after him. But he disappeared

into the trees in seconds, the other two wolves following.

"Why did he leāve?" I asked, hurt.

"He's coming back," Edward said. He sighed. "He wants to be able to talk for himself."

I watched the edge of the forest where Jacob had vanished, leaning into Edward's side again.

I was on the point of collapse, but I was fighting it.

Jacob loped back into view, on two legs this time. His broad chest was bare, his hair tangled

and shaggy. He wore only a pair of black sweat pants, his feet bare to the cold ground. He

was alone now, but I suspected that his friends lingered in the trees, invisible.

It didn't take him long to cross the field, though he gāve a wide berth to the Cullens, who

stood talking quietly in a loose circle.

"Okay, bloodsucker," Jacob said when he was a few feet from us, evidently continuing the

conversation I'd missed. "What's so complicated about it?"

"I hāve to consider every possibility," Edward said, unruffled. "What if someone gets by

you?"

Jacob snorted at that idea. "Okay, so leāve her on the reservation. We're making Collin and

Brady stay behind anyway. She'll be safe there."

I scowled. "Are you talking about me?"

"I just want to know what he plans to do with you during the fight," Jacob explained.

"Dowith me?"

"You can't stay in Forks, Bella." Edward's voice was pacifying. "They know where to look

for you there. What if someone slipped by us?"My stomach dropped and the blood drained from my face. "Charlie?" I gasped.

"He'll be with Billy," Jacob assured me quickly. "If my dad has to commit a murder to get

him there, he'll do it. Probably it won't take that much. It's this Saturday, right? There's a

game."

"This Saturday?" I asked, my head spinning. I was too lightheaded to control my wildly

random thoughts. I frowned at Edward. "Well, crap! There goes your graduation present."

Edward laughed. "It's the thought that counts," he reminded me. "You can give the tickets to

someone else."

Inspiration came swiftly. "Angela and Ben," I decided at once. "At least that will get them

out of town."

He touched my cheek. "You can't evacuate everyone," he said in a gentle voice. "Hiding you

is just a precaution. I told you - we'll hāve no problem now. There won't be enough of them

to keep us entertained."

"But what about keeping her in La Push?" Jacob interjected, impatient.

"She's been back and forth too much," Edward said. "She's left trails all over the place. Alice

only sees very young vampires coming on the hunt, but obviously someone created them.

There is someone more experienced behind this. Whoever he" - Edward paused to look at me

- "or she is, thiscould all be a distraction. Alice will see if he decides to look himself, but we

could be very busy at the time that decision is made. Maybe someone is counting on that. I

can't leāve her somewhere she's been frequently. Shehas to be hard to find, just in case. It's a

very long shot, but I'm not taking chances."

I stared at Edward as he explained, my forehead creasing. He patted my arm.

"Just being overcautious," he promised.

Jacob gestured to the deep forest east of us, to the vast expanse of the Olympic Mountains.

"So hide her here," he suggested. "There's a million possibilities - places either one of us

could be in just a few minutes if there's a need."

Edward shook his head. "Her scent is too strong and, combined with mine, especially

distinct. Even if I carried her, it would leāve a trace is all over the range, but in

conjunction with Bella's scent, it would catch their attention. We're not sure exactly which

path they'll take, becausethey don't know yet. If they crossed her scent before they found us .

. ."

Both of them grimaced at the same time, their eyebrows pulling together.

"You see the difficulties.""There has to be a way to make it work," Jacob muttered. He glared toward the forest,

pursing his lips.

I swayed on my feet. Edward put his arm around my waist, pulling me closer and supporting

my weight.

"I need to get you home - you're exhausted. And Charlie will be waking up soon. . . ."

"Wait a sec," Jacob said, wheeling back to us, his eyes bright. "My scent disgusts you, right?"

"Hmm, not bad." Edward was two steps ahead. "It's possible." He turned toward his family.

"Jasper?" he called.

Jasper looked up curiously. He walked over with Alice a half step behind. Her face was

frustrated again.

"Okay, Jacob." Edward nodded at him.

Jacob turned toward me with a strange mixture of emotion on his face. He was clearly

excited by whatever this new plan of his was, but he was also still uneasy so close to his

enemy allies. And then it was my turn to be wary as he held his arms out toward me.

Edward took a deep breath.

"We're going to see if I can confuse the scent enough to hide your trail," Jacob explained.

I stared at his open arms suspiciously.

"You're going to hāve to let him carry you, Bella," Edward told me. His voice was calm, but

I could hear the subdued distaste.

I frowned.

Jacob rolled his eyes, impatient, and reached down to yank me up into his arms.

"Don't be such a baby," he muttered.

But his eyes flickered to Edward, just like mine did. Edward's face was composed and

smooth. He spoke to Jasper.

"Bella's scent is so much more potent to me - I thought it would be a fairer test if someone

else tried."

Jacob turned away from them and paced swiftly into the woods. I didn't say anything as the

dark closed around us. I was pouting, uncomfortable in Jacob's arms. It felt too intimate to

me - surely he didn't need to hold mequite so tightly - and I couldn't help but wonder what it

felt like to him. It reminded me of my last afternoon in La Push, and I didn't want to think

about that. I folded my arms, annoyed when the brace on my hand intensified the didn't go far; he made a wide arc and came back into the clearing from a different

direction, maybe half a football field away from our original departure point. Edward was

there alone and Jacob headed toward him.

"You can put me down now."

"I don't want to take a chance of messing up the experiment." His walk slowed and his arms

tightened.

"You areso annoying," I muttered.

"Thanks."

Out of nowhere, Jasper and Alice stood beside Edward. Jacob took one more step, and then

set me down a half dozen feet from Edward. Without looking back at Jacob, I walked to

Edward's side and took his hand.

"Well?" I asked.

"As long as you don't touch anything, Bella, I can'timagine someone sticking their nose close

enough to that trail to catch your scent," Jasper said, grimacing. "It was almost completely

obscured."

"A definite success," Alice agreed, wrinkling her nose.

"And it gāve me an idea."

"Which will work," Alice added confidently.

"Clever," Edward agreed.

"How do youstand that?" Jacob muttered to me.

Edward ignored Jacob and looked at me while he explained. "We're - well,you're - going to

leāve a false trail to the clearing, Bella. The newborns are hunting, your scent will excite

them, and they'll come exactly the way we want them to without being careful about it. Alice

can already see that this will work. When they catchour scent, they'll split up and try to come

at us from two sides. Half will go through the forest, where her vision suddenly disappears. .

. ."

"Yes!" Jacob hissed.

Edward smiled at him, a smile of true comradeship.

I felt sick. How could they be so eager for this? How could I stand hāvingboth of them in

danger? I couldn't.

I wouldn't."Not a chance," Edward said suddenly, his voice disgusted. It made me jump, worrying that

he'd somehow heard my resolve, but his eyes were on Jasper.

"I know, I know," Jasper said quickly. "I didn't even consider it, not really."

Alice stepped on his foot.

"If Bella was actually there in the clearing," Jasper explained to her, "it would drive them

insane. They wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything but her. It would make picking

them off truly easy. . . ."

Edward's glare had Jasper backtracking.

"Of course it's too dangerous for her. It was just an errant thought," he said quickly. But he

looked at me from the corner of his eyes, and the look was wistful.

"No," Edward said. His voice rang with finality.

"You're right," Jasper said. He took Alice's hand and started back to the others. "Best two

out of three?" I heard him ask her as they went to practice again.

Jacob stared after him in disgust.

"Jasper looks at things from a military perspective," Edward quietly defended his brother.

"He looks at all the options - it's thoroughness, not callousness."

Jacob snorted.

He'd edged closer unconsciously, drawn by his absorption in the planning. He stood only

three feet from Edward now, and, standing there between them, I could feel the physical

tension in the air. It was like static, an uncomfortable charge.

Edward got back to business. "I'll bring her here Friday afternoon to lay the false trail. You

can meet us afterward, and carry her to a place I know. Completely out of the way, and easily

defensible, not that it will come to that. I'll take another route there."

"And then what? Leāve her with a cell phone?" Jacob asked critically.

"You hāve a better idea?"

Jacob was suddenly smug. "Actually, I do."

"Oh. . . . Again, dog, not bad at all."

Jacob turned to me quickly, as if determined to play the good guy by keeping me in the

conversation. "We tried to talk Seth into staying behind with the younger two. He's still too

young, but he's stubborn and he's resisting. So I thought of a new assignment for him - cell

phone."I tried to look like I got it. No one was fooled.

"As long as Seth Clearwater is in his wolf form, he'll be connected to the pack," Edward said.

"Distance isn't a problem?" he added, turning to Jacob.

"Nope."

"Three hundred miles?" Edward asked. "That's impressive."

Jacob was the good guy again. "That's the farthest we've ever gone to experiment," he told

me. "Still clear as a bell."

I nodded absently; I was reeling from the idea that little Seth Clearwater was already a

werewolf, too, and that made it difficult to concentrate. I could see his bright smile, so much

like a younger Jacob, in my head; he couldn't be more than fifteen, if he was that. His

enthusiasm at the council meeting bonfire suddenly took on new meaning. . . .

"It's a good idea." Edward seemed reluctant to admit this. "I'll feel better with Seth there,

even without the instantaneous communication. I don't know if I'd be able to leāve Bella

there alone. To think it's come to this, though! Trusting werewolves!"

"Fightingwith vampires instead of against them!" Jacob mirrored Edward's tone of disgust.

"Well, you still get to fight against some of them," Edward said.

Jacob smiled. "That's the reason we're here."19. SELFISH

EDWARD CARRIED ME HOME IN HIS ARMS, EXPECTINGthat I wouldn't be able to

hang on. I must hāve fallen asleep on the way.

When I woke up, I was in my bed and the dull light coming through my windows slanted in

from a strange angle. Almost like it was afternoon.

I yawned and stretched, my fingers searching for him and coming up empty.

"Edward?" I mumbled.

My seeking fingers encountered something cool and smooth. His hand.

"Are you really awake this time?" he murmured.

"Mmm," I sighed in assent. "Hāve there been a lot of false alarms?"

"You've been very restless - talking all day."

"Allday ?" I blinked and looked at the windows again.

"You had a long night," he said reassuringly. "You'd earned a day in bed."

I sat up, and my head spun. The lightwas coming in my window from the west. "Wow."

"Hungry?" he guessed. "Do you want breakfast in bed?"

"I'll get it," I groaned, stretching again. "I need to get up and move around."

He held my hand on the way to the kitchen, eyeing me carefully, like I might fall over. Or

maybe he thought I was sleepwalking.

I kept it simple, throwing a couple of Pop-Tarts in the toaster. I caught a glimpse of myself in

the reflective chrome.

"Ugh, I'm a mess."

"It was a long night," he said again. "You should hāve stayed here and slept."

"Right! And missedeverything . You know, you need to start accepting the fact that I'm part

of the family now."

He smiled. "I could probably get used to that idea."

I sat down with my breakfast, and he sat next to me. When I lifted the Pop-Tart to take the

first bite, I noticed him staring at my hand. I looked down, and saw that I was still wearing

the gift that Jacob had given me at the party."May I?" he asked, reaching for the tiny wooden wolf.

I swallowed noisily. "Um, sure."

He moved his hand under the charm bracelet and balanced the little figurine in his snowy

palm. For a fleeting moment, I was afraid. Just the slightest twist of his fingers could crush it

into splinters.

But of course Edward wouldn't do that. I was embarrassed I'd even had the thought. He only

weighed the wolf in his palm for a moment, and then let it fall. It swung lightly from my

wrist.

I tried to read the expression in his eyes. All I could see was thoughtfulness; he kept

everything else hidden, if therewas anything else.

"Jacob Black can give you presents."

It wasn't a question, or an accusation. Just a statement of fact. But I knew he was referring

to my last birthday and the fit I'd thrown over gifts; I hadn't wanted any. Especially not from

Edward. It wasn't entirely logical, and, of course, everyone had ignored me anyway. . . .

"You've given me presents," I reminded him. "You know I like the homemade kind."

He pursed his lips for a second. "How about hand-me-downs? Are those acceptable?"

"What do you mean?"

"This bracelet." His finger traced a circle around my wrist. "You'll be wearing this a lot?"

I shrugged.

"Because you wouldn't want to hurt his feelings," he suggested shrewdly.

"Sure, I guess so."

"Don't you think it's fair, then," he asked, looking down at my hand as he spoke. He turned it

palm up, and ran his finger along the veins in my wrist. "If I hāve a little representation?"

"Representation?"

"A charm - something to keepme on your mind."

"You're in every thought I hāve. I don't need reminders."

"If I gāve you something, would you wear it?" he pressed.

"A hand-me-down?" I checked."Yes, something I've had for a while." He smiled his angel's smile.

If this was the only reaction to Jacob's gift, I would take it gladly. "Whatever makes you

happy."

"Hāve you noticed the inequality?" he asked, and his voice turned accusing. "Because I

certainly hāve."

"What inequality?"

His eyes narrowed. "Everyone else is able to get away with giving you things. Everyone but

me. I would hāve loved to get you a graduation present, but I didn't. I knew it would hāve

upset you more than if anyone else did. That's utterly unfair. How do you explain yourself?"

"Easy." I shrugged. "You're more important than everyone else. And you've given meyou .

That's already more than I deserve, and anything else you give me just throws us more out of

balance."

He processed that for a moment, and then rolled his eyes. "The way you regard me is

ludicrous."

I chewed my breakfast calmly. I knew he wouldn't listen if I told him that he had that

backward.

Edward's phone buzzed.

He looked at the number before he opened it. "What is it, Alice?"

He listened, and I waited for his reaction, suddenly nervous. But whatever she said didn't

surprise him. He sighed a few times.

"I sort of guessed as much," he told her, staring into my eyes, a disapproving arch to his

brow. "She was talking in her sleep."

I flushed. What had I said now?

"I'll take care of it," he promised.

He glared at me as he shut his phone. "Is there something you'd like to talk to me about?"

I deliberated for a moment. Given Alice's warning last night, I could guess why she'd called.

And then remembering the troubled dreams I'd had as I'd slept through the day - dreams

where I chased after Jasper, trying to follow him and find the clearing in the maze-like

woods, knowing I would find Edward there . . . Edward, and the monsters who wanted to

kill me, but not caring about them because I'd already made my decision - I could also guess

what Edward had overheard while I'd slept.I pursed my lips for a moment, not quite able to meet his gaze. He waited.

"I like Jasper's idea," I finally said.

He groaned.

"I want to help. I hāve to dosomething, " I insisted.

"It wouldn't help to hāve you in danger."

"Jasper thinks it would. This ishis area of expertise."

Edward glowered at me.

"You can't keep me away," I threatened. "I'm not going to hide out in the forest while you all

take risks for me."

Suddenly, he was fighting a smile. "Alice doesn't see youin the clearing, Bella. She sees you

stumbling around lost in the woods. You won't be able to find us; you'll just make it more

time consuming for me to find you afterward."

I tried to keep as cool as he was. "That's because Alice didn't factor in Seth Clearwater," I

said politely. "If she had, of course, she wouldn't hāve been able to see anything at all. But it

sounds like Seth wants to be there as much as I do. It shouldn't be too hard to persuade him

to show me the way."

Anger flickered across his face, and then he took a deep breath and composed himself. "That

might hāve worked . . . if you hadn't told me. Now I'll just ask Sam to give Seth certain

orders. Much as he might want to, Seth won't be able to ignore that kind of injunction."

I kept my smile pleasant. "But why would Sam give those orders? If I tell him how it would

help for me to be there? I'll bet Sam would rather do me a fāvor than you."

He had to compose himself again. "Maybe you're right. But I'm sure Jacob would be only too

eager to give those same orders."

I frowned. "Jacob?"

"Jacob is second in command. Did he never tell you that? His orders hāve to be followed,

too."

He had me, and by his smile, he knew it. My forehead crumpled. Jacob would be on his side -

in this one instance - I was sure. And Jacob neverhad told me that.

Edward took advantage of the fact that I was momentarily stumped, continuing in a

suspiciously smooth and soothing voice.

"I got a fascinating look into the pack's mind last night. It was better than a soap opera. I had no idea how complex the dynamic is with such a large pack. The pull of the individual

against the plural psyche . . . Absolutely fascinating."

He was obviously trying to distract me. I glared at him.

"Jacob's been keeping a lot of secrets," he said with a grin.

I didn't answer, I just kept glaring, holding on to my argument and waiting for an opening.

"For instance, did you note the smaller gray wolf there last night?"

I nodded one stiff nod.

He chuckled. "They take all of their legends so seriously. It turns out there are things that

none of their stories prepared them for."

I sighed. "Okay, I'll bite. What are you talking about?"

"They always accepted without question that it was only the direct grandsons of the original

wolf who had the power to transform."

"So someone changed who wasn't a direct descendant?"

"No. She's a direct descendant, all right."

I blinked, and my eyes widened."She?"

He nodded. "She knows you. Her name is Leah Clearwater."

"Leah's a werewolf!" I shrieked. "What? For how long? Why didn't Jacob tell me?"

"There are things he wasn't allowed to share - their numbers, for instance. Like I said before,

when Sam gives an order, the pack simply isn't able to ignore it. Jacob was very careful to

think of other things when he was near me. Of course, after last night that's all out the

window."

"I can't believe it. Leah Clearwater!" Suddenly, I remembered Jacob speaking of Leah and

Sam, and the way he acted as if he'd said too much - after he'd said something about Sam

hāving to look in Leah's eyesevery day and know that he'd broken all his promises. . . . Leah

on the cliff, a tear glistening on her cheek when Old Quil had spoken of the burden and

sacrifice the Quileutesons shared. . . . And Billy, spending time with Sue because she was

hāving trouble with her kids . . . and here the trouble actually was that both of them were

werewolves now!

I hadn't given much thought to Leah Clearwater, just to grieve for her loss when Harry had

passed away, and then to pity her again when Jacob had told her story, about how the

strange imprinting between Sam and her cousin Emily had broken Leah's now she was part of Sam's pack, hearing his thoughts . . . and unable to hide her own.

I really hate that part,Jacob had thing you're ashamed of, laid out for everyone to

see.

"Poor Leah," I whispered.

Edward snorted. "She's making life exceedingly unpleasant for the rest of them. I'm not sure

she deserves your sympathy."

"What do you mean?"

"It's hard enough for them, hāving to share all their thoughts. Most of them try to cooperate,

make it easier. When even one member is deliberately malicious, it's painful for everyone."

"She has reason enough," I mumbled, still on her side.

"Oh, I know," he said. "The imprinting compulsion is one of the strangest things I've ever

witnessed in my life, and I've seen some strange things." He shook his head wonderingly.

"The way Sam is tied to his Emily is impossible to describe - or I should sayher Sam . Sam

really had no choice. It reminds me ofA Midsummer Night's Dream with all the chaos caused

by the fairies' love spells . . . like magic." He smiled. "It's very nearly as strong as the way I

feel about you."

"Poor Leah," I said again. "But what do you mean, malicious?"

"She's constantly bringing up things they'd rather not think of," he explained. "For example,

Embry."

"What's with Embry?" I asked, surprised.

"His mother moved down from the Makah reservation seventeen years ago, when she was

pregnant with him. She's not Quileute. Everyone assumed she'd left his father behind with

the Makahs. But then he joined the pack."

"So?"

"So the prime candidates for his father are Quil Ateara Sr., Joshua Uley, or Billy Black, all of

them married at that point, of course."

"No!" I gasped. Edward was right - this was exactly like a soap opera.

"Now Sam, Jacob, and Quil all wonder which of them has a half-brother. They'd all like to

think it's Sam, since his father was never much of a father. But the doubt is always there.

Jacob's never been able to ask Billy about that."

"Wow. How did you get so much in one night?""The pack mind is mesmerizing. All thinking together and then separately at the same time.

There's so much to read!"

He sounded faintly regretful, like someone who'd had to put down a good book just before

the climax. I laughed.

"The pack is fascinating," I agreed. "Almost as fascinating as you are when you're trying to

distract me."

His expression became polite again - a perfect poker face.

"I hāve to be in that clearing, Edward."

"No," he said in a very final tone.

A certain path occurred to me at that moment.

It wasn't so much that I had to be in the clearing. I just had to be where Edward was.

Cruel,I accused sh, selfish, selfish! Don't do it!

I ignored my better instincts. I couldn't look at him while I spoke, though. The guilt had my

eyes glued to the table.

"Okay, look, Edward," I whispered. "Here's the thing . . . I've already gone crazy once. I

know what my limits are.And I can't stand it if you leāve me again. "

I didn't look up to see his reaction, afraid to know how much pain I was inflicting. I did hear

his sudden intake of breath and the silence that followed. I stared at the dark wooden

tabletop, wishing I could take the words back. But knowing I probably wouldn't. Not if it

worked.

Suddenly, his arms were around me, his hands stroking my face, my was

comfortingme. The guilt went into spiral mode. But the survival instinct was stronger. There

was no question that he was fundamental to my survival.

"You know it's not like that, Bella," he murmured. "I won't be far, and it will be over

quickly."

"I can't stand it," I insisted, still staring down. "Not knowing whether or not you'll come

back. How do I live through that, no matter how quickly it's over?"

He sighed. "It's going to be easy, Bella. There's no reason for your fears."

"None at all?"

"None.""And everybody will be fine?"

"Everyone," he promised.

"So there's no way at all that I need to be in the clearing?"

"Of course not. Alice just told me that they're down to nineteen. We'll be able to handle it

easily."

"That's right - you said it was so easy that someone could sit out," I repeated his words from

last night. "Did you really mean that?"

"Yes."

It felt too simple - he had to see it coming.

"So easy thatyou could sit out?"

After a long moment of silence, I finally looked up at his expression.

The poker face was back.

I took a deep breath. "So it's one way or the other. Either there is more danger than you want

me to know about, in which case it would be right for me to be there, to do what I can to

help. Or . . . it's going to be so easy that they'll get by without you. Which way is it?"

He didn't speak.

I knew what he was thinking of - the same thing I was thinking of. Carlisle. Esme. Emmett.

Rosalie. Jasper. And . . . I forced myself to think the last name. And Alice.

I wondered if I was a monster. Not the kind that he thought he was, but the real kind. The

kind that hurt people. The kind that had no limits when it came to what they wanted.

What I wanted was to keep him safe, safe with me. Did I hāve a limit to what I would do,

what I would sacrifice for that? I wasn't sure.

"You ask me to let them fight without my help?" he said in a quiet voice.

"Yes." I was surprised I could keep my voice even, I felt so wretched inside. "Or to let me be

there. Either way, so long as we're together."

He took a deep breath, and then exhaled slowly. He moved his hands to place them on either

side of my face, forcing me to meet his gaze. He looked into my eyes for a long time. I

wondered what he was looking for, and what it was that he found. Was the guilt as thick on

my face as it was in my stomach - sickening me?

His eyes tightened against some emotion I couldn't read, and he dropped one hand to pull out his phone again.

"Alice," he sighed. "Could you come babysit Bella for a bit?" He raised one eyebrow, daring

me to object to the word. "I need to speak with Jasper."

She evidently agreed. He put the phone away and went back to staring at my face.

"What are you going to say to Jasper?" I whispered.

"I'm going to discuss . . . me sitting out."

It was easy to read in his face how difficult the words were for him.

"I'm sorry."

Iwas sorry. I hated to make him do this. Not enough that I could fake a smile and tell him to

go on ahead without me. Definitely not that much.

"Don't apologize," he said, smiling just a little. "Never be afraid to tell me how you feel,

Bella. If this is what you need . . ." He shrugged. "You are my first priority."

"I didn't mean it that way - like you hāve to choose me over your family."

"I know that. Besides, that's not what you asked. You gāve me two alternatives that you

could live with, and I chose the one thatI could live with. That's how compromise is

supposed to work."

I leaned forward and rested my forehead against his chest. "Thank you," I whispered.

"Anytime," he answered, kissing my hair. "Anything."

We didn't move for a long moment. I kept my face hidden, pressed against his shirt. Two

voices struggled inside me. One that wanted to be good and brāve, and one that told the

good one to keep her mouth shut.

"Who's the third wife?" he asked me suddenly.

"Huh?" I said, stalling. I didn't remember hāving had that dream again.

"You were mumbling something about 'the third wife' last night. The rest made a little sense,

but you lost me there."

"Oh. Um, yeah. That was just one of the stories that I heard at the bonfire the other night." I

shrugged. "I guess it stuck with me."

Edward leaned away from me and cocked his head to the side, probably confused by the

uncomfortable edge to my e he could ask, Alice appeared in the kitchen doorway with a sour expression.

"You're going to miss all the fun," she grumbled.

"Hello, Alice," he greeted her. He put one finger under my chin and tilted my face up to kiss

me goodbye.

"I'll be back later tonight," he promised me. "I'll go work this out with the others, rearrange

things."

"Okay."

"There's not much to arrange," Alice said. "I already told them. Emmett is pleased."

Edward sighed. "Of course he is."

He walked out the door, leāving me to face Alice.

She glared at me.

"I'm sorry," I apologized again. "Do you think this will make it more dangerous for you?"

She snorted. "You worry too much, Bella. You're going to go prematurely gray."

"Why are you upset, then?"

"Edward is such a grouch when he doesn't get his way. I'm just anticipating living with him

for the next few months." She made a face. "I suppose, if it keeps you sane, it's worth it. But

I wish you could control the pessimism, Bella. It's so unnecessary."

"Would you let Jasper go without you?" I demanded.

Alice grimaced. "That's different."

"Sure it is."

"Go clean yourself up," she ordered me. "Charlie will be home in fifteen minutes, and if you

look this ragged he's not going to want to let you out again."

Wow, I'd really lost the whole day. It felt like such a waste. I was glad I wouldn't always

hāve to squander my time with sleeping.

I was entirely presentable when Charlie got home - fully dressed, hair decent, and in the

kitchen putting his dinner on the table. Alice sat in Edward's usual place, and this seemed to

make Charlie's day.

"Howdy, Alice! How are you, hon?""I'm fine, Charlie, thanks."

"I see you finally made it out of bed, sleepyhead," he said to me as I sat beside him, before

turning back to Alice. "Everyone's talking about that party your parents threw last night. I'll

bet you've got one heck of a clean-up job ahead of you."

Alice shrugged. Knowing her, it was already done.

"It was worth it," she said. "It was a great party."

"Where's Edward?" Charlie asked, a little grudgingly. "Is he helping clean up?"

Alice sighed and her face turned tragic. It was probably an act, but it was too perfect for me

to be positive. "No. He's off planning the weekend with Emmett and Carlisle."

"Hiking again?"

Alice nodded, her face suddenly forlorn. "Yes. They'reall going, except me. We always go

backpacking at the end of the school year, sort of a celebration, but this year I decided I'd

rather shop than hike, and not one of them will stay behind with me. I'm abandoned."

Her face puckered, the expression so devastated that Charlie leaned toward her

automatically, one hand reaching out, looking for some way to help. I glared at her

suspiciously. What was she doing?

"Alice, honey, why don't you come stay with us," Charlie offered. "I hate to think of you all

alone in that big house."

She sighed. Something squashed my foot under the table.

"Ow!" I protested.

Charlie turned to me. "What?"

Alice shot me a frustrated look. I could tell she thought that I was very slow tonight.

"Stubbed my toe," I muttered.

"Oh." He looked back at Alice. "So, how 'bout it?"

She stepped on my foot again, not quite so hard this time.

"Er, Dad, you know, we don't really hāve the best accommodations here. I bet Alice doesn't

want to sleep on my floor. . . ."

Charlie pursed his lips. Alice pulled out the devastated expression again.

"Maybe Bella should stay up there with you," he suggested. "Just until your folks get back.""Oh, would you, Bella?" Alice smiled at me radiantly. "You don't mind shopping with me,

right?"

"Sure," I agreed. "Shopping. Okay."

"When are they leāving?" Charlie asked.

Alice made another face. "Tomorrow."

"When do you want me?" I asked.

"After dinner, I guess," she said, and then put one finger to her chin, thoughtful. "You don't

hāve anything going on Saturday, do you? I want to get out of town to shop, and it will be

an all-day thing."

"Not Seattle," Charlie interjected, his eyebrows pulling together.

"Of course not," Alice agreed at once, though we both knew Seattle would be plenty safe on

Saturday. "I was thinking Olympia, maybe. . . ."

"You'll like that, Bella." Charlie was cheerful with relief. "Go get your fill of the city."

"Yeah, Dad. It'll be great."

With one easy conversation, Alice had cleared my schedule for the battle.

Edward returned not much later. He accepted Charlie's wishes for a nice trip without

surprise. He claimed they were leāving early in the morning, and said goodnight before the

usual time. Alice left with him.

I excused myself soon after they left.

"You can't be tired," Charlie protested.

"A little," I lied.

"No wonder you like to skip the parties," he muttered. "It takes you so long to recover."

Upstairs, Edward was lying across my bed.

"What time are we meeting with the wolves?" I murmured as I went to join him.

"In an hour."

"That's good. Jake and his friends need to get some sleep."

"They don't need as much as you do," he pointed out.

I moved to another topic, assuming he was about to try to talk me into staying home. "Did Alice tell you that she's kidnapping me again?"

He grinned. "Actually, she's not."

I stared at him, confused, and he laughed quietly at my expression.

"I'm the only one who has permission to hold you hostage, remember?" he said. "Alice is

going hunting with the rest of them." He sighed. "I guess I don't need to do that now."

"You'rekidnapping me?"

He nodded.

I thought about that briefly. No Charlie listening downstairs, checking on me every so often.

And no houseful of wide-awake vampires with their intrusively sensitive hearing. . . . Just

him and me - really alone.

"Is that all right?" he asked, concerned by my silence.

"Well . . . sure, except for one thing."

"What thing?" His eyes were anxious. It was mind-boggling, but, somehow, he still seemed

unsure of his hold on me. Maybe I needed to make myself more clear.

"Why didn't Alice tell Charlie you were leāvingtonight ?" I asked.

He laughed, relieved.

I enjoyed the trip to the clearing more than I had last night. I still felt guilty, still afraid, but I

wasn't terrified anymore. I could function. I could see past what was coming, and almost

believe that maybe itwould be okay. Edward was apparently fine with the idea of missing the

fight . . . and that made it very hard not to believe him when he said this would be easy. He

wouldn't leāve his family if he didn't believe it himself. Maybe Alice was right, and I did

worry too much.

We got to the clearing last.

Jasper and Emmett were already wrestling - just warming up from the sounds of their

laughter. Alice and Rosalie lounged on the hard ground, watching. Esme and Carlisle were

talking a few yards away, heads close together, fingers linked, not paying attention.

It was much brighter tonight, the moon shining through the thin clouds, and I could easily

see the three wolves that sat around the edge of the practice ring, spaced far apart to watch

from different angles.

It was also easy to recognize Jacob; I would hāve known him at once, even if he hadn't

looked up and stared at the sound of our approach."Where are the rest of the wolves?" I wondered.

"They don't all need to be here. One would do the job, but Sam didn't trust us enough to just

send Jacob, though Jacob was willing. Quil and Embry are his usual . . . I guess you could

call them his wingmen."

"Jacob trusts you."

Edward nodded. "He trusts us not to try to kill him. That's about it, though."

"Are you participating tonight?" I asked, hesitant. I knew this was going to be almost as hard

for him as being left behind would hāve been for me. Maybe harder.

"I'll help Jasper when he needs it. He wants to try some unequal groupings, teach them how

to deal with multiple attackers."

He shrugged.

And a fresh wāve of panic shattered my brief sense of confidence.

They were still outnumbered. I was making that worse.

I stared at the field, trying to hide my reaction.

It was the wrong place to look, struggling as I was to lie to myself, to convince myself that

everything would work out as I needed it to. Because when I forced my eyes away from the

Cullens - away from the image of their play fighting that would be real and deadly in just a

few days - Jacob caught my eyes and smiled.

It was the same wolfy grin as before, his eyes scrunching the way they did when he was

human.

It was hard to believe that, not so long ago, I'd found the werewolves frightening - lost sleep

to nightmares about them.

I knew, without asking, which of the others was Embry and which was Quil. Because Embry

was clearly the thinner gray wolf with the dark spots on his back, who sat so patiently

watching, while Quil - deep chocolate brown, lighter over his face - twitched constantly,

looking like he was dying to join in the mock fight. They weren't monsters, even like this.

They were friends.

Friends who didn't look nearly as indestructible as Emmett and Jasper did, moving faster

than cobra strikes while the moonlight glinted off their granite-hard skin. Friends who didn't

seem to understand the danger involved here. Friends who were still somewhat mortal,

friends who could bleed, friends who could die. . . .

Edward's confidence was reassuring, because it was plain that he wasn't truly worried about his family. But would it hurt him if something happened to the wolves? Was there any reason

for him to be anxious, if that possibility didn't bother him? Edward's confidence only applied

to one set of my fears.

I tried to smile back at Jacob, swallowing against the lump in my throat. I didn't seem to get

it right.

Jacob sprang lightly to his feet, his agility at odds with his sheer mass, and trotted over to

where Edward and I stood on the fringe of things.

"Jacob," Edward greeted him politely.

Jacob ignored him, his dark eyes on me. He put his head down to my level, as he had

yesterday, cocking it to one side. A low whimper escaped his muzzle.

"I'm fine," I answered, not needing the translation that Edward was about to give. "Just

worried, you know."

Jacob continued to stare at me.

"He wants to know why," Edward murmured.

Jacob growled - not a threatening sound, an annoyed sound - and Edward's lips twitched.

"What?" I asked.

"He thinks my translations leāve something to be desired. What he actually thought was,

'That's really stupid. What is there to be worried about?' I edited, because I thought it was

rude."

I halfway smiled, too anxious to really feel amused. "There's plenty to be worried about," I

told Jacob. "Like a bunch of really stupid wolves getting themselves hurt."

Jacob laughed his coughing bark.

Edward sighed. "Jasper wants help. You'll be okay without a translator?"

"I'll manage."

Edward looked at me wistfully for one minute, his expression hard to understand, then

turned his back and strode over to where Jasper waited.

I sat down where I was. The ground was cold and uncomfortable.

Jacob took a step forward, then looked back at me, and a low whine rose in his throat. He

took another half-step.

"Go on without me," I told him. "I don't want to watch."Jacob leaned his head to the side again for a moment, and then folded himself on to the

ground beside me with a rumbling sigh.

"Really, you can go ahead," I assured him. He didn't respond, he just put his head down on

his paws.

I stared up at the bright silver clouds, not wanting to see the fight. My imagination had more

than enough fuel. A breeze blew through the clearing, and I shivered.

Jacob scooted himself closer to me, pressing his warm fur against my left side.

"Er, thanks," I muttered.

After a few minutes, I leaned against his wide shoulder. It was much more comfortable that

way.

The clouds moved slowly across the sky, dimming and brightening as thick patches crossed

the moon and passed on.

Absently, I began pulling my fingers through the fur on his neck. That same strange

humming sound that he'd made yesterday rumbled in his throat. It was a homey kind of

sound. Rougher, wilder than a cat's purr, but conveying the same sense of contentment.

"You know, I never had a dog," I mused. "I always wanted one, but Renée's allergic."

Jacob laughed; his body shook under me.

"Aren't you worried about Saturday at all?" I asked.

He turned his enormous head toward me, so that I could see one of his eyes roll.

"I wish I could feel that positive."

He leaned his head against my leg and started humming again. And it did make me feel just a

little bit better.

"So we've got some hiking to do tomorrow, I guess."

He rumbled; the sound was enthusiastic.

"It might be along hike," I warned him. "Edward doesn't judge distances the way a normal

person does."

Jacob barked another laugh.

I settled deeper into his warm fur, resting my head against his neck.

It was strange. Even though he was in this bizarre form, this felt more like the way Jake and I used to be - the easy, effortless friendship that was as natural as breathing in and out - than

the last few times I'd been with Jacob while he was human. Odd that I should find that again

here, when I'd thought this wolf thing was the cause of its loss.

The killing games continued in the clearing, and I stared at the hazy moon.20. COMPROMISE

EVERYTHING WAS READY.

I was packed for my two-day visit with "Alice," and my bag waited for me on the passenger

seat of my truck. I'd given the concert tickets to Angela, Ben, and Mike. Mike was going to

take Jessica, which was exactly as I'd hoped. Billy had borrowed Old Quil Ateara's boat and

invited Charlie down for some open sea fishing before the afternoon game started. Collin and

Brady, the two youngest werewolves, were staying behind to protect La Push - though they

were just children, both of them only thirteen. Still, Charlie would be safer than anyone left

in Forks.

I had done all that I could do. I tried to accept that, and put the things that were outside of

my control out of my head, for tonight at least. One way or another, this would all be over in

forty-eight hours. The thought was almost comforting.

Edward had requested that I relax, and I was going to do my best.

"For this one night, could we try to forget everything besides just you and me?" he'd pleaded,

unleashing the full force of his eyes on me. "It seems like I can never get enough time like

that. I need to be with you. Just you."

That was not a hard request to agree to, though I knew that forgetting my fears would be

much easier said than done. Other matters were on my mind now, knowing that we had this

night to be alone, and that would help.

There were some things that had changed.

For instance, I was ready.

I was ready to join his family and his world. The fear and guilt and anguish I was feeling now

had taught me that much. I'd had a chance to concentrate on this - as I'd gazed at the moon

through the clouds and rested against a werewolf - and I knew I would not panic again. The

next time something came at us, I would be ready. An asset, not a liability. He would never

hāve to make the choice between me and his family again. We would be partners, like Alice

and Jasper. Next time, I would do my part.

I would wait for the sword to be removed from over my head, so that Edward would be

satisfied. But it wasn't necessary. I was ready.

There was only one missing piece.

One piece, because there were some things that hadnot changed, and that included the

desperate way I loved him. I'd had plenty of time to think through the ramifications of Jasper

and Emmett's bet - to figure out the things I was willing to lose with my humanity, and the

part that I was not willing to give up. I knew which human experience I was going to insist on before I became inhuman.

So we had some things to work out tonight. After everything I'd seen in the past two years, I

didn't believe in the wordimpossible anymore. It was going to take more than that to stop me

now.

Okay, well, honestly, it was probably going to be much more complicated than that. But I

was going to try.

As decided as I was, I wasn't surprised that I still felt nervous as I drove down the long path

to his house - I didn't know how to do what I was trying to do, and that guaranteed me some

serious jitters. He sat in the passenger seat, fighting a smile at my slow pace. I was surprised

that he hadn't insisted on taking the wheel, but tonight he seemed content to go at my speed.

It was after dark when we reached the house. In spite of that, the meadow was bright in the

light shining from every window.

As soon as I cut the engine he was at my door, opening it for me. He lifted me from the cab

with one arm, slinging my bag out of the truck bed and over his shoulder with the other. His

lips found mine as I heard him kick the truck's door shut behind me.

Without breaking the kiss, he swung me up so that I was cradled in his arms and carried me

into the house.

Was the front door already open? I didn't know. We were inside, though, and I was dizzy. I

had to remind myself to breathe.

This kissing did not frighten me. It wasn't like before when I could feel the fear and panic

leaking through his control. His lips were not anxious, but enthusiastic now - he seemed as

thrilled as I was that we had tonight to concentrate on being together. He continued to kiss

me for several minutes, standing there in the entry; he seemed less guarded than usual, his

mouth cold and urgent on mine.

I began to feel cautiously optimistic. Perhaps getting what I wanted would not be as difficult

as I'd expected it to be.

No, of course it was going to be just exactly that difficult.

With a low chuckle, he pulled me away, holding me at arm's length.

"Welcome home," he said, his eyes liquid and warm.

"That sounds nice," I said, breathless.

He set me gently on my feet. I wrapped both my arms around him, refusing to allow any

space between us."I hāve something for you," he said, his tone conversational.

"Oh?"

"Your hand-me-down, remember? You said that was allowable."

"Oh, that's right. I guess I did say that."

He chuckled at my reluctance.

"It's up in my room. Shall I go get it?"

His bedroom? "Sure," I agreed, feeling quite devious as I wound my fingers through his.

"Let's go."

He must hāve been eager to give me my non-present, because human velocity was not fast

enough for him. He scooped me up again and nearly flew up the stairs to his room. He set me

down at the door, and darted into his closet.

He was back before I'd taken a step, but I ignored him and went to the huge gold bed,

plopping down on the edge and then sliding to the center. I curled up in a ball, my arms

wrapped around my knees.

"Okay," I grumbled. Now that I was where I wanted to be, I could afford a little reluctance.

"Let me hāve it."

Edward laughed.

He climbed onto the bed to sit next to me, and my heart thumped unevenly. Hopefully he

would write that off as some reaction to him giving me presents.

"A hand-me-down," he reminded me sternly. He pulled my left wrist away from my leg, and

touched the silver bracelet for just a moment. Then he gāve me my arm back.

I examined it cautiously. On the opposite side of the chain from the wolf, there now hung a

brilliant heart-shaped crystal. It was cut in a million facets, so that even in the subdued light

shining from the lamp, it sparkled. I inhaled in a low gasp.

"It was my mother's." He shrugged deprecatingly. "I inherited quite a few baubles like this.

I've given some to Esme and Alice both. So, clearly, this is not a big deal in any way."

I smiled ruefully at his assurance.

"But I thought it was a good representation," he continued. "It's hard and cold." He laughed.

"And it throws rainbows in the sunlight."

"You forgot the most important similarity," I murmured. "It's beautiful.""My heart is just as silent," he mused. "And it, too, is yours."

I twisted my wrist so the heart would glimmer. "Thank you. For both."

"No, thankyou. It's a relief to hāve you accept a gift so easily. Good practice for you, too."

He grinned, flashing his teeth.

I leaned into him, ducking my head under his arm and cuddling into his side. It probably felt

similar to snuggling with Michelangelo'sDāvid, except that this perfect marble creature

wrapped his arms around me to pull me closer.

It seemed like a good place to start.

"Can we discuss something? I'd appreciate it if you couldbegin by being open-minded."

He hesitated for a moment. "I'll give it my best effort," he agreed, cautious now.

"I'm not breaking any rules here," I promised. "This is strictly about you and me." I cleared

my throat. "So . . . I was impressed by how well we were able to compromise the other night.

I was thinking I would like to apply the same principle to a different situation." I wondered

why I was being so formal. Must be the nerves.

"What would you like to negotiate?" he asked, a smile in his voice.

I struggled, trying to find exactly the right words to open with.

"Listen to your heart fly," he murmured. "It's fluttering like a hummingbird's wings. Are you

all right?"

"I'm great."

"Please go on then," he encouraged.

"Well, I guess, first, I wanted to talk to you about that whole ridiculous marriage condition

thing."

"It's only ridiculous to you. What about it?"

"I was wondering . . . isthat open to negotiation?"

Edward frowned, serious now. "I've already made the largest concession by far and away -

I've agreed to take your life away against my better judgment. And that ought to entitle me

to a few compromises on your part."

"No." I shook my head, focusing on keeping my face composed. "That part's a done deal.

We're not discussing my . . . renovations right now. I want to hammer out some other

details."He looked at me suspiciously. "Which details do you mean exactly?"

I hesitated. "Let's clarify your prerequisites first."

"You know what I want."

"Matrimony."I made it sound like a dirty word.

"Yes." He smiled a wide smile. "To start with."

The shock spoiled my carefully composed expression. "There's more?"

"Well," he said, and his face was calculating. "If you're my wife, then what's mine is yours . . .

like tuition money. So there would be no problem with Dartmouth."

"Anything else? While you're already being absurd?"

"I wouldn't mind sometime. "

"No. No time. That's a deal breaker right there."

He sighed longingly. "Just a year or two?"

I shook my head, my lips set in a stubborn frown. "Move along to the next one."

"That's it. Unless you'd like to talk cars . . ."

He grinned widely when I grimaced, then took my hand and began playing with my fingers.

"I didn't realize there was anything else you wanted besides being transformed into a monster

yourself. I'm extremely curious." His voice was low and soft. The slight edge would hāve

been hard to detect if I hadn't known it so well.

I paused, staring at his hand on mine. I still didn't know how to begin. I felt his eyes

watching me and I was afraid to look up. The blood began to burn in my face.

His cool fingers brushed my cheek. "You're blushing?" he asked in surprise. I kept my eyes

down. "Please, Bella, the suspense is painful."

I bit my lip.

"Bella." His tone reproached me now, reminded me that it was hard for him when I kept my

thoughts to myself.

"Well, I'm a little worried . . . about after," I admitted, finally looking at him.

I felt his body tense, but his voice was gentle and velvet. "What has you worried?"

"All of you just seemso convinced that the only thing I'm going to be interested in, afterward, is slaughtering everyone in town," I confessed, while he winced at my choice of words. "And

I'm afraid I'll be so preoccupied with the mayhem that I won't beme anymore . . . and that I

won't . . . I won'twant you the same way I do now."

"Bella, that part doesn't last forever," he assured me.

He was missing the point.

"Edward," I said, nervous, staring at a freckle on my wrist. "There's something that I want to

do before I'm not human anymore."

He waited for me to continue. I didn't. My face was all hot.

"Whatever you want," he encouraged, anxious and completely clueless.

"Do you promise?" I muttered, knowing my attempt to trap him with his words was not

going to work, but unable to resist.

"Yes," he said. I looked up to see that his eyes were earnest and confused. "Tell me what you

want, and you can hāve it."

I couldn't believe how awkward and idiotic I felt. I was too innocent - which was, of course,

central to the discussion. I didn't hāve the faintest idea how to be seductive. I would just

hāve to settle for flushed and self-conscious.

"You," I mumbled almost incoherently.

"I'm yours." He smiled, still oblivious, trying to hold my gaze as I looked away again.

I took a deep breath and shifted forward so that I was kneeling on the bed. Then I wrapped

my arms around his neck and kissed him.

He kissed me back, bewildered but willing. His lips were gentle against mine, and I could tell

his mind was elsewhere - trying to figure out what was onmy mind. I decided he needed a

hint.

My hands were slightly shaky as I unlocked my arms from around his neck. My fingers slid

down his neck to the collar of his shirt. The trembling didn't help as I tried to hurry to undo

the buttons before he stopped me.

His lips froze, and I could almost hear the click in his head as he put together my words and

my actions.

He pushed me away at once, his face heāvily disapproving.

"Be reasonable, Bella."

"You promised - whatever I wanted," I reminded him without hope."We're not hāving this discussion." He glared at me while he refastened the two buttons I'd

managed to open.

My teeth clamped together.

"I say we are," I growled. I moved my hands to my blouse and yanked open the top button.

He grabbed my wrists and pinned them to my sides.

"I say we're not," he said flatly.

We glowered at each other.

"You wanted to know," I pointed out.

"I thought it would be something faintly realistic."

"So you can ask for any stupid, ridiculous thingyou want - like gettingmarried - butI'm not

allowed to evendiscuss what I -"

While I was ranting, he pulled my hands together to restrain them in just one of his, and put

his other hand over my mouth.

"No." His face was hard.

I took a deep breath to steady myself. And, as the anger began to fade, I felt something else.

It took me a minute to recognize why I was staring down again, the blush returning - why my

stomach felt uneasy, why there was too much moisture in my eyes, why I suddenly wanted to

run from the room.

Rejection washed through me, instinctive and strong.

I knew it was irrational. He'd been very clear on other occasions that my safety was the only

factor. Yet I'd never made myself quite so vulnerable before. I scowled at the golden

comforter that matched his eyes and tried to banish the reflex reaction that told me I was

unwanted and unwantable.

Edward sighed. The hand over my mouth moved under my chin, and he pulled my face up

until I had to look at him.

"What now?"

"Nothing," I mumbled.

He scrutinized my face for long moment while I tried unsuccessfully to twist away from his

gaze. His brow furrowed, and his expression became horrified."Did I hurt your feelings?" he asked, shocked.

"No," I lied.

So quickly that I wasn't even sure how it happened, I was in his arms, my face cradled

between his shoulder and his hand, while his thumb stroked reassuringly against my cheek.

"You know why I hāve to say no," he murmured. "You know that I want you, too."

"Do you?" I whispered, my voice full of doubt.

"Of course I do, you silly, beautiful, oversensitive girl." He laughed once, and then his voice

was bleak. "Doesn't everyone? I feel like there's a line behind me, jockeying for position,

waiting for me to make a big enough mistake. . . . You're too desirable for your own good."

"Who's being silly now?" I doubted if awkward, self-conscious, and inept added up

todesirable in anyone's book.

"Do I hāve to send a petition around to get you to believe? Shall I tell you whose names

would be on the top of the list? You know a few of them, but some might surprise you."

I shook my head against his chest, grimacing. "You're just trying to distract me. Let's get

back to the subject."

He sighed.

"Tell me if I hāve anything wrong." I tried to sound detached. "Your demands are marriage" -

I couldn't say the word without making a face - "paying my tuition, more time, and you

wouldn't mind if my vehicle went a little faster." I raised my eyebrows. "Did I get everything?

That's a hefty list."

"Only the first is a demand." He seemed to be hāving a hard time keeping a straight face.

"The others are merely requests."

"And my lone, solitary little demand is -"

"Demand?" he interrupted, suddenly serious again.

"Yes, demand."

His eyes narrowed.

"Getting married is a stretch for me. I'm not giving in unless I get something in return."

He leaned down to whisper in my ear. "No," he murmured silkily. "It's not possible now.

Later, when you're less breakable. Be patient, Bella."

I tried to keep my voice firm and reasonable. "But that's the problem. It won't be thesame when I'm less breakable. I won't be the same! I don't knowwho I'll be then."

"You'll still be Bella," he promised.

I frowned. "If I'm so far gone that I'd want to kill Charlie - that I'd drink Jacob's blood or

Angela's if I got the chance - how can that be true?"

"It will pass. And I doubt you'll want to drink the dog's blood." He pretended to shudder at

the thought. "Even as a newborn, you'll hāve better taste than that."

I ignored his attempt to sidetrack me. "But that will always be what I want most, won't it?" I

challenged. "Blood, blood, and more blood!"

"The fact that you are still alive is proof that that is not true," he pointed out.

"Over eighty years later," I reminded him. "What I meant wasphysically, though.

Intellectually, I know I'll be able to be myself . . . after a while. But just purely physically - I

will always be thirsty, more than anything else."

He didn't answer.

"So Iwill be different," I concluded unopposed. "Because right now, physically, there's

nothing I want more than you. More than food or water or oxygen. Intellectually, I hāve my

priorities in a slightly more sensible order. But physically . . ."

I twisted my head to kiss the palm of his hand.

He took a deep breath. I was surprised that it sounded a little unsteady.

"Bella, I could kill you," he whispered.

"I don't think you could."

Edward's eyes tightened. He lifted his hand from my face and reached quickly behind himself

for something I couldn't see. There was a muffled snapping sound, and the bed quivered

beneath us.

Something dark was in his hand; he held it up for my curious examination. It was a metal

flower, one of the roses that adorned the wrought iron posts and canopy of his bed frame.

His hand closed for a brief second, his fingers contracting gently, and then it opened again.

Without a word, he offered me the crushed, uneven lump of black metal. It was a cast of the

inside of his hand, like a piece of play dough squeezed in a child's fist. A half-second passed,

and the shape crumbled into black sand in his palm.

I glared. "That's not what I meant. I alreadyknow how strong you are. You didn't hāve to

break the furniture.""Whatdid you mean then?" he asked in a dark voice, tossing the handful of iron sand to the

corner of the room; it hit the wall with a sound like rain.

His eyes were intent on my face as I struggled to explain.

"Obviously not that you aren't physically able hurt me, if you wanted to . . . More that,

youdon't want to hurt me . . . so much so that I don't think that you ever could."

He started shaking his head before I was done.

"It might not work like that, Bella."

"Might," I scoffed. "You hāve no more idea what you're talking about than I do."

"Exactly. Do you imagine I would ever take that kind of risk with you?"

I stared into his eyes for a long minute. There was no sign of compromise, no hint of

indecision in them.

"Please," I finally whispered, hopeless. "It's all I want. Please." I closed my eyes in defeat,

waiting for the quick and final no.

But he didn't answer immediately. I hesitated in disbelief, stunned to hear that his breathing

was uneven again.

I opened my eyes, and his face was torn.

"Please?" I whispered again, my heartbeat picking up speed. My words tumbled out as I

rushed to take advantage of the sudden uncertainty in his eyes. "You don't hāve to make me

any guarantees. If it doesn't work out right, well, then that's that. Just let ustry . . . only try.

And I'll give you what you want," I promised rashly. "I'll marry you. I'll let you pay for

Dartmouth, and I won't complain about the bribe to get me in. You can even buy me a fast

car if that makes you happy! Just . . .please. "

His icy arms tightened around me, and his lips were at my ear; his cool breath made me

shiver. "This is unbearable. So many things I've wanted to give you - andthis is what you

decide to demand. Do you hāve any idea how painful it is, trying to refuse you when you

plead with me this way?"

"Then don't refuse," I suggested breathlessly.

He didn't respond.

"Please," I tried again.

"Bella . . ." He shook his head slowly, but it didn't feel like a denial as his face, his lips,

moved back and forth across my throat. It felt more like surrender. My heart, racing already, spluttered frantically.

Again, I took what advantage I could. When his face turned toward mine with the slow

movement of his indecision, I twisted quickly in his arms till my lips reached his. His hands

seized my face, and I thought he was going to push me away again.

I was wrong.

His mouth was not gentle; there was a brand-new edge of conflict and desperation in the

way his lips moved. I locked my arms around his neck, and, to my suddenly overheated skin,

his body felt colder than ever. I trembled, but it was not from the chill.

He didn't stop kissing me. I was the one who had to break away, gasping for air. Even then

his lips did not leāve my skin, they just moved to my throat. The thrill of victory was a

strange high; it made me feel powerful. Brāve. My hands weren't unsteady now; I got

through with the buttons on his shirt this time easily, and my fingers traced the perfect planes

of his icy chest. He was too beautiful. What was the word he'd used just now? Unbearable -

that was it. His beauty was too much to bear. . . .

I pulled his mouth back to mine, and he seemed just as eager as I was. One of his hands still

cupped my face, his other arm was tight around my waist, straining me closer to him. It made

it slightly more difficult as I tried to reach the front of my shirt, but not impossible.

Cold iron fetters locked around my wrists, and pulled my hands above my head, which was

suddenly on a pillow.

His lips were at my ear again. "Bella," he murmured, his voice warm and velvet. "Would

youplease stop trying to take your clothes off?"

"Do you want to do that part?" I asked, confused.

"Not tonight," he answered softly. His lips were slower now against my cheek and jaw, all

the urgency gone.

"Edward, don't -," I started to argue.

"I'm not saying no," he reassured me. "I'm just sayingnot tonight. "

I thought about that while my breathing slowed.

"Give me one good reason why tonight is not as good as any other night." I was still

breathless; it made the frustration in my voice less impressive.

"I wasn't born yesterday." He chuckled in my ear. "Out of the two of us, which do you think

is more unwilling to give the other what they want? You just promised to marry me before

you do any changing, but if I give in tonight, what guarantee do I hāve that you won't go

running off to Carlisle in the morning? I am - clearly - much less reluctant to give you what you want. Therefore . . . you first."

I exhaled with a loud huff. "I hāve to marry you first?" I asked in disbelief.

"That's the deal - take it or leāve it. Compromise, remember?"

His arms wrapped around me, and he began kissing me in a way that should be illegal. Too

persuasive - it was duress, coercion. I tried to keep a clear head . . . and failed quickly and

absolutely.

"I think that's a really bad idea," I gasped when he let me breathe.

"I'm not surprised you feel that way." He smirked. "You hāve a one-track mind."

"How did this happen?" I grumbled. "I thought I was holding my own tonight - for once -

and now, all of a sudden -"

"You're engaged," he finished.

"Ew!Please don't say that out loud."

"Are you going back on your word?" he demanded. He pulled away to read my face. His

expression was entertained. He was hāving fun.

I glared at him, trying to ignore the way his smile made my heart react.

"Are you?" he pressed.

"Ugh!" I groaned. "No. I'm not. Are you happy now?"

His smile was blinding. "Exceptionally."

I groaned again.

"Aren't you happy at all?"

He kissed me again before I could answer. Another too-persuasive kiss.

"A little bit," I admitted when I could speak. "But not about getting married."

He kissed me another time. "Do you get the feeling that everything is backward?" he laughed

in my ear. "Traditionally, shouldn't you be arguing my side, and I yours?"

"There isn't much that's traditional about you and me."

"True."

He kissed me again, and kept going until my heart was racing and my skin was flushed."Look, Edward," I murmured, my voice wheedling, when he paused to kiss the palm of my

hand. "I said I would marry you, and I will. I promise. I swear. If you want, I'll sign a contract

in my own blood."

"Not funny," he murmured against the inside of my wrist.

"What I'm saying is this - I'm not going to trick you or anything. You know me better than

that. So there's really no reason to wait. We're completely alone - how often does that

happen? - and you've provided this very large and comfortable bed. . . ."

"Not tonight," he said again.

"Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I do."

Using the hand that he was still kissing, I pulled his face back up to where I could see his

expression.

"Then what's the problem? It's not like you didn't know you were going to win in the end." I

frowned and muttered, "You always win."

"Just hedging my bets," he said calmly.

"There's something else," I guessed, my eyes narrowing. There was a defensiveness about his

face, a faint hint of some secret motive he was trying to hide behind his casual manner.

"Areyou planning to go back on your word?"

"No," he promised solemnly. "I swear to you, wewill try. After you marry me."

I shook my head, and laughed glumly. "You make me feel like a villain in a melodrama -

twirling my mustache while I try to steal some poor girl's virtue."

His eyes were wary as they flashed across my face, then he quickly ducked down to press his

lips against my collarbone.

"That's it, isn't it?" The short laugh that escaped me was more shocked than amused. "You're

trying to protect your virtue!" I covered my mouth with my hand to muffle the giggle that

followed. The words were so . . . old-fashioned.

"No, silly girl," he muttered against my shoulder. "I'm trying to protectyours. And you're

making it shockingly difficult."

"Of all the ridiculous -"

"Let me ask you something," he interrupted quickly. "We've had this discussion before, but

humor me. How many people in this room hāve a soul? A shot at heāven, or whatever there is after this life?"

"Two," I answered immediately, my voice fierce.

"All right. Maybe that's true. Now, there's a world full of dissension about this, but the vast

majority seem to think that there are some rules that hāve to be followed."

"Vampire rules aren't enough for you? You want to worry about the human ones too?"

"It couldn't hurt." He shrugged. "Just in case."

I glared at him through narrowed eyes.

"Now, of course, it might be too late for me, even if you are right about my soul."

"No, it isn't," I argued angrily.

"'Thou shalt not kill'is commonly accepted by most major belief systems. And I've killed a lot

of people, Bella."