Chapter 1

Nessie's Voice

All fairy tales have to end somewhere I suppose. The second time my Aunt Alice saw the Volturi coming for us, there was no way out that she could see. Alice's vision also played out before my eyes. Some days I really wished I hadn't developed a talent for reading minds.

I dropped to the floor, my face a mask of true horror. The vision was me standing alone or me ending the world. My Jake crossed the room in two strides and wrapped himself around me as if he would never let go. He barked, "What the hell did you show her?"

Reaching up, I cupped his cheek. "Jake, she didn't show me deliberately. I just picked up what she was seeing." I shuddered. "It's the Volturi. Again. We're not walking away this time."

Alice continued, "They know what they're facing and this time they're willing to die down to the last Guard member." Her eyes met mine. "Nessie, you're going to have to leave. They want you."

"What about you? Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Grandma …. Jake? You're just going to stand here and wait to die? Can't you come with me? There's got to be somewhere to go. If you insist on staying, at least make it a fair fight. I'm sure our friends will stand with us again." The world started spinning as I felt my chest constricting, my heart hammering its way out. "Not fair, Uncle Jasper" I called as I felt a wave of calm start to wash over me. "Let me handle this myself."

I looked around the home I'd known from birth. We had been packing to leave anyway, but leaving to run for my life was not exactly how I'd pictured going. At least Jake would be going with me. Wouldn't he?

The reality of the situation hit me like a brick wall and tears began to fall. Choosing to avoid ending the world meant I would have to stand alone.

My dad saw the tangle of thoughts chasing themselves in ever growing circles around my face and shook his head. "You have to go right now before there's time to track you. Demetri is already starting the search."

I started sobbing all over again. Then I did something I'd never done before. Just like Mom had taught me, I closed my father completely out of my thoughts. My hand reached up and touched the locket I'd always worn. 'More than my own life.' That's why I had to leave. I wasn't planning on staying where they sent me. I was going to kill Aro.

Mom smacked him in the back of his head. "Aren't we going to at least try to fight instead of roll over and die?"

He nodded. "We will. As soon as you decide where to send her and get her on a plane without telling any of us where you're sending her."

I could see Mom considering smacking him again. I couldn't help but bite back a small giggle. Seven years, and they still acted like infatuated teenagers. A heat rose to my face as I hoped I would always be that way with Jake. My stomach dropped again. If I didn't fix what Alice saw, there wouldn't be a me and Jake. "Why do they want me, anyway? Didn't they give up on Joham's experiments as too risky years ago?"

Alice shook her head, her eyes still distant, "Aro wants you. He thinks your projections have gotten to a point that he and the Council could venture out in the day with you at their side, convincing people they were seeing nothing unusual."

Mom moved forward. I knew how distraught she was when she said, "Alice, pack some things for Nessie. Pack for any possible climate. I'm still deciding where to send her."

"And me, Bella. Send me with her," Jake said for the first time looking up from my shoulder. "I can keep her safe."

I stood up. "Hey! First, stop talking around me. Second, Jake, I'm able to take care of myself. Trust me. I have to go by myself." My head seemed to at least pause in its swirling for a few moments. I looked into Jake's eyes shimmering with his need to protect me. With a wrenching pain through my entire being, almost as if I were being torn limb from limb, I stepped back. Anger washed through me. There wasn't much of a chance I would ever have a peaceful life. But that didn't give the Volturi the right to do this. They wanted my mind. However, they would never get it. They would never possess one bit of me.

Jake looked back at me like he was going to fight not going with me. Struggling to keep myself together, I put a hand to his lips and met his eyes. "The pack needs you. They're going to have to face the Volturi too."

I felt a warm hand twine its way into mine. Jacob's black eyes were gazing down into my own. Passionate fire burned with a heat I could almost feel. "Let's go for a run, Nessie."

"Now, Jake? Seriously? I have to pack, and say goodbye, and …"

He kissed away the fallen tears still on my face. "You'll be more comfortable on the plane if you've hunted." He ran across the patio for the river, shimmering as he went.
I lifted my head at the short, impatient yap from the woods and called, "Coming, Jake!"

Jake was waiting for me in our clearing. My breath stopped cold in my chest as I drank in the sight of him. He was dressed simply in cut-off shorts and a t-shirt. The simplicity of the clothes, though, could not hide the glory of his body and beauty of his face. The deep olive of his complexion was perfectly set off by his spiky black hair and dark eyes.

I moved forward slowly realizing what Jake was asking. He was on one knee, with a ring in his hand. I blinked my eyes in disbelief. This was the moment I had dreamt of for years. Jake and I had been spending more and more time together, our friend and protector roles being burned away by the passion we'd both barely held back until now.

"Nessie, I was going to do this right. Tonight, at the party. But I need to say this now, before you leave. If what I see in your eyes didn't tell me there was some reason I can't go more than what you said in there I would be fighting to go with you. You know about the imprint. But what I feel for you goes far beyond that. I love you more than anything. I would walk this Earth anywhere with you. I want you not just for today, but for tomorrow, and all the tomorrows after that. You don't have to answer now, but when you come home I want you as my wife."

I turned back to face him. My voice shaking as tears threatened to spill anew, I answered. "As soon as I am home I will marry you. I promise you all the tomorrows I have."

Stretching as far as I could to meet his seven foot height I murmured, "I want you too, more than anything."

Jake leaned down the rest of the way to meet me. Words ran dry as we kissed with a passion that would have lit the forest on fire if I'd been capable of noticing. All the passion we had been holding back across the years erupted . The flames were only fanned as our clothes began to fall like rain.