Author's Note: We apologize for posting so late; we were busy watching the Olympic coverage of the women's hockey game. Congratulations Canada on winning gold!

-Midnight Sapphire Eyes and Elizabeth Watson

Chaper Two

"For you," Grandma Esme said, delivering yet another armful of empty boxes to our suite.

I looked up from the box I was currently filling. "Thanks." I sat back on my heels and sighed. "I feel badly. You went to all this work to put this suite together and now we're moving again already."

She smiled. "That's all right. We'll come back some day."

"We're keeping the house?"

She nodded and set to work filling another box.

Good. I liked it here. "Are the Winters keeping theirs?"

"Yes. Rebecca and Ajay came back a few months ago and they've been staying there ever since."

I looked at her in surprise. "Rebecca and Ajay are here? Really?" Rebecca was one of Emily and Tara's thirteen half-siblings. She and her vampire husband Ajay had testified against William on our behalf during our latest confrontation with the Volturi. They'd been Emily's back up plan when her attempt to save us by sacrificing her own life had failed. Without their contributions, that day would have gone very differently for us.

She nodded again and pushed a caramel-coloured lock of hair out of her face. "They spent most of the past year looking for William, but Emily figures that he's probably realized that they're working with Aro by now. They're going to lay low for a while before they try again."

"Demetri hasn't even had any luck?"

"No. Carlisle thinks that he might share Alice's blindness to half-breeds."

That would explain how Joham had managed to survive the Volturi's search for him after our first Volturi scare. Joham was William's creator and the father of the only half-breed we'd ever known before we'd met the Winters, Nahuel. Nine years earlier, he'd attested to the docility of half-breed temperament for us before the Volturi when they'd first tried to destroy us. "And Rebecca thinks he's with Joham?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Does anyone have any theories as to where they might have gone?"

She paused for a moment.

I frowned. This was unlike her. "Grandma?"

"Rebecca doesn't want Emily to know this, or Tara," she said, looking at me pointedly. "And of course that means Rob and Ian as well."

I nodded. "Of course. I won't say anything."

She sighed. "Emily's theory was that they'd gone back to South America. They both know how to go unnoticed there."

"But?" I prodded.

"But Rebecca thinks he's still here."

My eyes widened. "But that's impossible. There's no way the he could…surely we would…but Tara and Emily…" I tried to string together a coherent combination of words, but without success. My blood turned to ice in my veins. Finally, I managed to murmur, "So that's why we're moving," I realized aloud.

She nodded slightly. "Rebecca came to Carlisle and me as soon as they got back."

"Who else knows?"

"Edward, and therefore Bella."

Of course my parents would know.

"Carlisle thought that it would be best to keep the number of people in the know to a minimum so that the Winters don't get suspicious, particularly not Emily." With Emily's ability to force people to tell her the truth, his choice had been wise.

"They'll be furious when they find out," I murmured.

"Which is why it is imperative that they don't find out." She gave me a serious look again.

"I understand," I said. "Can I at least tell Jacob?"

She smiled. "Of course."

I was silent for a moment and then frowned lightly as a second realization struck me. "Grandma, why did you tell me?"

She taped the box she'd just finished filling and labelled it. She smiled lightly, but there was something wrong. I could see it in her eyes. "No reason. I just thought you might like to know. I'll go find Em. I think she mentioned something about needing help with the kitchen."

I pretended to believe her. "Okay. Thanks for your help."

She smiled again. "My pleasure."

I watched her leave and then thought for a moment. When would the secrets and lies end? I wondered. Are all families as complicated as this? Clearly there was something vital that she'd elected to keep from me; but what, and why?

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Jacob coming down the stairs. "Hey," he said, shooting me the smile that still made my heart melt like heated butter.

"Hey," I replied.

"I figured I'd better stop slacking off and give you a hand."

"Really?" I said, folding my arms and looking at him sceptically. "And it's got nothing to do with the intriguing hushed conversation I had with Grandma Esme just now?"

He rolled his eyes. "Fine."

I chuckled. "Come here."

He met my smile and came to sit beside me. He pressed his scorching lips to mine. When my head stopped spinning, I met his eyes again. "Well, go on. Ask."

"What did Esme say?"

I shifted to face him and crossed my legs. "I know why we're moving."

He waited for me to continue.

"We can't tell anyone," I cautioned him.

Interest gleamed in the depths of his bottomless dark eyes. "Go on."

"Rebecca wasn't able to find William."

He winced.

"She thinks that he's still here."

He stared at me in shock and then flew to his feet. "What? Are you serious? No! Hell no! Let's get him! Let's go! Right now! I'll call the pack!"

"No!" I said, jumping up and catching his hand. "Jacob, we can't. It is imperative that the Winters do not find out. We can't even make them suspicious. Just be calm, okay?"

He stared at me with wide-eyed alarm, his whole frame trembling. "Nessie, you don't understand. As long as he is alive, he's a threat to you, and I am not okay with that."

"Hey," I said, touching his face. "I'm fine. I can defend myself. Besides, we don't even know for sure that he's actually here. So please, Jake, just calm down. Everything's fine, I promise."

He took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. The tremors that rocked his body ceased and he sat back down. He drew me into his lap and sighed. "I hate that this creepy idiot is always just one step in front of us, and I hate the idea that you're still in danger, even after all the crap with the Volturi was worked out."

"I'm okay," I vowed. "William doesn't scare me." Which was a huge, tremendous lie, but I didn't want to give him more reason than he already had to be protective. I laid my face against his neck to hide my expression in the hopes that he wouldn't catch my fib.

He slipped his arms around me, a chuckle rumbling deep in his chest. "Sure you're not," he said disbelievingly.

I rolled my eyes. "Can we leave the lie-detecting to Emily, please and thank you?"

"Did someone call?"

We both jumped in surprise as we turned to see Emily and Tara on the stairs, looking at us curiously.

"Whoa there," she said, holding up her hands. "We didn't mean to scare you. We just came to ask you if there was anything you needed. We're just about to go into town."

"Nope, we're good," I said quickly, shooting her what I hoped was a believable smile.

The sisters exchanged glances and then each raised an eyebrow. "Well then," Tara said. "That's…good. We'll um, see you later, I suppose."

"Yeah," I smiled. "Later. Right. Good."

They looked suspiciously at us and then went back up the stairs. Once they were out of earshot, I sighed. "I am such a moron."

"No you are not," Jacob reassured me. "But if you freak out a little less next time, they'll probably be a little less suspicious."

I smiled in spite of myself.

He was silent for a moment, seeming to struggle with something.

"What's bothering you?" I asked him.

He narrowed his eyes. "Okay, here's what I don't get. There's like, twelve little Taylors running around, not counting Emily, Tara and Rebecca, right? So how have they all managed to stay below the radar, especially with the Volturi still looking for them? Especially with their tracker?" he asked doubtfully. "I mean, sure, William's smart, but how does anyone pull that off?"

"Grandpa Carlisle thinks that Demetri may be blind to half-breeds, like Aunt Alice."

"But that wouldn't make him blind to William or William's creepy creator-friend. And William's got a mate, right? A vampire mate? That's got to even the odds a little."

"But think about it," I said. "Aunt Alice can't see people that she can normally see when they're surrounded by us."

"Good point," he commented.

"But what I can't figure out is why Grandma Esme would tell me," I said, only half aware of the fact that I had begun to pace. "She said that my parents were the only other ones that knew, and that they wanted as few people to know about this as possible, so that this would stay quiet. She knows how bad I am at lying," I said.

He smiled. "Hon, I think everyone knows that."

"Shut up," I said, smiling in spite of myself. "But still, why risk telling me?"

He was silent for a moment as he considered that. Finally, he sighed and glanced at the stairs again. "I don't know, but we probably shouldn't talk about this anymore. The more we think about it, the more curious we'll make them."

I nodded. "You're right." I attempted to dismiss it immediately, but the idea of William being so close made my skin crawl in a way that made forgetting rather difficult. I returned to packing boxes and tried to comfort myself in the knowledge that he would never be stupid enough to try and attack us. If he'd been watching us, then he must have known that we would be a formidable threat, and if the story of what had happened with the Volturi the first time was as widespread as the Winters had told us, then he must know that we had no shortage of powerful friends. Nevertheless, William didn't seem like the sort of person to stop short of getting exactly what he wanted, and what William wanted was us – dead.

The rest of the week was devoted to packing. Jacob and I were finished by Wednesday. We were then assigned to help Emily and Rob finish packing what they'd chosen to bring from their own house. When two of the Volturi Guard had shown up to take Emily and Tara to Volterra to stand trial before Aro, Caius and Marcus, Ian had attacked them in their defence. Thinking he had killed them, the four had then come to us, afraid that Aro would send more of his Guard after them. They'd been living with us ever since, minus an interlude of a few months after we'd returned from our brush with disaster in Forks.

"Where're you going?" Ian called as the four of us walked to the oversized garage, Tara trailing behind him.

"Oh there you are," Emily said dryly. "You've been rather scarce of late, Ian." He'd been hiding out in various remote parts of the house to avoid packing. He'd done the same thing when they'd moved in with us.

He grinned. "Miss me?"

Rob jumped in before she could retort. "We're just about to go back to the house and figure out what we'll be bringing."

"And they're dragging us along," Jacob complained. I elbowed him in the ribs.

Rob looked at him apologetically and then told them, "You're welcome to come."

"We're in," Tara said.

"Can we take the Bugatti, Em?" Ian begged.

"Sure."

"Really?"

"No."

Jacob and I chuckled at Ian's wounded expression and got into the Aston Martin.

"Just kidding." She tossed him a set of keys. Ian's face lit up instantly.

"Since when do we have a Bugatti, anyway?" Jacob asked as we pulled out onto the driveway.

"Oh, you know how Rob and my dad are."

"I'll take that as a compliment," I heard Rob call from behind us.

I laughed.

The Winter's house was slightly closer to town than ours was; the drive from our house was only about fifteen minutes long. But it was absolutely extravagant nonetheless. Jacob and I arrived first, with Rob and Emily not far behind. I marvelled at it once more as we pulled up. I'd only been here twice before: once for a post-prom sleepover, and then again for Tara and Ian's second wedding. It was enclosed by trees, and sprawled over a sizeable piece of land, but stood at only two stories as opposed to our four. It was gracefully-shaped, which did not surprise me considering they'd designed it themselves, according to Rob. One of them was bound to have studied architecture. Once we'd parked in the driveway, Rebecca appeared on the front lawn, smiling. I could see her mate standing just inside the doorway, watching us with a slightly wary expression. "Hello," Rebecca said warmly as Jacob and I got out. "It's good to see you two again."

"Hi, Rebecca," I smiled back, genuinely glad to see her. I doubted I would ever stop appreciating just how much she had risked by testifying for us. "It's good to see you too. How've you been?"

"We're well, thank you. How was your honeymoon?"

"Fantastic."

"Good," she said.

"When did you and Ajay get back?"

"About three months ago," she said. She sobered slightly. "I'm sure someone has filled you in."

"Grandma Esme did, yes," I said, looking at her purposefully.

She nodded, seeming to understand my meaning. "I see. So I imagine she gave you the full story." There was something wary about her expression.

"Most of it," I said. There was still something that all of them knew and none of them were ready to tell me.

She nodded again, but did not elaborate. "She did ask you not to tell my sisters, I trust?"

I nodded.

She glanced at Jacob.

"Scout's honour," he said, holding up his index and middle fingers.

She recovered her smile. "Thank you. Well, please do come in. Can I get anything for you?"

"Soda would be great," Jacob said.

"Of course," she said, leading us into the house. She touched Ajay's arm as she passed him and gave him a reassuring look. He stepped back as Jacob and I walked past. His eyes followed us untrustingly as though we were lepers that might try to contaminate him.

"Hello, Ajay," I said politely.

"Hello, Mrs. Black," he said in a light Indian accent, his eyes still fixed on Jacob. I was surprised by the pleasantness of his voice. I'd only ever heard him speak a handful of times. "It was kind of you to write to us whilst you were on your honeymoon."

I smiled. "It was the least I could do."

His eyes flashed to mine for a moment. "Was it a pleasant trip?" he asked, following me once Jacob had passed.

"Yeah, it was great. Thanks."

He bobbed his head from side to side as I had seen some of the other Indians in Vancouver do. What it meant, I hadn't a clue. I studied him out of the corner of my eye for a moment. His face was incredibly handsome, but hardened with wariness. He was fairly tall (when he wasn't standing beside Jacob), and well-built.

When we reached the kitchen, Jacob and I sat down on stools at the island that stretched along the centre of the room. Ajay drifted along behind us, stopping again in the doorway. Rebecca took a soda from the fridge and set it in front of Jacob, who thanked her. "Can I get anything for you, Renesmee?" she inquired.

"No, I'm fine, thank you." I was hoping to get a hunt in later.

"Very well," she said. She looked at Ajay again. He reluctantly moved to stand beside her. He slid a pale mahogany arm around her thin waist. She looked up at him and then at us. "Sorry," she said, smiling slightly. "We're just not accustomed to being around…" She cleared her throat slightly, her eyes cutting to Jacob.

He took a sip of soda to hide his smile.

"What are you, exactly?" Ajay asked Jacob.

"A werewolf," he said. "I can explode into a massive wolf at will. Want to see?" He set his soda can down and began to rise.

Both moved away from us, Ajay shifting in front of Rebecca.

He chuckled and sat back down. "Joking."

I punched his arm with a considerable amount of force and shot him a warning glare. "Do forgive him," I said. "He thinks he's being funny, but he's not." I glared at him.

Ajay spoke again after a tense moment of silence. "So you are a Child of the Moon?"

"Nope," he said. "We're a little different. According to Edward, we're technically shape-shifters."

"So do you know if Emily has any idea what she wants to bring?" I asked quickly, changing the subject. "Because we're ready to start loading."

"I'm not sure," Rebecca said, her voice still slightly stiff.

Emily, Rob, Tara and Ian walked in then, as though on cue. Their presence eased the rigidity in the room immediately. "Hey," Emily beamed at them. I was shocked to see Ajay hug her and Tara with a welcoming smile and then shake Rob and Ian's hands. So it was just us he was afraid of. Well, that was probably to be expected, and it probably wouldn't get better if Jacob kept freaking them out with his little jokes.

"All right, let's get to work," Ian said. "Jacob, why don't we start in the games room?"

"No," Tara and I said immediately.

"Oh, come on," Jacob said. "Please?"

The look on his face melted me before I had time to brace myself. I sighed. "Okay, fine, fine."

Ian looked at Tara again.

She sighed and looked at me. "You're letting me down, Nessie."

"I'm sorry," I said sheepishly.

"It's the puppy-face," Rob said, chuckling at his own joke.

"Robin Stanton, did you just make a joke?" Ian teased. "A real, live joke?"

Emily, Tara and I rolled our eyes. "I'll start in the library," Tara said.

"Can I help?" I asked eagerly.

"Sure."

"I'll be packing clothes," Emily said.

"I'll help you," Rebecca said.

I followed Tara through the massive house to her equally massive library, which was located just beyond their mini-theatre. "So, where do we start?" I asked. It was an absolutely magnificent room, complete with a second level that wound around the upper half of the room and was just as loaded with books as the lower level. The shelves and floor were made from high-gloss oak, and the walls were painted a complementary red colour. "You know, I really didn't think there was on the planet that liked books as much as I did."

She smiled and made her way up to the second level, several boxes in each arm.

"How did you get into reading?" I asked.

Once we reached the upper level, she set the box down and started pulling books off the shelves. "Well, when Emily and I left our father, she had to work to support us, so I was alone a lot, but she would always bring me books. It wasn't long before I realized that they were a wonderful way to forget what was happening in reality."

I looked at her sympathetically. "I can't imagine that."

She looked at me. "I truly hope you never try to." She placed a few more books in the box and then continued. "At any rate, all I really had as a child were my books. And ice skates, of course."

"Of course." I smiled. "So how old were you when you left?" I asked, arranging the books.

"Two," she said. "Em was fifty-five so it was harder on her."

"Hello, kids," Emily said. "What're you talking about?"

"1950," Tara replied.

"Ah," Emily said after a brief pause, fighting to keep her voice even. "And uh…what got you onto that lovely topic?"

"I was asking Tara how she got into reading," I said apologetically. I felt terrible now. I should have known better than to bring up anything relating to their past. It was a major taboo with them, and it almost always made them miserable when they talked about it. Idiot, I berated myself.

"I see," Emily said. "Reading's what really turned her into an introvert. She was very different as a child."

"Really? How so?" I asked, looking from one sister to the other.

Emily nodded with a chuckle. "The trick used to be getting her to shut up."

I looked at Tara for confirmation. She merely rolled her eyes.

"She used to be a little terror," Emily said, messing her sister's hair as she knelt to get books off of the lower shelves. "But she's turned out all right."

Tara straightened her hair and then glanced at me. "You're very lucky that you haven't got any older siblings, Nessie."

"Oh," Emily smiled. "My little sister, being all surly. That's adorable, T."

I smiled awkwardly, unsure of what else to do. "So uh…what should I do, then?"

She pulled a list out of the pocket of her designer dark wash jeans. "Just start with these." She looked back at her sister. "You're immensely irritating, you realize?"

Emily smiled endearingly. "Have fun. I'm going to find Rebecca."

She sighed irately after Emily left.

I chuckled. "You think you've got it bad. I have nine people all over me all the time."

"Oh, I would beg to differ. Rob, Ian and Em are probably the rough equivalent to nine people."

I smiled and went back to shelving. "Your family's not so bad, though."

"No, I suppose not," she conceded.

After several moments of moderately awkward silence, I held up Romeo & Juliet. "Oh, I love this one."

She glanced at the title and shrugged. "Emily wanted me to bring that, actually. I really don't care for it."

"Really?" I asked in surprise. I'd hardly ever met anyone that didn't like Romeo & Juliet. Well, with the exception of my father. "I love it. It's such an interesting story."

"I think Romeo's a bit of a sod, personally."

"What! Why?" I'd inherited Mom's love of Romeo & Juliet very soon after learning how to read.

"Well, he claims to be so ardently in love with Rosaline, and then the moment he lays eyes on Juliet, his supposed love just dissolves? What sort of stability does that really provide her in the relationship? How is she not to know that the moment he lays eyes on someone else, his supposed love for her won't just dissolve?"

I blinked.

"I mean, he just casts her casually aside as though she were yesterday's newspaper. What does that really say about him? He's obviously very unreliable, and too young to even fully understand what he wants." She looked at me then, and then frowned lightly, perplexed by my expression. Her eyes widened in realization, and she began to back-pedal instantly. "Of course, I'm sure it's not like that for everyone."

I gave a wheezy laugh. "Yeah."

"Nessie, I hadn't meant to imply–"

"No, no," I said quickly. "No," I said, unable to think of anything else to say.

We retrieved the rest of her books in perfect silence. When I finished, I cleared my throat and said, "I'll go see if there's anything else I can do."

"Okay," she said simply, looking as though she wanted to say more.

I swallowed and descended the stairs to the main floor.

"Nessie, I really hadn't meant to–" she called after me.

"No, no," I said again and left the room quickly. "It's fine." I stopped once I got to the hallway, frozen to the spot. My head was spinning. I stood there for a long time. Finally, I swallowed and lifted my head to see Ajay standing on the other end of the hall, looking at me with a puzzled expression.

"Are you all right, Mrs. Black?" he inquired politely.

I chewed the name over mentally for a moment and then nodded. "I'm…I'm sure."

His puzzlement deepened. "I'm sorry?"

"Uh, I mean, I'm okay."

He nodded, evidently unconvinced. "Well, please do not hesitate to let Rebecca and me know if there is anything that you should require."

"Sure. Thanks."

He nodded and returned to the kitchen.

I'm sure, I told myself. I've been sure all my life. I nodded, and traced the sound of laughter to Emily and Rob's bedroom. I propped the door open slightly. I took a moment to reset my mood and opened the door.

Both looked at me. "Oh, hi, Nessie," Emily said. "Are you and Tara finished in the library?"

"Yeah," I said. "Is there anything else you need me to do?"

"Could you check on Ian and Jacob for me? I'm sure they're not on task, and I'm sure they could use some refocusing."

I swallowed when she spoke Jacob's name. "I'll do that."

"Great. Thanks again for helping us."

I made my way downstairs. I noticed randomly that my limbs felt heavy, as though they'd been injected with lead. There was a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. Oh stop it, I commanded myself. What she said means nothing. She was just talking about a story, that's all. You've got nothing to be fixating on.

Ian and Jacob's voices drifted up the stairs. "No!" Ian screeched. "No, no, no! Hey! I spared you last round! You owe me one!"

"Do not!" Jacob laughed back. "That's wolf power yet again, my cold-blooded friend."

"I am not cold-blooded," Ian shot back. "I don't actually have blood."

Jacob laughed. "Whatever you say, blood-sucker."

I found them sitting adjacent each other on a couch in the den, leaned intently towards an obscenely-large flat screen TV. They were playing some sort of combat video game. I knocked on the door.

Both dropped the controllers quickly and whirled around. Jacob sighed in relief when he saw me. "Oh. I thought it was Emily."

Ian laughed. "Me too."

I tried to smile. "Well, she sent me to tell you to get back to work."

Jacob sighed. "We should."

"I'll go help Rob with the cars before Em comes down here herself," Ian said. He flashed past me on his way to the garage.

Jacob slid his arms around me. "So what've you been up to?"

"I was helping Tara with her library," I replied, my voice strangely monotone.

He chuckled and tucked a lock of hair behind my ear with a fond gaze. "You would." He glanced in the direction in which Ian had disappeared. "Well, I'm going to go help them out." He kissed me quickly. "I love you, Ness."

I forced a small smile as he left the room in search of Rob and Ian. "Sure," I murmured.