Edward barely remembered what it felt like to sleep, to close one's eyes and slip into the realm of unconsciousness. But for the three nights that followed, he knew what it was to dream. For those few hours, he walked as a normal man might, with a beautiful woman on his arm, surrounded by moonlight and smiled on by the stars. Bella told him of her life, of her sadness at being left alone by her mother's death, and of her determination to build something new in the wild forests of America. She made every challenge sound insignificant, every obstacle a mere stepping stone.

Edward talked, too, although his stories were lies. Unable to tell the truth of what he was, he made up fanciful tales to describe his adopted siblings and the man and woman he called his parents. They sounded real enough - after all, he'd been rehearsing them for decades - and Bella was none the wiser.

But dreams always end, and cruelty hides within the happiest of fairy tales. When Alice burst into the elegant suite that Carlisle and Esme shared with Edward, he knew by the look on her face that his happy interlude was over. Her dainty, pixie-like beauty was marred by shock. She paced around the sitting room while Jasper, with Rosalie and Emmett, filed in behind her.

"I've seen . . . I've had a vision. This ship is going to sink. It's going to strike an iceberg. Hundreds will die."

Edward refused to believe it. "Are you sure? When?"

Alice shook her head. "I don't know. It was night in the vision. Perhaps tonight? Tomorrow night? When do we clear the ice fields?" Like the rest of the passengers, they'd been fascinated with the huge mountains of ice that surrounded the ship all day. With the sun shining brightly, they had been forced to observe the passing floes from the windows of their suites.

Edward was concerned only with Bella. "What can we do? How can we prevent it?"

"Not even our combined strength can move an iceberg." Carlisle shook his head, then frowned as he came to a decision. "Alice, you and Jasper need to get off this ship tonight. All of you do. Swim until you find land. I'll ask the steward to get us a map, perhaps we can plot our approximate location." When everyone began to argue, Carlisle raised a hand for silence. "Alice's visions are usually correct. If this ship strikes an iceberg, the resulting confusion and chaos will be too much for Jasper. He needs to be away from here before it happens. It may affect all of you. For the safety of the passengers, you need to leave."

Emmett alone seemed unbothered by the thought of jumping ship. "We can't be that far from Canada by now. I vote we swim for it."

"Thank you," Carlisle said approvingly. "Now, we need to plan what you will take. Most of our funds were wired to the bank in New York but there are several pounds of gold that you'll have to carry with you-"

"I'm not going anywhere until I know Bella is safe."

Edward's sudden declaration met with the same disapproval that his evening walks with the young seamstress had earned from the family. Only Esme offered a measure of understanding. She laid one hand on his arm but looked at Carlisle.

"Carlisle will see that she's safe. Won't you, darling?"

Carlisle hesitated, but the pain and fear on Edward's face tugged at his sympathy. The only one of his children without a mate, it was a cruel twist of irony that fate seemed to have connected him to a human woman. He nodded, unhappy but resigned. "I'll make sure she gets into a lifeboat. I promise. I promise," he repeated, holding Edward's eyes and opening his thoughts to the younger man's view. "You have my word."

When Edward reluctantly nodded, Esme let go of his arm and embraced Carlisle. "See that you don't get trapped underwater while you're saving these humans. I know you need to help those you can, but remember that we need you, too. I expect to see your head in the waves beside me before we reach land."

He turned her palm to his lips and pressed a kiss there. "You will, my love. I swear it."

In the frenzy of preparation for their departure, Edward had no opportunity to warn Bella of Alice's vision, or to explain why she should believe it. When night fell and the sound of laughter mingled with the music of the band drifting from the dining room, he crawled down the side of the ship with the others. Showing no reaction to the frigid temperature, they dropped into the icy water and swam away.