It took me a couple of days, but this chapter is pretty long (compared to the others). Next one will follow, but probably only later next week.

I felt something was off the second we walked in. Everybody was gathered around the large table in the living room. The conversation stopped abruptly as we walked in, and all heads turned to us. They probably didn't expect me by Jacob's side; I tried to avoid the bloodsuckers as much as possible. "Yeah, I didn't expect to come here out of free will as well", I thought. And then I noticed nobody was looking at me. Instead, all eyes were on Jacob.

"Speaking of the devil!" Rosalie flashed him a smile. I would expect her voice to be sarcastic, but it wasn't. I couldn't pinpoint the exact emotion though. Rosalie sounded… relieved? And… pleading? That could hardly be right. Judging by his confused look, Jacob didn't understand it either. What was going on?

For a few seconds, nobody would talk. I quickly scanned the faces of the gathered. Tiny Alice kept her expression blank as she held Jasper's hand. Jasper and Emmett seemed tense, their eyes burning with excitement. Rosalie, Emmett's other half, kept a defensive pose as she held Renesmee. Edward looked confused, focused on something in his head, as if he was solving a problem. Next to him was Bella, of course. She was the only one who seemed calm. Carlisle and Esmee were absent, probably hunting. Then there was Huilen (Jacob filled me in on her correct name on the way), looking sad. And then I made myself look at the last person in the room, Nahuel.

His eyes were like nothing I had ever seen. They were dark and warm, magnets to my soul. It was only then that I saw their expression. The panic mixed with indecision. The look in Nahuel's eyes triggered a protectiveness I didn't know I was capable of. I almost walked over to him, but I felt Jacob squeezing my hand, reminding me to stay by his side.

And then I heard a low, incredulous chuckle. Edward. Of course, he could read my mind now. I sighed mentally: it was so stupid to expose myself like this. So much for the secret. "Keep this to yourself!" I thought fiercely, and to my relief he nodded briefly. Bella looked at him, puzzled, but he just softly shook his head, smiling.

He looked serious again. "Jacob, Leah. Alice just saw something that possibly influences all of us. We are still not sure what to do about it. Alice, will you tell them what you saw?"

Alice frowned, as if she was unsure where to start: "Huilen and Nahuel were planning their trip home, so I tried to see if everything would go well. You know of course that I can't see Nahuel's future, the same way as I can't see yours. That's why I tried to watch for just Huilen's future, as she temporarily made up her mind to travel alone in several weeks. All was well initially. The plane would have a small delay, but nothing to be worried about. Yet as I checked for her arrival near the village Huilen and Nahuel live, there would be two faces. The first one was Jane's." – Several hisses were produced when Alice said her name – "The other face was one I had never seen before. A man in his thirties, clearly one of us. He held Jane's hand. And then, everything disappeared. I managed to draw him, when I was in trance."

I forced myself to keep looking at Alice, instead of Nahuel. With every inch of my skin, I felt the tension building up in the room, with Nahuel as its center. Alice inhaled and continued.

"When I was myself again, I looked at the drawing. The man's face was still unfamiliar to me. Jasper didn't know him either. We showed the drawing to the others, but no one had ever seen him before. No one but Nahuel. The man on the drawing was his father."

A deafening silence. Yet I didn't realize the full impact of Alice's discovery. "Can't they just stay here? Surely after our last encounter Jane won't come here for a confrontation?"

This time, it was Nahuel who answered my question. His voice enchanted me, and I had to focus to hear what he was saying. "There is more. Once Alice knew about Joham, she tried to see for his future. I didn't think she would be able to, because of my sisters. However, she could see his future perfectly clear. Until he and Jane would arrive in Italy. Then it all became a blur." He shuddered.

I felt my face twist with shock as I realized what they already knew. Aro had promised to stop Joham, but to leave Nahuel's sisters alone. Apparently, he hadn't kept that promise. Joham's daughters were no longer in South America, they were in Italy instead.

And then I remembered the desire in Aro's eyes when he first learned about Renesmee, and later, when he heard about Nahuel's sisters. We were fools to think Aro had given up. He had just changed his target, masking this with his apparent fear for Bella's powers. For a second, I tried to picture how I would feel if Seth would fall prey to the worst of the blood suckers. Nausea hit me and I felt my hands shaking. "Calm down, this isn't helping," I ordered myself as I focused on my breathing.

"What are we going to do about it?" Jacob decided to join the conversation.

"That's what we were discussing earlier, when you walked in," Bella answered him. "Jane is there. I think she and Joham are our only shot at getting Nahuel's sisters back. But in order to get to Jane, we'll have to deal with her abilities. This means I'll have to go to South America. I can't go alone obviously, I'm not a fighter. Jasper, Alice and Edward will join me. "

I considered Bella's words. Yes, they made sense. Jasper en Edward were experienced fighters: they would be able to protect Bella as she in turn would defend them from Jane's sadistic torturing skills. Alice was small but I've seen her fighting earlier: she was impossibly quick and her future visions gave her a huge advantage. Yet there seemed to be more to this than we were told.

Edward answered my thoughts: "However, this could be a trick. A distraction. There is no way of saying if – once the most experienced of us are off to South America – the Volturi won't show up here. For Renesmee. Their ultimate revenge at the humiliation we've put them through."

By my side, Jacob squeezed my hand in a way that made me sure: he would not let that happen.

"Yes Jacob," Edward continued, "you would be able to protect her if it came to a physical fight. But what if Jane would get here? Or Alec? You wouldn't be able to last against them."

He was right, I realized. Jacob was an amazing fighter, but he was not almighty. Jane or Alec would have him incapable of fighting in seconds.

"We can't take the chance of the Volturi returning here. That's why I want to take Renesmee with us." Bella's quiet and steady words caused hisses all over the room.

"Are you insane?" Jacob snapped. "It's far too dangerous! I'm not letting you do this!" Rosalie beamed; this was clearly the reaction she had hoped for. That explained why she was happy to see Jake.

"There are no options, Jacob. We are the ones who put them in danger; we are the ones who have to solve this. We are going," Bella argued.

"I appreciate your offer, Bella." Nahuel's soft voice couldn't be a bigger contrast to Jake's, who was almost growling. "But we can't take that risk. It's too dangerous for Renesmee. If something would happen to her, everything you've been through would be for nothing. I can't let that happen. However, I would appreciate it if you would let Huilen stay with you for a while. I'm going back alone."

"But that's basically suicide!" Bella retorted. Incredible, for once we actually agreed on something.

"No it's not. I'm not going to face them. I'll try to remain unseen while I'll try to discover more. Maybe there's something we still haven't thought of."

He was set on going, I could see that. But letting him go alone? I couldn't, I wouldn't let that happen. I wondered if there was no place we could let Renesmee stay safely while we would be gone. The Denali's maybe? They didn't seem that bad. Then again, we couldn't be sure the Volturi wouldn't track Renesmee there. This seemed to be a puzzle with no solution.

And then Edward's eyes lit up and I had hope again. "There is a way we can do this, actually… Leah thought of leaving Nessie with the Denali's…" – it was just too annoying to have somebody in my head even when I was human – "but that wouldn't work. If the Volturi would track her there, we could never be there in time. But we have other friends where she would be safe. Zafrina and the other Amazones will be happy to see her. That way, we will be close enough to interfere if the Volturi will decide to come looking for Nessie."

"It is a good idea," Bella agreed as well. "Zafrina made me promise to bring Nessie over sometime. I bet she didn't think it would be this soon, but I'm sure she won't mind."

Renesmee, who appeared to be sleeping in Rosalie's arms, suddenly opened her eyes and beamed. She put her hand palm against Rosalie's face. I wondered what she was telling her. Whatever it was, Rosalie would not be able to refuse Renesmee anything. Judging by her resigned look, Renesmee liked Edward's solution.

And judging by Jacob's shaking hands, he didn't.

"Have you all lost your mind?" He was furious. "She. Is. Not. Going." The shaking got more intense. I was just hoping he would able to control himself.

Apparently the others thought the same. Bella took a small, hesitant step towards Renesmee. Jasper stared at Jacob, probably assessing his mood. And then Renesmee decided it was enough: "My Jacob, we must go. They helped us so much. Please?" she pleaded in a singing voice looking him straight in the eyes.

For a few seconds he returned his look and then he looked down. "You're right, Nessie. Of course you are. I'm sorry. It's just that I go crazy worrying about you." He weakly smiled at the little girl. "But I have to come along. I cannot stay here, not knowing how you are."

"Of course you don't have to stay here waiting," Edward agreed. "I've talked with Zafrina before, trying to explain to her the nature and power of an imprint. She'll understand that the two of you can't be apart."

For the first time I could relate to Jacob's worries. I was worried sick about Nahuel. Jane was a sadistic bitch, despite her angelic appearance, and the pain she could inflict was something I wouldn't even wish upon my worst enemy, let alone my imprint. Yet I doubted they would let me come along. I was a member of Jake's pack, but this didn't mean we had to go together.

Apart from Jacob and possibly Jasper, Edward was the only one who knew and understood. And for now, he was the only one who could read my thoughts. I looked at him, pleading. The corners of his mouth went up slightly. Would he have a plan?

"I think Leah should come along with us as well", he said.

Ugh. That wasn't really subtle. I couldn't imagine the clan would like me to go with them. There were puzzled looks of almost every face in the room. "Wonder how Edward's going to explain that one", I thought.

"Do you remember the fight with the newborns?" he continued.

Obviously Renesmee couldn't remember it, she wasn't born then. Nahuel and Huilen also didn't know what this was about. As for the rest of us? Of course we remembered. As if we could ever forget. But what had that to do with it?

"Bella and I stayed away from the group then," Edward explained. "But we had to keep in touch with the others. Therefore, Seth stayed with us. As his mind was connected with Sam's, we could communicate despite the enormous distance."

Now I understood. "And you want me to do the same, because Jacob and I could stay in touch, in case something goes wrong?"

He nodded. "That way, Jacob could stay with Nessie while you would come with us. If you don't mind, of course. Otherwise, we could always ask Seth."

I bared my teeth, faking anger. "No way am I letting my little brother get into this. I'll come myself. Besides," I smiled, "I've never been in South America."

"Thanks", I mentally told Edward. "I owe you one."

Unlike my expectations, the others didn't need much conviction. Edward's idea was good and everyone had to acknowledge that. It took us a couple more minutes to decide on the specifics, but I didn't pay as much attention anymore. I thought about my imprint. Would I need to protect him in South America? Even more important, would I be able to?