AN: This chapter has been split into two parts, and the next will be uploaded in a couple of days or so.

That one will be the final chapter, promise.


There was no time.

I'd called Chuck, demanding that he lock himself in the bathroom with his service weapons, and not move until I called back. He logically asked what was he supposed to do if I didn't call.

I had no answer for him. Only overly-emo teenagers with no social skills really contemplated their demise in any detail.

In my hurry to get back to the place I had been swearing I would never go to ever again just a few minutes ago, I almost ran right over Jackson, who had been sitting in the long grass with his eyes open and glassy.

He snapped back into himself and caught me by the back of the shirt just before my own momentum would have smeared my nose against the ground.

"Sorry." I squeaked, but he was hardly perturbed. He gave me a rather grandfatherly smile and set me on my feet. My gibbering hysteria was pushed aside by a sudden surge of curiosity. What the hell was Jackson doing out here all alone? Where were his daughters that always seemed to be shadowing him, like he was an old and eccentric uncle that needed to be babysat?

The second question as my ears picked up the faint sounds of rustling grasses. Even during this temporary truce, it seemed only myself and Inez were confident enough to walk around on our own.

"We live and die in... interesting times, my dear." He said, in that strange voice that was too young for his aged frame. I frowned.

"That's not quite the adjective that I would have picked."

Without turning around, I was aware of the two of us being surrounded, my vampires coming down to watch us. Behind Jackson, Annabel and Verity emerged from the trees, perfect, flawless goddesses. For an insane moment, I wondered if I looked anything like they did.

Vanity, thy name is Ella.

"They're coming."

Jackson took a deep sniff of the air, and exhaled sharply. "I am aware." He said. "Inez has gone forth to rouse our human allies. The one called Jack has left to retrieve his own people." I then noticed that there was something else strange about Jackson. Although he turned his head in my direction when he spoke to me, he always seemed to look slightly to one side or through me entirely. My eyes popped.

"You're blind." Probably not one of the most tactful things I'd ever said.

"I am. But I choose not to be."

"Yeah, okay, Master Yoda."

Jackson held out his hand to me. "Sit down, girl." It wasn't a demand, but not something you could refuse. So I cautiously settled cross-legged onto the dew-dampened grass. I sat there feeling uncomfortable as the other vampires stared at us expectantly, glowing amber eyes in the darkness.

"So, um, what are we supposed to be doing?"

"Buying time." Jackson cocked his head to the side.

"For what?"

"So your human companions can prepare." He said simply.

"Can't the Volturi just... read our minds and find out what we're planning?" I demanded.

"Not if we don't know what they're planning." He said. "Besides, the last one among the Volturi with defensive abilities was me."

I stared at him, and Jackson nodded. "Many centuries ago, I was a tracker for the Volturi. There was talk of mutiny, when Marcus wished to topple Caius from power and replace him in the triumvirate with me."

"Why?"

"Caius has no real power himself. Like the best dictators, he relies solely on the sacrifices of his people. Aro stopped war from breaking out, Marcus never raised another word against Caius, and I was... punished, left alive to be a reminder of what happens when you anger the Volturi."

"Defensive abilities?" I asked tentatively. I really didn't want to think of Jackson's story too much. It was mind-boggling to think of the measures that must have been taken to steal the sight of a vampire.

"Yes. Your mind-reading is defensive. I myself can see a face, and... impress on them the sudden urge to go away. In contrast, those two young ones of the Volturi, Jane and Alec have purely offensive abilities."

"Met them." I said. I wiped my palms on my jeans. "So how is this supposed to be buying time?"

That was when he took my hands, and squeezed them slightly. "I am going to confuse the Volturi forces." He said. "But I need to see a face. For obvious reasons, I cannot do it on my own."

"You want to piggyback off my mind-reading?" I frowned.

Jackson nodded.

Confusing the enemy sounded like a good plan, but I'd never really bothered to test my psychic aptitude. "How long?"

"As long as it takes to give our people an advantage." Jackson said soberly.

"As long as it takes." I agreed.

I'd never get used to the feeling of delving into someone else's mind, everything opening up before me, thoughts, memories, what they were considering having for dinner, and every little perverted thought they had ever had over a lifetime.

And since an average vampire was a lifetime plus some, most of the things I saw made me want to throw up my own liver.

I could feel it as Jackson held onto my consciousness as I reached toward the Volturi forces. His presence didn't hurt, but what was uncomfortable was the way his awareness and sense of self kept repeatedly washing over me, inundating me with images from the mind of this old, old vampire. I saw great things. I saw terrible things.

I reached out toward the Volturi forces again and again, feeling more and more nauseated each time I read one of their minds. Jackson sent them shambling as he repelled at them, and as I searched for our next victim, I brushed a bright, cheerfully-coloured personality that I recognised almost straight away.

Alice!

Alice and Jasper were approaching from a different direction. My heart was in my throat when I realised that yet another group of vampires followed along not that far behind them. I broke contact with Jackson, wanting to run up over the hill to meet her, but he held me back. "There will be time later." He said, and I watched as my fellow vampires slunk away, almost in formation.

Alice!

I'd never really believed that a human was capable of killing a vampire. After all, our skin may have been perfect and blemish-less, but it was like it was made of chiselled granite. We were invulnerable.

At least that's what I thought before I met the other hunters.

John Chesterton and Carl were old friends from way back, when Carl still lived in England. From what I gathered, the two of them met by accident while hunting a demon, and later Esme joined the duo when her baby son was killed by the same creature.

John was an adventurer, tall and sleekly muscled, with a grizzled face and tangled black hair. He would have been the sort of person who could just vanish into the crowd if it wasn't for the angry-looking burn scars that ran down the back of his neck. It was hard to imagine the cultured Carl and delicate Esme running with this battered, tough, and generally scary-looking man, but the couple's patience and persistence had to come from somewhere.

If I thought John looked scary, however, I was in for a shock when I met the others.

First were the fierce Irishwoman named Maeve and her sometimes-lover William. William and Maeve had taken under their wing an orphaned boy with bright red hair named Michael, who had the knack of knowing exactly when he was being lied to, which generally meant that people tended to avoid him a bit. The trio accepted our story immediately.

William had called in favours from the wider hunter network, but from what I gathered, half of them turned out to be dead.

And then the Lost Boys turned up.

I guessed the name of this vampire hunter gang had first been an ironic code word to maintain the secrecy of its crewmembers, and eventually the title, no matter how inappropriate, just stuck. The Lost Boys consisted of a tall, dark-skinned woman with exotic, feral features, two young and cocky American men, an Englishman with a bad attitude, and a mysterious blonde that I strongly suspected might have been some kind of witch.

All of them looked like they could have easily made short work of me.

Verity was waiting with John for me to arrive. The redheaded vampire was oddly fascinated with the scruffy hunter, and he seemed to regard her with the same fascination. They were both staring past me, into the darkness.

"They're coming." John said.

I was getting really sick of hearing that.

"Yeah,"

"We're ready."

I actually jumped as Sam stepped out of the bush. She must have only just shifted, as she was completely nude. To John's credit, he barely battered an eyelid.

"What were you waiting for?" I demanded.

"You." Verity said.

For the first time, I was heartily glad that the Collins's land was nowhere near civilisation and I stood on the hood of my car, watching the advancing Volturi front line. I was aware of Jack and Inez standing either side of me. I squinted into the darkness. There were less of them as I'd thought.

I wondered whether it was a ploy to lull us into a false sense of security.

With an easy leap, I was off the hood of the car and headed toward the brightly lit entrance to the Collins' house. I exchanged nods with Annabel and William as Jackson and Inez peeled off the formation to flank me.

Inside, the remnants of the Collins' family, Jack and Emlin were standing in the centre of the open lounge-room in a rough circle around Eddie and DB. Only Eddie knew where he was going to take the child. It was thought best not to share the information in case the Volturi did read our minds.

DB was rugged up in tiny jeans and jumper against the harsh breeze, a resigned look on her small, perfect face. This was not the first time she had run.

I wondered whether she would be chased until the day she died.

"They are on the horizon." Inez gravely informed Carl and Esme.

"I can smell them." Jack growled.

"Our people have been arrayed around the perimeter." Jackson said. "Evenly distributed around yours. They will not get through without a fight."

I closed my eyes, trying to digest it all. It had been agreed that it was too dangerous to keep DB on the ground. If the Volturi were willing to take the time to listen, each of us had agreed to have our minds read by Aro. The ancient vampire would see through our eyes firsthand that DB had grown and matured in the months we had found her, even though she still did not speak. Hopefully we could eliminate the threat to her.

But if the Volturi really did want DB as a new pet...

The skinwalker pack would fight, as the vampires were technically encroaching on their territory.

The hunters would fight because they thought it was fun.

Jackson and his clan would fight because of some long-forgotten transgression. And they would protect me and the Collinses as they saw Eddie and DB as belonging to the clan.

Because they belonged to me.

The room quietly cleared around me, leaving Eddie and DB behind. The toddler looked up at me and smiled, and I reached out to ruffle her sleek black curls. I could understand, more and more, why her mother willingly went to her death to get the child into Eddie's protection.

Eddie and I looked at each other awkwardly, not saying anything in case the screaming started. DB didn't need to see us fall apart now.

He pulled out the blue box.

"Open it." He said softly, offering it to me. I slowly took the box from him, cracked it open, and stared into the velvet-lined interior. Nestled onto the deep blue cushion was a polished stone on the end of a thick silver chain. Splashes of green, purple, blue and red cut across the dark surface, dappling it with colour. My mouth opened in a silent gasp.

"It's a black opal." Eddie said. "It belonged to my mum, Elizabeth. I know it's not a ring, but I thought... that one day..."

"One day's something." In one step, I had crossed the space between us and threw myself against his chest, burying my face against his neck. After a moment, his arms came up around me. His heart beat strongly against my cold and still chest, and longing burned in me. I wanted so much to have been able to grow old with this man.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry about everything." I whispered.

He gave a wry laugh. "Yeah. You probably should be."

"Thanks."

Eddie gently tugged the opal from my fist, and carefully latched the chain around my pale neck. "I wasn't expecting any of this either." He ran his hands across my cheekbones and down my neck, saying goodbye with his touch.

"This isn't how the story's supposed to end." Guilt forced its way up my throat. The moment I had set eyes on him, I had ruined his life. God knew why, he loved me.

And one way or another, I'd killed him.

"I suppose... I suppose in a way, this is best."

"How do you figure?" He murmured against my hair.

"This wasn't meant to last. You're a normal guy, I'm a-" For some reason, I couldn't get the word out. "I can't give you what you deserve. I can't... give you stability, or security, or a family-"

"Did you ever think that maybe you're enough for me?" He touched my lips, and then bent down to kiss me swiftly, if passionately. I really didn't want to let him go, but someone delicately cleared their throat behind us. Esme was standing by the door, her caramel-coloured locks tied away from her face.

"Edward." She said. Her voice was hollow.

"I love you." I breathed as he pulled away. He didn't speak, but the look on his face said that his heart was breaking. He gathered up DB and the two of them followed Esme and disappeared into the darkness.

The last of the warmth seemed to seep out of my body leaving me a cold, frozen statue. A lone tear tracked its way down my cheek and I brushed it away vigorously.

Jack came into the room. I could smell the slightly earthy fragrance that always seemed to accompany his presence. "You okay?"

"Not really."

"You want to go kick some butt?"

"Yeah." My mind immediately seemed to clear. "I could really use someone to hit."

Jack laughed, and offered me his hand. I reached out to him, and the two of us walked out into the night arm in arm.

The Volturi has existed for thousands of years, and has done nothing in that time besides consolidate their power.

Did we even stand a chance?

I reached out to the second group, but for some reason, they seemed to feel different to the vampires I had sensed with Jackson. They seemed more determined than evil, and I wondered at them.

It didn't make a difference. We would only be crushed between them.

I could feel a presence reaching out towards us, trying to break the links of kinship and friends between us. I tensed myself against the coming disorienting and debilitating attack.

With a gasp, I was aware of another presence rearing up behind us from the second group. With a thrill of fear, I recognised Jane's manic and slightly unhinged mind, and was expecting amazing amounts of pain at any second when Jane's presence washed over all of us and clashed against the first group of vampires.

Jane was fighting for us, and it almost bowled me over.

I turned around, and looked into the eyes of the delicate female vampire who had emerged from the trees behind us, surrounded by many others who were members of the Guard. Jane met my gaze evenly, and then bowed her head to me in a gesture of submissiveness. I could have slapped myself!

I'm the Volturi guard's dominant female!

My very presence had caused the Volturi to split right down the middle, the Guard on one side and the Triumvirate and their pampered hangers-on on the other.

A savage grin crept across my face. "Let's get 'em."

Jack gave an answering triumphant howl, and as one, the skinwalkers seemed to leap forward and tear into the Volturi front line. John, the Collins', and the other hunters brought weapons to bear, and my fellow vampires launched themselves into the fray.

Suddenly everything was one long red blur as my clothes and hair was being torn at, several long stinging lines being scored in my pale skin. Every so often, I caught a glimpse of one of the others, Jack, tearing into the Volturi, Inez, leaping around as nimbly as a deer, bringing her teeth to bear, or her clan or one of the hunters.

There were bodies. I didn't look too close in case I recognised someone I loved.

Jane went down. I didn't even like her, but I still turned in her direction. That lapse in concentration allowed someone to strike me firmly across the back of my skull, sending me sprawling into the bloody dirt, my ears ringing. And then someone was on my back, wrenching my head back and brushing my neck with their sharp fangs.

"STOP!"

Suddenly the weight was gone and someone else grabbed my upper arms, hauling me to my feet.

"Where is Eddie?!" Alice shrieked at me. Aro and Marcus were shadowing her and Jasper, looking anxious.

And then everything fell into place. The first vampire army had no leader. Jane was on our side, and she was fiercely loyal to only one man. Alice and Jasper had gone to Italy to convince Aro and Marcus to come here, to stop-

Only one of the vampire leaders ever really wanted to see us dead.

"We've been played." I whispered in horror.

I reached out desperately for Eddie, knowing that I wouldn't find anything. The fact that I could never seem to read his mind clearly was one of the things that had initially attracted me to him. Now I could have screamed.

"Go!" Alice screamed at me.

I ran, following Jack as he bounded along, following the fresh scents of Eddie and DB. Aro, Marcus, and the Collinses had been behind me, but Jack and I had lost them as we pounded across the hard ground. The dirt road turned to tar as we joined the road into the middle of town. I felt sick with the knowledge that Caius was running around somewhere in Fawkes, my town, after my bloke and my kid.

Jack let out a harsh bark, and I looked up in time to see the taillights of Rosalie's red convertible roaring out of town. I slowed to a stop, but my relief suddenly turned into terror as a black and white flash swung down from the massive gum trees and straight into the front of the car, spinning the vehicle off the road and crumpling the bonnet.

There was the squeal of burning rubber and Caius smiled directly at me, baring fangs, before punching through the windscreen. I saw and smelled blood. Spicy blood.

DB screamed.

I was too slow to stop the ancient vampire from dragging Eddie from the car and hauling him upright as he firmly gripped DB by the hand.

"Get back!"

Jack let out a defiant howl. Caius's teeth grazed Eddie's neck.

"Now!"

"Caius!" Aro and Marcus had arrived.

"Caius, this is not the way to get what you want." Aro's voice was sharp and commanding, nowhere near his usual slightly-stoned tone.

"Let me and the child leave!" DB was whimpering at his heels. "Let us leave and no one will be harmed."

"What do you think you are doing, Caius?"

"Consolidating my power." Caius explained evenly. "You wouldn't know anything about that. You with your... witchcraft. I've had to work for all I have achieved. And you know? That makes me more powerful than any of you. It's time I was rewarded some respect."

"This is wrong, old friend." Aro said softly.

"DO NOT CALL ME THAT!" Caius hollered. In his manic state, he didn't notice when DB pulled her hand from his grip.

With a shrill cry, she bared her teeth and fell on Caius, latching onto his leg, burying her teeth again and again into his pale, powdery flesh.

The ancient vampire's eyes widened in surprise, and in the moment his grip loosened on Eddie, Eddie drew his arm back and buried his elbow in the vampire's stomach.

Something in his arm snapped, but it was just enough of a distraction to enable Eddie to grab DB, wincing in pain. I stepped forward in front of them as Caius lashed out, grabbing me around the throat, squeezing.

I could feel muscles rubbing together that really shouldn't be rubbing together, and I grabbed his clawlike hands, struggling against him. He couldn't kill me, but right now I was more worried about the ancient vampire pulling my head off.

And then the hand fell away.

Caius was standing there in front of me, his eyes blank. I looked down.

There was a splintered wooden end poking through his torso. I blinked.

Marcus was standing behind his Volturi brother, holding the wooden stake firmly imbedded between Caius's ribs. Slowly Caius turned to face him.

"Et tu, Marcus?" He breathed.

And died.

Marcus looked at me, his face as blank as it always was as I gathered DB to me, Eddie rising to stand by my side, wincing as he gripped his shattered arm. I watched Caius wither away to a slightly dark stain on the tar.

"Prove to me that I have made the right choice." He said, and walked away.