I'd hoped to have this up before now, but real life interfered… again. A great big thank you to every last one of you that read, reviewed, messaged, etc., these last two chapters. I was very nervous as to how they would be received, but, as usual, you all put those nerves to rest in no time. :)

Koko23cat, I know you've been waiting for this one… with your favorite Jasper moment from the books. I hope it did it justice!

PixieCullen88, I hope you know how much I adore you. You're always there to lift me up when I'm down and the shoulder to cry on when I need it.

And, my sweet Maciena, this one is for you. You've been with me from the very beginning and always have a word of encouragement when I need it the most. I can't imagine this ride without you with me. Love you much!

Enough with the mushy stuff. On with the chapter now… enjoy!

Chapter 10

Jasper

I took my seat between Esme and Emmett, feeling the buzzing of excitement and anticipation that filled the auditorium. It had been some time since I'd been around a crowd of humans as large as this. My throat burned, of course, but it was surprisingly bearable. Much easier to ignore than I'd thought it would be.

Graduations were actually one gathering that I enjoyed to a certain extent. The tenor of the emotional atmosphere was a current of mostly positive energy. There was a level of nervousness – mostly from the graduates themselves, but at times from the parents as well.

There was always a level of poignancy and reflection. But mostly there was excitement… relief. At times outright jubilation. It was a celebration, and I did enjoy soaking that in.

Strains of pomp and circumstance began playing, and the graduates began filing in down the center aisle. My eyes scanned the line quickly, looking automatically for Alice. I was immediately concerned when I didn't see her.

Edward was there, paces behind where Alice should be. I could sense confusion from him, and, of all the emotions that I might have anticipated, that wasn't one of them.

Bella filed in just moments after him, towards the end of the line. Her face was blank. Too blank. Beneath her calm exterior, her emotions were in a turmoil. But mainly, she was scared. And I knew her fear had nothing to do with graduation.

Something had happened. Something Alice had seen and Bella knew. Something they were keeping from Edward. That was the only explanation. But what could it be?

Carlisle and Esme, Rosalie and Emmett glanced over at each other as we all noted Alice's absence. They were surprised but I seemed to be the only one who was actually worried by it. For now at least.

I had to talk myself down from getting out of my seat to search for her. To find her and demand that she tell me what she knew. Something new had transpired, and I needed to know what it was… and that she was safe.

The graduates' speeches droned on and on. And I didn't hear a word.

I'd heard these speeches a thousand times over. They were all the same. Endings and beginnings. The close of one chapter of life and the start of another.

The words ran senselessly together. I was much too absorbed worrying over Alice and watching my brother and Bella.

Edward kept glancing repeatedly in her direction, trying hard to hide his worry. But she wouldn't meet his eyes. Her face was much too vacant.

The speeches finally ended and the diplomas were presented. Names were called and the graduates filed across the stage.

I was relieved when I saw Alice glide across the stage when her name was called, appearing like she'd been there all along. But the relief lasted only a split second. Until I saw her face.

She was concentrating on something, her face a mask of deep absorption. Her emotions were carefully blank.

Oblivious to the turmoil simmering under the surface, Emmett shook the roof with his deafening whistle which lasted from the time Alice's name was called until Edward left the stage behind her. Any other time, the antic was amusing. Not this time.

Alice disappeared yet again when she had her diploma in hand. And again, I had to resist the urge to get up and follow her.

After what seemed an eternity, the diplomas were all distributed and the ceremony was brought to a conclusion. The tassels were turned and a deafening roar sounded from the graduates and their families alike.

The procession out the door seemed to take twice as long as it had coming in. I was antsy to get out. I darted from my seat as soon as the graduates were out, slipping away to hunt Alice down. Her scent led back toward the house. I didn't wait for the others before I followed after her.

She was already home by the time I caught up to her. I found her in our room, slipping out of the dress she'd worn for graduation, draping it over her yellow gown on the foot of the bed.

"What happened?" I asked, stepping immediately to her and cupping her face in my hands.

Alice shook her head, standing on tip-toe to press a soft, fleeting kiss to my lips. "Not now," she said quietly, slipping from my grasp. "Wait until the others get home. We'll talk then."

I eyed her worriedly, not appeased in the slightest by her answer.

"Everything is all right, Jasper," she assured me as she stepped inside our closet, swallowed up inside the massive space.

I sighed as she pulled out her party clothes, knowing I wasn't going to get anything more from her than that. I'd just have to be patient and trust her that it wasn't anything terribly pressing. She wouldn't keep it from me if it was of immediate concern.

"You look nice," I told her when she stepped out. She'd chosen red leather pants and a slinky sequined tank top for the occasion. The fabric hugged her body in all the right places. She was breathtaking as always.

Her face lit up in a genuinely excited smile. "You like it?" she asked, pirouetting in front of me.

"I do," I said, running my hands down her bare arms and slipping my fingers through hers. "Very sexy," I drawled, bending to kiss her temple. Instead, she stretched up and met my lips with hers.

"Glad you like it," she winked.

I followed behind her to the ground level. What was waiting for us there didn't even remotely resemble our house. Alice had thrown herself heart and soul into planning this party. I knew very well how helpless she'd felt with everything that was going on, and she'd poured all of that helpless frustration into one of the things she derived the greatest joy from… hence our home's transformation.

Alice piled strands of lights in her arms and carried them outside. Grabbing a bundle myself, I followed her. Together we wound the strands of lights around the trees that lined the driveway. It would be dark by the time guests started arriving, and the lights would serve as a guide to the house down the miles of winding pavement.

Alice's excitement was genuine by the time the others, minus Edward, arrived back home. She seemed to have put whatever had worried her earlier from her mind.

Her lips were pulled back in a grin as she handed Esme the bright yellow cap she'd worn at graduation. Esme already had Edward's in her hand, ready to add them to the huge, multicolored collage that hung at the top of the stairway.

Esme and Alice spent the next few hours in final preparation for the party. They finished decorating the house, and by the time they were done it was almost unrecognizable.

Alice was sorting through piles of CDs when Edward and Bella arrived.

"Ready to celebrate?" we heard Edward address Bella from the other side of the door.

Bella only response was a groan.

I heard the door then and the sound of their footsteps as they came inside.

"Unbelievable," Bella gasped, seeing Alice's decorations for the first time.

"Alice will be Alice," Edward said drily. That was really the only explanation for it. She was an unstoppable force of nature.

"Edward!" Alice called for him, ignoring their lack of enthusiasm for her efforts. "I need your advice. Should we give them familiar and comforting? Or educate their taste in music?"

"Keep it comforting," Edward recommended. "You can only lead the horse to water."

"I think I'm underdressed," Bella observed.

I could hear the smile in Edward's voice when he responded. "You're perfect."

"You'll do," Alice corrected.

"Thanks," Bella said with a sigh. "Do you really think people will come?" The hope on her voice was impossible to miss. It coated every word.

"Everyone will come," Edward answered her. "They're all dying to see the inside of the reclusive Cullens' mystery home."

"Fabulous," she moaned.

Edward chuckled under his breath. "Come on," he pulled her gently against his side, bringing her with him to seek me out.

"We need to talk," Edward addressed me gravely, all traces of teasing gone from his voice now.

Alice's hands stilled, but she quickly resumed her task. She was trying so hard to forget whatever it was that Edward needed to tell me and simply enjoy the party she'd so painstakingly planned.

Edward kept his arm around Bella as we made our way to Carlisle's office, matching our steps to Bella's slower human ones.

Carlisle was there waiting for us. "What happened?" he asked Edward, concern evident on his face.

"It's Victoria," Edward said simply.

There was complete and utter silence at that declaration.

I wondered absently if Bella even noticed that she automatically cringed into Edward's side at the mention of Victoria's name. Edward wrapped his arm tighter around her, tugging her closer.

"What about her?" I asked, feeling suddenly sick.

"She's the one behind the army," Edward told me, fighting hard to hide his fear from Bella. "The intruder wasn't looking for Bella. He was stealing her scent so others could track her. So the newborns would know who they were looking for."

"But if it's Victoria, wouldn't Alice have seen…?" I began.

Bella was the one to respond now, her voice dim and weak, trembling with fear. "She's hiding behind whoever this intruder is, not making those decisions because she knows Alice will be looking for her. The intruder, the army… they're her puppets, Jasper." Her voice was barely a whisper by the time she finished.

Processing this information, I turned, staring out the window, barely conscious of the cloud cover that hung low outside, bright with the colors of the sunset.

"That changes everything," Carlisle said, more disturbed than he was willing to admit.

"We have to go now," Edward spoke with a quiet urgency. "We can't afford to wait any longer."

"You're right," I agreed reluctantly.

There was no possible way around it now. Victoria wouldn't stop until she was dead… or Bella was. We had no choice. But that didn't change the odds.

There were still only seven of us and perhaps twenty of them, led by a crazed woman with a vendetta to avenge.

There was no good option or plan of attack. The odds were stacked much too high against us.

With great dread, Carlisle, Edward and I discussed strategy. I ran my hand over the back of my neck in frustration. I felt like I could claw right out of my skin.

Splitting up and dividing forces in Seattle wasn't an option. There weren't enough of us for that, and even with a certain level of training, I wasn't willing to let any of them go off without me. Too much could go wrong in a shockingly short amount of time.

Our numbers were too few as it was. To lower them further would be foolhardy.

We couldn't engage in a direct assault – again, there weren't enough of us, and we had to do our utmost to see that our secrecy remained intact.

Somehow we had to find a way to lure them out of the city. We threw options back and forth but none of them were truly viable.

We were backed into a corner. We had to act – and we had to do so quickly – but our options were dismal.

"A week," I said resignedly. "We'll give it a week. That will hopefully provide us with adequate time for training and to come up with a better plan of action."

Carlisle and Edward both nodded. I doubted that Bella had heard a single word that had just been spoken. She was obviously zoned out, overwhelmed.

"Guests are going to start arriving any moment now," Edward said quietly, "We should go downstairs." He pulled Bella a little closer to his side, kissing her forehead tenderly.

"Do we have to?" Bella muttered under her breath.

"I heard that!" Alice called from the first floor, loud enough for Bella to hear.

"It's better to just go along with it," Edward infused a lighthearted note of teasing into his voice that he didn't quite feel. "Alice may be small, but she's awfully scary when she wants to be."

Bella just grunted. Carlisle's mouth turned up in a half-hearted smile.

I couldn't see it, of course, but I could almost sense Alice rolling her eyes downstairs.

"Are you coming with us?" Carlisle inquired of me, pausing at the doorway after Edward and Bella had already left the room.

"I'll be there in a minute," I assured him. "You go on ahead."

"All right," he nodded in understanding. "Just join us when you're ready." With that, he was gone, leaving me to compose myself.

I needed a few minutes to myself to gather my thoughts. I had a sick feeling festering in the pit of my stomach. I'd gone over this problem from every possible angle, yet I was still no closer to finding a solution than I'd been when we'd first been made aware of it.

We were backed into a corner, and our opponents were closing in a little more each day. With our backs to the wall, we had no good way to fight back.

I didn't doubt that after some training we'd ultimately win, but there would be casualties.

We'd win, but we'd lose, too.

Knowing that, and knowing there was no way to avoid it now, made me sick. I'd never felt so helpless in all my life.

The question was there, nagging constantly at the back of my mind… who would it be? Who would we lose?

The thought of losing any of them, no matter who it was, was unbearable.

In a week's time, what would our family look like? Who would still be alive?

Scrubbing my hand over my face, I attempted to bring my rioting thoughts under control. I only succeeded marginally.

When I finally went downstairs, the party was in full swing. The house, vibrating with the deep bass sound of the music, was packed from wall to wall with Forks High students and graduates.

They all seemed to be surprisingly relaxed in our home. There was little of the natural wariness and reservation that was instinctive around us.

My family members were all right in the thick of it. Carlisle and Esme were there, keeping an eye on things, appearing as relaxed as anyone. They were both naturally hospitable people, but opportunities to open their home like this didn't arise very often for obvious reasons.

There were tables set up in the dining room, loaded with food that Alice had catered. It must have tasted good to the humans, if how quickly it disappeared was any indication, but the odor to me hung heavy and unappetizing in the air.

Just as in the auditorium earlier, the scent of blood saturated every breath I took. I noticed it, of course – it was impossible not to – but, for once, it actually took second place in my thoughts.

I glanced around the room, taking note of where each of my loved ones stood mingling in the crowd. And a sharp pain pierced my heart. Which ones of them would be gone forever in a week?

I looked at all of them, their faces relaxed in simple enjoyment, and felt the urge to weep.

I wished that I had their ability to put these worries from my mind and enjoy the moment – even if it was only for appearance sake – but I couldn't.

Alice made the rounds through the crowded room, Bella at her side. I could hear the light, happy sound of her voice as she thanked everyone for coming, making small talk with them and trying to ensure that they were enjoying themselves.

She wasn't thinking about what was coming – she knew worrying about it didn't change anything – she was focused entirely on the moment, enjoying it fully. That was one of the qualities that I loved about her… and one that I envied.

It was later in the evening when, with no prior warning, I felt a surge of shock and horror emanating from Alice. It caught me completely off guard, saturating my every thought. Her wide, terrified eyes shot up to mine from across the room. Simultaneously, I saw Edward's back stiffen, his eyes darting over to us.

She'd seen something.

Edward dropped his arm from where it had rested around Bella's shoulders. "Stay here," he murmured close to her ear. "I'll be right back."

He slipped away, and, as one, we all filed up the stairs, trying to get away unnoticed by anyone else.

Alice shut the door to Carlisle's office behind her. Her eyes still held the same horrorstruck look they'd had downstairs.

"They're coming here." Her mouth moved, but no sound came out. "The army… they're coming to find us."

"What did you see, Alice?" I tried to keep my voice even, hiding the fear that was threatening. "Tell me exactly."

"It was clear as it could be this time. The decision has been made obviously. I saw the entire newborn army coming to Forks. One of them was carrying Bella's red shirt."

"How many?"

Alice's eyes grew unfocused as she immersed herself in the vision again. "Twenty-one. There's twenty-one of them right now."

"When are they coming?"It had never before been this hard to mask my fear behind a cool, businesslike demeanor.

"Four days from now. On Friday."

My stomach sank. That was it, then. Not even the full week we'd thought we'd have to prepare. The threat was upon us now, looming dark and ominous.

"I… that was all I saw," Alice said absently, her eyes troubled. Every ounce of the happiness she'd fought so hard for had vanished. She was scared now. Just like the rest of us.

She ghosted back down the stairs, Edward close behind her. There was nothing else to discuss… not for now at least.

I leaned my forehead against the glass window pane, staring at nothing. Hopelessness engulfed me like waves crashing over my head, pulling me under.

Four days. We had only four days before our entire world caved in around us.

Four days… and then nothing would ever be the same again.

It was only a few moments before I returned downstairs to rejoin my family, but it seemed so much longer. The sounds of the party were suffocating. I just couldn't stay.

The kitchen door beckoned as a welcome path of escape. And I took it.

I was surprised to see Edward there… even more surprised that I hadn't sensed him considering the raging state of his emotions. He was slumped on the bottom step with his head buried in his hands. His eyes were squeezed tightly shut, his breaths coming in short shallow pants.

The emotions he'd kept so carefully contained were running rampant now, having boiled over. They were a mirror image of mine – the helplessness and fear that I'd been struggling with all evening.

But, of course, he'd heard my fears. He'd seen every image of death and destruction that had tortured my thoughts… and not just mine, but everyone else's as well.

Sinking down beside him, I laid my hand on his shoulder. I didn't say a word. It wouldn't do any good. Words of comfort were empty and meaningless.

We weren't all right. Nothing was okay, and we were facing destruction that would likely tear our family apart from its very roots. Words weren't going to change that.

"I just… needed a minute," Edward said in a shaking voice, not even looking up. "I didn't want her to see me like this… she's scared enough without watching me fall apart."

I didn't reply, just squeezed his shoulder in silent support.

"I just… I don't know…" He finally looked up, his eyes tormented. "What are we going to do, Jasper?" His tone was desperate, pleading for answers that I didn't have to give him.

"I don't know, Edward," I replied, hating the helplessness in my voice. "I wish I did… I wish to God I did."

Edward's eyes drifted off into the distance, his shoulders slumping even more.

Feeling like I was intruding on his privacy, I stood with a sigh. I almost expected my joints to creak when I stood. I felt old, my mental weariness so deep that it was almost physical. "I'll leave you alone, then."

"I'll be inside in a few minutes." His voice was almost inaudible.

As soon as I stepped reluctantly back into the house, a stench assaulted my nose. I'd only smelled it once before, but I would have recognized it anywhere.

It was the putrid stench of wolf.

Immediately, my guard flew up, going instinctively on the defensive. I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end. I scanned the room quickly, searching out where they were.

"Excuse me?" I heard Alice's irate voice exclaim. My blood ran cold as my eyes shot to her.

The sight before me had me seeing red, rage coursing through my veins.

I was going to kill him.

Alice

The heat of Jacob Black's arm scorched me where it blocked me against the stairs. I was trapped.

I hadn't been pleased at all to find that he'd actually shown up at Bella's invitation – and with a posse, no less. He had gall coming here in the first place, but to stand there in my own home, blocking me so that I had no escape, demanding answers that I didn't owe him, I was livid.

I'd barely had time to form a complete thought, though, before Jasper was there. I'd only seen this level of fury on his face a few times before. It was a look of pure menace that would strike terror into the hardest of hearts.

I knew that he wouldn't hesitate to tear Jacob Black into bloody ribbons if he didn't move away from me – witnesses be damned. And it was obvious that Jacob knew it, too.

Jacob swallowed convulsively, fear seeping into his pores despite the brave face he tried to present. I could almost smell it.

Slowly, he lowered his arm back to his side. I didn't miss the fact that his arm was trembling… whether that was actually from fear or the desire to phase didn't matter. He was scared.

I permitted myself a moment of smug satisfaction at his response – and that of his sidekicks as well. It wasn't fair really. They were just boys, in spite of their size. Jasper was not. And he wasn't playing on their level He didn't operate that way. And he didn't fight fair… especially where I was concerned.

Jacob Black took a slow step back, eyeing Jasper like he was a snake waiting to strike – which he was, in a manner of speaking. "We have a right to know," he muttered sullenly even as he retreated.

They very second he moved, Jasper stepped between us, angling himself so that Bella and I were shielded behind his body. Jacob and his friends tensed, threatened.

"Hey, hey," Bella interjected, her voice slightly hysterical. "This is a party, remember?"

No one responded.

Jacob glowered at me while Jasper glared icily back at him. Neither of them were giving an inch.

Little as I wanted to admit it, Jacob was right. With the army coming to Forks, this did concern the Quileutes. They needed to be aware of the threat so that they could protect their people.

"It's okay, Jasper," I said, laying my hand on his back. "He actually has a point." Jasper didn't budge. But, then again, I hadn't really expected him to.

"What did you see, Alice?" Bella demanded, her voice still teetering on the edge of hysteria.

I eyed Jacob Black up and down for a moment more. I didn't like it, and I knew Jasper would like it even less, but with the threat so close to home now, we had no right to keep them in the dark.

"The decision's been made," I told her simply.

"You're going to Seattle?"

"No."

Every ounce of blood drained from Bella's face as she put the pieces together. Her skin was almost as pale as mine as she croaked out, "They're coming here."

"Yes."

"To Forks?" Her eyes were wide and horrified, no volume to her voice.

"Yes," I acknowledged again.

"For?" She already knew, she didn't really need me to answer that. If they were coming here, it was for one reason only.

"One carried your red shirt."

Bella's face was frozen in a mask of horror. The three werewolves watched our exchange with varying levels of confusion. And Jasper watched them, not bothering to hide his displeasure.

His face was tight with strain, eyes hard as he turned slightly to glance at us. "We can't let them come that far," he said curtly. "There aren't enough of us to protect the town."

"I know," I responded, feeling my earlier despondency crashing down around me again. "But it doesn't matter where we stop them. There still won't be enough of us, and some of them will come here to search."

"No!" Bella bit off in a strangled whisper. "Alice, I have to go, I have to get away from here."

"That won't help," I shook my head. "It's not like we're dealing with a tracker. They'll still come looking here first."

"Then I have to go meet them! If they find what they're looking for, maybe they'll go away and not hurt anyone else!"

"Bella!" I exclaimed, shocked that she even thought we'd consider that an option. It wasn't happening. No matter what.

"Hold it," Jacob said in a low, forceful voice. It wasn't a request, it was an order. And Jasper and I both bristled. If the mutt didn't watch it, he'd have both of us to contend with. And it wouldn't end well for him. "What is coming?"

"Our kind," I told him, positive my voice couldn't have been any colder if I'd tried. "Lots of them."

"Why?"

"For Bella. That's all we know."

"There are too many of them for you?" he spat.

Jasper's eyes narrowed in indignation, his lips curling back in a snarl. "We have a few advantages, dog. It will be an even fight."

I made sure to keep my face smooth and even, nothing in my expression to contradict his words. It wasn't true, exactly, but I understood why he said it. And riling him right now was in no one's best interest.

"No," Jacob said, his lips turning up in a half smile as his eyes flickered between me and Jasper. "It won't be even."

The moment he said the words, everything in the near future was absorbed into complete blackness. And I'd never in all my life been so grateful to be blind.

"Excellent!" I hissed.

Jasper looked to me in confusion. When my eyes locked with his, wild with triumph, that was all he needed for understanding to dawn.

"Everything just disappeared, of course," I turned to Jacob with a smile of sudden comradeship. "That's inconvenient, but, all things considered, I'll take it."

"We'll have to coordinate," Jacob said. "It won't be easy for us. Still, this is our job more than yours."

There was a part of me that sorely wanted to snap at him for the condescension, but I refrained, forcing myself to be civil. "I wouldn't go that far, but we need the help. We aren't going to be picky," I couldn't resist throwing in at least a slight jab. I wasn't that civil.

"Wait, wait, wait," Bella interrupted. "Coordinate?"

"You didn't honestly think you were going to keep us out of this?" Jacob asked her.

"You are staying out of this!" she insisted.

"Your psychic doesn't think so."

"Alice," she turned to me with desperate eyes, "tell them no! They'll get killed!"

"Bella," it wasn't easy to keep my voice soothing, but somehow I managed. "Separately we could all get killed," I reminded her. "Together – "

"It'll be no problem." Jacob laughed again.

"How many?" one of the others flanking Jacob asked.

"No!" Bella shouted again, her voice drowned out to human ears by the furious volume of the music.

I ignored her this time. "It changes – twenty-one today, but the numbers are going down."

"Why?" Jacob asked.

"Long story," I brushed him off. "And this isn't the place for it."

Everyone was still unaware of our altercation by the stairs, and that was nothing short of a small miracle. Thank goodness for dim lighting and thundering bass music.

"Later tonight?" Jacob pressed.

"Yes." Jasper was the one to answer this time. "We were already planning a… strategic meeting. If you're going to fight with us, you'll need some instruction."

The three young wolves all appeared disgruntled by that. But Jasper wasn't requesting, and his expression wasn't one to be argued with. There was no chance that he was going to allow a wild card in this fight. Somehow we'd all have to find a way to be on the same page, with the same agenda. No loose ends. Not as long as he was involved. That wasn't how he operated.

"No!" Bella moaned. But yet again, we all ignored her. She was just going to have to come to grips with it. This was how it was going to be.

"This will be odd," Jasper said thoughtfully. "I never considered working together. This has to be a first."

"No doubt about that," Jacob agreed. "We've got to get back to Sam," he said, glancing hurriedly at the exit, impatient now. "What time?"

"What's too late for you?" Jasper asked him.

Jacob and his friends all rolled their eyes. Jasper narrowed his, his face pinching with the effort to remain civil. They weren't making it easy.

"What time?" Jacob repeated.

"Three o'clock?" Jasper's voice was perfectly even, no hint of his aggravation seeping out.

"Where?"

"About ten miles due north of the Hoh Forest ranger station. Come at it from the west and you'll be able to follow our scent in."

"We'll be there." Jacob nodded, and they all turned to leave.

"Wait, Jake!" Bella called. She turned to follow him, and Jasper and I stepped away, letting her.

We were going to find the rest of our family and fill them in. This was a reason to celebrate.

The party went on into the night, and, now, we were all able to enjoy it. The curtain of despondency had lifted. We had hope again.

After the party had wound down and everyone had gone, I found Jasper in his study, his back to me, staring out the window. He'd said very little since Jacob and his friends had left earlier. He'd needed time to process.

Smiling tenderly, I went to him, slipping my arms around his waist, and laid my cheek against his back. His hands covered mine, squeezing gently.

"All this time we've spent worrying and agonizing," he breathed, "and the answer was right there all along." He chuckled. "In the very last place any of us would have thought to look."

I pressed my lips to his spine in response.

"It's all going to be all right," he said, as if trying to make that fact sink in. I could hear it in his voice, he still didn't quite believe it. "Their involvement will double our numbers. The newborns won't even know they exist. They'll be distracted. And it will be almost easy to pick them off." He turned around, cradling my face between his hands, wonder filling his eyes.

"We're going to be fine."

"We're going to be fine," I repeated, leaning into his touch.

I watched the relief fill his eyes, relaxing the tense lines of his face. They were replaced by fierce strains of triumph. He smiled, eyes now blazing with joy. His arms snatched me up, spinning me around. The sound of his laughter filled my ears, and then his mouth found mine, claiming it fiercely. His lips were hard, unrestrained in his exultation.

This was a kiss of victory.

Things are looking up, eh? ;) Fight training up next! Reviewers get a sneak peek. Until next time…

Hugs,

Nik