Greetings! I'm a day late again, so I apologize! But this chapter is quite long, so I hope it makes up for my lateness a little. Please enjoy this latest installment, and I look forward to reading your feedback! Happy reading~~

Chapter Eleven: Worst Kept Secrets

NOVEMBER

If Aro came after me, I didn't know what I would do. Disappear quickly? That was really the only thing I could do to keep myself alive. I wasn't strong, and I couldn't hypnotize people with my beauty – quite the opposite, in fact – so I was left with the one aspect that made me special.

"You're special in other ways," Jane said with a scowl. She hated when I talked down about myself, and she especially hated when I brought up the same issue five times in one day. Three times was plenty. Four was stretching it. Five? Forget about it. That was asking too much of Jane's patience.

I sighed. "Yeah, yeah, like how I can color a page in my nature coloring book in under twenty minutes? Or maybe cook three breakfast biscuits in the microwave at once even though the instructions clearly state that they should be cooked one at a time? Totally forgot about those very important abilities." My eyes wanted to roll, but I commanded them to stay still.

"Bella, we have been over this…I do not even know how many times. A dozen? Two or possibly three?" Jane's eyes narrowed. She knew that, in the weeks since Aro's phone call, I had brought it up three dozen times at the very least. She was being generous with her estimation.

"Well, my helplessness is still relevant. How can I protect myself when you're not around?"

"That question is irrelevant," she said firmly. "I am never further than a hundred yards from you, Bella."

"Except when I'm at school."

She dipped her head in acknowledgement. "A half mile, then."

Now it was my turn to scowl. "You're not taking this seriously."

Jane placed her hands on my shoulders and gently maneuvered me so that I faced her head-on rather than the empty stretch of road on the opposite side of my glass front door. "Maybe," she said softly, "you are perhaps letting Aro's non-threat get to your head."

I shook my head viciously. "No, no I'm not. You don't get it because you're a vampire too. You have that pain ability, so you don't have anything to fear from him. I'm human," I stressed, desperate for her understanding. "I'm weak, even by normal standards. I'm not even very smart or anything. I have nothing going for me, Jane!"

Her eyes softened, and the deep red color seemed to become lighter, so that I could see my reflection in them. Lately, her eyes had been darkening so that they resembled black marbles. Or maybe that was just me. Who could tell anymore?

"Mio dolce, of course I have something to fear from Aro. The most important thing. You," she said, her eyes swimming with an indecipherable emotion. "If something happens to you – if Aro hurts you, or sends someone else in the Guard to do you harm…" She paused, and her mouth thinned into a hard line. "No one on this planet would stop me from hunting him down. The horrors I would inflict upon him… Unmentionable."

I swallowed, unnerved by the vicious glint in her eyes and the coldness of her tone. I didn't think she'd ever talked this way in front of me before. The uneasiness I felt in my stomach…that was new too.

"I believe you," I said, placing my hands over hers where they gripped my shoulders. "I would expect nothing less, actually." A thin smile graced her lips, which encouraged me. "It's just that…I don't know, I'd feel better if I could do something to guarantee my own survival, you know? It'd put me a little more at ease, I guess."

Jane's mouth twisted, as if she was considering. Finally, she nodded. "You are wrong about a lot of things, Bella, especially things that concern yourself, but about your teleportation ability being your one trump card… Well, you are right."

I tossed my head back. "Finally, she admits it!"

She smiled again, a little broader this time. "If you are so set on this course, then why don't we practice?"

I frowned, noting the arrival of my school bus out of the corner of my eye. "Practice? Please tell me this will be fun and not, like, some sort of tedious studying. I do enough of that for school," I muttered, even though that wasn't technically true. I avoided tedious studying, but hey, effort was still being expended.

"Nothing so useless," she said, and I smiled because she was so obviously my soulmate.

"Well, what did you have in mind?" I said, pecking her quickly on the cheek and moving aside her hands so I could race out the door in time to meet the bus. But that didn't exactly go as planned.

Jane's grip only tightened, and that was enough to keep me in place. Slightly panicked, I glanced over at the school bus, which honked once after waiting a few seconds, and then proceeded down the street once I failed to appear.

"Jane!" I said, my voice high and bewildered. "I thought you were all for greater education!"

"Relax, what I have in mind is much more exciting. And," she added, tilting her head, "I never advocated for greater education." She shook her head, exasperated. "Sometimes I wonder where you get these ideas."

I shrugged. "They just come to me."

"Well then. Shall we?" Jane cocked her elbow my way, and I reached out tentatively.

"I'm not sure how I should be feeling right now," I said, tightening my grip on her arm. "Are we about to do something illegal?" Not sure why I got that feeling, but Jane inspired moments of pure rebellion. Maybe because she was a vampire and could get away with shit that us lesser beings would never dream of. Sometimes her sense of "nothing-can-stop-me" rubbed off on me.

"We are not doing something illegal, Bella. You are about to bring us on a daring – albeit informational – journey."

My stomach sank. Informational? I didn't like that sound of that. What could she mean? "And that is?"

She smiled victoriously, and my heart momentarily ceased beating. "You are going to teleport us around Whittleston."

I could barely breathe through my excitement. Not because I was going to teleport, and not even because she was giving me permission to teleport (I still really wasn't sure if there were any rules for this sort of thing), but because she was going to come with me.

"The both of us?" I asked, eyes widening.

She nodded and poked me with her pointy elbow. "Lead the way."

Swallowing down my excitement, I closed my eyes, centered myself, and pulled up an image of the girl's bathroom on the first floor of the high school. And –

"Here we are," I said, wrinkling my nose at the mixture of floral perfume and stale pee. In hindsight, I guess I could've chosen a more pleasant atmosphere…

Jane made a thoughtful humming noise in the back of her throat. "Well, this is a bit anticlimactic, if I do so declare."

"You may," I said with a grin, and extricated myself from her grip so I could throw my arms wide. My knuckles skimmed the nearest stall door. "Welcome to Richardson High School, home of the walrus!"

"Walrus?" She squinted at me quizzically.

"It's our mascot," I said with a big eye roll. We were so far from any ocean or big body of water, it was almost funny. Almost. Because if I ever came face-to-face with an actual walrus, I would probably faint right on the spot. I'm all for saving the animals, but walruses were pretty unsightly creatures.

"Mascot," she repeated. "You chose an overweight sea animal to represent your institution of higher learning?"

I placed an affronted hand on my chest. "How dare you – Winifred the Walrus is not fat. He's just…delightfully fluffy. Besides, it wasn't my decision."

Jane's bemused expression remained, but she wisely chose to leave the topic alone. (No guarantee she wouldn't return to it later, though. The girl loved to argue, especially when she knew she could win.)

"Anyway," I said, and grabbed her hand, "let me give you a tour. It's not the most exciting place in the world, but…" Yanking her into the hallway, I stopped for a moment and let Jane soak it all in. First period would start in less than ten minutes, and the hallways were packed. Boys and girls wearing backpacks of varying colors flitted by, their focus on their next destination. They parted around us in waves, not even casting a curious glance Jane's way.

"So these are your people," she said softly.

My forehead creased as I frowned. "Well, in a way, I guess you could say that. But in another way…they're most definitely not my people. Whatever that even means," I muttered, wondering if I should be offended.

"Your people as in humans your own age," Jane clarified, squeezing my hand. "They look so…timid."

It was true. Hunched shoulders and downcast eyes were the norm. Everyone just wanted to get where they were going without any hassle. I knew what that was like. If I didn't have Jane by my side, I would be one of those girls with her hair hanging in her face, eyes rooted to the ugly lemon floor as I mechanically worked my way to a classroom. From an outside perspective, it was a little sad. Do I look that sad? I wondered, watching a girl in the year below me stumble around groups of students, her expression one notch above complete despair.

I cleared my throat and tugged on Jane's hand so she'd face me. The one bright spot in all of this doom and gloom, Jane tilted her head to the side – her way of relaying her attention and curiosity. Her floor-sweeping black cloak stood out, and not just because of the ancient red symbols embroidered along the hem. The temperature was already at an abnormal eighty-five degrees, absurdly high even for Arizona in November, and it wasn't even nine in the morning. Her bright blonde hair shone as if a halo hovered above her head, and the paleness of her skin stood out like a beacon amidst the sun-tanned hordes of native Arizonians. When she smiled, her dark eyes lit up in swirls of raspberry mousse. (Or maybe that was just my stomach talking. On second thought, yeah, that was probably it.)

"This is where you spend seven hours of your day," she said – more a statement than a question.

"Unfortunately. I'd be anywhere else if I could."

"Anywhere?" Jane asked, and if I didn't know any better I could've sworn there was a mischievous glint in the depths of her eyes.

I opened my mouth to confirm this when a shout rang down the hallway, startling me.

"Bella!" From the crowd emerged a sun-tanned guy my own age with wind-swept blonde hair and icy blue eyes. He was grinning broadly, and his massive hands were locked around a tiny Jansport backpack. It was bright pink.

Some of the tension drained from my body. This was someone I could handle.

"Hi, Mike," I said, and abruptly turned towards Jane, who was staring at the hulking guy before me, eyes narrowed. "Jane, this is Mike Newton. His dad owns that sweet corn field down the road from me." Not that this would mean anything to her, but still. I couldn't remember if I'd mentioned that Gerry Newton's field was one of the places I'd landed in after getting struck by lightning at the beginning of summer.

Jane nodded slowly, eyes still squinty and suspicious.

"Nice to meet ya, Jane. You're in good company," Mike added, grinning again. The white shine of his teeth nearly blinded me. I had to put up a hand to deflect the glare.

"Jane?" Eyes raised, I reached out a hand for her. She didn't hesitate in placing her dainty fingers between mine, although her tread was slow and thoughtful. What was going on in that head of hers?

"Is she your cousin or something?" Mike asked, eyes on my face. He shifted his stance a little, and the hem of his green t-shirt rode up, exposing a sliver of tanned hip. It did nothing for me, but judging by the doe-eyed looks girls were throwing at him from both sides of the hallway, I figured it may be doing a little too much for them.

"Umm…" Think, damnit! I scolded myself. "N-no, she's a friend. Who's visiting. From Europe."

Mike's eyebrow popped up. "Europe, huh? That's quite a far journey, young lady."

Is he flirting with Jane? I wondered, astonished. I was equally parts fascinated to see her reaction and nervous that she would bite his head off right there in the middle of the first-floor hallway. Stranger things had happened.

Jane didn't nod or smile or react in any way except to say, "Not so far to some."

Mike obviously didn't know what to make of that, and so he turned back to me. "Say, Bella, a few of us are going up to Mount Pass after school today. There'll be food and…beverages. Like a picnic. You interested?" He shifted a little again, and I noticed offhandedly that he was very close to me now. I had to crane my neck a little in order to meet his eyes.

I glanced at Jane, who was now staring at me like she'd never truly seen me before. Confused by her expression, I said to Mike, "Oh, well, I'm sorry, but I promised Jane I'd show her around town. You know, before she leaves for Europe." Then I added, "Have fun though!" because that was the polite thing to do, right?

Then I even smiled politely, and Mike's own smile turned into a full-on toothy grin, like he was responding to me. On second thought… Is he flirting with me now? Horrified, I cast a panicked look at Jane. Is he flirting with both of us?

"Well, that's disappointing," Mike said, although he didn't look it. "Maybe next time, huh?" He reached out, and one of his fingers lightly skimmed my shoulder.

Immediately, heat rushed into my cheeks. "Oh, uh, um – I –"

Jane's hand was suddenly wrapped around Mike's wrist, and she was bending it at an unnatural angle. Mike's face paled so quickly it was like he'd been dunked in a barrel of ice-cold water. He tried to pull back, but Jane wasn't having it. She smiled, but it was all teeth.

"Keep your hands off Bella," she said in her sweet lilting voice. "Or next time I will not hesitate to bend this bone so far it breaks."

She released him after a tense silence, and only when I placed a warning hand on her chest. Mike took a small step back, baby blues wide and hurt, and then pivoted on his heel and took off down the bustling hallway without glancing back. His body was rigid, but his shoulders were hunched, as if he expected a blow to come from behind.

I turned my body into Jane's, keeping my hand flat on her chest, over her heart. "Jane, that was kinda unnecessary, don't you think?" It had also been kind of hot, but I thought it inappropriate to mention now.

"He wanted to touch you," she said flatly, "and I do not allow strangers to touch my soulmate. Not intimately."

I bit back a sharp sigh. "It was innocent. We were friends when we were toddlers, but over the years we've fallen out of touch. He's tried to include me in a few activities this year." I glanced over my shoulder, in the direction where Mike had disappeared. "I think he misses our friendship."

"Oh, he misses a lot more than just that," Jane said through gritted teeth.

"I don't understand," I said, frustrated by her sudden anger.

Jane licked her lips, and although I wanted to be sidetracked by that seductive little movement, I forced my attention on the problem at hand.

"As soon as he approached you, his heart rate became elevated," she said dryly. "I could smell his pheromones because they exploded from him like gunpowder. And let us just say…" She glanced down at where my jean shorts were buttoned. "There was a noticeable hardness in his lap."

I stumbled back a step, not sure what to feel. "Are you saying…Mike Newton likes me?"

"More than that, Bella. He wants to take you up against a wall."

My face exploded with heat. "Jane!" I hissed loudly, yanking her into an alcove off the hallway. My movements were jerky and awkward, and my body was flaming.

"What?" she asked, blinking. "That's what was in his mind. Or that's what his expression conveyed. It wasn't deeply hidden," she added with a raised eyebrow.

"How do you… Who taught you…" At a loss for words, I merely stared at my soulmate for a long moment, utterly flabbergasted. Finally, I demanded, "How do you know those words?"

"What do you mean?" She seemed genuinely confused.

My eyes darted around the hallway, making sure nobody was close enough to overhear. "I mean, Jane Volturi of the Volturi vampire coven doesn't just go around saying things like "he wants to take you up against a wall," for Pete's sake!" I breathed in deeply, trying to get ahold of myself. I was experiencing so many emotions at once that I was getting a little dizzy.

Jane shrugged. "There's not much to do while you are at school. Usually I flick through the channels on your television until something catches my eye."

"Is that something a reality TV show? A really dramatic, slutty reality TV show? Because that's what it sounds like." It also sounded like a program Renee would record on the DVR.

"I am not sure," she said, still indifferent. "Bella, everything is okay. I know you don't return his feelings, and there is no way he will act on his impulses now. They will just stay daydreams."

My eyes nearly bugged out of my head. "He daydreams that kind of stuff?"

"Taking you up against a wall?" she asked mildly, and I cringed. "Yes. Well, that and other things. His version of you is very flexible," she added with a snort.

"Are you saying I'm not?" Frankly, I wasn't sure if I should be offended or deeply disgusted by this information. I would forever see Mike Newton in a new light. "And how do you know all this?"

A graceful shrug. "His face says plainly what his words will not."

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose in hopes of keeping a rising headache at bay. "Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to bring you here."

Jane frowned at a group of freshman girls who were fixing their push-up bras in an attempt to make their budding breasts perkier. "Maybe not."

"So now what?" I asked, throwing my hands in the air. My left hand narrowly avoided slamming into the large nose of a junior boy with shaggy brown hair.

"Watch it," he snapped.

"Watch yourself," I called after him, then sagged against a row of lockers. The loud ringing of the first period bell sounded down the hallways, scattering the few remaining groups of students.

"Take me somewhere else," Jane said, coming to a stop directly in front of me. She placed her forearms on my shoulders and leaned in so close our foreheads touched. "Take me away from here."

"You want me to ditch school?" This was new.

She smiled, and my eyes were drawn down at the motion. If I shifted just a little, I could press my lips to hers…

"Just this once," she said, innocently pressing her hips into mine.

I sucked in a breath. "Don't have to ask me twice." Wrapping my arms around her waist, I leaned forward and gently pressed my lips to hers. She tasted like cinnamon ice cubes – my favorite flavor.

When we parted, we were somewhere else.

"As you requested," I told her breathlessly, keeping my arms locked around her.

Jane studied the giant monument before us. "What is that?" she asked, eyeing the carved marble.

"The Lincoln Memorial," I said, smiling wide. "We're in Washington, D.C!"

She seemed impressed. "But you've never visited before, have you?"

"Nope!" Extremely pleased with myself, I stepped away from her and bowed. "Hold your applause, please."

She swatted halfheartedly at my arm, and I made sure to avoid it (she really was startlingly unaware of her own strength). "You really must be getting more confident if you can teleport us here so accurately."

"Well, I've been working really hard at it," I said, trying in vain to hold back my blush. Praise from Jane wasn't exactly rare (at least, not to me), but it usually was added as an afterthought or tacked on to the end of a subtle (but well-meaning) insult.

She smiled and grabbed my face between her hands, then planted a kiss on my forehead. "This is wonderful, Bella, truly. You've come so far."

My grin was so wide my cheeks hurt from the strain. "I figured this might as well be the one thing I'm an expert in. Not many people can say they're qualified in The Very Advanced Art of Teleportation."

"Oh, is that what you call it?" she asked teasingly, running her hands over the marble of the presidential monument. "This man…he's quite large, even for a human, yes?"

I shrugged, glancing up to Lincoln's face. "I guess so. I mean, besides the obvious size of the monument, which is supposed to be enormous, Abe was a pretty tall guy. Like, over six feet." I paused thoughtfully. "He must've been real clumsy though. Super tall people always are. That, and awkward."

"How would you know, Miss. Five Foot Four?"

"That's not considered short, you know!" I told her, hands on hips. "And you're one to talk. You're child-sized!"

"We're the same height, Bella!" Jane shook her head and let out a soft laugh.

"I mean in terms of stature!" I said. Sometimes it was like she misunderstood on purpose, I swear. "You're so dainty and wide-eyed. It's a little alarming."

"No one would ever mistake me for innocent," she said with a smirk. "My eyes aren't wide-eyed, either. They'd best be described as alert."

"Whatever you say."

She shrugged and resumed her inspection of the forty-foot columns surrounding the memorial.

I harrumphed, folding my arms across my chest. "You're in an argumentative mood today. And here I thought you'd be thankful to journey the world with me. Guess I was wrong," I said with a sigh.

Jane, laughter etched in every line of her face, pulled me to her and kissed me soundly on the lips. "Guess so."

We stood there, lips on lips and hands on hips, for a good long while, blocking out the sounds of traffic, loud voices, and the whistle of a nearby train. It was like being in our own little world, like we were surrounded by an air bubble of peace that prevented anyone or anything from disturbing us. For a moment, I wished we could stay right here, just like this, forever.

Jane broke contact first and gestured to the sky. "Good thing it's cloudy today."

"Why, because you'd burst into flames or something?" I was dead-serious too.

"That's another stereotype, Bella," she said flatly.

"Fine. Into stardust then. What," I demanded when she closed her eyes. "That's more likely than spontaneous combustion, don't you think?"

"Except my demise would not be spontaneous if the sun caused it," she said, and I blinked at this logic. Where was my brain today? It must've been the combination of stifling gasoline fumes and Jane's lingering kisses that muddled my thoughts.

"Oh, true," I mumbled instead.

"Come," Jane said, holding out her hand to me. I grabbed it like a lifeline.

"Where are we going?" The sky was definitely overcast, and I was a little worried it might start to downpour at any moment. Then again, that shouldn't have been much of a concern – I could teleport the two of us out of here in a split-second.

"On a tour around the city, of course." Jane placed my hand in the crook of her elbow again, and we strode down the many marble steps that led up to the Lincoln Memorial.

"Well, of course," I said with an eye-roll. "I should've known." With a shake of my head, I said seriously, "But we don't know anything about this city. I live hundreds of miles away in a small town. And you…" I trailed off as a new thought struck me. "Wait. Do you know something about D.C?"

She smiled mysteriously. "Let us just say I was alive long before this city was even a thought in the minds of your forefathers."

"Oh. Sometimes I forget that, you know. It's a good thing you're still around to remind me."

Our smiles were twin suns.

We visited the National World War II Memorial ("The War to End All Wars was really nothing compared to the Mongol Conquests," Jane whispered to me knowingly), the White House lawn ("I'm afraid we'll have to pass on a house tour," Jane said. "They've been looking for me since the Cleveland era."), and the Smithsonian ("I remember when the Guard would bring these animals back to Volterra for Aro's amusement," Jane said about the skeleton of an extinct bird species). Our unofficial tour of Washington D.C. took up most of our morning, and by the time we left the Smithsonian I was flagging.

"I guess I'm really out of shape," I huffed at one point, dragging my legs up a small flight of stairs outside the Pentagon.

Just after noon, I closed my eyes and scrunched up my face, then pulled back from Jane and took a seat at an empty table in a tiny air-conditioned restaurant.

"What's this?" Jane asked, eyebrows raised as she surveyed the room.

"A sushi bar," I said, scanning the dense menu. "Somewhere in Tribeca." At her curious look, I said, "I'm hungry, and I've never tried sushi before."

"You are not missing out on much," Jane said under her breath, but she sat down beside me with a relieved sigh.

"I thought vampires didn't get tired," I said with a suspicious glance at her face. The only man working behind the counter came over and took our (well, my) orders.

"I am never tired," she said when the man was out of earshot. "But the heat…it is best if I am not exposed to heat for long periods."

"Why's that?"

She peered at me out of her corner of her eye. "Smells carry better in the heat."

I understood at once. "Oh. Are you…" One quick glance around the restaurant told me we were the only customers. "Are you hungry, too? Like, really, actually hungry?"

She shrugged, but I could see the thirstiness in her eyes. Speaking of…

I gasped. "Is that why your eyes are so dark all the time? They started out red, but when you get hungry, do they…?" Turn black, is what I wanted to say, but our waiter returned with our meals, and I had to clamp my mouth shut to keep the words in.

She nodded tensely. "Yes, they lose their color when I go too long without feeding."

"Jane," I said softly, placing a hand over hers on the tabletop, "why didn't you say anything? I could've transported us somewhere deserted, like another forest or something, and you could've…hunted or whatever." The thought of Jane hunting-and-gathering still made me a little uncomfortable, but it was almost negated by the fantasy of her stalking through the woods with the gait of a predator. Sexy personified.

"We were enjoying our day together," she said with uncharacteristic tenderness. Her dark eyes found mine, and I realized then they were black all the way through. "We do not get to spend much time together outside of your house, and I wanted to be with you, uninterrupted, for as long as possible."

I sighed, irritated. "Well, as soon as we're done here, I'm taking you somewhere isolated so you can eat." Around a mouthful of California sushi roll, I added, "I swear, Jane, sometimes I wonder about you. Use your words! That's why they exist!"

We ate in relative silence for the rest of our lunch, but not because either of us was pissed. I was beyond hungry, and I could tell Jane was trying to keep her rising hunger at bay too. I hoped she would be successful for at least the next ten minutes while I found somewhere to take her.

Once outside of the sushi restaurant, in a deserted alley, I clasped our hands together.

"What about the Forest of Dupree?" I asked, and a second later we were standing amidst flowers and dirt, the tree canopy overhead shielding us from the sun's rays.

"No," she said quickly, her grip tightening, "not here. It is not safe. Alec already knows about it. Try again."

I frowned, then brought us to the shores of Lake Michigan. "Oh, wait," I said after a thoughtful glance around. "This won't work, will it?"

We were standing on a beach, and although there was no one around for at least a mile, there was no cover. Jane couldn't hunt without the possibility of someone seeing us.

"Do you expect me to dive in and out of the water like one of those seagulls?" she asked with mild amusement.

"I guess not. Although," I added, once I'd transported us to a new place, "that would be a funny sight, if I do say –"

"Not here!" Jane interrupted loudly, and it took me only a second to realize why. The sun was beating down on my head like a laser beam. An eye-blink later and we were in the mountains, chilly air brushing along our skin like a lingering caress. Or whatever. (I wasn't romantic, okay? That shit was Jane's forte.)

"I am sorry, Bella," she said after a breathless pause. She hugged me tightly to her. "The sun…it was too much."

"I know, I'm sorry too," I said into her hair. It smelled like oranges. "I wasn't thinking straight. I should've been concentrating harder on bringing you places where you could be safe."

"It is okay," she murmured, then pulled back to look me in the eye. "It is okay."

I nodded, although guilt sat heavily in my chest.

"But…this could work," she added, eyeing the mountain. We were on a side road that was coated with ice. The second Jane moved away to investigate the area, goosebumps prickled my arms. It was freezing up here! Like, twenty degrees freezing!

But I was going to keep my mouth shut even if it killed me (which it really might). It'd taken us four tries to get here, and Jane was going to hunt before she did something drastic, or my name wasn't Bella Swan.

Clamping my teeth together so that they stopped chattering, I wrapped my arms around myself and stood back while Jane surveyed the area. I couldn't really see anything from my vantage point – there was a lot of fog and…where those clouds? No wonder it was so cold. I'd teleported us right in the middle of a giant fucking icicle. Go figure.

"Find anything?" I called, but my voice was immediately snatched away by the wind. Alarmed, I crouched down, hugging myself tighter.

Luckily for me, Jane had extrasensory abilities, and she nodded her head. I could tell her focus was elsewhere, though. Her body had gone very still, and if she'd been a dog, her ears would've been perked up attentively. Of course, if she really had been a domesticated animal, we probably wouldn't be here right now. (I say probably because you could never know for sure.)

I crouched for an eternity, except that when I managed to pull out my emergency Nokia, the display told me only three minutes had elapsed. I was seriously starting to worry how long I could outlast the cold when Jane appeared at my side. I looked up into her face and saw a single dot of blood on her lower lip.

I gasped, and an icicle of cold air slid down my throat. "What did you find?" I asked around my coughing.

Jane's eyes – a brighter red than I'd seen in days – scoured the mountain landscape. "A coyote and a small badger, but it was hardly satisfying." Her tongue flicked out and lapped up the spot of blood on her face. "We must leave. It is too cold here for you. I did not realize…" Her gaze shifted over me, from my tense body and scrunched up face to my chattering teeth and goose-bumped skin. She looked devastated.

"J-J-Jane," I stuttered, reaching for her. "It's okay. You haven't been human for a while."

"That is no excuse," she whispered viciously, and enfolded me into her embrace. Her body was rock solid where mine was a shivering mess, and the faint scent of blood surrounded her. For once, I found her body temperature not the coldest thing in the area.

"Take us somewhere warm," she whispered into my ear, tickling the baby hairs on my head. I shivered again, but this time it wasn't from cold.

"Are you sure?" Her eyes were red now, true, but there was still far too much black in them. "You're still hungry."

"Bella, please," she whispered urgently, mouth tightening. I could hear the worry in her voice.

So I rested my cheek against her shoulder and closed my eyes.

When I opened them, the world was alive with so many colors I thought my retinas would burst from sensory overload. There were deep yellows, reds, oranges, and green…there was so much green! Forest green and olive green and lime green and of course grass green. I hadn't ever realized how extensive my color vocabulary was until just now. Trees stretched in uniform rows for miles, and all I could smell was flowers and earth and a very faint smell like fruit.

"Where are we?" I gasped, not even knowing where I'd teleported the two of us. Was that dangerous of me? Talk about reckless driving.

With a lingering look around, Jane said, "Sonoma, California." After another pause, she added, "This will work."

I pulled my attention away from the rich green of the grass. "What?"

Jane flung out a graceful hand. "This is one of the famed vineyards in Sonoma. It is the perfect location for you."

"I'm – what do you mean?" I asked, confused. Did she expect me to live here now? Among the trees? She wouldn't get much resistance from me, but I was pretty sure it was sunny here like, all the time. Which meant she couldn't live with me. I wouldn't even entertain the thought, thank you very much.

"This is an emergency measure in case Aro ever decides he desires you more than he fears me," she said. "If he tries to hurt you or sends a Guard to capture and deliver you to Volterra, this is a place you can come to escape. As long as he does not touch you, Bella, you may teleport here."

I swallowed. "But…where will you be? I thought you said I'd never have to worry while you're around."

Her smile was soft and yet weary too. "It never hurts to be prepared, either. I do not want to risk anything happening to you. Not even in theory."

I nodded, even though I wasn't all that happy. "Okay. If you think it's smart."

"Since this will be our rendezvous point, I think it would be best if we –" And here she stopped. I startled because, like, was this one of those times when I had to continue her sentence so we could keep up the illusion that we could read each other's minds? Nobody was around, so I didn't think it was a huge deal that I didn't immediately pick up where Jane had left off, but still. The last thing I wanted was for her to be disappointed.

Then I realized her nostrils were flared, which meant she was scenting something. Or someone.

I sucked in a breath to ask her what the deal was, but before I could say anything, she had grabbed me in her arms and yanked me into the shadows. We'd gone two hundred yards in two milliseconds. Or maybe it was two nanoseconds? Which one was faster?!

I desperately wanted to ask her what was wrong, but she clearly didn't want me to speak. So instead I widened my eyes and tried to look inquiring.

Her whisper was barely even a breath. "Alec is here."

My heart immediately raced, and for a split-second I thought I might actually be sick all over the cute baby grapes.

How? I mouthed, but she just shook her head, gesturing for me to be quiet. I blinked and she was gone.

I had to restrain myself from peering between a row of trees because I knew that any movement at all would alert Alec. Jane had told me – in one of our many Vampire 101 sessions – that her kind could hear, see, and smell someone from more than a mile away. Because I didn't want to be Alec's mid-afternoon snack, I stayed still and waited for Jane to get me out of this alive.

"Alec," she called. "What brings you here?"

"I could ask you the same question," he replied, and although his voice was naturally lower than his sister's I could still hear him, which meant he didn't suspect anyone else was nearby. If he had, no way would he be speaking so loudly. "Sonoma is not a place for our kind."

"I am passing through," she said smoothly, and didn't elaborate. I really needed to take a page out of her book.

"Jane," Alec said, and there was something in his voice that made my chest seize up. It sounded like a warning, or maybe like he was provoking her. I had no idea, honestly. But it didn't sound right.

"How did you find me?" my soulmate asked. "And why?"

Alec sighed. "It was not hard. You know that the Volturi worries about you when –"

"Does Aro have you tracking my movements?" I wasn't sure about Alec, but I'd become attuned to the slight variations in Jane's voice, and I could hear the worry in it now. Surely, if they were twins, Alec could hear it too.

"No," he said firmly. But there was more to it than that, I suspected. "Aro did not send me, nor has he been watching you. However," he said, and there it was again, that warning tone, "Aro has become worried."

"Aro knows I am more than capable of taking care of myself," Jane said stiffly.

"Aro also knows that it is common of you to make frequent visits home. Why, then, has this extended stay of yours kept you from Volterra?"

There was a pause, and in it was the obvious answer. "Because of Bella. Brother, you know this. So why do you ask?" Jane sounded confused.

Alec sighed again. (For an undead creature, he sure did like to breathe noisily.) "It has been three months since your last visit, Jane, and you have not sent word since Aro's phone call. That is not like you. Even though Bella is human, you could still visit for a few hours. And if you are really so unwilling to be parted from her, you could always bring the girl along." To me, it sounded as if Alec thought it was an awful idea but that it needed to be said anyway.

"I have waited centuries for this girl," Jane said, and I could hear the steel in her voice. "Three months is not nearly enough time to know anything about her or her life. You do not have a soulmate, so you do not understand the terror that plagues me when I am parted from her. Even when she is just attending her school down the road, I feel like my body is on fire. I cannot concentrate on any other task until she has returned to me, safe." Now Jane pulled in a long, steadying breath. "So please, explain to me why returning to Volterra – a pointless excursion, really – is so necessary to you and Aro when the two of you know perfectly well that I am safe and, for once, happy."

I had to forcibly stop myself from jumping up and down or swooning all over the goddamned place. Jane was happy? Was she saying what I thought she was saying – that I was responsible for making her happy? And that part about being on fire… I'd had no idea that she felt that way when I was gone. I just assumed she sat at home for seven hours, watching the reality shows Renee religiously DVR'd.

"Jane," Alec said, and there was impatience in his voice now, "there is no need to get upset. You are right. I do not have a soulmate, nor do I think there is one out there for me. But let me make this clear, if I haven't already – you are expected to check in with Aro or someone else from the Guard every so often. You have done so in the past, so I never thought it needed to be spelled out for you."

"Why doesn't Aro call me on the phone like he did last month? Is it truly necessary for me to arrive in person?" Jane sounded confused and more than a little worried now.

"Aro wants to see you in person, Jane. No exceptions." Alec's voice brooked no arguments, and I found it hard to imagine frumpy, spaced-out Aro giving these stern commands.

Instead of agreeing – which even I knew at this point to be our best bet – Jane snarled. The sound was purely animal, and the hairs along the back of my neck and arms shot straight up. "You cannot dictate my life, Alec, and neither can Aro. I am nearly as ancient as our three Masters, and I have been free to do as I please for centuries, despite your claim that I've always 'known better,'" she snapped. "Is Aro upset that he is no longer my first priority? My allegiances have not shifted, but tell him that it would be extremely unwise of him to interfere with my life here with Bella."

"Is that a threat?" Alec asked. He didn't sound mad though. It was more like he was genuinely surprised and maybe even a little hurt.

"If you wish it to be," Jane said.

There was a long, pregnant pause. It seemed to last for days. I'm sure to them it felt more like minutes, but Christ, not everyone can be a vampire!

"Why are you resisting?" Alec said finally. This time there was definitely something in his voice, and it was a whole lot worse than anger. It was suspicion. "Is there something you are not telling us?"

"I am not resisting, Alec, and if it seems like I am, it is only because I am tired of the newborn treatment. Your unannounced…visit here today tells me that I am still being babysat."

But here's the thing. Jane was resisting. It was obvious to me, and so it must've been pretty obvious to her twin too. He knew her a helluva lot better and for a helluva lot longer than I had, so to him it was probably like she had SECRET stamped in black on her forehead.

A sudden thought struck me. Was I Jane's worst kept secret? Was the suspicion on Alec's face because he knew something about me was amiss? It had to be. Nothing else made sense. Jane had acted normally for decades, and then all of a sudden I arrive on the scene and she starts acting weird? That's not a coincidence.

"If there is, you must tell me now," Alec said urgently. "Please, Jane. If there is anything at all that you are keeping from Aro, you must know that it will come to light eventually." His unspoken words rang through me: All he has to do is touch you.

"I am not keeping anything from you, Alec. You must believe me." And even though she sounded firm, I could still hear the wavering plea underneath. She was hoping he'd drop the whole thing and move on. I mean, I wanted the same thing, of course. But unlike her, I had no hope that he would.

"I would like to believe you, sister, I truly would," he said, "but if you are telling the truth, then would you also please explain to me why you are here?"

I frowned, confused, and Jane spoke my own thoughts aloud. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Alec continued, in a tone that said Oh, sweetie, I've got you now, "you said earlier that it physically pained you to be separated from Bella. Why are you here in Sonoma rather than by Bella's side? It is far too sunny a place for you, my Jane."

Never mind that Arizona was far too sunny a place for Jane to live, too. That didn't matter. He was taunting her because he'd caught her in a lie. Alec knew it, I knew it, and Jane had to know it, too. I couldn't suddenly announce my presence either because A) Jane would kill me, and B) it would be awfully suspicious. I mean, why would Jane bring me here? Like he said, it was way too sunny for vampirekind. Jane wouldn't normally risk that sort of exposure. So why would the two of us be here? And, more importantly, how had the two of us gotten here? Jane could run fast, I was sure, but not such a long distance, especially with me tagging along. Every scenario I thought through wasn't good enough. I couldn't expose myself without further igniting Alec's suspicions. Shit, I thought, silently berating myself. Shit, fuck, shit! Shitfuck!

The silence was stretching way too long. Say something, I shouted at Jane. Anything!

"Despite what you may think you know, Bella is not very far from here," Jane said finally, and there was none of the lingering affection her tone usually held when talking to her twin. She was stiff and cold and so far removed from this conversation it was like she was on another planet.

"Oh?" Alec sounded skeptical, but he must've taken Jane's word for it because he lowered his voice and I could no longer hear their conversation. There were a few more minutes of a tense, murmured exchange, and then silence.

My heart was already in my throat, so when Jane suddenly appeared before me, I screamed.

Jane immediately took my shaking body into her arms, but not before I saw the bland expression on her face. She was not just wary – she was outright concerned. And for her to show such emotion meant that I should be six-levels deep in a panic attack right now.

"It is okay," she murmured into my hair. Her slim hands wrapped around me and lay flat against my back, drawing me tight against her body. Almost too tight. "We can figure this out. Everything will be okay, but we must go home now."

I nodded, still shaking, and inhaled the strange orange scent of her hair repeatedly, hoping it might soothe me. With my panic held not so very far away, I closed my eyes.

Thanks again for reading! There are only four chapters left, and I haven't started any of them, so don't be surprised if the next few chapters are a week or two late!