"You jerk!" Bella shrieked at Edward when he climbed the stairs and presented himself on the fourth floor.

"I'm sorry," he said insincerely. "Jacob showed up just before you did. He changed the second he saw me and attacked. I didn't have a chance to try to reason with him."

"Not that!" Bella was standing in the middle of the huge room. She looked like she was well into a world-class temper tantrum. "I'm going to kick his ass anyway for behaving like a dick."

"Oh…okay," Edward said cautiously.

"You…had me carted inside like…like…a bale of hay," she spat at him. "Again! That woman picked me up and put me in my room!"

"Bella, those two were going to kill you," Edward said. "I had to keep you safe."

"Safe!" she cried. "You're standing there sans arm, my best friend is running around howling at the moon, and you had me put inside." She stomped her foot. She actually stomped her foot. It was really cute, actually, but Edward didn't dare smile. "Like I was a toddler who was up past her bedtime."

"Bella, love, forgive me," he soothed her. "I was afraid for your life. I just wanted you out of there."

Bella burst into tears.

"Oh, bellissima," he sighed, now feeling safe enough to approach her and wrap his arm around her. "I was so worried."

"Your arm!" she wailed, pointing to the bed, where his arm lay on the coverlet. It looked like a Frida Kahlo painting.

"Not a problem," he murmured, kissing her hair. "It can be reattached."

She looked up at him, her cheeks streaked with tears. "Really?" she whispered.

He nodded gravely. "We'll take care of it."

"Oh…oh God." She buried her face in his chest. "I was just freaking out. I didn't know if you were going to die, or be Hook Hand, or…or…" she hiccupped painfully. "I'm so sorry I yelled at you…when I get scared, I turn into a four year old. And I hate being the weak link in the chain."

"I completely understand," Edward murmured, rubbing her back. "I know some thousand year old vampires who have the same problem. Now, come on downstairs with me. We all need to talk."

Hiccupping, sniffling, Bella allowed him to lead her down the stairs.


"Bella's future disappeared sometime last night," Alice said. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor, her elbows on her knees. "I didn't think too much of it at the time…it seems to happen every once in a while."

"But then she mentioned it to me," Rosalie said, "And we started talking, and we thought…maybe it was the Dogman."

"His name is Jacob," Bella said wearily. She was sitting close to Edward on the window seat, her head on his good shoulder. Her arms were wrapped around his waist like she was afraid he would float away. "And while he is on everyone's shit list, including mine, he's not a dog." She paused. "Uh, well, he is, but…never mind."

"Yeah, okay," Rose said with a toss of her hair. "So, we're talking about Jacob and thinking that Alice can't see anything that he's involved in. He's immune to her, or something."

"This was about an hour ago," Alice said. "So the three of us…Rose, Esme, and I…went to go make sure Bella was okay."

"But she wasn't at work," Rosalie said with a pointed look at Bella.

"I was on my way here," Bella said in a small voice. "To see if Edward was home."

"We need to get you a new fucking phone," Emmett said to Edward.

"Did Esme hear you talking about Jacob?" Jasper asked.

Alice shrugged. "Probably."

"She seemed totally normal," Rosalie said. "Calm."

"So, we checked out her apartment, and when we didn't find her there either, we headed back here," Alice said. "And on the way, I got a vision of those two vamps following you guys." She nodded to the hunting party.

"I heard their thoughts," Edward said grimly. "I knew they were coming. They weren't hostile, just…curious. They could smell all six of us, and they were wondering what such a big group was doing hunting together."

"Why?" Bella asked.

"Our kind are typically very solitary," Jasper told her. "It's rare for more than two or three to travel together."

"And almost all vampires are nomadic," Edward added. "They knew that we were based in Seattle, and they were intrigued. For obvious reasons, we don't tend to stay in one place for long."

"They had no idea that any of us had gifts," Jasper said with grim satisfaction. "Good looking out, Kate."

"Knocked him on his ass, Katie girl," Irina said approvingly.

"Speaking of," Kate said, eyeing Bella speculatively, "Your girl there has some monster constitution."

Everyone paused and looked at Bella.

"Huh?" Emmett said finally.

"I gave her a little buzz as we were hauling her in," Kate said. There was a low growl in Edward's throat. Kate looked abashed and continued hastily. "Just to try to calm her down. But she didn't even blink. It didn't faze her one bit."

"What do you mean, a buzz?" Bella inquired.

"You didn't even notice?" Kate looked mildly insulted.

"Notice what?"

"Kate has magic fingers," Irina said wickedly, wiggling hers at Bella.

"I can generate an electrical field with my hands," Kate explained. "I tazed James all to hell when he tried to grab you – he went down like a sack of potatoes. When you were screaming bloody murder and kicking my shins, I gave you a little jolt…just to shock you into shutting up."

The rumbling in Edward's throat increased in volume.

"I didn't feel a thing," Bella said, confused. "Maybe…maybe I was so scared and mad…"

Kate shook her head. "It was just a little, but you definitely should have felt it."

Everyone was murmuring amongst themselves, excitedly.

"Edward, maybe she has a gift," Alice said, her eyes sparkling. "Like a protection thing. Imagine what she could do if –"

"Alice," Edward said sharply, cutting her off. "She, ah, I can't hear her thoughts, either."

"No shit?" Tanya looked at Bella admiringly. "You are so lucky. No Edward eavesdropping on your dirty daydreams."

"Cut it out," Rosalie told her.

"Can we get back to the debrief?" Jasper said impatiently. "We got work to do tonight."

"Edward started wigging out when we got closer to home," Emmett said. "He said he could hear the mutt's thoughts. He was hanging out across the street, waiting for us."

"He's not a mutt," Bella hissed.

"He had been to Bella's apartment," Edward said quickly, "and he caught all our scents. He followed the trail here. He was worried because he could catch her scent here, too." He kissed her head. "He still thinks that we drink humans, and we're playing some kind of game with you."

"That's what the other two thought, too," Bella affirmed.

"No, they just said that to scare you," Edward shook his head. "They knew you weren't our prey, that you and I were…"

"Friendly," Emmett supplied with a grin.

"They're hunters," Alice said distantly. "They find a human and taunt them before they feed. Torture them with fear."

"James is a tracker," Edward confirmed. "He likes the thrill of the hunt."

"And she was his mate," Kate said. "He's going to come after Alice."

"Why Alice?" Bella asked, alarmed.

"Because I was the one who ripped the bitch's head off," Alice said calmly.

"So, to recap," Tanya said, "Dogman was here, waiting for Edward. The trackers were following us. Bella was coming, and you ladies were just behind her." She indicated Alice and Rosalie. "Edward and Dogman got into it, and we all followed the chase. Then Edward hears the hunters' thoughts and backtracks to get to Bella."

"Stop calling him that!" Bella pleaded.

"And somehow, we all collide here, like gamma rays in a particle accelerator," Irina said dreamily.

They all looked at her.

"Sorry. I was reading Dan Brown," she said.

"What are the odds?" Alice murmured.

"Thank you," Bella said shyly, addressing everyone in the room. "I…well, I knew that you would all rescue me. I didn't think it would happen like it did…but I just knew. So, thank you."

"No worries," Emmett said cheerfully. "Having you around is more fun than Grand Theft Auto."

"You play?" Kate looked up, interested.

"Hell, yeah," Alice said. "Tournament tonight?"

"Sweet," Jasper said with a wicked grin.

Bella looked around and laughed.


Though Alice could not see a future where they were able to find Esme, Emmett, Rosalie, Tanya and Irina went out into the city to look for her nonetheless. They promised to call if they found anything. Kate stayed behind to protect Bella and Edward with Alice and Jasper, who said that he could reattach Edward's arm with no trouble. Jasper was dead-set against Alice going out to look for James, since she could already see cloudy, shifting images of him coming after her. She acquiesced reluctantly, clearly upset and worried about Esme, but not too eager to venture far without her mate by her side.

They all trooped up the stairs, Kate and Alice talking Bella into staying the night. Jasper pulled Edward aside before they reached the fourth floor.

"Listen, man," Jasper said seriously, his voice low. "I'm getting some weird vibes off of Bella."

"What?" Edward looked at him suspiciously. Jasper's thoughts were vaguely uncomfortable, as if he were preparing to give a lecture on safe sex to a bunch of teenagers.

"She's scared and worried, but she's not the type to just crawl into bed and cower," Jasper said. He was trying to define and frame his thoughts as he spoke, so Edward had a pretty good idea of what he was trying to say before he said it. "She's overcompensating. I think she might be planning something."

"Like what?"

"Um…well, I've seen that expression on Alice's face before, and let's just say it led to some pretty interesting evenings, okay? If I were you, I'd just go with it." Jasper clapped him on the shoulder and shuffled up the stairs.

He got a similar talk from Alice before she went downstairs with Kate to set up the PlayStation. "It's going to be fine," she whispered to him while Jasper examined Edward's arm. "You're not going to hurt her, I promise. And you should tell her what you've been thinking about."

Edward glared at her. The images he was getting out of Alice's head were not putting his mind at ease.

"All right," Jasper said. "Doctor Whitlock has arrived. Sit your ass down, Edward, and we'll get you all fixed up." He made Edward take off his shirt and lay down flat on the bed.


Notes on content...Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter who lived during the first half of the twentieth century. You probably know her as the chick with the unibrow. She suffered throughout her life with chronic pain and various health problems, and most of her paintings are surreal depictions of herself exploring that pain. A random arm on a bed would really inspire her, I believe.

Dan Brown is best known for being the author of The DaVinci Code, but I prefer the prequel, Angels and Demons. Irina's comment about particle accelerators refers to this book. Just don't watch the movie - it sucked big time.


In other news, I got nominated for the Rising Starlet and Mistress of Mystery awards at twinklingswfa(dot)blogspot(dot)com . There are about a million nominees, so I imagine it's a long shot, but if you feel the urge go by and vote, please do so!