1/4/09--I updated this with a little blurb about Edward's contingency plans that I'd forgotten to put in here. No biggie. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight Saga and am not Stephenie Meyer.

A/N – I'm sure you all love me right now for this insanely fast update. I posted the last chapter, and then I simply couldn't stop writing. I just kept on going. :)

I used Google Maps to figure out how long it would take Edward, Carlisle and Emmett to get back to Forks, and the route it gave me involved the ferries, so I just used those. I did actual research instead of bluffing! :) You should be proud of me. ;) LOL. Just kidding.

Enjoy the chapter! :)

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Phone Call

Our run back to Forks was shorter than anticipated. James had led us all over the northwestern part of the United States for two days, and it was hard to believe that Forks was actually only a few hours from Vancouver. James had led us on the land route, which would have taken more time if we headed back the same way – not two days, considering the tracker doubled back and ran in circles, instead of straight to Vancouver, but it would have been too long, anyway.

We decided to use the most direct route back to Forks by taking the Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay ferry to North Saanich, and then the Port-Angeles-Victoria ferry into Port Angeles. The ferry rides took about two hours, and we simply ran across Vancouver Island to reach the second ferry. Even with our speed, we couldn't alter time itself.

The first ferry took one hour to leave the port, and the second took two hours to leave due to a technical problem. I was so anxious that I wanted to swim across the water myself, but Carlisle cautioned against it. We would reach Forks soon enough, there was no need to dirty my clothes, we had time…

Altogether, it took us approximately seven hours to reach Forks. Even Carlisle was grumpy by the time we reached Port Angeles – although that might have had to do with my surliness. Emmett was the only one of our trio who seemed to be in high spirits, and that was only because he would be seeing his wife shortly.

My father's mood began to improve as we left Port Angeles, but I was quickly growing more anxious and tense. After all, my Bella wasn't waiting for us at home. She was in Phoenix, waiting for me to come after her. I was even considering leaving Victoria to my family and taking Bella away to someplace safer than Forks, the way we had agreed upon.

Carlisle motioned for us to slow as we entered the town perimeter: we had no idea where the redheaded Victoria would be. I listened for her, but I didn't hear her mind close up as we raced home.

I did begin to pick up snatches of her thoughts as we neared the house, however, and we decided to skirt around her. I, for one, would have liked nothing better than to deal with James' accomplice, and Emmett agreed – but Carlisle was adamant that we reach Esme and Rosalie first before turning around and attacking.

Esme greeted us warmly, but Rosalie glared at me as she slipped her arms around her husband in a tight hug. She had been worried. I knew the feeling, just as surely as I knew that any sympathy from me would make her furious. I hung back with my father and mother.

"James is crafty. I had difficulty keeping up with his plans," I told them. Now that we were in the privacy of our home, I felt that we were safe enough to divulge such information without concern for who would overhear. I knew for a fact that Victoria wasn't close enough to hear us.

"Victoria seems to be just as intelligent," Esme said. She's hard to keep track of. I'm sure that she's managed to come right up to the bank of the river, on the other side. "She hasn't managed to come up to the house itself, but I'm almost positive that she's come up to the bank of the river, from the forest." I think that she's staying in the forest by herself.

Is she alone? "Do you think…anyone else is with her?" Carlisle asked, frowning. Laurent is the only one I can think of, but we don't know who else they may know.

"I can't hear him. And he wouldn't be with her – he went to Denali, I'm sure of it." I frowned. "I want to know what she's doing here. Why she hasn't gone to meet James, wherever he went – Esme, has she been doing anything here in Forks?"

"As far as I know, just the same things that we've already told you. She went to Charlie's, but not when he was home. She went to the school last night, but Rosalie and I stayed outside. And she hasn't touched a single person, or even approached anyone." I'm not sure what she could be looking for.

"It doesn't seem like there would be anything of importance for her to find, no matter what she looked for," I replied. My eyes fell on the piano, and my feet moved in that direction. "I can't think of a reason."

My fingers caressed the keys of the instrument, softly playing a chord of the lullaby I'd created for Bella. I wished that I could play it for her again…

You're going to be leaving soon, aren't you? My eyes flickered up to my mother. My family has shifted along with me, not too close but enough so that their presence was solid. It didn't bother me as much as it would have before. You're going to take her somewhere else.

I nodded and my words fell loudly in the room. "Yes."

"Did you hear something from him?" Esme asked, worry creasing her forehead. There's a reason you think she's not safe there.

I shrugged one shoulder. "No, actually. But sooner or later, he'll wonder if she really is in Phoenix, the way she said she'd be, back at her house…" I sighed. "She can't stay there forever. It will be an option soon enough. I should get her out of there sooner, rather than later."

We'll book you a flight. Carlisle motioned with his hand, turning to lead the way. I followed his silent summons. "You have access to the accounts already, so you and Bella will be perfectly capable of taking care of yourselves." We have our methods of communication.

"Just flight plans, then?"

Yes, I believe so. "You'll be fine on your own. Emmett and I will continue the hunt." I believe we can track him, even without the advantage of your gift.

"I wish that you could still have it," I frowned, concerned. I hated depriving my family of my ability when they might need it the most. But I knew that my father wasn't blaming me for this. I could hear it in his thoughts.

We can manage, Edward. "It's not a necessity."

We were halfway up the stairs, planning, when Carlisle's phone rang. He paused, confused. Alice? Why was she calling? "Alice?" he answered.

"Carlisle, the vision of the dark room cleared. I saw it."

I had started walking again, but I paused now. There was something in her voice… Carlisle heard it, too. She sounds scared. That was it – fear. Why was Alice afraid? He raised an eyebrow. "That's good –"

"No! It's Bella's mother's house!"

I was frozen, completely unable to move. My heart felt squeezed again. The voice emitting from the speaker was loud enough for everyone to hear. Emmett growled, his arms flexing: Esme gasped, pressing her hands to her mouth. Rosalie remained stoic, silent.

Carlisle closed his eyes. "When, Alice?"

"He's either there now, or he will be soon."

An image of the plane flashed in my mind's eye, from my own memories. "The plane," I murmured through stiff lips. "He wasn't coming back here, he was going to Phoenix." If only I had been able to hear that through his mind! But the tracker was thirsty, and it had distracted his thoughts. We had assumed that he came back here, because of Victoria, but…no. He'd come to the conclusion that I knew he would reach eventually, but it was sooner than I had been prepared for.

My father was racing through ideas, and plucked the best one out of a chaotic mess of thoughts. "Alice, you and Jasper stay with her every second. Stay in the hotel room for a little bit longer. The three of us will come down on the soonest available plane – meet us there. Edward will take her away." Emmett and I will find James – Alice could probably help us locate him, and Jasper could help us – take care of him.

I unfroze, and didn't bother to wait. My feet took me at lightning speed up the stairs, to the computer room. The door was already open, and my fingers flicked across the power switch of the CPU. I vibrated, unable to sit, as I waited for the computer to boot up. Instead, I paced. We had very little time: James' flight would land in Phoenix before we boarded ours, if we were unlucky.

A sharp beep from the speakers alerted me to the computer's readiness for use. I sat down, anxious and eager for the machine to work faster than it could. My fingers moved rapidly over the keys, and soon enough I had three plane tickets for the next flight out of Seattle. We'd reach Phoenix in the afternoon.

I was printing out the receipt and confirmation numbers when Emmett appeared in the doorway. The joking carelessness that was usually a vital component of his demeanor was missing: he was all business right now. "I've got luggage," he told me. We have to blend in. Tickets? "Tickets?" I held up the papers I'd printed out. We're almost ready to go, then.

"I suppose." I was more than ready, but it wasn't really necessary to argue that point with him. I was on edge, and I knew that I'd be slightly snappish the entire way down to Phoenix.

My brother surprised me, however. I'd be just as stressed if Rosalie were human and locked in the same room with Royce King, and I wasn't there to protect her. Expect James is a vampire, and they're just in the same city again – but you not being there to protect her, that still applies. You'd tear him to shreds – except I think I'll be taking care of that. But you get to hang out with Bella for a really long time! That counts for something!

"Thanks, Emmett," I said dryly. But he knew that I was actually grateful, not just mocking his slightly lame attempt to make me feel better. He grinned slightly.

And then ruined his try and being nice. Of course, with the two of you alone for a while, I wonder what you'll get up to. "Think you'll be staying in any hotel rooms?" The image that accompanied that sentence was definitely not of a "hotel room" – at least, I hoped not. Mirrored ceilings weren't real, were they? Of course, this was Emmett's mind: he would know.

"Emmett…"

"Sorry!" Jeez! Try to cheer someone up, and this is what you're repaid with!

I was glad that Emmett didn't attempt to cheer me up on the flight, or the plane would have crashed when I attacked him. And, truth be told, it was extremely difficult not to think about Bella the entire time we were on the plane.

I couldn't take my mind off of her, or the fact that soon enough we would be on a plane heading somewhere else. Esme and Rosalie had stayed behind in Forks to watch Victoria, so Bella couldn't be taken back there. Before we left, Carlisle told me that the plan had changed while he spoke with Alice and I'd run upstairs to get our plane tickets. Emmett's aimless teasing was just that: aimless teasing.

The plan was for Carlisle, Emmett and I to take Bella and leave Phoenix. Alice and Jasper would go back to Forks, to be with Esme and Rosalie. James would probably go someplace else to meet up with Victoria, or even just go back to Forks. Either way, he wouldn't find Bella in Phoenix. And if we were lucky and he didn't find the specific hotel Jasper, Alice and Bella stayed in, he would think that she had never been in Phoenix at all.

I didn't argue with this plan. Truth be told, a part of me had hoped that we could change the plan like this. I wanted to protect her from everything, and that included myself. I was just as dangerous to her as James. I might have been able to control myself in the meadow, but that didn't mean I would always be able to stop myself from hurting her. I had to take any precaution that I could.

Our flight went smoothly: it would have been perfect if Bella were with us, and this was our departure flight from Phoenix. But it came in a close second, considering that this was the flight that was taking me back to Bella's side. In a few hours, we would be together again. The thought made me positively giddy at first.

Then, as the hours waned and we were still in the air, I began to grow more anxious. My hands held the armrests in a grip that might leave indents in the plastic, and I knew that I was more still than I should have been. Vampires didn't have the primal need for movement that humans did; unlike them, we could sit or stand completely still without feeling the urge to move.

It usually wasn't a problem. We had learned to make sure to move when in the presence of humans. A simple shifting of weight from one foot to the other, a hand run through the hair, or just a tilt of the head were enough to keep from setting off some kind of inner alarm in their heads.

Carlisle had to keep reminding me to make a movement of some sort. I even forgot to blink because I was so caught up in my concerns over our coming plans. I was worried about Bella, I was worried about capturing James, I was worried about my family…the list was really quite endless.

Don't worry so much, Edward. Everything's going to turn out fine. What could go wrong? "What could go wrong?" Emmett whispered to me, trying to help me calm down. One of his hands gripped my forearm, trying to pry my fingers from their death grip on the armrest.

I shook him off with a single glare. "Don't say that," I hissed. "Knowing my luck, now something's going to go wrong."

Your luck? That threw him. "Your luck?"

"Very funny. You know what I mean." With Bella, lately everything was turned upside-down. "Bella's a danger magnet. James could be on the other side of the country and she'd still find a way to make herself an irresistible target."

Carlisle sighed. She'll be fine, Edward. We're almost there. "Regardless, you need to relax now." If the plane crashes and it's your fault, then we definitely won't be in Phoenix on time to pick up Bella.

"I won't make the plane crash." Why would I want to? My goal was to reach Phoenix. Crashing the plane would be detrimental to that goal.

Then relax your grip on the armrests. "Don't let him get a hold on anything else, Emmett," he added once I finally removed my hands from their unsteady grip.

Scowling, I folded my arms across my chest, gripping the sides of my arms in lieu of having anything else to hold on to that could withstand the strength of my inhuman muscles. Emmett made a point to smooth out the indents left in the armrest. You really need to chill, Edward.

I rolled my eyes. "Can I help it? He's there already." And Bella was protected enough– I could grant Alice and Jasper that much credit – but I still wanted to be there, myself. Once I was there, I could be sure that she was as safe as possible. Even if I was there with her, which was actually not as safe as I kept making it out to be…

"That might be true. But that doesn't mean you have to work yourself into a state of panic." Arguing with him in this state is pointless. Maybe Emmett and I should redirect our goal – instead of stopping him from panicking, perhaps talking out his fears would work better.

We had been talking at a volume too soft for human ears, but my voice rose a little bit too loudly as I replied to Carlisle. "You're not a psychologist, just a doctor."

The man across the isle from Emmett and I glanced at us, raising an eyebrow. The big, burly one is a doctor? Whoa, I would be so terrified the first time I went to see him… I ignored the man.

Carlisle, in the seat directly in front of Emmett and I, stifled a sigh. "I know that, Edward." Honestly, when you're in one of these moods, the safest thing to do is leave you alone. It's like having a permanent teenage in the house.

In my less than stable mood, I was able to find the humor in that comment and smiled. With apology in my tone, I whispered, "I am permanently a teenager, Carlisle. It comes with the territory."

Emmett snorted. My father sighed. That was a rather shortsighted comment, wasn't it?

"Yes, I believe so."

My apologies. I'll try to remember that my seventeen-year-old son will always be my seventeen-year-old son.

"No, you shouldn't be apologizing," I murmured, guilt swimming in my voice. "I should. I'm being a nightmare, aren't I?'

Carlisle shook his head. "No." You're worried about her, and under a lot of stress as you try to make sure she's safe. It's understandable.

Simultaneously, Emmett snorted. "Yes." But you're just stressed and worried. We'll get over it.

To both of them, I said, "Stress and worry are not excuses for my behavior. I'm sorry."

"Argh," Emmett muttered. Get over it, Edward. We're not going to be mortally offended if you don't apologize for being a tiny bit tense for the past three days. You are entitled to it.

"I think we can pass on the apology," Carlisle said, agreeing with Emmett. Don't worry about our "hurt feelings" on top of everything else, Edward.

I pursed my lips, but listened to them and stopped trying to apologize. But that was mostly because our plane was finally descending into the Phoenix airport, and I was growing more and more anxious to be on solid ground again. And to have my arms around Bella…

When the plane finally landed, I was no longer gripping the armrests in an effort to release some of the tension that laced my entire body. Now I was free of any hold on the plane, because I was so eager to be off of it.

"Cool it, Eddie," Emmett laughed as I leapt to my feet as soon as the flight attendants had announced we were free to leave the plane. We'll see your sweet darling girlfriend soon enough.

"Don't call me Eddie," I replied absently as I waited impatiently for Carlisle to stand and join us. First class wasn't as crowded as the commercial class undoubtedly was, so there was plenty of room for us to move around in the aisle. The other passengers weren't in as much of a rush as we were. Carlisle smiled at me, gesturing for me to lead the way. I did, turning and heading straight towards the exit of the aircraft. My brother and father followed after me, staying close.

The plane had landed ten minutes earlier than the airline had anticipated, which was good for us. As I strode down the ramp, my mind was filling up with plans. I was so close to Bella I could almost smell her in the air again. I imagined how I would hold her in my arms again, how we would take a flight to some exotic location – if I had to kidnap her, then I was going to make sure that it was to a place that she would be excited to see. And of course, we would take first class: I wondered how much she would enjoy that.

The numerous minds in the airport terminal didn't even bother me. It was the largest of the terminals in the airport, and as a results, the number of human minds was astonishing. I had to concentrate on dimming them, which slowed my walk somewhat as I did that while scanning the crowds for Alice, Jasper and Bella. I could hear so much…

There was a mother, watching her daughter play on a couple of chairs…a couple headed off on their honeymoon…an elderly man waiting for his elderly wife to arrive from a visit to their son…a security guard moaning about troublemaking teenagers who run around for no reason –

The image in his head was of Bella's face. Bella, as she ran from the terminal and into a bus.

I didn't realize I'd frozen until Carlisle was pushing me along. I found myself in a corner, hidden from cameras and the other passengers filing off the plane. Seclusion, and privacy. "What did you hear?" he asked. His eyes were on me: Emmett was scanning the airport, searching for danger. Possibly James. They assumed it was the tracker. "Edward, what did you hear?" Is he here?

"A security guard," I hissed at them, gaining control of my motor functions. I began to stride off, scanning for Alice and Jasper. "He saw Bella running out of the airport." Why was she running out of the airport? Was her face right, in his mind? Was it actually Bella, or just someone who looked like her?

And if it was Bella, where were Alice and Jasper?

A flicker in the sea of continuous voices caught my attention, only because she was shouting my name. Edward! Edward, get over here now! Edward!

"Alice." I could pinpoint her approximate location, from the direction her thoughts had echoed to me from. Emmett and Carlisle, as confused as I was, followed my lead as I began to lead the way to my sister.

I saw her face before she started explaining. Her lips were pressed together tightly in panic, and her eyes were wild and full of immense sadness. She said she was hungry. Jasper went with her: she said that she was feeling panicky. He could tell. He went with her. She went into the bathroom. But there are two entrances – she went out. I saw her leave. But I couldn't get there in time. I couldn't have reached her in here – there's security, too many people, I couldn't…he's going to get her.

The image of Bella caught me by surprise. I was only feet away from her, and I froze in place as I saw Bella's broken and bloody body in my mind. A shiver ran down my spine. The image was terrifying. I could barely understand what it meant – that Bella was in immense danger. But why should I have been surprised? Why hadn't I expected this to happen? Of course she would be in danger – of course I couldn't just come down to Phoenix and whisk her away to safety. Why should anything ever be that simple?

Carlisle and Emmett were interrogating Alice now, but I was searching for Jasper in the crowd. He appeared in my line of vision after I had been scanning the crowd for a few seconds. He didn't bother approaching me to try and explain himself, but instead offered information.

"There's no scent going into the bathroom from the other entrance," he told us. "Only Bella's." But that doesn't make sense. We thought that perhaps the redhead managed to come down here before you, he added, looking at me. We called Esme, and they can't tell if she's still of Forks or not. But she could have stolen a private jet, or stowed aboard a plane that was leaving before yours from another town – anything, really – to get here before you.

"So you thought that someone James knew might have come here first," Carlisle said, nodding. It makes sense – but if there's no scent that could be a vampire, then it won't work. "But there was no scent other than Bella's?"

"Only human scents," he confirmed. Either way, something happened in the bathroom that allowed James to get to Bella. He probably threatened her somehow. "I'm unsure about how he might have been able to threaten her, but anything to make her think she was unsafe with us…would have been enough. And it's been twenty minutes – we had to wait for your plane to land."

That was too long. She could be anywhere by now.

I grimaced. "Why would she go along with it?" I muttered. She had to know that we could protect her. She could have simply called for Jasper and he would have been there to protect her, regardless of whether it was a women's restroom or not. "I don't understand…"

The letter.

An image of a hotel-stationary envelope entered Alice's mind. And the dance studio. Fifty-eight Street and Cactus. The former two comments meant nothing to me, but Alice was digging out the envelope from her bag even as she remembered it. "Oh, no…" She couldn't have. She wouldn't have. Did she plan this? That phone call – I didn't listen, I tried to be polite, but what did her mother say?

She tore open the envelope and pulled out a letter. Carlisle, Emmett and Jasper stared at her, confused, but I saw through her mind the first line of the letter.

Edward, -

No. Alice whimpered out loud. I snatched the letter from her, holding it in front of myself. My stomach felt as if it were twisting in knots. And as I read it, I felt like the world was ending.

Edward,

I love you. I am so sorry. He has my mom, and I have to try. I know it may not work. I am so very, very sorry.

Don't be angry with Alice and Jasper. If I get away from them, it will be a miracle. Tell them thank you for me. Alice especially, please.

And please, please don't come after him. That's what he wants, I think. I can't bear it if anyone has to be hurt because of me, especially you. Please, this is the only thing I can ask you now. For me.

I love you. Forgive me.


Bella.

No…

The letter left my hand, but I didn't care who had taken it. Bella's betrayal – for that was what it was – hurt me more than it had any right to. She wanted to save her mother. But why did she have to do it? Why did she have to care so much?

Why didn't she wait for me, ask for my help? Of course, that answer was quite obvious: James had told her not to tell anyone what she was doing. He was trapping her. I hated that monster even more, now: he had the gall to kidnap her mother in an effort to get to her. A surefire way of simultaneously ensuring Bella's cooperation and causing her immense pain in the process…

I gritted my teeth angrily. Jasper's soothing influence was lackluster at the moment, and had no real effect on the way I was feeling. I ignored his influence, but turned to him. "Where does her trail lead?" I snapped.

To the street, where I think she took one of the hotel shuttles. "But she wouldn't have gone to a hotel, even if she took one of those shuttles," he added. "Fifty-eighth Street and Cactus." Why didn't I think of that before now? Where else would she have gone?

My frustration was growing. "What does that mean?"

Alice jumped in. "That's where the dance studio is. The first room in my visions." She thought that she recognized the room, that it was her old dance studio. And that's at fifty-eighth Street and Cactus, she told us. Alice was leading the way now, a few steps ahead of me. We'll need a car.

"We don't have –"

"Who said anything about renting one?" I sure didn't. We don't have the time, no. So we'll just have to steal.

I let her take the lead on that one, and soon enough we were in a nice, fast little car which she directed into traffic like a pro racecar driver. The speeds that she hit weren't entirely safe, but I wasn't about to protest. Even Carlisle wasn't protesting.

All that my family could think of was that Bella had gone on what amounted to a suicide mission, and they were terrified for my life in the decades ahead. More than once, the thought that I wouldn't survive without her crossed their minds.

I, myself, knew that life was not worth being in without Bella to brighten that existence. I was incomplete without her. Three days had been torturous enough: I didn't even want to imagine how decades would feel. The thought made my heart ache with a phantomlike tortured rhythm.

Alice's eyes darted to me throughout the trip. It'll be fine. It has to be. We can get there. We can change the future. Already it's murky again. We figured it out in time. We can make it. Don't you give up, Edward.

I didn't intend to. I would only give up – on existence, that is – if we failed to save Bella.

What could I do, if I lost her to death? I wasn't going to 'live', that was certain—but I hardly thought that Jasper or Emmett would help me reach my goal. No, they wouldn't. What could I— Of course.

Volterra.

They would kill me if I angered them. Perhaps the revelation of our existence to a human would be more than enough. And if it wasn't, then there were a thousand things I could do that could get me killed by them. The only thing that mattered was choosing the right transgression…

Jasper eyed me—I saw him in the rearview mirror, his eyes staring at my face in the reflection—and I avoided his gaze as I directed mine out the window. He's a mess, but there's something odd under it… I did my best to stop thinking about my contingency plans, and more about saving Bella. Keeping her alive was the more preferable outcome, by far…

The bright, empty streets of Phoenix were alight with the afternoon sun. We would have to move fast once we reached the dance studio, for our skin, glimmering like diamonds in the sun, would give us away. My muscles were tensing and untensing, itching for a fight. Twenty-five minutes had passed, and if we didn't act soon, we might not be able to save Bella. I was desperate to reach her, to make sure that she was still alive.

Finally, the car screeched around a street corner onto another empty street. And in front of us was that dance studio. I was out of the car from five buildings down, racing towards the studio.

We were on the right track. Bella's scent was leading straight to the studio, and I followed it. It intersected with another trail right at the door, however – a trail that made my shoulders rise up, that made a growl start, low in my chest. James. The tracker was here, too.

I heard sounds from inside the studio, and burst through the door. My ears led the way, I knew where I was going, and the wood panels underneath my feet squeaked as I burst into the room. The sight that met my eyes was of the tracker – the enemy, my monstrous side snarled – crouching over a female form. It was undoubtedly Bella – I could smell her, so strongly.

Her scent was strong because she was bleeding freely.

My monstrous side somehow didn't focus on the meal that lay in wait. Instead, there was fury that another of my kind had reached my prey before me. The monster inside of me was angry because of that. And it didn't need to force its roar through my throat, against my will. It was encouraged to scream its fury, and I poured my hatred of the tracker into that sound. The tracker lifted his head, eyes bright and crimson, blood around his mouth –

I'd moved without realizing it.

My fingers tore into his shoulders as I grabbed him, pulling him up and back. He twisted, ready to fight, and caught one of my hands in his – but my rage, my fury, was so sharp and strong that I easily broke his brittle grip and threw him to the other side of the room.

He never hit the wall, nor did he hit the ground. Emmett was there, waiting – he'd seen what I was doing – and Jasper moved in behind the tracker. They tore into him, two to one, over powering him easily. He couldn't fight both of them off when he was trapped between them.

I could hear Emmett's thoughts, and Jasper's steady denial of the blood in the room. I could hear their anger toward James helping them handle the scent of Bella's spilled blood. I could hear Emmett's terror at the state Bella was in, and Jasper's fleeting hope that it wasn't too late for her. Emmett was growling viciously the whole time, and jasper was the one to break the tracker's neck so that his terrified, high keening was stopped.

And I, I was crouched on my knees beside her still form, unsure of what to do first. My hands flitted inches above her broken, beaten and bruised body, and a cry tore through my throat.

"Oh no, Bella, no!"

A/N – To be continued…