Previously:

Alice was eerily quiet before she spoke. "I'm coming home."

Was she insane? "No, you can't."

"Yes, I can," she kept her voice low, raw with unreleased emotion. "The Volturi are going to issue a hearing with Carlisle. I don't know what they're suspecting or who tipped them off, but I think that gives me the warrant to return to my family before we're torn apart."

Jasper

Freedom.

It was often the easiest thing to take for granted. When it slipped from your fingers, suddenly the daily stressors turned into empty worries, and the pressing matters filled their place.

In this day and age, taking away freedom might mean incurring huge financial debt. Or perhaps the government censorship of the press, with more Big Brother agenda items on the list. Some might argue marriage is giving up your freedom, others would say the recurring 9-5 job.

For humans, those were temporary. Finite.

For a vampire, you couldn't die your way out of debt. And that was the bone chilling realization every immortal would encounter. It was the imminent sinking feeling that stayed with you constantly. You endured. You counted the seconds. Waiting for time to chip off your servitude.

The Volturi set up the game and they played it well. Their vampiric laws combined with Aro's power gave them the right to indebt you to their service. If you were gifted, you were more valuable. If not, your human rights were granted to you, and you were given the pleasure of death.

Neither were desirable fates in my book.

My fingers moved too fast for the phone in my hand to register. The text I sent Elise would elicit a million questioning texts in return, but I just hoped she did as I asked.

Pack a bag. All essentials. Anything you wouldn't want to leave behind. Hike twenty minutes South. I'll find you.

Every instinct in me wanted her out of there. I didn't know anything behind Aro's motivation to bring in Carlisle, but I didn't want to wait around to find out. Securing Elise would be the first thing on the list of action items.

I ran North until my eyes blackened with thirst. I only picked up a few small animals as snacks because losing time was the ultimate killer. I needed to get Elise away before Alice told the entire family of the imminent threat. If she decided to let her guard down and Edward snooped through her brain, we would be far away to be impacted by the consequences.

I had felt Maria's eyes on me as I ran out of the compound like a bat out of a cave. No matter how much I looked ahead of me, a part of me always wanted to pause and turn around. How closely were we watched? How senseless was I to not notice?

The weather changed incrementally as I crossed state lines. The grass crunched beneath my boots as I slowed to find her. Her scent was easy to pick out. I had memorized it front and back and back to front. Give me a taste test, and I'd gladly pass. When I saw her step out in between two tree trunks with a backpack slung over her shoulder, the world grew brighter. The tightening in my chest released, and all was well. Alive, breathing, and away from danger. There she was.

I quickly pulled her to me. "You wouldn't believe how glad I am to see you."

"Hi," she said sweetly. "Another hiking trip?"

I took the bag from her. "Think, Elise. Read between the lines."

She pursed her lips and her glee vanished. "Urgent. The text was urgent," she looked down. "We're not coming back, are we?"

I didn't speak. I moved. I picked her up and started to run.

"Jasper, stop."

I growled lowly and pushed on. Her eyes were tightly closed, but her hands found my face. "Jasper, now."

My feet came to a stop. She climbed down insistently. "Tell me what's going on."

"We're leaving."

She pulled at the bag in my grip and slung it over her back. "Did the war start? If so, we can't just leave your family."

"No, but the Volturi might know something about you, and I'm not taking any risks."

"In that case, we need to help the Cullens."

"We can't do anything. Alice had a vision and Carlisle will be summoned before the three kings. Aro will judge him in the Volturi Court and gain rights to his brain. You're in his brain. You're in trouble. Let's go."

She didn't budge. "This is your family."

"And you are more important."

A sigh escaped her lips. "Where are we going?"

"Back to Nevada. For now." I would be closer to the compound and she would be further from Idaho. It would do.

My phone vibrated with a call. Emmett. I put a finger to my lips to request her silence before answering.

"Is Elise with you? She isn't here."

I looked at her slowly. "Yes."

Pause. "Alice called. There's trouble. Carlisle might have to go to Volterra. I don't know. Her visions can change over time, but she wouldn't speak out unless she'd been following their decisions for a while." Alice filtered her visions. The recurring ones were the ones she kept track of. The fleeting ones were unnecessary and a waste of time. People made impulsive decisions, then walked back on them all the time. People were unreliable. But not Aro.

"I'm suspecting Eleazar," I said.

"We are, too."

More silence. Emmett's tone was solemn, but hope cracked through. "We'll be fine. We're always fine."

I motioned for Elise to keep moving. We trudged down the forest path. "Elise wanted to see the Grand Canyon. Apparently, you didn't check that off her list."

Emmett's voice was distant, distracted. "It's too sunny there."

"I'll find a way," I said. "Keep me updated." The screen cracked a little more under my grip as I hung up. I needed a new phone. Badly.

Elise eyed the device in my hand skeptically. "We're not going to the Grand Canyon."

"No."

"Why did you lie to him?"

I stashed the phone in my pocket. "Because he doesn't need to know the details."

"Because you don't want them to think you're running away."

I again grabbed the backpack from her. "I would really appreciate if you were quiet right about now."

She didn't care what I appreciated at that moment. "You're suspecting Eleazar? You think he would tell the Volturi?"

"If he was in trouble, yes. No one wants to be caught under Aro."

She ran a few fingers over her lips. "Because he would kill you?"

"If you're lucky, yes. If you're gifted, you'd be forced into his guard until he deems your debt to the law has been paid."

Elise eyed the sky as it transitioned from grayish blue to orange. "You, Alice, and Edward. You'd be forced to serve?"

"If he can find a reason to condemn us, yes. He's probably been searching for reasons for years. Any gift he can use, he wants in his guard. It's what gives the Volturi the immunity they need to function."

"And anything related to me is more than enough of a reason?"

I nodded. "Exposing ourselves to you. Keeping you human after the fact. Carlisle's venom experiments. There is too much that it's unavoidable. Carlisle going to Italy is a sentence of its own."

"Unless Aro doesn't look into his brain."

"The fact that they are making the decision to summon him already means he has some evidence to charge him with. The only question is how he got that information."

Her head shook in dismay. "We should be standing with them. Not running away."

The slowness of our pace did nothing to calm my nerves. I picked her up again and didn't stop until we reached the Nevada cabin. After a few hours, the door greeted us with all its glory right on the floor.

"We have got to get this fixed," I muttered as I set her down.

I had gotten numerous texts and missed calls from most members of the Cullens during the run. When I scrolled through my phone, I could tell that they were furious with my impromptu trip.

Rosalie. You can't leave now.

Edward. Did you think this was perfect timing to explore Arizona?

Esme. We need you here, Jasper.

Rosalie, again. Call me.

Wordlessly, Elise began opening the pantry door and any of the remaining cabinets in the kitchen. As she hunted for food, I called the blonde.

"Rosalie," I said. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"You've taken away our only weapon. You can't be that stupid."

My eyes watched Elise scatter around the kitchen. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, we can use her right about now."

I closed my eyes. For just a moment. And I could draw out her drives and motives clearly from her tone and her language. And while they were entirely selfish, it made sense. They wanted her dead. Not in two months, but now.

"I understand," I said simply. I didn't exactly want to hang up, but I did. She had a million more insults and curses to scream at me, but I knew the fear when I heard it. The Cullens would prove their full potential and kill another to protect their coven. It was classic. It was what I had preached all along. They were collectively just a cleaner monster than I was.

"Who was that?" Elise shook a bag of cereal before tearing it open.

"Another hypocrite to join our club."

"We have a club? I don't think we have the resources to maintain such a huge organization."

I sat in one of the chairs. She ate the cereal dry. I motioned for her to come closer. She scooted her chair near to mine and her heartbeat grew stronger. The rush of life pounded through her, and I wanted to swim in it.

"How much would you hate me if I told you we might never see the Cullens again?"

The hand she had outreached to grab more cereal fell back down. "That's awful. But why?"

"It's survival. Being around them and claiming any ties to them is dangerous right now."

She clenched her hands into fists. "I wish all affection was distributed equally. I wish you cared about them as much as you cared about me. I wish the whole world did the same to each other."

I took one of her fists in mine. "But then, the world would be very boring. The books and movies would be predictable. In fact, I will hypothesize that if all affection were equal, suicide rates would skyrocket all across the globe. Boredom kills."

She withdrew her hand. "The Cullens are good people. I don't want to hear anymore about your scales of justice or your philosophies of the good and the bad. They were good fucking people and they do not deserve this."

I disagreed wholeheartedly. "You think I deserve it?"

She looked at me sharply.

"Do you think I do?" I repeated. "If we stay with the Cullens, I will be there with them. I will serve centuries under Aro."

She grabbed my hand and her mood flipped a switch. "I don't want that."

"The war I've been telling you about? It's against the Volturi. And if all goes well, your precious Cullens would be saved from their fate."

She held her head in her hands. Processing. "That's where you've been going? Supporting this fight against your kings?"

"It's a coup, yes. They have a good fighting chance." Especially with you.

"You say they, but you're fighting with them. Oh, but you won't ever associate yourself with anything. Not a side in war. Not even a family. Why do I bother?"

"I call it strategy."

"I call it cowardice."

Ouch. "Your emotions appear to be very drastic today. What else is bothering you?"

She put down the bag of cereal on the table and crawled onto my lap. With her face scrunched with worry, she placed a chaste kiss on my lips. "I'm terrified."

The scarcity of the situation wasn't lost on me. Time was suddenly important. The heat of her lips would be gone soon. The beat of her heart would stop singing forever. The warmth of her skin would be replaced by clean, cold porcelain. The Volturi were actively making their decisions to indebt the Cullens based on evidence I desperately wanted to find out. I wanted to tear Eleazar to shreds for putting Elise into danger. For imposing urgency. For cornering me into scarcity.

Time was an abstraction, but it was also very real. Ebbing and flowing, and controlling.

Rosalie was right. Elise would be incredibly useful as a vampire right now. Especially if her shield could grow and encompass others. The Cullens watered the dying plant, and now they wanted to reap the harvest. Two months were a joke. They needed her now.

Was she ready? Not with her current state of mind. She showed undying value to the Cullens and she fought me every step of the way. Yet, she was terrified. She used her emotions as a clutch to mediate her fear, but it wasn't working.

"You can't do this," I said sternly. "You're terrified?" I put her back on her chair. "Do something about it."

"What?"

"Feel. Scream. Shout. Whatever. But propose a solution. Otherwise, you're whining and going in circles."

She narrowed her eyes. "You're so insensitive."

"That's no way to talk to someone who's keeping you alive," I threw her a smirk and got up to grab the door. The breeze was getting stronger and blowing into the cabin.

"Maybe I shouldn't be alive."

That stopped me quickly. She said it. Not me. "Repeat what you just said."

She got up and stalked closer. If I had been human, she would've been the vampire. Her voice was dangerously low. "Maybe I need to die." She cocked her head to the side, exposing her neck. Her nose brushed over mine, and her eyes searched mine intently. "I think you agree."

"What are you doing?"

"You have eyes. You have ears. Why do you keep asking questions?"

My teeth wanted to bare and snap. They wanted to be deep inside her skin. I bit my inner cheek.

"You're quiet. Why?" Her face was innocent, but her eyes were another story.

"You don't know what you're asking."

Her hand trailed up and down my cheek. "I have no right to ask for anything. You're the vampire. You wouldn't care. You'll take what you want. Why haven't you yet?"

I swallowed venom. "Because you wanted two more months."

"I did? So, who was I talking to a few seconds ago, and who am I talking to now? Neither have anything in common. One is an insensitive prick, the other has this incredible amount of emotion that glosses his eyes over and makes him forget how to breathe."

I reeled myself back. Fuck. "I need to eat."

"Sure. Hide behind that."

I grabbed her wrist a little too hard, but she didn't complain. Her eyes were challenging. I wouldn't break her wrist, but why did she seem like she wanted me to? Why was she testing me? She wanted me to kill her? Why?

I breathed in the pumps of blood rushing through her veins. The hazy consent I saw in her combined with the surge of venom was enough to drive me to a frenzy. I needed blood, but it wouldn't be hers. Not tonight.

"I've been meaning to tell you," I said. "I need a change in my diet. And now that the Cullens are out of our lives, it will be an easier transition."

"They are not out of our lives."

I stepped forward and backed her into the counter. "I wonder. Will the red in my eyes bother you when it's not masked behind the yellow?"

"New trick, same dog. Nothing about you scares me."

I kissed her neck and held back my teeth. "You're a danger to yourself. Your survival instincts should kick in."

"And do what? Run out of here? I'd rather not give you the satisfaction of my adrenaline."

My head buzzed with hunger. If blood was the dry salad, the adrenaline was the sweet dressing. "I'm thinking brunette. Early twenties. Pretty blue blouse."

"Why blue?" She breathed as my lips traced up her jaw.

"Blues and brunettes. They go together."

She placed a hand on my chest, and my mouth stopped. "Go eat before you eat me."

I leaned back and admired her flushed cheeks. "Eating can take on many different forms. Which did you mean?"

"Killing, draining. That sort."

I hummed. "Surprisingly, that definition isn't as fun as what I had in mind."

She rolled her eyes and slipped away from between me and counter. "You'd break me."

"Only a little."

Her moodiness was back. Was it the recent change of events or the sexual frustration? It was always hard to tell. She pointed at the fireplace.

"Light this and leave. I don't want to see you unless you've showered. Maybe brush your teeth, too."

I grabbed the door and propped it up with my grip. "Elise Adams, you will take me as I am. Blood soaked and satisfied. Red stains on my shoes, on the carpet. Walls dripping with gore."

"In other words, you're terrible at this and you leave behind evidence."

I grabbed some firewood from outside and arranged the fireplace accordingly to her wishes. The heat penetrated the room, and I could see the tension from her muscles relax.

She curled up with a book on the couch and a glare directed straight at me.

"Don't be so cold," I grabbed her chin. "Enjoy the fire while it still feels this good. And I'll enjoy this blush while it's still able to fill your cheeks."

She swatted my hand away. "Get out."

The door was broken, but in place. I ran out to find my unplanned meal.

A/N: If Jasper can help it, they would never see the Cullens again. He's stubborn. Elise judges him for abandoning them in their time of need.

Is Elise really willing to sacrifice herself for the good of Cullens? Would Jasper let her?

I don't know, guys. This is going to be one hell of a ride.