ELSA'S POV

I had a sense that I'd been asleep for a very long time—my body was stiff, like I hadn't moved once through all that time, either. My mind was dazed and slow; strange, colorful dreams—dreams and nightmares—swirled dizzily around the inside of my head. They were so vivid. The horrible and the heavenly, all mixed together into a bizarre jumble. There was a sharp impatience and fear, both part of that frustrating dream where your feet can't move fast enough. …And there were plenty of monsters, red-eyed fiends that were all the more ghastly for their genteel civility. The dream was still strong—I could even remember the names. But the strongest, clearest part of the dream was not the horror. It was the heartbreak.

The heartbreak of love lost, the heartbreak of leaving a new love, the heartbreak of old love found for only the briefest of moments. They all pulsed and burned in chaotic flashes. A part of me insisted it was all real while another part of me pushed it aside as nothing but fantastic imaginations. I struggled with it as my mind became more alert, focusing on reality. I couldn't remember what day of the week it was, but I was sure school or work or even sweet Honeymaren waited for me. I inhaled deeply, preparing for another day.

Something cold touched my forehead with the softest pressure.

I squeezed my eyes more tightly shut. I was still dreaming, it seemed, and it felt abnormally real. I was so close to waking though. Any second now, and it would be gone.

But I realized that it felt too real, too real to be good for me. The stone arms I imagined wrapped around me were far too substantial. If I let this go any further, I'd be sorry for it later. With a frustrated sigh, I wrenched back my eyelids to dispel the illusion.

"Oh!" I gasped, and threw my fists over my eyes.

Well, clearly, I'd gone too far; it must have been a mistake to let my imagination get so out of hand. I should have gone straight to a doctor when I first started experiencing my hallucinations. I had ignored it—believed I could handle it on my own—and now my mind had snapped.

This was a major failure on my part. Had all those months of working past—well,tryingto work past—this accomplished nothing? Maybe this was normal, a lapse in my rehabilitation.

I opened my eyes again—and Anna was still there, her beautiful face just inches away from mine.

"Did I frighten you?" Her low voice was anxious.

I had to hand it to myself; whatever this was—delusion, vivid dream—it was very good. The face, the voice, the scent, everything was spot on. This beautiful figment of my imagination watched my changing expressions with alarm. Her irises were pitch-black, with bruise-like shadows under them. This surprised me; I would have thought I would have kept my hallucinatory Anna better fed.

I blinked twice, desperately trying to remember the last thing that I was sure was real. Alice was part of my dream and I wondered if she had really come back at all, or if that was just the preamble. Ithoughtshe'd returned the day I nearly downed….

"Oh,crap," I croaked. My throat was thick with sleeping.

"What's wrong, Elsa?"

I frowned at her unhappily. Her face was even more anxious than before.

"I'm dead, right?" I moaned. "Ididdrown. Crap, crap, crap! This is gonna kill Agnarr."

Anna frowned, too. "You're not dead."

"Then why am I not waking up?" I challenged, raising my eyebrows.

"You are aware, Elsa."

I shook my head. "Sure, sure. That's what you want me to think. And then all this will be worse when I do wake up.IfI wake up, which I won't, because I'm dead. This is awful. Poor Agnarr, and Mom… Oh god, and poor Honeymaren…" I trailed off in horror at what I had done.

"I can see where you might confuse me with a nightmare." Her short-lived smile was a grin. "But I can't imagine what you would have done to wind up in hell. Did you commit many murders while I was away?"

I rolled my eyes. "None that I can recall, but who the hell knows anymore."

She sighed.

My head was getting clearer. My eyes flickered away from her face for one second, to the dark, open window, and then back to her. I started to remember details… the reality was sinking in. I felt my stomach knot, and I felt a faint blush warm the skin over my cheekbones as I slowly realized that Anna was actually here with me, and not some dream or phantom hallucination.

"Did all of that really happen, then?" It was almost impossible to reassign my dream as reality. I couldn't wrap my head around the concept.

"That depends." Anna's smile was still hard. "If you're referring to us nearly being massacared in Italy, then, yes."

"Oh god," I exhaled. "I really went to Italy. I've never been farther east than Albuquerque."

She rolled her eyes. "Maybe you should go back to sleep. You're not coherent."

"Oh, don't talk down to me," I glared. "I'm not tired anymore." It was all becoming clear now. The reality had settled in and it was time to deal with it. "What time is it? How long have I been sleeping?"

"It's just after one in the morning. So, about fourteen hours."

I stretched as she spoke. I was so stiff.

"Agnarr?" I asked.

Anna frowned. "Sleeping. You should probably know that I'm breaking the rules right now. Well, not technically, since he said I was never to walk through his door again, and I came in the window… But, still, the intent was clear."

"Agnarr banned you from the house?" I asked, feeling both incredulous and slightly amused.

Her eyes were sad. "Did you expect anything else?"

On the one hand, I felt slightly sorry for Anna but I couldn't fault Agnarr for reacting in that way. He had every right to, really. I'm sure my disappearing didn't help the situation at all. I briefly wondered if gently reminding Agnarr that was over the legal age of adulthood would help my case any but I highly doubted it.

"What's the story?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"What do you mean?"

"What do I tell Agnarr? What's my excuse for disappearing for… how long was I gone, anyway?" I tried to count the hours in my head.

"Just three days."

"Oh,just three days." I huffed.

Her eyes tightened, but she smiled more naturally this time. "Actually, I was hoping you might have a good explanation. I've got nothing."

I groaned. "Fabulous."

"Well, maybe Alice will come up with something," she offered, trying to comfort me.

And I was comforted, slightly. Alice would be able to think of something clever enough to possibly dissuade Agnarr's anger. I stared at Anna, thinking deeply. Her face was so close it was glowing in the dim light from the numbers on my alarm clock. It was time to have that conversation I had been putting off. There was no avoiding it now.

"So," I began, picking the least important—though still vitally interesting—question to start with. I didn't think I could dive into this headfirst. "What have you been doing, up until three days ago?"

Her face turned wary in an instant. "Nothing terribly exciting."

"Of course not," I mumbled.

"Why are you making that face?"

"Well…" I pursed my lips, considering my wording. "It's been a long three days, and I'm not really in the mood for you to sidestep my questions." I narrowed my eyes. "Because I do have a lot."

She sighed. "I was… hunting."

"Is that the best you can do?" I criticized. "That's not much better."

She hesitated, and then spoke slowly, choosing her words with care. "I wasn't hunting for food… I was actually trying my hand at… tracking. I'm not very good at it."

"What were you tracking?" I asked, intrigued.

"Nothing of consequence." Her words didn't match her expression; she looked upset, uncomfortable.

"Side stepping again."

She hesitated; her face, shining with an odd green cast from the light of the clock, was torn.

"I—" She took a deep breath. "I owe you an apology. No, of course I owe you that much, much more than that. But you have to know"—the words began to flow so fast, the way I remembered she spoke sometimes when she was agitated, that I really had to concentrate to catch them all—"that I had no idea. I didn't realize the mess I was leaving behind. I thought it was safe for you here. So safe. I had no idea that Samantha"—her lips curled back when she said the name—"would come back. I'll admit, when I saw her that one time, I was paying more attention to Hans's thoughts. But I just didn't see that Samantha had this kind of response in her. That she even had such a tie to Hans. I think I realize why no—Samantha was so sure of Hans, the thought of Hans' failure never occurred to Samantha. It was that overconfidence that clouded her feelings about him—that kept me from seeing the depth of them, the bond there.

"Not that there's any excuse for what I left you to face. When I heard what you told Alice—what she saw herself—when I realized you had to put your life in the hands ofwerewolves, immature, volatile, the worst thing out there besides Samantha herself"—she shuddered and the gush of words halted for a short second. "Please know that I had no idea of any of this. I feel sick, sick to my core, even now, when I can see and feel you safe in my arms. I am the most miserable excuse for—"

"Stop," I interrupted her. She stared at me with agonized eyes, and I tried to find the right words—the words that would free her from this imagined obligation. It was going to be more difficult than I thought it would be, I didn't know where to begin. But I had to try.

I'd really been hoping to build the conversation up to this point, not dive headfirst into the heavy stuff.

I took a deep breath, and worked on keeping my tone even and my face smooth.

"Anna" I said but my voice already wavered with all the emotions ready to break free. "First of all, before I get to my main point, I want to make it clear that the werewolves have kept me safe. I don't want you lumping them in with Samantha. They are strong and brave and they've lost everything just to keep everyone safe." I couldn't read her expression; her eyes were still pained but there was a touch of shocked incredulous in her face.

I continued, "And listen, this has to stop now. You can't think about things that way. You can't let this… thisguilt… rule your life. You can't take responsibility for things that happen to me here. This is my life. So, if I get struck by lightning or a tree falls on me or I crash my truck into an embankment, you have to realize that it's not your job to take the blame. You can't go running off to Italy because you feel bad that you didn't save me. Even if I had jumped off that cliff to die—which I wouldneverdo—you have to understandit's not your fault. I know it's your… your nature to shoulder the blame for everything, but you really can't let that make you go to such ridiculous extremes! It's very selfish and irresponsible—think of Arianna and Frederic and—"

I was getting too worked up. I stopped to take a deep breath, hoping to calm myself. I had to set her free. I had to make sure this never happened again.

"Elsa Amanda Winters," she whispered, the strangest expression crossing her face. She almost looked mad. "Do you believe that I asked the Volturi to kill mebecause I felt guilty?"

I could feel the blank comprehension on my face. "Didn't you?"

"Feel guilty? Intensely so. More than you can comprehend."

"Then… what are you saying? I don't understand."

"Elsa, I went to the Volturi because I thought you were dead," she said, voice soft, eyes fierce. "Even if I'd had no hand in your death"— she shuddered as she whispered the last word—" even if itwasn'tmy fault, I would have gone to Italy. Obviously, I should have been more careful— I should have spoken to Alice directly, rather than accepting it secondhand from Rapunzel. But, really, what was I supposed to think when the girl said Agnarr was at the funeral? What are the odds?

"The odds…," she muttered then, distracted. Her voice was so low I wasn't sure I heard it right. "The odds are always stacked against us. Mistake after mistake. I'll never criticize Romeo again."

"Don't bring him into this. I still don't understand," I said. "That's my whole point. So what?"

"Excuse me?"

"So what if I was dead?"

She stared at me dubiously for a long moment before answering. "Don't you remember anything I told you before?"

"I remember everything that you told me." Including the words that had negated all the rest.

She brushed the tip of her cool finger against my lower lip. "Elsa, you seem to be under a misapprehension." She closed her eyes, shaking her, head back and forth with half a smile on her beautiful face. It wasn't a happy smile. "I thought I'd explained it clearly before. Elsa, I can't live in a world where you don't exist."

"I am…" My head swam as I looked for the appropriate word. "Confused." That worked. I couldn't make sense of what she was saying.

She stared deep into my eyes with her sincere, earnest gaze. "I'm a good liar, Elsa, I have to be."

I froze, my back stiffened.

She shook my shoulder, trying to loosen my rigid pose. "Let me finish! I'm a good liar, but still, for you to believe me so quickly." She winced. "That was… excruciating."

I waited, still frozen.

"When we were in the forest, when I was telling you goodbye—"

I didn't allow myself to remember. I fought to keep myself in the present second only.

"You weren't going to let go," she whispered. "I could see that. I didn't want to do it— it felt like it would kill me to do it— but I knew that if I couldn't convince you that I didn't love you anymore, it would just take you that much longer to get on with your life. I hoped that, if you thought I'd moved on, so would you."

"A clean break," I whispered through unmoving lips.

"Exactly. But I never imagined it would be so easy to do! I thought it would be next to impossible— that you would be so sure of the truth that I would have to lie through my teeth for hours to even plant the seed of doubt in your head. I lied, and I'm so sorry— sorry because I hurt you, sorry because it was a worthless effort. Sorry that I couldn't protect you from what I am. I lied to save you, and it didn't work. I'm sorry.

"But how could you believe me? After all the thousand times I've told you I love you, how could you let one word break your faith in me?"

I didn't answer. I was too shocked to form a rational response.

"I could see it in your eyes, that you honestly believed that I didn't want you anymore. The most absurd, ridiculous concept— as if there were any way that I could exist without needing you!"

I was still frozen. Her words were incomprehensible, because they were impossible for me to reconcile.

She shook my shoulder again, not hard, but enough that my teeth rattled a little.

"Elsa," she sighed. "Really, what were you thinking!"

And so I started to cry. The emotions swelled and overflowed. Every frustration, every sadness, every anger, all exploding out of me.

"I was thinking that usually when a person says those things they only say it if they mean it!" I sobbed, "I was thinking that if you really loved me you wouldn't say any of those things in the first place!"

She looked taken aback, she ran her finger across my cheek, wiping away my tears. "Elsa, how can I put this so that you'll believe me? I'm here, and I love you. Ihavealways loved you, and Iwillalways love you. I was thinking of you, seeing your face in my mind, every second that I was away. When I told you that I didn't want you, it was the very blackest kind of blasphemy."

I shook my head while the tears continued to pour out of me.

"You don't believe me, do you?" She whispered, her face paler than her usual pale—I could see that even in the dim light. "Why can you believe the lie, but not the truth?"

"It never made sense for you to love me," I explained, my voice breaking twice. "A human and a vampire, I mean, come on."

Her eyes narrowed, her jaw tightened.

"I'll prove I love you," she promised.

She caught my face securely between her iron hands, ignoring my struggles when I tried to turn my head away.

"Please don't," I whispered.

She stopped, her lips just half an inch from mine.

"Why not?" She demanded, sadly.

"When you leave again, it's just going to make things that much harder."

She pulled back an inch, to stare at my face.

"Yesterday, when I would touch you, you were so… hesitant, so careful, and yet still the same. I need to know why. Is it because I'm too late? Because I've hurt you too much? Because youhavemoved on, as I meant for you to? That would be… quite fair. I won't contest your decision. So don't try to spare my feelings, please— just tell me now whether or not you can still love me, after everything I've done to you. Can you?" she whispered.

"Are you serious?"

"Just answer it. Please."

I stared at her darkly for a long moment.

I considered everything that had happened, everything that I had gone through. I considered every emotion, every feeling, every choice, every decision. I considered everything that had changed, and everything that had not.

"I do… Despite everything, I do still love you."

"That's all I needed to hear."

Her mouth was on mine then, and I couldn't fight her. Not because she was so many thousand times stronger than me, but because my will crumbled the second out lips met. The kiss was not nearly as careful as others I remembered. It was full of longing and passion that had been yearning for release.

So I kissed her back, my heart pounding erratically in my chest while my breathe caught in my throat. My hands found their way up her chest, to the back of her head, and my fingers tangled in her hair. I could feel her marble body against every line of mine. Her hands memorized my face, and, in the brief seconds when her lips were free, she whispered my name.

When I was starting to get dizzy, she pulled away, only to lay her ear against my heart.

I lay there, dazed, waiting for my heartbeats to slow and quiet.

"By the way," she said in a casual tone. "I'm not leaving you."

I didn't say anything, and she seemed to hear skepticism in my silence.

She lifted her face to lock my gaze in hers. "I'm not going anywhere. Not without you," she added more seriously. "I only left you in the first place because I wanted you to have a chance at a normal, happy, human life. I could see what I was doing to you—keeping you constantly on the edge of danger, taking you away from the world you belonged in, risking your life every moment I was with you. So I had to try. I had to dosomething, and it seemed like leaving was the only way. If I hadn't thought you would be better off, I could have never made myself leave. I'm much too selfish. Only you could be more important than what I wanted… what I needed. What I want and need is to be with you, and I know I'll never be strong enough to leave again. I have too many excuses to stay—thank heaven for that! It seems youcan'tbe safe, no matter how many miles I put between us."

"Don't you dare promise me anything," I whispered sobbing badly. "don't start talking like everything is fine again and you'll never leave."

Anger glinted metallic in her black eyes. "You think I'm lying to you now?"

"How would I know?" I shook my head, "You seemed like you meant everything you said when you left. How am I supposed to know if you're lying or not." She moved to speak, but I cut her off, "You could mean it… now. But what about tomorrow, when you think about all the reasons you left in the first place? Or next month, when Jasper takes a snap at me?"

She flinched.

I thought back over those last days of my life before she left me, tried to see them through the filter of what she was telling me now. Form that perspective, imagining that she'd left me while loving me, left meforme, her brooding and cold silences took on a different meaning. It didn't excuse any of it, but added a layer to it all. "It isn't as if you hadn't thought the first decision through, is it?" I guessed. "You'll end up doing what you think is right."

"I'm not as strong as you give me credit for," she said. "Right and wrong have ceased to mean much to me; I was coming back anyway. Before Rapunzel told me the news, I was already past trying to live through one week at a time, or even one day. I was fighting to make it through a single hour. It was only a matter of time—and not much of it—before I showed up at your window and begged you to take me back. I'd be happy to beg now, if you'd like that."

I grimaced. "Be serious, please."

"Oh, I am," she insisted, glaring now. "Will you please try to hear what I'm telling you? Will you let me attempt to explain what you mean to me?"

She waited, studying my face as she spoke to make sure I was really listening.

"Before you, Elsa, my life was like a moonless night. Very dark, but there were stars—points of light and reason. …And then you shot across my sky like a meteor. Suddenly everything was on fire; there was brilliancy, there was beauty. When you were gone, when the meteor had fallen over the horizon, everything went black. Nothing had changed, but my eyes were blinded by the light. I couldn't see the stars anymore. And there was no more reason for anything."

"Your eyes will adjust," I mumbled.

"That's just the problem—they can't."

I wanted to believe her. But how could I believe that these weren't more lies? How could I be sure she wasn't just an obnoxiously fickle vampire?

"What about your distractions?" I asked.

She laughed without a trace of humor. "Just part of the lie, love."

"More lies."

She sighed. "Elsa, there was no distraction from the… theagony. My heart hasn't beat in almost ninety years, but this was different. It was like my heart was gone—like I was hollow. Like I'd left everything that was inside me here with you."

"That's funny," I muttered.

She arched an eyebrow. "Funny?"

"I meant, it's funny you'd say that's how you felt because that's how I felt after you left. After you just disappeared without giving me a chance to really say goodbye. Just… empty." I sighed.

She closed her eyes and laid her ear over my heart again. I let my cheek press against her hair, felt the texture of it on my skin.

"I'm so sorry, Elsa." The remorse was evident in her voice.

"Tracking wasn't a distraction then?" I asked, curious, and also needing to distractmyself. I didn't know where this conversation was going, a small part of me was very much in danger of hoping. I wouldn't be able to stop myself for long.

"No." She sighed. "That was never a distraction. It was an obligation."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that, even though I never expected any danger from Samantha, I wasn't going to let her get away with… Well, like I said, I was horrible at it. I traced her as far as Texas, but then I followed a false lead down to Brazil—and really she came here." She groaned. "I wasn't even on the right continent! And all the while, worse than my worst fears—"

"You were hunting Samantha?" My surprise came out full volume.

Agnarr's distant snores stuttered, and then picked up a regular rhythm again.

"Not well," Anna answered, studying my outraged expression with a confused look. "But I'll do better this time. She won't be tainting perfectly good air by breathing in and out for much longer."

"That is… out of the question," I managed to control my volume this time. Insanity. Even she had Cassandra or Jasper to help her. Even if she had Cassandra and Jasper to help. It was bad enough to imagine Honeymaren standing across a small space from Samantha's vicious and feline figure. I couldn't bear to picture Anna there, even if she was more durable than my half-human best friend?

"It's too late for her." Anna said suddenly.

I jumped, confused about who she was speaking about for a minute.

"For Samantha?" I focused on what she was saying now.

"Indeed," Anna continued, "I might have let the other time slide, but not now, not after—"

I interrupted her again, trying to sound calm. "Didn't you just promise you weren't going to leave?' I asked, trying to come up with a way to keep her from going after Samantha. "That isn't exactly compatible when an extended tracking expedition, is it?"

She frowned. A snarl began to build low in her chest. "I will keep my promise, Elsa. But Samantha"—the snarl became more pronounced—"is going to die. Soon."

"Let's not be hasty," I said, trying to hide my panic. "Maybe she's not coming back. Honeymaren's pack is pretty tough—they probably scared Samantha off. There's really no reason to go looking for her. Besides, I've got bigger problems than Samantha."

Anna's eyes narrowed, but she nodded. "It's true. The werewolves are a problem."

My stomach dropped. "The pack isnota problem." I countered sharply, "The pack is what kept me safe whenyouweren't here to protect me."

She looked guilty and slightly hurt, but I didn't want to baby her feelings. I continued, "My problems have nothing to do with the wolves."

Anna looked as if she were about to say something, and then thought better of it. Her teeth clicked together, and she spoke through them. "Really?" she asked. "Then what would be your greatest problem? That would make Samantha's returning for you seem like such an inconsequential matter in comparison?"

"How about the second greatest?" I hedged.

"All right," she agreed, suspicious.

I paused. I wasn't sure I could say the name. "There are others who are coming to look for me," I reminded her in a subdued whisper.

She sighed, but the reaction was not as strong as I would have imagined after her response to Samantha.

"The Volturi are only the second greatest?"

"You don't seem that upset about it," I noted.

"Well, we have plenty of time to think it through. Time means something very different to them than it does to you, or even me. They count years the way you count days. I wouldn't be surprised if you were thirty before you crossed their minds again," she added lightly.

"And then what happens?" I asked in horror.

"You don't have to be afraid," she said, anxious as she watched the horror build in my face. "I won't let them hurt you."

"While you're here, sure."

She took my face between her two stone hands, holding it tightly while her midnight eyes glared into mine with the gravitational force of a black hole. "I will never leave you again."

"But you saidthirty," I pointed out. "Are you really going to stay with me when I'm older?"

Her eyes softened, while her mouth went hard. "That's exactly what I'm going to do. What choice have I? I cannot be without you, but I will not destroy your soul."

"Wait… what?" I tried to understand her logic. I remembered her face when Aro had almost begged her to consider making me immortal. The sick look there. Was this fixation with keeping me human really about my soul, or was it because she wasn't sure that she wanted me around that long?

"Elsa?" she asked, watching my eyes.

"Okay, so let's refocus," I finally said, "if you really plan on staying with me then what about when I get so old that people think I'm your mother? Yourgrandmother?" My voice was pale with revulsion—I could see Grandma's face again in the dream mirror. Why hadn't I really spent more time thinking about all this? I suppose I had always been aware of it; I wasn't sure if I wanted to become a vampire, but I would keep getting older and this would be the reality of this relationship if I stayed human. Why did it surprise me so much now? And if people think I'm 40 something dating a seventeen year old I'll be arrested for statutory rape I mean I know your really like one hundred something but you are frozen at seventeen you have the mind of a seventeen year old still. only with years of education.

I'll bail you out she joked. I looked at her seriously she sighed.

Her whole was face soft now. She brushed her lips across my cheek. "That doesn't mean anything to me," she breathed against my skin. "You will always be the most beautiful thing in my world. Of course…" She hesitated, flinching slightly. "If you outgrewme—if you wanted something more—I would understand that, Elsa. I promise I wouldn't stand in your way if you wanted to leave me."

Her eyes were liquid onyx and utterly sincere. She spoke as if she'd put endless amounts of though into this plan of hers.

"You do realize I'll die eventually, right?" I pointed out.

She'd thought about this part, too. "I'll follow after as soon as I can."

"Jesus, Anna… That is seriously sick."

"Elsa, it's the only right way left—"

"No, no." I held up my hands, cutting her off. "We're not going to talk about that right now. Let's back up for a minute," I said, "You do remember the Volturi, right? What are we going to do? If I stay human forever, they'll kill me. Even if they don't think of me till I'm thirty do you really think they'll forget?"

"No," she answered slowly, shaking her head. "They won't forget. But…"

"But?"

She grinned while I stared at her warily.

"I have a few plans."

"Okay, sure, and these plans," I said, "these plans all center around me staying human?"

She shrugged. "Naturally." Her tone was brusque, her face arrogant.

What I mess I had gotten myself into. I had always been back and forth on whether or not I wanted to become a vampire, but now because of the events in Italy I didn't know if I truly had a choice in the matter. All this was of course contingent on if I was going to really take Anna back after all this.

I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders, I moved her arms away so that I could sit up.

"Do you want me to leave?" she asked, I could see that this idea hurt her, though she tried not to show it.

"No," I told her. "But we need to go."

She watched me suspiciously as I climbed out of the bed and fumbled around in my dark room, looking for my shoes.

"May I ask where you are going?" she asked.

"I'm going to your house," I told her, still feeling around blindly. "I was hoping you'd be coming too."

She got up and came to my side. "Here are your shoes. How did you plan to get there?"

"My truck?"

"That will probably wake Agnarr," she countered.

I sighed. "I know. But honestly, I'll be grounded for the rest of my life as it is. How much more trouble can I really get in?"

"None. He'll blame me, not you."

"If you have a better idea, I'm all ears."

"Stay here," she suggested, but her expression wasn't hopeful.

"No dice. But if you can go ahead and make yourself at home," I encouraged, surprised by how natural my teasing sounded, and headed for the door.

She was there before me, blocking my way.

I frowned, and turned for the window. I wondered how badly I'd hurt myself if I dangled myself out of it.

"Okay," she sighed. "I'll give you a ride."

"Good girl," I smirked. "You should be there, anyway."

"And why is that?"

"Because you're extraordinarily opinionated, and I'm sure you'll want a chance to air your views."

"My views on which subject?" She asked through her teeth.

"This isn't just about you anymore. You're not the center of the universe, you know. If you're going to bring the Volturi down on us with your plans and schemes, then your family ought to have a say."

"A say in what?" she asked, each word distinct.

"Us. I'm putting it to a vote."