ELSA'S POV

There was so much to think about.

How was I going to find time alone to hunt down J. Jenks, and why did Alice want me to know about him?

If Alice's clue had nothing to do with Eleazar, what could I do to save my son?

How were Anna and I going to explain things to Tareas's family in the morning? What if they reacted like Ivan? What if it turned into a fight?

I didn't know how to fight. How was I going to learn in just a month? Was there any chance at all that I could be taught fast enough that I might be a danger to any one member of the Volturi? Or was I doomed to be totally useless? Just another easily dispatched newborn?

So many answers I needed, but I did not get the chance to ask my questions.

Wanting some normality for Eleazar, I'd insisted on taking him home to our cottage at bedtime. Honeymaren was more comfortable in her wolf form at the moment; the stress was easier dealt with when she felt ready for a fight. I wished that I could feel the same, could feel ready. she ran in the woods, on guard again.

After she was deeply under, I put Eleazar in his bed and then went to the front room to ask my questions of Anna. The ones I was able to ask, at any rate; one of the most difficult of problems was the idea of trying to hide anything from her, even with the advantage of my silent thoughts.

She stood with her back to me, staring into the fire.

"Anna, I - "

She spun and was across the room in what seemed like no time at all, not even the smallest part of a second. I only had time to register the ferocious expression on her face before her lips were crushing against mine and her arms were locked around me like steel girders.

I didn't think of my questions again for the rest of that night. It didn't take long for me to grasp the reason for her

mood, and even less time to feel exactly the same way.

I'd been planning on needing years just to somewhat organize the overwhelming passion I felt for her physically. And then centuries after that to enjoy it. if we had only a month left together... Well, I didn't see how I could stand to have this end. For the moment I couldn't help but be selfish. All I wanted was to love her as much as possible in the limited time given to me.

It was hard to pull myself away from her when the sun came up, but we had our job to do, a job that might be more difficult than all the rest of our family's searches put together. As soon as I let myself think of what was coming, i was all tension; it felt like my nerves were being stretched on a rack, thinner and thinner.

"I wish there was a way to get the information we need from Elena before we tell them about Elson," Anna muttered as we hurriedly dressed in the huge closet that was more reminder of Alice than I wanted at the moment. "Just in case."

"But she wouldn't understand the question to answer it," I agreed. "Do you think they'll let us explain?"

"I don't know."

I pulled Eleazar, still sleeping, from his bed and held his close so that his curls were pressed against my face; his sweet scent, so close, overpowered every other smell.

I couldn't waste one second of time today. There were answers I needed, and wasn't sure how much time Anna and I would have alone today. If all went well with Tareas's family, hopefully we would have company for an extended period.

"Anna, will you teach me how to fight?" I asked her, tensed for her reaction, as she held the door for me.

It was what I expected. She froze, and then her eyes swept over me with a deep significance, like she was looking at me for the first or last time. Her eyes lingered on our daughter sleeping in my arms.

"If it comes to a fight, there won't be much any of us can do," she hedged.

I kept my voice even. "Would you leave me unable to defend myself?"

She swallowed convulsively, and the door shuddered, hinges protesting, as her hand tightened. Then she nodded. "When you put it that way... I suppose we should get to work as soon as we can."I will still protect you Elsa she said and I know if she could cry she would be. I cannot risk you getting hurt or killed her voice broke as she wrapped her arms around me and sobbed tearleslly into my hair.

I nodded, too, and we started toward the big house. We didn't hurry.

I wondered what I could do that would have any hope of making a difference. I was a tiny bit special, in my own way - if a having a supematurally thick skull could really be considered special. Was there any use that I could put that toward?

"What would you say their biggest advantage is? Do they even have a weakness?"

Anna didn't have to ask to know I meant the Volturi.

"Alec and Jane are their greatest offense," she said emotionlessly, like we were talking of a basketball team. "Their defensive players rarely see any real action."

"Because Jane can burn you where you stand - mentally at least. What does Alec do? Didn't you once say he was even more dangerous than Jane?"

"Yes. In a way, he is the antidote to Jane. She makes you feel the worst pain imaginable. Alec, on the other hand, makes you feel nothing. Absolutely nothing. Sometimes, when the Volturi are feeling kind, they have Alec anesthetize someone before he is executed. If he has surrendered or pleased them in some other way."

"Anesthetic? But how is that more dangerous than Jane?"

"Because he cuts off your senses altogether. No pain, but also no sight or sound or smell. Total sensory deprivation. You are utterly alone in the blackness. You don't even feel it when they burn you."

I shivered. Was this the best we could hope for? To not see or feel death when it came?

"That would make him only equally as dangerous as Jane," Anna went on in the same detached voice, "in that they both can incapacitate you, make you into a helpless target. The difference between them is like the difference between Aro and me. Aro hears the mind of only one person at a time. Jane can only hurt the one object of her focus. I can hear everyone at the same time."

I felt cold as I saw where she was going. "And Alec can incapacitate us all at the same time?" I whispered.

"Yes," she said. "If he uses his gift against us, we will all stand blind and deaf until they get around to killing us - maybe they'll simply burn us without bothering to tear us apart first. Oh, we could try to fight, but we'll be more likely to hurt one another than we would be to hurt one of them."

We walked in silence for a few seconds.

An idea was shaping itself in my head. Not very promising, but better than nothing.

"Do you think Alec is a very good fighter?" I asked. "Aside from what he can do, I mean. If he had to fight without his gift. I wonder if he's ever even tried_"

Anna glanced at me sharply. "What are you thinking?"

I looked straight ahead. "Well, he probably can't do that to me, can he? If what he does is like Aro and Jane and you. Maybe... if he's never really had to defend himself... and I learned a few tricks - "

"He's been with the Volturi for centuries," Anna cut me off, her voice abruptly panicked. She was probably seeing the same image in her head that I was: the Cullens standing helpless, senseless pillars on the killing field - all but me. I'd be the only one who could fight. "Yes, you're surely immune to his power, but you are still a newborn, Anna. I can't make you that strong a fighter in a few weeks. I'm sure he's had training."

"Maybe, maybe not. It's the one thing I can do that no one else can. Even if I can just distract him for a while - " Could I last long enough to give the others a chance?

"Please, Elsa," Anna said through her teeth. "Let's not talk about this."

"Be reasonable."

"I will try to teach you what I can, but please don't make me think about you sacrificing yourself as a diversion - " She choked, and didn't finish.

I nodded. I would keep my plans to myself, then. First Alec and then, if I was miraculously lucky enough to win, Jane. If I could only even things out - remove the Volturi's overwhelming offensive advantage. Maybe then there was a chance... My mind raced ahead. What if I was able to distract or even take them out? Honestly, why would either

Jane or Alec ever have needed to learn battle skills? I couldn't imagine petulant little Jane surrendering her advantage, even to learn.

If I was able to kill them, what a difference that would make.

"I have to learn everything. As much as you can possibly cram into my head in the next month," I murmured.

She acted as if I hadn't spoken.

Who next, then? I might as well have my plans in order so that, if I did live past attacking Alec, there would be no hesitation in my strike. I tried to think of another situation where my thick skull would give me an advantage. I didn't know enough about what the others did. Obviously, fighters like the huge Felix were beyond me. I could only try to give Cassandra her fair fight there. I didn't know much about the rest of the Volturi guard, besides Demetri_

My face was perfectly smooth as I considered Demetri. Without a doubt, he would be a fighter. There was no other way he could have survived so long, always at the spear point of any attack. And he must always lead, because he was their tracker - the best tracker in the world, no doubt. If there had been one better, the Volturi would have traded up. Aro didn't surround himself with second best.

If Demetri didn't exist, then we could run. Whoever was left of us, in any case. My Son, warm in my arms... Someone could run with her Honeymaren or Rapunzel, whoever was left.

And... if Demetri didn't exist, then Alice and Jasper could be safe forever. Is that what Alice had seen? That part of our family could continue? The two of them, at the very least.

Could I begrudge her that?

"Demetri...," I said.

"Demetri is mine," Anna said in a hard, tight voice. I looked at her quickly and saw that her expression had turned violent.

"Why?" I whispered.

She didn't answer at first. We were to the river when she finally murmured, "For Alice. It's the only thanks I can give her now for the last fifty years."

So her thoughts were in line with mine.

I heard Honeymaren's heavy paws thudding against the frozen ground. In seconds, she was pacing beside me, her dark eyes focused on Eleazar.

I nodded to her once, then returned to my questions. There was so little time.

"Anna, why do you think Alice told us to ask Elena about the Volturi? Has she been in Italy recently or something? What could she know?"

"Elena knows everything when it comes to the Volturi. I forgot you didn't know. she used to be one of them."

I hissed involuntarily. Honeymaren growled beside me.

"What?" I demanded, in my head picturing the beautiful dark-haired man at our wedding wrapped in a long, ashy cloak.

Anna's face was softer now - she smiled a little. "Elena is a very gentle person. she wasn't entirely happy with

the Volturi, but he respected the law and its need to be upheld. she felt she was working toward the greater good. she doesn't regret her time with them. But when she found Carmen, she found her place in this world. They are very similar people, both very compassionate for vampires." She smiled again. "They met Tareas and his siblings, and they never looked back. They are well suited to this lifestyle. If they'd never found Tareas, I imagine they would have eventually discovered a way to live without human blood on their own."

The pictures in my head were jarring. I couldn't make them match up. A compassionate Volturi soldier?

Anna glanced at Honeymaren and answered a silent question. "No, she wasn't one of their warriors, so to speak. she had a gift they found convenient."

Honeymaren must have asked the obvious follow-up question.

"She has an instinctive feel for the gifts of others - the extra abilities that some vampires have," Anna told her. "she could give Aro a general idea of what any given vampire was capable of just by being in proximity with her or him. This was helpful when the Volturi went into battle. shs could warn them if someone in the opposing coven had a skill that might give them some trouble. That was rare; it takes quite a skill to even inconvenience the Volturi for a moment. More often, the warning would give Aro the chance to save someone who might be useful to her. Elena's gift works even with humans, to an extent. she has to really concentrate with humans, though, because the latent ability is so nebulous. Aro would have her test the people who wanted to join, to see if they had any potential. Aro was sorry to see her go."

"They let her go?" I asked. "Just like that?"

Her smile was darker now, a little twisted. 'The Volturi aren't supposed to be the villains, the way they seem to you. They are the foundation of our peace and civilization. Each member of the guard chooses to serve them. It's quite prestigious; they all are proud to be there, not forced to be there."

I scowled at the ground.

"They're only alleged to be heinous and evil by the criminals, Elsa."

"We're not criminals."

Honeymaren huffed in agreement.

"They don't know that."

"Do you really think we can make them stop and listen?"

Anna hesitated just the tiniest moment and then shrugged. "If we find enough friends to stand beside us. Maybe."

If. I suddenly felt the urgency of what we had before us today. Anna and I both started to move faster, breaking into a run. Honeymaren caught up quickly.

"Tareas shouldn't be too much longer," Anna said. "We need to be ready."

How to be ready, though? We arranged and rearranged, thought and rethought. Eleazar in full view? Or hidden at first? Honeymaren in the room? Or outside? she'd told her pack to stay close but invisible. Should she do the same?

In the end, Eleazar, Honeymaren - in her human form again - and I waited around the corner from the front door in the dining room, sitting at the big polished table. Honeymaren let me hold Eleazar; he wanted space in case she had to phase quickly.

Though I was glad to have him in my arms, it made me feel useless. It reminded me that in a fight with mature vampires, I was no more than an easy target; I didn't need my hands free.

I tried to remember Tareas, Kate, Carmen, and Elena from the wedding. Their faces were murky in my ill-lit memories. I only knew they were beautiful, two blondes and two brunettes. I couldn't remember if there was any kindness in their eyes.

Anna leaned motionlessly against the back window wall, staring toward the front door. It didn't look like she was seeing the room in front of her.

We listened to the cars zooming past out on the freeway, none of them slowing.

Eleazar nestled into my neck, his hand against my cheek but no images in my head. He didn't have pictures for his feelings now.

"What if they don't like me?" he whispered, and all our eyes flashed to his face.

"Of course they'll - ," Honeymaren started to say, but I silenced him with a look.

'They don't understand you, Eleazar, because they've never met anyone like you," I told him, not wanting to lie to him with promises that might not come true. "Getting them to understand is the problem."

He sighed, and in my head flashed pictures of all of us in one quick burst. Vampire, human, werewolf. He fit nowhere.

"You're special, that's not a bad thing."

Se shook his head in disagreement. He thought of our strained faces and said, "This is my fault."

"No," Honeymaren, Anna, and I all said at exactly the same time, but before we could argue further, we heard the sound we'd been waiting for: the slowing of an engine on the freeway, the tires moving from pavement to soft dirt.

Anna darted around the corner to stand waiting by the door. Eleazar hid in my hair. Honeymaren and I stared at each other across the table, desperation on our faces.

The car moved quickly through the woods, faster than Agnarr or Sue drove. We heard it pull into the meadow and stop by the front porch. Four doors opened and closed. They didn't speak as they approached the door. Anna opened it before they could knock.

"Anna!" a male voice enthused.

"Hello, Tareas. Kate, Elena, Carmen."

Three murmured hellos.

"Frederic said he needed to talk to us right away," the first voice said, Tareas. I could hear that they all were still outside. I imagined Anna in the doorway, blocking their entrance. "What's the problem? Trouble with the werewolves?"

Honeymaren rolled her eyes.

"No," Anna said. "Our truce with the werewolves is stronger than ever."

A man chuckled.

"Aren't you going to invite us in?" Tareas asked. And then he continued without waiting for an answer. "Where's Frederic?"

"Frederic had to leave."

There was a short silence.

"What's going on, Anna?" Tareas demanded.

"If you could give me the benefit of the doubt for just a few minutes," she answered. "I have something difficult to explain, and I'll need you to be open-minded until you understand."

"Is Frederic all right?" a Female voice asked anxiously. Elena.

"None of us is all right, Elena," Anna said, and then she patted something, maybe Elen shoulder. "But physically, Frederic is fine."

"Physically?" Tareas asked sharply. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that my entire family is in very grave danger. But before I explain, I ask for your promise. Listen to everything I say before you react. I am begging you to hear me out."

A longer silence greeted her request. Through the strained hush, Honeymaren and I stared wordlessly at each other. Her russet lips paled.

"We're listening," Tareas finally said. "We will hear it all before we judge."

"Thank you, Tareas," Anna said fervently. "We wouldn't involve you in this if we had any other choice."

Anna moved. We heard four sets of footsteps walk through the doorway.

Someone sniffed. "I knew those werewolves were involved," Tareas muttered.

"Yes, and they're on our side. Again."

The reminder silenced Tareas.

"Where's your Elsa?" one of the female voices asked. "How is she?"

"She'll join us shortly. She's well, thank you. She's taken to immortality with amazing finesse."

"Tell us about the danger, Anna," Tareas said quietly. "We'll listen, and we'll be on your side, where we belong."

Anna took a deep breath. "I'd like you to witness for yourselves first. Listen - in the other room. What do you hear?"

It was quiet, and then there was movement.

"Just listen first, please," Anna said.

"A werewolf, I assume. I can hear his heart," Tareas said.

"What else?" Anna asked.

There was a pause.

"What is that thrumming?" Kate or Carmen asked. "Is that... some kind of a bird?"

"No, but remember what you're hearing. Now, what do you smell? Besides the werewolf."

"Is there a human here?" Elena whispered.

"No," Tareas disagreed. "It's not human... but... closer to human than the rest of the scents here. What is that, Anna? I don't think I've ever smelled that fragrance before."

"You most certainly have not, Tareas. Please, please remember that this is something entirely new to you. Throw away your preconceived notions."

"I promised you I would listen, Anna."

"All right, then. Elsa? Bring out Eleazar, please."

My legs felt strangely numb, but I knew that feeling was all in my head. I forced myself not to hold back, not to move sluggishly, as I got to my feet and walked the few short feet to the corner. The heat from Honeymaren's body flamed close behind me as he shadowed my steps.

I took one step into the bigger room and then froze, unable to force myself farther forward. Eleazar took a deep breath and then peeped out from under my hair, his little shoulders tight, expecting a rebuff.

I thought I'd prepared myself for their reaction. For accusations, for shouting, for the motionlessness of deep stress.

Tareas skittered back four steps, his strawberry curls quivering, like a human confronted by a venomous snake. Kate jumped back all the way to the front door and braced herself against the wall there. A shocked hiss came from between her clenched teeth. Elena threw herself in front of Carmen in a protective crouch.

"Oh please" I heard Honeymaren complain under her breath.

Anna put her arm around Eleazar and me. "You promised to listen," she reminded them.

"Some things cannot be heard!" Tareas exclaimed. "How could you, Anna? Do you not know what this means?"

"We have to get out of here," Kate said anxiously, her hand on the doorknob.

"Anna ..." Elena seemed beyond words.

"Wait," Anan said, her voice harder now. "Remember what you hear, what you smell. Eleazar is not what you think he is."

"There are no exceptions to this rule, Anna," Tareas snapped back.

"Tareas," Anna said sharply, "you can hear his heartbeat! Stop and think about what that means."

"His heartbeat?" Carmen whispered, peering around Elena's shoulder.

"He's not a full vampire child," Anna answered, directing her attention toward Carmen's less hostile expression. "he is half-human."

The four vampires stared at her like she was speaking a language none of them knew.

"Hear me." Anna's voice shifted into a smooth velvet tone of persuasion. "Eleazar is one of a kind. I am his mom. Not his creator - his biological mom."

Tareas's head was shaking, just a tiny movement. he didn't seem aware of it.

"Anna, you can't expect us to - ," Elena started to say.

"Tell me another explanation that fits, Elena. You can feel the warmth of his body in the air. Blood runs in his veins, Elena. You can smell it."

"How?" Kate breathed.

"Elsa is her biological mother," Anna told her. "She conceived, carried, and gave birth to Eleazar while she was still human. It nearly killed her. I was hard-pressed to get enough venom into her heart to save her."

Ive never heard of such a thing," Elena said. Her shoulders were still stiff, her expression cold.

"Physical relationships between vampires and humans are not common," Anna answered, a bit of dark humor in her tone now. "Human survivors of such trysts are even less common. Wouldn't you agree, cousins?"But female vampires can't get pregnant but female humans can it seems no matter the gender of the vampire.

Both Kate and Tareas scowled at her.

"Come now, Elena. Surely you can see the resemblance."

It was Carmen who responded to Anna's words. She stepped around Elen, ignoring her half-articulated warning, and walked carefully to stand right in front of me. She leaned down slightly, looking carefully into Eleazar's face.

"You seem to have your mother's eyes," she said in a low, calm voice, "but your other mother's face." And then, as if she could not help herself, she smiled at Eleazar.

Eleazar's answering smile was dazzling. He touched my face without looking away from Carmen. He imagined touching Carmen's face, wondering if that was okay.

"Do you mind if Eleazar tells you about it himself?" I asked Carmen. I was still too stressed to speak above a whisper. "He has a gift for explaining things."

Carmen was still smiling at Eleazar. "Do you speak, little one?"

"Yes," Eleazar answered in his trilling high soprano. All of Tareas's family flinched at the sound of his voice except for Carmen. "But I can show you more than I can tell you."

She placed her little dimpled hand on Carmen's cheek.

Carmen stiffened like an electric shock had run through her. Elena was at her side in an instant, her hands on her shoulders as if to yank her away.

"Wait," Carmen said breathlessly, her unblinking eyes locked on Eleazar.

Eleazar "showed" Carmen his explanation for a long time. Anna's face was intent as she watched with Carmen, and I wished so much that I could hear what he heard, too. Honeymaren shifted his weight impatiently behind me, and I knew she was wishing the same.

"What's Elson showing her?" she grumbled under her breath.

"Everything," Anna murmured.

Another minute passed, and Eleazar dropped his hand from Carmen's face. He smiled winningly at the stunned vampire.

"He really is your Son, isn't he?" Carmen breathed, switching her wide topaz eyes to Anna's face. "Such a vivid gift! It could only have come from a very gifted parent."

"Do you believe what she showed you?" Anna asked, her expression intense.

"Without a doubt," Carmen said simply.

Elena face was rigid with distress. "Carmen!"

Carmen took her hands into her own and squeezed them. "Impossible as it seems Anna has told you nothing but truth. Let the child show you."

Carmen nudged Elena closer to me and then nodded at Eleazar. "Show her, mi querida"

Eleazar grinned, clearly delighted with Carmen's acceptance, and touched Elena lightly on the forehead.

"Ay caray!"she spit, and jerked away from him.

"What did he do to you?" Tareas demanded, coming closer warily. Kate crept forward, too.

"He's just trying to show you his side of the story," Carmen told him in a soothing voice.

Eleazar frowned impatiently. "Watch, please," he commanded Elena. He stretched his hand out to her and then left a few inches between her fingers and her face, waiting.

Elena eyed her suspiciously and then glanced at Carmen for help. She nodded encouragingly. Elena took a deep breath and then leaned closer until her forehead touched his hand again.

she shuddered when it began but held still this time, her eyes closed in concentration.

"Ahh," she sighed when her eyes reopened a few minutes later. "I see."

Eleazar smiled at her. she hesitated, then smiled a slightly unwilling smile in response.

"Elen?" Tareas asked.

"It's all true, Tareas. This is no immortal child. He's half-human. Come. See for yourself."

In silence, Tareas took his turn standing warily before me, and then Kate, both showing shock as that first image hit them with Renesmee's touch. But then, just like Carmen and Elena, they seemed completely won over as soon as it was done.

I shot a glance at Anna's smooth face, wondering if it could really be so easy. Her golden eyes were clear, unshadowed. There was no deception in this, then.

"Thank you for listening," she said quietly.

"But there is the grave danger you warned us of," Tareas said. "Not directly from this child, I see, but surely from the Volturi, then. How did they find out about her? When are they coming?"

I was not surprised at his quick understanding. After all, what could possibly be a threat to a family as strong as mine? Only the Volturi.

"When Elsa saw Ivan that day in the mountains," Anna explained, "she had Eleazar with her."

Kate hissed, her eyes narrowing to slits, "Ivan did this? To you? To Frederic? Ivan?"

"No," Tareas whispered. "Someone else ..."

"Alice saw him go to them," Anna said. I wondered if the others noticed the way she winced just slightly when she spoke Alice's name.

"How could he do this thing?" Elena asked of no one.

'Imagine if you had seen Eleazar only from a distance. If you had not waited for our explanation."

Tareas's eyes tightened. "No matter what he thought... You are our family."

"There's nothing we can do about Ivan's choice now. It's too late. Alice gave us a month."

Both Tareas's and Elena heads cocked to one side. Kate's brow furrowed.

"So long?" Elena asked.

"They are all coming. That must take some preparation."

Elena gasped. "The entire guard?"

"Not just the guard," Anna said, her jaw straining tight. "Aro, Caius, Marcus. Even the wives."

Shock glazed over all their eyes.

"Impossible," Elena said blankly.

"I would have said the same two days ago," Anna said.

Elena scowled, and when she spoke it was nearly a growl. "But that doesn't make any sense. Why would they put themselves and the wives in danger?"

"It doesn't make sense from that angle. Alice said there was more to this than just punishment for what they think we've done. She thought you could help us."

"More than punishment? But what else is there?" Elena started pacing, stalking toward the door and back again as if he were alone here, his eyebrows furrowed as she stared at the floor.

"Where are the others, Anna? Frederic and Alice and the rest?" Tareas asked.

Anna's hesitation was almost unnoticeable. She answered only part of his question. "Looking for friends who might help us."

Tareas leaned toward her, holding her hands out in front of her. "Anna, no matter how many friends you gather, we can't help you win. We can only die with you. You must know that. Of course, perhaps the four of us deserve that after what Ivan has done now, after how we've failed you in the past - for her sake that time as well."

Anna shook her head quickly. "We're not asking you to fight and die with us, Tareas. You know Frederic would never ask for that."

"Then what, Anna?"

"We're just looking for witnesses. If we can make them pause, just for a moment. If they would let us explain ..." She touched Eleazar's cheek; she grabbed his hand and held it pressed against his skin. "It's difficult to doubt our story when you see it for yourself."

Tareas nodded slowly. "Do you think his past will matter to them so much?"

"Only as it foreshadows his future. The point of the restriction was to protect us from exposure, from the excesses of children who could not be tamed."

"I'm not dangerous at all," Eleazar interjected. I listened to his high, clear voice with new ears, imagining how she sounded to the others. "I never hurt Grandpa or Sue or Billy. I love humans. And wolf-people like my big Sister Honeymaren." He dropped Anna's hand to reach back and pat Honeymaren's arm.

Tareas and Kate exchanged a quick glance.

"If Ivan had not come so soon," Anna mused, "we could have avoided all of this. Honeymaren grows at an unprecedented rate. By the time the month is past, shell have gained another half year of development."

"Well, that is something we can certainly witness," Carmen said in a decided tone. "We'll be able to promise that we've seen his mature ourselves. How could the Volturi ignore such evidence?"

Elen mumbled, "How, indeed?" but she did not look up, and he continued pacing as if she were paying no attention at all.

"Yes, we can witness for you," Tareas said. "Certainly that much. We will consider what more we might do."

"Tareas" Anna protested, hearing more in his thoughts than there was in his words, "we don't expect you to fight with us."

"If the Volturi won't pause to listen to our witness, we cannot simply stand by," Tareas insisted. "Of course, I should only speak for myself."

Kate snorted. "Do you really doubt me so much, brother?"

Tareas smiled widely at her. "It is a suicide mission, after all."

Kate flashed a grin back and then shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm in."

"I, too, will do what I can to protect the child," Carmen agreed. Then, as if she couldn't resist, she held her arms out toward Eleazar. "May I hold you, bebe linda?"

Eleazar reached eagerly toward Carmen, delighted with her new friend. Carmen hugged her close, murmuring to her in Spanish.

It was like it had been with Agnarr, and before that with all the Cullens. Eleazar was irresistible. What was it about his that drew everyone to his, that made them willing even to pledge their lives in her defense?

For a moment I thought that maybe what we were attempting might be possible. Maybe Eleazar could do the impossible and win over our enemies as he had our friends.

And then I remembered that Alice had left us, and my hope vanished as quickly as it had appeared.