Previously:

Carlisle shifted, then leaned over to secure the journal. He placed it in a drawer. "It isn't, Elise. Trust me. She's been alone for a very long time."

My eyes were fixed on the drawer.

"And now, she has you."

Jasper

Our makeshift camp in Virginia was merely a plot of land and a large tent with a long, rectangular table. The delegates were beginning to travel to Virginia on a weekly basis as Alice and Nathaniel pointed them towards a more precise location with their increasingly clearer visions.

The strategy was to scope out a desolate enough area to confront Demetri and the twins. And this was important, because it would be the alliance's official declaration of war.

The precision of our psychics' visions was lacking, however. They saw nature—forests, trees, animals. And the delegates were struggling with decisions. The only timing indication for the Volturi's arrival was the color of leaves and overall weather—and that wasn't very precise at all. The visions gave us a three-month period of confidence. But within those three-months, who knew when we'd get to make our move.

That was why there was pure static tension in Virginia. The leaves were slowly turning orange, and there wasn't any sign of snow. Our waiting game was soon to begin.

"Updates from the psychics?" A delegate member asked as we convened around the table.

William shifted around the papers in front of him. "None." He looked up. "What about the gifted?"

No one responded. I looked over at Maria, and she seemed to jolt herself back into reality. "Has anyone heard from Mr. Vouvali?"

A delegate member who was based in Arizona spoke up. "He hasn't returned to the lab. He's on presentation rounds. No updates."

I instinctively pulled out my phone and placed it on the table, eying it quickly for any communication from Elise.

The only sound was the drumming of Maria's fingers against the wood. I watched her restlessness.

"We need to decide if we're targeting Demetri, or his entire entourage," she quietly stated, and a burst of discussion erupted from multiple delegates.

"Of course—why would anyone in their right mind keep the twins alive?"

"—we need at least one alive to deliver the news to Aro."

"Demetri doesn't matter," one insisted. "The twins are the real offense we need to eliminate."

William sighed. "We have a shield. The twins are of no consequence. The only trouble comes when the shield cannot encompass a large range of our fighters."

"Fighters," I echoed. "We have none. We need a transfer of our best trained to Virginia. Why is this base empty?"

There was quiet. I narrowed my eyes at Maria, who seemed to be in deep thought.

Another delegate decided to fill the silence. "Yes, agreed. Let's contact the trainers from each camp to pick out some key offense."

William began scribbling on a piece of paper. "Numbers?"

"At least twenty," I said.

"Thirty," Katrina insisted.

"Thirty against three?" I turned my head to her. "Are you that unconfident in our training? Twenty is enough. More than enough."

William tapped his pen on the desk. "Twenty or thirty?"

This was a stupid fucking discussion, but I still put on the diplomatic tone. "Twenty-five. Compromise."

There were no protests. William only cocked his head to the side as he scribbled some more. When he finally put his pen down, he smiled at the rest of us. "Dismissed."

Unrelated discussion began to start between delegate members as they got out of their chairs and vacated the tent. Maria watched William as he gathered documents. When he stepped out and we were left alone, I remained in my seat.

"We'll need Elise here," I began. The shield talk was already imminent.

"We have a few weeks," Maria said distractedly.

"What if the Volturi—"

"No what ifs." Her eyes snapped to mine as she snapped out of her daze. "Or do you know something that I don't?"

Her irritation spiked, as if I were the one thing in this whole damn world who was preventing her from thinking. When I moved to get up, she held up a quick hand.

She stared at me for a while. "Why did the Volturi stop the experiments?"

"Aro recognized the hypocrisy."

"You think Aro holds himself to the same standards as the rest of us?"

Was this a trick question? "Absolutely not."

Maria rose abruptly, gesturing at the vicinity. "This base will expand. Don't worry, your mate will feel right at home when she helps us declare this godforsaken war. I trust you'll ensure that there will be no foul play."

I crossed my arms and leaned back in my seat. "Foul play?"

Her eyes flashed bright. "I imagine she's very… emotional as of late."

Of course, she knew about Anna. Damon probably fed her all he knew.

Maria's mood lightened, even briefly. "Send my love."

Elise

"You should hunt."

I looked back at the stairs behind me to find Carlisle, then I turned back to my mother. I had brought down a chair so I could at least be present in her general vicinity. But even if she needed anything, I knew I wouldn't be able to help.

"I know," I replied. "I can go in a few hours."

"You should go now. Damon could be back tonight. You don't want hunger to fuel your emotions."

I sighed, my eyes examining my mother's sleeping form.

"I can sit here if you'd like," he offered.

"No, no," I murmured, because that would be ridiculous. I got to my feet. "I'll stop by the cabin to grab a change of clothes as well."

Carlisle gave me a smile when I looked over my mother. As my eyes wandered up to her counter, I found myself doing a double-take.

"Wait—" I took a step closer to her pod, my eyes narrowing. Strange.

I bent over and picked up the notebook I'd been filling with data.

Very strange.

"But I had just wrote down…"

I flipped open the notebook and tore straight through the first page. I had always imagined I would be ecstatic to be freakishly strong, and my mindfulness regarding my strength was failing me.

I finally flipped—very gently—to my entry for the day, then my eyes darted back to my mother.

"How?" I asked, dumbfounded. My entry had a count that was lower than my mother's current one. My mother had… gained time?

"Carlisle?" I held up the notebook.

He stepped down from the staircase and leaned over my shoulder. "Twelve months, fourteen days, three hours…"

"But she's up to twenty-four days. Wait. Twenty-five."

Every time I looked, the seconds, minutes, and hours were increasing.

Carlisle gently lifted the notebook from my hands. "Have you seen this happen before?"

People's decisions impacted the date and time of their deaths. Their counters only adjusted in distinct snapshots. But this was entirely different—the counter was counting up.

"No. I've never seen a counter increase this way."

What decisions were being made? What was Damon thinking?

My eyes caught on Carlisle's coat pocket, weighed a little down by empty syringes.

And there was a spark. Brushing past Carlisle, I raced up the stairs and immediately focused on the humans.

I sensed Carlisle coming up behind me.

"Increasing," I told him, turning—my mind racing. Decisions impacted lifetimes. Perhaps you drove your car a little too slowly that day, and a drunk driver just missed you. Perhaps you missed your train, but the next one you got on derailed and crashed into oblivion. Or you chose to exercise a healthy amount, and you avoided adult-onset diabetes. But on your next daily run, you were gunned down by a desperate drug dealer.

Decisions would make or break us.

But for my mother, this decision was Carlisle's. "Could it be the morphine? It has to be."

Carlisle was quiet for a moment as he thought. "Pain reduction reduces negative stress. And reducing negative stress reduces inflammation."

Pain was the key. "Overstimulation. Inflammation. There must be some correlation with the pain threshold and a spark."

"And reducing pain reduces the chances of a spark," he murmured, then looked at me abruptly. "Damon can't know."

"Damon definitely knows." It was why we were never given pain medication or any hope of relief.

"No," Carlisle pulled out the empty syringes from his coat pocket. "Damon cannot know."

No, he couldn't know about the morphine. If there was any more a reason to prevent Damon from finding out, it was this. Carlisle would pay heavily for disrupting the trials, and I had no doubt Damon would guarantee the consequences.

I glanced down at the notebook in Carlisle's grip. "I don't care what this organization wants from them. You won't stop. You will help them."

Carlisle looked down at my scribbles, determined. "And I will manipulate the data. Scientific integrity be damned."

Jasper

Peter had lingered after the meeting. "You look like you need some food."

I felt like I had spiders crawling all over me. Nonsensical conversations with Maria usually unleashed them.

The city of Chesapeake wasn't that far, and it was getting late. Peter and I made our way for dinner.

"We're so close," Peter mused. "Aro's head on a spike—that's something I'm dying to see."

Since Peter was already dead, the statement didn't hold that much meaning. "That's only if we win."

"If?"

The spiders kept crawling. "I'm sensing a certain lack of confidence from Maria."

Peter didn't seem surprised. "It's the recruits. There's been some tension ever since Damon integrated himself to the alliance."

"Tension. Where?"

"Most of the camps now. There's been unrest after his presentations."

Did the recruits grow a conscious on human morality? "What about the trials has them so riled up?"

Peter only shrugged. "I've only heard about it through off-hand conversations."

And it clearly had Maria spooked. Her restlessness was contagious, and my feet put on the brakes. "I'm heading South."

"Texas? At least come get dinner with me first."

"I can grab something on the way."

Peter frowned. "Is this something to be concerned about?"

"I don't know. But if it caught Maria's attention, it should also catch ours."

My buddy quickly abandoned his dinner plans in Virginia and decided to accompany me.

"Why Texas?" He asked.

I smiled. Texas had already been hit with Damon's presentations, and we had a mindreader on our side.

As Peter was finishing up his kill in a little town a few hours from our Texas base, I pulled out my phone and dialed.

Elise picked up fairly quickly. "Hi."

I couldn't mistake the sound of air whooshing by. There was always an ounce of anxiety when I could hear her running. Why was she running, and what was she running from?

"I'm almost at the cabin," she said.

"No trackers? No psychopath scientist?" I asked, only half joking.

"I hope not."

"Elise," I warned, glancing over where Peter was carrying a body. "You're being careful, aren't you?"

"There's no one here," she reassured me. I heard a door slam shut, most likely indicating that she made it inside the cabin.

"How's Anna?"

There was a pause on the phone. "The best she can be. It's not easy to see her the way she is… well, I'm sure you wouldn't understand."

Why wouldn't I understand? I switched the phone to my other ear. "It was hard to see you in constant pain. Do you think I would dismiss what your mother is going through?"

There was another pause. "Carlisle's helping her."

"I'm sure he is."

"No, he's helping her. And the rest of the humans here. Morphine, Jasper."

It was a very Carlisle thing to do, but it was also very risky. "I'm assuming Damon doesn't know."

"No," she said. "Damon hasn't been here."

"I'm aware. I'll come to you as soon as I can."

She sighed. "When will that be?"

"I have some business in Texas to see to, but you'll see me soon. Two days, maybe less." The delegates might not have information yet, but I definitely had an insider source. "How are the trials going?"

I heard another door slam. "They're not going. I'll tell you in detail later. I just got a text from Carlisle that Damon's on his way."

The trials were not going? "What?"

"I need to go."

"Wait," I told her, but I wasn't exactly sure what would be appropriate to tell her at the moment. "He'll hurt you through Anna. But he can't kill her, or he loses everything he has over you, plus he loses a potential shield. Just keep that in mind."

Elise didn't respond for a long time.

"Hello?" I prodded.

"I'm here. But what happens when death is the better option?"

"Death is never the better option," I tell her firmly. "It's just the easy way out."

Her silence only put more distance between us. Wind came through the speaker, and I knew she was running. "Be strong for your mother."

Her voice was small. "I just hope she's strong enough."

A/N: The Volturi stopped the trials. The alliance sees value in them. What haven't they considered? How will Damon's presence change this game?