I really didn't know what to do.

I was conflicted. On the one hand, I was a member of the Volturi and it was my job to carry out the masters orders. But on the other, the Cullens were so pure, so good. They didn't deserve to have part of their family - because they really were a family, not just a coven - ripped apart from them. And they didn't deserve to lose their lives trying to stop us from getting to those that Aro wanted.

I had to figure out some way to warn them, some way to give them a heads up.

We'd heard them talking. Alice knew of Aro's plans to return for them, but couldn't see anything else about it - Jane suspected that we had Lucia's power to thank for that. What Alice was able to see wouldn't be enough to prevent us from sneaking up on them.

But how could I reach the Cullens without the rest of the guard noticing? And would they even take my warning seriously? I doubted it - they seemed to have thought they were done dealing with the Volturi.

The conflict must have been showing on my face.

We sat around the night before we launched our assault, finalizing our plans. "I want to remind everyone here that it would be...unwise to deviate from our plans," Jane began with a pointed look at me. She was definitely onto me.

I could feel myself second-guessing my doubts. We weren't doing anything bad, right? We were just carrying out the orders our leader had given us. It would have been wrong of me to go against my creators.

"We'll go tomorrow afternoon, when they're at their most quiet. We'll make it as quick as we can. And for the love of god, please try not to get caught and killed by them," she continued. "Lets go hunt. I'm thirsty."

We got up and ran towards Seattle.

We all split up, agreeing to meet back where we had been observing the Cullens. Why had I had such a change of heart about giving them a heads up, when I'd been so sure it was the right thing to do?

Chelsea, of course. She'd used her powers to strengthen my sense of loyalty to them.

Now that she was farther away, it didn't seem to be working nearly as well.

I had to hunt, quickly. I wouldn't be able to do as much as I wanted, not if I wanted to run and warn the Cullens before the others were done hunting.

I found one homeless man, quickly fed, and begun racing back before anyone could catch me. I was still thirsty, but I didn't have enough time to hunt anyone else, even if it didn't take me long to return to Forks and follow our scent back to our meeting spot.

The Cullens were waiting for me when I got there.

Emmett, the huge vampire, and Jasper, were waiting outside for me, flanked by a massive black wolf and a shaggy-haired auburn wolf. "Alice saw you coming," he said casually. The wolves bared their teeth, putting me on notice. I half-crouched, preparing to defend myself if I had to. "But she doesn't know what you want to warn us about."

"I'm with the Volturi," I told him. I felt oddly calm, a huge change from the fear and anxiety I'd been feeling on my way here. "Aro sent us here to bring Alice, Edward and Bella back to him. I needed to warn you."

Emmett grinned menacingly at my news. "So, the Volturi have suddenly decided to make a reappearance, have they? About time."

The wolves were looking at each other, grumbling, as if having a conversation of their own.

"Let her come in," a voice, Carlisle, chimed from inside the house. "She should tell us everything."

The two relaxed their positions, and opened the huge glass doors. Jasper looked back, expecting me to follow. I did, following them into the huge, open living room where a group of 8 vampires who I'd been told were my enemy stood.

There was a 9th person there, too. She wasn't like the others, though. I could detect a faint flutter of a heartbeat coming from her, heard the blood pulsing through her veins. The thought made me thirsty. What was she? Not a vampire, but not fully human, either.

Her blood smelled delicious.

"She needs to hunt, now," Alice told the group, stopping everyone in their tracks. "Carlisle, Edward, you have to go anyways. We can wait until you get back."

Edward agreed, rushing to the door. He grabbed me by the arm, practically dragging me out of the mansion. I had unconsciously lowered myself into a crouch, ready to leap across the room at the half-human. "We do things a little differently around here," he explained.

Carlisle joined us. "I take it Aro told you of our...unusual diet?"

I confirmed, nodding. "He said it's why you have golden eyes instead of red. He said it makes you weaker than us."

He smirked, amused. "I don't know if he has that part quite right. But yes. We only drink animals around here, and I'll ask you to do the same if you intend to stick around, however temporarily."

I still didn't get the appeal of just feeding on animals, but the way he asked made it sound like a totally reasonable request. "Of course," I told him.

We ran a distance away - I made sure to warn them to head the opposite direction of Seattle. They listened, and we ended up hunting a pack of deer. It wasn't quite as satisfying as human blood, I thought, but it was enough to get my thirst well in hand.

We returned about two hours later, not wanting to waste much time.

"Alice?" Edward asked as we walked up to the house.

I could see her standing at one of the wall-to-wall windows. She had a far off look on her face, but nodded.

"She's got it under control now. Bring her in."