Before I had a chance to react to anything, John had me locked in his arms. Edward growled menacingly as he advancing on us with a murderous look in his eye.

"Bella, quick, tell him who I am," John urged.

"Edward, this is my friend John. Remember, we were talking about him last night."

"Get your hands off her," Edward growled, murder flashing in his eyes. I could see that he and the others were ready to tear John limb from limb. Somehow, I instinctively knew that John would never hurt me, anymore than Edward or his family would. I had to do something to get the situation under control.

"Edward, you need to calm down. I told you about John. He's like a brother to me." I said in a cajoling voice. It didn't seem to help. He and the others were still coming at us. They started to spread out, forming a semi-circle around us.

"Bella, he's a werewolf." Edward growled in rage.

"I know Edward, but listen…"

"You know!" Edward exclaimed incredulously, stopping his methodical advance on us. The others remained frozen in place.

"Forget it, Edward," said Emmett with an evil grin, "He's the reason our hunt was cut short. I think he needs to pay the price for that."

At that, John let out a low, rumbling growl, and tightened his grip on me. I looked up at him in surprise. Edward clenched his fists and looked at John with hatred.

"Let Bella go!"

"Edward," I tried again, "forget the situation. Just read John's mind. Surely you can see that he means me no harm."

"I can't," bit out Edward.

I looked up at John. He was smiling fiercely in satisfaction. Could we be linked somehow, was that why Edward couldn't read his mind either? "John?"

"Yes, Bella?"

"Are we connected somehow? Is that why Edward can't read your mind either?"

At that, Edward leaped toward us in rage, but John was just as quick, and had jumped out of the way with me, carrying me as if I was as light as a feather. The others quickly herded us back into our original semi-circle position.

"No," John said, "he probably could read my mind if I let him. But there's no way I'm letting a cold one into my head!"

I saw Edward and his family looking silently at one another. It was clear that they were telepathically formulating a strategy to get me away from John, and I didn't want to think about what would happen to him if they succeeded.

"John," I said in exasperation, "they're going to kill you. I think you need to make an exception just this one time."

John's eyes swept around the room, with a calculating look. From Emmett to Rosalie to Alice to Jasper. Then his eyes settled in Edward with a look of supreme distaste. The seconds ticked by.

Then Edward, clearly reluctant to give up the attack, said, "If you can block me from reading your mind, how do I know what you are showing me now is true?"

John looked down at me with an unreadable expression, then looked back and stared at Edward. To my surprise, Edward began to laugh.

The others and I looked from John to Edward in confusion. Then Edward said, "Alice?"

Alice relaxed, and replied, "I already told you that even though Bella was with a werewolf, I didn't see any trouble."

Emmett, unwilling to give up his chance for some good sport, argued, "I still say we rough him up a bit, you know, to teach him who's boss."

Jasper just shrugged, and Rosalie made herself comfortable on the sofa, lounging with the perfection of a movie star.

John slowly let go of me, and I went over to Edward, sliding into his cold embrace. I looked up into his perfect face. "I'm glad you finally saw reason. What changed your mind?"

"John kindly shared with me his memory of your seventh birthday party."

"Not the clown!" I moaned mortified, my cheeks instantly going red.

"You're the one who wanted me to share my thoughts," John said dryly, clearly still tense in a room full of vampires.

"Why don't you come sit here next to me," Rosalie purred, coyly patting the seat next to her.

I looked at her in surprise. That was unexpected. Clearly, it was something Emmett had not expected either.

"That's it," he said, striding back towards John.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," said Jasper, as he grabbed Emmett by one arm while Alice pulled on his other arm.

John, on the other hand, grinned wolfishly at Rosalie's invitation. He took in her magnificent form in clear male appreciation. "Sorry, but your 'magnetism' doesn't affect me, even coming from a vampire as delectable as you."

Emmett lunged again, but this time Edward cut him off. "You know I'd gladly join you, but I think we need to keep him healthy - for awhile, anyway. He maybe able to tell us why Alice can't see what is going on in La Push."

Now it was Alice's turn to look startled. "He knows why my visions have been blocked?"

"Yes, that's why he's here. Isn't that right, John? So why don't you tell us exactly what you know so that you can go back to wherever the hell it is that you came from?"

At that, Emmett sat down next to Rosalie with his arms draped around her, Jasper pulled Alice into his lap as he perched on the edge of the sofa, and Edward wrapped his arms around me possessively. John took this all in with a sardonic smile. Then, sitting as far away from the six of us as possible, he began, "Actually, I'm not here to tell you why your little friend -Alice, is it? - hasn't been able to see certain things, though it is part of the tale. No, I'm here for Bella. I needed to make sure that she was safe. You see, our kind have our own ways for seeing into the future, and for awhile now, we have been seeing what we believe is going to be a war between our two kinds. And, unfortunately, from what we can see, Bella seems to be at the heart of it all."

And with that, all eyes turned toward me.