A/N: This is mid-Eclipse through the end of Breaking Dawn from Edward's perspective. These characters are not mine and all belong to Stephenie Meyer. This is her story and much of her dialogue wrapped in my interpretation of Edward's narration.

Thanks for reading!


Always incredibly grateful to my reviewers!

ReeceK, BruSwan, Rebadams7, losberbisque-1, MorganKFreeman, LaurelLeafSinger, Razzbaby, Kimmyj09, and my guest reviewer!


Sentenced (Breaking Dawn)

"Come, bring Carlisle." Bella's words were strung with tension. "I saw Irina, and she saw me, but then she saw Jacob and she got mad and ran away, I think. She hasn't shown up here - yet, anyway - but she looked pretty upset so maybe she will. If she doesn't, you and Carlisle have to go after her and talk to her. I feel so bad."

Jacob's rumbling growl carried over her voice at the end and I suspected he, like myself, did not have any sympathy for my cousin. I was more comforted than I would ever admit knowing he was beside Bella and Nessie.

"We'll be there in half a minute," I told her as Carlisle and I followed their trail out into the forest.

...was it? Seth was closing in from another angle.

Irina. One of the ones from Denali. Jacob's mental voice was strained. He didn't entirely understand what was happening but he wasn't about to change to ask Bella to clarify.

Is that the one who wouldn't dance with you at the wedding? Leah asked, mocking her younger brother.

She said she just didn't like the song, otherwise she would have...

Right...

Leah, focus.

Chill, Jacob. I'm flying like a bullet. If I hadn't been so far west I would have passed up Edward by now.

While I highly doubted that, I was grateful for her allegiance at the moment.

Daddy. Nessie heard my approach and relaxed a little in her mom's arms.

I stopped abruptly at Bella's side.

It's about time, Jacob complained just as Carlisle and the other wolves broke into the meadow. His gripe seemed as much at me as the others.

Daddy, what's going on?

"She was up on that ridge," Bella said quickly, pointing to the spot. "Maybe you should call Emmett and Jasper and have them come with you. She looked... really upset. She growled at me."

"What?" I said sharply, my shoulders going rigid.

Let's not jump to conclusions, Carlisle interjected. "She's grieving. I'll go after her." We don't want to startle her with a show of force...

The wolves' eyes bounced between Carlisle and I, weighing his softness against my hotheadedness as they tried to assess the true threat level.

"I'm coming with you," I asserted. I needed to hear what this was really about. Was her grudge against Bella, the Cullens generally, the wolves? All of us? What were her intentions?

I wouldn't have Bella on another hitlist. If that's what this was, Irina was no longer family. She had no remarkable talents - she would be a piece of cake after Victoria.

She is family, Carlisle insisted as if reading my thoughts. We're going to treat her as such. To harm her would be to harm all of our cousins.

Behind his direct communication I could hear his wariness, knowing exactly how my bloodlust could win out in my protectiveness. On the other hand, how could we properly understand her motivations without my gift?

He nodded after a long moment and we took off in the direction Bella had pointed.

Behind me Nessie was worried for us. She wondered why I hadn't listened to her mother and asked Emmett and Jasper to join.

It wasn't hard to find Irina's trail, but she'd taken off fast. She didn't want to be found. Quite suspiciously her trail disappeared into the sound where the shoreline was more than a thousand miles long. We took off in a straight line but found no trace of her on the opposite eastern shore though we searched for miles north and south. Even with Alice's help it would have taken hours to find the trail and already Irina was long gone.

Alice couldn't see exactly where she wandered to. A snowy forest, but none distinct enough to even tell us which state or country she was in. She wasn't headed back to Denali or really anywhere in particular, it seemed.

Carlisle called Tanya to report the strange occurrence and we were surprised to learn that they'd not heard from Irina since Tanya and Kate decided to attend the wedding.

I hadn't realized how far this had escalated. That Irina's grief was such that she would abandon her sisters.

Though it made me nervous, mostly it felt like an annoyance.

We were more equipped than ever to deal with the threat. With Alice's forewarning, I would simply make sure Bella and Nessie were not in the wrong place at the wrong time. Any one of us - Emmett, Jasper, or I - could easily take her on our own, but I was sure we would present a more unified front than that. And Jacob's pack - they would stand with us as well, I was sure.

What made it more complicated was the need for diplomacy. I'd once considered Irina to be family. Though she'd been just as interested in me as Tanya and Kate in those first few days of our meeting, she was fastest to take the hint and respect my wishes. This allowed friendship to blossom between us before it could with her sisters.

But it was easier than I could have imagined to forget that friendship now. Being in league with Laurent had already been a step too far. And with the series of events that happened since his demise... I had no warm feelings for Irina.

For the rest of my cousins, I could not say the same. I had to admit Carlisle was right. This would need to be handled delicately if possible, meaning not with Irina's head.

My worries concerning Bella's impending trip and Nessie's future were already more than enough. I didn't need one more thing agitating me like a drip in the back of my head.

On top of that, Bella was taking this as an opportunity to berate herself.

"It's all my fault. I should have been more - "

"Bella, stop," I insisted. I pulled her against my side where she was curled up on the little couch in our cottage living room. "You were being careful. You were close to home where you should have been. You spotted her and you called us at once. What could you have possibly done differently?"

"I shouldn't have let Jacob come - that's what upset her. Or checked with Alice before - "

"Shh. This is our home. It was a reasonable expectation that you could go out hunting in peace. And as for Jacob, even if she hadn't seen him then, she would have smelled him and the wolves all over our land when she approached. Or in the house... I think Rosalie's probably right, I don't think we'll ever get the smell out..."

Bella giggled and rested her head against my shoulder. "I just hate that I've caused this strain in your family. She was so close. This tension could have finally been over with."

"Our family is better than ever." I squeezed her tighter. "Try not to think of it."

"I'll try," she said glumly. "But there was something else I wanted to talk to you about."

I searched her eyes, finding apprehension there. "Yes?"

"Jacob," she sighed. "I think he should come with us to Brazil."

I stopped myself from rolling my eyes. He'd gotten to her, too.

"Why the change of heart?" I asked softly, trying to not make the question sound like an accusation.

"He has as big a stake in this as any of us - his entire life is at stake, just like ours."

Wow.

She hadn't just taken his side regarding Brazil. Her acceptance of the entire situation had deepened more than I realized.

But that wasn't what had me wincing. It was the reminder that her life was tied inextricably to Nessie's. If Nessie had only fifteen more years of life, then so did Bella and so did I.

There was both horror and relief in that fact. If I lost Nessie, I would want the comfort of death, but I wouldn't leave Bella's side to gain it. However, Bella would not want to live either and so we would go together. But the thought of Bella's destruction...

No. I wouldn't allow it. I wouldn't lose my Nessie. I wouldn't lose my Bella.

And yet, I was to watch Bella walk away from me in just three short days.

I wanted to hate the scum in Italy for pulling her away from me, but I knew this was more of my own work. Just another ripple, another consequence of my leaving Bella. When would the reverberations stop?


With Jacob joining us, there was little need to hide out upstairs any longer. Carlisle and I discussed the upcoming trip openly in the living room.

Jacob peppered us with questions as we laid out the plan for him. He grimaced when Carlisle explained his hope that we would be able to find our friends Kachiri, Senna, and Zafrina. The small Amazon Coven did not adhere to a vegetarian diet.

When Jacob was satisfied, he took off to coordinate with Sam in preparation for his absence.

Emmett, bored with our conversation, bragged to Jasper about the types of beasts he'd wrestled on our last trip to the Amazon back before Alice and Jasper had joined us. He had his sights set on finding an anaconda this time around.

Esme and Rosalie were considering what they would pack with a plan to go to Seattle the next day to pick up various odds and ends.

Bella was staring at Nessie, sound asleep on the couch. It was not an uncommon thing for her to do, but I was alarmed by the way the corners of her lips turned down slightly.

Jasper passively noted Bella's unease, but he was more attuned to Alice at the moment.

She was moving slowly around the first floor tidying the already spotless house. Something to keep her hands busy while her mind was hard at work.

Irina. Irina was always on Alice's mind. Her path was still undecided. She continued to wander, grieving. But there was that feeling Alice sometimes got - she described it once as a weight on her chest, an itch she couldn't scratch. Just a feeling...

"Let it go, Alice," Jasper said soothingly. "She's not our concern." Serenity rippled out around him and I watched the slight frown on Bella's lips transform into a peaceful smile.

I didn't take Alice's premonition as lightly as Jasper. I was glad she continued to probe at it. Especially as it seemed somehow tied to all of our plans. Often as Alice looked ahead to check on the trips to Italy or Brazil, a distraught, meandering Irina would intrude, taking over her sight.

Alice stuck her tongue out at Jasper and took a vase of white and red roses from one of the end tables intent on replacing a wilting flower with a fresh one from the fridge.

It was Jasper's thoughts that ripped my attention from Carlisle.

Anxiety gripped him as he registered Alice's horror. And then he was registering mine as I shifted my focus to her.

I hardly registered the whoosh of the glass vase as it slipped from Alice's hands. The tinkling of the glass shards bouncing along the marble floor. The loud concern and confusion in everyone's thoughts.

My concentration was centered on Alice.

Blanketed in glittering white snow was the clearing where we'd met James, where my family and the wolves had battled the newborns. But now a sea of black and gray cloaks strode forward with Aro, Caius, and Marcus at its center. The guard. It was the entire guard. And in the back... the wives.

Our group stood in formation. Carlisle and I stood in front flanked by Emmett and Jasper. The last row held the women, with Alice and Bella at its center. Something about their position at the heart was significant, but Alice didn't understand why. That was the least of her concerns at the moment because the dark cloaked mass that was the Volturi guard swelled and surged. The black and white scene erupted in vivid color. Orange and yellow flames gave way to swirling purple smoke.

There was hardly a fight - it had only begun when it was over. In our minds, Alice and I watched who we loved most disintegrate into ash, ourselves along with them.

I let out a strangled gasp.

"What?" Jasper growled. Glass crunched under his feet as he leapt to Alice's side. Gripping her shoulders he shook her sharply. He wanted to flea with her immediately, but from what? To where? "What Alice?"

Edward? Carlisle prompted numbly, not tearing his eyes from Alice and Jasper.

Rosalie and Esme watched, too, their minds buzzing with frightened speculation.

I was still too honed in on Alice's thoughts, sharing her horror, to even turn my head to check on Bella.

Emmett moved to the window, teeth bared, scanning for threats. Would be a good time to clue us in, Edward, he thought with tense impatience.

Edward? Edward, what is this? What did she see? Jasper demanded, frantic and nearly crazed by the climate Alice and I projected.

He shook Alice again when I didn't respond immediately. "What is it?"

I'd given my focus so fully to Alice's mind that my own stole her words as she prepared to say them.

In perfect unison, we whispered, "They're coming for us. All of them."

Jasper felt a defensiveness go up among the group as they processed our words, though they remained confused. Except for Bella. Her confusion seemed to evaporate as she slipped into a deeper sort of fear. One laced with aggression.

Who?! Was the resounding question.

"All of them," I groaned. "The Volturi," Alice moaned at the same time.

"Why?" Alice whispered, searching for anything that might point to the trigger. "How?" she wondered, pondering the their arrival. People would notice if dozens of beautiful, pearly white people boarded a seven-forty-seven. Would they come from all different sides then? Surround us and herd us into the field?

"When?" I whispered. Time. We needed time to figure this out.

"Why?" Esme echoed as Jasper demanded, "When?"

Alice studied the future.

"Not long," we said together again.

Then she added, "There's snow on the forest, snow on the town. Little more than a month."

"Why?" Carlisle asked, his voice pained. He thought of each of our faces, lingering on Esme's, then mine, and finally Nessie's.

Nessie. They didn't know about her. We could hide her. Aro would not slow to hear our thoughts and therefore he would never discover her existence. Demetri did not have to meet her to track her, but why would he track someone he'd never thought of. And with all of us dead... he never would...

No. Our family was strong. We could prevent this, couldn't we? If we just understood the motivation.

"They must have a reason," Esme murmured, her eyes on Bella. "Maybe to see..."

"This isn't about Bella," Alice argued without passion, her expression grave. "They're all coming - Aro, Caius, Marcus, every member of the guard, even the wives."

The wives? Carlisle stared at nothing with his eyebrows raised as he tried to make sense of his old friend's behavior.

She's confused. "The wives never leave the tower," Jasper said in a voice that was both grim and sure. "Never. Not during the southern rebellion. not when the Romanians tried to overthrow them. Not even when they were hunting the immortal children. Never."

"They're coming now," I informed him in a whisper.

"But why?" Carlisle demanded. The injustice - because surely this was some injustice - infuriated him.

I considered passively how far this year's events had pushed Carlisle. Anger used to be a once in a couple decades thing for him.

"We've done nothing!" Carlisle declared. "And if we had, what could we possibly do that would bring this down on us?"

It was Carlisle's optimism, his inclination to focus on the good in people that made this seem so baffling to him. Aro had a dozen reasons to do this, though none spoke kindly of his character. I threw one out.

"There are so many of us. They must want to make sure that..." That the competition was rooted out.

There was something all too familiar about this. A new threat to inspire the same sense of doom and hopelessness. Still, the force of this new threat... the suddenness...

"That doesn't answer the crucial question! Why?" Carlisle ran his hand roughly through his hair.

Emmett was not interested in the answer to that question as the rest of us were. He stared absently, hungrily through the windows contemplating an attack on Volterra. Why wait for them to come to us? This has been a long time coming.

Rosalie watched him with anxious eyes. If anyone of was going to survive a fight with the Volturi, she knew it would not be Emmett.

Jasper had more than a healthy fear of the Volturi, but like Carlisle it seemed unfathomable to him that they would stray so far from their rigid standards.

"Go back, Alice," he begged. "Look for the trigger. Search."

She already was. There's nothing. Nothing. Shaking her head, shoulders slumping in defeat, she said, "It came out of nowhere, Jazz. I wasn't looking for them, or even for us. I was just looking for Irina. She wasn't where I expected her to be..."

At Heathrow Airport in London. Unrelated, unless... Alice focused on Irina again. Why are you going to London? Irina would continue on from London. That was certain. To...

My breath caught.

Alice stared into my wide eyes for a moment before turning to Jasper. "She decided to go to them. Irina decided to go to the Volturi. And then they will decide... It's as if they're waiting for her. Like their decision was already made, and just waiting on her..."

Yes, that made sense. Aro was intimidated by Carlisle's talented family and was waiting patiently for a reason to eliminate it. And then an excuse wanders in much sooner than he expected.

An excuse that was a lie.

What lie would Irina tell him? Would he intentionally avoid hearing her thoughts, too eager for the opportunity? Or would they have a silent agreement to never discuss the falsehood?

It's not in Irina's character, Esme reasoned. Grief or not. She would not sacrifice all of us to avenge Laurent.

"Can we stop her?" Jasper asked with little hope.

Alice had already checked. "There's no way. She's almost there."

"What is she doing?" Like Esme, Carlisle had trouble believing Irina would go to such lengths for vengeance, but then he was staring at me. Recalling the mindless way I had wandered into Volterra in my grief, paying no regard for how it would affect the rest of my family. Is that it? She wants to die and Aro will hear something... Perhaps something to do with the wolves. We weren't aligned with them when Alice and Edward shared their thoughts with him.

Ensnared in my own thoughts, in everyone else's, I didn't pay heavy consideration to what might be going through Bella's head. I guessed her thoughts were not so dissimilar to ours.

My focus was pulled to her, though, when she turned and draped herself over Nessie. She hid the child behind her long hair and buried her face in Nessie's curls.

As Bella curled in on herself, I couldn't help but recall the time when Nessie was just a thing and Bella, in her weak human body, readied herself to protect what she carried from half a dozen vampires. It was as if she was preparing to do the same impossible task again.

They don't have an Alice. An ambush! That's what we need.

Before Alice could bat down Emmett's idiotic plans that were crowding her vision, before Emmett could get more than a word out, Bella was speaking. Her low voice carried no uncertainty. Only a grim confidence that drew everyone's eyes to her.

"Think of what she saw. To someone who'd lost a mother because of the immortal children, what would Renesmee look like?"

Oh. Understanding was like a ram knocking the breath from my lungs. Of course Bella and I were at the very center of this. It was Tyler Crowley's van coming at us again and again and again.

"An immortal child," Carlisle affirmed in a pained whisper.

I knelt beside Bella, covering her and Nessie with my embrace. I rested my forehead to the back of Bella's head and pressed my lips together to keep from weeping.

Esme went to Carlisle and tucked her head against his chest. With a blank face he clutched Esme to him.

Jasper held an absent Alice, curving over her protectively as he tried to muster the strength to soothe her. The heaviness in the room was absolutely pummeling him.

Rosalie stared at Bella and I as if she could see Nessie through us. She ached to shield Nessie in the same tangible way that we did.

"But she's wrong," Bella said slowly in a small voice. "Renesmee isn't like those other children. They were frozen, but she grows so much every day. They were out of control, but she never hurts Charlie or Sue or even shows them things that would upset them. She can control herself. She's already smarter than most adults. There would be no reason..."

With the very natural way Bella took to this life, it was easy to forget how young she was. Though Carlisle had told her of the immortal children, she had not heard the stories from those personally affected. She had not navigated this life long enough to have internalized the gravity of of such an offense.

Bella's voice had long since trailed off when I had a firm enough grip on myself to explain. Whispering into her hair, I said, "It's not the kind of crime they hold a trial for, love. Aro's seen Irina's proof in her thoughts. They come to destroy, not to be reasoned with."

"But they're wrong," she said belligerently.

How badly I wished that mattered. That the universe could be fair to Bella just once.

My throat felt thick with emotion when I replied. "They won't wait for us to show them that."

"What can we do?" She was not prepared to accept our helplessness.

Neither was Emmett. "We fight," he answered simply.

"We can't win," Jasper growled. The fool has no idea what he's going on about. Emmett's relative calm did more to agitate Jasper than lend him any relief.

"Well, we can't run," Emmett retorted. "Not with Demetri around." He made a sound at the back of his throat, appalled by the idea of running away. "And I don't know that we can't win. There are a few options to consider."

As he spoke new images flashed in Alice's head. I looked up, watching her blank eyes.

"We don't have to fight alone." Emmett started pacing slowly as he considered possible allies.

Bella's head whipped up, her vivid eyes boring into his. "We don't have to sentence the Quileutes to death, either, Emmett!"

Jeez, she really knows how to hit those high notes. "Chill, Bella. I didn't mean the pack. Be realistic, though - do you think Jacob or Sam is going to ignore an invasion? Even if it wasn't about Nessie? Not to mention that, thanks to Irina, Aro knows about our alliance with the pack now, too. But I was thinking of our other friends."

"Other friends we don't have to sentence to death," Carlisle whispered.

I'd felt a sharp pang as Emmett said Jacob's name. Jacob, Seth, Quil, Embry... even, Leah. Their young lives dragged into our messes once again. I predicted Sam's pack would not let Jacob's fight alone. More young lives. And Emily... what would it cost her to lose her Sam?

While I could share Carlisle's sentiment about involving others like ourselves - the wolves wouldn't

have a choice. Emmett was right. Even without Nessie the wolves could not help but be a part of this war brought to their backyard courtesy of the Cullens.

Alice blinked. The wolves... She cocked her head slightly as this shifted her calculus. How would these invisible puzzle pieces fit into her bleak outlook?

"Hey, we'll let them decide," Emmett assured him. "I'm not saying they have to fight with us." A new cascade of images flooded Alice's head as Emmett workshopped his idea. "If they'd just stand beside us, just long enough to make the Volturi hesitate. Bella's right, after all. If we could force them to stop and listen. Though that might take away any reason for a fight..."

Emmett was quite pleased with himself. It was unusual for him to be central to any strategic discussion. There was something to his idea, certainly, but how he could smile at a moment like this...

"Yes, that makes sense, Emmett," Esme said eagerly, clinging to hope for dear life. "All we need is for the Volturi to pause for one moment. Just long enough to listen."

"We'd need quite a show of witnesses."

Rosalie's tone was both sarcastic and dismissive, but Esme ignored that.

Nodding, she said, "We can ask that much of our friends. Just to witness."

"We'd do it for them," Emmett said easily.

I wouldn't. Jasper and I shared a quick glance, each of us knowing we would have avoided putting our respective partners in such a situation at all costs if it was not our family at the center of it. Surely more are like us than like Emmett. Who aside from the wolves would sign on for such a suicide mission?

It surprised him then when Alice seemed to be giving credence to the idea.

"We'll have to ask them just right." Many will come... She could see them arriving on our doorstep, coming inside, but then... that's where the paths stopped, because she could not see what they would make of Nessie. "They'll have to be shown very carefully."

"Shown?" Jasper questioned.

Alice and I looked down at Nessie. How could we introduce her to them in such a way that they could not ignore her humanity? I repressed a shudder, imagining one of our friends coming to the wrong conclusion and trying to take matters into their own hands before the Volturi even arrived. It would be dangerous for her. For all of us. But what other choice was there? We would die if we didn't try.

Alice's eyes glazed over as she ironed out a list of candidates. "Tanya's family, Siobhan's coven, Amun's." Tanya and Siobhan's covens would come. Amun would be undecided when approached. "Some of the nomads - Garret and Mary for certain. Maybe Alistair."

Jasper hesitated for a moment before, with regret, asking, "What about Peter and Charlotte?"

"Maybe," Alice murmured. She could see the pale-haired duo anxiously discussing the odd request to visit the Cullen house.

"The Amazons? Kachiri, Zafrina, and Senna?" Carlisle asked.

I was only half listening to Alice, thinking through possible allies, when there was a sudden torrent of images. Carlisle on the phone, Carlisle and Esme travelling by plane, Emmett and Rosalie by car and foot, Bella and I standing anxiously in the living room. Hazier was Bella foraging for cash in Alice's room, Bella staring down an entertained Emmett with a determined look in her eye. But there was little more than that that I could make out concretely. A glimpse of the cottage, a golden locket, a passport, a pale gray satin dress. A tent, a black leather backpack, a fault line splitting the earth. A heated argument between Alice and Jasper. Kachiri and the endless jewel green of the jungle. The images raced faster for half a second, only a blur of black and white to me, but whatever it was caused Alice to shudder -

And then she was only seeing the room, our anxious faces. She glanced at Carlisle and then cast her eyes to the floor. It wasn't the patterns in the wood she focused on though, it was memories of her visions. The jungle - clearly it was significant.

"I can't see." She said it to herself. A realization that seemed to carry more weight than just the fact that Jacob was approaching now, interfering with her vision.

She started reviewing inconsequential details she'd picked up. Carlisle and Esme's flight number, how much Emmett and Rosalie would pay to fill up their tank... Details that did not concern Alice, Jasper, Bella, or myself.

"What was that?" I demanded impatiently, determined to understand our task. "That part in the jungle. Are we going to look for them?"

"I can't see," Alice said flatly, avoiding my eyes.

Then, quite peculiarly, she was running complicated calculations in her head. Taking large numbers and manipulating them in strange, nonsensical ways.

"We'll have to split up and hurry." Alice's tone was authoritative. "Before the snow sticks to the ground. We have to round up whomever we can and get them here to show them. Ask Eleazar. There is more to this than just an immortal child."

Again the visions flitted rapidly. Only a couple stuck with me and they were dim uncertainties. The first was me in deep discussion with Eleazar. The second was a tight circle of Kate, Bella and I.

"There is so much," Alice whispered, thinking of nonsense things again.

"Alice?" I asked, baffled by the defensive way she guarded her thoughts. "That was too fast - I didn't understand. What was - ?"

"I can't see!" she exploded violently at me. "Jacob's almost here!"

Jasper eyed her, wondering at the fury in her voice that did not match her emotional state. She was frustrated, sure. A little annoyed. Deeply anxious. But not angry.

That damn dog. Rosalie turned for the door. "I'll deal with - "

"No," Alice said almost frantically. "Let him come." She took Jasper's hand and dragged him toward the back door. "I'll see better away from Nessie, too. I need to go. I need to really concentrate. I need to see everything I can. I have to go. Come on, Jasper, there's no time to waste!"

Alice tugged impatiently on Jasper's hand and, though he was just as confused as I, he followed with unwavering trust.

"Hurry!" Alice shouted back at us. "You have to find them all!"

As they darted from the house Alice thought of the gold locket again. She held the image of it in her head for a long moment. And then she was gone.

I stared at the open back door Alice had left through. Her behavior left me frustrated and uneasy.

Even with less insight than I had on her bizarre departure, the others were just as wary.

"Find what?" Jacob asked. Are we hunting Pokémon? He chuckled to himself. "Where did Alice go?" He wasn't alarmed by the dramatic fashion she'd left - he was fairly used to her eccentric nature by this point - and he was too focused on pulling his t-shirt on and shaking the water from his hair to observe our tension.

He was thrilled to see Nessie still here and had eyes only for her. "Hey, Bells! I thought you guys would've gone home by now..."

What did I do this time? he wondered, finally feeling the weight of our silence. He looked up at Bella. Oh, fuck. His face went hard and he forced his eyes from hers, scanning the room automatically for a threat.

His eyes widened seeing the wet mess of glass and roses. No one here should have dropped that...

"What?" he asked with a practiced, controlled calm. "What happened?"

We could all find the words. There was just no one prepared to say them.

Edward's here. Edward's fine. Only one other person who would make her look like that.

He paced quickly across the room, kneeling on Bella's other side. Tremors ran through his whole body as he studied Nessie's face.

"Is she okay?" he insisted, feeling her forehead with his hand and inclining his head to listen for her heart. His stomach was twisting in painful knots. "Don't mess with me, Bella, please!"

Carlisle and I both opened our mouths to speak, but Bella beat us to it.

"Nothing's wrong with Renesmee." The words came out strangled.

"Then who?"

I could hear in that moment his utter loyalty to my family. Our family. That a threat against any one of us was a threat against him.

"All of us, Jacob," Bella whispered gravely. "It's over. We've all been sentenced to die."


A/N: Up next... Alice and Jasper's defection and Bella is burning books. One at least. Thanks for reading!