review.

"Shouldn't it be obvious?"

We shake our heads, and he sighs in disappointment.

"No, I see it isn't. Ah. Well. I would like you to do me… a favor. A mission, if you would, Isabella. You're our best trained guard, you know, but until now, we've not had a real use for you."

I sigh. Yes, this much is true, but I am no longer at all eager to use my newfound skills. It's not like I'm alone and bored out of my mind in Volterra with no one to help or even distract me. I'm back with the love of my life, and danger is no longer desirable. I have to keep myself safe for him. Thrill-seeking is out of the question- but I may not have a choice.

"Aro, forgive my curtness, but what is it you want us to do?" Edward says.

"As I should have hoped you'd have surmised by now, I want you to deal with a very dangerous enemy."

"Whom?"

"The werewolves of La Push."

Edward nods. "All right."

"What?" I exclaim. "Absolutely not! Edward, what are you…"

He places a gentle, almost a comforting, hand on my shoulder, and whispers, "Alice. My love, think about Alice, Jasper… and me."

"You're willing to… my friends, Edward. They're my friends. They are, in fact, the only reason we're alive today. Are you forgetting that?"

His eyes blaze. "I'm willing to, if it will mean we are safe and together. I don't care about anyone or anything beyond that."

Aro runs a fragile hand through his dark hair. "An answer, if you would?"

"I agree to this condition," Edward says formally.

I glare at him. "I don't." It's obvious to me that Aro is simply playing the villain again, but nonetheless I ask, "Why do you need the wolves gone?"

"Caius believes they may pose a threat. He wants them gone."

I'd almost forgotten there were any other Volturi. Aro is by far the most vocal of them, and I'm nearly certain he's the evilest. "Can I get some specifics? What's the job?"

"You and Edward, along with Alice, Jasper, and any of your coven you feel may be useful, will be transported to La Push. We'll provide three weeks to do the job. If there are any werewolves in La Push when we come to check in, we will destroy them, and you as well. Understood?"

"Better than understood," Edward says, "Agreed."

I give my love the nastiest scowl I can summon up. It isn't easy to be mad at him, but I manage, given the circumstances. "No. I mean, I understand, but I don't agree."

"It's a… how would one say this? In my old age, I'm losing touch with the languages—ah. It's an all or nothing deal, my friends."

Edward touches my shoulder and looks into my eyes. I feel my resolve, my better judgment, splinter into nothing as his golden eyes burn with a bright fire so beautiful it is almost painful to look at. "Trust me," he whispers. "Please."

I do the one thing most against my nature. I would not have thought even I could be so selfish, but I sigh and say, "All right, Aro. I'm in."

"Excellent!" He claps his hands together in the manner of an excited child. I grumble.

I am furious at myself. Jacob. Embry. Quil. Sam. Seth. Leah. Colin and Brady, who are still children. Paul. Jared.

What have I just agreed to?

Murder. Cold-blooded murder to serve my own ends… no. It's not quite so heartless and cruel. It's not totally without reason. I am protecting myself and my family.

By killing my friends.

How will I ever have the heart, or the lack thereof, to follow through with this? How will I do it?

I won't be able to. I will have to sit out. And then worry about Edward's safety.

I'll never survive it.

"You are free to go, my friends. Just keep in mind that we can locate you anywhere in the world you attempt to free. There is no safety, if you renege on your deal."

"We won't. We'll get the wolves out of La Push for you," Edward promises, and in those words I see some hope.

There is a mischievous glint in his smile that alerts me to a simple fact. Edward has a plan, as always. He's not going to let this transpire the way Aro plans it to. He won't expect me to kill. I count on it.

"Where's Alice?" he asks.

"Right here," comes a musical voice. I turn, and then laugh aloud in delight.

"Alice!"

I rush into my sister's arms, picking her up—she's tiny, and now that we're both vampires, it's almost effortless to lift her. "I missed you so much," I say, and she nods her agreement.

Jasper appears too. "Hello."

"No need to be so shy. I'm not edible anymore," I tease, and he lopes forward, smiling.

"You've been filled in on the plan?" I ask.

"Yes. Shall we go?"

"I'm as eager to get out of here as you are," Alice murmurs. Flitting across her mind, I see terrible images.

A cage in the middle of a dark room, throwing herself against the bars again and again, deep thirst rushing in her throat. Jasper's voice full of desperation in the dark, unable to see her or touch her or comfort her, trying to soothe her with words and his power but nothing does any good.

Alice's thoughts are somewhat unusual. They run in a pattern like her visions, an oddly fluid rush. I sigh at the painful content in them.

Jasper is wincing, too, like he can't stand this place. I'm sure it's been worst of all for him, having to watch Alice in so much pain, totally unable to help her.

I lead the way out. As we walk outside the walls of Volterra, Edward smiles. "So, the plan."

Edward's hand is around my waist, as though we were never apart, and the touch is so comforting. "The plan?"

"My plan." He looks at my confusion and smiles. "Love, you didn't really think we were going to… you did, didn't you? You thought we would really have to kill the wolves? After… oh, my love. I'm sorry. Let me tell you, darling."

I sigh in deep relief.