A/N: Since I don't want to end up on the pointy end of a pitchfork, I'm updating extra early. The next chapter will be on on either Wednesday or Thursday, depending on when I will find the time. But I promise I won't make you wait any longer than that. I do have a sense of self-preservation…

Thank you for all the wonderful reviews you wrote—even the ones that mention pitchforks. Lifelines has over 500 reviews now, which I think is just amazing. Thank you for staying with me! Also, thank you for alerting to me/this story. That's a huge compliment!

A huge thank you to KayMarieXW! It's because she always makes time for me that you get this chapter earlier than I planned.

Recap: Bella is now in enemy hands and things are not looking good. Plus, Victoria knows it's a trap. Will their plan still work out? Let's see how Edward is doing.

Disclaimer: The Twilight Saga is property of Stephenie Meyer. I'm only borrowing!

41. FIGHT

EDWARD

The future has many names: For the weak, it means the unattainable. For the fearful, it means the unknown. For the courageous, it means opportunity.

Victor Hugo

The branch swung precariously underneath me and I shifted my weight to the right, matching its movement. The wind howled through the trees and after a brief moment of consideration I crept closer towards the trunk where the branch was thicker and barely moved. Peering through the leaves, I caught a glimpse of brilliantly white vampire skin. I crouched low on the branch, every muscle coiled to spring.

I wasn't going to get another chance.

After I'd made up my mind, I had circled around and headed back to the airport where I'd taken a cab. The driver had taken me to the nearest campsite, abandoned this time of year. The man had been convinced I was crazy. He'd begged me to come back with him because he thought being outside in the forest in this kind of weather was suicide. In the end, I'd given him all the money I had on me to make him leave. He didn't deserve to end up as collateral damage.

The move had caught the vampires by surprise. At first they had thought I wanted to evade them by surrounding myself with human witnesses, which had presented them with a problem. They didn't want to kill unless it was absolutely necessary—they didn't want to attract any unwanted attention—but that was exactly what they would have to do if they attacked me with a human around.

I had decided to keep that in mind, in case my plan to eliminate the female failed.

Another gust of wind shook the trees. Crows cried out somewhere above me, then they briefly appeared against the black sky, wings flapping madly as they raced away. The storm wasn't very far away now and I could already feel the electricity on my skin. The tingling sensation added to the tension that had settled on my shoulders.

I only had this one shot. I needed to kill the female on the first try because if I was forced to fight them both, it would make getting rid of her much more difficult. Besides, I didn't know about the female, but from what I could see through her mind, the male carried himself confidently and had a sense of authority about him, like he was used to getting what he wanted and used to being obeyed. The female only followed his lead, even though she was the one who knew exactly where I was. He was tracking me the old-fashioned way: by scent. He wanted to show her that he didn't need her 'cheap psychic trick'.

I didn't care much for the tenor of his thoughts. The female, whose guess about what he was thinking was dead on the money, shared my assessment of him. She didn't like him and I almost felt sorry that I'd have to kill her. I didn't want to because despite the fact that she was working for Victoria—even though I got the impression that she didn't like her very much—she seemed like a decent person, but I couldn't risk being followed to the rendezvous point.

I checked my cell phone again. Still no reception. What had Alice seen? Would my plan work?

The vampires weren't trying to be stealthy and at first I had assumed it was because they anticipated an ambush; after all, I hadn't moved for over three minutes now. In a way they did, but they so firmly believed that they'd be able to take me that the thought had come and gone. They knew where I was, so there was no way I could ambush them. Also, neither of them even considered the possibility that I might get away. That worried me a little, but then they didn't know that I had an advantage too. Without my gift I might not have been a match for an experienced fighter like Jasper, but with it I could take him. Beside Alice, I was the only one in my family capable of that.

They were so confident that they paid almost no attention to their surroundings. In fact, they were talking quietly, the first time I had seen them having an actual conversation.

I frowned. It struck me as strange that they didn't seem to care what I might overhear—and they knew that I was close enough for that. What was I missing? Or was I just being paranoid and they overly confident?

" What does she with him?" the female asked. Her voice was deep, but soft and smooth, the kind of voice you could listen to forever. Auburn hair curled wildly around a face that had no planes and angles. It was perfectly round, with a tiny nose. She wasn't beautiful in the classical sense. She was… cute. Yes, that was the best way to describe her. She was cute. Only her dark red eyes were slightly disturbing, used as I was to the golden eyes of my family.

I didn't see the male's expression as he was walking in front of her and he was so tall that low-hanging branches hid everything past his chest. But his thoughts were exasperated and tinged with irritation. Where he came from orders weren't questioned. He obviously had a military background, as had been the case with the female we had encountered in Chicago. The female who had killed Olivia's girlfriend Eden and almost killed me. It made sense—he was used to following orders and less likely to question them if he believed in what he did. And it was clear that he did believe.

"How do you know it isn't a her?" he asked eventually, not bothering to hide his irritation. He'd been told to intercept me at the airport and bring me to their headquarters—the abandoned farmhouse Alice had seen—and that was it. He hadn't asked for details. The face of a vampire flashed up in his mind and my eyes widened in surprise. I knew him. I had seen him before, in the mind of the vampire Esme had killed.

Craig.

The tension in my shoulders grew. What I had learned of him that day had disgusted me. I didn't want him anywhere near Bella.

"'Cause if it is, I have a few ideas about what to do with her," he finished. His mood lifted considerably at the thought and his thoughts began to wander.

I bit back a growl and my grip on the branch tightened.

"You're a pig," the female said, not bothering to hide her disgust. "And the mind has a decidedly male feel to it."

"How can you even tell the difference?"

"I just can," she replied curtly. "And can we please get on with this now? Also, you didn't answer my question. Don't think I didn't notice."

"How the hell should I know what she wants with him? Or her. We're supposed to detain the vamp and that's all we need to know."

"Detain the vamp?" the female asked somewhat ironically, but the irony was lost on her companion.

"It means taking him—or her—prisoner," he answered, in the tone of someone talking to a not particularly bright kindergartener.

"I know what it means, Mr Navy SEAL," she snapped. "What I meant was why we don't just get rid of him now? Wouldn't that be easier?"

A frustrated growl rumbled in his chest. The female wasn't particularly impressed. "'Cause the Old Lady wants to talk to the vamp who shows up here with the female. And if she has no use for him—or her—then Craig will probably come up with something. Well," he added thoughtfully after a moment and my stomach turned at the images in his head, "if the vamp's a female. God, the bastard was in a creepy mood when I left, what with this vampire chick coming. Skadi's told him to leave the kid alone and the human's almost dead. And he's kind of… exhausted the resources at his disposal." He chuckled.

What I saw in his mind filled me with horror. My mouth went dry. He couldn't possibly mean that… I swallowed. I suddenly understood what Carlisle had been trying to tell me before the connection was interrupted.

No no no no no no no no no.

The female had stopped dead in her tracks. "Craig is back?" she demanded flatly.

The male didn't hear the suppressed anger in her voice. He turned around, eyebrows raised in confusion. "Yeah, got in an hour ago. I spoke to him before I picked you up. He went to Alaska this morning to check up on his pet. And you know what? He's disappeared. Let me tell you that Victoria was less than pleased when he told her. She yelled at him for ten minutes straight." He grinned gleefully. Craig didn't seem to be very popular.

"I see," the female replied between clenched teeth. "Well, he certainly had it coming." He's sick, he added in her mind. And I couldn't care less if he ends up on a pyre. Hell, I'd even light him up myself if I got the chance. Scum like that shouldn't be allowed to exist. "Just because he gets to sleep with Victoria once in a while," she continued aloud, "doesn't mean he can boss us around. If he weren't her favourite," her voice was dripping with disgust now, "Skadi would have killed him a long time ago."

The male shrugged. "You're probably right."

They walked on in silence. My mind was reeling. I clutched the branch as if it was my lifeline, my body numb. This couldn't be happening. What had I let Bella walk into? In my mind, what the male had seen the vampire Craig do was playing in an endless loop. The sickening images kept assaulting me, even though I tried to shut them out by thinking of something—anything—else to chase them away, but they had etched themselves on the surface of my mind, as if to taunt me.

This can't happen to Bella. This can't happen to Bella. This can't happen to Bella.

Closing my eyes, I made myself take a deep breath, but my chest felt heavy and constricted and I couldn't force the air down my throat. In the end I gave up and just lay there, a cold lump of fear in my stomach that made it impossible to think. The feeling of helplessness, of being out of control, was crushing me—and I was only too familiar with the sensation. It reminded me of when James had been after Bella, of when Jasper had told me that he'd lost her, of when I had finally seen Alice's vision for myself. I had tried so hard to protect her and I had failed and he had almost killed her.

And I had failed her again. Reason tried to argue that I hadn't, that nobody could have foreseen this when even Alice hadn't. But I still should have thought of it. I always did, always considered every possible outcome—and then prepared myself to expect the worst—because that way I couldn't be taken by surprise.

I choked back a sob rising in my throat. This was my fault. Why did I always have to screw everything up? If I hadn't gotten on the plane, then this wouldn't be happening. Or would it?

You don't know that, reason pointed out. But I did. I had followed Bella, although she had repeatedly asked me not to, although Alice had warned me. But I had ignored them both and here I was and now Bella would get hurt because of me, like she had so many times before. I wasn't good enough for her. How could she even love me when all I ever did was cause her pain and suffering? I didn't deserve her and she deserved better, deserved someone who didn't hurt her all the time.

I had to make this right. I couldn't let the future Alice had seen come true. I didn't know why it seemed to hinge on me being caught, but it did and so the female had to die. And then I had to get out of here as fast as I could. I was reasonably certain I'd be able to outrun the male; I had always been very fast. But they were so sure of themselves, so sure that I'd be no match for them and that they'd be able to overpower me. With every step they took towards me, my confidence dwindled and I felt panic rise again, fuelled by my fear of what would happen to Bella if I failed and by the simple fact that I wasn't really in control. And that because of that whatever I did and whatever advantage my ability to read minds gave me might not be enough to make this work.

One shot.

One fraction of time so small, so tiny, that it was impossible to measure it. That's all I had to kill the female, to tear her apart and set her ablaze before her companion had the chance to reassemble it. The lighter in my pocket, a cheap yellow one, which I had stolen from the cab driver when he had been distracted counting the bunch of money I had thrown in his lap, felt strangely heavy in my pocket.

Less time than it took a heart to beat once to make sure that Bella would be safe, that Alice's vision wouldn't come true, that I wouldn't cause her so much more pain. How much pain could a person take before it became too much, before the weight of it all became so crushingly heavy that you couldn't—or didn't want to—deal with it anymore?

When would Bella realise that it was impossible for me to change and that she'd only get hurt again if she stayed with me? That she deserved better than I could give her? I was scared of losing her, and shame flooded me as I realised I was more scared at the prospect of losing her than seeing her get hurt? How could I be so selfish? Why did I keep putting myself above everyone else? Even above Bella, although it should have been the other way around. I thought I had come to protect her, but truth was that I had come to protect myself. Because if I lost her I wouldn't survive.

That wasn't what a relationship should be based on, but what kind of relationship did we have anyway? It was twisted, complicated, and I didn't know where to start pulling in order to unravel it. At the same time, it was so fragile, so easily broken. How much damage, how much selfishness, could our relationship take before it would come undone and leave us separated, two halves of a whole that belonged together, that couldn't exist without the other, but that simply wouldn't fit together no matter how hard you pushed?

Part of my mind kept telling me that I was overreacting again, that I was blowing this out of proportion like I always did, but it was easier to listen to the other part. The dark part. The one that had known from the beginning that I would ruin this, like I had ruined so much already. It seemed that I broke everything I touched and not only the fragile things, things that should be handled with care and were easily broken, but everything else as well. Everything that ended up in my path I found a way to damage even when I was trying to make things right.

This one thought filled my entire mind as I lay in wait on the branch, watching the vampires approach, my heart heavy and at the same time hollow and empty. That by trying to make it right, I'd make it worse again, would set something in motion that wouldn't never have happened without me. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. I felt like Macbeth, who had done everything in his power to keep the witches' prophecy from coming true but had ended up destroying himself because by attempting to change the future the witches had seen, he had actually set it in motion. If he hadn't meddled, he might have gotten everything he wanted. But Alice's visions weren't self-fulfilling prophecies. They couldn't be because they were based on decisions and they changed with the decision that had caused them. It was as simple as that. Anything I decided from this point on would affect the future she had seen and hopefully keep it from coming true.

But what if it doesn't matter what you decide? a voice whispered in the back of my mind. I closed my eyes and forced myself to empty my mind and chase the voice of doubt away. Doubt made you weak. If you didn't believe in yourself, then you might as well surrender because the outcome would be the same.

But it was easier said than done and my thoughts circled back to Bella. Where was she? Was she safe? Or as safe as she could be at the moment. I had to make sure what Alice had seen wouldn't happen. If I didn't and if it came true… My imagination had no difficulty at all filling my mind with pictures of what would be done to her. I pressed my lips together to keep the agonised groan rising in my throat from escaping. Oh God.

The male's voice broke into my bleak train of thought, yanking me back into the present with a jolt. Compared with the darkness of my mind, the dark forest seemed almost bright, what little light filtered through the clouds now suddenly much, much whiter. I blinked. I had been so distracted that I hadn't noticed how close they had come and it was pure luck that they hadn't discovered me yet. Or maybe not pure luck.

The female, upon her companion's question, "Where is he? You said he was here!" very deliberately didn't look up, although she knew I had to be there. She wanted to let the male, who didn't seem to be the sharpest tool in the shed, figure it out for himself and if I tried something while he was at it, well, then at least she'd have something to laugh later.

Very quietly I crouched lower, feeling vaguely guilty that I had to kill someone who I could probably have liked under different circumstances. But then I brushed the guilt away and emptied my mind, pushing all the dark thoughts away with brute force because I couldn't afford to be distracted now. This time it worked.

Less time than it takes a heart to beat, I reminded myself.

I started counting in my head.

One.

The female opened her mouth to reply with a snide remark, but changed her mind at the last moment and snapped it shut again, crossing her arms in front of her chest and watching the male with narrowed eyes.

Two.

The male took a step forward, peering into the trees and seeing nothing, which he took as confirmation that all this talk about Sophie's—the female's—so-called precious talent was bullshit.

Three.

I jumped, pouncing like a mountain lion, arms stretched out to grab her and hands forming marble claws. The branch barely swayed underneath and the wind covered any noise I might have made. The female never saw me coming. She caught the movement in her peripheral vision and started looking up, only mildly alarmed; she was confident she'd be able to protect herself from an attack from above.

I intended to prove her wrong.

I slammed into her and her eyes went wide. She started raising her arms to defend herself, but I locked my arms around her neck before she got the chance to fend me off, dragging her down and on her back as I landed. The male spun around, alerted by the strangled sound coming out of the female's throat as I started twisting. Her skin began to crack under the pressure, fine black fractures spreading from her left ear down to her throat and disappearing underneath the collar of her shirt. She was struggling in my grip, kicking uselessly at the dirt and clawing at my arms.

The male was in motion now, coming at me at full speed. The faster each of us moved, the slower time seemed to flow forward. The ground shook with every angry step the male made towards us and leaves and twigs showered down, but they didn't seem to be moving at all; instead they hung suspended in the air, like time had really frozen. But it hadn't because the vampire was still coming at me, to get me off the female. I shifted my weight so that I could reach the lighter in my pocket. The female's struggles were growing weaker as her head began to detach from her body, her brain no longer able to control it. Venom trickled slowly down the front of her shirt and made her clothes slick. The tiniest spark would be enough to make her go up in flames.

Her thoughts had turned incoherent. There were only bright flashes now, fragments of thoughts and images and they grew dimmer and dimmer with each passing moment. One face appeared most often and was the most distinct as she slid into the darkness—that of the big vampire who'd been on Bella's welcoming committee. Her mate?

"I'm sorry," I whispered, although I didn't think she could hear me anymore.

The lighter ignited on the first try. I dropped it as close to her body as I dared, watching it fall in slow motion, the flame flickering, as I leapt up and out of the way. The male's eyes went wide in horror and he threw his entire weight against the ground, trying to slow down and change his course. Dirt exploded two feet high on either side of him. He dove for the female on the ground, his hand reaching for the falling lighter. I launched myself at him, a snarl ripping through my teeth. I drove into him hard enough to send us flying. We hit the ground, the male on his back and I on top of him, the two of us skidding forward until a tree in our path stopped us. Growling, he pulled his knees up to his chest to get me off.

I leapt out of his way and he kicked at the air, jumping to his feet in the same motion. Backing away, I glanced over my shoulder to looked for the female—and my heart sank. The lighter lay beside her head, buried in brown earth and only a sliver of yellow still visible. Earth covered her body as well and it had most likely saved her life. Horrified, I watched her fingers twitche ever so slightly and the blackness receded from her mind, leaving her momentarily disoriented.

I groaned. She scrambled to her feet, turning her neck from side to side to chase the remaining stiffness away. I didn't wait to see what she would do next. Turning, I slid past the male just as he made a grab for me, thinking I was too distracted to notice him, and started running, whatever good it would do.

I had screwed up. Again.

oOo

My feet barely touched the ground as I flew through the forest, the miles melting away. Time for plan B then. Find a crowd where it would be harder for them to corner me without drawing too much attention to themselves. Hopefully, they'd give up once they realised I wasn't easy prey. Unfortunately, the storm Alice had predicted was going to hit soon and people would be safely inside. Did Helena have a mall? That was something Alice could have told me, but when I checked I had still no reception.

Helena lay north so that is where I headed, barely paying attention to my surroundings and instead focusing completely on the minds rushing after me. They weren't talking. They were as focused on catching me as I was on escaping them. The female was somewhat miffed that I had almost killed her, but not more than that, which I found strange. I would have been furious had someone tried to set me on fire—and almost succeeded. But she wasn't, though she appeared to be as puzzled by that as I was. She finally reached the conclusion that she would have done the same under similar circumstances and could hardly fault me for it. How had someone like this, someone who was so obviously a decent person, ended up working for someone like Victoria?

The male was another matter entirely. Rage tinged his thoughts red and he was thundering after me like a bull, with absolutely no care for what was in his way. Catching me was the sole focus of his mind.

Thunder rolled above, quietly at first, but it quickly grew into a rumble and the next time it sounded, it was like an explosion. Rain started to pound down a moment later, fat drops that flew past me in slow motion as I ran. I felt each drop on my skin as it hit splash splash splash, warm and wet. I was soaked through within seconds and it was raining so hard even I could barely see through the grey curtain of water. It turned the ground into a mud pit, treacherously slippery. The mud, almost two inches deep in some places, was annoying. I didn't slip often and I never fell—though it was a close call both times I did slip—but the mud slowed me down, dragging at my feet.

Somewhere behind me, the male cursed at the top of his lungs; he was heavier than me and he kept slipping. But the female was impossibly fast and as she knew exactly where I was and didn't have to track by hearing like the male—the rain erased my trail as I went—she could focus on where to put her feet. She darted after me like a bullet, never straying off course.

I still had a head start, but she was slowly catching up. I might have been faster and have had longer legs, but she was lighter. Ironically, she didn't care whether or not she actually caught up with me, but the male knew exactly how fast she could be when she wanted to and she didn't want him accuse her of not trying hard enough and say as much to Victoria, or Craig. That would be not good, so she raced on.

Again I wondered where Victoria had found her. Had she changed her herself? Was that the reason she remained loyal, although she didn't seem to like her at all? Or was there another reason? Why didn't she leave if she didn't agree with what Victoria was doing? And she clearly didn't.

On the next step, I sank into the mud to my knees. "Damn it!" I cursed quietly, gripping an overhanging branch for support as I pulled myself out with a slurping noise, using enough force that I was propelled several feet up in the air. I managed to land on the trunk of a tree instead of the muddy ground, clinging on to it like a monkey. The wood splintered underneath my fingers.

I had lost valuable seconds and the female had come closer than I would have liked. Scrambling upwards, I looked for a good place to jump; I didn't want to get back on the ground if I could help it. To my left the branches parted a little. I slipped through, barely noticing as they whipped across my skin, and jumped.

Lightning flashed above me just as I sailed through the air, snaking down the sky and striking two miles away with a deafening crack. For a moment I regretted that lightning couldn't take down a vampire—now that would have been handy—then the thought disappeared as quickly as it had come and I focused on what I was doing. I couldn't afford any more mistakes.

It took the female a moment to figure out that I wasn't on the ground anymore. She was ploughing through the sloshing mud, a string of curses firing away in her mind when it began seeping into her shoes and travelling up her jeans. Then she heard the soft snap, snap of breaking twigs from above. For a moment her mind went blank with confusion, then she realised what was I was doing—and followed suit. Why didn't I think of that? she wondered, somewhat irritated, as she darted easily through the trees like a squirrel.

The sky was black. The rain was falling so hard that I could barely make out what was directly in front of me and all that I could make out were trees and mountains and more trees and mountains. I was farther away from Helena than I had thought—on the drive here I had only paid attention to the minds in the car behind us, not the signs—and I also seemed to have gotten a little off course. I'd have to keep west for a while.

Suddenly the trees gave way to a narrow ravine, water rushing and gurgling past me at incredible speed. I crossed it in one bound. On this side, the ground was rockier and thankfully dry, which made it easier to run. My mind wandered to Bella as I shot through the forest, faster now than before. The female had trouble keeping up. If not for her talent, I would have been able to lose them quickly, now that it was raining so hard and the water erasing my trail as I ran. As it was, they were still behind me, although the male's mood had hit rock bottom: He couldn't track by scent anymore, or by hearing, and he had to trust the female to lead the way and he didn't like that at all. He almost wished he'd let me kill her. But only almost.

Was Bella alright? She was probably at the old farmhouse already, waiting for Victoria—and us—to get there. Did she know that something was wrong? Was Craig there with her? A snarl rose in my throat as I thought of him, as the pictures I had seen in the male's mind flashed up again. I swallowed it. I had to believe that everything would be alright. I wouldn't be caught, she wouldn't be harmed. It was as simple as that.

But why? a voice in my mind whispered. Why does the future Alice has seen seem to hinge on you getting caught? What's so important about you?

Isn't that obvious? the part of my brain responsible for logical thought chimed in. You'd do everything to keep Bella safe. She'd do everything to keep you safe. Remember what you saw in Austin's mind. What he planned to do to the girl. His creator is probably ten times worse.

My heart turned into ice at the thought. Please be wrong, I thought, but I knew that I wasn't. It was the only logical explanation for everything.

But why? What did he, what did Victoria, seek to gain from hurting Bella that way?

Isn't that obvious too?

They'd revel in her humiliation and pain. And then, when they had taken everything from her—and from me—they'd kill us. This wasn't just to hurt her. By making me watch, they wanted to show me that I couldn't protect her.

I pushed myself to run faster still. I had always been a fast runner, the fastest of my family, but I seemed to have met my match. The female wasn't gaining on me, but neither was she falling behind. She flew after me like an arrow, never straying off course. We'd be able to keep this up forever, running and running and running until one of us grew tired of it. Would they give up eventually if they realised that catching me was much, much harder than they had anticipated?

The female seemed inclined to, but the male didn't and as long as he wanted to pursue me, she wouldn't even suggest letting me go. She had a fairly good idea what they wanted with me and she regretted that she was a part of it, but she had been given an order and she intended to follow it. Not to the letter maybe, but closely enough that her loyalty wouldn't be questioned. The consequences wouldn't be pretty if that happened.

Victoria was well aware that she owed her.

Owes Victoria what? I wondered fleetingly, but the thought came as quickly as it went. Now wasn't the time to figure it out and I doubted knowing why the female was with Victoria would help me. Given what I saw in her mind, it seemed unlikely that I'd be able to convince her to help me.

I needed to get rid of her.

I desperately wanted to talk to Alice. I needed her guidance. How could I be sure that everything I did from this point on wouldn't screw up things up even more than they already were? But when I pulled my cell phone out, it was dead. With a frustrated growl, I hurled it against the nearest tree. It smashed into a hundred pieces.

The thought that I probably didn't have reception anyway offered no consolation.

The male had fallen behind. He couldn't keep up with us and was huffing and puffing in irritation as he barrelled through the forest, levelling everything in his path. He was at least three seconds behind, possibly more since he had to track even his companion by scent now, and the rain complicated that. Plenty of time for me to kill the female before he reached us. But would I be able to catch her by surprise a second time? Her guard was up—if I suddenly stopped, she'd know I was up to something. Granted, last time they had known they were walking into an ambush—well, pseudo-ambush—as well, but this time she knew I'd go straight for her.

On the other hand, three seconds were a small eternity. Plenty to time to kill her and burn the remains to make sure she couldn't be put back together. If the male caught up with me before she was destroyed, I'd run. And keep running until they either got bored, or this whole things was over and Victoria was taken care off. There was absolutely no reason my family shouldn't be able to handle the situation without me. They didn't really need me anyway; I just wanted to be there so that I could pretend to be in control.

Admitting that, even to myself, was easier than I thought it would be.

I drew a deep breath. That decided it. I'd try to kill the female one last time. If I succeeded, I'd meet up with the others as planned. If I failed, then I'd have to sit it out. I didn't like the prospect of not facing Victoria together with Bella, but it was my own fault. If I had stayed in Anchorage and gone with the others as planned, then none of this would have happened and I could have been with here.

I was an idiot.

Here goes nothing, I thought.

I slowed down almost imperceptibly. The female didn't notice and the male was too far away and too busy thinking about all the things he'd rather do than chase after me.

Slowly, the female got closer, still running at top speed. At some point she noticed that she was closing the distance between us, but she assumed it was because she was faster than me after all. It didn't occur to her that I was letting her get closer.

She gained another few yards on me and her mood lifted, but she also became more alert, more focused. She was a good fighter and fairly confident she'd be able to take me, but if her assessment turned out to be wrong, she'd have to stall until her partner had caught up with us.

I'll have to kill her quickly then, I decided, ignoring the fact that the plan to kill her quickly had failed once already, and whirled around to face her.

Confusion swept across her mind when I suddenly stopped, followed instantly by a mental, Oh crap! as she realised that I was trying to ambush her again. I half expected her to turn around and run for it, then she decided she might as well give it a try. I couldn't possibly be that good a fighter or I'd have engaged them directly instead of going only after her.

I smiled grimly, teeth bared, as she broke through the trees in front of me. She instantly slipped into a defensive crouch, a snarl ripping out of her throat.

The female knew what would happen if they caught me, but she didn't know that I knew. She also didn't know that I had an advantage over her. And that I was a good fighter, probably better—much better—than she was.

We circled each other. I deliberately kept my stance loose to appear careless, or inexperienced, and she relaxed somewhat, coming to the conclusion that I only had gotten lucky before and that she'd be able to defeat me.

She charged first, vaulting through the air to tackle me. I danced out of the way, waiting until the last moment; I didn't want her to figure out that I knew what she would do before she actually did it. She hit the ground, bending her knees to absorb the impact, and whirling around. I had to let her get close, but I had to make it look accidental. She took a swipe at me, snarling viciously.

This time I let her hit me. I ducked a split-second too late to evade her blow and her fist connected with my jaw, with enough force to send me flying. I twisted through the air, landing on my feet, and turned around in time to see her coming at me again.

The male was still two whole seconds out because he had gotten off course.

Still plenty of time.

I stepped to the side. Just as she hurtled past me, I grabbed her by firmly locking my arms around her waist and yanked her back. She slammed into me and almost immediately started clawing at my arms as the sense of déjà vu hit here. Her mind was a jumble of incoherent thoughts. She was pissed. We hit the ground. She elbowed me in the ribs, trying to break free.

When she felt my teeth at the back of her neck, grazing her skin, she went instantly limp in my grip. Her breath came in shallow, ragged gasps. Fear pierced through her anger and brought order back to her thoughts. I don't want to die, she thought, with only a trace of panic. "Please don't kill me," she whispered.

My teeth broke through her skin and a strangled whimper escaped her lips.

God, why did I have to go after him alone? I'm an idiot. I should have known this was another trap. Crap crap crap crap crap. I don't want to die. If I do, then it all would have been for nothing.

"What?" I snarled into her ear.

She cringed. "What?" she whispered, uncomprehending.

"What would have been for nothing if you die?" I hissed. When she didn't reply immediately, I pressed my teeth into her skin again. They cut through easily. Her arms moved slightly, but she immediately balled her hands into fists and locked her muscles, even though her neck hurt. She was sure that if she struggled, I'd kill her. She didn't understand why I hadn't already. And how did I know about Jackson?

"Who's Jackson?" I asked in a flat voice.

"How do you know about Jackson?" Her voice was barely a whisper now. Why did her neck hurt so terribly?

"Have you never been bitten before?" I asked. "It's the venom. It stings. Who is Jackson?"

She sobbed once, then she said, her voice rough, "He's my husband." An image flashed up in her mind, the same that I had already seen in her thoughts—that of the huge vampire on Bella's welcoming committee.

"And what would have been for nothing if you die?"

"How do you know what I was thinking?" He can't be reading my mind, can he?

"You can sense my mind, so anything's possible, isn't it? Now answer my question and maybe I'll let you go." It was a lie. Even as I said it, I felt guilty. I didn't want to kill her, but I had to because I doubted I could get her to do what I wanted. So she had to go.

I listened for the male's mind. Not that far away now. He could hear us and didn't have to rely on a scent trail. I needed to hurry.

But I also wanted to know how she had ended up with Victoria. Maybe that piece of information would help. Somehow.

"A woman came to me one day," the female said, rushed. Stall, she reminded herself; it had already slipped her mind that I could read her thoughts. "Her name was Skadi. I was visiting Jackson at the hospital and was standing outside his room, crying my eyes out. He'd just been through another round of chemo, but it didn't appear to have had any effect. He was going to die. I knew that, although the doctors refused to say it out loud. Told me I'd just have to keep hoping." She laughed once, the sound harsh and bitter. "Load of bullshit. So there I was and Skadi came up to me, asking me if anything was wrong." Another bitter, sad laugh. "I was in a hospital, for crying out loud. So of course something was wrong. But she was so nice to me and I needed someone to talk to because I don't have any family left and we had just moved to New York when Jackson was diagnosed with cancer…" She gave a tiny shrug, then remembered that moving with my teeth so close to her neck probably wasn't a particularly good idea and went still again. "Anyway, we got talking and she invited me to have coffee with her. She didn't drink it, which struck me as strange because it was one of those super expensive lattes with all the extras and… You're probably not interested in all that. We met a few times and one day she mentioned that there was a way to save Jackson and asked if I was interested. I was, but when she told me what it was… I didn't believe her. It sounded ridiculous. But she gave me her number anyway and two days later Jackson fell into a coma and I called her. She and two others came and took us away. After that I only remember burning pain and when it was over, we were told what we had become and that we owed Victoria, the vampire who'd changed us, for saving Jackson's life and for giving us the chance to live happily ever after. Of course we said yes. That's why I owe her."

"Why you and your husband?" I asked, although I already knew the answer. Victoria had picked her because of her gift. But how had she known?

"I've always kind of known when people I knew were nearby," the female explained. "That's why she wanted me. I don't know how she knew, but she did and she told me that she hoped that now that I was a vampire my gift—that's what she called it—would sort of develop and one day be of use to her. She was right. I'm pretty sure she just changed Jackson because she guessed that I'd feel obligated to work for her if she saved his life. And I do."

She had another reason for staying. She feared that Victoria would find a way to take Jackson away from her if they left. That was the kind of person she was. But the female didn't say it out loud.

"And who is Skadi?" I demanded.

The male was very close now. I was running out of time.

"She is Victoria's second-in-command. She travels a lot, gathers information. When she's with us, she spends most of her time making sure that Craig doesn't go after the females. She hates him. We all do. But Victoria likes him and so he stays." She swallowed and drew a shaky breath. "Are you going to kill me now?" she whispered, her voice strangled.

I don't know why I said the truth then. But I did. "I don't want to," I admitted, speaking so quietly that the male, although almost here now, couldn't overhear. "But I have to. Because you won't let me go and I have someone to protect too. And I would do everything to keep her safe. I'm so very sorry."

She cried out as my teeth sliced through her skin and the male, hearing her call of distress, put on a burst of speed. I checked for his mind to see whether I had enough time to kill her or—

Shit!

I rolled out of the way before he could grab me, the female caught between me and the ground. Scrambling to my feet, I let her go and she darted away, stopping a few yards behind me. "Sophie, you okay?" the male asked, his red eyes fixed on me.

"I'm fine," she whispered.

I feinted to the right. The male copied the movement and in her mind, I saw the female do the same. The male was growling low in his chest, ready to tear my throat out. The female was half lost in thought, going over what I had said.

Why doesn't she tell him that I can read their thoughts? I wondered. But maybe it really had slipped her mind. She had a lot to think about.

Time to get out.

I feinted to the left this time, waiting for them to copy the movement and, when they had, dashing off to the right. Both vampires rushed after me, ready to tackle me. I spun around again just as they converged on me, ducked out of the way and stated heading in the opposite direction. But the ground, though rockier than where I had entered the woods, were muddy and I slipped on the very first step.

I didn't fall, but the split second that it took me to regain my balance was all the male needed to figure out what I was doing. He came barrelling at me, face a distorted mask of fury. I knew what he intended and I started running, using every ounce of strength I had.

He jumped, changing his plans at the last second. I willed my legs to move faster, just a little faster… I had ambushed the female in a small clearing and there were no trees I could use for cover… If I managed to reach the tree line…

Faster, I willed myself.

Only now did I notice that it had stopped raining. A crow appeared against the sky, spread wings beating lazily. It seemed to hover there, motionless, as I sped past underneath.

Faster, I ordered myself.

I had almost reached the trees. I jumped, aiming for the thinnest tree in my path because it wouldn't be able to support the male's weight.

The male missed me. His hands brushed across my back, tearing my clothes, but he couldn't get a grip. He cursed and for one brief elated moment I thought I had gotten away. I could already feel the rough bark underneath my fingers.

Then his hands closed around my ankles like steel clamps, yanking me back down, and I slammed face first into the muddy ground.

A/N: So? Did you like it? Please review, even if it's only to threaten me with a pitchfork. ;-) Do you think they've really captured Edward? Or will he find a way to escape after all?