Chapter 3

As the house that Tanya shared with Kate, Irina, Carmen and Eleazar came into view, I spotted my mother flitting anxiously around the garden. Of course Esme would be wracked with anxiety over Edward's little stunt, and I wrapped her in a tight, bone crushing hug as soon as I reached her.
"Oh Emmett..." she said brokenly into my chest, and I was startled to hear the change in her usually serene voice.
"Alice and Bella will stop him Esme. Edwards gonna be fine" I soothed, smoothing down her already perfect hair.
"But Bella and Alice too! Aro will surely want Alice once he knows what she can do! And what about Bella? That poor girl had done so much for our family, nearly losing her life many times over, and now we expect her to run unprotected through streets filled with our kind? What if she doesn't make it back? What if Edward and Alice don't come home?" she said frantically, her tiny lips trembling with fear. Carlisle edged me gently out of the way before I could say anything, cradling his wife's grief stricken face in his hands. Rose, Jasper and I darted inside then, leaving Carlisle to console Esme as best he could.

Tanya, Kate, Carmen and Eleazar were all standing in the kitchen, muttering intensly. They broke off once we entered, exchanging looks that were impossible to decipher.
"Oh good, they caught up with you" Kate said, relieved.
"I'm so sorry about Edward. He must truly love that human girl" Tanya said a little ruefully.
"Trust me, he does" Jasper supplied with a mirthless smile that didn't quite reach his narrowed eyes.
"Poor girl. Shame she has to go out like this" Eleazar said. Obviously the Denalis weren't expecting Bella to survive Volterra.
" Bella will make it Eleazar. She's tough for a human" Rosalie said quietly, startling me. Rose sticking up for Bella? That was new.
"Even so, she's a human Rosalie. If one of the guards doesn't take her down, Caius will. She knows too much about us" Carmen pointed out reasonably.

"She survived James. Besides, I have a felling that Bella's eager to join our little family, and Alice seems pretty sure, so who knows? Maybe she'll convince my hard-ass brother to change her" I said a little defensively.
"If Edward makes it back" Eleazar murmurred. We all shut up then. Edward could be burning right now and we would have no idea. My dark, brooding brother who had so recently discovered his missing piece, only to abandon her, reduced to a pile of smoldering ashes. Jasper placed a reassuring hand against my left shoulder, sensing my pain and horror.
"He's coming back Em. I'm betting on Alice" he said in a low voice, trying to cheer me up. For the first time in my unnaturally long life, it didn't work.