I took a deep breath, knowing Edward was in there. I was beginning to suspect that not only did he not like me, I didn't think I liked him very much. Had the words "judgmental prick" been in my vocabulary at the time, I would have used them. Loudly. Often.

But I felt Esme's hand pat my back comfortingly. I knew that I liked Esme. She was everything that I'd always wished that my own mother had been. I would do this for her.

"Let's go in," she said softly. I nodded, a little too uptight to speak. I felt much calmer than I had when I first woke, probably from the quantity of animal blood I'd had. "It's not going to be that bad. They're both wonderful men, much better than the human men I knew."

"Okay," I said. We were suddenly on the porch, through the door, and standing in a comfortable room. It was largely white, open, and bright. A piano sat on a raised platform in the corner, next to a stained glass window with a stylized flower in the middle. It cast rainbows over the entire room. The effect was gorgeous, and I thought of the way that my skin had sparkled in the sun earlier. I relaxed momentarily, overcome by the knowledge that this was my home now. It was much more beautiful than the King home, and in a very different way.

Then I smelled Edward and Carlisle. I started to growl, defensiveness running up my back with a hot prickling. Esme grasped my arms firmly. "If you move too fast, you might hurt me," she said. "You don't want to hurt me, do you? And if you hurt them, you'll feel bad about it later. Give this a chance, Rosalie."

I turned to look into her golden eyes. They were very serious, but softened as they took in my face. "Easy, Rosalie, easy. Take a breath. They're good men." She leaned forward and rested her forehead against mine. "Easy. Do it for me."

I breathed deeply, calmed by Esme's presence. I turned to face them. She let go of one arm, but linked one of hers through one of mine. Knowing now how strong I was then, I realize that she was putting herself in harm's way to protect her men. She couldn't have stopped me if I lunged at them, but she probably would have slowed me down a bit. Of course, I would have ripped her arm off in the process, and even though it would have found its way back to her and the damage would have eventually mended, I know from experience that it's grossly uncomfortable and seriously disconcerting to watch your own hand dragging your dismembered arm behind it. At least there's no blood. I might not have felt guilty for doing that to Edward or even Carlisle, but I would have felt monstrous to have done it to Esme. And Edward might have destroyed me on the spot.

"Rosalie is feeling overwhelmed, as you both well know, so take it slow with her," she warned Carlisle and Edward. "Rosalie? This is Carlisle, my husband, for lack of a better word, and this is Edward. My son." The pride in her voice was unmistakable.

"Hello," I said.

Carlisle immediately stepped forward a step. I felt the back of my neck prickle again, but I calmed the growl that rose in my throat. For Esme, for Esme, I thought. "Welcome, Rosalie. You must have done very well hunting. No ripped clothes."

"Only one small rip," Esme corrected. "And one little dribble. Nothing that can't be mended. And she took a coyote," Esme said proudly.

"Really?" Carlisle looked at me shrewdly. "She will be an excellent huntress. To take a predator without sustaining damage at this stage is very encouraging. You must have real talent, Rosalie."

I still didn't trust myself to speak. Carlisle continued, "This will get easier. I know from Esme's experience that trust takes a while to develop, but it does come. And you may trust that we will never damage you in any way, no matter what happens." Carlisle was clearly quite sincere. I nodded, and risked a glance over at Edward. The tendons in his neck and arms were pronounced. Clearly, he was tense. Anger flared inside me, and I growled softly. How dare he, I thought, believe himself better than me? No matter what Esme said, I could feel his basic disapproval of me coming off him like heat. His eyes flashed over to meet mine. There was a strange expression in them. Anger, yes, but also pain. The growls faded in my chest. Clearly, I didn't understand him at all.

"No, you don't, Rosalie," he said softly. Carlisle and Esme didn't react at all to what he'd said. They were used to his non sequiturs.

Carlisle cleared his throat in what I know now was simply an imitation of a human behavior. "I think Esme and I will go have a chat in another room. We'll have to plan out a hunting schedule for you, Rosalie. Esme won't be able to go every time, but we'll make sure you're as comfortable as possible on your trips. We'll give you two time to get to know one another."

Esme seemed nervous. She turned to me and, once more leaning her forehead against mine, said, "Please remember. He's my son. Be patient with him. For me."

I breathed in her sweet-smelling breath and tried to focus on her words. "I will try. Esme. For Esme."

She backed away slowly, turning to Edward before she left the room and saying, "She is my daughter just as you are my son. She has been through as much as I had when I first came. In time, you will love her as you love me. Please remember that."

Esme smiled. After a moment, Edward nodded tightly. And Esme and Carlisle left the room.

I walked over to stand by the fireplace, as far away from Edward as I could get. We stood in silence for a long time. I could hear Esme and Carlisle talking softly upstairs, arranging my hunting schedule. I tried not to listen, but my hearing seemed perfectly able to focus on many things at once, just as my vision was. I tried not to think about Edward's presence.

"They mean well, living us alone. They hope that we will be able to work things out and become…something to one another. I don't think they really care what," Edward said.

"I'm not angry with them," I replied. I left the rest unsaid.

"You probably would be eventually," he said.

"Are you angry with them? For changing me? For wanting to keep me?" I asked.

"Not exactly," Edward replied. "I'm not sure it's good for Esme, having you here, with what happened to you. I'm worried that it will reopen old wounds. I know she's already told you about it. She hadn't spoken about it for years until today. I worry about what that means."

But you don't worry about me, I thought.

"That's not really true. I know what you've been through. I've seen it in as much detail as both you and Carlisle have. I know what happened. And the anger that I have toward those men is…" He didn't seem able to put it into words.

"You don't want to help me," I said softly. I was trying very hard to think about Esme.

"We met before, you know. At the hospital's annual fundraiser last fall. You were there with your father. Carlisle had insisted that I go for some reason that was never clear to either of us, but I went to please him. You were there, just inside the door, as if you hadn't gotten more than a few feet inside before your admirers were lining up to get your attention. There were so many men around you, I couldn't see you at first. But I could hear your thoughts." He paused for a moment, to give me a moment to recollect the event, I suppose.

I did remember the dinner. It was before I met Royce, and my father wanted to make sure that I met my share of young doctors and doctors' sons. They were boring. I had been thinking of how much I enjoyed the attention and how I didn't really think that any of these men were good enough. My mother had been prepping me for years on how to select an appropriate mate. And none of these men were right…all new money, new to Rochester, no political aspirations. All wrong.

I was grossly embarrassed. "I didn't know better then."

Edward nodded. "I know. Things will be different for you now. Unfortunately, I don't know what that means for you. You seem angry, much angrier than when Esme joined us. The problem with being vampire, aside from the need for blood, is that you freeze in the state in which you ended your human life. You remain the same age, the same maturity, and, frequently, the same emotional state. I, for instance, had been horribly ill, and had just lost my mother. As such, I'm a little…" He fumbled with the words for a moment. "Melancholy. And I find it very difficult to connect."

"Why is Esme able to be with Carlisle?" I asked.

"I'm not entirely sure. Something in Esme changed after a few months here. They've been inseparable ever since."

"I thought you said we were frozen."

"We are, largely. But according to Carlisle, there are some sweeping changes, like finding a mate, that can become permanent. Esme and Carlisle will be together forever. They can't go back to the way they were before."

I didn't know if that idea gave me hope. I didn't think that I could ever trust someone that much.

"I don't know if I could either," Edward said quietly.

I couldn't talk about these things any more. "What do my parents think happened to me?"

"Carlisle has had to make an appearance or two at the hospital over the past few days, so he's a little more informed than I am, but it seems that your clothes have been found, along with a great quantity of blood. All of the Kings were out looking, of course." His voice had a bitter edge to it.

"Naturally," I growled.

"Easy, Rosalie. You mustn't let yourself get overly emotional, or you will lose control. Mom won't happy with us." He smiled. If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't have believed it.

"What do they say happened to me?"

"The rumors aren't far from the truth, actually. That you were attacked. They say that you were probably dumped in the lake."

I couldn't speak. I ground my teeth together.

"They're going to have a service for you in two days."

Two days. It would have been my wedding day.

"What will they bury?" I asked.

"An empty casket, I imagine."

"What's Royce doing?"

"Mourning his fiancée, to all outward appearances. I'm sure he's had his share of drink."

My teeth ground together so that you could actually hear it.

"Maybe we shouldn't be talking about this." Edward seemed unsure. None of my thoughts were fully formed. They flitted from one violent fantasy to another. Each starring my beloved Royce.

"I'm fine," I spat out through my clenched teeth.

We stood there silently while I attempted to regain my composure. The thought of Royce out with his friends, just like the night that it happened, as if I had never happened, was more than I could bear. I didn't think that I could continue to exist in a world where Royce King continued drawing breaths.

"That's how I felt about Esme's husband," Edward said.

"Did you kill him?" I asked hesitantly, my newly expanded mind filled to the brim with fantasies of putting Royce through what I had been through.

"Yes," Edward said quietly, suddenly so close that we were nearly touching. "Esme does not know for certain. But I did. I would be out in society with Carlisle, pretending to be human, and I would run into someone that Esme had known. The things that they remembered, they way they talked about him, about her, the things they'd seen…I knew that he couldn't be allowed to live."

"Did you…" I trailed off. I didn't really know how to ask if he drank the blood of the man who had killed Esme little by little while she'd lived.

"No," he said harshly, "the idea was repugnant to me."

I nodded. I knew what I wanted to do.

"You can't," Edward said flatly. "I've had two decades to perfect my ability to be around humans. For you, it would be intolerable. The urge to feed, once you smelled human blood, would be irresistible. Even if you managed not to spill any of his blood, just being in the same room with him would be far too much temptation. I seriously doubt that Carlisle or Esme would allow you into town for months, maybe even a year. And not just because you'd be recognized."

I felt the anger build. "And who exactly are any of you to tell me that I can't do anything? I am not a Cullen. I will do what I goddamn please."

"Calm yourself. You are always free to do what you will. But if you are going to remain with us, which you will unless you are prepared to go out on your own, then you will have to play by certain rules. There are others of us, Rosalie, and none of us will tolerate your making our existence known." His voice was cold.

I shut my eyes for a moment, trying to focus on calming. I knew that if I left the Cullens, I would lose Esme. And that would hurt me. After a while, I thought I could speak again.

"And what of the other?" I asked. I meant John, but I couldn't bring myself to speak his name.

"That is a longer story, and one that I think we need Carlisle's input on. Carlisle?" Edward called, although he didn't raise his voice.

Carlisle was suddenly in the room with us. "You want to know about this John?" He asked me.

I nodded. "Was he a vampire? You said that he'd bitten me."

Carlisle hesitated. "I believe he was, yes."

"Why were the fires different?"

Carlisle was puzzled. He looked at Edward for clarification.

"She means that the venoms felt different to her. His was hotter, yours was more like ice." He described my thoughts for Carlisle. I felt a surge of irritation.

"That's very interesting." Carlisle didn't speak for a long while.

"So…different species altogether?" Edward asked.

"Would you mind filling me in?" I snapped.

Edward nodded. "Carlisle is thinking that John may indeed have been a vampire, but a different species of vampire. What would that mean for Rosalie?"

"I'm not sure," Carlisle said, mercifully beginning to speak his thoughts out loud. "I'd have to know more about the other venom. It would mean finding John and obtaining a sample. And I'd need to know more about your experience, of course. How fast the two venoms seemed to spread, how they affected you. You are clearly an unusual newborn. Every case is unique, of course, but your natural hunting abilities, your aggression, your paradoxical ability to become emotionally involved with Esme…it all adds up to a very unusual situation."

"Do you have any theories?" Edward asked.

"I think that it's clear from what I've seen of these creatures, that they have an effect on the men around them. Perhaps they have a secondary venom. Some centipedes and millipedes, for example, can exude poisonous gases into the air as a defense. There seems to be something of that at work here. Would you have thought Royce King capable of something like this?"

Edward shrugged. "He was always a boor, but capable of this kind of violence, especially against her? I don't think so."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"He was eager to marry you. You were the most beautiful girl in town. That mattered a lot to him. Royce isn't really one to break his own toys," he explained.

"So why did he do this to me?"

"I think what Carlisle is suggesting is that John influenced him to act the way that he did."

"Perhaps," Carlisle said, frowning. "We are only speculating, of course. It would take some study to determine. I don't think the Volturi even have that much information on incubi."

"Incubi?" I asked.

"Have you ever heard of the incubus?" Carlisle asked. When I shook my head, he continued, "They are a form of vampire long thought, even by our own kind, to be myth or exaggeration. They engage in sexual acts with a human female, often horrifyingly violent, always ending in the death of the female. There have been rumors that they could father children with human women, but the research that I've done suggests that we are not compatible with humans. We are as different as horses and flies. There have been no records of a vampire fathering a child with a human, ever. The Volturi have not even heard rumors of any."

"What's a Volturi?" I asked.

"They are a body of vampires, the ruling class, if you will. Should you break the rules, the Volturi respond. They are primarily in charge of keeping our existence a secret."

"So, vampire government?"

"Yes, in a sense." Carlisle smiled.

"So you're thinking that the incubus be considered a different species from us…" Edward prompted.

"Anything's possible, I suppose," Carlisle said. "If only I'd been there a few minutes earlier…"

I hissed. I got the feeling that it wasn't to save me pain. Carlisle was just wishing for a goddamn sample.

Edward said, "He meant no harm by it. Had he found you earlier, he certainly would have intervened."

"Absolutely. I would have intervened had the assailants all been human. I would never have allowed anyone to do this to you, Rosalie." Carlisle was so earnest that I couldn't help but believe him.

I gave a single nod, willing to let the subject drop. Only one thing mattered to me on the subject of the incubus. "Do you know where he went?"

Apparently my thoughts were formed enough for Edward to sense them. "Why?" he asked sharply, probably to call Carlisle's attention to what I was thinking.

"I want to know he's gone. I think I'd feel better," I lied smoothly. I seemed to be able to disconnect my emotions from my behavior, a side effect of being able to think so clearly.

Carlisle paused, looking from his son to me. Edward never spoke, never betrayed me. "He fled the moment he caught my scent. Edward attempted to track him while I was attending you."

"I lost the scent at the water's edge," Edward said bluntly. He didn't elaborate.

"I doubt that he would wait around. Most of us are nomadic, and I'm sure he's no different. Nomads tend to leave if there's even a possibility that they might be discovered." Carlisle looked at me, his eyes full of sympathy. "I'm certain that he's moved on. He can't hurt you anymore."

I wasn't worried about being hurt. I knew that I was capable of things that I never was as a human. I remembered the sound it made when Esme and I clasped hands. I remembered my speed, my strength. I remembered how strong his hands felt when he was snapping my bones, and I thought I could best him.

Edward was staring at me with his eyes narrowed. I couldn't possibly care less that he was hearing every thought and every plan. He wouldn't be able to stop me. No one could.

Carlisle still looked at me with his pitying expression. I wanted to rip it from his face. I didn't want his pity. I didn't want his fathering or his coddling. I didn't need it.

Edward snapped. "Get hold of yourself." Carlisle looked his way, puzzled at the angry expression on his face.

Suddenly, Esme was back in the room. She looked from Carlisle to Edward to me. The tension was palpable in the air, like electricity before a storm. "Perhaps it's time we went hunting again, Rosalie."

"It's a little early," Carlisle said, confused. "She doesn't seem thirsty."

"Yes, a little early," Esme agreed. "But I think she may need a break from you two and your theorizing." She sounded reproachful.

"Perhaps," Carlisle said. He seemed disturbed at her vague suggestion that their conversation had been inappropriate. I found her interference annoying. I wanted to know. I deserved to know.

And, for my plans to move forward, I would need to know everything I possibly could about John. About the incubus who killed me.