Bella.

"Why did you have to cut yourself?" Seth grumbled irritably, wrapping a torn piece of his shirt firmly around my hand.

I made a face. "I didn't do it on purpose."

"They can smell it," he replied. "You're very easily tracked even when you're not bleeding, Bella. Edward says so all the time - "

He saw my face when he mentioned the name, and stopped.

"You're gonna see him again," he promised. "That's why we all flew over here for - to save you. It's going to be okay."

"All?" I stared at him, curling into an even tighter ball against the little hole in the rocks where we were hiding. Everything was utterly silent. We were lost, but at least we weren't being followed anymore. Something had changed.

He gave me a nervous look. "Well, all the Cullens came," he muttered. "Not all of...of us."

"It's okay, Seth," I smiled sadly. "You're an idiot for flying all the way to Italy and freaking your mom and Leah out, but I really appreciate - "

"Leah's here too," he interjected.

My eyebrows rose. "Um...why? Last I heard, she wasn't exactly my biggest fan."

Seth looked worried again. I usually saw that expression on Jacob's face when I used private pack details; like he was trying to find some backward, rearranged way of telling me without giving me the whole truth.

"She didn't come for you," he admitted finally.

Again, I assured him that it was completely fine to not know the pack's every secret. Looking guilty but relieved, he nodded.

We were both pointedly avoiding the elephant in the room, but at last, Seth couldn't seem to take it anymore.

"I'm scared for Jake," he whispered, his young face pulled down with sadness. "I wish I had have resisted his orders... I wanted to stay and fight. But I'm glad you're safe, at least," he shrugged, dragging his tendon-lined hand through his long hair.

I slid my hand in his. I couldn't offer any words of comfort, because in truth, I was as scared as he was.

"At least he had Leah with him," he added.

"Huh?"

I lifted my gaze back to his. "I thought there were only the two of you."

He shook his head. "No, three. Leah got lost and lagged behind, but all three of us decided that the Cullens and their instructions could get screwed, so we followed Edward and Alice to help - "

"What?" I yelped. My voice carried down the stretching tunnel, and Seth clapped his hand over my mouth with a fierce, "Shhhh!"

I glared at him from beneath his hand. He removed it warily, as if ready to return it should I make another peep. "Sorry, I wasn't supposed to tell you. Edward and Alice went to try and negotiate with the Volturi."

My fingers slid to my lips as I moaned. "Oh, no..."

"What?" Seth wanted to know. "No one would tell me anything. Carlisle mentioned something about an arrow..."

"He's a vampire," I said.

"Carlisle? I kind of noticed - "

"No, not him. Aro. He's one of the three Volturi leaders," I explained, scenarios playing in rapid fire through my mind. I remembered how Jane had reduced Edward to a cowering, gasping, writhing thing as he tried not to yell from the illusion of pain she caused...

"Oh, right," Seth replied, not really comprehending the gravity of the situation. He looked down the tunnel again, checking we didn't have any more unwanted visitors.

I needed to sort this out... "I think he brought me here for a reason. I think...he was trying to draw Edward here. But not to kill him. I was just the lure... Aro is the hook. He wants something."

Then I remembered last year, how he'd been so fascinated with Edward's and Alice's abilities - and to an extent, mine, should I eventually become a vampire. "He...wants them to become apart of the Volturi," I concluded. "Edward said he'd never do that. Oh God, I hope he doesn't do anything stupid just because I'm in trouble again."

"I think you're a little more than in trouble," Seth argued. "You have a pack of royal pains in the vampass after you, Bella. I'd go as far as to say you're up the proverbial creek without a proverbial paddle - a creek that's full of acid, and a boat that's full of holes."

I scowled. "What happened to that trademark Seth-Clearwater-optimism?"

He looked sullen. "I lost it when I lost track of Jacob and Leah."

That shut me up.

"How long do we wait here?" I asked gently. "I want them to be okay as much as you do, Seth. You need to know that. I'm sorry again that I cut my hand, but it's okay now - you can phase back and try to hear them."

Without looking at me, he nodded. "Sorry I'm being unfriendly," he sighed. "I'm so worried... it killed me to leave them behind. Leah was supposed to come with us. She...she managed to resist the Alpha order."

"Wow," I said in a low voice. I knew vaguely how important that apparently was. Only now, Seth thought he was weak for not being able to do the same, to help Jacob and his sister. With a final inspection of the tunnel, he shuddered and phased into his wolf form. I could hear him holding his breath, struggling to hear traces of them.

And after thirty seconds, he let out the most devastating moan I'd ever heard. The sound of it scared the life of me, but the impact of it broke my heart.

...Something terrible had happened.