Chapter 10

Insurrection

Edward was fucked up again, but deriving any pleasure from the drugs was something long past. Now he just tried to keep himself as numb as possible.

The cigarette in his hand had burned down to ash, but he didn't notice. He was drinking a glass of heroin-laced blood because he could no longer bear to use live donors, not after Bella, and he stared endlessly into its depths. He didn't want to think. For periods of time, he was able to drift in a sea of nothingness and then something would jolt him back to hateful reality.

Someone sat down beside him. He cast them a glance and dropped his glass in shock. It shattered on the bar, making the bartender jump and yelp. He dimly heard the bartender say something about cleaning up the mess and saw the flash of a towel, but his eyes were on the person who occupied the seat beside his own.

Emmett.

The one person he expected he would never see again. He'd tried to make the break as final as possible.

"Hello, Edward," Emmett said, his face bland and impassive.

"Why are you here?" Edward asked.'

"I'm here because I need your help. Bella needs your help."

"My help? For what?"

Emmett began speaking and Edward could barely credit the words coming out of his mouth. "Lauren hired an assassin to kill Bella? Lauren?" Edward wouldn't have suspected Lauren had the balls to do something like that.

"Twice," Emmett said. "The second one is now a pile of ashes in Bella's driveway. Some little Japanese chick who thought she was tough shit with a sword. I showed her differently. Bella doesn't know about it and I'm not going to volunteer the information if I don't have to. She's scared and traumatized enough as it is."

"Where is Bella now?"

"She's with Esme Cullen."

"Christ, Emmett, why didn't you just dump her on the freeway to play in the traffic?"

"It was all I could think of on short notice. Besides, Jenks is there."

"Why can't you take her home?"

"Because she has no home. Someone torched her house last night."

Bella was dreaming of pancakes.

She was cooking them at the stove and putting them on a plate in front of Emmett who swore he wasn't eating them but they kept disappearing. Bella was really enjoying the dream, especially because she'd had nothing but nightmares every time she closed her eyes for more than a minute.

Emmett heard her laughing softly in her sleep and babbling something about a spatula, and he was relieved that she wasn't having bad dreams, for once. Maybe she would be able to sleep that night undisturbed. He decided he'd allow himself a few hours of rest, too. He'd been surviving on an hour or two every few days because he was afraid to leave Bella alone.

Last night, it had been the Japanese woman. Fortunately, Emmett had been taking the recyclables down to the curb when she appeared in the driveway and attacked. She was skilled, but he was better. Getting the sword away from her had been the work of a minute. (He'd decided to keep it. It was a really nice sword.)

Bella was in danger, serious danger and he needed help. He hated to admit it, but he needed Edward. Who better to guard Bella than one of the strongest vampires on the planet, one whom even the Volturi feared? But first, he had to find him. Edward's cell phone number had been disconnected and he hadn't returned to the apartment.

Emmett knew Edward's hideouts better than anyone so he intended to start searching them one by one tomorrow, but he needed someone to guard Bella while he did it. Therein lay his problem; he couldn't think of anyone he trusted enough and was strong enough to guard her. He dozed off, still pondering his problem.

The pancakes were burning. Bella tried to wave away the smoke but it kept getting thicker. She frowned in annoyance because it was ruining a perfectly good dream. Suddenly she realized that the smoke was real and sat up in bed. She drew in a breath to call out Emmett's name and got a lung full of thick, black smoke. Coughing, gagging, eyes watering, she called out to Emmett and shook him. She couldn't wake him!

"Emmett!" she screamed, panic starting to eat at the edges of her reason. What should she do? What should she do? "EMMETT!"

His eyes opened, registered the terror in Bella's face, and he rolled out of bed into a defensive crouch. Bella coughed again, pulling her nightgown up over her nose. Emmett turned and kicked at the bedroom wall, breaking through the drywall and wood lathe, creating a hole large enough for them. He grabbed Bella out of the bed, wrapping her in the comforter and jumped through the hole. Instantly, his skin began to tingle and he looked to the east. Dawn. Oh, fuck. Whomever had set this fire intended to kill both of them.

Thank whatever gods may be that he had fallen asleep with his clothes on. His car keys were in his pocket. He ran for the Stingray and put Bella down on her feet beside it. "Honey, listen close. I gotta speak fast. The dawn is coming and I have to hide, so I'm getting in the trunk of the car. I need you to drive to 227 North Baxter Street. When you get there, ask for Jenks. Tell him what's happened and he'll help you." He opened the trunk and pressed the keys into Bella's hand with a swift kiss. He crammed himself inside the trunk and pulled the lid down just as the sun broke over the horizon.

Bella opened the driver's door and got inside. "Emmett, can you hear me?"

"Yes, Bella." Emmett's voice was faint and muffled, filtering in through the back seat.

"Now might not be the greatest time to tell you I don't know how to drive a car."

With Emmett shouting to be heard over the sound of the engine, Bella slowly navigated her way toward Baxter Street. Emmett's seat didn't go up far enough and Bella was having trouble reaching the pedals, pressing on them with the tips of her bare toes. Thank God it was an automatic or they'd never have gotten out of the driveway.

She crept along the streets at barely more than a walking pace and the car wove all over the road like a drunken whale. Cars honked at her. People leaned out of their windows and screamed ugly things as they passed. She prayed that she wouldn't be pulled over. What if the cop wanted to look in the trunk? She had a horrible vision of herself leading the police on a low-speed chase while a cop trotted alongside, pounding on the window.

She finally managed to find the address but faced a terrible new obstacle: parallel parking. She tried to point the nose of the car into the parking spot but the back end stuck out into the road. She pulled back out, making a car coming up behind her swerve and blare the horn. She tried backing in. Crunch! Oh shit! She'd hit the car behind her. It shook on its springs like an angry bovine. She hit the gas. Crunch! Oh, Christ, she'd hit it again.Bella laid her forehead on the steering wheel. She'd forgot to put it back in "D".

"It's okay, Bella. It's okay!" Emmett yelled from the trunk, but his voice sounded pained.

She put the car in "D" and tried to straighten it out. Crunch! She'd hit the car in front of her, too. Its alarm started wailing like the car was in pain. "I'm sorry, Emmett! It's just the hood is so long ..."

A man came out of the building and stood on the sidewalk, watching as Bella banged repeatedly into the car in front, the car in back and the parking meter for good measure. She finally had das boot wedged sufficiently into the parking spot. The man on the sidewalk gave her a slow clap. Bella gave him the finger. He laughed and came over to the driver's side door. Bella rolled down the window an inch. Her bent down, his face on her level and grinned at her. "Jason Jenks, miss. Attorney at law. You ... um ... seem to be in need of one."

"Emmett told me to find you," Bella said.

Jason Jenks never took his eyes off her as he hit a button on his key fob. The alarm on the car ahead of her silenced.

"I hit a lawyer's car?" she said, throwing up her hands. "Someone is trying to kill me. My house burned down. And now I've hit a lawyer's car. A lawyer I flipped off. Perfect."

"Two lawyers, actually," Jenks said cheerfully. "My partner's car is the one behind you."

Bella laid her head on the steering wheel again. "I think I'll stay right here lest I step out and cause a nuclear meltdown or something."

Jenks laughed. "Really, it's no big deal. Emmett pays me enough to cover any incidental damage his girlfriend may cause. I assume you're Bella? The one with the restaurant?"

She nodded. "That's me."

"Come inside. I'll get you a cup of coffee. You look like you need it."

"What about Emmett?" Bella asked. "He's in the trunk."

"He'll be all right for a while. After we've had a little chat, I'll take you both to a safe place."

That's how Bella came to be ensconced in the home of Esme Cullen. Esme had been changed at thirty-five years old by her new husband around the time of the Civil War. He'd always taken care of her and kept her extremely sheltered. Inside her home, it was still, and always would be, 1861. When he was killed by a freak accident a few years ago, Esme was suddenly thrust into a world she didn't understand. She'd been lost until she found Jenks. Bella got a crash course in what a "dayman" was and why they were so important to vampires like Esme who had a tough time adapting to new technology.

She and Bella were of similar build, so Esme offered to loan her some clothing so Bella could shower and get the stench of smoke off her skin. Bella, red-faced, explained to both of them about her "quirks" and why she could never stand to wear someone else's clothes. Esme had sent Jenks out immediately with orders to buy Bella some new clothes which she obligingly washed while Bella sat on her sofa, still wearing her nightgown and wrapped in a comforter. The only two things in the world that she owned now.

The house was a complete loss. Jenks had checked it out while he was fetching Bella some clothing (and when Esme had asked him to get her "some" clothing, it turned out to be an entire wardrobe. Thankfully, Jenks had listened to her descriptions of what she liked, but it sure seemed strange for a man she'd just met to be buying her underwear.) Whomever had started the fire had done their job well and the house had burned down to the foundation, despite the efforts of the local fire department. It was nothing but a smoking pit of twisted black timbers when Jenks arrived. He had taken some pictures on his phone but Bella didn't want to see them.

Before lunch, Bella was wearing a new cotton flower-print dress and felt a little more like herself. Using the shower in the upstairs bathroom had caused her a bit of anxiety, but Bella had found some disinfectant cleaner below the sink and had vigorously scrubbed the tub and walls before getting in it.

Emmett's car had been driven to the property and Emmett had finally gotten out of the trunk when the car was safely inside the attached garage. He looked at the buckled bumper and fender but held a cheerful demeanor. "For someone who had never driven a car or had any instruction, you did pretty good, actually."

"Thanks," Bella muttered.

"I need to talk to you, sweetheart," he said. They went into the room Esme referred to as her parlor and sat down on dainty chairs that looked like they belonged in a museum. "You're in danger, Bella."

"I know that," she replied softy, looking down at the hands clasped in her lap. "It's that crazy Lauren girl. I bet she's the one who burned my house."

Her house. It hit her suddenly that everything was gone. All of her parents' possessions. All of the furniture that had been handed down though generations of her family. All of their photos. Her greenhouse. Everything. Gone. Tears filled her eyes.

Emmett knelt before her and pulled her into his arms. She laid her head on his shoulder and let herself cry a little. "I promise you, sweetheart. That woman will pay for what she's done."

Bella wiped at her cheeks. "That won't bring back all that I've lost."

"I need to ask you something," he said tersely. "Would you object to Edward being around to help protect you?"

"I'm not afraid of him, if that's what you mean." She would not tell Emmett that in some of her dreams, her attackers' faces had morphed into Edward's. "I don't think he'd ever do ... that again."

"As much as I hate to say it,, Bella, he's the best person to protect you. He's powerful, and we need that right now. I can't do it alone. I'm afraid to rest, afraid to leave you to go feed. Look what happened this morning: I decided to get a couple hours of sleep and almost let you get incinerated."

"That wasn't your fault," Bella said firmly.

"Yeah, sure," Emmett said, but Bella knew he'd never agree with her.

"Now, it's my turn to ask you something, Emmett." She took a deep breath. "Would it be better for you right now if I was a vampire?"

He was silent for a long moment. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I wouldn't be as ... breakable. I could fight and protect myself."

"Bella, sweetheart, I would never want you to make a decision like this out of fear. After the Lauren problem is taken care of, we'll discuss it, if you still think you may want to go through the change. But right now, you wouldn't be much more help, combat-wise. You'd be a fledgling still trying to figure out how to adapt to you new senses and strength."

"All right," she said.

He kissed her. "I'm going out to find Edward. I'd like you to stay here with Esme and Jenks. The house is pretty secure and they have a lot of dogs roaming the grounds which would give warning if any vampire tried to approach."

Esme appeared in the doorway. "Bella, would you like some lunch?"

Bella smiled politely. "No, thank you, Esme."

Esme looked disappointed at not being able to try cooking lunch for her guest, but she smiled and said that the refrigerator was full of "human food" if Bella got hungry.

Emmett had another thing to add to his mental list. It was going to be hard feeding Bella outside of her super-sanitized kitchen.

Esme, as it turned out, liked rap music and they spent the afternoon playing board games while Jay-Z's "Black Album" played in the background. When Emmett returned late that evening with Edward in tow, 99 Problems was playing (Bella was becoming sort of fond of the song) and Esme was singing along. Edward followed behind Emmett, his eyes fastened to the carpet.

"Good evening, ladies," Emmett said. "Esme, is it possible that we could impose upon your hospitality and add another guest for the afternoon?"

"Certainly," Esme said. "The more the merrier, as they say. Edward Masen, isn't it?"

Edward's eyes flicked up to her. They looked dull and washed out over the dark purple bruises beneath. Edward's suit was badly rumpled. "Yes, ma'am," Edward replied. He looked even worse than the night he'd drank from her. Bella's sympathy went into overdrive and, as was her personality, she blamed herself for his condition.

"Well," Esme said brightly as if he'd turned on his normal charm and they'd bantered a bit. "I'll show you to your rooms."

"I need to make a call," Edward said suddenly. Esme showed him a telephone perched on one of her inlaid tables. Edward dialed a long string of numbers and spoke in rapid Italian to whomever was on the other end of the line. He ended the call after only a few minutes and came back over to them. "I'm sorry. It's just- Well, I had an idea, something that might help protect Bella. I'm hoping my friend can get it delivered by tomorrow."

They followed Esme up the stairs to three guest rooms, each decorated in Victorian antiques. Like many vampires, Esme preferred to be surrounded by things from her own lifetime. Emmett and Bella settled down for the night in the big canopy bed. Bella's stomach growled and Emmet frowned. "Bella, we've got to get some food in you. You haven't eaten in over twenty-four hours."

Bella was embarrassed. "Emmett, I can't ..." she trailed off, twisting the fabric of her dress between her fingers.

"If I helped you clean Esme's kitchen, do you think you could eat something?"

Bella was aghast. "I can't clean her kitchen, Emmett! That would be so rude!"

"Bella, we have to do something. You can't just go without food. You'll make yourself sick." Emmett suddenly had an idea. "What if I boiled you some eggs? They'd be nice and clean inside the shell."

Bella smiled. "That sounds great, Emmett."

He went downstairs and Bella decided to go down the hall to the bathroom. Bella put tissue down over the seat before using the toilet. She knew it was clean because she had cleaned it herself, but she still just couldn't stand to touch another person's bathroom, even though that person was a vampire and never actually used it.

On her way out, she ran into Edward who was restlessly prowling the halls. He stopped and Bella stopped, too. The tormented look on his face made her want to give him a hug, but that might only make the situation worse.

"Bella, I'm so sorry for what I did to you," he said, his eyes intent.

Bella nodded. "I forgive you, but the person I think you need to speak to is Emmett. He's more hurt by it than I am."

Edward ran a hand through his hair. "I- I don't think-"

Emmett appeared with a small bowl containing her boiled eggs. "Bella?"

"Thank you, Emmett," she said, going to him and kissing him on the cheek. She took the bowl and went into their bedroom, hopping up on the end of the bed. She cracked open an egg, discarding the shell in the bowl and her stomach growled with a vengeance at the first bite. "Wow, I didn't even notice how hungry I was," Bella said.

"What did Edward say to you?" Emmett asked.

"He apologized. Emmett, I think that you and he should talk. Holding on to your anger isn't a healthy way to deal with this."

"I know, Bella, but I-" Emmett cut off, and sat in the chair by the bed. "I just can't."

Bella cracked open another egg. "Well, I heard of this great therapist the other day, Dr. Cullen. Maybe you should call him."

Emmett laughed. "If you weren't eating right now, I'd tickle you until you screamed."

Bella finished her eggs and tiptoed down the hall to brush her teeth. She didn't see Edward; she thought he had probably returned to his room and breathed a sigh of relief. When she returned, Emmett was waiting for her, hiding behind the door. She looked around, confused and he pounced. Bella gave a shriek of laughter as he gently tossed her onto the bed and dove atop her.
"Mmm, Emmett, what are you doing?" she asked as he began slowly opening her dress buttons and kissing the exposed flesh.

"Three guesses," Emmett murmured, pushing aside the cup of her bra. Bella arched and gasped as he took her nipple into his mouth.

"Emmett, we can't. We're guests in Esme's house."

"Sweetheart, you're in a vampire's house. It's expected. If we didn't she would worry we'd been uncomfortable or something."

Bella giggled, and forgot what she was going to say as he unsnapped her bra.

Edward could hear them.

He couldn't sleep. He hadn't been able to sleep for weeks. He wandered around Esme's house and finally found a book in her library to read. He started back up the stairs toward his room and that's when he heard it. Bella's soft, breathy moan and then a sharp gasp of pleasure.

He stopped in front of their door, his hand braced on the door frame. He knew he should walk away, but he stood rooted to the spot. Emmett would know he was out here; he would have heard Edward's footsteps.

Bella cried out and Edward's fingers tightened on the wood door frame, grinding it to powder. He inhaled and he could faintly smell-

"Edward."

He turned his head. Esme stood at the top of the stairs. She beckoned to him and he followed, reluctantly.

She led him outside to the rose garden. Blessed silence. Blessed clean air, free of Bella's tantalizing scent. Esme pulled a shawl around her shoulders, more out of habit than anything, since vampires weren't bothered by chilly air.

"You're in love with her," Esme stated.

Edward din't reply. He took a seat on the garden bench and stared at the marble fountain in the center of the garden.

"Is that the trouble between you and Emmett? The two of you used to be a thick as thieves." Esme took a seat beside him and Edward suppressed the urge to shove her off.

"Edward, I hate to see you hurting," Esme said softly.

"As soon as I find Lauren and make Bella safe again, I'm gone," Edward said tonelessly. "I'll go to Europe. Maybe Asia. And I'll never bother them again."

"You've been friends with Emmett since-"

"Not any more," Edward said, his voice clipped and terse.

"Oh, Edward, you can't let your feelings for Bella destroy a friendship of centuries-"

"Esme, drop it. It's finished. I ... did something. Something wrong. Something Emmett won't forgive." A ghost of a smile flitted across his lips. "If I were in his shoes, I wouldn't forgive it, either."

That afternoon, a small package arrived for Edward Masen. Esme brought it to his room, marveling at this brave new world in which a package could be delivered overnight from Italy. In her day, such a thing would take months. She tapped lightly on the door and Edward opened it.

"Oh, good," he said, spotting the small box in her hands. He opened it and held the necklace aloft. "Perfect."

While Bella was dressing that evening, Edward approached Emmett and explained what they needed to do. Emmett pricked his finger and filled the small vial with blood and handed it to him. Edward sealed it with wax from the small tealight candle he'd brought. The top of the pendant had a small latch which he opened and the hinged top flipped back to admit the little vials.

Edward presented Bella with the necklace when she came downstairs to the parlor. "What is it?" she asked, holding the small boxy harm in her hand. It was small, about an inch square, with silver filigree framing the vials on the corners, the center with an opening large enough for a fingertip.

"A friend of mine in Italy is a silversmith. He made this for you last night. Those two little vials hold a bit of blood from me and Emmett. If you're approached by a strange vampire, push your thumb into the opening and break the vials. At the very least, the vampire ought to pause and wonder why you have carry the scent of two powerful vampires, and it might make them back off, or at least give you a few seconds while they're thinking about it to get away or call for help." He looped the chain around Bella's neck. "I don't know how long the blood would stay effective, so Emmett and I will refresh the contents of the vials every evening."

"Thank you, Edward," Bella said. "It was kind for you and your friend to go to all this trouble."

"Anything, Bella," Edward rasped, his voice raw with pain. Emmett came up behind Bella and wrapped possessive arms around her. Edward looked away.

"I spoke to Victoria this evening," Edward said. I think the best way to keep her safe would be to take her to the Queen's court. Victoria owes me a favor. If Bella is with the queen, she'll be guarded by the Queen's security team and a few members of the Volturi, which will give you and I a chance to track down Lauren without having to worry about Bella's safety."

Emmett considered. "That's a good idea."

Edward gave Bella a lopsided smile, so unlike his old cocky, crooked grin that Bella inwardly winced. "Pack up, Pussycat," he told her. "We're off to London to visit the Queen."

"England?" Bella asked.

"No." Edward smirked and put on a pair of sunglasses. "London, Ohio."

The Queen of the Vampires was wearing sweats and sitting on the floor while she and her husband played Call of Duty on XBox. She paused the game and stood up to greet Bella. The Queen had long, curly flame-red hair and blue eyes that twinkled with mischief. Bella liked her instantly.

The Queen was currently holding court in Ohio, where her husband James had been born long ago, and wherever the Queen went, the court went also. He'd had an urge to see his home town again, to see if the house in which he'd been born still stood and if he could find any of his childhood haunts. The Queen, who was utterly without sentimentality herself, rolled her eyes as she related this to Bella. Her husband tugged a lock of her hair in retaliation. "You will be sentimental one day, too, young Grasshopper."

"Yeah, whatever, grandpa," the Queen said, and took Bella's arm to show her to her room. Bella didn't even consider telling the Queen she didn't like to be touched.

The house they were renting was a sprawling Victorian in poor repair, but it was the largest house available in the area. Still, the members of the court were double and even triple-bunked.

"I had to evict my treasurer from this room so you and Emmett could have it," Victoria said, lowering her voice to a stage whisper. "But I don't care, I don't like him anyway."

"I heard that," someone shouted from downstairs and Victoria snickered.

Edward was bunked with Caius, the head of the Volturi. He and Edward disliked one another but they remained polite enough to discuss Bella's situation and the challenges it presented.

Victoria took Bella down to the first floor and showed her the kitchen. Bella stared, open-mouthed, in dismay. It wasn't just the film of dirt over everything that appalled her, but also that the room had been used as a storage area for the court's luggage.

"Um, yeah, sorry about that," the Queen said. "None of us brought any daymen with us so we didn't need the kitchen. I'll get someone down here to move all this shit and give the place a wipe-down, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," Bella said faintly, mentally calculating how many bottle of bleach it would take before she'd even let Emmett boil eggs for her in this kitchen.

With five vampires drafted into assisting, the luggage was quickly cleared and the cleaning began. Bella spent most of her time supervising because they apparently had no idea how to clean properly. Most of them had never so much as picked up their own socks from the floor, let alone scrubbed a kitchen.

"What the fuck is that stench?" said a high, sweet female voice from the doorway. Bella saw a short figure, their face blocked by the large load of paper grocery bags that the person was carrying.

"Bleach," the queen said as she followed her into the kitchen. "Did you get what I asked for?"

The girl dropped her load of bags on the top of the stove. She was a tiny figure, not even approaching the five foot mark, and so young. She couldn't be more than thirteen or fourteen. Bella couldn't believe that this child was a vampire but the Queen had said that no humans were brought with them.

The Queen gave them a quick introduction, "Bella, this is Jane, my head of security. Jane, this is Bella Swan."

Jane gave Bella a small smile and a "How do you do?" before turning her attention to the Queen. "Have you been to a grocery store lately?"

The queen said in a why tone, "Can't say that I have."

"They're amazing! They had vegetables that I'd never even heard of! Fruits from all over the world, out-of-season. And multiple types of everything. There were eight different kinds of apples! Eight!"

"You got organic wherever possible, right?" the Queen asked.

"Yeah," Jane said, shaking her head. "Apparently, you pay extra to have stuff like we used to eat. Plain, out of the ground potatoes and milk from a ordinary cow is something special, apparently. Do you want me to put this stuff away?" The last was directed to Bella.

"No, thank you," Bella said. "I have to clean before I can put the food away. Thank you for shopping for me."

"No problem," Jane grinned. "It was fun. Though the grocery store smelled just awful, especially the meat section."

"That's why I'm a vegetarian," Bella replied.

After the kitchen and implements were finally clean, Bella made herself some fried potatoes for dinner, something quick and easy. They had forgotten to get her any spices, so Bella had to eat them plain, but she was so hungry it didn't matter. She wolfed down the food and went upstairs in search of Emmett.

Exhausted from the three hour road trip (it should have taken six hours but it was a vampire driving a sports car) and the cleaning work, Bella went up to their room and flopped down on the bed. She must have dozed off because the next thing she knew, Emmett was removing her shoes and lifting her up to tuck her beneath the blankets. Bella caught his hand as he went to leave. "Stay," she implored, "I want to talk."

Emmett made himself comfortable on the bed beside her. "What's on your mind?"

"How long are we going to stay here?"

"Until the Volturi find Lauren. It shouldn't take long. Edward feels you're safe enough here and might even go back to Fort Washington to look for her himself."

"You wouldn't leave me here alone, would you, Emmett?"

Emmett hesitated. He wanted to be in on the hunt, find Lauren himself and wring her neck for all of the heartache and trouble she'd caused but he wouldn't leave Bella, not if she wanted him to stay. "I won't leave you, sweetheart."

"The queen is nice," Bella said, "But I really want to have my own place. Being in someone else's house is stressing me out."

"I know," Emmett said. "And I'm sorry that you're uncomfortable. As soon as Lauren is caught, we'll go back and either buy a new little house, or we could rebuild. Whichever you like."

"Why is it so hard to find Lauren? With so many people looking for her, shouldn't she have been caught by now?"

"She has a lot of friends, Bella, and the Volturi aren't exactly popular. She has people willing to hide her and lie about her whereabouts. But we'll find her. She can't hide forever."

Bella considered this. "Wouldn't it be easier if we set a trap for her? Maybe I could-"

"Be bait? No. Never going to happen. Too many things could go wrong. I need to know that you're safe, Bella. And here, you've got the best security possible."

"Have you met Jane?"

"Yes, I know Jane."

Bella tried to find a delicate way to phrase what bothered her. "She's so ... young."

Emmett nodded. "Yes, she is. Our laws forbid changing someone that young, in case that's what you're worried about. But Jane is from another era. In her time, fourteen was considered mature enough to marry for the upper classes. She was married to a French duke, a cruel and brutal man, from what I've heard, but incredibly rich, which was all her parents cared about. She was traveling to their summer residence when she was attacked by a vampire. Jane apparently bit the hell out of him because she ingested enough blood to go through the change."

"So, you don't need to drink a lot to change into a vampire?"

"There are various theories," Emmett said. "Some people believe that the more a person drinks before their change, the stronger they'll be as a vampire. But Jane is an incredible fighter and pretty sharp at tactics, which is why she's head of the Queen's personal security. We have a scientist who's doing a study to see if there's a direct correlation between consumption at the time of change and the vampire's resulting strength level."

"A vampire scientist?" This idea amused Bella who pictured a Victor Frankenstein-type with fangs.

"Yeah, her name is Alice. The girl is wicked smart. She discovered that vampires are real when she was in college and made a pest of herself asking questions and snooping around vampire clubs. They kept erasing her memory but she kept extensive notes in multiple locations so she kept figuring it out and going right back to doing her research. Finally, the exasperated owner of one of those clubs dumped her on the floor in front of the Queen and said, essentially, that if the queen didn't do something about this annoying little chit, he was going to swat her like a fly. The Queen decided that someone with Alice's smarts and curiosity would be a great asset to our kind and offered to change her.

"Since then, Alice has researched various aspects of vampirism. She discovered a way to preserve blood and keep it drinkable. Everyone asked her why she didn't keep the formula a secret so she could make tons of money off being the only one to be able to bottle blood, but Alice quoted Jonas Salk. 'Can you patent the sun?' The Queen pays her a salary and pays for her equipment; Alice said she doesn't need more than that.

"Anyway, she discovered that vampirism is actually a virus. Once introduced to the bloodstream, it spreads very rapidly, altering the DNA of the host. It switches off the aging gene, replaces the heart and other organs with a stomach that pumps blood around the body and grants enhanced senses, et cetera."

"She sounds amazing."

"She is. I was hoping she'd be at court, but she's probably off God-knows-where studying God-knows-what in some dusty library."

"Emmett?"

"Hmm?"

Bella's voice was small. "Do you want to change me?"

Emmett closed his eyes. "Bella, I can't imagine a future without you. But if you don't want to be what I am, I respect your decision and I'll stay with you through the rest of your life."

"I'd look silly when I'm a little old lady and you still young and gorgeous."

Emmett grinned. "Gorgeous, am I?"

"Vanity of vanities. All is vanity," Bella said.

"For a girl who doesn't believe in God, you sure quote the Bible a lot."

"Some of the most beautiful English poetry of the 17th century is found in the King James version," Bella said. "Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah ..."

Emmett's eyes darkened as he recalled the first time she had quoted that to him. He rolled over and tenderly brushed back Bella's hair. "My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away."

"I would follow you anywhere, Emmett. Wither thou goest, I will go."

Emmett kissed her and snuggled into her embrace. They lay there quietly for a while and Emmett thought to himself that her arms was the only home he'd ever need.

Lauren was seated at the desk in her hotel room writing the Declaration of Independence.

She was pretty proud of herself for thinking this up. It was problem-solving at its finest. Bella was stashed away with the Queen where Lauren couldn't get to her. Solution: take down the Queen and her court. Over the last week, Lauren had been quietly circulating in the underground clubs and what she had found was a great deal of resentment to the Queen's rule.

Right now, the queen was vulnerable in her rented house in Ohio instead of in her stone tower in Italy. No direct assault could take down her guard in that tower, but out in the open in Ohio? If she could stir up rebellion, the Queen and the Volturi would be too busy to protect Bella. All she needed was a distraction. Lauren was sure her plan would work.

Tonight, she was having a meeting in one of Fort Washington's old movie theaters and she knew she was taking a risk. The Volturi were hunting her and loyalty of friends only went so far. If any one of them decided to betray her to save their own skin, well, her goose would be cooked.

She didn't think she'd get a big turn-out since this meeting was strictly arranged through word of mouth, but hell, the Boston Tea Party had been only a couple of guys in crappy Indian costumes, right? And look what that had started.

What she needed was a rousing speech. Thank God for the internet. She'd been able to take bits and pieces and re-word where necessary. She finished typing and printed out the document.

She dressed carefully, in the new gray suit she had purchased. She used makeup sparingly and pulled her hair back into a low pony tail. She grinned at herself in the mirror. She looked like Hillary fuckin' Clinton in this get-up. She straightened her shoulders and practiced looking dignified as she gave her speech. Awesome.

When she arrived at the movie theater, her friend Emily met her at the side entrance. "Wow, Laurie, you look like a school principal."

"Thanks," Lauren said. "Did anyone show up?"

"Standing room only!" Emily said, jumping up and down in excitement.

"You're kidding," Lauren gasped.

"No, seriously! The place is packed."

Holy shit. Lauren walked backstage in a bit of a daze. She checked herself one last time and peeked through the curtains. Emily hadn't been exaggerating. The room was full. Lauren had hoped for half a dozen.

Now all she had to do was convince them to start a revolution.

She walked out to the podium and polite clapping greeted her. She gave a little bow and smiled at the crowd. She picked out the faces of many friends but the majority of them were strangers, having only in common a discontent with their leadership.

"Friends," Lauren said when they had settled down. "I come to you today to discuss something that has long been whispered among us, though many will not voice it aloud for fear of reprisal. But it is time to break the silence.

"I stand before you and say the words that stirred our country more than two hundred years ago, 'Give me Liberty, or give me death!' I speak of the love of freedom, and the rights of vampire-kind, a strong desire to save from slavery's chain. The question I put before this gathering is one of great importance. I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery.

"Twenty years ago, we in the vampire community lost something, our autonomy. We were summarily informed that we had a new Queen, someone we did not select ourselves by the democratic principles of this nation, but rather someone who was thrust upon us by the council. Did they choose a leader based on qualifications? No! On the basis of a birthmark was this woman made our ruler. This woman, this fledgling, forced upon us new laws, laws that go against our very nature as the supreme predators of this planet."

There were a few cheers from the audience.

Lauren pushed onward: "And whomever she decides have violated these arbitrary laws, she puts to death. No trial of our peers, no right to counsel, no right to appeal. For thousands of years, we vampires managed our own affairs, but now she tells us how to live."

"Goddam right!" a man in the front row shouted. A few more added their voices. The mood in the room was one of swelling anger, and Lauren was delighted.

"We were told we had to register ourselves, to beg for permission before creating new vampires, and to surrender our God-given place at the top of the food chain. We are all now imprisoned under the yoke of the Queens henchmen, the Volturi.

And what have we to oppose to them? Shall we try argument, supplication, petitions? That has been tried and tried again, but the Queen holds herself as final judge in the matter and she will not be swayed by words.

"Do not think that I am eager for conflict. I wish that the Queen would listen to reason, but even more, I wish that we had no Queen. There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free as God intended us, we must fight! If it must be war, let it come. Let it come. War with all our might and with all the strength God has given us, war against a monstrous tyranny!"

More cheers, louder, stronger, the voices blending into a roar of approval.

"I repeat it, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God which made us is all that is left for us! Together, we are strong. The Volturi can crush an individual but not a united front. Mark my words, my friends. The tyrants cannot stand against us all!"

She took a deep breath and shouted, "Who will join me?"

She heard numerous shouts in reply and she yelled it again, "Who will join me?"

And it was the whole room which erupted in agreement.

Lauren held aloft the page she had printed earlier, "This is our declaration. Our Declaration of Independence. Put your name to it if your heart yearns for freedom, if you believe it's our destiny for all of us to be our own master and to throw off the yoke of tyranny. I myself have resolved to shed my blood in the name of the most noble cause of all: freedom!"

"Freedom! Freedom!" The shout was taken up until it became a chant. They formed a line, each eager to put their names to the document that made them traitors in the eye of the Queen, even having to turn over the page to fit all the signatures.

Lauren suddenly realized how big this could become. She could go down in the vampire annals as a Patrick Henry-type, minus the whole hanging thing.