Chapter Three: Conversations

"Hey, you guys... where's short stuff?"

The other werewolves stopped and looked at Quil. "I thought she was right behind us," Jacob said, confused. He looked around.

"No, she's not here." Leah was frowning. "Last I saw, she was still hanging out with that new bloodsucker girl."

"A bloodsucker?" Paul growled. "We left her alone with a bloodsucker?"

"They'll eat her!" Quil cried.

Embry slapped him on the back of the head. "Vampires don't eat people," he told him. "They just suck their blood."

"Because that's so much better," Leah said sarcastically. Then she looked around. "Hey—where did Jacob go?"

Sam looked around too, and sighed. "He went after Nikita."

The spider collapsed. It had been a relatively long battle, but for the most part, Gracie and Niki were unscathed. Gracie looked up at Niki and grinned. "You aren't half-bad with that thing."

Niki laughed, flashing her katana. "I have been training for nine years."

The two girls were laughing when, out of the trees, a second spider demon lunged forward and sank its fangs into the back of Niki's neck.

Her scream was cut off almost as soon as it began. The paralyzing venom traced through her blood, spreading all throughout her body. Gracie started forward, but the spider—Niki still dangling from its fangs—took off into the trees.

"Edward!" Gracie was screaming. "Edward!"

Jacob burst through the trees, eyes wild. "Where's Niki?" he cried.

Gracie pointed at the dead spider. "That thing's friend came and carried her off!"

"Where did it go?" he snarled.

She shook her head. "Jacob, don't. We have to get the others!"

"WHERE DID IT GO?!"

"That way—Jacob—"

Jacob wasn't listening anymore. He had already started off in the indicated direction.

Gracie bit her lip. "I didn't want to do this, but..." She appeared in front of Jacob and, gently for a vampire, prodded his clavicle with her thumb. She hit the pressure point she'd been aiming for and he fell, unconscious.

She caught him. "Now you're unconscious, and that's no help," she grouched. "I wish you'd listened to me." Throwing him over her shoulder, she darted off in the direction that the Cullens had gone.

"Edward!"

Edward turned at the sound of his name, spotting Gracie hauling an unconscious Jacob.

"What happened?" he asked, the others crowding around and asking the same question.

"Niki got kidnapped and this idiot came looking for her—he was going to run off by himself. I knew that wouldn't be a good idea. We have to go after her, though!"

Edward didn't even really stop to think about it. He took off in the direction they had just come from, Gracie and the others quickly following.

The werewolves and the vampires showed up at the scene of the crime simultaneously. Paul, seeing Gracie carrying the unconscious Jacob, walked over and snatched him away. Dropping him on the ground, he leaned down and slapped him on the cheek.

"Ow... what the..." Jacob blinked groggily.

"Wake up. We have to go save Tinkerbelle."

"Who...?"

"Niki, Jake," Quil said. "Come on. We have to go after her."

The vampires waited silently while the pack brought Jacob up to date. Gracie described the creature that had run off with Niki. Jacob was on his feet in a moment. "What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Niki was aware of her surroundings, but she found herself unable to move. The numbness was a good thing, though, she decided, since there were two gigantic spider fangs stuck in the back of her neck. She didn't want to be feeling those.

She was being carried through the woods, between the trees, at a speed she hadn't thought those spindly legs were capable of. Where is it taking me? she wondered. Back to its web to feed to its children? Ah, to be eaten by spider babies... an interesting way to die, at least. Too bad there's nobody to document my life. All the usual crap, and then I met a naked werewolf in the forest and... everything changed! How dramatic.

She watched the trees flashing past her with strange detachment. The venom in her blood was giving her a bizarre out-of-body feeling. Of course, she still couldn't move.

I hope Jacob hurries up and rescues me. This is getting a little too weird.

Gracie clung to Edward's back as he ran, resting her head on his shoulder. Her eyes were open, but unfocused; the trees blurred together as they flashed by. He smelled like cinnamon, she decided. And something else, too. Something cold. And then, of course, there was his own scent—the one that was pure Edward, clean or dirty, human or vampire. His scent.

She inhaled deeply, enjoying his scent. She knew he was taken. She wasn't going to push her boundaries. But she could enjoy simply being with him, couldn't she? Shifting just a little, she turned her head to that her lips just barely brushed the cool skin of his neck, so lightly that he probably wouldn't even notice.

Something floral interrupted the smell of Edward. Lifting her head, Gracie gave the air a sniff. It smelled like flowers—several different kinds, if her nose was to be trusted.

Edward slowed a little as an end to the trees came into sight. A moment later, they burst into the sunlight, no longer blocked out by the forest canopy. An ocean of tall grass and wildflowers rolled out before them.

Edward stopped and grimaced. "The trail is lost here," he told the others. "We could never pick out their scent among all these flowers."

The werewolves hadn't heard him—they were too busy staring in awe at the vampires. Every inch of the vampires' bare skin was glittering and shimmering like a thousand diamonds. Gracie gasped—she had never seen this, either, so used to cloudy Forks.

"I'd forgotten it was sunny today," Alice remarked carelessly. Then, glancing at Gracie, "Oh, and I forgot that you haven't seen this yet. Yeah, this is why we don't go out in the sunlight. Thus the legend of the night-walking vampire is born." She grinned, flashing her pure white fangs.

"You're beautiful," Gracie breathed, sliding off of Edward's back almost unwillingly.

"Might I remind you that you're a vampire now, too?" Emmett told her. "You look the same way."

Lifting one hand, Gracie caught her breath. Miniscule rainbow sparkles flashed across her small, pale hand. "That's gorgeous."

The vampires knew the feeling—they had all been newborns, once, too—but the werewolves were tickled by her obvious wonder. It hadn't occurred to them that, of course, all the strange things about vampires that surprised them would surprise her, too.

"Well, where do we go from here?" Carlisle wondered aloud. "We've lost the trail."

"We can't give up!" Jacob snapped, stalking forward restlessly. "We have to find Niki!"

"No one suggested giving up," Sam said calmly. "We'll find the trail again somehow."

Rosalie frowned. "Well, they came into the field, didn't they?" she said slowly. "They'll have had to leave it somewhere, unless they're still here..."

The idea took a moment to settle in. "Brilliant," Leah gasped. "We loop all the way around the field until we pick up the scent going out!"

Emmett clapped Rosalie on the shoulder. "Nice work, Rosie," he said with a grin.

Edward motioned for Gracie to climb onto his back. "Come on," he told her. "You're with me."

"I can help look," she protested.

"No need. With the number of us here, we'll find it in no time."

They followed that plan. However, they found no scent leading out of the field.

"That means one of three things," Jasper said thoughtfully. "Either they left by air, they tunneled underground, or they're still here."

"They're here," Jacob said, his voice unexpectedly hollow. "I can feel her here... somewhere."

"I agree," Alice piped up. "I'm sure they're here."

But after they had searched the entire field, they still had found no sign. Yet, Jacob and Alice continued to insist that Niki was near, and soon Edward and Jasper were in agreement. They could all sense Niki near, whatever their gifts. The vampires could faintly smell her blood on the air, but Niki still might have left it earlier. Gracie, however, was firmly convinced that Niki was in the field, and not one step out of it.

Suddenly, Embry firmly sat down on the ground and folded his legs. "I'm tired," he announced. "We've been doing almost nothing but running for days. You guys can keep up this wild goose chase, but I'm taking a break."

"Niki is not a wild goose," Jacob snapped, but he sat next to Embry anyway.

The other werewolves quickly followed suit. The vampires, of course, didn't need rest, but Bella did and the others decided to wait with them and plan.

Everyone was talking amongst themselves when Alice suddenly stiffened, eyes going wide. Edward instantly recognized the signs and leaned in, waiting anxiously to hear what she saw.

When Alice's golden eyes lost their faraway cast, she was still stiff and paler than ever. "Can I speak with you?" she murmured to Edward. "Privately?"

Confused, Edward rose. Alice quickly followed. They walked far enough away from the others that the werewolves' and vampires' excellent hearing couldn't pick them up.

Alice stopped and grabbed Edward's sleeve, staring earnestly up at him. "I saw your future," she whispered.

Frowning, he tilted his head at her. "What happened?"

"It was the far future. A long time from now." Alice looked at him carefully, judging for his reaction. "Bella wasn't in it."

Edward kept his face blank.

Alice chewed her lip, wondering how much to tell him.

"Spit it out, Alice. What aren't you telling me?"

She forced a grin. "Can't you hear me thinking it?"

"No. You're blocking me again." He frowned fiercely at her. "I know there's something you're not telling me because you're translating that song into Arabic again. You only do that when you're thinking about something you don't want me to know."

She laughed and looked away. "Caught me," she said with a guilty smile.

"Spit it out," he replied impatiently.

She chewed her lip for a moment more, then sighed. "Gracie was there. In my vision."

He kept his face carefully neutral.

"You and she—were—" Alice seemed to be having trouble getting the words out. "Together," she finished at last. "Very obviously together. And you gave her that look that you sometimes give Bella, the one you have when all you can think about is how beautiful she is."

"Gracie and I are not together," Edward said, teeth gritted.

"I know that. But I thought you had a right to know what I saw." She looked away. "My visions are never failsafe. People change their minds, change their paths. Humans are too easily swayed. But..." She looked troubled. "Well, I just thought you should know."

"Thank you for your concern," Edward said, his voice clipped and icy. "Don't worry yourself about it." And he stalked off.

Emmett had scooted closer when Alice and Edward walked off, his motions hidden by the tall grass. He wanted to hear what Alice had seen. When she started speaking about Gracie, his eyes went wide. He quickly grabbed Jasper by the back of the shirt, harshly whispered, "You need to hear this," and pulled him over to his hiding spot. They both listened as Alice explained her vision.

Jasper shook his head. "Gracie has a right to know," he said in a low voice. Emmett nodded and they crawled off to find Gracie.

"Are you sure that's what she said?" Gracie's face, if possible, was whiter than before.

"Absolutely," Emmett said with confidence.

Gracie shook her head. "Edward loves Bella," she whispered. "You can see it in his face. He loves her."

"We know that, Gracie," Jasper said gently. "We just thought you had a right to know. We are not suggesting anything. But you did need to know what Alice said."

Gracie bit her lip. "I—um—thank you for telling me. I really don't think I'll be taking anything from this." She looked away. "Can you—can you give me a minute?"

"Of course," Jasper said, dragging Emmett away before he could protest.

When Edward had finally pulled himself together enough to face the others, he rejoined the group. Jasper was perfectly calm as always, but Emmett looked guilty and wouldn't meet his eyes. He tried reading both of their minds and found only distraction techniques like Alice's.

"Alright, what is it?" he demanded at last. "What are you hiding from me?"

Jasper looked up at him, eyebrows raised. "Hiding?"

"Hiding?" Emmett said at the same time. "Why would we be hiding something?" He still wouldn't meet Edward's eyes.

"Emmett, you are such a bad liar. What is it?"

Guilt flashed over Emmett's features again, and Edward quickly tuned into his mind. Unconsciously, his fists clenched and his teeth gritted.

"You were listening to my conversation with Alice? And then you told Gracie?" Edward seethed.

Jasper met his eyes without flinching. "She had every right to know," he said calmly. The air around him was filled with serenity, and Edward found himself unwillingly relaxing.

"You're going to pay for this when I'm far enough away from you to be angry," Edward informed them flatly.

"I'm sure we will," Jasper said calmly. "Alice, of course, will be just as unhappy to hear that we were listening as you were."

"No, she won't," Edward muttered. Alice always gave Jasper copious amounts of grace in everything.

Edward was wandering aimlessly as Alice and Jasper discussed how to find Niki, Gracie sitting quietly at Alice's side. He had been walking for a while when he heard Bella's voice, low and earnest.

"I do love you," she was saying. "I've always loved you. You know that, Jacob."

"Bella, don't." Jacob's voice was cool, distant. "You love Edward. And that's okay. That's good. I love Niki."

"She's not good enough for you, Jake!" Her voice rose. "She was the one that broke my nose. She's a possessive bitch and talks about you like you're a trophy. Jacob! She doesn't deserve you. She doesn't even love you!"

There was a shuffle, as if Jacob had stood up. "Go home, Bella," he said coldly. "Walk, for all I care. As a favor to me, get hit by a bus on the way. Goodbye, Isabella Swan." And then he was walking off through the grass.

He stopped a few feet from Edward, his eyes wary, searching. At last, he smiled. "I understand that you want to allow her freedom," he said, "but I'm asking you right now to do us all a favor and keep your bitch on a leash."

Edward stared after him as the werewolf waded through the tall grasses into the gathering night.

Alice met Edward on his way back to the group. Her eyes were narrowed and her face was white with fury.

"I saw," she said quietly before he could say anything.

He stopped, confused. "Jacob was there."

"I didn't see him. I saw you. But I heard what Bella said."

He sighed. "I don't want to talk about it right now."

"You don't have to." She touched his arm gently. "But I wanted to ask permission to tell the others. They need to know—about Bella, I mean."

He shrugged and brushed past her.

"One more thing," she called after him. "Edward, I saw you and Gracie again."

He didn't respond.

Alice was tromping through the high grasses with Jasper ghosting along beside her. She fumed silently while he kept a loose hold on the emotional atmosphere, making sure she didn't go crazy and try to kill everyone around her. They were going to find Bella.

When they did, Alice didn't waste time with preliminaries. "Who the hell do you think you are?" she hissed.

Bella turned to look at her, eyes wide. Alice never cursed either. "What?"

"What? What?!" Alice shrieked. "Don't you dare say 'what' to me! I have never referred to a girl as a slut in my entire life—and that's been more than a hundred years! But you, Isabella Swan, are a full-blown, honest-to-God, true-blue, hell-bound slut!"

Bella could only stare, dumbstruck.

"You heard me! How dare you play off Jacob and Edward. How dare you accuse Niki of being a bitch! You are such a hypocrite, Bella!"

Jasper very gently touched her arm. She seemed about to explode.

Her fists loosened a little so that her nails didn't bite into her palms, but other than that, her stance didn't soften. "Get out of here, Bella. Get out of here now. Go home. Don't ever let me see your face again."

"You can't make me—"

Alice's eyes narrowed into slits. "You think I can't?" she hissed. "Get out, Bella! Go home! Now!"

Bella was terrified. She had never seen Alice like this. "Fine," she snapped, trying to salvage some dignity but betrayed by her trembling voice. "But if I get lost, it's your fault."

"I'd be glad for the credit. Get out! Go dig yourself a grave, human!"

Bella fled.

When Alice and Jasper returned, the werewolves had started a bonfire. No one really needed it—none of the immortals got cold—but the La Push boys liked the idea, and Leah went along. Soon they were all asleep, tired out from days of running and sleepless nights.

Gracie was curled up by the fire, staring into its depths with wide eyes. "It still surprises me that I don't have to sleep," she confided to Emmett in a whisper. "I keep feeling like there's something I'm forgetting to do at night."

"You can try, if you want," he offered. "We fake it sometimes. Jasper and Alice like to meditate—it's about as close to sleeping as any of us get."

Esme, motherly as always, patted Gracie's arm. "You'll get used to it, honey," she told the redhead. "It's not so bad, really. It leaves a lot of time to do other things."

"Yeah, like think about everything you tried to put out of your mind during the day," Edward said darkly. Carlisle jabbed an elbow into his ribs.

"Where's Bella?" Rosalie asked, glancing around.

"Alice sent her home," Jasper informed her dryly.

Esme frowned worriedly. "Won't she get lost?"

"Bella's a big girl. She'll be fine," Carlisle assured her.

"We'll see about that," Alice muttered, so low that no one heard her.

Edward's restless eyes settled on Gracie, and he stopped listening to the conversation around him. The fire glinted off her coppery hair, which cascaded over her shoulders. Flecks of smoky green still shimmered over the gold in her eyes. She looked so young, so delicate. She was younger than all of them... and younger than any of them had been when they had been turned. Fifteen, she had told them while she still lived in the basement. She was a fifteen-year-old Irish girl who lived with her father and had suddenly been thrown into a world of immortals and myths. And it was his fault.

Her eyes flickered up to catch his. She smiled beatifically at him. Then, her eyes searching his face, a slight frown touched her lips. "Are you okay?" she asked softly.

He nodded and looked away. He couldn't afford to look at her any more.

Why not? asked an insidious voice in his head. What are you afraid of? Being unfaithful to Bella? 'Edward and Bella' doesn't exist anymore. She cheated on you, remember?

Edward growled deep in his throat and scooted away from Gracie, who didn't fail to notice the motion. What did I do? she wondered, crushed.

Jasper saw the motion and the expression that followed. He leaned over and whispered something to Emmett, who nodded with an evil gleam in his eye.

Emmett stood up, stretched, and stepped over next to Gracie, on the opposite side from Edward. "Hey, scoot over, would you?" he asked her. "Make some room by the fire for an old, tired bear."

Gracie laughed softly and sat up, scooting closer to Edward in an effort to make room for Emmett. Emmett settled in next to her with a sigh. "A bit more?" he requested.

She laughed again and moved over. Her hand accidentally brushed Edward's and he jerked it sharply away. She ignored him, talking to Emmett.

As soon as Gracie was otherwise distracted, Emmett turned to look at Jasper. Jasper winked approvingly. Alice, watching the whole exchange, smirked. Edward didn't stand a chance.

A sense of urgency hung over Jacob the same way that mist hung over his dream. He couldn't see his hand in front of his face, but he knew he had to look for Niki. He had to find her, before it was too late.

He heard her screaming from far away. "Niki!" he yelled. He didn't know which way her voice had come from. Turning one way, then another, he called her name again. "Niki! Where are you?"

"Jacob! Help me!"

"I'm trying—Niki—where are you? I can't see you!"

"Jacob—" She was sobbing now.

"Niki?"

"Jake! It's her! Tell Jasper it's her! From—" She was cut off abruptly with a choking sound.

"NIKI! NO!"

Jacob sat up with a cry. The vampires stopped speaking quietly to look up at him.

"S-sorry," he said breathlessly, running a shaking hand back through his hair. "Bad dream."

"Ah, dreaming," Emmett sighed with flair. "One of the few things I miss from the old days."

Alice, of course, was interested in the dream. "What was it about? Was it any good?"

"No. It was awful. I was trying to find Niki, and I couldn't, and then she died." He was too embarrassed to go into more detail. Dreams never sounded as bad in the waking world.

"Was that it?" Alice asked.

"Well, she was calling to me, and she told me to tell Jasper 'it's her'."

"What does that mean?" Jasper demanded.

"She died before I could ask her. I thought you might know."

Jasper shook his head. "I've no idea."

Jacob leaned back on his elbows with a sigh. "I don't know what to do. I know Niki is here, but I can't find her. I have to find her before something happens!" With a growl, he was suddenly on his feet and pacing restlessly.

"We'll find her," Gracie said calmly, absolute confidence in her voice. "Niki is Niki, Jacob. Do you really think she won't get out of this, oh ye of little faith?"

"This isn't a time for jokes, Gracie," he snapped.

"I'm not joking." Her face was utterly serene. "If we can't get Niki out of this, she'll get herself out." She smiled at Jacob. "Go back to sleep, werewolf. You're no help to Niki if you keel over from exhaustion."

"I don't know if I want to," Jacob muttered, but he obediently lay back down and was soon asleep.

Niki had actually fallen asleep on the way. She jolted awake when the spider's smooth, seamless walk slid to a stop. Blinking groggily, she tried to make out the shapes around her, but the room was too dim. It was a room, however, and not a gigantic web like she had expected.

Trying to wrinkle her nose and turn her face away, Niki rolled her eyes in frustration—she was still paralyzed so completely that she couldn't even move her facial muscles! A horrible smell roiled around her, the stench of death and decay. She was beginning to realize that the forms around her looked suspiciously like bodies.

The spider leaned down to put her closer to the ground. Then it started to shake her, trying to get her off of its fangs. Niki flopped around like a rag doll, feeling helpless. She was also very happy that she couldn't feel anything. This was going to hurt later.

There was a tearing sound and the spider screamed. Niki fell limply to the ground, the spider's fangs still stuck in the back of her neck, but no longer attached to the spider's gums. The spider fell on top of her, writhing briefly, then went still.

Oh, that is SO gross.

Edward came to his feet abruptly, startling the others. He was staring off toward the trees, golden eyes narrowed.

"They're coming," he said in a low voice.

"Who?" Esme wanted to know.

"Demons?" Carlisle guessed.

Edward nodded. "A whole horde of them. Coming this way." Concentrating fiercely, he murmured, "One of them is far in front. If we could catch it, we might be able to weasel some information out of it—" he scowled— "but I doubt it. Their minds are extremely simple."

"We should wake them up," Gracie said anxiously, glancing at the snoring werewolves.

"I'll do it," Alice volunteered with an evil grin.

"No time for fancy evil schemes right now, Alice. Just wake them up, please," Carlisle told her.

Alice pouted. "Well, that's no fun." She went to wake the werewolves.

It was only a few moments before a deep purple lizard the size of a horse burst from the trees. Scuttling across the field, it didn't notice the humanoid forms crouching in the tall grass.

At the same time, Jacob and Gracie sprang from the grass and latched onto the sides of the lizard. With a roar, Emmett charged and clapped his hands around the demon's tail.

The lizard screamed, a high piercing sound that made the immortals' sensitive ears bleed. Emmett accidentally popped the tail off of the lizard.

Then, all of the sudden, the lizard disappeared.

Gracie and Jacob disappeared with it.

"Gracie!" Edward cried, at the same moment as Jared yelled, "Jacob!"

Their cries fell on empty air. Gracie and Jacob were gone.