Chapter Seven: Frenemies

"It's a possibility," Carlisle told Edward. "We could go to the Volturi. There's no way that Maria can keep her demon horde beyond human notice for long. They would help us find her and Nathan. At this point, we need all the help we can get."

"They'd ask about Bella," Edward said thoughtfully.

"Do you care?"

He shrugged. "I don't want her to die. I just want her to leave me the hell alone."

"She is going to die, Edward, unless one of us turns her—and soon."

"Gracie would probably do it," Edward sighed. "She'd do it just so that Bella didn't have to die. She's softhearted like that."

"Of course, one way or another, the Volturi aren't the only ones out there thirsting for Bella's blood." He must have noticed the confused look on Edward's face, because he said, "If we turned Bella, the pack would have every right and reason to come after her—and us. Niki, I think, would be particularly happy to make sure Bella never bothered her again."

"Damn. You're right. One way or another, Bella is in danger of a very painful death. If we turn her, the pack comes after all of us. If we don't, the Volturi kill her and then turn on us for telling her in the first place. It's a no-win situation."

"That's true," Carlisle said thoughtfully, "but there is another possibility."

Edward frowned.

"We're the only vampires bound by the treaty, Edward, but we're not the only ones in the area."

Edward's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. "You want Maria to turn her?"

"Or Nathan. It would have to be very carefully orchestrated, but it could be done."

Edward thought about it. "Bring Bella with us," he said slowly. "Put her in the line of fire. Wait until she's bitten, and then pull them off of her?"

"We'd have to have very good timing."

Edward nodded fervently. "Very good. But we'd have to find Maria in the first place."

"Which means going to the Volturi first."

"If they ask, can't we just tell them our plan? Aro will find out anyway."

"Certainly. They'll approve, because either Bella dies or she gets turned into one of us. Either way, they're happy—and either way, there's no danger from the pack."

Edward sighed. "Then we're going to Italy?"

"We'll need a liaison from the pack to come with us. The werewolves are part of this, too—they deserve a voice in the planning." Carlisle frowned. "But would any of the pack come with us? Sam would, but he has to stay and lead his pack. They can't be left without an Alpha for too long."

"Niki and Gracie are friends," Edward reminded him. "Niki might agree."

"Niki isn't part of the pack."

"If Niki came, so would Jacob—and probably Paul, as well."

"Good point."

"And besides that, Niki is married to Jacob now. Doesn't that make her part of the pack?"

Carlisle shrugged. "In my eyes, certainly. But this all depends on the Volturi and how they see things."

Edward sighed. "So we are going to Italy, then."

"I'm afraid so. Try to behave yourself. I doubt the Volturi will give us as much grace as last time. Oh, and tell Alice to stop stealing cars. I know it was an emergency last time, but I don't want her getting into bad habits."

Edward chuckled. "I got her a yellow Italian Porsche just like the one she really liked. She won't need to steal another one."

"Good, good. Let the others know, will you?"

Edward rose from the chair in front of Carlisle's desk. "Of course."

"And tell Jasper to keep an eye on Alice. I really don't want her getting into bad habits."

"She won't need to steal any cars, Carlisle."

"Has a lack of need ever stopped her before?"

"Good point. I'll tell Jasper."

"You do that." Carlisle went back to his reading.

On the plane to Italy, Gracie leaned her forehead against the cool Plexiglas of the window, gripping Edward's hand tightly. She loved to fly, but she was too worried to really enjoy the journey. She sometimes couldn't even pick out what, specifically, was worrying her. All the little concerns just gathered to hang in a cloud of anxiousness over her.

Edward felt her tenseness and squeezed her hand. "It'll be okay," he promised in a whisper. "We'll sort this all out."

"I hope so," she murmured.

Meanwhile, Niki—who had never been on a plane before—was just about clawing her way into Jacob's lap. "Werewolves are not made for flying," she informed him.

"I know." He looked a little green, himself. At least he wasn't as sick as Paul, who had been in the bathroom for half an hour throwing up. "I should go check on Paul."

"No, no, no, no." Niki pulled herself all the way into his lap. "You're not moving from this spot. I need you here."

"I think I'm in the box now," Jacob said, sounding amused.

"No. You're in your box. I made it just for you. Now shut up and sit still."

Paul came stumbling down the aisle and collapsed into his seat, his face pale. "Damn air travel," he muttered. "It's unnatural."

"So are you, wolf-man, but that didn't stop the Quileutes," Niki snapped.

"Niki, hush," Jacob reprimanded, glancing around nervously.

"What? You think someone's going to overhear? Now, honestly, Jake, would anyone on this plane think I was serious? Or I wasn't crazy? I don't think so." She lifted her voice. "HEY EVERYONE! GUESS WHAT! I'M A WEREWOLF IN DISGUISE!"

Jacob slapped his hand over her mouth and she bit him to make him let go. "Ow," he hissed, glancing around to see how people reacted to Niki's antics.

Only a few people had even looked up, and those were the ones that were now grumbling about how loud, annoying people wouldn't let them sleep on the plane. Jacob relaxed a little, one eyebrow going up.

"Told you so," Niki said smugly.

He sighed. "Alright, alright. Now hush up and let the nice people get some sleep."

She snuggled into his chest. "Mmm-kay. Hey, Jake, are you very firmly against public displays of affection?"

"Not at all," he said in confusion. "Why?"

"Good." She threw her arms around his neck, pulled herself up, and kissed him hard, her tongue exploring every crevice of his mouth. Her hands slid down the back of his shirt.

Jacob pulled away from her, gasping. "No sex on the airplane, Niki," he muttered.

"Mmm. I didn't think so. You have to start learning to understand me better, Jake. When I say 'public displays of affection,' what I mean is—"

"No sex on the airplane," he repeated forcefully.

"Fine, fine. The bathroom's probably too small anyway."

"Niki!"

"What? We're married now, remember? We can have sex wherever the hell we feel like it."

"Oh, Niki..."

"Don't you 'oh, Niki' me. I'm serious."

"You're never serious."

"I'm pretty serious at night, under the covers, aren't I, Jacob?"

"Niki! Oh my God! Shut the hell up!"

"Nope, don't think I will."

"Ummm," Paul said, "maybe letting her make herself two chocolate martinis before we left wasn't a great idea."

"You let her do what?!" Jacob yelled.

"Shut up and let the nice people sleep, Jake," Niki said smugly. She pulled his head down for another kiss.

Gracie appeared, leaning over the back of Niki's seat. "No sex on the airplane, Niki," she said with a smirk.

"No eavesdropping on the conversations of married couples, Gracie. Just marry Edward. Then you can have your own sex-dependant banter."

Gracie snorted. "I blame the chocolate martinis." She disappeared again.

"Hey, Tinkerbelle?" Paul called.

"Yeah?"

"I know those weren't mosquito bites."

"I'm a married woman, Paul. I can have mosquito bites if I feel like it."

"Okay. But I have one request."

"Yeah?"

"Will you stop kissing Jacob on the lower back? I'm ticklish right there, and his memories of that are really bothering me."

"Okay. But I'm still going to kiss him everywhere else."

Jacob was blushing so hard, he looked sunburned. "When did my sex life become a topic of public conversation?" he cried.

"When you became a werewolf and shared your thoughts with others," Paul informed him, at the same time that Niki said sagely, "When you got a sex life."

Edward groaned from the seat behind Jacob. "Can we please talk about something else? All three of you create extremely vivid mental images."

Niki laughed. "Just marry Gracie. Then you'll have your own mental images to create, to distract you from ours."

"I feel like we're all one big family," Gracie sighed. "Arguing, picking on each other, and describing intimate details of our sex lives. Oh, yes, definitely one big... happy... demented... immortal family."

"Um, excuse me, our sex lives?" Niki repeated. "You don't have a sex life, Gracie. You're a saint."

"My sex life or lack thereof is none of your business."

"It's Edward's," Niki reminded her.

"It's Edward's business if I say it is," Gracie teased. "Unless and until we tie the knot, my sex life is still none of his concern."

"Oooh, touchy. Edward, you haven't been asking about it, have you?"

"No!" he cried, a rare blush glowing in his pale cheeks.

"Wow! So defensive! I think something's going on, here."

Gracie shook her head. "When did my life become a soap opera?"

"When you were born," Niki told her. "Life is a soap opera, Gracie dear. And you'll be a star until the day you die—maybe longer."

"Tinkerbelle, you are so drunk," Paul said, shaking his head. "You only had two chocolate martinis."

"Only two that you saw," she informed him.

"Oh." He frowned. "That explains it."

"Explains what? The fact that I'm being a complete pervert? No, getting drunk doesn't make you perverted, Paul. It just removes the filter between mouth and brain. I would have been thinking all this shit anyway. I just wouldn't have said it."

"We wouldn't be having this conversation in the first place, if you weren't drunk," Jacob reminded her.

"Speaking of conversations, Gracie, I had some questions to ask you..."

"Niki, don't you dare," Jake growled.

Niki ignored him. "When you and Edward are, like, together... do you kiss or bite?"

"Both," Gracie said, unperturbed. "And no, before you ask, we haven't had sex. But we do kiss, and we do bite. We just draw more blood than humans. Did you know that Edward tastes like cinnamon? I'll bet if I mixed some of your blood with some of his, it would taste like a snickerdoodle."

"We'll have to do that sometime. Hey, when you bite Edward, does it leave a scar?"

"Mm-hm."

"SWEET! VAMPIRE HICKEYS!"

Edward covered his ears, blushing madly. "Teenage girls these days," he muttered. "I miss the old days when people kept their sex lives behind closed doors."

Jacob snorted. "People don't even keep their sex lives behind open doors anymore! They bring them right out in public!"

Gracie laughed and leaned over Edward, whispering something in his ear. His eyes went wide and then closed. He was blushing harder.

"What did you say?" Niki demanded.

Gracie smirked. "I don't think Edward realizes that every fifteen-year-old talks like this—virgins and harlots all thrown together in one mixing pot known as 'high-school'."

"Well, I'm the harlot," Niki noted. "Does that make you the virgin?"

"Does it?"

"Well, are you?"

"Is that your business? But you're right about the virgin-harlot thing. If we'd met in high-school, we never would have hung out in the first place."

"Nope, never. I think I'm corrupting you."

"I have to agree. A few weeks ago I would have jumped off the plane just to avoid having this conversation."

"Ah! So the saint has fallen!"

"Lucifer's deception creates another demon," Gracie sighed.

"HAH! So I'm the devil now, am I?"

"You did say you were the Dark Side," Paul reminded her.

"Yup. Satan ain't got nothing on me. He's evil, but I'm wicked."

Edward looked like he was about to scream in frustration. "Can we please stop having this conversation?" he pleaded.

"Aw, come on, Edward," Niki teased. "You know you like it. It turns out that Gracie is sugar and spice. Isn't that nice?" Her smirk widened. "You know you want her..."

"GAH!" He clapped his hands over his ears.

"Niki," Gracie reprimanded. "Leave poor Edward alone. He's over a hundred years old and still a virgin. He's very sensitive."

"Gra-cie," Edward moaned. "Please stop."

She laughed. "Okay, okay. I'm done. Are you scarred for life?"

"Yes," he groaned.

Gracie looked at Niki. "We've ruined him, poor guy."

"We're corrupting his innocence," Niki noted. "Oh, poor Edward. I waited to corrupt Jacob until I could take his virtue, too. At least then he was prepared."

Edward was curled into a fetal position at this point, hands over his ears, eyes tightly closed, teeth gritted. Unfortunately, he couldn't block out Niki's thoughts. He winced and moaned.

Gracie laughed softly and rubbed his arm. "It'll be okay," she soothed.

"She won't rape you, Edward, I promise." Niki laughed, and Edward's eyes closed even tighter.

"Leave me alone," he muttered.

"Shut up, Niki." Gracie rolled her eyes at her friend. "Stop picking on poor Edward. I don't understand how this boy survived high-school being able to read everyone's minds."

"Me neither," Niki said cheerfully.

Gracie rolled her eyes again and sighed, pulling Edward out of his seat and into her lap. "It's okay, Edward," she told him, stroking his bronze hair.

"You act like you're his mother, not his girlfriend," Niki said, kneeling up in her seat and peeking over the back at Gracie.

"Isn't that what the girlfriend's supposed to do?" She traced her fingers over Edward's back. He was ignoring the conversation, becoming accustomed to the way the girls talked as though the boys weren't there.

"I don't treat Jacob that way. It's emasculating."

"It is not. The boy protects the girl and the girl comforts the boy. It works out." Gracie shrugged. "Besides, to each her own. And Edward," she leaned down and kissed his ear, "is my own."

"Mmm," Edward agreed.

Jacob laughed. "It's just that Edward actually fits into Gracie's lap as well as she would into his. I think I would squish Niki if I tried to sit in her lap."

Niki giggled. "I guess so."

Edward rolled out of Gracie's lap into his seat, then lifted her and placed her in his lap. "Yup. Perfect fit."

She smiled and buried her face in his shirt. Niki laughed again and leaned her back against Jacob's chest, folding her legs. "I didn't used to like being small," she said dryly, "until I found out how funny it was to stand next to seven-foot Jacob and think that we're a couple."

"A married couple," Gracie reminded her.

"Exactly." Niki leaned up and kissed Jacob under the jaw.

"You guys are disgusting," Paul informed them. "All four of you. Publicly displaying affection. It's sickening."

At the same time, Edward leaned down to kiss Gracie and Niki planted her lips on Jacob's. Paul, knowing they did it just to bother him, turned away.

Gracie wound one arm around Edward's neck, stroking his hair. "Do you know that I love you?"

"I know."

"Don't ever forget. I love you, no matter what happens."

"I'll never forget. You make it easy to remember."

She kissed his neck. "Edward, you have no idea how good you taste."

"Actually, I can guess. You are incredible."

She giggled. "This is an interesting conversation we're having."

"It's what we get for being vampires, I guess."

She laid her head on his chest. "Do you remember anything about being human?"

"Not really. Carlisle tells me about it, sometimes. He took care of me and my mother for a couple of weeks before she died of the Spanish flu. I almost did."

Gracie frowned at the thought of Edward lying in a bed, orphaned, fevered, and pale. "You don't remember anything about that?"

"No."

She put her arms around him. "I wish I'd been there," she whispered.

He smoothed her hair. "I don't. I'm glad you didn't have to see that. And I'm happy to have you now."

Meanwhile, Niki was busy kissing Jacob everywhere she could reach. She even pulled his shirt down to kiss his collarbone.

"Niki," he reprimanded, embarrassed.

"What? Nobody's watching anyway. Almost everyone's asleep."

"Why don't you go to sleep? You can sleep off those chocolate martinis."

"No. I don't wanna sleep. Then I'll have a hangover when I wake up."

"I'll ask the flight attendant for some Ibuprofen. Now go to sleep."

"I don't wanna..."

"Niki, damn it, stop being rebellious and get some sleep."

"Fine. If you don't want me awake, I'll go to sleep!" She crawled out of his lap and into her seat, the knelt up and leaned over Paul's seat. "Hi, Paul."

"Tinkerbelle... your husband just gave you a direct order to go to sleep."

"I don't wanna."

"I can tell. Go to sleep."

"Okay, okay, fine. But when I wake up you're both in trouble."

"I'm terrified."

"You should be." Niki snuggled down into her seat to sleep.

Jacob breathed a sigh of relief. I really hope she sleeps that off.

Paul, meanwhile, was thinking, I really hope she forgets about this.

It wasn't long before they had reached the underground entrance to the lair of the Volturi. No one was looking forward to having to slog through the muck, but it was the only way for them to get in.

When they entered the hideout, the secretary seemed to have been expecting them. "Aro, Caius, and Marcus will be with you in a few minutes," she informed them.

The Cullens and the three werewolves settled in to wait. Gracie could feel Edward's tenseness. Sitting in the chair next to him, she leaned over and laid her head on his shoulder. "What's wrong?" she whispered.

He snaked his arm around her, holding her tightly against him. "Just remembering the last time I was here," he murmured.

He had told her about that, she remembered, a short while after they had decided to go to Italy in the first place. It was a painful memory for him and she hated seeing the look on his face as he recounted it. Sighing, Gracie slid both arms around his neck. "It'll be okay."

Jacob couldn't sit still. He kept fidgeting and tapping his foot. He was obviously very unhappy about being in the inner sanctum of the most infamous and dangerous of all vampires. Niki, sitting in his lap, finally said, "Jacob. Sit still. I have a hangover and I want to sleep for a while, but you're making that really hard."

"Sorry," he apologized.

Paul was worse. He couldn't even sit. Pacing back and forth, he chewed his nail and tried to think of what to do if the Volturi turned out to be hostile.

"Paul," Niki said sharply, "sit down. You're making me nervous."

He sat down, but jumped up again almost instantly and started pacing again.

Alice was similarly nervous. "I wish I had my canary Porsche," she muttered. Jasper placed his hand on her arm and she calmed immediately.

Niki was drifting off, trying to get some sleep so that her head didn't pound so much, when a small figure glided into the room and stopped. The figure was a tiny girl, Niki's size, with white skin, large red eyes, and long black hair.

"Come with me," she said, her voice soft and sweet.

Niki looked up, startled, and their eyes met. For a moment everyone feared a showdown of the evil pixies. Then the vampire girl smiled and ghosted over to her.

"Hello," she said sweetly. "My name is Jane."

"Niki," Niki said, sticking out her hand for a handshake.

Everyone looked on in awe. Not only was it unheard of for Jane to treat any outsider with liking, there was also the fact that Jane was a vampire and Niki was a werewolf. They all stood to follow Jane out of the room.

"You work for the Volturi?" Niki asked as she rose.

"Mm-hm. Are you a werewolf?" Jane wrinkled her nose. "You smell like dog."

"Not yet, but soon, supposedly. Sorry about the smell. It doesn't exactly go away with aerosol deodorant."

Jane smiled. "It's okay. It's not that bad, really. And you smell yummy, too. Like a cookie."

Niki chuckled. "Yeah, I get that a lot."

"If those two become friends," Paul whispered to Jacob, "we're all in for it."

"We're doomed," Jacob agreed glumly.

In sync, Niki and Jane turned to look at the two werewolves. They both smirked, Jane's fangs flashing, Niki's eyes narrowing.

"Yup. We're doomed," reiterated Jacob.

Jane led them to the Volturi's inner sanctum and stopped. Aro, Marcus, and Caius, tall vampires—Marcus and Caius with black hair, Aro with white—who looked as old as time, beckoned them in.

"You're here!" Aro cried. "At long last! I sincerely apologize for making you wait. We had some business to attend. But you're here now!"

"We're honored to be here," Carlisle said politely.

"You should be," Caius commented, listless.

"Yeah, right," Jacob growled.

"But come, come," Aro interrupted. "Now that you're here, I believe we had something to discuss?"

"Of course," Carlisle said with a slight bow, and began to explain the situation. Occasionally one of the others would pop in with a detail that he'd missed. Aro, Caius, and Marcus listened without interrupting. Aro was an excellent audience. He gasped and exclaimed in all the right places, even pretending to faint when Carlisle told him how Maria and Nathan had kidnapped Niki. Edward rolled his eyes at Gracie, who shrugged. Jane and Niki weren't even paying attention. They were too busy discussing plans for world domination. Paul nudged Jacob and nodded toward the two tiny girls, mouthing, "No hope."

Carlisle didn't mention his and Edward's plan for Bella. They had agreed not to speak of it unless the Volturi asked specifically.

"Well, we're going to have to get rid of her, of course," Marcus said, once Carlisle had finished speaking. "This absolutely cannot go on. It's quite alright to want power and territory, of course, but she's going about it all wrong. It isn't possible for her to keep this a secret from the mortals for long. Her army is too large. She won't be able to control the whole thing."

"Our thoughts exactly," Carlisle said.

Aro sighed dramatically. "We'll send as much help as we can spare. It saddens me that this meeting has ended so quickly. I wish not to see you go so soon."

"We wish not to go so soon, but we must not delay," Esme said.

"Of course, of course. I wish you all much luck. When you return downstairs, please wait in the front room. I will send some of our own down in a few moments to help you with your little problem."

"Thank you." Carlisle began to turn away.

"Wait," Aro called. "It's difficult to believe that I'd forgotten this whole time, but I remember now. I wanted to ask—how are things coming along with Bella?"

Carlisle stopped and turned slowly back. "Actually, I had been meaning to discuss that with you, as well." He sighed. He and Edward had been hoping they wouldn't have to address the issue, since they hadn't discussed it with any of the others. But they had planned for this anyway—this was the real reason they had brought the werewolves. The pack needed to know about this plan, since it involved them.

Calmly, he explained his plan, the others all listening as intently as the Volturi did. No one seemed dramatically opposed, however. Jacob and Edward were unhappy, but they understood the inherent necessity of the plan. At this point, they seemed more concerned with the safety of Niki and Gracie.

Aro listened, this time with a frown. When Carlisle finished explaining, Aro shook his head. "I think one of us has missed something."

"What do you mean?" Carlisle asked cautiously.

"Bella is already a vampire. I was asking how she was handling it."

"She's already—" Carlisle looked startled. "What?"

"One of our people went to check not long ago. Bella has very recently been turned."

"None of us turned her," Carlisle said in alarm.

"You don't think..." Emmett began, "Maria got her?"

"I think that's exactly what happened," Carlisle growled.

"Damn," Emmett breathed.

"Shit," Paul snarled.

Carlisle turned abruptly to Aro. "Thank you again for your help," he said, his voice short and clipped. "We'll wait downstairs."

The others followed him downstairs, still distracted and trying to process the news about Bella. Edward collapsed into his chair and Gracie quickly went to kneel in front of him.

"Are you okay?" she asked softly.

He nodded shakily. "Yeah. I just... this is a surprise."

"I know. We're all surprised." She reached up and smoothed his hair. "It's probably hardest on you and Jacob, though."

"Yes. Alice, too. She liked Bella."

She placed both hands on his knees and sighed. "Just because Maria turned Bella doesn't mean that Bella won't turn out okay."

"I know. But what if we don't find her in time? You remember what it was like in that first week. And you were a strange one, too. It was much harder on the rest of us. What if Bella... gets into bad habits?"

"She wouldn't be the first who was corrupted by Maria," Gracie said softly, glancing at Jasper.

"There's another thing to consider. I don't think Maria would have gone after Bella specifically. What if Bella went looking for Maria?"

"Why would she do that?" Gracie demanded.

"There are a lot of reasons. Self-preservation, for one. She knew that none of us were speaking to her, and the Volturi might come to check at any time."

"That could be it," Gracie agreed thoughtfully. "Why aren't you speaking to her?"

Edward hesitated, realizing that Gracie hadn't heard about what Bella had said to Jacob. At least, not the whole of it. He had mentioned it in passing, but...

He sighed. She should know.

Gracie listened in shock as Edward explained what had happened in the wildflower field. "Oh," she said softly. "Edward, if Niki knew..."

"That's why we haven't told her. She'd go on a murdering spree."

"No, Niki has more control than that."

"That's not what you said when I mentioned it before."

"I know her better now. She'd be pissed. But she wouldn't kill anyone."

Edward shrugged. "Either way, it didn't seem necessary."

Gracie frowned. "Doesn't she have a right to know?"

"There's nothing she can do about it, and it'll upset her."

"But she deserves to know."

Edward sighed. "Tell her if you like, but I won't."

"Not now." Gracie laid her head down on his thighs, sliding her arms around his waist. "I want to know that you're okay."

He stroked her hair. "I'll be alright," he assured her.

"Good." Her arms tightened around him. "I love you, Edward. I want good things for you. If Bella is good for you, I want you to have her."

"She's not, my love," Edward whispered. "You are. If you want to make me happy, let me make you happy. If you want good things for me, let me give you good things. You are the center of my life. All I want is to love you. All I want is your love."

"You have it," she said softly. "You have my love. You have all of me. Every part of me is yours."

"Not every part." He leaned down and kissed her softly on the temple. "Gracie, I love you. And you love me. I want to be with you forever, and give you every piece of myself. I want you to have all of me." Edward took a deep breath. "Gracie, will you marry me?"

She fisted her hands on the cloth of his slacks, staring up into his eyes. "Are you for real?"

"Yes."

"Oh, Edward... of course I'll marry you!"

He chuckled. "I'm sorry about the very unromantic atmosphere at this moment, but I couldn't wait any longer to ask."

"I'm glad you didn't!" She slid all the way into his lap, leaning her back against his chest. "With the way we were acting on the plane, we might not have been able to resist much longer. We'd do something we'd regret later."

"We'd have all of eternity to regret it," Edward said softly, unaware that he was echoing Niki's thoughts about Jacob before their marriage.

"Right." She turned halfway and wrapped her arms around his neck, tucking her hands down the back of his shirt. "We'll have to start making plans, like, right now. I don't want to wait any longer than I have to."

"Leave it all to Alice," Edward said lightly. "As soon as she finds out, she's going to take charge of the planning whether we like it or not."

Gracie sighed and leaned against his chest. "I always said I wouldn't get into a relationship until I was eighteen at least. Now, I'm fifteen and being proposed to."

"You'll never be eighteen, little one." He kissed her forehead.

"I know. So why wait?"

Before he could reply, Jane walked into the room, followed by Alec and Demetri. Niki jumped out of her seat and ran to Jane. They immediately continued their conversation from before.

Jacob sighed. "Yup, we're dead." Paul nodded in agreement.

"Can we go back now?" Alice complained. "I want my Porsche."

"Yes, we need to leave," Carlisle said, his voice still clipped. He glanced sharply at Jane, Alec, and Demetri. "Are you coming?"

"Of course," Demetri told him. "Aro sent us as back up."

"And you don't mind taking a plane?"

"No."

"Then let's go."

The plane ride back to Italy was nearly as interesting as the one before. Gracie had told the others about her engagement to Edward, and they were extremely excited—especially Alice and Niki. Alice was already discussing wedding plans with Esme. Rosalie threw things in on occasion, and Niki listened in silence. She had never really been in on all of the wedding stuff.

Edward, holding Gracie in his lap, smoothed her hair. "At least I don't have to worry about hurting you. I was always afraid of hurting Bella."

"I'm not Bella," she reminded him.

"I know, my love."

She leaned up, cupped the back of his neck, and kissed his throat. "Edward, does it hurt when I bite you?"

"Not enough to make me want you to stop."

"I don't want to hurt you."

"Don't be afraid of that." He laid one hand on the back of her head and pulled her in. "I like it."

She giggled. "You're a strange one, Edward." Then she gently slid her fangs into his neck.

"Careful," he murmured. "I doubt the other passengers will be very accepting if they see this."

Trying not to smile, she pulled out and licked the blood off his throat. "I don't care."

"Mmm. I can tell."

Meanwhile, Niki was kneeling up in her seat, nipping Jacob's ear.

"That tickles," he complained.

She smirked, said, "Good," and nipped his earlobe again.

He sighed and slid his arm around her waist. "I love you, baby."

"I'm just a lovable person," Niki sighed.

"Well, I don't know about that..."

"That's 'cause you don't know anything."

"I know I love you."

"That's good to know."

"Isn't it?"

"Yep. I know you love me, and I know Paul loves me, and Leah, and Quil, and Gracie..."

"Hmm. Maybe you are a lovable person."

"Glad to see you figured that out!"

"I think you would have hurt me if I hadn't."

"That sounds like something I would do. But not to you."

"Not to me?"

"No. I like you. I want to keep you."

He smiled, cupping her cheek, his eyes sparkling as he took in her anxious expression. "You'll always keep me, Niki. You'll never have to lose me."

She relaxed a little. "Good."

"You know that. And I'll keep telling you that every day for the rest of our lives."

Niki nodded. "You promise?"

"I promise," he told her patiently.

"Hold me?"

"Of course." He allowed her to crawl into his lap and cradled her gently, kissing her hair and her face, trailing his fingers over her back.

"This is going to suck when the seatbelt sign goes on," Niki complained.

"We won't worry about that. When it comes on, you can just get back in your seat."

"I don't wanna."

"Would you rather land without a seatbelt?"

"No..."

"Well, there you go."

"...Shut up, you."

"Why? Don't you like the sound of my voice?"

"Mm-hm. Shut up."

With a soft chime, the seatbelt sign came on. Niki sighed and rolled back into her seat, clicking her seatbelt. "I hate this part," she confided in Jacob.

"Werewolves aren't made for flying," Jake reminded her.

"Exactly."

"Well, we'd better get used to it, because we've got two more planes to catch before we can make it back to Washington."

"Damn."

"My thoughts exactly."

"Jake, have you noticed that this is probably the most boring conversation we've ever had?"

"No, but now that you mention it, what happened to the sarcastic jokes and sexual banter?"

"Not sure. Maybe my brain cells are dying of exhaustion. Humor tumor!"

"Okay... that was pathetic."

"I have a hangover. Hangovers aren't funny. What do you expect?"

Before Jacob could reply, the plane's landing gear hit the ground, jolting them both. Niki reached over and clung to Jacob's shirt.

"Damn air travel," Paul snarled from the seat in front of them. He was white underneath his tan.

"Poor Paul," Niki sighed.

"Poor us," Jacob growled. "We have to deal with all these bloodsuckers. It's hard to remember who's a friend and who's an enemy."

"No, it isn't," Niki informed him. "The Cullens and the Volturi are our friends. Maria and Nathan are our enemies."

"And what about..." Jacob began.

"Bella?"

He nodded.

"I guess we'll find out, won't we?"

"Yeah... I guess all we can do is wait to find out..."

When they got back to La Push, Demetri and Alec immediately vanished, claiming to want to find Maria's trail before it got any colder than it already was. Niki insisted on bringing Jane back to Jacob's house and disappeared upstairs with her.

The Cullens returned to their house. "What now?" Gracie asked Edward.

"Now we wait for Demetri to track Maria, then we go and finish her off."

"What about Bella?"

Edward was silent for a moment. "I don't know," he said softly. "I suppose we just wait for her to make a move."

"So all we're doing at this point is waiting?"

"That's right."

Gracie sighed. "I'm tired of waiting."

"So am I, love."

"In adventure books, everything happens at once. There's none of this waiting around all the time."

"That's not always true..."

"But think about it. Do they always have these long intervals? No. Most of the time, the action heats up later on. For us, it seems to be slowing down."

Edward slid his arms around her and pulled her in to him. "Gracie... stop thinking about it so much."

She grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. I always over-think things."

"I know." He kissed her gently.

He tried to pull away then, but she placed both hands on the back of his head and drew him in further. He was gasping when she finally released him, despite the fact that he didn't really need to breathe. Her breath as ragged, as well.

"You're too tempting," he informed her. "You're making it very hard to abstain."

"Can you last until the wedding?" Her arms were still around his neck.

"Yes..."

"Good." She pulled his head down to kiss her again.

Emmett walked in. "Good morning, lovebirds," he sang.

"Hello, Emmett," Gracie said calmly, without releasing Edward.

"Having fun?" he asked with a mischievous grin.

"Very much," Edward told him.

"Lots of fun," Gracie added.

"Well, don't have too much fun. You're not married yet, remember?"

"I remember only too well," Edward groaned.

Gracie giggled and pulled her arms off of his neck. "Having bad thoughts, Edward?"

"I don't need to. Emmett's are enough to keep me occupied."

Gracie turned to Emmett. "Emmett!" she said crossly.

He chuckled. "That's my cue to run away." A moment later, he was gone.

Gracie glanced back at Edward. "Excuse me, darling." She vanished.

Edward sighed. "He's my brother, alright. At least she didn't know what Alice is thinking right now..."

Speaking of Alice, he thought, he needed to discuss wedding plans with her. He sighed again. She was probably going all-out, the way she always did.

One last sigh, and he walked off to find Alice.

After a few days, Demetri and Alec returned. "We found Maria," Demetri told the immortals, who were gathered at Emily's house—neutral territory, or so they had decided, although the pack had an obvious advantage. "Nathan is with her, as is your Bella."

"Damn," Jacob breathed.

Edward turned away. Gracie murmured soothingly to him.

"If we move quickly, we can chase them down," Demetri continued. "We'll intercept them near the foothills."

"Then what are we standing around for?" Emmett demanded impatiently. "Let's go."

"We mustn't rush into this, Emmett," Esme said gently.

"We're ready," Sam said calmly, indicating himself and the pack. "Are you?"

"We are," Carlisle told him.

"Then let's go!" Paul snarled, punching his palm to show that he was ready for a fight.

"There it is," Quil muttered.

The immortals stood before the foothills, gazing up into the rocky expanses. Edward had allowed Gracie to run by herself for the first time, trusting completely in her self-control.

Carlisle looked at Demetri. "Do you know exactly where they are?"

"Yes," the Volturi vampire replied grimly, "but it would appear that Maria has decided to surround herself with allies."

"Demons?" Paul demanded, dark eyes glowing in anticipation of a fight.

"Newborn vampires, as well. This is not going to be an easy fight."

Jasper dismissed that with a wave of his hand. "We know how to fight newborns."

"Good. Jane, Alec, and I do, as well."

"Of course you do," Niki informed him. "You're Volturi. That's, like, what you do, right?" Jacob shushed her, but Jane nodded affirmative.

Clearly impatient, Emmett started forward. Without further ado, the rest of them followed.

As soon as they reached the first of the gray rocks, a low, collective growl was heard. A manticore-like demon rounded a bolder and prowled lazily toward them, lips drawn back in a snarl. A huge snake—bigger around than Emmett and longer than Paul was tall—came slithering from the other direction, hissing. Two red-eyed vampires appeared over a ridge, followed by several others.

Niki drew her katana. Gracie moved next to her and squeezed her shoulder.

"It's going to be a long afternoon," the redheaded vampire murmured.

"Really?" the tiny werewolf replied with a smirk. "I think it's going to be fun."

With a wild battle cry, Jasper sprang forward. Sam followed with a snarl.

The battle began.