The adrenaline that coursed through me in the hours after Victoria had her icy fingers around my throat gradually dissipates, leaving me bone tired. I have no trouble falling asleep even after everything that has happened. When I wake the next day, my eyes feel swollen from crying. Alice has gone, and my room feels claustrophobic and small. I tuck the small pile of memories Edward left behind into an empty shoebox in the back of my closet. Seeing them isn't going to bring him home, and it certainly isn't making the ache in my chest ease at all.

I find Charlie at the kitchen table, scowling at the newspaper and clutching a cup of coffee. I read the headlines over his shoulder while I pour my own. 'Death Toll on the Rise: Police Fear Gang Activity'

"Everything okay?"

Charlie's shoulders slump, and he scrubs at his face with his hand. "Seattle. They have a lot of unexplained violent deaths at the moment." He looks up at me, and I wonder if my late-night meetings are making me look as exhausted as I feel. His expression softens. "Nothing for you to worry about, Bella. I just had some worried parents in this week. Their son's been missing in Seattle for a while."

"They think you can help?"

"They're trying everything they can think of."

I feel an unexpected surge of pride for my father and the burden he carries. If I'm honest, his job has always been a source of embarrassment, an unwanted reason for people to pay attention to me. Dropped off at school in the cruiser; known as the Chief's daughter. But as I look at him now, all I see is a man who wants to help. I give him an impulsive hug.

He lets out a startled chuckle. "What's got into you, Bells?"

I shake my head with a small smile. "I'll call you from the Rez."

Forks' usually predictable weather has broken for a rare sunny day, causing the last of the slushy snow to melt into puddles and keeping the Cullens at home. Alice's absence lets Jessica off the leash to be unbelievably annoying.

"It's weird, don't you think? That Alice and Jasper came back. Like, so close to the end of the school year? And, you know, that he didn't come back with them."

It's still too cold to sit outside, and so Jessica has parked her chair as close as she can to the cafeteria windows, her eyes closed as if she's laying out at the beach.

"I mean, there's no way my parents would let me go to France for a semester. But I suppose Dr Cullen's not really his dad." She opens one eye to look at me, trying to gauge my reaction. I concentrate on my salad. Jessica is undeterred. "And isn't it like, super-weird for you? Hanging out with his sister? You know, after …everything." Her voice is dripping in faux-sympathy.

Angela takes pity on me. "Have you sent your announcements yet?"

I think about Graduation. How different this was all supposed to be. Edward and I talked about it last summer, as I lay with my back against his chest in the meadow, sunlight dancing off his fingers intertwined with mine. He was so excited for me, even as I assured him I would just trip on my gown and my cap would come flying off and everyone would laugh. He nuzzled at my earlobe and promised to catch me.

"No," I answer Angela. "There's no point, really. Renée knows when I'm graduating. Who else is there?" The question sort of hangs there. Jessica has both eyes open now.

The bell sounds for class, and I scoop my bag up gratefully before she can say anything more.

After school, I'm shocked to find Jacob waiting in the parking lot, leaning against his bike. He hands me a helmet. "I'm here to give you a ride." His expression is conflicted; hard to read. He stands out, among the students milling around. He's so tall, and his black t-shirt reveals just how muscular he has become. People are staring openly. I'm just so glad to see him in one piece.

"Are you okay? Is Quil really..."

"Quil's fine." He reaches out a hand, as if he's going to touch my face, but thinks better of it and drops it back to his side with a pained sigh. "God, Bella. She...if I'd..."

I reach my arms around his neck, dragging him down into a hug, the helmet dangling off my wrist against his back. The heat of him is overwhelming, his hands huge on my ribcage. I want to comfort him, and to thank him, and to apologize to him. A thousand things I can't say. "It's okay, Jake. You got there in time. I'm okay."

He presses his face into the side of my neck, drawing in a shuddering breath. Somewhere behind us I hear a wolf whistle, and I draw back sharply. An idiot jock in his football uniform is giving Jacob a thumbs-up, but the dumb smile freezes on his face when he takes in Jake's size and suddenly thunderous expression.

"C'mon, leave it," I urge, tugging on Jake's arm to get his attention. "What are you doing here?"

"We agreed with the leeches. If they can't be here to deliver you to the Rez after school, one of us will come for you. Leave your truck. We'll get it later."

I fasten the helmet. In the past, the idea of being accompanied everywhere I went would have felt suffocating, but as I climb onto the bike and wrap my arms around Jake's waist, all I can think is how safe it makes me feel.

The days start to blur into a routine. Rose does something irreparable to the engine in my truck, giving Alice and Jasper an excuse to pick me up for school each day. One of them drops me at the treaty line in the afternoons, and Jake comes to get me. At first, these handovers are as cold and tense as a hostage exchange. But gradually, as the wolves and the Cullens run patrols together night after night, the tension starts to diffuse. Not friendly; not even in the same universe as friendly. But a grudging respect on both sides that seems to be making things easier.

"That big one is fast." Jacob says one afternoon, kneeling beside his bike while he runs a compression test.

"Emmett." My chemistry books are spread all around me on the floor of the barn. Finals are coming up faster than I'd like.

"I'm saying he's really quick, for someone that big."

"And I'm saying his name is Emmett."

Jake rolls his eyes at me, but he's smiling. It's something I haven't seen for a long time, and it makes my heart swell in my chest.

"Still no sign of her?"

Jake shakes his head, concentrating on the gauge. "Nothing. But we're not letting our guard down. Not until after..." He trails off, tapping at the gauge distractedly.

"Not until after what?"

He looks up abruptly, as if I've startled him. "Oh, uh...no, I just mean..." He stammers, as if scrambling for a cover story.

I put the textbook down and narrow my eyes at him. "After what, Jacob?"

He sighs, rocking back on his heels and looking up at me with a slightly guilty expression. "I wasn't supposed to tell you. But the leeches think there's one of their kind killing people in Seattle."

I suck in a breath, thinking about the headlines in the paper and the extra hours Charlie has been putting in at the station. "They think it's Victoria? In Seattle?"

Jake shakes his head. "No. They think it's another one. They call it a newborn." He shudders at the thought. "It's out of control."

Just when I was foolish enough to think things were starting to reach some kind of equilibrium. There always seems to be a new crisis ready to unfold. Jacob comes and sits beside me on the tractor tire I'm using as a bench, placing one hand on my back. "Bella, don't worry. The leeches are going up there next weekend. They say they know how to deal with it. And we'll look after you while they're gone. It's not a big deal."

I try to feel comforted by this, but I hate that they've been keeping secrets from me. Jake pulls me to him, and kisses my forehead gently. "It's really okay, Bella. I won't let anything happen to you."

I want to believe him. But I've heard this before. Edward promised me the very same thing, and he was never able to keep his word.

"Bella?"

Jake is looking at me with concern and...something else. His eyes are huge and dark, and I'm suddenly very aware of how close his body is to mine. I get to my feet, a little too quickly, tripping over a chemistry text. Jake reaches out a hand to steady me.

"Can you drop me back to the line? I need to get home. I'll call Alice." The words tumble out of me in a rush, as I gather my books and stuff them back into my pack. I don't look at Jacob. I don't want to see the disappointed expression I know I will find there.

It's Jasper who meets me at the bend in the highway. He looks from Jacob to me and back again, his face openly curious. I give Jake a quick, awkward hug goodbye and get into the car without looking back. Jasper and Jake talk for a few minutes, and I fiddle with the station dial on Jasper's radio while I wait, trying to sort through my feelings. I know that Jacob cares about me, but until now it has felt protective, brotherly. The look he gave me this afternoon was anything but, and I feel confused and unsettled.

Jasper says nothing when he gets into the car, and I'm absurdly grateful. "Tell me about Seattle."

"Our kind are often the ones behind the horrors in your news, Bella. When we are first changed, we are bloodthirsty, wild. Out of control."

I try to imagine any of the Cullens like that, and fail. Edward hinted at it, every time I raised my desire to be like him. He hinted at a side to their lives that I did not understand. I wonder what more he has kept from me.

"What will you do?"

"Whoever made this vampire has abandoned it. We may need to take care of it before the Volturi does."

Just the mention of the ancient order causes ice to flow through my veins. "They would come here?"

"They would send the Guard."

My breath catches in my throat and I stare at Jasper in shock. "Would they send him?"

Jasper stares straight ahead at the road. "Alice doesn't think so, no."

"But her visions have been all over the place! The wolves have been playing havoc with her sight!"

Jasper's jaw flexes, but he stays silent.

"We have to talk about this, Jasper! Maybe this is exactly what we need! A reason for the Volturi to send him here. To send him back to us!"

Jasper swings his car swiftly into the driveway behind Charlie's cruiser. He kills the engine and turns to look at me. "Bella, if the Volturi come here to clean house, it won't end well for any of us. Come inside. We'll tell Charlie I'm helping you with your homework, and I'll try to explain."

I slam his car door in frustration, and stomp up the path ahead of him. I'm just about to cross the threshold when Jasper is suddenly in front of me. His eyes are wild and he is breathing deeply. "Jasper? What ..."

"Give me two seconds. Stay right here. Do not move."

My heart starts to pound as Jasper shoots into the house so quickly he becomes invisible. I count to two and he is back at my side, ushering me into the hallway. Charlie has not even stirred on the couch. Jasper nods in Charlie's direction, and presses my arm.

"Uh, Dad? Jasper and I have some history homework. We're just going to do a bit more study upstairs. I'll make dinner in a little while."

Charlie mumbles an acknowledgement and turns back to the television.

Jasper half drags me up the stairs, my feet barely touching the carpet.

"Somebody has been here," he whispers as he shuts my bedroom door quietly. "One of us."

My blood runs cold, and I bite my lip hard. "Victoria?" Jasper has his cell phone out and is dialing.

"It's not a scent I recognize." He digs my phone out of my backpack and hands it to me. My own panic seems to be magnifying and expanding. I'm waiting for reassuring calm from Jasper, but there is nothing. I start to feel sick. Jasper looks up at me, his expression desperate. "Call the wolves. We need to meet. Now."

.x.

Thanks to all of you for reading and reviewing. I've got a week behind in my replies, but I am catching up now. And a special thanks to DarkBlueBella for sending some of her readers over here. It's so nice to have you!