Thanks to katinki and hollelujah1 for their recs, and to all the lovely readers who have dropped by as a result.

I'd thought it would feel more satisfying, but Victoria's lifeless form provides none of the closure I'd expected. I drop her shoulders, unwilling to have her icy skin in my grasp for even a second longer.

Disappointing, Edward. Jane smirks at me from the doorway. At least you could have taken the time to make her suffer a little.

I stare at her calm, stony expression. Jane is continuing to actively conceal her thoughts, and I feel like somehow she's pulled the wool over my eyes. Sensing my need to end Victoria, and offering me just what I wanted. It feels like a distraction. Like I've taken some terrible kind of bait.

Demetri kicks idly at Victoria's head, which has rolled in front of him. "Let's just light up the whole house. She's hardly worth any more effort than that."

Sarah finds some kerosene in a shed and the house in the clearing is soon a crackling fire. She stands beside me as we watch to make sure it takes hold. It's almost over, Edward. Victoria's dead. Riley's gone. We'll clean up the newborns, and complete your plan. You'll be home before you know it.

I wish I shared an ounce of her confidence.

We run back to Seattle as dawn is breaking over the horizon. The weather is against us, and the clear blue skies and sparkling spring sunshine mean we have to hole up in a hotel for the day. Demetri is restless, pacing the room like a caged tiger. No one speaks. It is a long twelve hours.

As soon as the sky turns red overhead, we go straight to the port so that Demetri can pick up the trail, leading us to the outskirts of town, in a neighborhood full of foreclosed properties. Boarded up, the lawns overgrown, the house would once have been grand, but is now covered in graffiti, its only uncovered windows long since smashed. Inside, the scent of vampires is almost overwhelming. I profess no real skill as a tracker, but even I can pick out over a dozen distinct trails crossing in the main room alone.

The house is empty. And disgusting. A half-burnt vampire corpse lies in the main room, surrounded by ashes. The downstairs windows are covered, taped over with cardboard boxes. I can smell old, dried human blood on the furniture, like some kind of depraved charnel house.

"They're out feeding?" Sarah asks, kicking at a pile of trash in one corner.

Demetri strides around the rooms and out the front door, walking circuits of the property to work out the freshest routes. For some reason, Jane shows none of her customary interest in this process. She stands like a statue in the kitchen, occasionally glancing at her watch as if she's expecting someone. Or something.

I sit on the sofa to wait, my knee jiggling with nervous energy. I feel anxious and strung out. The ground seems to be shifting under me. This is supposed to be a routine mission, and yet nothing is unfolding the way that it should.

I inhale deeply again, trying to calm myself by identifying and counting off the various vampires who have passed through this room, trying to get a sense of the size of this group. All of a sudden my throat constricts in horror and a ferocious growl escapes my throat, causing Sarah to look around from the doorway in fright.

"Edward?"

I'm overcome, raging like an animal, tearing the room apart. Throwing the sofa cushions behind me, overturning an armchair.

"EDWARD!"

I push past her and rush down the stairs to a dark basement, kicking the door in so hard that it splinters around me. There are sleeping bags, and a few moldy-looking mattresses. My hands tear though them as I ravage the room, hell-bent with singular purpose. Piles of comics. A stereo and a television, both smash as I shove them out of the way. And suddenly, there it is. Cast aside like a rag on an old shelf against the back wall. Calling out to me like a siren's unwavering song, the scent of it lighting a fire in my throat and striking fear in my heart. Bella's sweater.

I feel a hand on my shoulder and snarl furiously, shaking it loose.

"Edward! Calm down!" Sarah urges, grabbing again at my upper arm, and swiveling me to look at her.

Get it under CONTROL!Her mind screams at me, her eyes wide with fear.

Jane and Demetri have followed her down the stairs, and are staring around the room at my path of destruction with bewildered expressions. Demetri takes in the red cloth in my hand, inhaling deeply.

"A human girl," he concludes, curiously. "She has not been here. The clothing came from elsewhere."

My throat feels thick, and I have to stop breathing for several long minutes to try and get my mind to clear.

Jane cocks her head and narrows her eyes at me. "Your human girl, Edward? I remember her fragrance being quite...entrancing."

I clutch the sweater to my chest possessively. I want to slap Jane across her smug little face for even referring to Bella. I am so panicked and confused to find this here. My mind is racing, and none of the fragmentary thoughts will come together to show me a complete picture.

"What's going on here?" I spit at Jane in frustration.

"Isn't it obvious? That redhead wanted revenge. She needed to give her little army some direction. Seems that the smell of your delicious little human was the perfect incentive."

I grip the soft wool like a vise. This is so much worse than I'd imagined. Not only had Victoria wanted to goad my family into battle, but she'd been to Forks. She'd stolen Bella's clothing, which meant she'd been impossibly close to Bella. The realization washes over me like ice water. I've been so foolish. Here, all this time, I thought that I was keeping her safeby being in Volterra. I've done nothing of the sort.

"But if that's true..." Sarah interrupts, sounding puzzled. "I mean, we saw them out hunting. They weren't chasing Bella. They were just feeding. They didn't seem to have any purpose."

I listen to Sarah's thoughts, trying to work out where she is going with this. She's thinking about the pack of young vampires. How unregimented they looked. How chaotic. She stares at me with concern. Victoria said she hadn't made a single decision. Who scented the newborns, Edward? And when?

My stomach sinks.

"Riley..." I manage to croak out.

Demetri looks around the room and nods. "He's been here, obviously. And often. The trail is very fresh. But then, we only just dispensed with him. It could have been any time in the last couple of days."

"But we didn'tdispense with him!" I growl, glaring thunderously at Jane. Her expression is unperturbed, her thoughts clear and calm. She says nothing.

Demetri gives a disinterested shrug. "I have the trail; they left in a group heading south. If he's with them, we'll kill him too. They're brand new, and thirst-crazed, and out of control. They'll be snacking on the first food they find."

I realize we can't waste another second discussing this. I look down at Bella's clothing. I won't leave it here in this filthy hovel, surrounded by the odor of death, but I can't really take it with me either. As if sensing my indecision, Sarah hands me a lighter. I take the stairs up to the main floor two at a time, pausing only to set fire to the sweater in the kitchen sink. The red wool blackens and smokes. Jane looks at me like I'm insane, rolling her eyes with disdain. I don't care. I push past her and shove at Demetri's shoulder. "Come on. Show me the way."

We run south, but the trail veers almost immediately, away from the city and across a thin strip of highway before doubling back on itself and heading due north. I pull up in confusion. It takes Demetri a minute or two to realize that I've stopped.

"What?" he snarls in frustration. Once he is tracking he hates being distracted from the chase. I kick at an empty soda can, which arcs across the bare earth with a clatter, and look around in confusion. The lights of the Seattle skyline are behind us. An eighteen-wheeler thunders past headed for Canada. My thoughts are a whirlwind.

"Why would they change direction?"

Jane scowls impatiently as she stalks back toward me. "Why are you making this so hard? The more time we stand around listening to your theories, the more time these vampires are escaping our justice."

I shake my head, irritated. "No, Demetri was right. Newborns would have headed straight for the city. Why would they turn away from the easy pickings they're used to?"

Sarah looks at me sympathetically. "We won't know until we find them, Edward."

I give her a small nod, gesturing begrudgingly at Demetri to continue as we break back into a dead sprint, blurring along the edge of the highway and into a sparse stretch of forest. As we run, the fear begins to claw its way across my skin. After half an hour the forest peters out along the coastline, and the trail runs down a steep hill to a long, rocky stretch of shore. And ends. At the waters' edge.

Demetri hisses in anger, picking up a nearby log of driftwood and hurling it angrily out to sea, where it splashes soundlessly, over a mile away.

I drop to my knees, staring hopeless out at the dark water.

"We will have to split up," Demetri groans. "Run north and south around the Sound until we pick up the trail."

"No," Jane says. "We have no way to contact each other. We can't risk it. We'll go north first and then head back the other way if we don't find them."

My fingers claw into the damp stones and sand, fury causing my nerves to jangle. "Don't be ridiculous," I roar, startling even Jane. "We know where they are going! They are swimming to Forks!"

Jane starts to protest, but Sarah interrupts her. "Edward's right. No pack of disorganized, thirsty newborns runs a diversion by heading into the water. They have a purpose, and it seems reasonable to suppose that purpose is Bella." Sarah is looking down at me, her eyes bright with concern. What do you want to happen here, Edward? Do you want me to order them to give chase? Is it too dangerous?

Demetri nods at Sarah's logic. "This means we need to speak with Aro. This is well outside our mandate. We are not here to get involved in a war."

My breathing is shallow and frantic. I need to get to Forks, and to my family.

"We need to warn Carlisle." I stare at Sarah with a pleading expression. She's the only one who can fix this without revealing our hand.

Jane shakes her head vehemently. "Aro put me in charge. He trusts my decisions. Nothing about this mission has changed. We track and dispense with the newborns. We need to be methodical about this. They were heading north until now. We continue to follow the Sound north."

Something is warring in Demetri's thoughts. He is not convinced by what Jane is saying, and doesn't understand why she's not prepared to clarify our orders with Volterra. I look again at Sarah, willing her to intervene.

"Demetri is right," she says in a quiet voice, causing Jane to turn quickly on her heel and glare at her. "We will call Aro, and we will call Carlisle."

Jane blinks rapidly for a second, her mouth opening and closing as if she is about to say something, but has forgotten what. "Fine," she manages finally, turning and stomping away up the beach.

"Where are you going?" I ask, getting to my feet. I am too afraid to hope. I need to start running, and now. I need to get to Bella. But Jane is an unpredictable threat.

"I don't have a cell phone hiding in my shoe, Edward," she calls over her shoulder, sounding short-tempered.

Demetri takes one last look out to sea, and kneels to the ground inhaling deeply, memorizing the trail, before he turns and jogs after her. Sarah gives my hand a small squeeze. I mouth the words thank youat her silently, and we follow.

We find a truck stop after a few miles, tucking our robes out of sight in the foliage. Demetri follows Jane to the payphone. His thoughts are a mass of confusion and suspicion. She gives him an irritated expression, but does not send him away. Sarah and I wait a few yards apart, keeping out of the glare of the lights overhead. After a few minutes, Demetri looks down at Jane in shock and yanks the receiver away from her, placing it to his own ear. He says a few words and then hangs up the call abruptly, and the two of them walk back to us. Jane gives absolutely nothing away, but Demetri's face is worried.

"What is it?"

"They're already on their way," he says, sounding startled.

"Here?" I ask in shock. "You mean Alec? Felix?"

Demetri shakes his head. "I mean all of them. Even the wives."

I glance between him and Jane with a start, unable to wrap my mind around this new development. "You must be mistaken." I know from Carlisle that the Volturi haven't been out of Volterra in hundreds of years, and the wives nevertravel.

"I spoke to Gianna myself, Edward. They're on their way here."

I stare at Jane, who looks back serenely, not a single sign that she is at all surprised by this development. Her thoughts are impassive, empty.

"Why would they be coming?" Sarah asks the obvious question. They don't know what we know, Edward. Why would they already have left?

My head is pounding. None of this makes any sense. I feel like tight bands of steel are wrapped around my ribcage, squeezing at my chest. All of this is getting away from me. I am nothing but a pawn on a chessboard, and worse, it seems so are my family. So is Bella.

"Perhaps they have other sources of information," Jane responds coolly. "In any event, it seems that Edward will get to see his coven after all."