Alice

There was a price to pay for seeing the future. Alice concealed this from her family, of course, though Edward knew. How many visions could a girl have before she started losing touch with reality? And the constant insistence that she use her gift only made it worse. But she loved her family, and they needed her. They needed her to save them, over and over again.

There was a price to pay for seeing the future. Thus this Seattle shopping trip with Bella. For a distinctive feature of Alice's visions was that they were often weak on details, the accessories and knick-knacks that fleshed out the background of everyday life. Did fashion and decorating possess any true abiding value? Alice didn't know. She didn't care. What mattered was that when she was trying on clothes, Alice felt connected to the present. To the now. Each new outfit kept her sane for another day.

Alice and Bella entered Pacific Place one month after the inexplicable destruction of the Volturi. The Cullens had gone mobile in response to the attack, fearing the worst. But whatever had happened to the Volturi seemed to have nothing to with the Cullens, and Alice saw no danger in their future. The family had finally regathered in Forks, insistent as ever that Alice protect them. So she observed the future constantly, and she shopped even more. Through it all she hoped most earnestly that she never had a vision of herself in a changing room. For on the day that happened, she felt certain she would lose her mind.

After an hour in Macy's she and Bella passed into the center of the mall. Alice stopped. "Do you smell that?" she asked.

"Yes," Bella said. "What is it?"

"I don't know. It's disturbing, whatever it is."

"We should leave," Bella urged, even as she joined Alice in pursuing the source of the mystery.

Alice agreed with Bella: they should leave. But she couldn't help herself. She hadn't seen this moment in any vision. She needed to know why. Alice tracked the scent to a couple seated in a crowded eating area. It was the woman who was producing the bizarre smell. She attracted and repelled Alice in a new, unsettling way. What was the woman? Why was she here? Why did she stare at Alice as though she already knew her?

It was the woman's partner, however, who spoke first. "Oh, my, Lucy," he said. "This is really just too rich. Like Christmas in March. Alice and Bella, join us, please." He gestured grandly toward two empty chairs.

"Alice?" Bella inquired, her face urgent and afraid. "Let's go."

"Go if you want," the man said. "I'm certainly not stopping you. But understand this: I'm giving you a chance I didn't give the Volturi, what with your special diet and all. Walk away from this meeting, however, and the gloves come off. I'll assume you're as big a threat as they were, and respond accordingly."

Alice sat down abruptly and forced Bella to join them. "If it's vampires eating people you want to stop," she said, "then you were a fool to kill Aro. He was the one keeping us from multiplying excessively."

"She's got a point, Owen," Lucy said, opening a laptop and turning it so Alice and Bella could see the screen.

"Yes," Owen agreed. "It seems there's a job opening at the top of the food chain." He reached around and pointed to the display. "Note the unusual thermal signatures in this section of the Amazon. Those are your friends, Zafrina and company. Observe the crosshairs. That's a laser targeting system for terminal guidance. In case you're not smart enough to realize it, that means I have an agent on the ground who was able to locate Zafrina while remaining undetected herself. The bomb will guide on..." The display blazed with light. Owen pondered the whited-out screen silently for several seconds, then closed the lid and sighed. "And that, my dear Alice, is three less vampires in the world."

Alice glanced at Bella, who was staring at Owen coldly. "Maybe we should kill them," Bella suggested.

"Sweet little mama bear," Owen replied. "Slay us if you must. You certainly won't have any trouble doing so: two stone vamps against a human and a shadow-feeder. You don't even have to worry about Volturi retaliation for acting in a public place. So come on, my dear, newborn Bella: let me be the first human you kill. Make clear to the world that your coven is no different than any other. Monsters. Murderers. Undead filth worthy of summary execution."

Alice glowered, but she put a hand on Bella's arm, urging her to maintain control. Could this human really have just killed Zafrina? Was that even possible? And what did it mean that she had foreseen none of these events? The improbability of it all threatened to overwhelm her. Humans were a source of home decor, not danger. Yet there was no denying the information possessed by this inexplicable human. How could he know so much about them? It was especially disturbing that he seemed so much more interested in Alice than in Bella. Aro had displayed the same sort of focus.

Owen gave Alice a condescending smile. "Aro's singular mission was to keep your kind a secret," he said. "In that mission he spectacularly failed. My agency will now hunt stone vampires so mercilessly, you'll soon find yourself longing with nostalgia for the days of the Volturi.

"But there's nothing you can do about that," Owen continued. "What you can do is work to save your family. My understanding is that the Olympia coven feeds exclusively on animal blood, an option that my poor Lucy, alas, does not have. I also understand that avoiding human blood is quite difficult for you. This self-denial intrigues me. I'm willing to keep an open mind. Convince me not to wipe you out."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Alice challenged bitterly. "It's obvious you hate us."

"You're going to take an offer to Carlisle," Owen replied. "And for your sake, you better hope he accepts it."