Edward recoiled at Bella's words. His hands tightened in fists, and he turned away from her. She could see him trying to calm himself. Bella went to place her hand on his shoulder, in an effort to make him feel better, and he shook his head violently.

"I need a moment." The words came out choked, rougher than his normal eloquent tones.

Bella nodded even though she knew he couldn't see her and she lifted the tent door, glancing behind her at her former husband one last time before running off into the woods to find the others in a vain attempt to distract herself from the vampire whose heart she had just broken.

She did not have to search long. They were at the edge of the forest, and Bella could clearly see Tallulah having a confrontation with the two guardsmen.

Demetri looked up, his frustrated eyes locking with Bella. "We have a problem."

Tallulah rolled hers in response. "There is no problem. Aro sent Edward to us."

Felix crossed his arms, his stance indicating he was clearly cross. Bella had seen him agitated previously and was glad that his ire was not directed at her. "Aro has always given us all directions in advance. He mentioned one contact. Just one. Not two. So either you are a spy or he is. At this point, neither of you can be trusted and I am declaring this mission compromised and over."

Demetri made his way over to her, placing his hand authoritively on her forearm. "Bella, pack your things. We will head back for Volturra and wait for further orders. We can complete the mission later. You will stay in Italy until further notice."

Bella shrugged his hand off her arm. "No."

The Russian raised his eyebrows. "Bella, I am not joking."

"Neither am I, Demetri. Cancel this mission if you feel it is necessary, but I am not staying in Italy another moment longer. Your… hospitality has been quite overwhelming. I'm tired of all of this. You can't control my life! I will leave immediately to find Jasper and Alice."

"We cannot allow that to happen." He argued.

"Well, it is either complete the mission as it currently stands or explain to Aro that I have left. I'm done with Jasper and I being pawns in your games."

"Might I remind you that it is more than just you and Jasper's well being at stake."

Damn him for calling her bluff. Of course she wouldn't leave the fates of the Cullens, Peter, and Charlotte up to chance. Who knew how the Volturi would respond to her defiance? She decided that best way to respond to his threat was not to respond at all. Instead Bella tried a different tactic. "Listen, I have spoken to Edward. I genuinely believe that he was sent by Aro. Why Aro is not obeying your normal protocol, I have no idea. Buy will you at least talk to him before you determine this mission a failure?"

Demetri was going to shake his head no, but Felix glanced at him. She was aware that both of them knew that this was really a no win situation for either one of them. If they returned to Aro without the mission completed, there would be hell to pay if Edward was truly sent by him. If Edward was a spy, well then, the mission was already ruined. Demetri sighed. "Fine. We will talk to him and attempt to confirm this change with Aro. But if we find him to be an enemy, I will not hesitate to kill him and burn his body."

Bella hoped that she was not making a grave mistake. "Okay."

Felix and Demetri turned to walk back towards the tent to talk to Edward. When Bella made a move to join them, they both stopped her. "This is official Volturi business. You are staying here. We will come find you when we have made a decision."

Bella made a move to argue, but thought better of it. Edward would have a harder time if she was there and as it was, he was going to have difficulty proving to them that he was not a spy. She finally nodded and they ran off, in the direction from which she just came.

Tallulah could sense her distress and placed a hand on her. "He will be fine. Those Volturi are too afraid of the repercussions if this mission fails. I would also like to apologize that I did not prepare you earlier for his arrival. I am afraid I was not aware it would be so imminent."

"I understand."

The older vampire studied her. "He did not take news of your marking well."

Bella placed her hand on the crook of her neck where the mark lay. "No, but then again, you knew that he wouldn't."

"He is very conflicted, Bella. He has not had the time that you have to come to terms to any of this. Edward's soul is warring with him, trying to come to terms with loving two vampires at that same time."

Frustrated tears welled up again. "This is so very unfair to him."

"Yes. And to you. And to Jasper. And to Alice." Tallulah sat down, leaning against a tree.

"How does it all end, Tallulah?" she asked turning away, staring into the darkened forest. "Do we end up happy?"

"I am afraid you are in control of your own destiny. I have seen both outcomes, but there are still so many variables, so many decisions not yet made, I do not know which future is the true one at this point."

She should have realized the Quileute would not answer the question. She hurled a branch she picked up. "This is all just a sick joke to Aro, isn't it?"

When the elder vampire did not respond, Bella turned to see Tallulah leaning against the tree, her eyes closed, and her facial features serene in a way that made Bella envious. Bella recalled a conversation between Jasper and the vampire that took place back at the house in Wyoming.

"When I woke up from this existence, I was given a gift, similar in nature to your wife's." she advised.

"You see the future."

Tallulah nodded. "Yes. But it's more than that. I… for lack of a better term, fall asleep."

Bella shifted, unsure what to do. In reality, there was really nothing she could do, except wait. She remembered that Tallulah advised that it could take moments to days for her to awaken. Bella prayed that this vision would help them completed their mission.

After a half an hour of just staring at the motionless vampire, she pulled out her cell phone, sending another text. She knew that Jasper wanted them to just respond "All is Well." but she needed to let him know that Edward was here.

Jasper. All is Well. Edward is here assisting with the mission. I miss you.

Tallulah opened her eyes, looking around. Concern marred her face. Bella walked over to her. "Are you alright? Was that one of your visions?"

"Yes." The woman looked dazed for a minute.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes, child. I had a vision of Jasper's life. So much pain he has endured with Maria." She looked Bella in the eye. "We need to get back to the tent."

The look on Tallulah's face left no room for argument. She complied and they ran back to the tent, bursting inside, interrupting what clearly was a heated argument between Edward and Demetri. The Russian yelled at the both of them. "I thought I advised you to stay away! We are not done here."

Tallulah, unfazed by his anger, looked Demetri straight in the eye. "We do not have time for this. I just had a vision and it impacts the very nature of this mission."

Demetri glared at Edward. "One step out of line, and I kill you. For now, I will take you at your word that you were sent by Aro."

Edward returned an equally disdainful look to him. "I was sent by Aro!"

"Well, until our cell phones are working again, I suggest that you walk a very careful line."

Bella stopped. The cell phones weren't working? They all carried satellite phones, which should work everywhere. Bella discreetly pulled out her phone while their attention was on Edward, who was currently still arguing with Demetri. Sure enough, the text message had failed and Jasper did not receive it. Bella would keep trying at every available opportunity until she succeeded.

Felix finally tired of the bickering back and forth and nodded in Tallulah's direction. "What was this vision you had?"

"This mission is bigger than any of us realize."

"How so?"

"From what I can gather, the newborns in France are larger than the current estimates. They are letting just a few out in the general populace to get the Volturi's attention. These newborns are coming all over from Europe."

Felix waved his hand dismissively. "Impossible. We would have reports from everywhere and we have none with the exception of France. It would be impossible to contain them all long enough to survive the trip without having a single incident."

Edward answered, his eyes looking everywhere but at her. "Not unless it was a trafficking situation where they are kidnapped as humans and then changed when they arrived in France locally. The Volturi would not bother themselves with that."

Demetri's look was grim as he realized Edward had a point and looked back over to the psychic. "How does this impact our mission?"

"Jasper, Jane, Alec, and Alice will have a small window to try to contain the situation. If I am interpreting the vision correctly, the ones who are funding this newborn venture are the same as those that are assisting the werewolves."

"Who is it and why?"

"I don't know."

"Well then, how are the werewolves involved?"

"One of the outcomes is that Jasper and the others fail to locate the coven and the newborns are let out into the population. The Volturi then send more to assist controlling the situation, but by then it is too late. Humans become aware of the existence of vampires. Werewolves come out and assist with helping eradicating the newborn population and at the same time become allies with the Humans. It results in an all out war. Vampires, while they survive, do not fare well. Neither do the werewolves for that matter."

Bella's eyes widened. That would be devastating for everyone she cared about and loved. "And if we stop the newborn population?"

"Then the human population remains ignorant of our existence."

"And what if Jane and the others fail?"

"Then we need to stop the werewolves at the very least. I believe they have been tipped off to the newborns and that is where they are headed now."

Bella jumped in. "Well, we need to get in touch with Jasper and the others and let them know."

Felix shook his head. "We need to verify these findings and then consult with Aro and the others."

"Excuse me? Verify the findings! Are you mad! Time is running out. This is not something that is going to happen in a year or even a month! You act like we have the luxury of all the time in the world."

Edward spoke quietly. "Bella is right. If our phones are not working, we need to leave immediately to get to an area where we contact them."

She could see Felix attempting to retain his calm. "If we do not verify our findings and act rashly and we are wrong, we are all dead. How much time do we have according to your vision?"

"Not long. A couple of days, perhaps."

Bella imagined all kinds of terrible things happening to Jasper if they did not stop this in time. "Felix! Just use common sense!"

"No." His voice left no more room for argument. "We will leave tonight and get confirmation. It is a good thing you are here after all Edward. It looks like we may in need of your particular talents after all."

A/N: Thanks everyone for the continual feedback and constant encouragement on continuing this story. Hopefully, I have not lost everyone! I have the next chapter written (Jasper's POV) and will be posting it next week. :)