A/N: So...I know that I said the chapter wasn't that far off. As soon as I said that, that horrible thing called "writer's block" kicked in. Thankfully, the block is gone and Chapter 10 was born. Hope you love this chapter as much as I loved writing it. Shout-outs to all the awesome reviewers and people who put me/this story on their alerts. As always, R&R. Much love to you all!

Chapter 10

BELLA

"Yes, there is."

I glared at her. Short of a miracle, there was nothing… "You can't be serious," I said to Evie as all the pieces of what she was implying clicked in my head. One second she's worried about my safety, the next minute she's putting hers on the line? "You really can't be serious, Evie. It isn't-"

"Safe?" she snapped back. "Maybe, but it's safer for me than it is for you." Realizing what Evie meant, the boys started growling. Alice, meanwhile, looked like she was about to speak but I cut her off.

"No, it's not. You've been through an exhausting day and that'll affect you." Evie huffed. "And besides, you don't know what he looks like and he's on the move. You could expose yourself and according to you and Aunt Trish, that would be very bad."

"That's the first rational thing you've said all day," growled Paul. I narrowed my eyes at him and Evie sighed with exasperation.

"I wasn't kidding about the Dog Whisperer thing, Paul," threatened Evie. Oddly enough, he shut up pretty quickly, but the menacing look in his eyes didn't fade.

Paul slightly pushed Evie so that she was partially facing him. "How is it better for you to put yourself in danger? Neither of you should go; he's a big boy – about 100 years too big, if you ask me – and he can make his own decisions."

Alice looked between Evie, Paul and I, her confusion clear as day. "Will someone please tell me what exactly is going on?"

EVIE

Paul spoke up as he yet again placed his hand on my shoulder. "No can do, leech. That's classified information."

"Well then, un-classify it! If it involves helping my brother, I need to know everything."

I shot Alice an uncertain glance. As it was, way too many people knew already. Then again…

Alice rolled her eyes at me. "You're really worried about secrecy?" When I didn't answer, she let out an impatient sigh. "I promise you, I won't tell but I need to know! Time is of the essence here."

I quickly looked at Jake and Paul's stony faces and then at Bella. Her eyes were wide and pleading, begging me to do this. "Evie," she said. "If you tell Alice, she may be able to help, maybe give us more insight. And she won't tell."

For a moment, it seemed that the entire world stood still as I thought it over. On the one hand, I could see Alice's point; idiot though he was, Edward was her brother, in a sense. And given that aside from Bella she wanted to help him the most, she might offer a different perspective, some other idea that we hadn't thought of. On the other, Bella was right; exposure would be an extremely high risk, considering that Edward was on the move.

"Well?" prodded Alice.

I shook my head. "All I can tell you –"

"Oh, for Pete's sake!" said Bella, throwing her hands up in frustration. "Evie's a witch."

What the hell? "So much for protecting myself from exposure," I spat. This time, when Paul let out a growl, I welcomed it.

"I'm sorry!" Bella said. "But the fact is, we're wasting time and like I said, Alice might be able to help you – us – find an alternative."

Alice got close to me and looked me in the eyes. "Is that true? Is that why I couldn't see Bella before?"

I gave Bella an acidic look before meeting Alice's eyes again and answering. "I have no idea why you couldn't see me, but yes, I'm a witch. Not that Bella was supposed to let that one out of the bag."

"Evie, I…" My shoulders tensed and I stood a bit straighter, hoping against all hope that Bella would get the message and shut up, but there was no such luck. "Evie, it's better that she knows. At least now, everything's out in the open and we can work to get Edward back…in a way that's less likely to get you killed."

The rational part of me completely understood her, knew that she had a point. But right now, all of my rationale was being blocked out by the anger and disbelief that were flowing through me.

"I need a minute," I ground out, storming back to the house.

"Fuckin' A!" I shouted as soon as the door shut behind me, my anger taking full control. Forget the two days, forget helping Bella, and forget the vampires and wolves and all of this shit. Now more than ever, I wanted to relax as I'd originally planned. I wanted to go home, curl up under a blanket and read a book and forget that any of this – starting from the moment that Bella had been brought home from the woods. I wanted just an ounce of 'normal.'

I hustled into the living room and up the stairs, bursting into Bella's bedroom and grabbing my bag from where I'd left it. I closed my eyes and let the familiar feeling of ropes take over me – only to have it disappear a moment later. What? It's usually not that fast. Confused, I opened my eyes only to be overcome with dizziness. "Whoa…" I murmured. I stumbled toward the bed and fell onto it, the dizziness still wreaking havoc on me.

A moment later, I felt a flash of heat from beside me. "Are you okay?"

I shook my head at Paul's question, which helped clear some of the fog from my head. "What's wrong?" he asked me.

"You mean other than the fact that my cousin wanted to kill herself over someone who's already dead? Or that she didn't respect my secret, my decision, all in an attempt to save said deadie? Or that I couldn't teleport home and now I'm dizzy as fuck? Other than all that, nothing," I snapped, holding my face in my hands.

I heard Paul suck in a breath beside me and I turned to face him slightly. When I looked at his face, I felt an uncomfortable tug on my heart and my stomach churned. Great going, Evie. "I'm sorry," I said quickly.

"It's alright," he murmured, his tone steely and cold.

"No." Hesitantly, I placed my hand on his huge bicep. "No, it's not. You're not the person I'm mad at. I shouldn't have snapped at you, Paul."

A flurry of emotions passed over his face and I couldn't help but wish for a second that mind reading was one of my powers so that I could figure out just what he was thinking.

After a long, silent pause, Paul heaved a sigh. "Look, Evie…I get it. After everything that's gone on today, it's no surprise. And given how frustrating your cousin can be – no offense – the only thing that has surprised me is your restraint."

I shot him a questioning look when he didn't elaborate. "And that means…?" I asked, trying to convince him to keep going. Instead, he rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. "Seriously, what does that mean?"

"Given that she's your blood, I really don't think I should say anything," he said, still refusing to look at me.

"Right now, I think I'm too peeved to care. Besides, she was referred to as a Chihuahua," I said, trying to lighten the mood.

Paul chuckled. Mission accomplished. "Yeah, but you're family. You're allowed to talk smack about family. I don't want you going all Dog Whisperer on me if I say something you don't like."

I couldn't help but smile. "Are you teasing me?"

PAUL

I smiled back before rubbing a hand over the back of my neck. "Well…honestly, if I were in your position, I probably would've bitch slapped her," I said. Evie's eyes narrowed and I held up my hands in surrender. "Uh-uh-uh! You told me you were too peeved to care; you don't get to hold that against me."

Evie playfully glared at me. "Damn, I did say that, didn't I?"

I nodded vigorously and Evie giggled. After her giggles faded, however, she grew somber.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Evie bit her lip as she looked at me, probably trying to figure out if she should speak. Finally, after a few minutes, she sighed. "There's a huge part of me that understands her. I mean…" In that moment, I felt my heart clench as I waited for her to answer. Oh, for Christ's sake, man. Get a GRIP! "I've never been in love that way but…she was happy. And a part of me wants her to be happy; of course I want her to be happy. But…"

I noticed that her eyes got slightly cloudy as she paused. "It's…it's unnatural."

"The magic or your cousin's new suicidal tendencies?" I asked, unsure of where this was headed.

Evie threw up her hands in frustration. "All of it!" Suddenly, her eyes widened and she looked at me guiltily. "Shit! Paul, I…I'm so sorry – I didn't mean to…"

I held up a hand to stop her. "You didn't offend me," I said, trying to not wince as I said it. "Look…if this was a normal human relationship, it'd be hard enough to deal with. But the supe part of it…vamps, wolves…it's a game changer."

"Exactly…" she said. "And…don't get me wrong, I want to help her. But he fucking left. Left. And not just him; according to her, they all up and left without any warning. I'm sorry, but if that's not a warning sign that he's a temperamental, fair-weather bastard then hell…I don't know what is. And why does she want that, anyway? I mean jeez, she's not even out of high school! She still has to go to college, get out into the real world…drink, even."

As serious as the situation was, I couldn't help but picture Bella trying to drink out of a keg and the image my mind conjured up was too funny; I tried – and failed – to hold back my grin and Evie shot me a funny look. "What?" she asked.

My grin stretched even more across my face. "I'm sorry, it's just – Bella doesn't strike me as the type."

Evie's eyebrow quirked. "Who knows? Maybe she's more like Renee than any of us gives her credit for. Point is she should have a chance at normal. Or at least some semblance of it."

"Normal is overrated," I said, earning myself a stern glare – which though intimidating, was doing something to me that I did not want. "Seriously though, Evie. Part of normal is making your own path, your own mistakes. Even though it involves some supe elements, her life is normal. This is her mistake to make."

"A mistake she needs my help with, Paul. And technically, I already agreed to help her, so if you think about it, that isn't even the issue!" she said, her voice rising several octaves.

"So…" I said, edging a tiny bit closer to her. "If that isn't the issue…what is?"

Evie huffed and something dark flashed across her features. "It's going to sound stupid," she said.

"No, it won't, Evie." She nodded and I shook my head. "No…it won't. What you feel is what you feel, and nothing about that is stupid. What is it?"

Evie bit her lip. "It's just that…one second, she's all: 'No, it's too dangerous, don't you dare,' and she completely understands how important it is to keep her mouth shut and then the next second, just because she's got a possible insurance policy in the form of Alice, all of that goes to hell. Suddenly, she can spill all the secrets and put everybody and their grandmother at risk for her precious deadie. Secrets that aren't even fucking hers." She huffed. "I mean…shit!"

"She disrespected you," I murmured. Evie nodded.

"Yes! Exactly!"

I sighed, debating whether or not I should say what was on my mind but before I could stop myself, the words came tumbling out. "And don't get me wrong…she completely crossed a line. But maybe she has a point."

I couldn't figure out whether her expression or my own distaste at having to admit that the pixie leech might be an asset was what made me flinch. When I could practically feel the waves of anger flowing off of Evie, I continued. "Look…I'm not saying we have to be happy about it, but if Alice can get a more exact idea of where he is, of where he might be…it might be easier for you to get to him. The sooner you get to him, the sooner this is done."

Evie sighed. "But then again, is it really? I mean, we still have that bitch that's gunning for Bella…" I could see a flicker of another emotion on her face.

"You let us worry about that. If we can get your cousin to finally put her stupidity aside by saving her leech, we might have more of a chance to keep her safe. And that's what you want, isn't it?"

Evie scowled at me. "Damn you for playing that card," she growled. Instead of answering me, she stood and took a deep breath, sliding past me and going for the bedroom door. "Well…might as well go and strategize; not like I can go anywhere." The worry in her voice doesn't escape my notice and I place my hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sure it's just exhaustion, Evie. Give yourself some time."

Evie turned to me, a slight pink tint in her cheeks. "For Bella's sake, I hope you're right," she said.

EVIE

I stepped out of Bella's room and made my way down the stairs. As much as I hated to admit it to myself, Paul's thudding steps behind me reassured me more than they should as I went to face my cousin and her friend.

When I arrived in the living room, Bella, Jake and Alice snapped off the couch and glanced at me warily.

"Evie," Alice said. "Do you still want to help us?"

My eyes flickered from her to Jacob and to Bella, who looked sad, scared and chastised. "Yes. But…you're going to have to give me some time."

Alice's eyes widened. "We don't have time; he's on his way to Volterra and he'll do anything to die because he thinks Bella is dead!"

"Don't you think I know that?" I snapped. "If it were up to me, it would be fast and easy but it doesn't work like that!"

"If it were up to you, he would die!"

Paul shoved me behind him. "No, you're confusing her with me!" he roared. "You want her to help you, you'll give her the time she needs so that she can recoup her energy. Otherwise…" He paused to glare at Bella. "Screw him and all of you."

Bella pushed past Paul and stood in front of me. "Evie, I know you're mad at me but you said you'd help. Please. If you won't…"

"It's in your best interest to stop talking," I growled. "I said I'd help you and I will but like Paul said, I need to recoup my energy – popping from coast to coast is exhausting, let alone country to country."

Realization seemed to dawn on Bella and Alice and the former of the two instantly looked guilty as she nodded. "Right. Alice…couldn't you try and get a more exact location while we wait for Evie to 'juice up' a bit?"

Alice shook her head mournfully. "Because he's traveling so fast, everything's a blur." She paused for a moment. "Evie…what can you tell me about your powers?"

My eyebrow shot up to my hairline. "Not that much, really." I relayed as much as I could (including my current predicament) and as I did, Alice's face scrunched in concentration. When I finished, she relaxed and gave me a small smile.

"I think I know someone who can help you."

Half an hour later, Paul and I climbed out of Alice's car and it took everything I had to not kiss the pavement.

"Alice, the next time you feel the need for speed like that, do me a favor and let me take you down to Daytona," I said.

Paul, who hadn't left my side and had a firm grip on me since the moment we tore out of Charlie's, stiffened. "There won't be a next time."

Alice, who'd been leading us to a storefront, stopped abruptly and turned to face us. "I'm sorry I scared you," she said to me before glaring at Paul. "But time is of the essence."

"I'd rather get somewhere late and alive than on time and dead," he growled back.

I couldn't help but chuckle – he had a point, after all. Instead of replying, Alice turned back around and stormed into an incense-filled shop with Paul and I at her heels.

At first, all I could see were rows of shelves. Upon closer inspection, I realized that they were all different in terms of content– some had books, others had herbs, incense, candles and all sorts of trinkets. And all of the items had waves of magic rolling off of them. "What is all this?"

"If you truly need an answer to that, chances are this isn't where you should be," said a cool voice from behind us. I jumped about a mile in the air before turning around to face the owner of the voice.

Her dark brown eyes were narrowed at the three of us and a scowl was etched onto her tan face. A strip of dark black hair fell in front of her right eye and she briefly uncrossed her arms to shove it behind her ear.

"So much for customer service," muttered Paul darkly, causing Alice to roll her eyes at him before walking toward the counter that the woman was behind.

"Hello, Nayeli," she said hesitantly.

"Ms. Cullen," Nayeli replied stiffly. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Alice glanced at us, fear written all over her face. "I…well…we need your help."

Nayeli shot her a look that I couldn't read. "And what makes you think I can help you? Or will, for that matter?"

"Nayeli, please…your grandmother said that we could count on her if we needed her," Alice said gently, trying to not agitate her.

Clearly, that wasn't working; Nayeli uncrossed her arms and slammed a fist on the counter. "That was my grandmother, not me; her debt to you is none of my concern. I don't work with the likes of you." She shifted her gaze from Alice to Paul and I. "You'd be wise to apply the same principle." With an angry huff, she turned and headed toward the back of the store.

"Wait!" I called. "If you won't help her, help me." Nayeli stopped but she didn't turn around so I pressed on. "I just need some information – something that will help me stop my cousin from going on a suicide mission to save Alice's brother. Please, Nayeli. I need to keep her safe."

I heard Nayeli take a deep breath before she turned to face us again. "Why?"

I balked. What the hell? "Because she's too young for this! Because she shouldn't have to put herself in this kind of danger!"

"Ah, but she has already – willingly, it would seem. But you misunderstand me. Why do you have to do it? Why not her," she said, sauntering back as she glared at Alice. "Or him?" Her gaze flickered to Paul.

"Because…" I paused, choosing my words carefully. "Because as close as they are to her, they really aren't. She's one of my own. She's my family. My blood. And ridiculous or not, I love her unconditionally."

Without a word, Nayeli stepped out from behind the counter. Placing her hand on my shoulder, she locked eyes with me. "What do you need?"

"We need to get her powers back so she can get herself to Edward," supplied Alice.

Nayeli's eyes widened in shock and her eyes snapped to Alice. "You know very well that I can't restore a witch's powers; if the spirits have taken them away, only they can restore them."

My own eyes got as big as saucers as I thought over my actions and what my mother had said. "Wait. That can happen? Oh, come on! After one day? Hell, not even a full day!" My mind was on overload. What the hell am I supposed to do now?

Nayeli's face was absolutely incredulous. "Of course that can happen…and what do you mean 'after one day'?"

I sighed and ran my hands over my face before glancing at Alice, who nodded. "You can trust her. And if she's going to help us, she needs to know everything."

I was really tired of hearing that.

After recounting the entire story yet again, Nayeli had a look of shock and irritation on her face.

"So…is there anything we can do to help get her powers stable again?" asked Alice.

Nayeli snorted. "Other than 12 hours of sleep and no stress? No." She made her way over to one of the shelves – the one with the candles – and began re-arranging them.

"Nayeli, please, there must be something!" Alice squawked. "A spell or – "

"Listen to me, vampira," she hissed, whirling around. "From what I've been told, her powers aren't gone, just depleted. And there's no spell to fix depletion; the only way to fix that is the natural way – rest. Even if there was a way, I wouldn't do it."

A strangled noise escaped my throat in protest, causing Nayeli to gaze at me. "Not because I don't understand you," she placated. "But because it's too much for you; you've only just gotten your gift. To do that kind of magic, you need to develop it and control it. If you do it now, the consequences would be disastrous, and not just to you."

I huffed in irritation. "I know that I can't expose my gift – "

Nayeli huffed. "Exposure is the least of your problems. Magic, especially new magic, has its limits; if you push, it will push back." What? My confusion must have shown on my face because Nayeli continued. "If you push your magic too far, you could end up hurting and/or killing yourself."

Paul, who had managed to stay behind me and quiet throughout all of this, let out a growl so loud that it shook me to my core. "That can't happen."

"Exactly my point, shifter."

Paul looked dumbstruck. "What did you just call me?"

"Shifter. Shapeshifter." Rolling her eyes at his expression, she sighed. "Please. You think I don't know what you are? If the tattoo wasn't enough, the magic rolling off you is. Which is why this 'alliance' is more than a little surprising."

"Not just to you," he said.

A tiny smirk graced her face before it fell again. "Look…" she said to me.

"Evie," I supplied.

"Look, Evie. I know you want to help your cousin. But the best thing you can do is find another way to show…Edward…that she is indeed alive and well."

Alice shook her head. "He won't believe that! He'll think it's a trick. It's either this or Bella goes to Volterra."

Nayeli growled at her. "She is an innocent; if you let her go, you'll be signing her death warrant."

"Which is why we need Evie's help!"

Paul was shaking now. "Why? So she can die instead of Bella? Hell no!"

I backed up and stood beside him. "I'm not going to die, Paul. I'll be in and out in no time."

But my words had no effect. "Haven't you been listening, Evie? You said yourself that popping from state to state was exhausting, that going from country to country would be worse. And Nayeli said that if you push too hard, you could end up killing yourself. And if you do make it there, what's to say that the Vol-whatever they are won't kill you to protect themselves?" His voice rose, and his shaking got worse and worse until I was sure that he was going to go into an epileptic fit.

"Evie…" said Alice. "Back away from him."

"Alice, I'm – "

Another growl ripped out of Paul's throat. "Shut up, leech! Your mouth is what got us in this mess!"

"Paul, calm – "

"Tranquillitas totalis," snapped Nayeli, locking eyes with Paul.

In an instant, the shaking stopped and Paul sagged a bit. "What did you do?" I asked Nayeli, half horrified and half awed.

She shrugged. "A simple calming spell – can't have him going puppy in my shop." I felt my mouth drop open; judging from Paul's immediate reaction, there was nothing simple about it.

"It's not permanent, is it? I need to go puppy to protect the Rez," he spat.

Nayeli chuckled. "Of course it's not; if I can't restore magic, what makes you think I can take it away?" She went back to rearranging the candles. "You should go back to normal as soon as you've calmed down on your own."

My eyebrow arched in confusion. "But he is calm, isn't he?"

"Not on his own; the spell's energy – my energy – is overpowering his rage, but only by a bit. Once his rage has dissipated, so will the spell."

"Are you sure?"

Nayeli scowled, and I could tell she was biting back a smart remark. "Yes, I'm sure. It only required a small amount of magic."

"But that doesn't have anything to do with how long the spell will last!"

"It has everything to do with that, Evie. This particular spell is a balance spell, which serves to maintain the balance in nature, people, in the world. It only required a small amount of magic - just enough to overpower Paul's rage. Once Paul can regain his natural balance on his own, my magic won't need to be there – if anything it'd be tipping the balance, which defeats its purpose - so it'll easily disappear. Plus, I didn't make it permanent."

Just then, Alice gasped and she blinked. "Evie, we have to go. He's getting closer to Volterra."

I nodded at her before turning my attention back to Nayeli. "Thank you for your help."

"I only wish it could be more," she said somberly. Paul, Alice and I turned and went to leave the shop, only to be stopped a second later. "Oh, and Ms. Cullen?"

Alice turned. "If Evie or her cousin die, I won't hesitate to end you."

Alice gunned it back to Forks and I held onto Paul and the safety bars in the car, barely managing to keep still until we got into Charlie's driveway.

I was sorely tempted to make another Daytona comment, but the gravity of the situation kept me silent. Would Edward believe us if we made a video of Bella? He probably wouldn't. What if somehow we could get a message to him? He wouldn't believe it. I could pop myself there, if I sleep well beforehand. But what if it doesn't work and I end up in the sea? Or dead?

My mind was so distracted that I barely noticed Bella barreling out of the house with Jacob hot on her heels.

"Well? How'd it go?" she asked.

As much as I tried to force myself to answer, to be happy that she was asking, I couldn't. I knew that my cousin was only asking because my answer was key to Edward's survival. Lucky for me, Paul spoke up.

"Not going to happen."

Or not.

Bella blanched. "What? Why?" Her eyes darted between the three of us. "Did you change your mind?"

I shook my head. "No, I didn't. And I never said that or anything close to it, Paul." I took a breath. "Don't worry, Bella. I just need some sleep and then I'll be back at full strength so we can do it."

Paul turned white with disbelief. "You can't be serious!" he said incredulously. Well, shit, apparently the spell wore off in the car, I thought.

"After everything that Nayeli said, you can't be serious. Evie…you could die!" he continued. Why the hell is he looking at me like that? I wondered. He had a look of crushing sadness on his face. And why does my heart feel so tight?

"Evie…you can't die," he said softly. "Not like that. Not for him."

I sighed, my frustration and a peculiar anxiety building within me. "Don't you see? I'm not doing this for him. I'm doing it for her!" I said, nodding to Bella.

"Because she's being selfish about this whole thing!"

I threw my hands up in frustration. "That's not the point, Paul. And I won't die. Especially because I have something else in mind."