Author's Notes: Okay so it's almost still Sunday like I promised the update! I got a little carried away and this chapter is a lot longer than usual so I hope that makes up for my tardiness ^_^ And as always, massive thanks to the reviewers: tooki13, midtwilight, SamAdams, lena m., stluciangirly, mysteryfan09, KMT06055, Aiyami Sakura, babygirl187, xonthe renee, sonia48, Toshibi, nessie125, ConradKCat, and TwilightLuver127b!


Disclaimer: The Twilight saga and all characters therein are the creation of Stephenie Meyer. No profit is being made from this fanfiction and no copyright infringement is intended.


Chapter Twenty

Amnesia

The tide was unquestionably in our favor. The only remaining Volturi were in a bind. Bella had yanked Alec's arms behind him, Edward supporting her. Beside Alec was Chelsea, held by Emmett and Jasper. I could see the air shimmering but only around Alec and Chelsea; Bella must have formed her shield into a doughnut shape to keep their powers contained.

"Now what, huh?" said Bella to Alec, smirking.

Alec's precious face was distorted with hatred. I imagined this was the first time he'd ever been bested.

"We need to see what else is here," said Jasper, always thinking tactically.

I agreed. Although only Chelsea, Heidi, and Alec remained in the clearing, I could smell other vampires nearby – hiding, presumably – and there was also the question of Mendel. Who was he? I doubted it was any of these three. And surely they wouldn't have placed him with the basic guard.

The Denalis and Emmett began gathering the body parts of the slain vampires, already inching back together, and heaped them into a huge pile on the lawn. The way the separated fingers wiggled was grotesque; they looked like giant white worms, writhing in the pile. I passed this thought to Jacob and he snorted agreement.

Tanya lit the torch and the gray silk went up first, then the flames spread to the bodies, releasing clouds of purplish black, incense-smelling smoke that hovered as a cloud in the humid tropical air.

Bella, Edward, and the wolves stayed with the prisoners. "I'm removing the shield for now," Bella warned them, "but if any of you make a false move, one of them," she jerked her head at the wolves, "will take care of you. Got it?"

Alec glared back at her, but did not protest.

I have to go find Nahuel and Aylen, I thought to Jacob, putting my hand on his snout.

His eyes were worried, but he nodded his massive furry head once.

The rest of us set to exploring the compound. I heard the drone of a powerful computer system from the first building on our left; my suspicions were confirmed with the satellite dish fastened to the roof. This was the computer I'd attacked this morning. I opened the door and stepped cautiously inside; there was no one here, but there was a bank of computer screens and a single chair, and a desk nestled beside a gigantic mainframe. Several screens held the results of analysis programs; the screens were frozen, paralyzed by me.

Carlisle was behind me. "DNA analysis," he said, peering at one of the screens.

Alice, standing in the doorway, blanked out for a moment. Shock and, strangely, amusement crossed her face. "Of course," she murmured. "Poor thing."

"Alice?" said Carlisle, placing a hand on her tiny shoulder. "What is it?"

"One of the burning ones is about to wake up," said Alice. "Nicole."

"Your niece!" I exclaimed.

We left the computer – I was reluctant, but we needed to find everyone else – and moved on to the next building.

This was an office, and from the loud hum, it housed the mini-nuclear generator in the back. Jasper went in first, and he hissed, crouching and ready to attack.

I peeked around his shoulder.

The office was all chrome and glass, with a glossy marble floor and a large water bamboo growing out of a square pot in the corner. The desk had a computer and a stack of papers and an actual in-out tray.

There were two vampires in the room: one, sitting on a black leather sofa. I knew him – Govinda.

A second vampire stood behind the desk, his burgundy eyes calm and glittering under the bright lights. He wore khaki slacks, a blue shirt, and a white lab coat. He had a sweep of lustrous black hair and a hooked nose in a carved face. When I looked into his face, some intuition told me without a doubt that this was Mendel, the hacker.

"Ah," he said in a Portuguese-accented voice, seeing me behind Jasper, "a hybrid. Not one of ours, though."

I stepped out, and Jasper made room, although he was positioned protectively in front of me. "Who are you?" I asked the hacker. "What's your name?"

But it was Carlisle who said with a slight hesitation, "Dr. Ferreira?"

The vampire blinked. "Do we know one another?"

Alice appeared at my side, with Kate and Garrett behind her. I pointed at the seated vampire. "That's Govinda," I told them, "their talent-finder."

Govinda, for his part, looked fascinated at Alice. "Your fortune-teller," he said appreciatively.

"Don't speak to her," hissed Jasper.

I was more interested in the vampire in the lab coat. He had an air of quiet assurance, as though welcoming guests to tour his facility, and there was unmistakable pride in the way he stood. There was a touch of gray hair at his temples; he looked to have been in his late forties when he was turned. If he knew what had happened outside – and he must – he showed no sign of being disturbed by it.

Just like a scientist, I thought, doesn't care about anything but his work.

Carlisle was looking puzzled. "Dr. Saul Ferreira," he said again.

The missing geneticist! It had been so obvious. My fingers touched Jasper's elbow, remembering our discussion about it.

"And who are you, please?" Saul the vampire said, quirking his head.

"Carlisle Cullen."

A tiny wrinkle appeared between Saul's eyebrows. He seemed to be trying hard to remember something – a human memory, perhaps, which I'd been told were difficult to hang on to post-transformation. "The rest of you Cullens, I know by reputation. But Carlisle… the name sounds familiar…"

"Before you vanished fifteen years ago," Carlisle said, "we were correspondents. I responded to one of your papers published in a journal – you'd written about cross-species genetic alterations."

"Dr. Carlisle Cullen. Of course. I apologize. My human memories are so clouded." Saul jerked his hand outward as though to shake Carlisle's, then seemed to think better of it. "You wrote to me wondering about accelerated growth rates in cross-bred embryos." He raised an eyebrow at me. "Pertaining to her, I suppose."

Carlisle inclined his head.

I couldn't resist. "You're Mendel, aren't you?"

"You're direct, aren't you?" Saul replied.

"Well?" I put my hands on my hips. He probably didn't want to admit it since his system was down, courtesy of my friends and me.

"That is my online identity, yes."

I grinned. "That must have been difficult this morning, seeing your entire system flooded with bots. I do hope it got in the way of your insane work."

Irritation flashed through Saul's face and his fists clenched – his first sign of real emotion. Typical scientist. "That was you?" His voice was testy.

"With the help of some friends."

Saul recovered himself and peered at me more closely. "So you've taught yourself programming? Fascinating."

"I'm so glad you think so," I said sourly.

"That's enough talk," said Kate, tapping her foot on the smooth floor. "Let's take these two to Edward."

Saul went easily, flicking off the lights on his way out. Govinda had a pout on his ashy-brown face. We whisked them to where the other three prisoners waited. Everyone could see the bond between Saul and Heidi; she looked at him pleadingly. He shook his head at her.

Govinda, seeing Edward, said, "A mind-reader! No wonder the Cullens are famous."

By now it was full dark and the deep quiet was punctuated only by breathing. A couple of blue spotlights came on, illuminating the compound; the lights must have been on a timer. The forest surrounding us remained unnaturally still. From the pile of bodies, the last tendrils of purple smoke appeared lavender against the darkness.

Then, a scream rent the air, the kind of scream that comes last before the agony ends. I perked up; from the long white building at the back of the clearing – which looked rather like a hospital ward – I could hear the frantic pounding of a heartbeat.

"She's about done," said Alice.

The look on Saul's face was one of great anticipation. I looked at him with disgust; so did Edward.

"They're not even people to you, are they?" Edward said to Saul. "Just experimental objects."

Saul's eyes were cool and unapologetic.

Edward said to us, "I'm picking up on things I don't understand. One soon-to-be vampire, thinking only of the pain… two asleep, maybe hybrids? Seven other people, and their thoughts are blank. As soon as they form a thought, it disappears." He turned to the scientist. "What is that, Saul?"

His response was a tiny, smug smile.

"There are seven hybrids somewhere in the compound," said Edward, plucking it out of the scientist's thoughts, "one more vampire, one soon-to-be vampire, and two… oh." I was frightened by the expression on my father's face. He sounded choked when he spoke again. "You'll see for yourselves. Carlisle, they'll need you."

We all looked at each other. "Nahuel and Aylen…" I said.

"Let's go," said Emmett, jumping forward and eager. Garrett and Kate were at his heels, followed by Rosalie; it took us two leaps to cross the clearing and throw open the door to the largest building.

Our feet cracked the concrete floor with the force of stopping so suddenly.

A long row of clean white beds lined one wall. State-of-the-art medical equipment surrounded each bed; monitors, IVs, lights.

On the other wall was a row of glass cells. I could tell from the thickness and the tiny wires crisscrossing inside that it was the nanofiber-reinforced diamond glass used on space planes. Inside one of the cells, a thin, blond-haired woman in a hospital gown writhed, her back arched in agony. She still had a heartbeat. Her elfin features were slack, as though the searing pain of transformation had gotten the better of her muscles.

I noticed her briefly, but then I saw, at the same time as the others, the two occupants of the beds at the far end of the room.

There were no words for the horror of it.

I wasn't sure if I was projecting my thoughts or if the group of us were actually sharing the same one… but the gasps were simultaneous and pained. Carlisle in particular was stressed, his eyes wide, and I knew that he was remembering Bella.

Two human women were laid out on the hospital beds, each barely alive. Their cheeks were hollow and their abdomens distended, shaded with the indigo of internal bruising. Bags of rich red blood dripped into feeding tubes down their throats. I knew that I was looking at a picture of my own arrival into the world; this was how Bella had looked while she was pregnant with me.

And without anyone to tell the hyper-intelligent children growing inside these women, as Edward had told me, to be careful… to not hurt their mothers so much…

"No," said Tanya. "No." As if denying it would erase the sight.

Carlisle was at the side of one of the women – she was a little further along. She did not move; they both seemed to be under sedation. His doctor's touch moved along her ribs, checking the position of the baby, glancing at the heart monitor.

"Edward said they were sleeping," said Tanya, nodding down the ward. "Does that mean they've been unaware of what's happening to them?"

"We can only hope so," Esme murmured.

"Will they turn them after the babies are born?" Rosalie asked. "Is that why they turned her?" We all glanced at the final, undead throes of the woman in the cell, Alice's niece.

"This… this is unspeakable," said Kate.

"They've gone too far this time," said Garrett.

Even Emmett couldn't think of something to lighten the mood in here. The atmosphere was oppressive, clinical, inhuman.

As I stood in that awful place, filled with the scent of death and experimentation, a realization struck me like a slap in the face. I thought about what it meant to be human… not in the sense of mortal, but in the sense of decent. I saw at once that my family, the Denalis, the wolves… although we were not homo sapiens, we had humanity. These vampires, the ones who'd done this… they were the true monsters.

Human was Carlisle, using reason and compassion together. Human was Esme, caring for her family. Human was Edward and Bella, loving each other with abandon. Human was Jacob, warm not just of skin, but of heart.

In that moment I also understood something about myself. I was a rational sort of person, and I thought in terms of programming and logical pathways of code and the best tactics to defeat virtual armies. But I loved men who were deeply human, who could make me forget logic and just feel. Like Jacob, who got me all hot and illogical. Without him, I might be like what these contractors to the Volturi had become.

Inhuman.

They were creatures, not people.

That Saul… now, he was really boiling my kettle. He needed to be punished for this. Punished hard. No wonder my dad had flipped when he realized what Saul was doing with these experiments; it was too close to what he and my mother had gone through.

"They're hybrid fetuses," Carlisle confirmed. "I can't imagine that these women… consented to this."

I felt, rather than heard, Rosalie's tremor of rage.

"What do we do about this one?" Emmett said, pointing at the near-vampire through the glass. "She's gonna be a raging newborn probably within the hour."

"Jasper can handle her," Rosalie said.

"I have to stay here and do what I can for them," Carlisle said. "Darling, will you look through those drawers, see if there's a measuring tape?"

Esme glided past me and went to help Carlisle.

"We need to find the others," I reminded them.

"Right," said Emmett, clearly glad to have an excuse to get out of the room.

We were back in the fresh air, the thick rainforest humidity a welcome difference from the smell in that… talent birthing ward, I thought.

The next building was much smaller. The scent of the hybrids was much stronger here. The door was metal, the cement whitewashed, and Emmett bashed in the door with a nudge of his shoulder.

A rectangular patch of darkness greeted us, and beyond, eight figures… seven sitting cross-legged on the floor, one standing… I leaned forward, looking for Nahuel…

And then my mind went blank. I couldn't remember who I was, what I wanted, what was real. I stumbled around inside my own head, looking for an identity. A name. Any name.

There was nothing, and I was no one.


For an interminable time, I stood there, trying and failing to remember anything. My thoughts were short-circuiting, flashes of white interrupting me. Me… whoever I was. How did I even know I existed? I must have a name!

People – others, not me - looked equally bewildered. I didn't know their faces; they were strangers. Arrangements of eyes and noses and mouths. Nothing familiar.

Panic overtook me. There was some force tugging me away from this place, not that I knew where I was. All I registered was doors, walls, trees, people. I had no point of reference and I scrambled, knowing this was wrong, trying to remember…

"Mom!" I called, without knowing what the word meant, only that it might give me comfort. "Mom!"

Two pale-looking individuals appeared from around a corner of the next building. They stared at us with golden eyes. Pretty, I thought.

One of them, a man with bronze hair, a stranger, stopped in front of me. He looked as panicked as I felt. Then his face went blank and a crease of puzzlement appeared on his brow.

"Who are you?" he asked me.

"Who are you?" I asked back.

The other one, a woman, looked even more baffled. She looked into my eyes. I waited for a spark of recognition, anything to tell me who she was, but there was no connection. I'd never seen this beautiful, pale woman before in my life.

How old am I? I wondered.

"Renesmee? Ness?" the beautiful woman said. She appeared to be talking to me; I looked back blankly.

"Edward?" she said, and this time there was a note of utter terror in her voice.

I felt sorry for her. "Don't be afraid," I said. "Where are we? Who are you?"

Her mouth was a perfect 'o', her eyes wide and unblinking. Why did she look so horrified?

Then she whirled and ran into the building in front of me. She wasn't gone long; she came out dragging an old lady.

The old lady was quite as pale as all of the rest of us, except her eyes were bright red. Her hair was bluish-silver and her skin was crinkled and looked frozen. Her lips were curled back over yellowish teeth. She was slight; tiny, actually. Her wrists looked fragile enough to snap at the very thought of it. Her gnarled hands were claws, but the beautiful woman had her in a firm grip.

The old lady was a stranger, too. I didn't like her. Her face was scary, harsh, haggard, cold. All I had to judge by were faces, since I had no names, no memories.

Wasn't a person supposed to have memories?

"What are you doing to them?" the beautiful woman shouted, shaking the old lady by the shoulders. "What are you doing?" The beautiful woman's head turned and she shouted, "Stay back, don't come near! I don't know what she's doing but she's disabled everybody!"

I heard a sort of bark or growl, like a wild dog. I didn't know why that ignited a feeling of warmth in the pit of my stomach, a fondness and desire to be near it.

The old lady hissed and lunged at the woman. The group of us – whoever these pretty people were – formed a circle, perhaps out of instinct, to stay out of the way.

"No," said the beautiful brunette, fury in her tone, "You're going down." She yanked the old lady and lifted her up, the old lady thrashing and kicking, and the brunette tossed her clear over our heads.

My eyes followed the screeching old lady with the scarlet eyes as she passed over my head and sailed into the middle of the grassy clearing, where she rolled and tumbled.

Mom Dad Bella Edward where is Jacob my name is Renesmee Cullen we're in the Amazon… my memories crashed back over me, a confusing jumble of images and people and emotions, all crowding in upon me at once. I felt lit up inside, bright like the flashes of a meteor shower, as I came back to myself.

Mom – Bella – stood in the middle of our circle, an unfathomable expression on her face.

"Bella," Edward gasped, "I don't know what happened, I couldn't make sense of it…"

"This one's mine," Bella said, and launched herself past us at the old lady.

They slammed into one another, Bella completely silent as she bit and clawed, the old lady wheezing and cackling, and finally screaming in pain as Bella wrenched her arms off, then her legs, leaving her head and torso intact. "Edward," Bella called, in a voice as calm as if she'd been asking him to hang a picture.

Edward was at her side instantly. I knew that her shield now protected us from whatever the old lady could do.

"What is she?" Bella asked, pointing at the panting, enraged creature on the ground.

Edward was quiet for a moment, then he swore quietly. "I would never have imagined…"

I was distracted for a minute by a frantic whine – Jacob. He would be guarding Saul, Heidi, Alec, and Chelsea. The fight in the jungle and our prisoners came back to me in another flash of memory.

"She can't remember who she was before being a vampire," Edward said, glaring at the old lady, "But she had Alzheimer's as a human. Now her power is to erase memories. They call her Betty."

I glanced at Rosalie and Emmett, both paralyzed with fear. Erase memories…

"Is it permanent?" Bella asked with a quaver. "Erasing memories?"

Old Betty spat venom at her.

"No," said Edward. "Just in her vicinity, she can make you forget who you are. She – she can." He took a deep, shaky breath.

It had been even worse than being under Alec's numb cloud. I hadn't known my own parents, my own Jacob… I'd been a stranger to myself. It was the most dangerous power I could imagine. You have to stop her, I thought, knowing my father would agree.

Tanya was thinking along the same lines. "That is monstrous," she said, pointing. "That power can only destroy."

"No wonder the Volturi cultivated it," Garrett said. He was clutching Kate as if he would never let her go.

Bella looked up into Edward's eyes. Their gaze was tender, relieved, wide-eyed, knowing that for a terrible moment, he'd had no memory of her.

In a violent swirl, Bella was on top of Betty, who let out one last wild scream before Bella sliced off her head with an enthusiastic sweep of teeth and hands. "You don't," Bella gasped, "hurt my family."

Beside her, Edward looked flabbergasted but proud.

"Go, Bella!" said Emmett, starting to clap.

I grinned. It was fun when my quiet mother got angry. Then, another howl pierced my heart: Jacob.

"Jacob wants to know what on earth is going on," said Edward.

"Just taking care of some business!" Bella shouted. "All's well."

"Hi, Jake!" I added. Then I remembered the rest of our business here, the last flash arcing across my mind, completing the picture. I turned to the building where the old lady had held the others in a mindless fog. People – hybrids – stood at the door, looking frightened.

"We should take them out with the rest," said Tanya. "Come on with us, now." She held out her hand at the hybrids. There was a woman, and a boy who didn't look full-grown. They moved slowly, glancing around with fear at our group. Three others followed; they weren't Nahuel. The Denalis moved them toward the front of the compound.

"Nahuel?" I called. "It's Ness! We came back for you!"

I saw his dark eyes first. Then he stepped out between the others. He wore a plain white t-shirt and slacks that seemed to glow under the blue spotlights of the compound. He looked dazed. "N-Ness?"

"Hi," I said softly. "You okay?"

He looked down at the ground. "I think so. I'm just trying to remember everything…"

I could not imagine what he'd been through this past week. Not only had he been brainwashed by Chelsea into participating in all this, he'd been in thrall by a vampire with an awesome and terrible power. His mind was probably just catching up to him. I dashed over to his side and took his hand, helping him fill in the memories of what we'd been through: the house, his sister Aylen, our time at the abandoned mission, my escape from the river craft.

"Yes… yes, that's right…" Nahuel blinked. His lashes were very long. He raised his eyes to Bella and Edward. "Thank you for coming. I don't know what would have happened… you were just in the nick of time."

"As you were for us, sixteen years ago," said Edward.

"It's good to see you again, Nahuel," Bella added.

Meanwhile, I was itching to see the original prisoner: PeuChen91, my internet friend. Aylen, Nahuel's sister.

I passed the thought to Nahuel and he blinked again. "Oh! Aylen!" He turned back toward the building, speaking quickly in his native language.

A willowy figure appeared from the darkness. "Nahuel?"

"Aylen!" Nahuel bounded over and grabbed her by the hands. "Our friends are here. I told you they would come." He dragged her over to me.

Aylen's eyes remained lowered and her black hair was a curtain over her face. She wore a simple linen shift and her feet were bare. Her skin had a caramel glow, even in the blue lights.

"They're the last ones," said Edward, scanning the area for minds. "We should take care of this," he said to Bella, gesturing at the torn remains of Betty, the memory-stealer. They and Rosalie and Emmett retreated, carrying the pieces. I heard Rosalie muttering about how her jumpsuit (now missing a sleeve) was ruined.

"Aylen?" I asked. "My name's Renesmee Cullen. Everyone calls me Nessie."

"Hello," she said. She didn't meet my eyes.

"Nessie's the one I told you about," said Nahuel. I could see the spark of hope in his eyes; I knew he was remembering how he held me in his arms when we were both captives. I sighed; I would have to let him down easy.

"Nice to meet you," Aylen said. Her English was heavily-accented, which perhaps accounted for her shyness.

"You already know me," I said. I took Nahuel's hand; it was warm and heavy in mine. Did you tell her about me, that we're already friends?

He shook his head. "I thought I'd leave that up to you."

Aylen raised her eyes, puzzled, and I was surprised by their vivid blue color.

"You already know me," I said again, "but by a different name." I grinned. "I'm Morphette."

Her blue eyes sparked with the connection. "M-Morphette?"

"That's right, PeuChen. You better be ready, because I don't plan on cutting you any slack next time we're on D and D together."

Her lips trembled, then she broke into a wide smile. "Morphette!"

"I'm so glad you're okay," I said, and held my arms out for a hug. She stepped into the embrace and I patted her on the back. "Everything's good now. We've taken care of them. I have kind of an awesome family."

"The Cullens," she said. "Nahuel told me about the time he went to testify for you. I was only four years old at the time. I was still with my father." Her face twisted. "So… you must have gotten the code I sent you?"

"You did it, Aylen. If you hadn't gotten those coordinates, we would never have found this place. It was all you."

"Well, not all," said Nahuel, rubbing his sister's shoulders. "Your bravery helped, too, Ness." There were those eyes on me again. He grinned. "Show Aylen what you can do."

"Okay, don't freak out," I said to Aylen. "But I can show you my thoughts through touch. It's kind of a reversal of my dad's power; he can read minds." I held my hand out. "He's kind of annoying that way, so if there's anything you don't want him to know, don't think about it."

She nodded. "Go ahead."

I decided to give her a pleasant memory: the time we, as a team, had beat Silvius and DeviDiva in a World of Warcraft game.

She laughed, delighted. "I remember that!"

"They helped today, too. We took down the mainframe here this morning, so the Volturi couldn't call for reinforcements."

Aylen grasped my shoulders. "Thank you," she said fervently. "It was so close, I was appointed to…"

"Don't talk about that now," said Nahuel, shaking his head. "Later."

Aylen seemed all too happy to stop talking about whatever it was. "Yes."

Her expression made me think her fate would have been something similar to the human women in the hospital ward. Victims of the cold violence of the Volturi's breeding program. I shuddered for what seemed like the thousandth time that day.

Happy as I was to be united with Nahuel and Aylen, I most wanted to find Jacob. My heart ached with being out of his line of sight. We needed to get back. I seized both their hands and thought, Let's go to where my family's waiting. They'll want to see you guys safe.

We ran across the compound to the grassy area, now crowded. The wolves were sentinels, staring in at the vampire prisoners, except for Seth and Embry, who were nursing their injuries in the jungle, and Leah – I could hear her running laps around the compound's perimeter. The other hybrids were in a cluster, sitting on the ground; I was startled to see one of the women pregnant. I hadn't noticed before. But that was a minor issue. I let go of my friends and flung myself into Jacob's furry side, wrapping my arms as best I could around his shoulder.

"Jake, Jake…"

His powerful heart beat under my hand. His black eyes were filled with pure love and relief. I gazed into the intelligent wolf's face, and realized that tears were streaming down my face.

Then he gave me a huge, slippery dog kiss on my cheek and I squealed, giggling. "Eww, gross, Jake!"

Alec, on his knees on the ground, looked at us with utter distaste.

"Too precious, are you?" I said to Alec, snuggling under Jake's chin. I couldn't resist gloating.

But I could see awareness growing in Nahuel's eyes, too.

Maybe it was better to show it rather than tell it?

Alice interrupted my romantic entanglements. "Nicole's about to wake up."

"I can't wait," said Saul.

"Shut up, you," said Emmett.

Esme came running from the hospital area. "Carlisle's done all he could for the humans. But that woman's about to wake up, and she's a newborn, and they're all in the same room." She glared down at Saul. "What were you thinking?"

"Our birthing rooms are normally well-guarded," said Saul coolly. "Had you not decimated the staff, I could have demonstrated our transformation process."

Birthing rooms? My stomach roiled with it.

"I'll go," said Alice, and Jasper's hand was on her shoulder. "We're there when she wakes up." And then Alice grinned. "She's going to have a really cool power."

"See?" said Saul. "I know what I'm doing." He gazed up at Alice, still more fascinated than frightened.

Alice, Esme, and Jasper left to take care of newborn Nicole. The hybrids gathered together in a huddle. The wolves were focused on the prisoners, and Edward nodded at Jacob. "I agree," he said. "We need to get organized here."

Saul scoffed. "We were organized, before you arrived."

"I wish one of us had the power to mute you," said Emmett, punching a fist into his own hand. "As it is… I might just punch you in the jaw if you don't shut up."

We took tabs on the hybrids. One of them, a woman, was pregnant. And, along with Aylen, Nahuel's two other sisters were there: Dulce and Juanita. They looked alike, blond with blue eyes and disapproving looks. The others were born here at the facility from human mothers. When asked what happened to the human mothers, one of the hybrids nodded off into the jungle.

Quil dashed off to investigate and Edward hissed a few minutes later as he read Quil's mind. "A mass grave. That's not very original, Saul."

Saul's head tilted. "They were eaten first."

For a heavy moment no one spoke, but the tension in the air was electric.

Saul's words had ignited the tinderbox, flouted the ultimate law of the Quileute pack, and I knew, knew, it was too much for them.

Edward must have seen it coming, too, but he didn't stop it when the fire erupted in the wolves' eyes, and they snapped, lunged at Saul and I jumped out of Jacob's way as he grabbed the vampire in his jaws, from behind the neck.

Saul's teeth were snapping around and for an awful moment it looked like he would bite Jacob. I punched Saul in the face as he was dragged past me and then another fist swung from my right and got him in the jaw.

Astonished, I turned to see Aylen next to me, fist clenched, eyes blazing. "Good-bye to Mendel," she said.

We watched as the wolves tore Saul apart. I granted myself a tiny pang of loss for the great, twisted mind that was Saul's. But it was no human mind; it was that of an efficient machine. He was reduced in short order to a pile of limbs, tossed on the smoldering charcoal of old Betty's ashes. He joined his creation on the pyre.

A keening wail issued from behind me and I turned to see Heidi, hands on her head, falling to the ground. They had been mates, she and Saul. Her shining mahogany hair fanned out, and her mouth moved beneath her fingers, issuing wordless pleas.

Edward said, "No!" just as Heidi launched herself from the ground and onto one of the wolves, screaming with rage.

Her teeth were a flash of pure white, arcing toward Jacob's throat.


AN: Sorry for the cliffhanger! It had to be, I swear I have no control over what this story is making me do... o_0