Author's Notes (September 7, 2011): Thanks to Aleeab4u, duskwatcher, GreatChemistry and smexy4smarties. They put up with an absurd amount of typos this time. (What was that all about, anyway? Was I drunk? I don't remember being drunk...)

Chapter pic: None. RL sucks.

Chapter music: bit(dot)ly/sotpm27-music

"SINS OF THE PIANO MAN"
CHAPTER 27: TANGLED WEBS

"Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future."

Neils Bohr

ISABELLA SWAN
Things were tense as we waited for the others. Edward and I sat on one side of the living room, while Jasper and Alice sat on the other. None of us talked. Alice gazed into the distance, doing whatever it was she did to view the future. Lucky lay on the floor by my feet, calm and oblivious to our turmoil. I, being human, wasn't handling things so well. That I was keeping it together at all proved just how far I'd come.

Edward and Jasper were covered in drying mud and grass stains from their scuffle. They stared at each other—completely still, not even breathing, rarely blinking. Sometimes I felt Edward's thigh muscle twitch against mine, as if he was considering attacking Jasper again, but then the muscle would still like the rest of him.

Even though I wasn't sure fighting had been the mature response—and I still couldn't get over how fast they'd moved—I understood Edward's anger. He'd told me about his first year as a vampire, how horrible it had been to learn everything on his own. I couldn't imagine waking in a new, foreign body that had changed so much that it couldn't even process one of the most basic things—human food. Jasper's not being there for Edward had caused him extreme anguish. To some degree, I felt angry on his behalf.

But I had to believe Jasper when he said everything had been a mistake, all because of this other vampire, Maria. I didn't know Jasper very well, but I knew his family. I didn't believe any of them were evil. They were good people…even if they were vampires. They'd been good to me and Charlie through the years.

Then there was the fact that without Jasper's mistake, I wouldn't have ever met Edward. I could never be upset about meeting Edward, even if I wished his early life had been better.

I opened my mouth to ask how close the others were, but Alice answered me before I spoke. "They're five minutes away," she said. Her glassy eyes didn't move or blink. The human charade had completely crumbled.

Not long after Alice's declaration, I heard the grumble of engines and the crunch of gravel. Then the front door swung open with a bang. Edward was on his feet in one blurred movement as Emmett Cullen entered the house.

Emmett looked exactly like he had the day he, Jasper and Rosalie had come to see Alice graduate—going on four years ago. He was giant, as big as any professional linebacker. Even in the large living room, he filled up the space with his presence and the five overstuffed pieces of luggage he carried, which he proceeded to drop to the polished, hardwood floors without care. I winced.

"Sorry, Esme," he called, shrugging.

For one so hulking, he should have been intimidating, but along with Alice, Emmett had always been the friendliest of the "Cullen kids." In a strange way, I was excited to see him again, even if we didn't really know each other. It was like extended family had come home for the holidays. Not that the days ahead seemed as if they'd be anything like a vacation.

Edward didn't see Emmett's presence in the same positive light that I did. He stood a little in front of me, tense and alert.

"It's okay," I assured him, resting my hand on his back. His shirt was torn, and my fingers touched cool flesh.

Unbothered by Edward's disarray or jumpiness, Emmett smiled, revealing boyish dimples. "Hey, man," he said. "You must be the guy who's kept Rosie and me north of the border for so long." He thrust a hand forward. "The name's Emmett McCarty Cullen."

Edward stared at the proffered hand for a moment, then reached out and grasped it. "Edward Masen," he said tersely, but I did feel him relax. The handshake was brief, and Emmett backed away with an amused expression on his face.

"Hey, Bella," he said, waving. I waved back. "Long time, no see. I hear, you're, uh, in on things now."

"I'm knee deep in everything," I confirmed, and he grinned.

Esme entered behind Emmett. She looked over everyone, a frown marring her usually calm and kind demeanor. "Just what happened to my yard?"

That was what she was worried about? I looked at Alice out of the corner of my eye, while wondering, Do they not realize we have a crazy vampire to deal with?

"I think he happened," a clear, female voice said behind Esme.

Rosalie Hale—no, it must be McCarty, I corrected myself—entered the house. She was as beautiful, blond, curvy and tall as I remembered, and she knew she was all those things; she oozed self-confidence. Standing back a bit, her arms folded over her substantial bust, she reminded me strangely of Judy, my old boss from Hal's. They looked nothing alike, but they had the same prickly attitude that suggested they'd sweep the floor with you if they felt like it. Of course, maybe that meant she was capable of Judy's kindness, too. For now, she studied Edward with a disapproving stare.

Esme looked between Jasper and Edward with her own air of disapproval as she noted their dirty clothes. "I don't know what happened—it seems to be cleared up now—but I'll expect you two to clean up your mess. You've ruined my rose bushes."

Edward ignored Esme's ire. "Is she the last of you?" he asked Alice, pointing a finger at Rosalie. His tone was impolite, and I poked him in the back. Be nice.

"Yes," Alice answered.

"Are you sure about that?" Edward asked sarcastically. "I've been told for a while now that there were only three of you."

I bit my lip. I did not want to see another fight. For one, Edward didn't seem all that good at them.

Alice looked a little guilty. "There are six of us—all total. That's Rosalie in the corner. She'll warm to you; she just doesn't like change. Esme's going to forgive you about the roses, too."

"Once there are new ones planted in the spring," Esme said.

Rosalie scowled in Alice's direction. "I don't see why we had to stay in Alaska for him."

"You're not the only one who holds that opinion," Jasper said dryly.

Rosalie's eyes landed on me, and it was all I could do not to shrink in on myself. She was just that lovely and intimidating. To my surprise, though, her expression softened, and her voice was sweet when she spoke again. "I'm sorry about your dad, Bella. He was very kind to my family when we first arrived. He was a good man." Emmett nodded his agreement.

"Oh." A pang of grief ripped through me as I thought of my father. He was never far from my mind. "I…thank you, Rosalie."

She nodded curtly, and her annoyance returned to Alice. "I would have come to the funeral if I could have."

"I told you already," Alice said. "It just wasn't possible for you to."

Before Rosalie could reply, Carlisle entered the house last, clearing his throat loudly as he closed the front door behind him. As if we were all of one mind, we stopped talking and looked to him. Brows raised, he stared back at each of us.

"Right then," he murmured. "Now that we're all together and…somewhat acquainted, it seems a family meeting is in order." The Cullens started moving away from the living room, but Edward and I stayed where we were. "Everyone in the dining room," Carlisle explained to us.

Apparently all Cullen family meetings were held in the dining room; each of them sat down in seats that suggested familiarity, with Carlisle at the head of the table. It looked like any house's dining room, although there was a good chance the antique dining table had cost a small fortunate ("small," only to the Cullens). They even had a large glass cabinet that showcased fine china, which had likely never been used. Edward and I glanced at each other, sharing amusement. None of them seemed to find it odd to use a dining room this way.

Moreover, there was something hilarious about a family of vampires sharing a table with their natural food source, and I struggled to contain a fit of hysterical giggles. Or maybe it wasn't that funny at all; I'd done it often enough that it shouldn't be. Maybe I was just stressed out. It was overwhelming enough to reunite with all the Cullens, now that I knew the truth about what they were, but there was also the tension between Jasper and Edward. And there was Maria. I didn't have to meet her to know I didn't like her at all.

As if sensing my sudden anxiety, Edward grabbed my hand under the table. He spoke to Carlisle, "You've always seemed like a man of reason, so you should understand why I want to know what's going on. It's for my safety and Bella's. Alice has been keeping things from me. I'm not so sure that you and Esme haven't been keeping secrets as well."

I resisted the urge to point out that he'd put me in the same position not long ago. Having lots of secrets, I was learning, was part of vampire life.

"Now with Maria here," Edward continued, "I don't—"

"Maria?" Esme interrupted, her eyes wide as she glanced at Jasper, who nodded with a frown. "Alice, why didn't you warn us?"

"I've wanted to, but the timing wasn't right." Alice reached for Jasper's hand on the tabletop, but he silently moved it. A numb acceptance crossed her face.

"Well. It seems there's much more going on that I was aware of," Carlisle sighed from where he sat at the head of the table. "This meeting has been a long time coming." He looked at Alice. "You told me that when we were all together again—including Edward and Bella—you'd tell us about the visions you've been having. I've respected your decisions, right down to not taking Edward's calls this afternoon."

He glanced at Edward apologetically before turning back to Alice. "We've all believed in your ability, trusted in you to take care of our household, as you always have, but it's time to come clean on all matters. A house divided against itself cannot stand. We've been divided long enough. If Maria is around, we can't afford to be."

Maria seemed to have quite the reputation.

Alice wriggled in her seat like a nervous human. "I'm sorry about everything. Stuff hasn't gone…exactly like I thought it would. There have been too many variables…"

"Just start from the top," Carlisle suggested gently.

"Okay, but you all have to understand… Everything I've done has been for the greater good. I've had to weigh decisions—"

"Oh, spit it out already," Rosalie said.

"It's complex. Everything depends on everything else. Jasper can't forgive himself, can't let go of his past, without Edward being in his life."

Jasper eyes darted over everyone at the table, clearly uncomfortable. "Alice…"

"Well, it's true," she insisted, looking at him. "Edward's the key to your letting go of your guilt—you're going to be the best of friends—and I've tried so hard to bring him into our family—for decades—but every time I saw one of you dying when you met."

"Sounds like an awesome friendship," Emmett laughed.

Alice ignored him. "I didn't know why, but your meeting was always chaotic and ended with one of your futures being gone…forever. I understand now, of course…"

"Understand what?" Carlisle asked.

Frowning, Jasper sat up a little straighter. "It would appear I accidentally sired Edward in the 1920s."

"I see," Carlisle said blandly, exchanging a glance with Esme as Emmett let out a whistle of surprise. He asked Alice, "So this is why you had us putting family photos in the attic?"

She nodded. "Bella changed everything in time, though. I knew she would."

"Me? What do I have to do with anything?"

"You're the keystone," she said with a smile. "Without your presence when they met, one of them died. Always. There was no exception to that. They still fought—I think I could have prevented that if Jasper had stayed inside a little longer—but no one died." She looked over at Carlisle and Esme, her expression guilty. "Everything had to work a certain way, at a certain time.

"That's why I insisted we move to Forks in 2003. We needed to be here for everything to work out. Edward had to meet Bella, and he needed to know her for a while before my visions changed into something less…final for either him or Jasper."

"Why 2003?" I asked. "I moved to Forks to be with Charlie in 2005, and Edward and I just met a few months ago."

"I've been busy," she said, smiling slightly—almost tiredly. "I needed to lay the foundation for your arrival; I didn't know when that would be, as you first started thinking about moving here in 2003. You were making decisions that made it hard for me to pinpoint when you'd arrive." Alice looked at me straight on. "And it's a good thing we came early. You almost died in that car accident you had when you were seventeen. The only reason you didn't was because Carlisle was here to work on you."

"I didn't almost die," I protested, touching the ragged scar on the right side of my face. "It wasn't that bad." A sinking feeling gnawed at my stomach, and I looked at Carlisle. "Right?"

"Charlie didn't want you to know. He thought it would upset you."

"What happened to me?" I could only remember waking in the hospital.

"With it being a head injury, you lost a lot of blood, and…you had a reaction to one of the drugs we were giving you. I was able to keep you stable, only because I recognized signs of the reaction early."

"You saved my life." A chill ran through me. Edward seemed to feel it too, as his grip on my hand tightened.

There was something I had to ask, something that suddenly fell into place after seeing the speed at which Edward and Jasper had fought, the way their bodies had blurred with every motion. I hadn't thought of my scar in a while—Edward didn't mind it, and it no longer embarrassed me—but it was like it was burning now, burning with the need to know. "Was it… I did see something that day, didn't I?" I asked Carlisle. "The day of the accident. That wasn't a hallucination, was it?"

Carlisle hesitated, but then shook his head.

"It was a vampire, wasn't it?"

He nodded. "I'm sorry to have misled you, Bella, but we had to keep our secret."

"At the time, we had no idea that you'd play a role in our family," Esme added. "Alice never told us."

"I couldn't," Alice said quietly.

I sat very still, feeling numb. I hadn't been crazy. I had seen a red-haired woman running across the road that morning, and I'd swerved to avoid hitting her. She hadn't just been a woman, though. She'd been a vampire.

"It was actually Sam Uley who saved you at first," Alice said.

"Huh? Sam? From the rez?"

She nodded. "He's the werewolves' pack leader. He's told us that he was chasing the vampire who crossed your path on the highway. He stopped long enough to call in your accident, and she got away. When I had a vision of you in the hospital, I made sure Carlisle was involved with your care."

Werewolves… I still struggled with that one.

What if the Cullens hadn't been in the area? What if Carlisle hadn't been my doctor? Would Charlie have buried me, only to die of cancer a few years later? Or would the future have taken a different path, one where he didn't get cancer? Where I died, but he lived? Did the universe have such a balance? So many possible scenarios… How did Alice keep up with them all? No wonder her visions are flawed, I thought. She spreads herself too thin, tries to keep up with too much at one time.

It made me worry about our future.

"So what does this have to do with Maria?" Rosalie's patience was wearing thin.

"All of it's connected," Alice said. "Maria's wanted to come back for Jasper for a long time."

"She tried in the last decade, though," Emmett said. "She seemed cool with letting Jasper do his own thing then. What gives?"

"That was only a temporary reprieve she was giving me," Jasper said, shaking his head.

Edward exchanged a knowing look with Jasper. "That's how she works," he agreed. "She's a persistent recruiter."

"She always favored the gifted vamps. So she wants you both, then, huh?" Emmett concluded.

Jasper and Edward nodded.

"And now she's got an army," Alice said.

Esme gasped. "An army!"

"All the disappearances in Seattle," Carlisle said, wide-eyed.

"Don't forget Portland," Edward added.

"Why?" Esme asked. "She controls the whole of Mexico. What can she possibly want with this area? It's awfully far from her other territory."

"She's helping the Volturi," Edward answered. "Or so she says." He frowned.

"The Volturi?" Carlisle echoed in surprise. "What do they have to do with this?"

It was the first they'd been mentioned to the Cullens, and Jasper looked worried. I felt my own panic escalate with his.

"Maria claims that they're in support of her tactics," Edward said, "that she's here on their business to set up a North American governmental branch. She says she's been given instruction to clear the area of any vampires that might compete against her force; that includes your family."

"Maria, against us?" Esme said. "But we haven't done anything to provoke her or the Volturi! Is it true, Alice?"

Alice frowned. "I don't…think it's true, but I'm not sure. I see nothing in any of our futures that suggests the Volturi will be involved."

Beside me, Edward's shoulders slumped slightly as he relaxed.

"This doesn't seem like something the Volturi would do," Carlisle added. "They're very careful, and they like to remain in control. I struggle to believe they'd want to branch out and give power to someone else—particularly a former enemy."

"Yeah, it's not their style," Jasper agreed. "And they're all about subtlety."

"So she's lying," Edward concluded. "It wouldn't be the first time."

"Maybe," Jasper said, "but it's Maria. You can't be sure. If she's not involved with the Volturi, this is one of her games. She enjoys conquests. She may even be hoping to compete against the Volturi. She was angry when they set her straight last time."

The idea hung in the air. I didn't know a whole lot about the Volturi, but the thought of anyone considering fighting them seemed like a suicide mission. Edward had been told over the years that they recruited gifted vampires almost exclusively.

What havoc would a vampire war wreak on the human world?

"So now what?" Emmett asked.

"We can't just let her keep killing so many innocent people," Esme said to Carlisle.

"No, we can't."

Rosalie huffed. "Well, I, for one, can. I say we pack up and leave. This isn't our business, and if the Volturi are involved, we don't want to get in the middle of it. Let them battle it out if they want."

Carlisle shook his head. "We're already in the middle of it, Rosalie, quite literally. And usually I would say this is the sort of matter one would contact the Volturi about. If I do contact them, what do you see, Alice?"

Alice stared off as she navigated the future. "They'll say they don't know about it," she answered a moment later, "but I can't tell if that's true or not. I don't think you should contact them, though. They might pay us a visit then." She glanced at Edward and me.

They hadn't kept their secret from me, a human, an outsider. They'd broken the law to include me in their lives.

"Can't you just look into their future?" I asked.

She shook her head. "My visions are never very clear unless I know the person—and I've never met them. I can only see what they might do that would directly affect those I know. Even when I do know people, there are a lot of things that can change an outcome when something as big as this is going on."

So we were flying blind.

"We'll have to inform the wolves of this," Carlisle said. "They'll want to protect their land from any possible newborns that might pass through. We'll hunt in pairs only."

Silence settled over the eight of us as our situation weighed on us.

Finally, Esme spoke, "How could you not tell us, Alice?"

"I'm sorry," Alice whispered, looking down at her lap. "I just can't lose any of you. You're all important to me. Edward and Bella had to meet, so Edward and Jasper could. We'll all be a family—more complete than ever before."

"That's a nice thought, but people have been hurt," Esme said.

"I know. Maria was just…she was unexpected, and I didn't even know it was her behind what was happening in Seattle and Portland until a couple of months ago. The timing's been all wrong…"

"You've known for two months?" Jasper asked in disbelief. "And you never told me?"

"I just wanted to protect you. You would have come here if you'd known about her."

"You're damn right I would have." Jasper's face contorted with his anger. "Were you protecting me when you told me I had to stay in Alaska, because I couldn't be around Charlie or Bella because of my thirst?"

Alice closed her eyes. "Yes."

"It looks like you were protecting Edward."

"I was protecting both of you."

"It's not your job to protect me from my past."

"Okay, this has been fun," Rosalie interrupted dryly, "but I'm going upstairs to pack. You all can get involved with Maria and newborn vampires and the Volturi, but I'm not." She got up from her chair, looking at Emmett.

"Rosie," Emmett said. "Sit. We both know we aren't going anywhere."

"No," she snapped, "I'm not doing it this time. Not when Alice has been trying to decide our future for us. Again. Even Jasper's! And for what?" She turned a critical eye on Edward. "So we can have some brother we never asked for? And just why the hell did we have to live in Alaska for that to happen?"

"You and Emmett couldn't be here," Alice replied quietly. "It would have made Jasper more suspicious, and you wouldn't have hidden your thoughts from Edward—"

"Oh, great, a mind reader."

"—as well as Carlisle and Esme did."

"Believe me when I say I don't want to be in your head, either," Edward said to Rosalie.

"I think Alice regrets what she's done," Emmett said quickly, trying to diffuse another argument. "I mean, you're not hiding anything now, are you, Alice?"

Alice paused. It wasn't even a long pause, but to the vampires at the table, it must have been. The table erupted with sudden accusations. Everyone, even Esme, was angry at Alice.

"Haven't you learned anything from this?"

"God, what else could be happening?"

"Alice, you need to tell us everything that's going on."

Edward stood and pulled me up with him.

"What is it?" I asked.

He tugged on my fingers. "Let's go back to the living room."

I followed him, confused but willing to leave behind the loud argument that—for some—had devolved to petty name-calling. Definitely a family meeting, I thought. Then I heard a growl. Okay. Definitely a vampire family meeting.

"What's wrong?" I asked again, once we'd sat on a couch. Edward was tense.

"I don't like you being near them when they're like that."

"What? Angry?"

He nodded once.

"They have a right to be angry, I'm thinking. Besides, you're angry, too. They wouldn't hurt me, you know."

He raised a brow. "Maybe not Carlisle or Esme or Alice—but what about Jasper?" he asked, glancing at his torn clothing. "He isn't unused to fighting. Do you really know him and the others so well? You've never spoken of them."

"I… No," I admitted. "Not really. They just went to school with me, like Alice did."

"That's what I thought." He shook his head. "I don't like this, Bella. I thought I was coming to tell the Cullens about Maria, but it seems Alice has known all along. And then there's Jasper and…more vampires than I was expecting in the Cullen family." Though he contained it, I felt the rumble of a growl in his ribs, from where I was pressed close to his side. "I want to take you away from here. Take you somewhere safe."

"You'd tuck me away in some fallout shelter if you could."

His lips twitched in amusement. "That's Plan C."

I picked at a tear in his jeans. "Can't we wait until tomorrow before we implement any of your plans?"

"Why? I can get us out of here. We can be on a plane in hours. We'll go anywhere you want. You've talked about seeing Stonehenge once—and about Moscow. I've never been to either. I'd love to go with you."

It was a nice thought, roaming the world with Edward. I'd always feared I might die in Washington as some book-loving spinster, and here Edward offered a pleasant dream. But even if the thought was nice, we couldn't go now.

"What's changed your mind? You said yourself that Maria might follow us."

He sighed and rested his head against mine. "I don't know what to do," he whispered. "Nothing seems safe, and it's my past that's brought this upon us. I knew… I should never have—"

"Don't start blaming yourself. What's done is done, okay? It's not your fault that some crazy ex has come back from the grave." I cringed at my choice of words. "Uh, you know what I mean. Let's just sleep on it."

Edward chuckled darkly. "You don't know how much I wish I could." He sighed again. "Fine, we'll wait until tomorrow before making any decisions."

The argument in the dining room seemed to come to a crescendo at the sound of a chair toppling to the floor. Alice came rushing through the living room. Jasper, Carlisle and Esme followed closely behind, worried expressions on their faces. Rosalie and Emmett hovered at the edge of the dining room.

"Alice?" I questioned. Edward shook his head at me. "What's going on?"

Alice threw open the front door, but at the last minute, she turned around and faced everyone. "None of you understand what it's like," she said in a choked up voice. "The choices I have to make."

Her hands were balled into fists at her sides. She looked angry and hurt and—chillingly—uncertain.

"You think that just because I can see possible futures means that I know everything—that nothing should ever go wrong."

"No one thinks that, dear. No one expects you to be perfect," Esme said gently. "But this is beyond us now. Innocent lives are at stake. So many have been hurt already."

"You think I don't know that? I get to watch Maria kill some of them herself. I could either choose them or one of you—I chose you all! And I didn't even know Edward had a past with her, too! I can't predict everything or be everywhere at once or make everything right. You say you don't expect that, but you do. And I try to make everything right, but there's too much." She brought a hand up to her head.

"Alice, let's calm down," Carlisle implored. He waved a hand. "Close the door. Come back inside."

"I can't." Alice shook her head. "I'm going hunting," she said, then turned and ran away.

"Alice, wait!" Jasper stepped forward to follow her, but then he stopped, frowning. He glanced at Edward, his brows pulled together.

"Stay," Rosalie said to Jasper. "I can…pack later." Giving Emmett a quick kiss, she took off after Alice. I watched her blurred, running form through the large glass windows at the front of the house.

Jasper collapsed into a chair at the same time Emmett did. A sense of weary frustration passed through the room.

"Hell of a day, huh?" Emmett said.

"You could say that," Jasper said, looking outside, as if he hoped to see Alice returning.

Edward was looking at Jasper.

I'm definitely not the only one overwhelmed, I thought, and had the distinct impression that this was the most Alice had ever hidden from the rest of the Cullens. She'd gone too far this time. She'd hidden whole people.

She'd hidden murder.

If they didn't know Alice, did I really know her? But then I thought of the girl who'd cleaned my father's kitchen with me. She'd helped me find my way back to Edward. I knew her.

Still, an uncomfortable knot worried at my stomach. Despite the "family meeting," nothing was settled, and I couldn't quite shake the feeling that Alice still knew more than she was letting on. And I didn't know if that was okay or not.

"Well, of course you're both going to stay here while things get sorted," Esme said, patting Edward's shoulder as she passed where he sat beside me on one of the kitchen barstools. She went to the freezer and leaned into it, rummaging. "What would you like to eat?" she asked me.

"Eat? Oh, no, you don't have to make me anything. Really, I'm not hungry."

Who could be hungry on a day like this one?

She waved a hand and pulled out a bag of frozen vegetables. "It's no trouble. Besides," she laughed, "if I don't do something, I'm going to lose it."

That I could understand, and didn't protest any further as Esme set to work. In no time, there was pan-fried chicken, broccoli and carrots. It was unfair that vampire speed was so useful in the kitchen.

Emmett wandered in at some point. "Dude, that smell. It's worse than old corpse."

Did a vampire know what that smelled like? I held back a shiver.

"If you don't like it, you can get out of the kitchen," Edward said, his arm wrapping around me more tightly.

"Is he always this moody?" Emmett asked me.

I bit back a smile. "Sometimes."

Carlisle and Jasper entered the kitchen. Jasper tossed a pair of jeans and a button-down shirt onto the countertop in front of Edward. "Yours are looking a bit worse for the wear."

A peace offering.

Edward stared at the clothing. "I was in such a hurry to get Bella that I didn't pack anything." He looked up at Jasper, forcing a smile. "Thank you."

Jasper nodded.

"You have a plan," Edward said, sounding surprised.

"A tentative one," Jasper replied.

"About Maria? What is it?" I asked. "What are we going to do?"

"You're not doing anything," Edward said quickly, giving me a look that suggested I better not argue with him on this matter.

I did, in fact, want to argue, but I knew I had no leg to stand on. What good was a human in a vampire fight?

Maybe if he changed me sooner…

"We'll track the information being released through the news and police reports," Jasper said. "If we work carefully and quickly, we can systematically eliminate the newborns."

"You have experience with them," Edward said, clearly picking through Jasper's thoughts.

Jasper huffed a laugh. "You could say I've earned my fair share of battle scars dealing with newborns."

He didn't look scarred to me.

He shook his head. "Anyhow, hopefully taking out the newborns will keep us from dealing with the Volturi. Like I said earlier, I can't imagine they're behind this."

"So…we're gonna fight them?" Emmett sounded far too eager.

"Don't think it'll be easy," Jasper warned. "They're strong."

"I am too," Emmett said, dramatically flexing a massive bicep.

"Stronger than you," Jasper clarified.

"Fighting?" Esme said to Carlisle in dismay. "Is that really a solution?"

Carlisle looked at me. "We can't have the Volturi here. If they aren't involved, and we can do anything to prevent their coming, we need to do so. They'd execute Edward for his transgressions. Keeping our secret is of the utmost importance to them."

I dropped my fork. Edward caught it halfway to the floor. "No one ever told me it was that serious!" I spluttered.

"I didn't want to worry you," Edward said quietly. He laid the fork down on my napkin.

"It looks like I needed to be worried!" A sense of calmness suddenly swept over me, and I slumped against the back of the barstool.

Edward had the audacity to nod at Jasper in gratitude.

"Oh, what, now you two are friends?" I asked petulantly.

Emmett laughed. "It's gonna be fun having you around, Bella. You, too, Edward."

Rosalie returned to the house a few minutes later, sauntering into the kitchen, her nose turning up as she passed my half-cleared dinner plate. She sat on Emmett's knee and wrapped her arms around his neck. Alice wasn't with her.

Jasper's brow furrowed. "Where's Alice?"

Rosalie shrugged a shoulder. "She said she wanted some time to herself—time to think."

Jasper stood, looking worried. "How could you leave her alone out there? You heard Carlisle—hunting in pairs. I should go find her." He walked quickly to the front door.

"Oh, leave her be," Rosalie said. "Alice can take care of herself."

"Maria—"

"—can't outsmart a psychic," she said. "Look, I know you want to believe Alice when she says she didn't see things coming—and maybe she didn't see everything about you and Edward—but nothing surprises her entirely." Rosalie glanced at everyone in the room. "What? We all know it's true. We've been living with her for fifty years."

"I'm sure she's fine," Carlisle agreed, attempting to soothe Jasper. "But it would have been good to wait for her, Rosalie. It's better to be safe than sorry."

"Maria has nothing on Alice," Rosalie said. "She'll be fine. Let her feel her guilt for a while. I for one think she deserves to feel guilty for a little while. Look at what she's put us through."

Jasper let out a loud sigh, sounding tired for a creature who didn't need sleep. "You're right. She was upset when she left. I should…give her time to think. But when she gets back, we're going to have a nice, long talk."

Somehow, the Cullens were content to act like things were somewhat normal. They were maybe angry at Alice, but I noticed they were reluctant to make any decisions without her. She was right. They did depend on her, even now, in the face of her deception.

Edward and Jasper had begun talking. Their conversation was stilted sometimes or turned to bitterness, but from a distance, I saw how alike they were. Alice was right about that, too.

While they talked, I showered in one of the upstairs guest bathrooms, trying to stay calm. If I thought too much about everything, I got the shakes.

What would my father think of this life I was living, of the choices I was making?

I longed for there to be a human around who understood me like he had; I maybe didn't need long talks, but I needed human companionship. But Lauren was gone, and Angela was always busy. And now I had to fear that I might bring them into the middle of all this.

Face it. It's just you and the vamps.

I dressed in pajamas. We were staying with the Cullens for the night. Safety in numbers, Edward said. For now. He wasn't sure of what tomorrow would bring.

I was towel-drying my hair when my phone vibrated atop the mahogany dresser. I wasn't prepared for the series of text messages I'd received.

From: Alice C.
I know you don't think I deserve it, but please, please, please have faith in me. I *know* what I'm doing. Don't let anyone follow me. Take out the newborns, but don't let Edward fight. He sucks. I'll keep Maria busy. It's the only way. P.S. - Delete this and don't tell the others.

"Bella?" Edward called. The bedroom door creaked open.

And I panicked. The phone went flying out of my hand, crashing into a small mirror that was on a stand on the dresser. Both the phone and the mirror went tumbling to the floor with a crash.

"Shit!" I bent to grab the phone and start cleaning up my mess, but Edward hissed and pulled me away.

"What are you thinking?" he growled.

Being yanked away from something at vampire speed was disorienting. I looked up at him, dumbfounded, even as my heart raced. "Huh?"

"We're in a house full of vampires," he reminded me, his fingers gripping my shoulders tightly. "It would be wise not to go picking up shards of glass."

My eyes widened. "Oh, God, I'm sorry… I didn't think."

"No, you didn't," he said softly as he let me go. "And you have far too much faith in my own control."

I touched his hand. "Blood doesn't come between us, remember?"

"Your blood is different. It's tried to come between us on several occasions. Let's not test your theory over a broken mirror. Better yet, let's not test your theory at all."

"What about when you change me? I mean, you'll have to bite me…"

He stilled, a shy smile on his lips as he regarded me. "When the time comes, it will be a very controlled environment, I assure you."

"A sterilized room with padded walls?" I joked.

"Something like that."

We hadn't discussed the when part of my change very much yet. I was beginning to wonder if we'd need to move on that sooner, rather than later. Being amongst vampires, apparently a bunch of whom didn't subscribe to the Cullens' and Edward's dietary choice, didn't seem like the healthiest place for a human to be.

And here I go trying to pick up broken glass around them. Genius.

But one thing was certain. Edward could not see what Alice had written.

He bent to retrieve my cell phone. "You can leave it," I blurted out, sounding guilty.

"What?" His hand was poised just above the device. "Nonsense. Glass won't hurt me."

He picked it up, and my heart went into overdrive. The message, my heart beat. The message. The message. The message.

It wasn't deleted. Oh, God, he's going to see it. I'm going to fail Alice. Everyone is going to die because of me!

But as he lifted the phone, he also picked up the battery, which had popped out with the fall. The screen was black without power; there was nothing for him to see. I let out a loud, relieved sigh. He glanced at me, one brow quirked up, no doubt studying my pulse rate and everything else that was giving me away.

"You all right?"

"Fine," I mumbled.

He replaced the battery, blew at the screen several times and studied it beneath lamplight, turning it this way and that. "All clear," he announced, snapping the phone shut before handing it to me. I took it with a shaking hand, which he would have noticed, had he not been looking at the broken mirror. Or maybe he did notice and was just polite enough not to mention it. I had plenty of reasons for shaking after this day.

"What is it?" I asked.

Edward snorted. "Seven years' bad luck, some would say."

I breathed out an uncomfortable laugh as I stared at the shattered glass with him. "Let's hope they're wrong," I said.

And hope Alice isn't.

I cast my lot and deleted the messages. Out of all of us, Alice was the only one who might know what was actually going on. And, well, I owed her, because, in a way, she'd given me Edward.

Closing Notes: Hope you're all reading and voting for your favorite entries in the Canon Tour! You have through the 14th to do so!