Author's Notes (September 24, 2011): Thanks to Aleeab4u, duskwatcher2153, GreatChemistry and smexy4smarties. Things make more sense now.

Chapter pic: None. Do you know how hard it is to find good pictures of the Cullens?

Chapter music: bit(dot)ly/sotpm28-music

"SINS OF THE PIANO MAN"
CHAPTER 28: SPEED IS THE ESSENCE OF WAR

"Speed is the essence of war. Take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness;
travel by unexpected routes and strike him where he has taken no precautions."

From Sun Tzu's "The Art of War"

ISABELLA SWAN
I woke with a start, my leg muscles twitching.

A cool hand ran down my side. "Shh, it's all right," Edward whispered along my neck. "You're safe. Go back to sleep."

I tried, but I couldn't shake faded images of being lost in a cold, dark forest; it was a nightmare like so many others I'd had since the summer, lonely and deadly.

Caught somewhere between waking and the strange aftereffects of nightmarish dreams, I stared at a speck on the wall. Edward began to hum my lullaby, a darker, more foreboding rendition of it than usual, but not even his music could blot out the noisy argument happening elsewhere in the house.

"Is that Jasper yelling?"

"He's angry with Rosalie," Edward answered, his breath tickling my ear. "Alice hasn't returned, and she's not answering calls."

This news woke me the rest of the way, reminding me of the text messages I'd received from Alice. She was with Maria, I had no doubt of it. "Keeping her busy," whatever that meant. Thoughts of what it could mean, along with everything else going on, had kept me awake for hours, and now it was only five in the morning according to the bedside clock. I hoped Alice wasn't putting herself in danger to protect the rest of us, but I couldn't know for sure.

…please, please, please have faith in me, she'd written.

Was I doing the right thing? Why did she have to tell me? Did she tell me everything she needed to?

No. I forced myself to stop worrying. I had to believe she'd told me everything we had to do—no more or less. What else could I believe?

There was the sound of something breaking—a glass vase, maybe—then more yelling, this time from a higher-pitched voice that could only be Rosalie's. Whatever was being said and done made Edward nervous. His grip on me tightened as he pulled me closer to his chest.

Maybe I should tell them what Alice is doing.

Alice's deception was what had led to some of the problems we faced. Of course, she seemed to think that she'd done what was necessary to prevent other, darker outcomes. Like Jasper or Edward's dying at the other's hand.

I kept my mouth shut.

"Can't sleep?" Edward asked.

I shrugged a shoulder. "I don't know. I feel like we should be doing something."

"I talked to them for a couple of hours after you fell asleep. I've told them all I know—all Maria may or may not have been telling me. Jasper and Carlisle were going to try to track down the newborns' movements through news articles and police reports, but only Carlisle and Esme are working on it. The others, well, they've been at it for the last half hour."

There was more yelling. "We shouldn't be fighting amongst ourselves," I whispered.

Edward sighed. "This is what large covens are like, Bella. They're prone to infighting."

I turned over to face him. His golden eyes seemed to pick up the light of the room and glow like an animal's. How did I ever think he was human? "The Cullens aren't just a coven," I said, brushing hair away from his forehead.

"Oh?" He sounded amused. "You're an expert on what covens are like now?"

"No," I admitted, "but I know the Cullens are more than that, at least from what you tell me. They're a family, even if they are arguing right now—maybe even because they're arguing right now. You know it too." He pursed his lips, and I leaned in, kissing them quickly. "Come on. Let's go see if we can help." I couldn't lie in bed with my fears and guilt.

The sofa in the living room had been tipped over, and there was glass on the hardwood floor, making me thankful Edward had told me to put on jeans and sneakers before coming downstairs.

Three frazzled vampires stood in the middle of the material mayhem. They turned troubled, black eyes our way as we descended the stairs.

Edward stood in front of me and commented, "Rosalie didn't have any ill intentions."

"See?" Emmett said to Jasper. He stood by Rosalie like a club bouncer, his arms crossed over his barrel chest.

"You don't know what she's feeling," Jasper snapped at both Edward and Emmett. He turned to Rosalie. "I never should have let you go after Alice."

"I was worried about her!"

"Not worried enough to see her home! And underneath your worry, you were right infuriated!"

"Oh, as if you weren't," Rosalie scoffed. "That's why you let me go. You were too pissed off to go after her yourself. Your pride was wounded after she'd been hiding Edward for months without your knowing, and you're only willing to overlook that now because you feel guilty about not following her yourself."

Jasper's eyes narrowed. "I think you told her we didn't want her."

"I would never do that!"

"She didn't," Edward said in her defense, finally bringing us into the heated conversation. "That's not how she remembers it, at least."

"You stay out of it," Jasper growled, pointing a finger at Edward. "You're part of the problem."

"All right, everyone, calm down," a firm voice said, cutting through the chaos like a blade. Carlisle and Esme stood together on the other side of the living room, their hands clasped between them. "Everyone is welcome here, and I don't believe anyone has had ill intentions toward another. Mistakes—sometimes terrible ones—do happen. Now, while you three were arguing—"

"And tearing up the family room," Esme said.

"—we've managed to get an idea of the newborns' movement through Portland and Seattle, but we could use Jasper's strategic expertise when it comes to more accurately analyzing the data."

"And what about Alice?" Jasper asked quietly. Now that he wasn't so angry, he just seemed worried and upset.

"You said you'd give her until dawn to return," Esme answered. "The sun's not up yet."

"It's almost dawn," Emmett said, and Rosalie shot him a glare.

"She's likely giving everyone time to calm down and forgive her," Carlisle said.

"But she's not answering her phone." Jasper pulled a cell phone out of his back pocket and stared at the screen, a deep frown on his face. "I've tried to get her at least a dozen times. She always answers my calls."

"You know reception sucks in the wilderness, though," Emmett said. "Maybe she's gone up in the mountains."

With the emotions in the room calming, Edward allowed me to slip to his side as he added, "I hate to voice the thought, but it is on everyone's mind. What if Maria has Alice? She did seem interested in her." He grimaced. "I may have helped with that. I didn't know how else to deal with her."

Jasper let out a low, anguished growl, the inhuman sound of a pained animal. Rosalie looked down at her shoes, a pair of leather, high-heeled boots.

Esme tried to remain hopeful. "I'm sure Alice will turn up this morning."

I wanted so badly to tell them what Alice was up to—what I knew, at least—but that might do more harm than good. Don't tell the others, Alice's last text message had said. It was easier said than done when so many were worried about her and looking for comfort or answers.

Jasper was shaking his head. "No matter what Maria said," he started, looking at Edward, "Alice doesn't interest her. Alice's gift makes Maria uncomfortable, even if she thinks it could be handy. She's always feared Alice could get the better of her. Anyhow, she knows Alice is my ally, not hers. God forbid she's taken her, but if she has, it's a move against me, I reckon."

"You can't go after Alice if Maria has her," Edward said. "That's what Maria would want. Judging by your memories of the past, you were…useful to her."

I wondered what that meant exactly as Jasper looked away in discomfort. It was almost strange how quickly he and Edward had come to understand one another, at least on some points; they had experienced similar things throughout the years—things maybe no one else would ever understand.

Argument laid to rest, Rosalie and Emmett began to clean up the mess in the living room. As if it weighed nothing, Emmett righted the sofa with a single hand while Rosalie brushed shards of glass into a dustpan she'd speedily acquired from another room. Jasper watched them work without helping, his eyes troubled.

"What did you find?" he asked Carlisle and Esme a moment later. He stood straighter suddenly and clasped his hands behind his back.

"The disappearances in Seattle seem to be concentrated in the Southeast," Carlisle answered. "And they're in the Northeastern neighborhoods of Portland."

Jasper launched into a series of questions then, asking how many humans had disappeared, versus how many had turned up dead. Before long, a couple of roadmaps were spread out on the dining table. Jasper and Edward leaned over them, placing stickers from what was apparently one of Alice's craft baskets on the towns that Carlisle and Esme told them had been affected. While addressing a crisis, Edward and Jasper worked well together.

"Thirty, all total," Jasper said some minutes later. He sat down in a chair, the antique wood creaking beneath his weight.

"Thirty newborns?" Esme asked in alarm.

Edward nodded. "Give or take a few, perhaps."

We were silent as we stared at the pink- and yellow-dotted map; pink meant "dead," while yellow meant "missing." The stickers had smiley faces on them, making the map look disturbingly cheery, considering. I wished they'd used a red pen to mark the locations instead.

"That's not as bad as I was thinking," I said, aiming for positivity, from where I stood behind Edward's chair. "With so many murders and disappearances reported, and so many others probably unreported, I thought there must be at least a hundred."

"That's because you don't know newborns," Jasper replied. "It only takes a small army to do substantial damage. They're vicious and incredibly powerful physically for the first year or so of their existence. They can crush older vampires with ease."

I paled under the description. "So what can be done?"

Jasper smiled thinly—a dark smile that nearly made me shiver. "There are ways to defeat them. No doubt some of our work will be done for us; they kill each other off sometimes."

"That's awful," Esme murmured.

Jasper shrugged a shoulder. "They're slaves to their thirst and only worried about their next meal. It makes them predictable, though, so that's good. The fact that they're split between Portland and Seattle helps, too. So long as the two groups don't come together, they're easier to take in stages."

He turned to Edward. "You told us Maria said she would return in three days. If we can clear out some or all of her army in that time, dealing with her won't be a problem."

"We shouldn't act in haste," Carlisle cautioned. "We don't know that Maria has Alice."

Jasper rolled his eyes, but said nothing.

"Let's see if our Alaskan cousins will help us with the newborns in Seattle," Carlisle continued. "Whether the Volturi are behind this or not, it's clear that Maria is behaving aggressively for some reason; it's in their interest to defeat her as well, and the thought of six of us going against thirty or more, even if they're split up… The odds aren't in our favor."

Rosalie snorted. "The Denalis will hardly help. We'll still be outnumbered."

"There are the wolves," Carlisle suggested hesitantly.

Edward laughed. "You can't possibly be considering involving them."

"I don't think I could work beside the stench," Rosalie agreed.

"They have a right to know what's going on if they don't already," Carlisle said. "They'll want to protect their people; it's their duty. And they could help us, perhaps. The best defense is a good offense, after all. I'd rather we not have to work with them, but this is apparently within their skill set."

"Killing vampires, you mean," Edward said dryly.

Carlisle's eyes squinted in amusement. "I seem to recall your telling me once that we were already dead, which would mean we can't be killed. I'm pleased to see your opinion has changed."

"The sun's rising," Jasper whispered. His words brought Edward and Carlisle's morbid banter to an end.

We glanced at each other, then to the outside, where the sky was lightening into a dull, grey morning. The world seemed cold and bleak beyond the warmth of the dining room.

Alice is out there. Somewhere.

Wordlessly setting his cell phone to speaker, Jasper tried calling Alice again. We stared at the phone where he'd placed it over the roadmap on the table, waiting and listening. Even I did, knowing she probably wouldn't answer.

"You've reached Alice Cullen! If you're trying to contact me about a design you purchased from Etsy—"

When her voicemail message closed with the sound of a tone, Jasper ended the call.

I wondered how he was interpreting my feelings of guilt and uncertainty.

Jaw set, fingers curled to make fists, Jasper declared, "We move out as soon as it's feasible. With or without the wolves."

Take out the newborns, Alice had instructed. It was already falling into place. Had she known it would? Had she told me everything I needed to know? Why did I need to know?

Carlisle put a hand on Jasper's shoulder. "She's all right. Don't assume the worst in times of trouble."

"Maria has her. I know it. I feel it." He radiated anger.

And he was right. I didn't know how he knew, but he knew.

Don't let anyone follow me, she'd written. But who could stop a vampire if his heart was set on doing just that? Jasper looked like he was barely keeping himself from going after her now.

"If Maria wants a war," Jasper said, his voice cold, "I'll give her one."

Even as the hairs on my arms rose, no one argued with him this time, not even Rosalie. The Cullens weren't just a coven. They were a family who looked after their own.

A few hours later, I was bundled up in a coat and in the woods near a supposed (and invisible to me) boundary line between the Cullens' and Quileutes' territories. At Carlisle's request, Edward had agreed to use his gift to determine the wolves' stance on everything. I went—or, really, I was carried, but didn't like to think about that after how much Emmett had teased me. Apparently I wouldn't be allowed out of Edward's sight now that Alice had been "abducted."

The woods were still, but not in the usual sense of winter stillness. I'd noticed more than a few times now that Edward and the Cullens seemed to scare away the animals who were instinctive enough to know not to get too close—all except Lucky, anyway. There was no skittering sound, no blackbird calling, as we waited for the Quileutes to arrive.

My breath rose up in a hazy mist above my head, and I imagined I could hear my heart in the silence. One beating heart among six still ones. I felt out of place, but it also felt like I should be in this with the others. Why else would Alice contact me, instead of Jasper?

Two figures appeared in the distance, eventually taking on the familiar forms and faces of Sam and Jacob. Despite the cold, they were shirtless and barefoot, only wearing sweats that had been raggedly cut at the knee to make shorts. Where my side of the border was still as death, theirs radiated life and warmth, including the temperamental heat of anger. I could tell by the way Jacob's shoulders shook, he didn't want to be here. He hated being here.

The last time we'd spoken had been at Charlie's funeral, when he'd tried to warn me about Edward's true nature; I'd been sure that would be the last time I would see him, but I'd been wrong. And now I knew the truth, but the warning hadn't worked like he thought it would. From where he stood beside Sam, Jacob stared at me across the small distance, equal parts confused and disgusted.

How could you choose this? his eyes seemed to ask.

How could I not? was all I could think. Weeks ago, I'd given up trying to make sense of or deny the pull Edward had on me, the pull I was willing to die for.

Sam and Jacob hadn't come alone. I sucked in a breath when the others appeared. Bringing up the rear were five wolves—massive wolves.

"Holy shit," I muttered, stumbling back a step to hide behind Edward's protective arm. He reached back and held my hand in reassurance, but I felt the rigidity of his body, the tense nervousness.

Like monsters from a child's night terrors, the wolves were grotesque and overgrown. Even on all fours, their backs reached to at least my height, their heads taller when raised. Large, canine faces sported long snouts, and sharp-looking fangs hung over wet, dark pink lips.

It showed how strange my life had become that I didn't scream or run or—worst of all—faint like some silly damsel. I just stared, my heart pumping hard. My brain was becoming better at rewiring itself to new, bizarre information. Somewhere, I knew, underneath layers of fur, were boys I'd sat at bonfires with, boys who had teased me and at one time loved me as their own.

Times change.

They only glared at me with dark eyes now, as confused and disgusted as Jacob. Even Sam, who I now knew had played an important role in saving my life, didn't look at me kindly. I was with an enemy—maybe not the enemy, like the Cullens and Edward were thought to be, but definitely a kind of enemy. If I wasn't with them, I was against them.

Unsurprisingly, Jacob was the first who dared to speak. "You're hiding behind a bloodsucker like you're afraid of us?" A couple of wolves yipped at his words. "At least we're human."

They sure didn't look it, I thought.

"Jacob," Sam warned, his voice firm. He spoke to Carlisle, "We've come, vampire. What is it you want?"

Like Sam, Carlisle didn't bother with any pleasantries. He explained what was happening in Seattle and Portland with a doctor's efficiency, sparing no detail; he even told them of Maria and the Volturi. He presented the possible cure for our ails—and how the cure might injure or—worse—kill some. The wolves in the background didn't like it; they paced and snarled impatiently.

"This never would have happened if you weren't here," Jacob growled at Carlisle. "Now the whole region's crawling with leeches."

Before Carlisle could reply, I took a step away from Edward and argued, "That's not true. What Maria's doing isn't their fault."

"Bella." Edward tugged on my elbow. In my annoyance, I ignored him.

"Doesn't matter if this other vamp's their fault or not," Jacob said. "All bloodsuckers are alike. They should all be torn apart and burned." He looked at Edward as he said that.

"Guess it's good your opinion doesn't count for much," Emmett replied.

"They aren't bloodsuckers!" It took everything in me not to stamp my foot.

Suddenly I was standing in front of Edward, my whole body quaking with my anger, the only thing keeping me from Jacob being a hand gripping firmly onto the back of my coat jacket. Distantly, I could hear Emmett laughing, but I was too angry to care.

How many months had I dealt with these prejudices at my and Charlie's expense? Sure, it'd taken me a short time to get used to the Cullens' otherness when I knew the truth, but the Quileutes had had years to get to know them. They'd never even tried. Even seeing the Cullens' compassion at my father's deathbed hadn't been enough.

Jacob let out a loud laugh, and the wolf monsters behind him seemed to hiss in their own amusement. "Of course they're bloodsuckers. How do you think he survives?" Jacob taunted, pointing at Edward. "They may only take animal life—so they say—but they still suck blood. They steal life."

As always, there was something about talking to Jacob that made me revert to the teenager I'd been when we'd dated. "You're so stupid!" I shouted. "What do you think you're doing when you eat a steak, Jacob? Or, hell, even vegetables!"

"That's different."

"It is not!"

"Enough!" Carlisle and Sam snapped at the same time.

"Now is not the time," Carlisle said.

Sam nodded. "Agreed."

I felt a sudden wave of calm tiredness settle over me—Jasper's doing, no doubt. I glared at him until I saw how weary he looked when he wasn't talking strategy.

No, I thought, now really isn't the time. Not with Alice gone. And Emmett was right. Jacob's opinion didn't matter, anyway.

"I know it's asking a lot, but will you consider helping us?" Carlisle asked, bringing the conversation back to business. He gave all his attention to Sam, ignoring Jacob like one would ignore a disobedient child. "We want to act quickly to prevent any other newborns from being created."

Sam crossed his arms over his chest and stared at each of the Cullens in thought. "I won't make them help you," he said a moment later, glancing at one of the wolves to his right. "And if any of us does want to help, I'll only allow a few to go. The majority of us will stay in La Push and protect our people. They are our priority."

Jasper stepped forward to stand beside Carlisle. "You won't have any people to protect if too many newborns come this way. You need to try to fight them before they get to your land. They aren't like the rest of us. They're stronger, faster. They strike harder and faster than any of us."

"We can handle them," Jacob said confidently. A wolf let out a low growl in what I could only guess was agreement.

Sam was older, wiser and less prone to bravado. "Some of the others might be eager to kill your kind—and I don't blame them—but the way I see it is she's not coming after us. This doesn't seem like our war."

"Maria may not be coming after you specifically," Jasper said, "but if she brings any of her newborns this way—and there's a chance she will—they won't be able to help themselves. They'll scour the whole area for human blood. Your land won't be immune."

"It will be well-protected, though."

"Only if you know how to fight them."

A look of annoyance passed over Sam's face as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm sure we know more than would make you comfortable, but what do you suggest, vampire?"

"Let me show you how to defeat them. Those who want to help us after that can." He grimaced. "I can train you today, and we can leave tonight."

Sam was silent for a moment as he considered his options. Finally, he nodded. "Okay." More growls—different this time. Disapproval? "But it'll only be a few of us who help—if any—and if you mess with us during this…training, the treaty's off."

"I assure you we aren't misleading you in any way," Carlisle assured him calmly.

"Fine, okay. What about the girl?" Sam asked, his eyes flickering toward me.

What about me?

"She's with us," Carlisle replied.

Scowling, Sam started, "The treaty—"

"Doesn't take into account free will," Carlisle interrupted. "Bella is with us of her own volition. All the treaty says is that we must not bite a human. As you can see, she is alive and well under my family's protection." He turned his head and looked at me. "Of course, she is free to go with you, if she chooses. After all, she already knows our secrets." He looked at Jacob pointedly.

Jacob avoided Carlisle's stare. "This is nuts." Looking at me, he said, "Come on, Bella."

I shook my head. "I'm not going anywhere with you."

"Of course you are. We can keep you safe. We have patrols that run the whole perimeter—"

"Jacob," Sam growled again.

"What? You're just gonna let her stay with them?" Jacob's brows furrowed. "Bella, come with us. It's what Charlie would have wanted."

I opened my mouth to argue with him, but Edward beat me to it. Holding me close to his side, he said, "What Charlie wanted was for her to be with me."

Jacob's eyebrows shot up high. "That's not—"

"She's made her choice," Sam interrupted Jacob. "She's with them and isn't our concern any longer."

Though they shouldn't have, their rejection still stung. But Sam was speaking the truth: I'd made my choice—probably longer ago than I was willing to admit to myself. And I thought that being with Edward maybe was what Charlie would want for me.

In a clearing, Jasper instructed the wolves on how to dispose of newborn vampires. It all seemed so brutal: his strict and capable teaching, which Edward explained came from his time as a major during the Civil War; the way the newborns were crazed and dangerous because of their insatiable thirst for human blood; the way wolves' teeth could easily pierce what seemed like impenetrable flesh; or how you had to burn torn apart vampires to actually kill them.

I was pulled from my thoughts at the sound of growling as Jasper tried to spar with one of the wolves, a medium-sized beast of dark silver fur. The other Cullens, who were also participating in the training, moved in closer, coming together, in case their tenuous alliance was about to fall apart. Strangely, as soon as the commotion had begun, it ended, and the sparring took place as it was supposed to, giant wolves and inhumanly fast vampires practicing at attacking and defending. If the earth didn't tremble and shake with their inhuman play, I might have thought I was dreaming.

"What was that argument about?" I asked Edward in a whisper. We were sitting beneath a tree a little ways away, but I knew my voice could easily carry to supernatural ears. Maybe it still did.

"They become easily confused and frustrated that there's no good way to communicate with Jasper," he answered just as softly, his eyes watching the Cullens' movements. He was probably learning from them. "When they're in wolf form, they have a sort of…hive mind that allows them to communicate telepathically. It's very interesting. Very loud.

"When they're in human form, the link is broken, so there's no consistent form of communication; either they're cut off from each other or from Jasper. That's why you keep seeing Sam going in and out of the woods, back and forth, from man to wolf."

"Why don't you just, you know, translate for them?"

"Carlisle wants to know their true thoughts, so it's best if they don't know of my ability. I've learned over the years that those who aren't human, and are aware of my ability, can be quite skilled at masking their thoughts, if they have enough desire to do so."

Ignoring the hypocrisy of my question, I asked, "Is keeping secrets really a good idea right now? We have to work with them." At his sharp glance, I rolled my eyes. "No need to lecture. I know. You have to work with them. Not me. You."

But Alice sent me the message.

"Good girl." Satisfied, he said, "Secrets are necessary when they hate us as thoroughly they do. They could easily turn on us at the last minute."

I frowned.

"If it's any consolation, they're keeping secrets as well. Nothing important, mind you, but neither of us trusts the other. This coalition is made out of necessity and temporary. It will dissolve as soon as the threat is eliminated."

It didn't seem all that smart to me to fight beside people you couldn't trust. Then again, I didn't want Edward in this fight at all—Alice said he shouldn't take part—but as his eyes followed Jasper, I wasn't so sure I could keep him out of it. Suddenly I had a newfound respect for Edward's silly over-protectiveness. There was a whole world to protect him from, a world filled with vampires like Maria, with "governmental agents" much more frightening than my human world's cubical-contained IRS agents.

As I watched Jasper's training session end, and the wolves melt into the forest once more, I held close to Edward. I'd already lost my father. I couldn't lose Edward, too—not to his past or to anything or anyone else. I wouldn't let it happen.

Had Alice left me with the tools, the information, needed to protect him? If she hadn't, why did she even bother telling me anything? Damn her. But then I felt guilty. What if she was in trouble? Should I tell the others? But she said not to…

"What are you thinking?"

"Hmm?" I shook my head. "Nothing."

Edward smirked. "I suspect that's far from the truth. Either way, your face alone tells me you're puzzling over something."

"Maybe I'll start wearing a ski mask," I joked.

Edward smiled briefly, but his lips soon turned downward. "Jasper felt you were upset earlier and…guilty. Is something wrong?"

Yes. Everything. But fear kept me from telling him the truth. After all my effort to not be like Renée, I was just as superstitious—afraid to "jinx it." Then again, Alice was more reliable than the palm reader my mother had gone to on occasion when I was a kid.

"I just hate that I can't help," I said finally. That was true, at least.

Relieved by my answer, Edward leaned over and kissed my forehead. "Jasper thought as much, but I wanted to make sure. You know you can tell me anything, right?"

"I know," I whispered. But I still held my secret and wondered if we'd ever have a relationship without them.

Everyone was quiet on the return to the Cullen mansion. It was afternoon now, and as each hour passed with no word from Alice, Jasper grew more distant. Though he didn't fidget like a human would, his anxiety was obvious and sometimes even spilled over onto the rest of us by way of his gift. It was a horrible feeling—a feeling of missing something, of wanting to find it, of worrying over it, of the pain felt each moment you denied yourself from immediately acting.

There was a wildness to it, too. A hair-raising danger hovering at the corners of his eyes and mouth, waiting to be released. He reminded me of Edward on the night I'd visited La Push—a threatened animal, waiting to lash out.

The Cullens' Alaskan cousins called and agreed to help in Seattle; it was only because of Carlisle's gentle pleas that they were helping at all, rather than contacting the Volturi. They had time to change their minds, he told them, but he hoped they wouldn't. I noticed he didn't tell them about Edward and me.

Portland would be cleared first, with the wolves' help, then Seattle. They were optimistic and inhuman; they thought they could do it in a couple of days—if there were no surprises. With vampires' superior mental capacity at work and the wolves' instinctive nature at play, it was all happening quickly, almost too quickly for me to follow. I was just an out-of-place human, not to mention a liability.

Why did Alice have to tell me?

At the foot of the Cullen mansion's porch steps, Edward stopped Jasper as I slid down from his back after our journey. I held onto him until I regained my sense of balance. There was no elegant way to be a klutz among the supernaturally graceful, so I'd stopped trying.

"I need to learn what you taught them today," Edward told Jasper.

My heart leapt into my throat at the thought of the two of them fighting again—even if it was for learning. Only twenty-four hours earlier, they'd been fighting for entirely different reasons and with darker ends in mind.

Jasper regarded Edward with a sigh. "Why didn't you join in earlier?"

"The wolves make me uncomfortable."

"They make us all uncomfortable, but as the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy…" He shrugged and forced a small smile. It seemed hard for him to be polite at the moment.

"It's also the mind reading," Edward explained hesitantly, as if he was ashamed. "It can be helpful—and so I depend on it—but it can also distracting. I don't always see how another plans to react in a fight, because oftentimes things aren't consciously thought out. I'm confronted with a mirror image of myself in their thoughts."

"You have to learn to work with the distraction your gift presents. It takes some practice, but I suppose I can teach you a little now." He cocked his head to one side, his eyes set on me, suddenly shrewd. "But I don't think you'll be helping in Seattle or Portland."

"No."

"What?" I asked, feeling as if I was missing half of what was going on. But at least he's not fighting!

"Edward probably shouldn't part from you," Jasper said. "Whatever game Maria's playing, she obviously would like us to play as well—at least by her rules. If she has Alice, and I believe she does, you could be a target, too. Needless to say, you're not as sturdy of one."

Despite wanting to seem brave in the face of danger, I felt weak in the knees. My fingers dug into the fabric of Edward's shirt—Jasper's, really. "You think she'd use me to get to Edward?" I was more of a liability than I'd realized.

Edward pulled my fingers from his shirt and squeezed them gently. "It'll be all right," he promised. "I told you I wouldn't let anything happen to you, and having Jasper teach me how to protect you is another way to ensure that. We'll take a flight in the morning, get out of Washington."

Terror washed over me. Jasper gave me a strange look, and I felt the fear subside, but only a little.

"We can't leave," I blurted out, feeling strange as I said the words, but somewhere, deep down, knowing they were true. Alice would have told us to leave if it was safe to—if we needed to.

Right?

Maybe I had too much faith in her. But she saved Edward. And had tried to save my father. What was the more important fact about that—that she'd tried or that she'd failed?

Edward turned me so I faced him. Holding my face in his hands, he said, "We have to leave. I told you I'd bring you back to see to Charlie's, and we'll try to make it to Angela and Ben's wedding, but this is how it has to be for now."

I pulled away. "No. We have to stay." I grasped for an explanation. "What if Alice comes back? What if Maria chases us? You don't even know what she's up to—or where the Volturi are."

They were silent for a moment before Jasper said, "She has a point. Moving may present as much of a risk as staying put."

Edward glared at Jasper, as if he were once again an enemy. "She's being irrational."

"I'm right here, thanks," I reminded him. "You can talk to me."

"So, what? You want us to stay here, in Forks?" Edward asked me. "You were right. We're sandwiched here. It's not safe."

"Do you think Maria thought you were telling the truth yesterday?" Jasper challenged.

Edward frowned at the question. "She knew I was hiding things, but, as I told you, I struggle to read her."

"Maria's thorough. I wouldn't doubt that she'd have some contingency plan for your running—and she likes a chase, believe me; they amuse her—in which case the best defense would be to lead her to think you've left the state, but to stay here, in Forks. You could stay at Charlie's. I'd assume she doesn't know of it."

"I don't think she does," Edward said hesitantly. "But what about when she returns to the area in two days?"

Jasper was quiet for a moment as he thought. Edward's frown deepened, and he began to shake his head.

"That's risky," Edward commented.

I looked between the two of them, frustrated by their silent communication. "What is?"

"A possible solution to dealing with Maria. If we can clear out the newborns in time," Jasper said, "we could return and have Maria surrounded when she comes here."

"If she comes at all," Edward said.

Jasper let out an annoyed hiss. "We know too little. If only Alice—"

Abruptly, he stopped speaking and looked down at the ground. I felt an acute pain in my chest, that grieving ache from losing Charlie, from being emotionally separated from Edward.

Edward kissed my head and stepped forward. "Teach me how to fight."

Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie and I stood at the windows and watched as Emmett and Jasper taught Edward all they knew. It was a crash course in vampire combat—and nothing short of acrobatics—but with flawless memory, Edward was learning quickly. If I didn't think about the purpose behind their fighting, and if I ignored the craziest of their blurred movements, it would easily look like they were just young men, roughhousing.

"I want you to stay." From where he stood beside me, Carlisle spoke to Esme softly, in a tone that made me blush, though neither of them seemed to notice. He held her close, his nose buried in her brown hair while his eyes focused on the scene outside.

Esme patted his hand, where it rested on her stomach. "Don't be silly. I'm going wherever you go."

Carlisle sighed, but said nothing. I guessed being with someone for so long meant you knew when something wasn't worth arguing.

Esme's refusal to stay behind with Edward and me made me uncomfortable, though. Not because I thought she should stay with us, but because I knew in most circumstances, she would have. That she refused to leave Carlisle's side during these newborn battles showed how serious it was.

"Why are you here, Bella?" Rosalie asked all of a sudden. She stood on my other side, her beautiful face pulled tight by furrowed brows and a full-lipped frown.

"Rosalie," Esme admonished, "don't start, dear. It's not your place."

"I don't know Edward, but I know he shouldn't have gotten involved with you," Rosalie continued, undeterred. "You see how easily things become dangerous. Why risk your life? You should be in school or traveling or—or, really, you could do anything. So many doors of opportunity for humans. Why would you choose this?"

She seemed genuinely curious, but her question was silly to me. "You wouldn't for Emmett?"

Rosalie's frown morphed as she pressed her lips into a thin line. She wasn't so intimidating when she looked like that.

"It's my life," I said, thinking of the day Charlie told me he'd decided to quit chemo. Finally, I was beginning to understand that decision, at least a little; it all came down to choice, control over your own future. "I get to choose how to live my life—maybe even how it ends." The truth of that sent a chill through me, how I could die and cheat death because of the man outside. "I'm sure everything will be okay."

If Alice doesn't fail. And if I hadn't misinterpreted her messages.

"I hope you're right, Bella."

Night came, and it rained. It was time for the Cullens to make their way through the darkness, to meet up once again with the few wolves who'd promised to help. Together, they would move stealthily toward Portland. Edward and I would stay behind. It felt wrong to do that, to let others put their lives on the line without lifting a finger to help, but there didn't seem to be any other option.

Esme and Carlisle hugged us and promised they'd call often to keep us in the loop. With easy familiarity, Emmett teased us with a grin. "You guys are just lazy," he said. "No guts, no glory." Rosalie coolly waved from a small distance away, a black hood pulled up over her head; a few stray, golden locks lay damply beyond it.

Jasper was the last to say his goodbyes. He surprised me by clapping a hand to Edward's shoulder. "You'll be fine," he said. "You learn quickly. The mind reading probably helps more than you think. Channel the excess. Call if there's trouble." The Cullens and Edward were now all carrying satellite phones, in case any of us ended up in areas with poor reception.

Edward clapped a hand to Jasper's shoulder as well. "I hope you find Alice."

"I have to," Jasper said simply as he slipped away from their almost-brotherly camaraderie and stepped into the night. He glanced at me, then at Edward. "You understand that pretty well, I reckon." Edward nodded.

We watched them melt into the darkness. Dressed as they were in dark clothing, my eyes couldn't follow them very far, but it was as if I felt when they left the Cullen property. Did I just see them for the last time? I wondered, shaking as a cold, humid breeze passed over the front porch. It seemed unfair that the world of immortals wasn't much more secure than my own so far.

Lucky once again curled up on my lap, we left in Edward's car to return to Charlie's. Edward was frowning when we parked in front of the small house several minutes later. "Are you sure you want to stay?" he asked. The engine was still running, and the windshield wipers swished back and forth against the wet onslaught.

No, I thought with a shiver. Yet I was sure, too. Alice would have told us to leave if we needed to—wouldn't she?

"I'm sure we should stay," I answered quietly. I held on to Lucky's warm body, my heart beating unsteadily. He licked my knee, leaving the jean fabric wet.

Leather creaked as Edward's fingers tightened on the steering wheel, which already had other dents in it. "I can't lose you."

Reaching out, I pulled his hands free from the steering wheel. "You won't," I promised. If I somehow got caught in the middle of everything, he could just change me.

"At the first sign of trouble, we leave," he said. "The state. The country. We go far away."

"Okay," I agreed, nodding.

But for now we were here to stay. Our job was going to be easy; we just had to wait. At least…I hoped that was all we had to do—that there'd be no surprises for us or the others, that Alice had told me everything she needed to—instructed me by not giving me blatant instructions to the contrary. Please have faith in me. I hoped having faith wouldn't backfire.