Demetri stayed with us until we reached the reception area. I had half expected him to follow after Heidi. But he stayed, although he could hardly keep his thoughts away from what was happening in the throne room.

"Do not leave until after dark," he cautioned us.

I nodded, but I don't think he even saw it. He was gone a moment later.

I ignored Gianna, who was looking me over and trying to work out what the cloak meant. I even ignored Alice, giving Bella all my attention.

Her eyes were like saucers and her face was a pasty white. Her breathing was coming fast and shallow, and I wasn't sure she even knew we were here.

"Are you all right?" I asked, trying to get some response from her.

"You'd better make her sit before she falls," Alice told me. "She's going to pieces."

Sure enough, Bella started shaking violently before Alice had even finished speaking, her arms flailing uncontrollably. Terrified sounds began to choke their way out of her throat and tears gushed down her face unrestrained.

"Ssh, Bella, shh," I whispered, leading her over to a sofa in the corner. I tried to shield the sight of her distress from the eyes of the curious human at the desk.

"I think she's having hysterics," Alice went on. "Maybe you should slap her."

But as Alice checked her visions for that, it didn't seem to do any good.

I sat down on the sofa and pulled Bella gently on to my lap. I tuck the cloak around her shaking form and held her close to me. "It's all right, you're safe, it's all right." I whispered it over and over again, trying to get the message through. She would not be harmed now. I would protect her.

It took a few minutes before she could even speak. "All those people," she sobbed, her tears drenching the cloak.

"I know."

"It's so horrible."

"Yes, it is. I wish you hadn't had to see that."

Her shaking began to lessen, and she leaned her head against my chest and tried to steady her breathing.

Gianna was approaching, trying to show her bosses how dedicated she was to her work. Like that would save her.

"Is there anything I can get you?" she asked, peering at Bella over my shoulder.

"No," I told her. I didn't want anything the fool could give us.

She smiled and went away, as if it was perfectly normal to talk to an aggressive vampire. I suppose it probably was normal for her, but there had to be something wrong with her to even think that way.

Bella watched her as she went back to her desk. "Does she know what's going on here?"

I wondered if I should keep that from her. I didn't see much point. I just hoped she wouldn't ask too much. "Yes. She knows everything."

"Does she know they're going to kill her someday?"

"She knows it's a possibility." I wasn't going to tell her that Gianna's fate was a foregone conclusion.

She gave me a glance and I could see the question in it. "She's hoping they'll decide to keep her," I explained.

The color that had only just returned to Bella's face disappeared. "She wants to be one of them?"

I nodded, wondering if that would be enough to make her realize how foolhardy it was to desire this existence.

It seemed she did understand, for she shuddered and looked at Gianna, her eyes uncomprehending. "How could she want that? How can she watch those people file through to that hideous room and want to be a part of that?"

I didn't mention that Bella herself had wanted to be a part of this not so long ago. I hoped this was a sign she had finally changed her mind.

She looked back at me, her eyes exploring my face, and the tears started flowing again. I was concerned for a moment, and opened my mouth to ask, when she threw herself against me.

"Oh, Edward," she cried between sobs.

"What's wrong?" I asked. Was she afraid they would drag her back in there?

She wrapped her arms around my neck. "Is it really sick for me to be happy right now?"

Relief flooded through me at her words. She was happy. I thought it likely she hadn't felt that way for some time, not if Alice's memories were anything to go by.

I held her to me as tightly as I dared. It was hard not to use all my strength. I so wanted her to know how I felt, but I had to remember her fragility. I felt exactly the same as she. "I know what you mean. But we have lots of reasons to be happy. For one, we're alive."

"Yes, that's a good one."

"And together," I said, looking at her beautiful face, which I had been deprived of for so long.

She lowered her eyes and nodded, looking afraid. I wondered why. Perhaps she was scared that the Volturi would yet end our lives, and banish us forever from each other's company.

I wasn't even sure I could be confident about that, although Alice had immediately begun searching our future, and the signs she saw were positive. "And, with any luck, we'll still be alive tomorrow."

"The outlook is quite good," Alice put in, examining her visions with satisfaction. "I'll see Jasper in less than twenty-four hours."

I hoped that vision would hold. I felt guilty, not just for exposing Bella to danger, but for dragging Alice away from her lover to the brink of death.

But finally, we had a moment, a moment when I could turn my eyes back to Bella. She was looking at me, her gaze full of longing, and my eyes roved over her face. She looked thin. She was pale and there were black circles under her eyes. I reached up to touch them. "You look so tired."

"And you look thirsty," she informed me, looking at the dark shadows under my own eyes.

In all honesty, I had forgotten my thirst. I thought about it for a moment. While my throat still burned at the smell of Bella's blood, the other reactions were gone. My muscles did not tense. My mouth did not fill with venom. I wondered why, but could only be glad that this savage reaction had ceased to plague me, if only for the moment. I hoped it would last.

"It's nothing," I assured her.

"Are you sure? I could sit with Alice." She didn't look willing to move, and I was less willing to let her.

"Don't be ridiculous," I replied. "I've never been in better control of that side of my nature than right now."

Bella looked at me again, and seemed to be on the verge of saying something, but did not. I wondered if she was reluctant to speak in our present company. I was, too. I knew I owed her an enormous apology for not only forcing her to come here, but causing the ravages I could see on her face. These marks and the hunch of her shoulders were not the work of a few days. Obviously my departure had hurt her deeply, far more than I would have expected. The time for apologies was coming, but it would not be in front of any spectators, even Alice.

So I just sat cradling in her my arms, and Alice and I talked about how we would get home. I looked at Bella more than I looked at Alice, but I knew my sister understood.

I asked her how she had got here.

"We were lucky," she replied. An image of a yellow Porsche 911 Turbo passed through her mind and she sighed with pleasure. "We would never have gotten here in time if we'd taken one of the other cars on offer." She screwed up her nose and showed me the others she'd had to select from, and I was never more grateful that she'd had the opportunity to take the Porsche.

"I guess we'll have to steal another, then," I told her. "I doubt the 911 will be there when we get out."

She nodded. "I'll go and find one. I've also stashed Bella's bags just near the square, so I'll have to get those." She looked me up and down. "And as soon as we get to Florence, we'll ditch that cloak and buy you a decent shirt."

I smiled, but looked down at Bella. I was hoping she might be comfortable enough to sleep, but guessed that our surroundings were still a little too frightening for that. She continued to look at me, and I couldn't resist lowering my lips to her face at times. Brushing them against her forehead, her nose, and touching them to her hair, inhaling her and rejoicing in the burn that accompanied my every breath. I was with her again.

Perhaps it was Bella's presence that made the time pass swiftly. It did not seem like long before we heard Alec coming. I looked into his mind and could see his instructions were to release us, so there was nothing to worry about, it seemed, but I didn't like him near Bella anyway.

"You're free to leave now," he said, as he came up to us with a smile. "We ask that you don't linger in the city."

I wasn't going to match his civility. I didn't see the need. "That won't be a problem."

I could still hear thoughts from the rest of the Volturi, of course, and I could see that Aro was still examining Alice's visions with great interest. He was also watching us on the closed circuit TV as we got up to leave.

Farewell, Edward, he thought. I hope we'll meet again soon.

There was nothing but benevolence in his mind, but I did not trust those thoughts to last.

"Follow the right hallway around the corner to the first set of elevators," Gianna said, not that I needed the direction. I already knew which way to go. "The lobby is two floors down, and exits to the street. Goodbye now."

I looked at her, and wondered if I should warn her about her fate. There was no point, of course. Like Bella, she knew too much.

Alice looked into her future as we left. The end was not far for off her. She echoed my own thoughts. Should we warn her?

I shook my head. Alice, too, realized that there was no way out. Gianna's life would soon be over.

We left through the lobby, which was empty now, as all the workers were out enjoying the festival. We passed through them as quickly as Bella could manage. They still wore their red cloaks, and now many of the adults had donned plastic fangs themselves. I rolled my eyes. "Ridiculous."

Once we had made it through the square, Alice disappeared and went to fetch Bella's bags. Bella didn't notice her leave at first, and looked around in alarm. "Where's Alice?"

"She went to retrieve your bags from where she stashed them this morning."

Bella heaved a sigh of relief, and glanced sideways at me. "She's stealing a car, too, isn't she?"

I grinned. "Not till we're outside."

I could see that Bella was exhausted, and I held her close and supported most of her weight as we walked towards the edge of the city. I felt her body shudder as we passed through the gates, and I understood how she felt. We had escaped, but only just.

Alice had obtained a car – nothing fancy this time, just an average sedan – and I led Bella towards it and joined her in the backseat. I didn't want to drive. I wanted nothing that would divert my attention from Bella, even in the slightest degree.

Alice grimaced at the car. "I'm sorry, there wasn't much to choose from."

"That's fine, Alice," I assured her. "They can't all be 911 Turbos."

She sighed, images of the beautiful car again flashing through her mind. "I may have to acquire one of those legally. It was fabulous."

"I'll get you one for Christmas."

Alice was delighted. "Yellow," she instructed, as she drove down the hillside.

Now that we were on the way, I turned my attention back to Bella, who I still held close to my side. "You can sleep now, Bella. It's over."

She swallowed once, shuddered and lowered her eyes. "I don't want to sleep. I'm not tired."

I pressed my lips to the hollow under her ear. "Try."

But she shook her head. I didn't understand the reason for her refusal. I could see how exhausted she was. "You're still just as stubborn."

I couldn't make sense of her determination to stay awake, considering how tired she must have been. She didn't close her eyes once on the trip from Volterra back to Florence, and seemed to be going to great effort to ensure that she didn't. But since it meant that her beautiful eyes were almost always gazing at me, I found it hard to dissuade her.

I had thought she might sleep on the plane. She could hardly move her feet as we walked around Florence, finding me some new clothes and a convenient pile of trash where I could dump the cloak. The first leg of our journey wasn't very long, so she stayed awake throughout, but when we settled in to the long run from Rome to Atlanta, as soon as we were airborne she asked the stewardess to bring her a Coke.

"Bella." I knew she couldn't handle caffeine. Why was she so desperate not to sleep? She was so tired she could hardly stand!

"I don't want to sleep," she said. "If I close my eyes now, I'll see things I don't want to see. I'll have nightmares."

That was a very good point. I didn't want her enduring something like that, especially here in public. I knew that Bella talked in her sleep, and if she was having nightmares about the Volturi it wouldn't be good if she said anything aloud about them. I doubted anyone around us would understand what she meant, but still.

So she sat and looked at me for the duration of the flight. That did not trouble me; I couldn't keep my eyes away from her, either. I became oblivious to my sister, who was watching visions of her reunion with Jasper. Instead, I let my fingers traced Bella's beautiful heart-shaped face.

She touched my face too, but she seemed reluctant to do so. I wasn't sure why. She clearly still cared about me, in spite of how much I had hurt her. I could see it in her eyes. But there was a strange hesitation every time she reached for me, as if she was afraid I would suddenly vanish. Maybe she still found it hard to believe we had escaped with our lives.

I couldn't bring myself to make small talk; everything I had to say to Bella had such great import and I didn't think a plane was an appropriate place for a groveling apology. So I remained silent, as did she, until we landed at Sea-Tac.

Alice had seen that our family would be waiting for us at the airport. She had provided them with all the necessary details, so they were there to greet us when we made it through customs and out into the main airport traffic. Jasper was by Alice's side the instant he saw her, and they shared a private moment. Carlisle and Esme stood a little further away; Esme's relief at the sight of me was palpable.

What do you think you were doing? she scolded. Edward, how could you do that to me?

As soon as she reached us she threw her arms around Bella – half around me, as well, as I refused to let go of her. "Thank you so much," she whispered, before she turned to me, and drew me into a hug.

"You will never put me through that again." She looked just a fierce as she did when she was hunting.

"Sorry, Mom," I replied, and I was sorry for causing her such pain. It was an unfortunate side effect of my existence, it seemed.

Edward, Edward, Carlisle sighed. Please don't do anything like that again. He too, had been distressed by my actions. It seemed everything I did hurt someone.

"Thank you, Bella," Carlisle said, turning towards her. "We owe you."

"Hardly," Bella mumbled. Her eyes were nearly closing, and she could barely put one foot in front of the other.

"She's dead on her feet," Esme told me severely. "Let's get her home."

Esme and I supported Bella all though the airport and out into the parking lot. It was a relief to realize that she would probably have to sleep now. She wouldn't be able to stop herself. Her eyes were more closed than open.

I was so caught up in Bella's condition that I didn't notice the other's thoughts until we had nearly reached them.

Here he is at last. Bet he's got a story to tell. Damn, I wish I could've been there. It was Emmett.

Rosalie was beside him. Much to my astonishment, the apologies in her head were genuine. Edward, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen; you have to believe me. I only wanted my family back.

But it was difficult to give Rosalie so much as a courteous nod. If it hadn't been for her thoughtless action, none of this would have happened.

Esme saw my reaction to Rose and put her hand on my arm. "Don't. She feels awful."

"She should," I said, making sure Rosalie heard.

"It's not her fault," came Bella's exhausted voice from beside me.

"Let her make amends," Esme suggested. "We'll ride with Alice and Jasper."

The last thing I wanted to do was ride with Emmett and Rosalie. I didn't want Bella anywhere near my sister. If she so much as looked at her the wrong way …

Bella's bleary eyes looked up at me. "Please, Edward," she pleaded. She wanted me to agree to go with them. Bella never held a grudge.

I sighed and relented, leading her over to the car.

I helped Bella into the backseat and joined her there, happy to see that she instantly lowered her head onto my chest and closed her eyes. Finally, she was willing to sleep.

But, as Emmett started the car, Rosalie's voice broke the silence.

"Edward –" she began. She was planning to give a long testimony to her regret, wanting Bella to hear it all, so that she would know how sorry she was.

I wasn't going to have that. Bella needed her rest, and I wasn't going to have her deprived of it just to relieve Rosalie's conscience She could wait a little longer. "I know," I barked.

But Rose wasn't giving up. "Bella?"

It was probably the way Rosalie spoke that made me pause. She said Bella's name with respect and concern, so I decided to let her speak, as long as she kept it short.

Bella's eyes opened wide in surprise. She clearly hadn't missed Rosalie's tone; it was so different from the way Rosalie had always spoken to her before. "Yes, Rosalie?"

"I'm so very sorry, Bella. I feel wretched about every part of this, and so grateful that you were brave enough to go save my brother after what I did. Please say you'll forgive me."

"Of course, Rosalie," Bella replied softly. "It's not your fault at all. I'm the one who jumped off the damn cliff. Of course I forgive you."

Emmett chuckled at Bella's tired voice. "It doesn't count until she conscious, Rose."

"I'm conscious," Bella managed to reply, before her eyes closed again.

"Let her sleep," I ordered. The apologies were done now; it was time for silence.

Bella was asleep before the words were out of my mouth. I watched in relief as her breathing deepened and her face relaxed.

Rosalie didn't speak for the rest of our journey, although Emmett asked quite a few questions about my time in Volterra. I put him off until later; I didn't want to talk about it just yet – I was too busy gazing at Bella.

Jasper was driving just in front of us, holding hands with Alice, while Carlisle and Esme were in the back. I could hear their conversation and thoughts about what had occurred, but then Alice grew silent, and put her head back and closed her eyes, as if she was going to sleep.

I can see that Bella's asleep now, Edward, she thought. So I'd like to show you something.

With no further ado she brought a vivid memory to the forefront of her mind, and played it through for me.

It was from the morning after Bella had jumped off the cliff. Alice had stayed at the Swan house with Bella that night, and, getting up when Charlie awoke, while Bella was still sleeping, she went into the kitchen with him and pretended to eat the breakfast he prepared for her. They started with some small talk at first, but Alice was watching Charlie, who seemed to have aged a lot in the past seven months. There were some gray hairs on his sideburns, and his face was lined.

He had mentioned Bella being so happy to see Alice, but that had made him stumble over his words. It was clear he was worried about that.

"It is good to see you, Alice. I didn't think we'd see you again. And Bella … well, she was … cut up pretty bad when you left."

She guessed he was stopping himself from telling her too many details, so she gave him an opening. "How bad was it, Charlie?"

He sighed and ran his fingers over his head, as though trying to push the memory to the back of his mind. "Real bad."

"Tell me about it. I want to know exactly what happened when we left."

Charlie paused for a moment. It was clear he didn't want to talk about it. He delayed by putting the cereal box away and turning off the stove before he turned back to Alice.

"I've never felt so helpless," he said, his face lined with anguish. "I didn't know what to do. That first week – I thought I was going to have to hospitalize her. She wouldn't eat or drink, she wouldn't move. Dr. Gerandy was throwing around words like 'catatonic', but I didn't let him up to see her. I was afraid it would scare her."

"She snapped out of it though?" There was hopefulness in Alice's voice.

"I had Renee come to take her to Florida. I just didn't want to be the one … if she had to go to a hospital or something." Charlie leaned back against the bench and gazed at his feet. "I hoped being with her mother would help. But when we started packing her clothes, she woke up with a vengeance. I've never seen Bella throw a fit like that. She was never one for the tantrums, but, boy, did she fly into a fury. She threw her clothes everywhere and screamed that we couldn't make her leave – and then she finally started crying. I thought that would be the turning point. I didn't argue when she insisted on staying here … and she did seem to get better at first …" Charlie swallowed and shook his head.

"But?"

"She went back to school and work, she ate and slept and did her homework. She answered when someone asked her a direct question. But she was … empty. Her eyes were blank. There were lots of little things – she wouldn't listen to music anymore; I found a bunch of CDs broken in the trash. She didn't read; she wouldn't be in the same room when the TV was on, not that she watched it so much before. I finally figured it out – she was avoiding everything that might remind her of … him.

"We could hardly talk; I was so worried about saying something that would upset her – the littlest thing would make her flinch – and she never volunteered anything. She would just answer if I asked her something.

"She was alone all the time. She didn't call her friends back, and after a while, they stopped calling.

"It was night of the living dead around here. I can still hear her screaming in her sleep …"

I was glad when Charlie stopped talking, because I was reeling. But the memory continued. Alice heard a sound from the living room. Bella was awake and listening in. But she didn't reveal that to Charlie. She wanted to hear more.

"I'm so sorry, Charlie," she said.

"It's not your fault," Charlie assured her, and it was clear who he blamed for all this. "You were always a good friend to her."

Alice's heart had twisted at this. Not good enough, she thought. If I had been a good friend, I would have done something sooner. "She seems better now, though," Alice said, prompting him for more. She thought again of how Bella had been when she had arrived.

Charlie became a little belligerent at that. "Yeah. Ever since she started hanging out with Jacob Black, I've noticed a real improvement." The werewolf, Alice and I thought at the same time. Great. "She has some color in her cheeks when she comes home, some light in her eyes. She's happier. He's a year or so younger than her, and I know she used to think of him as a friend, but I think maybe it's something more now, or headed in that direction, anyway."

It was clear from the way Charlie spoke that he would be quite happy if Bella ended up marrying Jacob Black, and wanted Alice to warn me to stay away. "Jake's old for his years," he continued, as if to justify his daughter's apparent interest in someone so young. "He's taken care of his father physically the way Bella took care of her mother emotionally. It matured him. He's a good-looking kid, too – takes after his mom's side." He smiled momentarily. "He's good for Bella, you know."

"Then it's good that she has him," Alice replied. I was hardly going to argue after all that, Alice informed me in her thoughts.

But, when he saw that she agreed with him, Charlie sighed and lowered his head, his confidence fading. "Okay, so I guess that's overstating things. I don't know … even with Jacob, now and then I see something in her eyes, and I wonder if I've ever grasped how much pain she's really in. It's not normal, Alice, and it … it frightens me. Not normal at all. Not like someone … left her, but like someone died. I don't know if she's going to get over it – I'm not sure if it's in her nature to heal from something like this. She's always been such a constant little thing. She doesn't get past things or change her mind."

"She's one of a kind," Alice agreed. Yes. One of a kind. Unlucky. Attracts danger like a magnet. Smells delicious to vampires. And we left her there unprotected!

"And Alice …" Charlie continued, obviously thinking how to word something. "Now, you know how fond I am of you, and I can tell that she's happy to see you, but … I'm a little worried about what your visit will do to her."

"So am I, Charlie, so am I," Alice sighed. "I wouldn't have come if I'd had any idea. I'm sorry."

I knew Alice wasn't apologizing for coming now. She was apologizing for not coming sooner.

Charlie was quick to forgive her. I knew it would be a different matter with me. "Don't apologize, honey. Who knows? Maybe it will be good for her."

"I hope you're right."

Charlie finished off his cereal in the silence that followed, and Alice hid hers when he wasn't looking. Charlie would probably have been too distracted to notice anyway. It was clear that he was mulling over something else.

Eventually, he spoke up. "Alice, I have to ask you something."

Alice was pretty sure she knew what it was. "Go ahead."

Charlie's look became violent as he spoke, but he reined it in and was able to answer calmly. "He's not coming back to visit, too, is he?"

"He doesn't even know I'm here," Alice assured him. "The last time I spoke with him, he was in South America."

Charlie looked relieved, but more angry than before. It was clear he didn't want me back, but was annoyed by my cavalier abandonment of his daughter. "That's something, at least. Well, I hope he's enjoying himself."

I felt Alice's anger burn, although she tried to keep her reply calm. She knew that was not true. "I would make assumptions, Charlie."

Bella made it clear she was awake before they could say anything else, so Alice ended her memories, jolting me back to reality.

I looked down at Bella, sleeping in my arms. I saw the lines that ravaged her face. The careworn expression she had. I had thought these things were bad enough. I had been horrified by Alice's memory of Bella when she had first arrived. How frantic she was, desperately clawing Alice's arm and begging her not to leave. The lifelessness in her face, the pain there, screamed out in the memory.

That image on its own was enough to kill me, but now Alice's conversation with Charlie revealed something more. This Bella, the desperate, clawing, broken figure in Alice's memory, was Bella greatly improved. Charlie was relieved to see this Bella, because she was so much better than she had been.

What had I done?

I looked down at her face again, feeling waves of guilt crash over me. The sole reason I had left Bella was so that she could be happy. It had never occurred to me that not having me in her life would hurt her so much, certainly not like this. I had stayed away for seven agonizing months, torturing myself every moment, because I was convinced it was the best thing for Bella, and now I discovered that her pain had been as great as mine! I had tortured her. I had ruined her life!

I stroked her face, wishing my fingers could erase the pain and fatigue I could see there, but I doubted it would ever be removed now, not completely. I had damaged the very soul I had run away to protect.

I hardly noticed when we arrived within Forks' city limits, and I felt myself tense as we turned into Bella's street. My reception would not be pretty, if Charlie was at home. I wasn't sure if his presence would be good or not. While he needed to know she was safe, and she would be happy to know he was there, I knew he would be furious at the sight of me. I didn't have a problem with that – I deserved all the abuse he could give – but I knew it would distress Bella.

Charlie was home, and he saw the car pull up. From the foggy memories I could see it his head it seemed that he had taken a few days off work, hoping that Bella would return, and trying to find out where she had gone.

He came to the window, and I felt the shock in his mind when he saw me. The anger that followed was so strong that it, too, was easy to detect.

He sighed with relief when he saw her in the car and came out the door and strode down the walk. "Bella!"

I touched Bella's shoulder, about to lift her out of the car, when she heard her father's voice and stirred. "Charlie," she mumbled, trying to open her eyes.

"Shh," I whispered. "It's okay; you're home and safe. Just sleep."

I lifted her out of the car and turned to face Charlie. His face was beet red, his fists clenched and I received a distinct mental image of him punching me in the face. I hoped he wouldn't try it; he would break his hand.

He settled for bellowing at me. "I can't believe you have the nerve to show your face here."

"Stop it, Dad," Bella mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

Charlie didn't hear. He was too busy trying to keep his hands by his sides. "What's wrong with her?"

"She's just very tired, Charlie," I said, keeping my tone soft and calm. "Please let her rest."

"Don't tell me what to do!" he spat. "Give her to me. Get your hands off her!"

I tried to pass her to him, but Bella was having none of it. She held onto me, resisting Charlie's attempts to break her grip. "Cut it out, Dad," she said, scowling at him as well as she could when she was half asleep. "Be mad at me."

It was so like Bella to take the blame for all this on herself. But, in his agitated state, Charlie was quite happy to oblige her. "You bet I will be," he declared. "Get inside."

"'Kay. Let me down," Bella said.

Her voice was so uneven she could hardly speak. Could she possibly walk into the house by herself? I doubted it, and stayed close by her as she tried. She hadn't even put one foot in front of the other before she was falling.

I grabbed her before she could hit the ground. "Just let me get her upstairs, then I'll leave," I promised Charlie.

"No," Bella cried, and she held the collar of my shirt as if she'd never let go. It looked like she was blinking back tears.

She didn't need to worry. There was no way I was leaving her unguarded with Victoria on the loose. "I won't be far," I whispered in her ear.

Charlie was becoming impatient, so I strode quickly up the stairs to Bella's room. He opened the door for me, and then I lowered her gently on the bed. I wasn't sure she was even awake when I pried her fingers loose from my shirt.

Then I stepped away, turned and went straight down the stairs. Charlie was hard on my heels.

"You are not welcome here!" he told me as I passed through the front door. "You will never walk through this door again!" With that, he slammed it shut, but I could see him watching me through the window.

"I'm sorry," I said, loud enough for him to hear. I knew it wouldn't be enough, and I didn't expect it to be, but it needed to be said. I wondered if Charlie would ever forgive me for hurting his daughter. I doubted it.

But then, neither would I.