Dreams of war, dreams of liars
Dreams of dragon's fire
And of things that will bite
Sleep with one eye open
Metallica

Bella

During the next downpour, we went to the clearing they used for sport. Though I couldn't join in with this kind of match, I enjoyed it regardless. It was clear they all relished the opportunity to use their full strength and speed.

Edward showed off for me sometimes, an echo of his youth, wanting to impress a girl he liked. It always made me smile. Jasper and Emmett were quick to call him out on it, accusing him of cheating and playfully ribbing him.

"Let Bella pitch the next one," Emmett called, pretending to throw the baseball at me.

I didn't flinch, not giving him the satisfaction.

I could lift the ball, its weight about that of a shotput, but throwing it was another matter. It would sink to the ground yards from the catcher's mound. Humiliating.

During the next inning, Edward purposefully rammed into Emmett to pay him back for mocking me. The crash resounded off the mountains like a landslide. The two of them tussled until Carlisle ordered them to get back to the game. Their wrestle was too fast for me to see but could hear their lively roars.

Jasper and Alice were on opposite teams and Jasper took advantage of her tendency to not predict the plays by kissing her unexpectedly and urgently, keeping her from racing between the bases. Everyone else complained about his move while I fell about laughing.

"Do over!" Rosalie shouted. "Keep it in your pants, Jasper!"

"You're one to talk!" he yelled back, dancing out of the way of her blow.

"Bunch of charlatans," Esme grumbled, suddenly next to me.

I loved it. It was lovely to see them get along so well, their closeness was invigorating. Out here it was mischievous but I enjoyed it all. The way Edward often smoothed conversations between them, picking wordless images out of their head; Esme's always gentle guidance when tempers flared; Alice predicting amusements; Jasper enveloping them all in love or excitement as the mood struck him. Carlisle sometimes watched his family with a faint air of wonder as if he couldn't believe his luck that he had everything he'd dreamed for so long.

I knew the feeling exactly.

Emmett flung the ball back to Jasper; it smacked into his palm. The loud crack made me cringe involuntarily though I knew he was fine.

I was watching Jasper so I saw when a look of concern flashed across his features. I turned to see where he was looking. Alice was frozen, Jasper now next to her. He took her face in his hands, trying to relax her, the sudden vision having alarmed her.

Edward's hands were on my arms, his grip tight. The look on his face made my stomach drop.

Fear. I'd never seen Edward afraid.

Centuries of exposure to tense situations kept Carlisle calm. "What do you see, Alice?"

"Vampires. Three of them. They're coming towards us … they heard our sounds. Something's going to happen—all our futures have changed. All of them."

Everyone was quiet. It seemed that an event like this hadn't ever happened before, not this extreme. It was to do with me, I knew it. A human in a coven changed everything.

"How far away are they?" Carlisle asked, his voice less composed.

Edward answered. "More than three miles. They're coming from the direction of the river."

"Don't run!" Alice cried, lurching to stop Edward. "If we run, they'll attack us."

Both he and Alice spasmed at the vision she'd just seen, their expressions horrified.

"What do they want?" Emmett demanded.

"I can't tell … they're hostile in most of the futures. Some we are talking."

"I'll hide Bella when they come into the clearing," Jasper stated, his eyes fierce.

"They'll smell her," Esme whispered.

"It's our only chance," Alice said. "We can't run."

We couldn't see the vision that she and Edward could but it was easy to guess the nature of it; both of them looked haunted. It would be a fight, some of the Cullens would get hurt.

Edward whipped his head to the north. "They're curious. They want to know what made the sounds they heard. None are aggressive yet."

"Jasper, cloak them to hide Bella. None of us will challenge them. Stay calm," Carlisle ordered. "If we make them uninterested they may leave. Bella, I'm so sorry. We should have been more careful, we should have checked."

"It's not your fault," I said quickly, trying to keep up with the shift. They weren't just my family now; they were vampires reacting to a hostile coven entering their territory.

"Are they thirsty?" Rosalie asked Edward.

"No."

I relaxed fractionally. At least there wasn't that to contend with.

Jasper and Alice went to the edge of our group. Emmett stood next to me, Rosalie on his other side. Carlisle and Esme moved next to Edward.

Edward released me. "I'm so sorry," he said quietly.

He was angry, severe. But he was also anxious—Alice could still see the aggressive paths.

Edward turned his back, hiding me partially from view. Carlisle copied him, shielding Esme. It would make it look less conspicuous if two of us were being guarded by our mates. I imagined that Carlisle had done this before to make Esme feel more secure around strangers, but there was no worry in Esme now; her expression was as vicious as Edward's.

The air was charged with energy, the calm before a storm. It felt inevitable.

"Bella, I know it's hard—try to control your breathing. Even breaths." Edward spoke barely above a whisper.

Right. Vampires didn't panic like this.

I tried to copy Esme's posture, tense and still. She was breathing exaggeratedly to give me something to imitate.

A vague tapping sound made me look down. Edward was drumming his foot as if in anxiety, covering my quiet yet rapid heartbeat. Edward shifted to hide me further as that realisation made it jump higher.

Three vampires emerged from the trees.

Two males and a female. They were walking slowly now, slower than a human. These vampires were so unlike the Cullens. Their eyes were scarlet and harsh, their gait animal-like. The three of them were half crouching, skittish at approaching a bigger coven than theirs. Their eyes were roaming over our spotless human clothing, perhaps wondering why we were dressed this way. The Cullens eyes were probably confusing them too.

The Cullens were upright, stationary but not defiant. The other coven stopped a yard away from us.

The light-haired male spoke first. "We wondered at the sound," he explained. His eyes flicked to the heavy bat still in Rosalie's hands.

Carlisle smiled easily. "Baseball. My family and I were having a friendly game."

The two coven leaders had been established but neither altered their stance.

The male looked surprised at Carlisle's words. He'd probably not met vampires who lived as the Cullens did.

I couldn't tell if it was really happening or just because I knew it was, but it seemed like their gaze skimmed off me before they could register that I was human.

"I'm James," the male said. "These are Laurent and Victoria."

Carlisle introduced us in the same tone. Polite but dismissive. Trying to get them to become uninterested and leave.

"Why are you playing?" asked Laurent, indicating to the bat. It was an unknown concept and must be strong enough to cut through even Jasper's dense mood.

"It's something we enjoy," Carlisle replied.

"Where do you keep it?" Laurent continued, puzzled, his gaze roving over our clothes again.

Carlisle hesitated a fraction. This wasn't going the way we wanted. We were too strange to make them as indifferent as we wanted. "We have a permanent settlement nearby."

All three vampires looked at Carlisle.

"How do you manage that?" Laurent asked.

"Perseverance."

It had been the wrong thing to say; their curiosity didn't disappear. But Carlisle had sensed he couldn't lie about his family's living situation, we were dressed too conspicuously and it would've piqued their interest further if he had claimed his family were nomads too. The new coven was much more focused on us than we'd wanted. But they still weren't aggressive.

"Where do you hunt?" Laurent asked.

"The National Park," Carlisle replied. "I will request that you do not hunt in the region. It's too conspicuous. We've developed our routine well and don't want it disrupted."

Carlisle had lost some of his easiness by the end. This was a command he expected to be followed. He wanted them to leave.

It wasn't working. The nomads were inspecting us again; wondering at the size of our coven, our many differences to themselves.

A cool breeze blew and it gently lifted my hair.

James' eyes suddenly focused on mine. The pull of blood snapped Jasper's indifference, unable to compete with such a strong sensation.

That was why Alice's visions were hostile. The Cullens could do everything to change the situation but they couldn't control the weather.

"She is ours." Carlisle's voice was hard as flint.

"Why?" James sounded incredulous, more so than before.

"She is ours," Carlisle repeated, a quiet snarl growing. "It would be best if you left."

James didn't move. Laurent and Victoria reacted; their nostrils flared and their eyes were wide with fright. I wondered if Jasper was making them afraid of us. Whether it was Jasper or Carlisle, it didn't seem to affect James.

My heartbeat was erratic but Edward wasn't covering it any more, he was now snarling continuously in warning, a ferocious sound I'd never heard him make before, and his entire body was poised halfway between attack and stillness; he didn't want to tip the dynamic. The three of them still hadn't challenged us.

"We will leave," Laurent said.

Victoria was already backing up slowly, petrified. Laurent grasped James' arm to get his attention. He tore his gaze from mine and stared at Laurent, his expression fierce. Laurent clocked it; his hand was no longer touching him. But James did turn his back to us, dismissing our coven brazenly. He wasn't afraid.

The three of them vanished.

The wind was howling past me, all I could see was a blur of green. I was in Edward's grasp, crushed to his chest.

Edward

I had to get Bella to safety.

That was no mere vampire—his memories of how he fed were so vile they almost turned my stomach.

Laurent was terrified of him. It had not been long since he joined his coven but he already wanted out. He was afraid to leave, scared that James would kill him for his defiance. That was Victoria's thought as well, even though she was his partner. James ruled by fear which is why he wasn't scared of us. Not even Jasper's dread registered in him; all he felt was the excitement of the chase.

His thoughts went there now, re-calculating his plans as he followed us at a steady pace. In the clearing he'd been confused by the presence of a human, wondering why we'd only brought one if the intention was to feed. Then he saw our reaction.

A human protected by a huge coven was the most exciting hunt he'd ever encountered. He didn't know why we protected her nor did he care.

He wanted Bella.

"Edward?"

Bella's small voice nearly made my step falter. "I'm sorry—I'm so sorry. I will keep you safe, I promise."

A promise I had already broken. I shouldn't have never exposed her like this.

We reached the house, all of us quickly surrounding Bella. Protecting and tensing for a fight.

Did he follow us? Carlisle asked, not speaking aloud in case James was close enough to hear.

"Yes, he followed, but he won't attack yet. He's two and a half miles away, circling; him and the female. Laurent's running—"

"Into the Salish Sea," Alice finished, her vision of him clear.

Laurent had used James's focus on this new hunt to escape as far away as possible. He was scared of our coven, how many there were of us. Victoria would stick with James but she was very frightened. Her mind also kept dipping into escape routes but she never settled on them and whatever made her stay with James was subconscious; she didn't think of the reasons, it was innate.

"James won't attack?" Emmett asked, confused.

"He's not afraid. Just excited. He wants to keep this hunt for as long as he can. None of his attacks are likely to be direct," I explained through my teeth.

And I couldn't manipulate his mind. He had no fear; nothing would provoke him into it. There were no words I could torment him with, no memories that would evoke it.

Jasper was holding Bella's hand, vainly trying to calm her terror. Bella hadn't been this scared in the clearing; she'd thought we'd won, that they'd heeded Carlisle's warning and left. She hadn't understood the kind of creature James was. I should have never done this to her.

"He'll wait us out."

My family understood what that meant.

We could win a battle but a siege was something else.

James couldn't starve us out but he would do everything else. He'd bring humans here; he'd tear their flesh slowly, piece by piece, making the other humans watch what he was. He'd brutalize their bodies, tear them apart in all ways as he assaulted them and fed on them. He'd create newborns, releasing them into Forks. James would do whatever it took to force us to move against him, to protect ourselves from Volturi. If we ran, he'd follow us and repeat it.

"We have to kill him," Carlisle said flatly.

This was what he wanted, now that he understood what kind of savage James was. I'd killed the other few vampires I'd come across who fed on humans like this; one of them had been when I was with Carlisle. He'd been horrified to learn that this kind of creature existed. They had known how repugnant their impulses were and did not speak of them. James wasn't aware that I knew his mind but it wouldn't make him change his scheme if he did; he wanted us to feel powerless. He was ecstatic at the thought of seeing our reaction to his cruelty. He knew we were watching him now, he imagined us confused and scared by his presence.

Alice was scanning the future with rapid speed. Her visions showed the magnitude of this encounter. No part of our lives would be untouched by these vampires—every future of ours from before was gone; altered.

I'd never felt terror like this before.

"What do we do?" Bella asked, her quiet voice shaking.

"We have to pin him down somehow," Jasper said. "Make him follow us far away from the humans and turn on him."

"He'll stay out of range, he won't ever come close. He'll pick us off one by one," I said harshly.

Jasper and I were racing through our kills, trying to find strategies that could apply to this one. Jasper had also always used terror to capture his quarry and it unnerved him that it hadn't worked on James. He was trying to think of something else that would distract his attention. His thoughts turned to Bella—bloodlust.

I snarled at Jasper; he didn't flinch. "It makes sense," he insisted. "He'll frenzy."

"He won't. He's had too much practice."

"We need a distraction."

"Not Bella."

Apathy didn't work, it's not strong enough. We need him to focus on something long enough so we can get around him. Jasper was pushing acceptance towards me, trying to influence me into hearing his plan.

I gnashed my teeth at Jasper and Alice yanked me backwards away from him.

"The first thing we need to do is draw him with us," Carlisle said firmly. He didn't want to endanger the town. "What will the female do?"

"She's with him but I don't think she'll do anything until he orders her to," I said.

It was hard to guess her incentive. She was calculating escapes but she was also very attached to James. In so brief a time, I couldn't tell how far it went.

"We'll drive, it might throw him off," Carlisle decided.

"And we need to split up," Jasper insisted. "We need to close him in."

Alice was dashing through arrangements as she tried to find the strongest groupings. Her vision solidified as Jasper decided; he'd worked like this before.

"Alice, Edward, Emmett, and Carlisle. And I'll go with the others."

I nearly howled. I didn't want to be separated from Bella—I couldn't protect her if I wasn't with her.

"What if you left me here?" Bella asked inaudibly.

"What?" I snapped, outraged.

"It's only fun to him if it's a challenge. If you leave he might turn away on his own."

I couldn't hear this. Bella had so little self-preservation but this was madness. "I'm not leaving you alone—"

"Consider it, Edward," Alice hissed. "Everyone. Let me see."

Alice was watching James' future from every angle but no new paths appeared. She punched me in the side. "Edward! Do it!"

I couldn't. I couldn't.

I closed my eyes. I would go to Piedmont … could I go there at least? It wasn't far …

My mind snapped as I saw the new future—Bella—screaming, tortured—I was careening; hands hauled me back to the present.

Esme had her palms against my chest, Carlisle held my arms, stopping me from snatching at Bella in my state; Jasper had stepped in front of her to defend her as well. Bella's eyes were wide with fear, realising what my reaction meant.

Alice's mouth was pressed in a thin line, horrified. It took her a long moment to speak. "We don't leave Bella alone."

Jasper enveloped us with purpose and single-mindedness. The shift helped clear my head and Carlisle and Esme released me.

"We need to leave. Rosalie's car and Carlisle's car," Jasper said. "We'll loop around and pull him into the forest. We need to herd him into a tight spot so we can attack him from all sides."

"Do not use Bella's blood," I told him, too low for her to hear.

Bella was terrified but I also knew her. Jasper would be able to convince her to act as bait; she would be up for that plan. Jasper agreed and his thoughts were clear. Alice's vision had told him it was the wrong approach.

We went to the garage, filling the gas tanks from the spare canisters. Esme had grabbed two cigarette lighters from the kitchen on her way out. She handed one to Emmett.

"Alice, who will he follow?" Carlisle asked.

She closed her eyes and focused. She sifted through every minute decision; in almost all of them the path was the same.

"James will follow us. Victoria will follow Jasper."

Striding to Bella, I threw my arms around her waist and lifted her off her feet. I still wasn't fully in control, it was too tight, and her form stiffened in shock. I kissed her fiercely and she responded without hesitation.

"I will keep you safe," I told her, almost snarling the words, trying to force them into existence.

"I know you will."

I set her down and threw myself back. I couldn't keep hold of her; a tiny part of me didn't care how many humans had to die, how much of the world burned, if it meant Bella would be safe in my arms.

Emmett, Alice, Carlisle, and I got into Carlisle's car. Jasper had put us together for mine and Alice's abilities, Emmett's strength, and Carlisle's composure. Jasper had the most experience hunting and fighting vampires, outstripping us all. He put himself with the others and Bella in his care; he wanted even strength in the groups.

Jasper gently tugged Bella out of her jacket and handed it to me; we needed to divide her scent also.

Carlisle drove so I could concentrate on James. It took everything I had to stay in his mind but I had to know what he was thinking, what he was planning.

They are running. Cowards.

James was gleeful. He'd been toying with the idea of finding a human already but he wanted to make us panic first. He was excited that we seemed to be scrambling for a way out.

They'll defend her to the last. Wonder what they'll do when I make them watch …

James entertained himself with imaginings of himself and Bella's body. I clenched my fists together and tried to keep myself together—I had to stay in his thoughts even though the revulsion of it made me want to slash myself out of the car and sprint to him; shred his throat, rip off his head.

He was too far away. I'd never catch him. And if I confronted him, he'd run and then return later to start again. We had to stick to Jasper's plan.

Alice was using every ounce of herself to watch all of James and Victoria's minute decisions, tracking each one of them and their splintering paths to their conclusions.

I could no longer catch Victoria's thoughts as she had raced after Rosalie's car but I was certain she wouldn't attack them. She was terrified of Jasper and didn't like the idea of herself against three vampires. Her thoughts hadn't swayed to Bella at all, only conceptually; James wanted this target and James got what he wanted. Victoria had no thoughts about Bella as a person or an object; James was her guidepost.

James followed us. He kept to the trees and raced at an level pace. There was no desperation in him, he wasn't worried about us getting away.

When his thoughts disappeared for a moment, I took advantage of the fact he absolutely couldn't hear us.

"He's very confident, he may overplay his hand. He's close by. Don't speak yet."

Carlisle and Emmett considered my words, thinking through strategies. Emmett knew that if he got his arms around James it would be almost impossible for him to break free, so great was Emmett's strength. He was calculating how to do it, how close he needed to be, how far he could leap. He pictured how he would make adjustments if James had Bella and was trying to stay hypothetical even as he flinched.

Carlisle was running through his memories of the national forest trying to pick the best spot.

I reached behind me and prodded Alice then pointed at Carlisle. She left Victoria and focused on James and Carlisle, predicting where our paths might converge.

Bella was dead in so many of them.

A fragmented sound escaped my clenched teeth. Carlisle touched my wrist briefly.

Focus. We won't let him harm her. He won't be able to take us all. We'll circle him. He won't get to fire that quickly. He's never faced a coven as large as ours before, no matter how many hunts he's done.

Carlisle was prepared for us to be dismembered. It hadn't happened to any of us before except Jasper, but between him and Carlisle, they'd be able to heal us. I drew some strength from Carlisle's mind. As long as James didn't escape through our ranks and didn't touch Bella, we might have a chance.

Carlisle was still flicking through his memories of the park. Alice grabbed his arm as a vision caught her.

A gorge had flashed in Alice's mind. She tapped her finger against Carlisle, wanting him to think back. He understood and did so, picturing each memory clearly. Alice tapped him rapidly; it wasn't right yet.

Suddenly, both images in their minds were the same. I rippled my hand to tell them.

In the vision it was dark and raining, the storm from earlier having found the canyon. Thunder cracked overhead. We were closing in on James. Emmett was racing along the right side; Esme and Rosalie on the left, stopping James from leaping out of the chasm. Alice and I watched as James sprang; Emmett grabbed his arm, slashing it off as he flung James back down to the rocks, the action tipping James off balance and slowing him. We were sprinting behind him in the canyon, desperate to catch him up.

Sometimes Bella was on my back, sometimes on Jasper's. And sometimes she was crumpled in James' hands, blood gushing from between his fingers. Her jaw was split; broken.

Alice caught my shoulder as another convulsion ripped through me.

Think! It means he doesn't kill her straight away. It will buy us time.

That was worse. Bella would be in agony.

Because Alice also had other visions. Bella was alone with James—he had time with her then; was crushing her neck with his hands and her body with his. He wasn't using all his strength, he wanted her to live in the pain for as long as possible—

A visceral noise exploded out of me; a snarl, a scream. Carlisle threw his arm across my torso to keep me in my seat.

"Change it, Alice! Show me how!"

We have to get him there first. Into the ravine. He's not alone with her in there.

Alice was distressed; Emmett held her hand, trying to soothe her. Both he and Carlisle knew what she saw. Emmett was snarling under his breath, comforting himself with the image of himself slashing James to pieces. Carlisle was completely silent, trying desperately to remain calm to think through the plan.

A mile to the right of our car, James was thinking over my outburst then dismissed it. The words could mean anything and it didn't seem to have altered our course. He noted the desperation in my tone and was pleased.

That was what I needed to hone in on.

James was skilled; he'd never lost a fight.

Neither had I.

Alice had her cell phone out, waiting for my signal. When James' thoughts vanished again, she dialled Jasper and told him to go to the west facing ravine in the southern forest and then hung up before he could respond.

Yes, now, where will they try to hide?

James wasn't as familiar with this region as we were but that thrilled him. Outnumbered and on unknown ground … his victory would be even greater.

I shifted my focus. I let his hunting instincts seep into me, letting them merge into my being. I put myself into his mind, letting our thoughts become one. I was watching through his eyes.

The sky was black now and thunder sounded in the distance. We were almost in Alice's vision. As soon as we curved around a bend in the highway closest to the national forest, Carlisle screeched to a stop. We had the windows down already and launched ourselves out of the car and into the woods.

The four of us were sprinting, drawing him with us. James ran parallel, not wanting to follow our line too directly. He wondered where we were going, why we chose the wilderness when he imagined us more likely to have tried to blend in with humans.

That thought of his had me second-guessing. James would be more discrete in a city; just as savage but quietly so. He didn't want to provoke the Volturi either. Had we made the wrong choice?

I could hear Jasper's thoughts to the north. Jasper had Bella on his back; Rosalie and Esme were right behind him, sheltering her from any exposure to James. Jasper was heading for the canyon but wouldn't jump in; he wanted his group to be on the higher ground.

James wouldn't be able to pick up Jasper's movements since they were too far away, but he was a seasoned hunter. The exacting evenness of our sprint made him suspicious. We weren't panicking as much as he'd like. He'd thought it was because we underestimated his cruelty but now he was wondering if it was because we were running toward something.

James flung himself into our wake. He was following our scent now and noted that Bella's was fainter than he'd expected.

It started pouring rain; sheets of it quickly sweeping over us. Lightning flashed overhead.

Alice was watching him intently as he deliberated. We were close to her vision.

The human? With the others. Back the other way? Or circling around?

His excitement was growing stronger, he could tell we had a strategy now. He knew Bella was with the fiercest fighter which buoyed his mood even more.

We'd reached the place we needed.

Alice and I waited until James' foot connected with just the right step as was in her vision then we pivoted and shot back towards him, Carlisle and Emmett on our heels.

Ambush!

He was thrilled. He started running from us, pushing himself faster. Esme and Rosalie had reached him too—Rosalie slammed into him, grabbing his head and hauling him over her, forcing him off balance.

James restored himself effortlessly but was surprised to see Emmett on his right, matching his speed and closing him in. Rosalie and Esme ran along the left side, snapping their teeth at him.

Aha, so only one with the human now.

No.

No, I trusted Jasper. Jasper was composed and calculating. He'd faced thousands of fights and won them all.

With fear.

James wasn't afraid.

But Jasper knew this too. He had other strategies. He was running with Bella a mile away from us; he'd hear James coming. He was trying to make it so James was distracted with thoughts of catching her and it would let us corner him in the nearby canyon as Alice had foreseen.

Victoria's thoughts were suddenly in my mind. Go to James? Bring him the human?

Both ideas scared her, enough that she didn't settle on either of them. She wouldn't challenge Jasper but she was also wild with fear at James' reaction if she did nothing.

Victoria's decision was instant; Alice's vision was only a second before her actions.

Victoria raced into Jasper's path, deciding to make him change pace. Jasper flung up terror and snarled soundlessly at Victoria. She immediately backed down and fled but it was too close—she'd forced him to slow fractionally; he didn't want to crash into her with Bella's breakable body so close to his, and it was enough for James to hear the difference in his footsteps. A chance.

James launched himself straight for Rosalie and Esme. He shot between them, knocking them both to the ground; they flung themselves after him after only a breath but he was more than an arm's length away from them now.

They were too close; Jasper was sprinting. He'd pulled Bella around so she was tucked into his chest.

No.

"No!"

I was going to be too late.

Alice and I watched the future in horror as the three of them collided and I could do nothing to stop it. The force of James launching himself at them hurled Jasper and Bella into the ravine. Bella's terrified scream tore through me.

Time slowed.

Jasper turned in mid-air to take the impact of the fall on his side so Bella wouldn't get hurt but she was closer to James now. James was standing on a precipice a ways down; he reached out and locked his hand around her upper arm.

Jasper knew he had to let her go; if he held on to her, her body would cleave from the combined strength and she would die instantly. But if James pulled her with him, he'd have to pause to adjust and it would slow him, maybe enough that we would reach him in time. Jasper soaked James in confusion, hoping to derail him further, trying to keep his own panic contained at the same time.

James became mystified at his body's inability to follow his commands as quickly as he was used to. He couldn't re-calculate fast enough and the momentum of his pull smashed Bella into the rock beside him.

He saw we were too close. James grabbed Bella's jaw and threw her against the rock again, letting her drop into the chasm. He knew she would die, that her blood would spill when she hit the ground. He hoped that it would drag us away from him and let him escape.

Bella didn't cry out this time, she had no air in her lungs. Her heart was still beating but that didn't mean anything; her skull might be crushed—he'd held her too hard—

I was going to be too late.

I threw myself after her, reaching for her desperately. Jasper was also falling but he was too far in the open, he wasn't going to get to get to her.

No.

Above me, I heard the squealing metallic sounds resonating over the canyon stones as the rest of my family raced after and caught hold of James.

No.

My fingers grasped Bella's hand and I pulled her upwards; it was just enough that I was able to get my arms under her back and lift her as we slammed to the ground. I wasn't quick enough to catch her legs—her torso was far more important—and there was a crunch as bone snapped against granite.

Bella was limp in my arms. She wasn't breathing.

All the panic I'd been repressing since we'd left the field gushed over me like a tidal wave. Sobs spilt out of me.

Too late. I was too late. I wasn't enough to save her. Bella.

"Lift her up."

Carlisle was there. He traced his palms across Bella's body to assess her injuries.

Right ankle broken, left arm dislocated, no skull fracture, no neck fracture. Her airways are clear. Concussion, unconscious, ecchymosis, superficial grazes. Solar plexus syndrome—lift her up, Edward, it'll help her.

Cautiously, I raised my right arm so that Bella was in more of a sitting position. Carlisle's evaluation did nothing to calm me.

"She's not breathing!"

She will. Her heart rate isn't too high, her lungs aren't punctured. Give her a moment. You caught her in time.

Carlisle tapped his fingers against Bella's back and chest, feeling again for swelling. He pushed gently on her diaphragm, noting that it was still twinging. Carlisle put his mouth on hers and lightly blew air into her lungs, hoping the expansion would relax it, especially as she hadn't taken a breath yet.

Bella twitched in my arms and her eyelids flickered. Her breathing crackled as she tried to pull oxygen into her body.

"Keep trying, Bella. It'll stop hurting in a few minutes," Carlisle told her.

But Bella was disoriented and panicking over her inability to breathe; she was trying to lift her hands to her throat and her eyes rolled back in her head as the movement tugged at her wounded arm and ankle. I held her tighter to help still her limbs.

Carlisle put one of his hands on the back of her neck to steady her as well. He pushed the other firmly into her abdomen, wanting her to focus on that pressure instead.

"Look at me. It's all right. It'll go away, I promise."

Carlisle brought his mouth to hers again, forcing more air into her lungs. A few agonising seconds passed and then Bella breathed for herself. Carlisle relaxed marginally as her gasping became steadier.

Bella's gaze skittered about. "Where …"

She couldn't speak properly but I guessed what she was asking. Her eyes were wild with fright.

"James is dead. You're safe."

My words didn't seem to have any effect.

"We need to get her to the hospital," Carlisle said. "We'll drive, she needs to warm up."

Bella's eyes showed she had a concussion and she was convulsing and delirious in a way that was worrying Carlisle; she might have head trauma. We could smell the blood from her injuries but it wasn't enough for him to be concerned for blood loss.

We were closer to Olympia. Carlisle wanted her at St. Michael's; he knew one of the surgeons there and they also had more advanced CT equipment.

Carlisle found a tree branch, snapped it to length, and used strips torn from his shirt to brace them to Bella's leg. When he was done, I lifted Bella cautiously, keeping her ankle elevated and her injured arm nestled against her chest so her weight didn't pull the tendons.

Emmett and Jasper had gathered up James' body parts and set them alight, the rain not dampening the flammable nature of vampire innards.

"Will Bella make it?" I begged Alice.

"Yes." Alice showed me a vision of Bella and I in a hospital room.

"Where's the female?" Emmett asked me.

"She took off as soon as Jasper threatened her. I can't hear her anymore."

"We'll track her," Jasper said. "Make sure she's not going back to Forks."

Victoria would know soon that James was dead if she didn't already; the odour of a burning vampire body was distinct and the wind was fierce. I didn't know enough of her to guess how she would react to this but I was almost positive there was no vindictive side to her. She had been crazed with fear of James the entire hunt.

Carlisle untied Bella's jacket from my shoulders and covered her with it to shelter her from the rain as much as he could. He found a flat rock jutting out of the side of the gorge and sprang to it. He waited there for me to follow him, balancing on the very edge.

I jumped as smoothly as I could and Carlisle reached out to steady Bella as I landed.

Alice had been watching Victoria but there was suddenly a new image that made me flinch.

"She's going to have a seizure in the car," Alice informed Carlisle. Bella was choking and flailing in the vision; I was desperately trying to clear her airways.

Carlisle didn't like it. Seizures could be treated but he didn't want Bella to be under any more strain. She was already having trouble with her lungs, a seizure would stop her breathing again. He worried her oxygen level would drop for too long.

"Rosalie, come with us. You need to drive."

Rosalie scrambled neatly up the side of the chasm and was waiting for us when Carlisle and I leapt up.

We raced back to Carlisle's car, the closer of the two. It didn't take long but we were all tense, hoping we would get to the car quick enough to prevent the seizure.

Rosalie opened the door then darted around to the drivers' side. Carlisle had already retrieved his kit and Bella's blanket from the trunk. He and I sat in the backseat and stretched Bella out across us, draping her in the blanket. Rosalie waited until we were settled then sped off, turning up the heater on high and flicking on the seat warmers as well.

I held Bella's head steady while Carlisle prepared the anticonvulsant and morphine.

"Bella, talk to me," I pleaded.

Her silence was petrifying. Her eyes were twitching under her lids and her breathing was somewhat level but she wasn't focused. It knew it was something more than fear, she usually coped well in a crisis.

She pulled her eyes open and she tried to look for me. I gently caressed her cheeks.

"Edward?" Bella's voice was barely audible.

"Yes, my heart. We're taking you to the hospital, you're going to be fine. James is dead."

Her eyes closed.

"No, stay awake. Talk to me. Tell me a story," I urged, using the words she often said to me.

Bella dragged her lids open again and smiled a little. "Dreaming?"

"You're not dreaming. Tell me why you're dreaming."

"The wind."

"We were running."

Bella's face twisted. "It hurts."

"I know," I told her frantically, smoothing her cheeks again. "Carlisle gave you morphine. It'll work soon."

"It's too still."

"We're in the car. We're driving to the hospital."

Bella didn't seem to like that answer. Her expression became even more strained and she struggled, trying to move. Carlisle and I held her down. "I can't see … stars," she whispered.

I couldn't make sense of her words but prompted her anyway. "What stars?"

"Stars," she repeated, sighing.

"I'll take you to see them. When you're well again."

Bella's eyes closed and her body relaxed. I thought it was the morphine but then she stopped answering me.

"Come on, Bella. Tell me more about the stars," I asked her anxiously. Her vitals didn't change but it didn't seem like she was conscious any more. I needed her mind—I needed to know that she was still functioning.

It was the longest drive of my existence.

Despite Carlisle's clinical assessment that said Bella wasn't in acute danger, I kept trying in vain to get her to respond to me but she either couldn't or wouldn't. Not even Carlisle's sharp tug on her arm as he forced her shoulder back into the socket roused her. The only thing keeping my terror contained was that she was breathing on her own.

Rosalie screeched to a stop in the ambulance bay.

Human pace, Carlisle reminded me.

Our appearance caused a stir in the emergency room; Bella was white and limp in my arms, her blood now soaked my shirt. Carlisle took charge and Bella was quickly wheeled into an operating room. Carlisle persuaded his colleague to let him join the operating team; he wanted to make sure that his supernatural skills were available to her since a clumsy repair might mean her ankle didn't heal as well.

In the waiting room, Rosalie had to keep telling me to fidget and she couldn't get me to sit down with her. I watched anxiously through Carlisle's eyes. Her ankle wasn't too bad; though it was a compound fracture, it was slight and wouldn't need a pin. Her shoulder would mend with time. Only her head injury caused Carlisle disquiet now.

They gave her Propofol to keep her unconscious for the next few days. I was beside Carlisle the moment Bella was taken to the private room.

"She'll have nightmares," I told him anxiously. "Isn't there another medication?"

"She might not," Carlisle disagreed. "And it's better that she's asleep so she can heal. I'm going to call Charlie."

Bella looked so brittle in the hospital bed. She was tubed and monitored; all of her vital signs were steady but it didn't bring me comfort. Her head wounds and ankle were bandaged—I could smell the drying blood. Her skin was flushed with life—bruises covered almost every inch of her body. Her expression was peaceful—her eyes fluttered uneasily under her lids.

All of this was because of me.

So many terrible things I'd done to her.

I almost drained her blood; I'd perused a friendship with her knowing it could've brought her a death sentence; and when I calmed the singing, that hadn't been enough—I'd loved her instead, kissed her and touched her a thousand times over where any slip would mean I killed her. I'd even deluded her into thinking she wanted to be a vampire too.

I'd exposed her so many times, to so many dangers, and one of them had finally caught her.

Edward. Carlisle was back. My expression unnerved him. She will wake. This injury is survivable.

Bella shouldn't be surviving; she should be living.

I'd wanted as much time as possible with her before she inevitably left me. I'd told myself it was for her benefit—she loved me back and I didn't want to do anything to hurt her. It wouldn't pain her when she was the one who chose to leave me. But now I saw it for what it really was; my selfishness. I'd been weak. I wanted her too much.

I had to leave.

My mind immediately rebelled. There were a million reasons I shouldn't do this, the most prominent one being that it would devastate her. Bella wasn't done with me yet. Both my ego and my gallantry saw that.

What are you doing?

Alice's thoughts outside in the waiting room were aghast. She'd had a vision—Bella curled in on herself, crying … I was standing in front of her, my expression impassive as I desperately tried to keep my composure. Ending things.

This was why I couldn't leave. How could I hurt Bella like that?

But humans fell in and out of love many times in their lives. True love was never permanent for them, that notion heartbreaking and joying. It meant Bella could love again. Even if it ached at first, she would move on. She would be able to love someone who didn't bring death trailing along behind them like some shadowy demon.

Are you out of your mind?

Alice was furious now. That future was solid.

Why would you do this to Bella? She loves you! She's your mate!

The only thing keeping her from bursting into the room and throttling me was that Bella was physically well in her vision; she had no bruises or cast. This was some time in the future and Alice was positive I would change my mind between now and then.

I pulled the chair next to Bella's bed and took her hand gingerly. I hoped my hold would calm her as it often did when she had nightmares. Her slumber was too artificial for me to tell what she was dreaming but her eyelids were still twitching.

Nurses and doctors revolved in and out of her room over the next few hours, all of them confident in her recovery. Carlisle had gone out to the others in the waiting room and given them an update about Bella. Alice didn't speak of what she'd seen yet, she didn't want us distracted, but I saw that she would confront me the moment Bella was released.

Carlisle and I were in her room when Charlie arrived in the early hours of the morning.

"Carlisle. Thank you," he said, shaking his hand earnestly. "I don't know what would have happened if you weren't there."

Glad there was a doctor.

"She fell while you guys were hiking?" Charlie clarified.

His detective side took in that false information; his eyes darting to our button-down shirts and sneakers, similar clothing to what Bella had been wearing earlier as well. Not so out of the ordinary but not really hiking attire. Not for purportedly seasoned outdoorspeople.

"We stopped at the Vance trail when we were on our way back from Olympia," Carlisle lied smoothly. "We didn't go far but … I wasn't watching carefully enough. It was my fault."

Charlie didn't doubt the sincerity in Carlisle's final statements. "It could've happened anywhere."

"She will make a full recovery," Carlisle said firmly.

Charlie's thoughts were relieved and worried. My insurance won't cover this.

"He's concerned about the money," I said quietly for Carlisle.

He smiled. "And one of the surgeons here owes me a favour. Everything's been done pro bono."

Charlie nodded, confusion back in his thoughts. Damn, was I that obvious? Surprised it even occurred to him, rich guy like that.

"How long until she wakes?" Charlie asked, his gaze roving over her sleeping form.

Images flashed to the forefront; himself holding an infant Bella, her body tiny in his hands. He and his wife had been young. Though he was greying now he didn't look much older than a teenager in his memory.

"A few days. All her vitals are good, no brain damage has been detected. We're keeping her under as a precaution and so that she recovers faster. The arm brace will come off in four weeks and her ankle should be healed in six."

Six weeks. That's all I had left.

Once again I spun into all the reasons I had that would let me extend my time with her. Her cast off wouldn't mean she was fully mobile and she would need me to look after her. She might have to have physical therapy afterwards, I needed to make sure she was getting the best care. I could stretch that time easily … just another few weeks or months. What difference would it make, really?

But when would it end? I'd be able to convince myself to stay for her whole life if I thought like that.

Charlie was more relaxed after Carlisle's assessment. "Will you call me when she's going to be woken up?"

Irritation flew across Carlisle's expression. "Yes."

He doesn't want to stay with her? Although he may have pressing work commitments.

Charlie was thinking of work and he was certain that Carlisle would remain in his stead.

"She won't know whether I'm here or not," Charlie assured him. "And she's eighteen. She can discharge herself, right?"

" … She can."

Carlisle's displeasure was more apparent now but Charlie still didn't register it.

"Thank you for looking out for her," Charlie said to me, observing my blood-stained shirt again.

I could only nod tersely in acknowledgement. I didn't lift my gaze from Bella's still form.

The rest of my family came to sit with us once Charlie left. Carlisle was inevitably called away a few times once people learnt he was here; his proficiency as a diagnostician had been spread widely by his colleagues.

All the staff who came into the room noted my tense bearing, how I never seemed to eat or sleep; I wasn't keeping up the pretence as my family did. But though they were scared of us—and worried for Bella for that reason—the humans also viewed my behaviour as a sign of devotion. Hospitals always existed in limbo.

Esme had brought Bella some clothes and also a clean shirt for me. I changed quickly, shoving the old one into the garbage can in the bathroom; the first time I'd taken my eyes off Bella in hours.

My poor darling. Esme brushed the back of her fingers against Bella's forehead. Alice said she will wake the day after tomorrow.

I nodded gratefully. I couldn't stand Bella like this—so silent and motionless. It was my own waking nightmare.

She's angry, Esme noted, wanting me to tell her why. Esme had already spoken to her about it, thinking that Alice was upset about how close things had got, even with her visions. But Alice hadn't been pacified.

"At me."

This wasn't your fault.

That was so far from true. Everything about this began and ended with me and my selfishness.