Beau forced himself to look away from the head.

It was easier for him to think of it as the head rather than her head. Easier to refer to it in the abstract than acknowledging it belonged to the enemy formerly known as Victoria.

Edward began to dismember the rest of Victoria's corpse in a cool and businesslike manner.

Beau couldn't move. It was as though his feet were bolted to the ground. His eyes had no such trouble—they watched Edward closely, hunting for evidence he had been harmed in any way. But the search yielded nothing.

Beau felt his heart slow down to a healthier rhythm. Edward was as lithe and graceful as ever. There wasn't even a tear in his clothing.

Edward did not look at him—where Beau stood frozen at the cliff wall, horrified—while gathering the quivering, twitching limbs into a pile. The remains disappeared under a layer of dry pine needles.

Seth had a chunk of white flesh in his mouth. Beau's stomach twisted when he realized it was Riley's torso.

"Get every piece," Edward told Seth.

The two worked in tandem over the next several minutes to collect the body parts. Satisfied that all the remains were together, Edward retrieved a butane lighter from his pocket, striking it once to produce a flame.

The pyre sent a pillar of purple smoke toward the sky. It had a heavy, strong smell. Beau felt like his head was spinning.

Seth made that snickering sound again. A smile flickered across Edward's tense face.

Edward held out his arm with the hand stretched into a fist. Seth grinned and bumped his nose against that hand, coughing another laugh as he did so.

Beau remembered Alice's words then: "Killing something together is no small thing."

Finally, after taking a deep breath, Edward turned to face Beau.

His eyes were wary. He was looking at him as though Beau was another enemy. There had been no fear during the fight against Victoria and Riley, but now . . .

"Beau, love," Edward said in a soft voice. He walked toward Beau with exaggerated slowness, his hands held up in front of him. It reminded Beau of the way Charlie performed a traffic stop, instructing the driver to show he was not armed . . .

"Beau, can you drop the rock, please? Carefully. Don't hurt yourself."

Beau had forgotten all about his crude weapon. His grip on it had broken through the brace. He saw a cast in his future when Carlisle was through with him.

The rock was slippery with blood. Beau dropped it, but his hand remained locked in that position.

Edward didn't move. Seth tilted his head to one side, watching.

"You don't have to be afraid, Beau. You're safe. I won't hurt you."

Beau's stomach took a dangerous, painful lurch. He turned away from two pairs of concerned eyes and puked his guts out.

The dehydrated food looked even less appetizing than it did the first time.

He felt Edward's hand on the back of his neck. "Are you all right?"

Beau shrugged him off, humiliated by what he just did.

"I'm just . . . freaking out. Give me a minute."

Edward went to what remained of their tent, returning with water and a fresh bandage. Seth retreated to the other side of the campsite. His disgust at the vomit was obvious, even in wolf form.

Beau accepted the water and used it to rinse out his mouth.

"It's going to be all right, Beau. I know you're frightened now, but it's over. No one is going to hurt you. I won't touch you. I won't hurt you."

"Why do you keep saying that?"

"Aren't you . . . " Edward paused. "Aren't you afraid of me?"

"Afraid of you? Why?"

Edward gestured toward the still burning fire. He was turning away from the pyre when Beau charged him.

Edward caught him midair with ease, his hands under Beau's thighs to hold him up. A human boy would have stumbled, but not Edward.

"Are you okay?" The question was muffled; Beau had buried his face into Edward's shoulder.

"I am absolutely fine."

"And Seth? Other than being grossed out by the puke?"

"More than fine. Very pleased with himself, in fact."

"The others?" Beau asked. "Alice, Esme? The wolves?"

"All fine. It's over there, too. It went just as smoothly as I promised. We got the worst of it up here."

Beau thought about that as Edward set him on the ground again.

His family and friends were safe. Victoria was never coming after him again. It was over.

Everyone was going to be fine.

"Why did you think I would be afraid of you?"

"I didn't want you to see that. To see me like that. I know I must have terrified you."

"I was terrified for you, not of you."

Edward put one hand on Beau's shoulder. "I just beheaded and dismembered a sentient creature not twenty yards from you. That doesn't bother you?"

"This isn't the first time I've seen a vampire fight. I was only afraid that you and Seth were going to get hurt. I wanted to help, but there's only so much I can do . . . "

"Yes." His tone was brusque. "Your little stunt with the rock. You know that you nearly gave me a heart attack? Not the easiest thing to do, that."

"I wanted to help . . . Seth was hurt . . . "

"Seth was only feigning that he was hurt, Beau. It was a trick. And then you . . . " Edward took a steadying breath. "Seth couldn't see what you were doing, so I had to step in. He's a bit disgruntled that he can't claim a single-handed defeat now."

Beau's eyes found him at the other end of the campsite. "You were faking?"

Seth's tongue lolled out of his muzzle in a way that reminded Beau of Jacob.

Beau's voice dropped to a mumble. "What was I supposed to do? It's not easy being the benchwarmer. Just wait until I'm a vampire . . . "

"Do you anticipate another battle in the future?"

"With my luck? Absolutely."

Edward put a fresh bandage over Beau's hand before breaking down the campsite. He slung one backpack over his shoulders and was reaching for the other one when Seth padded over, jaws open wide, and snatched it away.

It was the nice, hiking model designed for the wearer to drink water. Edward grinned.

"All right—you can keep it. The spoils of victory."

"Wait a minute," Beau said, as something occurred to him. "What was the complication you were talking about before?"

The other two exchanged a look. Beau didn't like it.

"Well?"

"It's nothing, really," Edward said quickly. "But we do need to be on our way . . . "

Beau sidestepped the hand reaching for him. "Define nothing."

"We only have a minute, so don't panic, all right? I told you there is no reason to be afraid. Trust me on that, please?"

Beau folded his arms over his stomach. There was nothing else in there for him to throw up, but he didn't want to take any chances.

"No reason to be afraid. Got it."

Before Edward could start, he glanced at Seth as if the wolf had called out to him.

"What's she doing?"

Seth's whine made the hair on the back of Beau's neck stand up.

And then Edward gasped, "No! Don't!"

One his hands had flown out to grab something Beau couldn't see. A spasm rocked through Seth's body at the words. A howl, blistering with agony, ripped from his lungs.

Edward fell to his knees, gripping his head with both hands. His face was furrowed in pain.

Beau cried out in surprise. His head jerked back and forth between the other two, helpless.

"Edward! Seth! What's happening?"

"We're fine. We're going to be okay," Edward gasped. "Sam—help him—"

He was using the pack plural. The crisis was not here.

"Seth!" Edward shouted.

Seth was crouched, still tensed in agony, looking as if he meant to launch himself into the forest.

"No! You go straight home. Now, as fast as you can!"

The wolf whimpered and shook his great head from side to side.

"Seth, please. Trust me."

It was a testament to the day's events that Seth did just that. He straightened up, flew in the direction of the trees, and disappeared.

Beau barely had time to breathe before Edward grabbed him and hurtled them both through the shadowy forest.

"Edward, what happened? What happened to Sam? Where are we going?"

"We have to go back to the clearing," Edward said tersely. "We knew there was a good probability of this happening. Earlier this morning, Alice saw it and passed the message through Sam to Seth. The Volturi decided it was time to intercede."

The Volturi.

Beau's brain refused to take in this information. He stared at the trees rushing by them in a daze.

"Don't panic. They aren't coming for us. It's just the normal contingent of the guard that usually cleans up this kind of mess. Nothing momentous, they're merely doing their job. Of course, they seem to have timed their arrival very carefully, which leads me to believe that no one in Italy would mourn if these newborns had reduced the size of the Cullen family. I'll know for sure what they were thinking when they get to the clearing."

His words were hard and bleak.

"Is that why we're going back?"

"It's part of the reason," Edward told him. "Mostly, it will be safer for us to present a united front. They have no reason to harass us, but Jane's with them. If she thought we were alone somewhere, away from the others, it might tempt her. Jane will probably guess that I'm with you, like Victoria did. Demetri could find me, if she asked."

"What about the pack?"

"They had to leave quickly. The Volturi won't honor truces with werewolves."

Beau's silence seemed to encourage him to keep talking.

"I swear they will be fine. The Volturi won't recognize the scent. This isn't a species they're familiar with. The pack will be fine."

But it wasn't fine. Seth had no knowledge or fear of the Volturi. The idea of their arrival would excite him, not hurt him.

"What happened before?"

"It was all over," Edward whispered. "The wolves didn't count their half . . . they thought they had them all. One of the newborns was hiding. Leah found him—she was being stupid, cocky, trying to prove something. She engaged him alone . . . "

That explained Seth's anguish.

"Is she going to be okay?"

"Leah wasn't hurt."

Sam—help him—

The answer was glaringly obvious.

"Jacob," Beau whispered.

Edward nodded once.

There was no time for him to react to the news. They reached the clearing then.

Beau thought he was having an out of body experience. There was a weird buzzing in his ears, like a hive of a thousand bees had taken residence inside.

Edward led him by the arm to where the rest of the family waited. He saw Jasper's head whip around in his direction. A moment later Beau recognized the sense of false calm washing over him.

Carlisle put a reassuring hand on Beau's shoulder. "I examined Jacob myself, Beau. His life is not in any danger. He is healing at an incredible rate. As soon as we're done here, I will do what I can to help him."

"What happened?"

"The newborn got his arms around him. Most of the bones on the right half of his body were shattered."

Beau flinched.

"Sam and Paul got there in time. He was already improving when they took him to La Push."

"He'll be back to normal?"

"Completely. He won't have any permanent damage."

Beau blinked and felt at home in his own head again. Jacob was okay.

The Cullens stood in a loose semicircle around the bonfire. There were hardly any flames left, just the thick, purple-black smoke.

And there, curled in a small ball beside the pyre, was a girl.

Beau guessed she was fourteen or fifteen years old. She was dark-haired and slight, and her red eyes were even brighter than Riley's.

"She surrendered," Edward explained at his puzzled look. "Only Carlisle would think of offering. Jasper doesn't approve."

Jasper's expression made that perfectly clear. He stood watch over the girl, close enough to grab her at a moment's notice.

"Is he all right?"

"He's fine. The venom stings."

"He was bitten?"

"He was trying to be everywhere at once. Trying to make sure Alice had nothing to do, actually. But Alice doesn't need anyone's help."

Alice grimaced toward her true love. "Overprotective fool."

The young girl suddenly threw her head back like an animal, wailing.

Jasper growled at her. She cringed away from him, dropping her head to her knees. Her fingers dug into the ground like claws as she thrashed.

Edward stepped in front of Beau as Carlisle went to the girl's side.

"Have you changed your mind, young one? We don't want to destroy you, but we will if you can't control yourself."

"How can you stand it?" She groaned. "I want him."

Her red eyes were fixed on Edward, though him, to Beau.

"You must stand it," Carlisle told her gravely. "You must exercise control. It is possible, and it is the only thing that will save you now."

The girl clutched her head with dirt-encrusted hands and moaned.

"Should we move away from her?"

The girl's lips pulled back over her teeth at the sound of Beau's voice. Her expression was one of deep torment.

"We have to stay here," Edward murmured. "They're coming to the north end of the clearing now."

But the Volturi guard no longer interested him. Beau was too busy staring at the newborn vampire.

Her face was twisted with rage and thirst. He couldn't look away from her frenzied eyes.

Beau was transfixed. He wondered if he was looking into a mirror of his future.

He hadn't noticed until it was done, but the Cullens had converged around him. A united front, as Edward had said, with Beau at the heart, in the safest place.

The voice seemed to come from the smoke itself.

"Hmm."

Edward was courteous. "Welcome, Jane."

Dark shapes emerged one by one from the haze. Four hulking figures now stood behind their smaller commanding officer.

The biggest one let his hood fall back. Beau recognized him at once: Felix.

Felix winked at him. Edward stiffened in response.

Jane's gaze moved from face to face before pausing at the newborn girl. "I don't understand."

"She surrendered."

Her dark eyes flashed to Edward's face. "Surrendered?"

Felix and another guardsman exchanged a glance.

"Carlisle gave her the option."

"There are no options for those who break the rules," Jane said flatly.

"That's in your hands," Carlisle's tone was mild. "As long as she was willing to halt her attack on us, I saw no need to destroy her. She was never taught."

"That is irrelevant."

"As you wish."

Jane stared at him for a moment. "Aro hoped that we would get far enough west to see you, Carlisle. He sends his regards."

"I would appreciate it if you would convey mine to him."

"Of course." She smiled. "It appears that you've done our work for us today . . . for the most part. Just out of professional curiosity, how many were there? They left quite a wake of destruction in Seattle."

"Eighteen, including this one."

A titter went through the guardsmen at his words.

"Eighteen?" she repeated.

"All brand-new," Carlisle said dismissively. "They were unskilled."

"All? Who was their creator?"

"Her name was Victoria."

"Was?" Jane asked.

Edward inclined his head in the direction of the campsite. The pyre he built was still burning in the distance.

"This Victoria—she was in addition to the eighteen gathered here?"

"Yes. She had a lieutenant with her. He was not as young as this one here, but no older than a year."

"Twenty," Jane breathed. "Who dealt with the creator?"

"I did," Edward told her.

Jane's eyes narrowed. She turned the girl beside the fire.

"You there. Your name."

The girl shot her a baleful glare. Jane smiled back.

The sight that followed made Beau cringe. The girl's body arched into a distorted, unnatural position. He looked away, but there was no escaping the sound of her screaming.

Finally, it was quiet.

"Your name," Jane said again.

"Bree," the girl gasped.

Jane smiled, and the girl named Bree shrieked again. Beau held his breath in silent solidarity until her agony ceased.

"She'll tell you anything you want to know," Edward said through his teeth. "You don't have to do that."

Jane looked at him with humor in her dead eyes. "Oh, I know."

Edward's hand in Beau's tightened in response.

"Bree," Jane said coldly. "Is this true? Were there twenty of you?"

"Nineteen or twenty, maybe more, I don't know!" Bree appeared terrified that her ignorance would bring on a fresh round of torture. "Sara and another one got in a fight on the way . . . "

"And this Victoria, did she create you?"

"I don't know. Riley never said her name. I didn't see . . . that night was so dark, and it hurt . . . " Bree shuddered. "He didn't want us to be able to think of her. He said our thoughts weren't safe."

Jane's eyes flickered to Edward and away.

Victoria had planned it well. If she hadn't followed Edward, there would be no way to know for certain that she was involved. Beau marveled at her cunning again.

"Tell me about Riley. Why did he bring you here?"

"Riley told us that we had to destroy the strange yellow-eyes here. He said it would be easy. He said that the city was theirs, and they were coming to get us. Once they were gone, all the blood would be ours. He gave us his scent."

Alice shook her head. Beau was sure she was thinking of Riley skulking through Charlie's house.

"He said we would know that we had the right coven, because the boy would be with them. Whoever got there first could have him."

"It looks like Riley was wrong about the easy part."

"I don't know what happened," Bree nodded. "We split up, but the others never came. Riley left us—he never came to help like he promised. It was so confusing, and then everyone was in pieces. I was afraid. I wanted to run away. That one said they wouldn't hurt me if I stopped fighting."

Jane's voice was almost kind. "Ah, but that wasn't his gift to offer, young one. Broken rules demand a consequence."

Bree stared at her, uncomprehending.

"Are you sure you got all of them? The other half that split off?"

"We split up, too." Carlisle answered.

"I can't deny that I'm impressed."

The shadows behind Jane murmured in agreement.

"I've never seen a coven escape a threat of this magnitude. Do you know what was behind it? Seems like an extreme response, considering the way you live here. And why was the boy the key?"

Jane's eyes were on him now. Beau forced himself to hold her gaze.

"Victoria held a grudge against Beau."

This made her laugh. "This one seems to bring out bizarrely strong reactions in our kind."

Beau looked at Edward just in time to see his face turning back to Jane.

"Would you please not do that?"

Jane laughed again. "Just checking. No harm done, apparently."

Beau had never been more grateful for the glitch in his system. The happy accident of nature that made him immune to her power was still in effect.

"Well, it appears that there's not much left for us to do. Odd. We're not used to being rendered unnecessary. Too bad we missed the fight. It would have been entertaining to watch."

"Yes," Edward said sharply. "And you were so close. It's a shame you didn't arrive just a half hour earlier. Perhaps then you could have fulfilled your purpose here."

"Pity how things turned out, isn't it?"

Her words seemed to confirm his suspicions. Bored of taunting him, Jane's eyes went to Bree again.

"Felix?"

"Wait!"

Edward spoke to Carlisle now, his voice urgent. "We could explain the rules to the young one. She doesn't seem unwilling to learn. She didn't know what she was doing."

"Of course. We would certainly be prepared to take responsibility for Bree."

Jane's expression was torn between amusement and disbelief.

"We don't make exceptions. And we don't give second chances. It's bad for our reputation. Which reminds me . . . " Her eyes returned to Beau. "Caius will be very interested to hear that you're still human. Perhaps he'll decide to visit."

"The plan is in motion," Alice spoke up. "Perhaps we'll come visit you in a few months."

Jane ignored her. "It was nice to meet you, Carlisle. I thought Aro was exaggerating. Well, until we meet again . . . "

Carlisle nodded tersely in reply.

"Take care of that, Felix. I want to go home."

"Don't watch," Edward whispered.

Beau was all too eager to obey. He had seen enough dismemberment for one lifetime.

But he could still hear things.

There was a deep, rumbling growl, and then a high-pitched keen. The crunches and snapping sounds told him that young Bree had breathed her last.

When Beau looked up, that red-eyed girl was gone.

The smell of the fire was strong again. Fresh.

"Come," Jane said.

Then the gray cloaks disappeared into the mist.

A/N: Happy Holidays to all! Thanks for reading.