 faces lit up with 
excitement, both of their noses wrinkled against the smell. They looked at me impatiently. 

"Coordinate?" I repeated through my teeth. 

"You didn't honestly think you were going to keep us out of this?" Jacob asked. 

"Youare staying out of this!" 

"Your psychic doesn't think so." 

"Alice - tell them no!" I insisted. "They'll get killed!" 

Jacob, Quil, and Embry all laughed out loud. 

"Bella," Alice said, her voice soothing, placating, "separately we all could get killed. 
Together -" 

"It'll be no problem," Jacob finished her sentence. Quil laughed again. 

"How many?" Quil asked eagerly. 

"No!" I shouted. 

Alice didn't even look at me. "It changes - twenty-one today, but the numbers are going 
down." 

"Why?" Jacob asked, curious. 

"Long story," Alice said, suddenly looking around the room. "And this isn't the place for it." 

"Later tonight?" Jacob pushed. 

"Yes," Jasper answered him. "We were already planning a . . . strategic meeting. If you're 

 

going to fight with us, you'll need some instruction." 

The wolves all made a disgruntled face at the last part. 

"No!" I moaned. 

"This will be odd," Jasper said thoughtfully. "I never considered working together. This has 
to be a first." 

"No doubt about that," Jacob agreed. He was in a hurry now. "We've got to get back to Sam. 
What time?" 

"What's too late for you?" 

All three rolled their eyes. "What time?" Jacob repeated. 

"Three o'clock?" 

"Where?" 

"About ten miles due north of the Hoh Forest ranger station. Come at it from the west and 
you'll be able to follow our scent in." 

"We'll be there." 

They turned to leave. 

"Wait, Jake!" I called after him. "Please!Don't do this!" 

He paused, turning back to grin at me, while Quil and Embry headed impatiently for the 
door. "Don't be ridiculous, Bells. You're giving me a much better gift than the one I gave 
you." 

"No!" I shouted again. The sound of an electric guitar drowned my cry. 

He didn't respond; he hurried to catch up with his friends, who were already gone. I watched 
helplessly as Jacob disappeared. 

 

18. INSTRUCTION 

"THAT HAD TO BE THE LONGEST PARTY IN THE HISTORYof the world," I 
complained on the way home. 

Edward didn't seem to disagree. "It's over now," he said, rubbing my arm soothingly. 

Because I was the only one who needed soothing. Edward was fine now - all the Cullens 
were fine. 

They'd all reassured me; Alice reaching up to pat my head as I left, eyeing Jasper 
meaningfully until a flood of peace swirled around me, Esme kissing my forehead and 
promising me everything was all right, Emmett laughing boisterously and asking why I was 
the only one who was allowed to fight with werewolves. . . . Jacob's solution had them all 
relaxed, almost euphoric after the long weeks of stress. Doubt had been replaced with 
confidence. The party had ended on a note of true celebration. 

Not for me. 

Bad enough - horrible - that the Cullens would fight for me. It was already too much that I 
would have to allow that. It already felt like more than I could bear. 

Not Jacob, too. Not his foolish, eager brothers - most of them even younger than I was. They 
were just oversized, over-muscled children, and they looked forward to this like it was picnic 
on the beach. I could not have them in danger, too. My nerves felt frayed and exposed. I 
didn't know how much longer I could restrain the urge to scream out loud. 

I whispered now, to keep my voice under control. "You're taking me with you tonight." 

"Bella, you're worn out." 

"You think I could sleep?" 

He frowned. "This is an experiment. I'm not sure if it will be possible for us all to . . . 
cooperate. I don't want you in the middle of that." 

As if that didn't make me all the more anxious to go. "If you won't take me, then I'll call 
Jacob." 

His eyes tightened. That was a low blow, and I knew it. But there was no way I was being 
left behind. 

He didn't answer; we were at Charlie's house now. The front light was on. 

"See you upstairs," I muttered. 

I tiptoed in the front door. Charlie was asleep in the living room, overflowing the too-small 

 

sofa, and snoring so loudly I could have ripped a chainsaw to life and it wouldn't have 
wakened him. 

I shook his shoulder vigorously. 

"Dad! Charlie!" 

He grumbled, eyes still closed. 

"I'm home now - you're going to hurt your back sleeping like that. C'mon, time to move." 

It took a few more shakes, and his eyes never did open all the way, but I managed to get him 
off the couch. I helped him up to his bed, where he collapsed on top of the covers, fully 
dressed, and started snoring again. 

He wasn't going to be looking for me anytime soon. 

Edward waited in my room while I washed my face and changed into jeans and a flannel 
shirt. He watched me unhappily from the rocking chair as I hung the outfit Alice had given 
me in my closet. 

"Come here," I said, taking his hand and pulling him to my bed. 

I pushed him down on the bed and then curled up against his chest. Maybe he was right and 
Iwas tired enough to sleep. I wasn't going to let him sneak off without me. 

He tucked my quilt in around me, and then held me close. 

"Please relax." 

"Sure." 

"This is going to work, Bella. I can feel it." 

My teeth locked together. 

He was still radiating relief. Nobody but me cared if Jacob and his friends got hurt. Not even 
Jacob and his friends. Especially not them. 

He could tell I was about to lose it. "Listen to me, Bella. This is going to beeasy . The 
newborns will be completely taken by surprise. They'll have no more idea that werewolves 
even exist than you did. I've seen how they act in a group, the way Jasper remembers. I truly 
believe that the wolves' hunting techniques will work flawlessly against them. And with 
them divided and confused, there won't be enough for the rest of us to do. Someone may 
have to sit out," he teased. 

"Piece of cake," I mumbled tonelessly against his chest. 

 

"Shhh," he stroked my cheek. "You'll see. Don't worry now." 

He started humming my lullaby, but, for once, it didn't calm me. 

People - well, vampires and werewolves really, but still - people I loved were going to get 
hurt. Hurt because of me. Again. I wished my bad luck would focus a little more carefully. I 
felt like yelling up at the empty sky:It's me you want - over here! Just me! 

I tried to think of a way that I could do exactly that - force my bad luck to focus on me. It 
wouldn't be easy. I would have to wait, bide my time. . . . 

I did not fall asleep. The minutes passed quickly, to my surprise, and I was still alert and 
tense when Edward pulled us both up into a sitting position. 

"Are you sure you don't want to stay and sleep?" 

I gave him a sour look. 

He sighed, and scooped me up in his arms before he jumped from my window. 

He raced through the black, quiet forest with me on his back, and even in his run I could feel 
the elation. He ran the way he did when it was just us, just for enjoyment, just for the feel of 
the wind in his hair. It was the kind of thing that, during less anxious times, would have 
made me happy. 

When we got to the big open field, his family was there, talking casually, relaxed. Emmett's 
booming laugh echoed through the wide space now and then. Edward set me down and we 
walked hand in hand toward them. 

It took me a minute, because it was so dark with the moon hidden behind the clouds, but I 
realized that we were in the baseball clearing. It was the same place where, more than a year 
ago, that first lighthearted evening with the Cullens had been interrupted by James and his 
coven. It felt strange to be here again - as if this gathering wouldn't be complete until James 
and Laurent and Victoria joined us. But James and Laurent were never coming back. That 
pattern wouldn't be repeated. Maybe all the patterns were broken. 

Yes, someone had broken out of their pattern. Was it possible that the Volturi were the 
flexible ones in this equation? 

I doubted it. 

Victoria had always seemed like a force of nature to me - like a hurricane moving toward the 
coast in a straight line - unavoidable, implacable, but predictable. Maybe it was wrong to 
limit her that way. She had to be capable of adaptation. 

"You know what I think?" I asked Edward. 

 

He laughed. "No." 

I almost smiled. 

"What do you think?" 

"I think it'sall connected. Not just the two, but all three." 

"You've lost me." 

"Three bad things have happened since you came back." I ticked them off on my fingers. 
"The newborns in Seattle. The stranger in my room. And - first of all - Victoria came to look 
for me." 

His eyes narrowed as he thought about it. "Why do you think so?" 

"Because I agree with Jasper - the Volturi love their rules. They would probably do a better 
job anyway." And I'd be dead if they wanted me dead, I added mentally. "Remember when 
you were tracking Victoria last year?" 

"Yes." He frowned. "I wasn't very good at it." 

"Alice said you were in Texas. Did you follow her there?" 

His eyebrows pulled together. "Yes. Hmm . . ." 

"See - she could have gotten the idea there. But she doesn't know what she's doing, so the 
newborns are all out of control." 

He started shaking his head. "Only Aro knows exactly how Alice's visions work." 

"Aro would knowbest, but wouldn't Tanya and Irina and the rest of your friends in Denali 
knowenough ? Laurent lived with them for so long. And if he was still friendly enough with 
Victoria to be doing favors for her, why wouldn't he also tell her everything he knew?" 

Edward frowned. "It wasn't Victoria in your room." 

"She can't make new friends? Think about it, Edward. If itis Victoria doing this i