s to be able to talk for himself." 

I watched the edge of the forest where Jacob had vanished, leaning into Edward's side again. 
I was on the point of collapse, but I was fighting it. 

Jacob loped back into view, on two legs this time. His broad chest was bare, his hair tangled 
and shaggy. He wore only a pair of black sweat pants, his feet bare to the cold ground. He 
was alone now, but I suspected that his friends lingered in the trees, invisible. 

It didn't take him long to cross the field, though he gave a wide berth to the Cullens, who 
stood talking quietly in a loose circle. 

"Okay, bloodsucker," Jacob said when he was a few feet from us, evidently continuing the 
conversation I'd missed. "What's so complicated about it?" 

"I have to consider every possibility," Edward said, unruffled. "What if someone gets by 
you?" 

Jacob snorted at that idea. "Okay, so leave her on the reservation. We're making Collin and 
Brady stay behind anyway. She'll be safe there." 

I scowled. "Are you talking about me?" 

"I just want to know what he plans to do with you during the fight," Jacob explained. 

"Dowith me?" 

"You can't stay in Forks, Bella." Edward's voice was pacifying. "They know where to look 
for you there. What if someone slipped by us?" 

 

My stomach dropped and the blood drained from my face. "Charlie?" I gasped. 

"He'll be with Billy," Jacob assured me quickly. "If my dad has to commit a murder to get 
him there, he'll do it. Probably it won't take that much. It's this Saturday, right? There's a 
game." 

"This Saturday?" I asked, my head spinning. I was too lightheaded to control my wildly 
random thoughts. I frowned at Edward. "Well, crap! There goes your graduation present." 

Edward laughed. "It's the thought that counts," he reminded me. "You can give the tickets to 
someone else." 

Inspiration came swiftly. "Angela and Ben," I decided at once. "At least that will get them 
out of town." 

He touched my cheek. "You can't evacuate everyone," he said in a gentle voice. "Hiding you 
is just a precaution. I told you - we'll have no problem now. There won't be enough of them 
to keep us entertained." 

"But what about keeping her in La Push?" Jacob interjected, impatient. 

"She's been back and forth too much," Edward said. "She's left trails all over the place. Alice 
only sees very young vampires coming on the hunt, but obviously someone created them. 
There is someone more experienced behind this. Whoever he" - Edward paused to look at me 
- "or she is, thiscould all be a distraction. Alice will see if he decides to look himself, but we 
could be very busy at the time that decision is made. Maybe someone is counting on that. I 
can't leave her somewhere she's been frequently. Shehas to be hard to find, just in case. It's a 
very long shot, but I'm not taking chances." 

I stared at Edward as he explained, my forehead creasing. He patted my arm. 

"Just being overcautious," he promised. 

Jacob gestured to the deep forest east of us, to the vast expanse of the Olympic Mountains. 

"So hide her here," he suggested. "There's a million possibilities - places either one of us 
could be in just a few minutes if there's a need." 

Edward shook his head. "Her scent is too strong and, combined with mine, especially 
distinct. Even if I carried her, it would leave a trail.Our trace is all over the range, but in 
conjunction with Bella's scent, it would catch their attention. We're not sure exactly which 
path they'll take, becausethey don't know yet. If they crossed her scent before they found us . 
. ." 

Both of them grimaced at the same time, their eyebrows pulling together. 

"You see the difficulties." 

 

"There has to be a way to make it work," Jacob muttered. He glared toward the forest, 
pursing his lips. 

I swayed on my feet. Edward put his arm around my waist, pulling me closer and supporting 
my weight. 

"I need to get you home - you're exhausted. And Charlie will be waking up soon. . . ." 

"Wait a sec," Jacob said, wheeling back to us, his eyes bright. "My scent disgusts you, right?" 

"Hmm, not bad." Edward was two steps ahead. "It's possible." He turned toward his family. 
"Jasper?" he called. 

Jasper looked up curiously. He walked over with Alice a half step behind. Her face was 
frustrated again. 

"Okay, Jacob." Edward nodded at him. 

Jacob turned toward me with a strange mixture of emotion on his face. He was clearly 
excited by whatever this new plan of his was, but he was also still uneasy so close to his 
enemy allies. And then it was my turn to be wary as he held his arms out toward me. 

Edward took a deep breath. 
"We're going to see if I can confuse the scent enough to hide your trail," Jacob explained. 

I stared at his open arms suspiciously. 

"You're going to have to let him carry you, Bella," Edward told me. His voice was calm, but 
I could hear the subdued distaste. 

I frowned. 

Jacob rolled his eyes, impatient, and reached down to yank me up into his arms. 

"Don't be such a baby," he muttered. 

But his eyes flickered to Edward, just like mine did. Edward's face was composed and 
smooth. He spoke to Jasper. 

"Bella's scent is so much more potent to me - I thought it would be a fairer test if someone 
else tried." 

Jacob turned away from them and paced swiftly into the woods. I didn't say anything as the 
dark closed around us. I was pouting, uncomfortable in Jacob's arms. It felt too intimate to 
me - surely he didn't need to hold mequite so tightly - and I couldn't help but wonder what it 
felt like to him. It reminded me of my last afternoon in La Push, and I didn't want to think 
about that. I folded my arms, annoyed when the brace on my hand intensified the memory. 

 

We didn't go far; he made a wide arc and came back into the clearing from a different 
direction, maybe half a football field away from our original departure point. Edward was 
there alone and Jacob headed toward him. 

"You can put me down now." 

"I don't want to take a chance of messing up the experiment." His walk slowed and his arms 
tightened. 

"You areso annoying," I muttered. 

"Thanks." 

Out of nowhere, Jasper and Alice stood beside Edward. Jacob took one more step, and then 
set me down a half dozen feet from Edward. Without looking back at Jacob, I walked to 
Edward's side and took his hand. 

"Well?" I asked. 

"As long as you don't touch anything, Bella, I can'timagine someone sticking their nose close 
enough to that trail to catch your scent," Jasper said, grimacing. "It was almost completely 
obscured." 

"A definite success," Alice agreed, wrinkling her nose. 

"And it gave me an idea." 

"Which will work," Alice added confidently. 

"Clever," Edward agreed. 

"How do youstand that?" Jacob muttered to me. 

Edward ignored Jacob and looked at me while he explained. "We're - well,you're - going to 
leave a false trail to the clearing, Bella. The newborns are hunting, your scent will excite 
them, and they'll come exactly the way we want them to without being careful about it. Alice 
can already see that this will work. When they catchour scent, they'll split up and try to come 
at us from two sides. Half will go through the forest, where her vision suddenly disappears. . 
. ." 

"Yes!" Jacob hissed. 

Edward smiled at him, a smile of true comradeship. 

I felt sick. How could they be so eager for this? How could I stand havingboth of them in 
danger? I couldn't. 

I wouldn't. 

 

"Not a chance," Edward said suddenly, his voice disgusted. It made me jump, worrying that 
he'd somehow heard my resolve, but his eyes were on Jasper. 

"I know, I know," Jasper said quickly. "I didn't even consider it, not really." 

Alice stepped on his foot. 

"If Bella was actually there in the clearing," Jasper explained to her, "it would drive them 
insane. They wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything but her. It would make picking 
them off truly easy. . . ." 

Edward's glare had Jasper backtracking. 

"Of course it's too dangerous for her. It was just an errant thought," he said quickly. But he 
looked at me from the corner of his eyes, and the look was wistful. 

"No," Edward said. His voice rang with finality. 

"You're right," Jasper said. He took Alice's hand and started back to the others. "Best two 
out of three?" I heard him ask her as they went to practice again. 

Jacob stared after him in disgust. 

"Jasper looks at things from a military perspective," Edward quietly defended his brother. 
"He looks at all the options - it's thoroughness, not callousness." 

Jacob snorted. 

He'd edged closer unconsciously, drawn by his absorption in the planning. He stood only 
three feet from Edward now, and, standing there between them, I could feel the physical 
tension in the air. It was like static, an uncomfortable charge. 

Edward got back to business. "I'll bring her here Friday afternoon to lay the false trail. You 
can meet us afterward, and carry her to a place I know. Completely out of the way, and easily 
defensible, not that it will come to that. I'll take another route there." 

"And then what? Leave her with a cell phone?" Jacob asked critically. 

"You have a better idea?" 

Jacob was suddenly smug. "Actually, I do." 

"Oh. . . . Again, dog, not bad at all." 

Jacob turned to me quickly, as if determined to play the good guy by keeping me in the 
conversation. "We tried to talk Seth into staying behind with the younger two. He's still too 
young, but he's stubborn and he's resisting. So I thought of a new assignment for him - cell 
phone." 

 

I tried to look like I got it. No one was fooled. 

"As long as Seth Clearwater is in his wolf form, he'll be connected to the pack," Edward said. 
"Distance isn't a problem?" he added, turning t