dn't realize my left hand was clenched into a fist, nails
biting into my bandaged palm, until Edward took it and gently smoothed my fingers out.
"It's going to be fine, Bella," he promised. "We've got skill, training, and surprise on our side.
It will be over very soon. If I didn't truly believe that, I would be down there now - and you'd
be here, chained to a tree or something along those lines."
"Alice is so small," I moaned.
He chuckled. "That might be a problem . . . if it were possible for someone to catch her."
Seth started to whimper.
"What's wrong?" I demanded.
"He's just angry that he's stuck here with us. He knows the pack kept him out of the action
to protect him. He's salivating to join them."
I scowled in Seth's general direction.
"The newborns have reached the end of the trail - it worked like a charm, Jasper's a genius -
and they've caught the scent of the ones in the meadow, so they're splitting into two groups
now, as Alice said," Edward murmured, his eyes focused on something far away. "Sam's
taking us around to head off the ambush party." He was so intent on what he was hearing
that he used the pack plural.
Suddenly he looked down at me. "Breathe, Bella."
I struggled to do what he asked. I could hear Seth's heavy panting just outside the tent wall,
and I tried to keep my lungs on the same even pace, so that I wouldn't hyperventilate.
"The first group is in the clearing. We can hear the fighting."
My teeth locked together.
He laughed once. "We can hear Emmett - he's enjoying himself."
I made myself take another breath with Seth.
"The second group is getting ready - they aren't paying attention, they haven't heard us yet."
Edward growled.
"What?" I gasped.
"They're talking about you." His teeth clenched together. "They're supposed to make sure
you don't escape. . . . Nice move, Leah! Mmm, she's quite fast," he murmured in approval.
"One of the newborns caught our scent, and Leah took him down before he could even turn.
Sam's helping her finish him off. Paul and Jacob got another one, but the others are on the
defensive now. They have no idea what to make of us. Both sides are feinting. . . . No, let
Sam lead. Stay out of the way," he muttered. "Separate them - don't let them protect each
other's backs."
Seth whined.
"That's better, drive them toward the clearing," Edward approved. His body was shifting
unconsciously as he watched, tensing for moves he would have made. His hands still held
mine; I twisted my fingers through his. At least he wasn't down there.
The sudden absence of sound was the only warning.
The deep rush of Seth's breathing cut off, and - as I'd paced my breaths with his - I noticed.
I stopped breathing, too - too frightened to even make my lungs work as I realized that
Edward had frozen into a block of ice beside me.
Oh, no. No. No.
Who had been lost? Theirs or ours? Mine, all mine. What wasmy loss?
So quickly that I wasn't exactly sure how it happened, I was on my feet and the tent was
collapsing in ragged shreds around me. Had Edward ripped our way out? Why?
I blinked, shocked, into the brilliant light. Seth was all I could see, right beside us, his face
only six inches from Edward's. They stared at each other with absolute concentration for one
infinite second. The sun shattered off Edward's skin and sent sparkles dancing across Seth's
fur.
And then Edward whispered urgently, "Go, Seth!"
The huge wolf wheeled and disappeared into the forest shadows.
Had two entire seconds passed? It felt like hours. I was terrified to the point of nausea by the
knowledge that something horrible had gone awry in the clearing. I opened my mouth to
demand that Edward take me there, and do it now. They needed him, and they neededme. If
I had to bleed to save them, I would do it. I would die to do it, like the third wife. I had no
silver dagger in my hand, but I would find a way -
Before I could get the first syllable out, I felt as if I was being flung through the air. But
Edward's hands never let go of me - I was only being moved, so quickly that the sensation
was like falling sideways.
I found myself with my back pressed against the sheer cliff face. Edward stood in front of
me, holding a posture that I knew at once.
Relief washed through my mind at the same time that my stomach dropped through the soles
of my feet.
I'd misunderstood.
Relief - nothing had gone wrong in the clearing.
Horror - the crisis washere.
Edward held a defensive position - half-crouched, his arms extended slightly - that I
recognized with sickening certainty. The rock at my back could have been the ancient brick
walls of the Italian alley where he had stood between me and the black-cloaked Volturi
warriors.
Something was coming for us.
"Who?" I whispered.
The words came through his teeth in a snarl that was louder than I expected. Too loud. It
meant that it was far too late to hide. We were trapped, and it didn't matter who heard his
answer.
"Victoria," he said, spitting the word, making it a curse. "She's not alone. She crossed my
scent, following the newborns in to watch - she never meant to fight with them. She made a
spur-of-the-moment decision to find me, guessing that you would be wherever I was. She
was right. You were right. It was always Victoria."
She was close enough that he could hear her thoughts.
Relief again. If it had been the Volturi, we were both dead. But with Victoria, it didn't have
to beboth. Edward could survive this. He was a good fighter, as good as Jasper. If she didn't
bring too many others, he could fight his way out, back to his family. Edward was faster than
anyone. He could make it.
I was so glad he'd sent Seth away. Of course, there was no one Seth could run to for help.
Victoria had timed her decision perfectly. But at least Seth was safe; I couldn't see the huge
sandy wolf in my head when I thought his name - just the gangly fifteen-year-old boy.
Edward's body shifted - only infinitesimally, but it told me where to look. I stared at the
black shadows of the forest.
It was like having my nightmares walk forward to greet me.
Two vampires edged slowly into the small opening of our camp, eyes intent, missing nothing.
They glistened like diamonds in the sun.
I could barely look at the blond boy - yes, he was just a boy, though he was muscular and tall,
maybe my age when he was changed. His eyes - a more vivid red than I had ever seen before
- could not hold mine. Though he was closest to Edward, the nearest danger, I could not
watch him.
Because, a few feet to the side and a few feet back, Victoria was staring at me.
Her orange hair was brighter than I'd remembered, more like a flame. There was no wind
here, but the fire around her face seemed to shimmer slightly, as if it were alive.
Her eyes were black with thirst. She did not smile, as she always had in my nightmares - her
lips were pressed into a tight line. There was a striking feline quality to the way she held her
coiled body, a lioness waiting for an opening to spring. Her restless, wild gaze flickered
between Edward and me, but never rested on him for more than a half-second. She could not
keep her eyes from my face any more than I could keep mine from hers.
Tension rolled off of her, nearly visible in the air. I could feel the desire, the all-consuming
passion that held her in its grip. Almost as if I could hear her thoughts, too, I knew what she
was thinking.
She was so close to what she wanted - the focus of her whole existence for more than a year
now was justso close.
My death.
Her plan was as obvious as it was practical. The big blond boy would attack Edward. As
soon as Edward was sufficiently distracted, Victoria would finish me.
It would be quick - she had no time for games here - but it would be thorough. Something
that it would be impossible to recover from. Something that even vampire venom could not
repair.
She'd have to stop my heart. Perhaps a hand shoved through my chest, crushing it.
Something along those lines.
My heart beat furiously, loudly, as if to make her target more obvious.
An immense distance away, from far across the black forest, a wolf's howl echoed in the still
air. With Seth gone, there was no way to interpret the sound.
The blond boy looked at Victoria from the corner of his eye, waiting on her command.
He was young in more ways than one. I guessed from his brilliant crimson irises that he
couldn't have been a vampire for very long. He would be strong, but inept. Edward would
know how to fight him. Edward would survive.
Victoria jerked her chin toward Edward, wordlessly ordering the boy forward.
"Riley," Edward said in a soft, pleading voice.
The blond boy froze, his red eyes widening.
"She's lying to you, Riley," Edward told him. "Listen to me. She's lying to you just like she
lied to the others who are dying now in the clearing. You know that she's lied to them, that
she hadyou lie to them, that neither of you were ever going to help them. Is it so hard to
believe that she's lied to you, too?"
Confusion swept across Riley's face.
Edward shifted a few inches to the side, and Riley automatically compensated with an
adjustment of his own.
"She doesn't love you, Riley." Edward's soft voice was compelling, almost hypnotic. "She
never has. She loved someone named James, and you're no more than a tool to her."
When he said James's name, Victoria's lips pulled back in a teeth-baring grimace. Her eyes
stayed locked on me.
Riley cast a frantic glance in her direction.
"Riley?" Edward said.
Riley automatically refocused on Edward.
"She knows that I will kill you, Riley. Shewants you to die so that she doesn't have to keep
up the pretense anymore. Yes - you've seen that, haven't you? You've read the reluctance in
her eyes, suspected a false note in her promises. You were right. She's never wanted you.
Every kiss, every touch was a lie."
Edward moved again, moved a f