mach. The screaming intensified. I tried to concentrate on
Edward's face, smooth and unemotional, but that made me remember when it had been
Edward under Jane's torturing gaze, and I felt sicker. I looked at Alice instead, and Esme
next to her. Their faces were as empty as his.
Finally, it was quiet.
"Your name," Jane said again, her voice inflectionless.
"Bree," the girl gasped.
Jane smiled, and the girl shrieked again. I held my breath until the sound of her agony
stopped.
"She'll tell you anything you want to know," Edward said through his teeth. "You don't have
to do that."
Jane looked up, sudden humor in her usually dead eyes. "Oh, I know," she said to Edward,
grinning at him before she turned back to the young vampire, Bree.
"Bree," Jane said, her voice cold again. "Is his story true? Were there twenty of you?"
The girl lay panting, the side of her face pressed against the earth. She spoke quickly.
"Nineteen or twenty, maybe more, I don't know!" She cringed, terrified that her ignorance
might bring on another round of torture. "Sara and the one whose name I don't know got in a
fight on the way. . . ."
"And this Victoria - did she create you?"
"I don't know," she said, flinching again. "Riley never said her name. I didn't see that night . .
. it was so dark, and it hurt. . . ." Bree shuddered. "He didn't want us to be able to think of
her. He said that our thoughts weren't safe. . . ."
Jane's eyes flickered to Edward, and then back to the girl.
Victoria had planned this well. If she hadn't followed Edward, there would have been no
way to know for certain that she was involved. . . .
"Tell me about Riley," Jane said. "Why did he bring you here?"
"Riley told us that we had to destroy the strange yellow-eyes here," Bree babbled quickly and
willingly. "He said it would be easy. He said that the city was theirs, and they were coming
to get us. He said once they were gone, all the blood would be ours. He gave us her scent."
Bree lifted one hand and stabbed a finger in my direction. "He said we would know that we
had the right coven, because she would be with them. He said whoever got to her first could
have her."
I heard Edward's jaw flex beside me.
"It looks like Riley was wrong about the easy part," Jane noted.
Bree nodded, seeming relieved that the conversation had taken this non-painful course. She
sat up carefully. "I don't know what happened. We split up, but the others never came. And
Riley left us, and he didn't come to help like he promised. And then it was so confusing, and
everybody was in pieces." She shuddered again. "I was afraid. I wanted to run away. That
one" - she looked at Carlisle - "said they wouldn't hurt me if I stopped fighting."
"Ah, but that wasn't his gift to offer, young one," Jane murmured, her voice oddly gentle
now. "Broken rules demand a consequence."
Bree stared at her, not comprehending.
Jane looked at Carlisle. "Are you sure you got all of them? The other half that split off?"
Carlisle's face was very smooth as he nodded. "We split up, too."
Jane half-smiled. "I can't deny that I'm impressed." The big shadows behind her murmured in
agreement. "I've never seen a coven escape this magnitude of offensive intact. Do you know
what was behind it? It seems like extreme behavior, considering the way you live here. And
why was the girl the key?" Her eyes rested unwilling on me for one short second.
I shivered.
"Victoria held a grudge against Bella," Edward told her, his voice impassive.
Jane laughed - the sound was golden, the bubbling laugh of a happy child. "This one seems
to bring out bizarrely strong reactions in our kind," she observed, smiling directly at me, her
face beatific.
Edward stiffened. I looked at him in time to see his face turning away, back to Jane.
"Would you please not do that?" he asked in a tight voice.
Jane laughed again lightly. "Just checking. No harm done, apparently."
I shivered, deeply grateful that the strange glitch in my system - which had protected me
from Jane the last time we'd met - was still in effect. Edward's arm tightened around me.
"Well, it appears that there's not much left for us to do. Odd," Jane said, apathy creeping
back into her voice. "We're not used to being rendered unnecessary. It's too bad we missed
the fight. It sounds like it would have been entertaining to watch."
"Yes," Edward answered her quickly, his voice sharp. "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."
Jane met Edward's glare with unwavering eyes. "Yes. Quite a pity how things turned out,
isn't it?"
Edward nodded once to himself, his suspicions confirmed.
Jane turned to look at the newborn Bree again, her face completely bored. "Felix?" she
drawled.
"Wait," Edward interjected.
Jane raised one eyebrow, but Edward was staring at Carlisle while he spoke in an urgent
voice. "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," Carlisle answered. "We would certainly be prepared to take responsibility for
Bree."
Jane's expression was torn between amusement and disbelief.
"We don't make exceptions," she said. "And we don't give second chances. It's bad for our
reputation. Which reminds me . . ." Suddenly, her eyes were on me again, and her cherubic
face dimpled. "Caius will beso interested to hear that you're still human, Bella. Perhaps he'll
decide to visit."
"The date is set," Alice told Jane, speaking for the first time. "Perhaps we'll come to visit you
in a few months."
Jane's smile faded, and she shrugged indifferently, never looking at Alice. She turned to face
Carlisle. "It was nice to meet you, Carlisle - I'd thought Aro was exaggerating. Well, until we
meet again . . ."
Carlisle nodded, his expression pained.
"Take care of that, Felix," Jane said, nodding toward Bree, her voice dripping boredom. "I
want to go home."
"Don't watch," Edward whispered in my ear.
I was only too eager to follow his instruction. I'd seen more than enough for one day - more
than enough for one lifetime. I squeezed my eyes tightly together and turned my face into
Edward's chest.
But I could still hear.
There was a deep, rumbling growl, and then a high-pitched keen that was horribly familiar.
That sound cut off quickly, and then the only sound was a sickening crunching and snapping.
Edward's hand rubbed anxiously against my shoulders.
"Come," Jane said, and I looked up in time to see the backs of the tall gray cloaks drifting
away toward the curling smoke. The incense smell was strong again - fresh.
The gray cloaks disappeared into the thick mist.
26. ETHICS
THE COUNTER IN ALICE'S BATHROOM WAS COVERED WITHa thousand different
products, all claiming to beautify a person's surface. Since everyone in this house was both
perfect and impermeable, I could only assume that she'd bought most of these things with me
in mind. I read the labels numbly, struck by the waste.
I was careful never to look in the long mirror.
Alice combed through my hair with a slow, rhythmic motion.
"That's enough, Alice," I said tonelessly. "I want to go back to La Push."
How many hours had I waited for Charlie tofinally leave Billy's house so that I could see
Jacob? Each minute, not knowing if Jacob was still breathing or not, had seemed like ten
lifetimes. And then, when at last I'd been allowed to go, to see for myself that Jacob was
alive, the time had gone so quickly. I felt like I'd barely caught my breath before Alice was
calling Edward, insisting that I keep up this ridiculous sleepover façade. It seemed so
insignificant. . . .
"Jacob's still unconscious," Alice answered. "Carlisle or Edward will call when he's awake.
Anyway, you need to go see Charlie. He was there at Billy's house, he saw that Carlisle and
Edward are back in from their trip, and he's bound to be suspicious when you get home."
I already had my story memorized and corroborated. "I don't care. I want to be there when
Jacob wakes up."
"You need to think of Charlie now. You've had a long day - sorry, I know that doesn't begin
to cover it - but that doesn't mean that you can shirk your responsibilities." Her voice was
serious, almost chiding. "It's more important now than ever that Charlie stays safely in the
dark. Play your role first, Bella, and then you can do what you want second. Part of being a
Cullen is being meticulously responsible."
Of course she was right. And if not for this same reason - a reason that was more powerful
than all my fear and pain and guilt - Carlisle would never have been able to talk me into
leaving Jacob's side, unconscious or not.
"Go home," Alice ordered. "Talk to Charlie. Flesh out your alibi. Keep him safe."
I stood, and the blood flowed down to my feet, stinging like the pricks of a thousand needles.
I'd been sitting still for a long time.
"That dress is adorable on you," Alice cooed.
"Huh? Oh. Er - thanks again for the clothes," I mumbled out of courtesy rather than real
gratitude.
"You need the evidence," Alice said, her eyes innocent and wide. "What's a shopping trip
without a new outfit? It's very flattering, if I do say so myself."
I blinked, unable to remember what she'd dressed me in. I couldn't keep my thoughts from
skittering away every few seconds, insects running from the light. . . .
"Jacob is fine, Bella," Alice said, easily interpreting my preoccupation. "There's no hurry. If
you realized how much extra morphine Carlisle had to give him - what with his temperature
burning it off so quickly - you would know that he's going to be out for a while."
At least he wasn't in any pain. Not yet.
"Is there anything you want to talk about before you leave?" Alice asked sympathetically.
"You must be more than a little traumatized."
I knew what she was curious about. But I had other questions.
"Will I be like tha