either of you for something I made necessary. I may gain
forgiveness, but that doesnt let me escape the consequences.

I should have known youd find some way to blame yourself. Please stop. I cant stand it.

What would you like me to say?

 I want you to call me every bad name you can think of, in every language you know. I want you to tell
me that youre disgusted with me and that youre going to leave so that I can beg and grovel on my knees
for you to stay.

Im sorry. He sighed. I cant do that.

At least stop trying to make me feel better. Let me suffer. I deserve it.
No, he murmured.

I nodded slowly. Youre right. Keep on being too understanding. Thats probably worse.

He was silent for a moment, and I sensed a charge in the atmosphere, a new urgency.

Its getting close, I stated.

Yes, a few more minutes now. Just enough time to say one more thing. . . .

 I waited. When he finally spoke again, he was whispering. Ican be noble, Bella. Im not going to make
you choose between us. Just be happy, and you can have whatever part of me you want, or none at all, if
thats better. Dont let any debt you feel you owe me influence your decision.

I pushed off the floor, shoving myself up onto my knees.

Dammit, stop that! I shouted at him.

His eyes widened in surprise. No  you dont understand. Im not just trying to make you feel better,
Bella, I really mean it.

Iknow you do, I groaned. What happened to fighting back? Dont start with the noble self-sacrifice
now! Fight!

How? he asked, and his eyes were ancient with their sadness.

I scrambled into his lap, throwing my arms around him.

 I dont care that its cold here. I dont care that I stink like a dog right now. Make me forget how awful
I am. Make me forget him. Make me forget my own name. Fight back!

 I didnt wait for him to decide  or to have the chance to tell me he wasnt interested in a cruel,
faithless monster like me. I pulled myself against him and crushed my mouth to his snow-cold lips.

Careful, love, he murmured under my urgent kiss.

No, I growled.

He gently pushed my face a few inches back. You dont have to prove anything to me.

Im not trying to prove something. You said I could have any part of you I wanted. I want this part. I
wantevery part. I wrapped my arms around his neck and strained to reach his lips. He bent his head to
kiss me back, but his cool mouth was hesitant as my impatience grew more pronounced. My body was
making my intentions clear, giving me away. Inevitably, his hands moved to restrain me.

Perhaps this isnt the best moment for that, he suggested, too calm for my liking.

 Why not? I grumbled. There was no point in fighting if he was going to be rational; I dropped my
arms.
Firstly, because itis cold. He reached out to pull the sleeping bag off the floor; he wrapped it around
me like a blanket.

Wrong, I said. First, because you are bizarrely moral for a vampire.

 He chuckled. All right, Ill give you that. The cold is second. And thirdly . . . well, you do actually stink,
love.

He wrinkled his nose.

I sighed.

Fourthly, he murmured, dropping his face so that he was whispering in my ear. Wewill try, Bella. Ill
make good on my promise. But Id much rather it wasnt in reaction to Jacob Black.

I cringed, and buried my face against his shoulder.

And fifthly . . .

This is a very long list, I muttered.

He laughed. Yes, but did you want to listen to the fight or not?

As he spoke, Seth howled stridently outside the tent.

My body stiffened to the sound. I didnt 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.

 Its going to be fine, Bella, he promised. Weve got skill, training, and surprise on our side. It will be
over very soon. If I didnt truly believe that, I would be down there now  and youd 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.

Whats wrong? I demanded.

Hes just angry that hes stuck here with us. He knows the pack kept him out of the action to protect
him. Hes salivating to join them.

I scowled in Seths general direction.

 The newborns have reached the end of the trail  it worked like a charm, Jaspers a genius  and
theyve caught the scent of the ones in the meadow, so theyre splitting into two groups now, as Alice
said, Edward murmured, his eyes focused on something far away. Sams 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 Seths heavy panting just outside the tent wall, and I tried
to keep my lungs on the same even pace, so that I wouldnt hyperventilate.

The first group is in the clearing. We can hear the fighting.

My teeth locked together.

He laughed once. We can hear Emmett  hes enjoying himself.

I made myself take another breath with Seth.

The second group is getting ready  they arent paying attention, they havent heard us yet.

Edward growled.

What? I gasped.

 Theyre talking about you. His teeth clenched together. Theyre supposed to make sure you dont
escape. . . . Nice move, Leah! Mmm, shes quite fast, he murmured in approval. One of the newborns
caught our scent, and Leah took him down before he could even turn. Sams 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  dont let them protect each others backs.

Seth whined.

 Thats 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 wasnt down there.

The sudden absence of sound was the only warning.

The deep rush of Seths breathing cut off, and  as Id 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 wasnt 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 Edwards. They stared at each other with absolute concentration for one infinite second. The sun
shattered off Edwards skin and sent sparkles dancing across Seths 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 Edwards 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.

Id 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 didnt matter who heard his answer.

 Victoria, he said, spitting the word, making it a curse. Shes 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 didnt have to beboth.
Edward could survive this. He was a good fighter, as good as Jasper. If she didnt 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 hed 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 couldnt see the huge sandy wolf in my head
when I thought his name  just the gangly fifteen-year-old boy.

 Edwards 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 Id 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.

 Shed 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 wolfs 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 couldnt 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.

 Shes lying to you, Riley, Edward told him. Listen to me. Shes lying to you just like she lied to the
others who are dying now in the clearing. You know that shes 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 shes lied to you, too?

Confusion swept across Rileys face.

Edward shifted a few inches to the side, and Riley automatically compensated with an adjustment of his
own.

She doesnt love you, Riley. Edwards soft voice was compelling, almost hypnotic. She never has.
She loved someone named James, and youre no more than a tool to her.

 When he said Jamess name, Victorias 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 doesnt have to keep up the
pretense anymore. Yes  youve seen that, havent you? Youve read the reluctance in her eyes,
suspected a false note in her promises. You were right. Shes never wanted you. Every kiss, every touch
was a lie.

Edward moved again, moved a few inches toward the boy, a few inches away from me.

Victorias gaze zeroed in on the gap between us. It would take her less than a second to kill me  she
only needed the tiniest margin of opportunity.

Slower this time, Riley repositioned himself.

 You dont have to die, Edward promised, his eyes holding the boys. There are other ways to live
than the way shes shown you. Its not all lies and blood, Riley. You can walk away right now. You
dont have to die for her lies.

 Edward slid his feet forward and to the side. There was a foot of space between us now. Riley circled
too far, overcompensating this time. Victoria leaned forward onto the balls of her feet.

Last chance, Riley, Edward whispered.

Rileys face was desperate as he looked to Victoria for answers.

Hes the liar, Riley, Victoria said, and my mouth fell open in shock at the sound of her voice. I told
you about their mind tricks. You know I love only you.

Her voice was not the strong, wild, catlike growl I would have put with her face and stance. It was soft,
it was high  a babyish, soprano tinkling. The kind of voice that went with blond curls and pink bubble
gum. It made no sense coming through her bared, glistening teeth.

Rileys jaw tightened, and he squared his shoulders. His eyes emptied  there was no more confusion,
no more suspicion. There was no thought at all. He tensed himself to attack.

Victorias body seemed to be trembling, she was so tightly wound. Her fingers were ready claws,
waiting for Edward to move just one more inch away from me.

The snarl came from none of them.

A mammoth tan shape flew through the center of the opening, throwing Riley to the ground.

No! Victoria cried, her baby voice shrill with disbelief.

A yard and a half in front of me, the huge wolf ripped and tore at the blond vampire beneath him.
Something white and hard smacked into the rocks by my feet. I cringed away from it.

 Victoria did not spare one glance for the boy shed just pledged her love to. Her eyes were still on me,
filled with a disappointment so ferocious that she looked deranged.

No, she said again, through her teeth, as Edward started to move toward her, blocking her path to me.

 Riley was on his feet again, looking misshapen and haggard, but he was able to fling a vicious kick into
Seths shoulder. I heard the bone crunch. Seth backed off and started to circle, limping. Riley had his
arms out, ready, though he seemed to be missing part of one hand. . . .

Only a few yards away from that fight, Edward and Victoria were dancing.

 Not quite circling, because Edward was not allowing her to position herself closer to me. She sashayed
back, moving from side to side, trying to find a hole in his defense. He shadowed her footwork lithely,
stalking her with perfect concentration. He began to move just a fraction of a secondbefore she moved,
reading her intentions in her thoughts.

 Seth lunged at Riley from the side, and something tore with a hideous, grating screech. Another heavy
white chunk flew into the forest with a thud. Riley roared in fury, and Seth skipped back  amazingly
light on his feet for his size  as Riley took a swipe at him with one mangled hand.

 Victoria was weaving through the tree trunks at the far end of the little opening now. She was torn, her
feet pulling her toward safety while her eyes yearned toward me as if I were a magnet, reeling her in. I
could see the burning desire to kill warring with her survival instinct.

Edward could see that, too.

 Dont go, Victoria, he murmured in that same hypnotic tone as before. Youll never get another
chance like this.

She showed her teeth and hissed at him, but she seemed unable to move farther away from me.

 You can always run later, Edward purred. Plenty of time for that. Its what you do, isnt it? Its why
James kept you around. Useful, if you like to play deadly games. A partner with an uncanny instinct for
escaping. He shouldnt have left you  he could have used your skills when we caught up to him in
Phoenix.

A snarl ripped from between her lips.

 Thats all you ever were to him, though. Silly to waste so much energy avenging someone who had less
affection for you than a hunter for his mount. You were never more than a convenience to him. I would
know.

Edwards lips pulled up on one side as he tapped his temple.

 With a strangled screech, Victoria darted out of the trees again, feinting to the side. Edward responded,
and the dance began again.

 Just then, Rileys fist caught Seths flank, and a low yelp coughed out of Seths throat. Seth backed
away, his shoulders twitching as if he were trying to shake off the pain.

 Please,I wanted to plead with Riley, but I couldnt find the muscles to make my mouth open, to pull the
air up from my lungs.Please, hes just a child!

Why hadnt Seth run away? Why didnt he run now?

Riley was closing the distance between them again, driving Seth toward the cliff face beside me. Victoria
was suddenly interested in her partners fate. I could see her, from the corner of her eyes, judge the
distance between Riley and me. Seth snapped at Riley, forcing him back again, and Victoria hissed.

Seth wasnt limping anymore. His circling took him within inches of Edward; his tail brushed Edwards
back, and Victorias eyes bulged.

No, he wont turn on me, Edward said, answering the question in Victorias head. He used her
distraction to slide closer. You provided us with a common enemy. You allied us.

She clenched her teeth, trying to keep her focus on Edward alone.

Look more closely, Victoria, he murmured, pulling at the threads of her concentration. Is he really so
much like the monster James tracked across Siberia?

 Her eyes popped wide open, and then began flickering wildly from Edward to Seth to me, around and
around. Not the same? she snarled in her little girls soprano. Impossible!

 Nothing is impossible, Edward murmured, voice velvet soft as he moved another inch closer to her.
Except what you want. Youll never touch her.

 She shook her head, fast and jerky, fighting his diversions, and tried to duck around him, but he was in
place to block her as soon as shed thought of the plan. Her face contorted in frustration, and then she
shifted lower into her crouch, a lioness again, and stalked deliberately forward.

Victoria was no inexperienced, instinct-driven newborn. She was lethal. Even I could tell the difference
between her and Riley, and I knew that Seth wouldnt have lasted so long if hed been fightingthis
vampire.
Edward shifted, too, as they closed on each other, and it was lion versus lioness.

The dance increased in tempo.

 It was like Alice and Jasper in the meadow, a blurred spiraling of movement, only this dance was not as
perfectly choreographed. Sharp crunches and crackings reverberated off the cliff face whenever
someone slipped in their formation. But they were moving too fast for me to see who was making the
mistakes. . . .

 Riley was distracted by the violent ballet, his eyes anxious for his partner. Seth struck, crunching off
another small piece of the vampire. Riley bellowed and launched a massive backhanded blow that caught
Seth full in his broad chest. Seths huge body soared ten feet and crashed into the rocky wall over my
head with a force that seemed to shake the whole peak. I heard the breath whoosh from his lungs, and I
ducked out of the way as he rebounded off the stone and collapsed on the ground a few feet in front of
me.

A low whimper escaped through Seths teeth.

 Sharp fragments of gray stone showered down on my head, scratching my exposed skin. A jagged spike
of rock rolled down my right arm and I caught it reflexively. My fingers clenched around the long shard
as my own survival instincts kicked in; since there was no chance of flight, my body  not caring how
ineffectual the gesture was  prepared for a fight.

Adrenaline jolted through my veins. I knew the brace was cutting into my palm. I knew the crack in my
knuckle was protesting. I knew it, but I could not feel the pain.

 Behind Riley, all I could see was the twisting flame of Victorias hair and a blur of white. The increasingly
frequent metallic snaps and tears, the gasps and shocked hissings, made it clear that the dance was
turning deadly for someone.

Butwhich someone?

 Riley lurched toward me, his red eyes brilliant with fury. He glared at the limp mountain of sand-colored
fur between us, and his hands  mangled, broken hands  curled into talons. His mouth opened,
widened, his teeth glistening, as he prepared to rip out Seths throat.

A second kick of adrenaline hit like an electric shock, and everything was suddenly very clear.

 Both fights were too close. Seth was about to lose his, and I had no idea if Edward was winning or
losing. They needed help. A distraction. Something to give them an edge.

My hand gripped the stone spike so tightly that a support in the brace snapped.

Was I strong enough? Was I brave enough? How hard could I shove the rough stone into my body?
Would this buy Seth enough time to get back on his feet? Would he heal fast enough for my sacrifice to
do him any good?

I raked the point of the shard up my arm, yanking my thick sweater back to expose the skin, and then
pressed the sharp tip to the crease at my elbow. I already had a long scar there from my last birthday.
That night, my flowing blood had been enough to catch every vampires attention, to freeze them all in
place for an instant. I prayed it would work that way again. I steeled myself and sucked in one deep
breath.

Victoria was distracted by the sound of my gasp. Her eyes, holding still for one tiny portion of a second,
met mine. Fury and curiosity mingled strangely in her expression.

 I wasnt sure how I heard the low sound with all the other noises echoing off the stone wall and
hammering inside my head. My own heartbeat should have been enough to drown it out. But, in the split
second that I stared into Victorias eyes, I thought I heard a familiar, exasperated sigh.

In that same short second, the dance broke violently apart. It happened so quickly that it was over
before I could follow the sequence of events. I tried to catch up in my head.

Victoria had flown out of the blurred formation and smashed into a tall spruce about halfway up the tree.
She dropped back to the earth already crouched to spring.

Simultaneously, Edward  all but invisible with speed  had twisted backward and caught the
unsuspecting Riley by the arm. It had looked like Edward planted his foot against Rileys back, and
heaved 

The little campsite was filled with Rileys piercing shriek of agony.

At the same time, Seth leaped to his feet, cutting off most of my view.

 But I could still see Victoria. And, though she looked oddly deformed  as if she were unable to
straighten up completely  I could see the smile Id been dreaming of flash across her wild face.

She coiled and sprang.

 Something small and white whistled through the air and collided with her mid-flight. The impact sounded
like an explosion, and it threw her against another tree  this one snapped in half. She landed on her feet
again, crouched and ready, but Edward was already in place. Relief swelled in my heart when I saw that
he stood straight and perfect.

 Victoria kicked something aside with a flick of her bare foot  the missile that had crippled her attack.
It rolled toward me, and I realized what it was.

My stomach lurched.

 The fingers were still