When the graduation party finally came to an end—the last bit seemed at least five times as long as the first few hours—Edythe drove me home. Like Archie and Jessamine, she seemed almost jubilant, as did the rest of the Cullens.
I was more subdued. While everyone else was euphoric and seemed to feel like celebrating, I could only quietly brood on the evening's turn of events and what it would mean. I could feel the new fear creeping into my mind, slowly taking hold.
Jules and the rest of her werewolf sisters would be in this fight. Fighting for me—because if I just gave myself up, Forks wouldn't have to be in danger.
I knew Jules and the others were strong, and they knew how to fight. Not so long ago, they'd sent Lauren running and torn her to shreds like it was nothing. Yet when it came down to it, they were still inexperienced teenage girls, who only had real experience fighting one lone vampire, when they had the advantage of numbers. However, even combining forces with the Cullens, they would still be outnumbered.
I might have been able to take a little consolation in Edythe's confidence—I could tell this time it was real, true confidence, not a facade to keep me calm—except for one thing.
They all seemed confident none of the Cullens would be hurt, and maybe that would be true, with the wolves' help. But the fact was, for as good and kind as I knew the Cullens to be, I also knew the feud was such that they didn't much care about the dogs of the Quileute tribe. The Cullens were all experienced fighters, who had dealt with other vampires before—Jessamine especially knew what to expect with newborns. If someone were to get hurt in this fight, even killed, it would be the ones without that experience. And Jules and the others were just too young and reckless to realize their own peril.
If only I could do something to stop this from happening. Do what I needed to do...But as my eyes lifted to Edythe, sitting in the driver's seat, looking perfectly relaxed, even happy, I knew she would never let me.
"I'm going with you tonight," I said. I tried to keep my voice even, certain.
"You really need your sleep," Edythe said softly. "And besides, we've never done this before. Things might get...volatile. I don't want to risk seeing you get caught in the middle."
Now I was definitely determined to be there.
"You're all going, aren't you?" I said. "Are you going to leave me behind, alone? Anyway, if you won't take me, I can always call Jules. I know she will."
Edythe's eyes tightened slightly, and I knew that last part was a low blow. But I didn't care—no way was I going to be left out of it.
At last, Edythe sighed, and I knew she was resigning herself.
Inside my house, I found my my dad had fallen asleep on the couch in the front room, the television still going, though it was hard to hear over the sound of his snores.
I had to shake him a few times and talk loudly to wake him up—I was afraid he would throw out his back stepping like that—and managed to get him up to bed, where he collapsed on top of the covers still fully dressed, and immediately started snoring again.
I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and change into some jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. Then I headed back to my room, where Edythe was sitting in the rocking chair, waiting for me. Her eyes were watching me with concern.
I was starting to feel a bit spent, and I worried if I laid down on my bed, I might fall asleep and Edythe would sneak off without me—I wouldn't put it past her—so I stretched out a hand for hers, and when she took it, I led her over to the bed. She let me wrap my arms around her and pull her against my chest. However, after a minute when I started to shiver, she sighed and reached over to pull the quilt between us as a barrier.
She turned in my arms, then gazed up into my face. Her golden eyes were worried, and she reached up with a finger to stroke my cheek soothingly.
"I wish you would relax," she said softly. "This is going to work, Beau. Everything's going to be all right."
I tensed and looked away. I felt the heat creeping up my neck—anger. "What's going to happen to Jules and the others?" I muttered.
Edythe smiled. "They are going to have the time of their lives doing what they were born to do. Listen, Beau—it's going to be easy. We'll take them completely by surprise. These neophytes probably don't even know werewolves exist. I've also seen in Jessamine's mind how they act in a group, and I think the pack's hunting techniques will work flawlessly against them. Divided and confused...honestly, there probably won't be enough for the rest of us to do. Someone may be forced to sit out." She laughed a little.
I looked down at her evenly for a moment. "You really think so?" I asked seriously.
Edythe's steady gaze never broke from mine. "There's always some danger in a battle, Beau, but yes. These odds are very good."
I was quiet for a moment, my brow furrowing. Then I said suddenly, "If I ask you something, would you tell me the truth?"
Edythe's eyes were abruptly wary. "What is it?"
I glanced away briefly, then forced myself to look her right in the eye again. "None of you really care what happens to the wolves, do you?"
Edythe paused, gazing up into my face. I could see her weighing her response carefully.
At last she said, "The wolves have always been our enemies. Enmity is deeply ingrained. And for most of our family, the safety of our own is going to come first. Jessamine is certainly more concerned with keeping Archie and the rest of us safe, and I doubt she'd shed much of a tear, so to speak, if some of the wolves fell in the fight."
I didn't say anything. I was barely breathing.
"That being said," Edythe continued earnestly, "Carine made the treaty in the first place because she hates seeing others hurt, and she would be deeply pained to see any of them lost. And I...I would hate to see any of them hurt because I know how much it would hurt you."
I looked down into her face for a minute, then I nodded slowly once.
"That's the truth," Edythe said. "And so there's really nothing to worry about. If I thought there was much chance of those dogs—I mean, the wolves—getting themselves into real danger, I'd be more concerned. But they're a lot more competent then I think you seem to realize, Beau. So...try to relax. It's all going to work out."
I nodded again, wrapping my arms more securely around her and resting my chin on the top of her head. I found I did a feel a little calmer. And yet...Edythe's words, There's always some danger in a battle, came back to me, and stuck there in my mind like bits of tar.
Maybe the odds weren't so bad—but once they all got out there, anything could happen. It was still dangerous. Even Edythe, the fastest in the Cullen family, and potentially the most difficult to defeat because she could never be taken by surprise—even she might get hurt if the circumstances came together just wrong. Her ability might even make her inclined to overexert herself. If she saw one of her family was in danger, she would thoughtlessly throw herself in the way, I knew she would. And if that happened, very possibly, she would...
I felt suddenly cold all over, and it had nothing to do with Edythe's icy form in my arms, whose chill I could still feel even though the quilt. No. I couldn't even let myself think the thought.
My thoughts raced in my head, going in circles at dizzying speeds, and kept me from falling asleep. I didn't realize how much time had passed until I felt Edythe stand and tug me gently to my feet beside her.
"You can still stay and sleep," she said with a smile. "It's not too late. It'll probably be boring anyway."
I redoubled my grip on her hand. "Yeah, right."
"Worth a try," she murmured, sighing, then turned away from me so I could climb onto her back. Once I had my arms wrapped securely around her waist, and she had a hold of my legs, she launched herself from my open window.
She raced through the black, quiet forest, the trees so dark around us the only indication of just how fast we were going was the air whipping against my face, blowing back my hair.
When we reached the large open field, Edythe slowed, and as my eyes finally adjusted, I could see her family congregated out there, talking casually, relaxed. I heard Eleanor's loud laugh drift back to us. I scanned the space, wondering why it looked so familiar—then I realized when I'd seen it before.
It was the baseball clearing. The one where, a year before, Edythe had brought me to watch her family play baseball, but were interrupted when Joss, Victor, and Lauren had showed up. Things had started out fairly cordial, then quickly went south.
Thinking of Victor again made me shiver. However, at the thought I blinked, then glanced down at Edythe.
"Hey," I said. "You know, I've been thinking."
Edythe smiled. "Have you?"
I hesitated.
Edythe sighed, a touch exasperated. "If you want me to know what it is, I'm afraid you'll have to tell me."
I paused. "See, Edythe, the thing is." I shook my head, then turned my eyes to look down at her. "We know there are newborns coming to get me...you thought it might be the Volturi and Sulpicia. But if it's not her, who's the other most likely suspect? Who do we know who's been wanting me dead?"
Edythe regarded me silently for a moment. "Victor?" she said at last.
I nodded. "I think he might be behind this conspiracy. When you were trying to track him last year...did you go south, by any chance?"
Edythe seemed to understand what I was driving at. "Yes," she said. "In fact, I spent some time in Texas. Are you saying...you think when Victor went there, he might have picked up an idea or two?"
I nodded again. "Yeah. But unlike Miguel and Jessamine, Victor has no clue what he's doing. It's just that a newborn army was his only way to get at you—at me."
Edythe shook her head. "But how would you explain Victor knowing how Archie's power works? Only Sulpicia would know that."
"But Tanvir and your other friends know how Archie's power works, don't they?" I pointed out. "And Lauren spent months with them. Ivan could have told her anything. And Lauren obviously didn't have a problem doing Victor a favor or two. Whatever she learned from Ivan, she could have passed along."
Edythe considered for a long moment.
"Hmm," she said at last. "Well, I suppose the vampire in your room could be a newborn Victor created, as it wasn't him himself—but it would have to have been more mature than the others, or it wouldn't have left Charlie alive."
She considered a moment more. "Well, I'm still leaning toward Sulpicia and the Volturi. But—I could see where something like this would suit Victor perfectly. He could create a newborn army to send barreling at us, and even though he would probably expect us to win in the end, he could count on the army to whittle down our numbers. Maybe he would even want us to destroy them all, and be ready to kill any of the survivors himself anyway, in order to eliminate all who could bear witness against him to the Volturi. It would be quite an ingenious plan—for him, anyway."
Edythe was lost in thought for a long minute, then she blinked and came back to reality. "Perhaps," she said. "It's certainly possible. But for now, until we can find out for certain, we will have to be prepared for anything."
Edythe gazed out into the dark forest, and something subtly changed in her expression. Her golden eyes seemed to burn.
"Victor," she said, almost to herself, spitting the name with such intensity and loathing that it made me glance down at her, startled.
She continued in a velvet murmur, "What I wouldn't give to run into him again. To have his neck between my hands, so that I might finally put an end to him myself...Along with all others who ever threatened you."
The dark, hard look sent a shiver down my spine. But more than that, the idea of Edythe fighting Victor—or being anywhere near Victor—made me feel sick with dread.
We finally reached the others and came to a stop. Everyone seemed to be in a fairly good mood—all except Archie, who did not seem to be his usual annoyingly chipper self. Instead, he was standing with his arms folded, his expression brooding as he watched Jessamine, who was stretching out her arms slowly, as though warming up for a sport.
I noticed Jessamine was dressed a little differently than usual. Like all the Cullens, she always dressed in pale, muted colors, nondescript white shirts or light blue jeans, the kind of things that didn't draw much attention. However, right now she was dressed entirely in black. It could have almost passed as a uniform of some kind, except that the shirt was sleeveless, and I knew if I had vampire sight—or maybe wolf sight—the scars on her arms and neck would be especially visible. She was standing with a different posture than usual, too. Back straight, head held high and straight with almost a military-style discipline—She was...intimidating. That was the only word for it. Apparently she was getting into her role as battle instructor.
However, though Archie was looking in her direction, his gaze didn't seem really focused on her.
I glanced at him again, then back at Edythe. I muttered in a low voice, "Everything okay? Archie looks kind of...not happy about something."
Edythe shrugged and laughed a little. "Don't worry about him. The wolves are on their way, so he's blind at the moment. He doesn't know what's going to happen. It makes him edgy."
Archie was standing furthest from us, but as soon as Edythe spoke, he rolled his eyes in our direction, then stuck his tongue out at her. Edythe only smiled back.
"Hey there, Beau-man," Eleanor called out to me. "You going to be doing some sparring, too?"
"Maybe," I said with a nonchalant shrug.
Edythe scowled at her. "Eleanor," she grumbled. "Don't give him ideas."
Carine turned to Edythe. "How close are our guests to arriving?"
Edythe had to concentrate for a moment. "I'd say a minute and a half." She sighed. "But it looks like I'll be doing the translating tonight. They don't feel safe enough to use their human forms, so they're all coming as wolves."
Carine nodded. "More than understandable. This is very difficult for them."
This brought me up short. They were all coming as wolves. As much as Jules and I talked about it and even joked around about it, I'd only seen Jules in her wolf form twice. Once in the meadow with Lauren, and once more by the road when Paula had lost it. Both times had left me shaking on the ground, nearly incapacitated with panic. Coming face-to-face with a snarling wolf, its coiled, powerful form and jagged, tearing teeth would be enough to scare just about anyone spitless, but when you were dealing with wolves as big or bigger than a horse, a bear...there was some instinctual part of the psyche that couldn't help but recoil in absolute, paralyzing terror. I felt my mouth go dry.
Edythe was studying my expression, warily at first, as though afraid of scaring me. However, the look was suddenly replaced by a gleam, as though something had occurred to her she didn't particularly mind.
Before I could try to figure it out, she turned away from me, turning instead toward Carine and the others.
"Hmm," she said mildly, gazing out into the forest. "It seems they've been holding out on us...You might all want to prepare yourselves."
Archie frowned, and said what everyone else was thinking. "And that means what, exactly?"
Edythe didn't reply, only gazed out into the darkness.
I blinked, and when I looked again, the informal circle had changed to a loose line, with Jessamine standing at its spear point, flanked on either side by Royal and Eleanor—the most physically intimidating of the family. Only Edythe remained a little separate from the others, staying a step back with me.
I squinted toward the forest where the rest of them were looking, but I couldn't seem to make anything out.
I heard Eleanor swear under her breath, and there was tension in every line of Royal's body language. Even Carine seemed unnerved. I squinted harder.
"The pack has grown," Edythe murmured, answering my unspoken question.
Of course I already knew that—I thought I'd told Edythe Quil had joined the pack, though I couldn't remember now. However, as my eyes caught sight of a row of glittering eyes—slowly advancing on us through the darkness—as I started to count them, I did a double-take and counted them again. But no, I'd counted right—there were more than there should be. Instead of six pairs of eyes, there were ten.
"Interesting," Edythe murmured.
Carine took a slow, deliberate step forward. A careful movement, meant to reassure.
"Welcome," she said, and though she only spoke in a normal volume, I knew the wolves, still invisible in the shadows of the trees, would have no trouble hearing. "We are glad that you are here."
"Thank you." I was startled to hear Edythe was speaking beside me, but not her usual voice. Her tone was flat and devoid of emotion, and I realized she was speaking for Samantha. I scanned the line of eyes, but I couldn't seem to find which of the wolves was the big black one.
Edythe continued in the same even, detached voice, "We will watch and listen. But no more."
Carine's eyes remained on the line of wolves and she said graciously, "That will be more than enough. My daughter Jessamine—" She extended a hand to indicate Jessamine, who stood tense and ready— "has experience in this area. She will teach us how to fight, and how to defeat them."
"How are they different from you?" Edythe asked for Sam.
"These are new ones we will be fighting," Carine answered. "Unlike an older member of our kind, they will use little in the way of skill or strategy, and instead will rely primarily on brute strength. Tonight, their numbers stand at twenty—ten for us and ten for you. And those numbers may decrease, due to in-fighting. In all likelihood, it will not be difficult—but there are certainly key things to be aware of."
"When and how will they arrive?" Edythe asked in Sam's flat voice.
"They will come across the mountains," Carine answered. "In the late morning, four days from now. As they draw nearer, Archie will help us intercept their path."
"Thank you for this information," Edythe answered for Sam. "We will observe."
That was all Sam was going to say, and I watched as, with a sighing sound, all the eyes sank closer to the ground, one set at a time, as they all settled in to watch.
There was silence for two heartbeats, and then Jessamine stepped out, into the yawning empty space between the vampires and the werewolves. In spite of the darkness, the pale glow of her white skin in the gloom made her clearly visible. I noticed Jessamine's eyes flicker briefly to meet Edythe's. Edythe nodded once, very slightly, and Jessamine stiffly turned her back on the werewolves. Though she seemed far from comfortable with the arrangements, when she spoke her voice was calm, and she proceeded as though the quadrupedal audience behind her wasn't there.
"Carine is right," she said. "These will not be skilled fighters we face. They will fight primarily on instinct, like children, and attack you head-on. When fighting them, there are really only two simple principles to always remember—never allow one to get his arms around you, and second, never go for the obvious kill. That is the one thing they will be prepared for. But if you come at them from the side and keep moving, that will leave them too confused to respond effectively."
Jessamine's eyes flickered. "Eleanor," she said. "Would you step forward?"
Eleanor swaggered out of the line, cracking her knuckles. Jessamine backed toward the north end of the clearing, while Eleanor took up a position opposite.
"Eleanor will go first," Jessamine said. "Because she relies primarily on strength in a fight, her style of attack will be the most similar to that of a newborn."
Eleanor stretched out her arms in front of her, rotating her shoulders, and springing lightly on her feet, readying herself for a fight. "Hey, Jess, I really hope that wasn't you just calling me a newbie. Because I could end up rearranging your face by accident."
The corner of Jessamine's lips twitched in an almost-smile, before settling back into one carefully blank, devoid of emotion. "A newborn attack will always be straightforward," she said evenly. "Easy to predict, relying entirely on speed and power. So, Eleanor...go for the easy kill."
"You asked for it," Eleanor muttered, bending forward, her face suddenly serious and determined.
Jessamine backed up a few more paces, her posture mirroring Eleanor's as she readied herself for the fight. "All right, Eleanor," she said. "Try to get me."
Then Jessamine disappeared. She moved so fast she was no more than a blur, with the substance of a ghost. Eleanor sped toward Jessamine like a bullet. In a instant they were inches apart, Eleanor's hands a blur as again and again she reached to seize Jessamine. But Jessamine seemed to weave in and out of Eleanor's every move like water. Next to me, Edythe was leaned forward, her eyes following the battle closely. Then Eleanor froze.
Jessamine was behind her—so small and slight next to Eleanor's tall, female body-builder physique—her teeth an inch from Eleanor's throat.
Eleanor swore.
There was a muttered rumble of appreciation from the wolf audience.
Eleanor's smile was gone. "One more time," she insisted.
"Everyone will go once first," Jessamine answered. Her eyes flickered once over the line of Cullens, before coming to rest on Edythe. "Your turn," she said.
My grip on Edythe's hand tightened, but Edythe rubbed my fingers soothingly, and I had no choice but to let go.
In a moment, Edythe was standing in the clearing, opposite Jessamine. She bent forward slightly, and though she didn't have Elearnor's swagger, I could see the same eagerness for the fight in her glittering eyes.
Before calling the start, Jessamine's eyes turned to me. "This will be good for you to see," she said. "I know how you worry."
They both began at exactly the same moment. Edythe was a blur across the field as she tore straight for Jessamine. However, at the last moment, she feinted to the left, at the same time as Jessamine.
This fight was something else to watch—Edythe was a little faster than Jessamine, but Jessamine had a century of experience that allowed her to use moves Edythe may never have fought before. However, though Jessamine seemed to be trying to settle into fighting purely on instinct, her thoughts always seemed to give her away at the last moment, and Edythe would pull away and launch her own strike.
While they fought, Archie casually sidled up beside me, resting an arm on my shoulder.
"Some battle, huh?" he said. "Like I told you before. Even Edythe has trouble going up against experience like my Jessamine's, and if Jessamine really got serious, I doubt things would end up in Edythe's favor."
I felt my stomach tighten, but before I could respond, he went on.
"But, that says more about Jess than about Edythe. If you had to pick the fighters from our coven you really didn't want to go up against, Edy would definitely be one of them. Trust me, for someone to hold their own against Edy, they have to have the experience to fight purely on instinct—like, a hundred years worth of experience. Also probably about have to have a heads-up on what kind of power she's got, which most besides us don't—and they don't stand a chance. So Jess is right. You really don't need to worry about Edythe."
My eyes were still riveted to the fight, the both of them moving too fast for me to really follow what they were doing. I knew Archie was right, but even so, every time I saw Jessamine lunge at Edythe, I felt my stomach lurch. In a few days, that would be real enemies— vampires who really did want to kill her.
Archie casually leaned close, and he said in my ear, so low the words were barely audible, "Oh by the way, I know what you're planning."
I glanced back toward the middle of the clearing, but Edythe was wholly absorbed in the fight with Jessamine and evidently didn't hear.
Archie went on, more quietly still, "Seriously, give it up already. You playing the hero isn't going to help anything—even if you did give yourself up and they got you, we'd all fight just the same. I'll warn you now, man—keep on this line of thought, so help me, I will tell Edy. And trust me, you don't want me to do that."
I gazed out across the field at Edythe, a barely visible blur as she went after Jessamine. Archie was right, Edythe would probably go ballistic if she knew what I would do if only I had the power. And he was also right that even if I did, it probably wouldn't do a bit of good. If I was right, and it was Victor behind all this—he'd keep coming after Edythe no matter what happened to me. And yet, when it came to helping both my families, it was the only possible thing I could do. Otherwise, I was absolutely powerless.
Archie frowned at me. "Just think about that," he said as he pulled away.
The fight continued for another minute or two, with neither fighter gaining the upper hand. At last, Carine intervened, declaring a draw.
Jessamine called Earnest next, then Royal, then Carine. Just like with Eleanor, Jessamine was clearly the faster, far more able combatant, and she won each with seeming ease. However, many times she would momentarily slow down to point out a particular move or form of approach she was using.
Edythe, who had returned to my side, watched everything was rapt attention. She wasn't just watching the fights, I guessed, but also absorbing Jessamine's thoughts as well.
"Well," Archie said as Carine left to go stand with the others again. "I guess it's my turn." He casually sauntered forward to stand in the clearing, looking perfectly relaxed. He grinned at Jessamine.
"The final showdown," he said in a deep, dramatic movie-commentator voice. "Who will emerge victorious?"
Jessamine didn't respond, her expression one of set concentration.
Even before I'd ever seen Jessamine in action, I'd thought she looked tough. She was almost always quiet and inconspicuous, yet when you actually took time to focus on her, it seemed like a martial-artist kind of quiet—a silent confidence she could take down twenty guys if she had to, so fast and so quiet she'd already have it done and be long gone before you even noticed.
On the other hand, looking at Archie, forever relaxed with a bit of an artsy vibe, it was hard to see him presenting much of a threat to Jessamine. Plus, I doubted Archie could bring himself to really go after Jessamine like an enemy. By contrast, Jessamine didn't look as though she would have any such problem.
Flashing a grin, Archie said, "Go easy on me, Jess, won't you?"
Jessamine's even expression flickered for the first time. She almost smiled, her face somehow at once affectionate and slightly irritated. "I would never treat any opponent with such disrespect," she said softly. "Especially you."
Archie sighed dramatically. "Guess you're right. I'll give it my best then, too." He brought one hand out of his pocket. However, the arm dangled limply at his side, while the other hand remained in his pocket and his spine stayed straight. He closed his eyes.
Jessamine did not answer. Instead, she instantly sank into a crouch, her face settling into the blank mask of a predator. She stalked left at first, then right. Suddenly, before I was ready for it, she sprung, turning into a blur as she attacked—she really wasn't holding back.
She reappeared just behind Archie, their backs to each other. Archie was standing there with his eyes closed, and didn't appear to have moved. Maybe I'd been wrong—maybe Jessamine couldn't bring herself to lay a hand on Archie, either.
Jessamine turned on the spot and disappeared again, once again reappearing on Archie's opposite side. Archie was still standing there, hand casually in his pocket.
I squinted into the darkness, watching carefully. And then I realized I'd been missing it—Archie wasn't doing nothing. Rather, every time Jessamine struck at him, he moved just enough to evade the attack, and then instantly moved back into place.
Jessamine began to attack in earnest, striking out with her arms, thrusting and spearing as though she wielded a pair of swords, at such dizzying speeds my eyes couldn't keep up.
Archie, eyes still closed, wove in and out of every attack like it was nothing. Before, I'd thought the way Jessamine dodged attacks made her look like water—but she was nothing compared to Archie. Archie moved in and out of every attack with such grace and fluidity he was beyond water. There were moments I was sure he was no more substantial than a breath of smoke.
At last, I heard Archie chuckle and abruptly he was behind Jessamine, an arm around her waist, and he bent to briefly touch his lips to her throat.
"And I think that's checkmate," he said, in a low affectionate voice.
I thought Jessamine would be angry or further annoyed, but she only smiled, the first real smile during this session. "You really are a monster," she said, shaking her head.
"One of my good points," Archie said with a grin.
"Wow," I muttered, still staring at the place Archie had stood even as he loped out of the clearing, and Eleanor went in for another go.
Edythe nodded. "Jessamine can combat my mind reading a little—she's been fighting so long she can almost fight without thinking. But there's nothing she can do about Archie. He can see her every move whether she thinks about it or not."
I nodded. "What happens when you and Archie spar then?"
Edythe smiled a little. "It's always come to a draw. Even though Archie can beat Jessamine that way and I can't, he can see the future of what I'm going to do, and I immediately see what he sees of what I'm going to do, so neither of us can get the upper hand."
"Couldn't you fight without making decisions?" I asked curiously. "Like, fight on instinct? Or make snap decisions?"
Edythe shook her head. "That's what Jessamine was trying to do just now, the same thing she was doing with me, with partial success. But the problem with Archie's power is that even deciding I won't make conscious decisions is a decision, and Archie foresees the result of that."
I shook my head. "Wow," I muttered again.
The wolves reacted to this fight. I'd heard rumbling growls of interest or appreciation at one particular move or another, especially during Jessamine and Edythe's fight, but at Archie's performance, the responding murmuring growls seemed almost wary.
"Maybe they'll learn some respect," Edythe murmured, amused as she glanced in their direction.
I nodded. Except, Archie's power didn't work on the wolves. If they were trying to work with the wolves, would that compromise his power in the fight?
I was really beginning to feel the lost rest now—it was approaching a solid twenty-four hours since I'd last slept, and on top of that, I hadn't been sleeping all that well lately anyway. My eyelids began to droop, and I was starting to feel dead on my feet.
Edythe noticed, and she wrapped an arm around my waist, letting me lean against her for support. "We're almost done," she said in my ear.
She was right, as Jessamine turned to face the wolves for the first time. Her posture was stiff, alert and on guard as she said, "We will be doing this once again tomorrow night. Please feel free to come back and observe again."
"Yes," Edythe replied in Samantha's cool, even voice. "We will be here."
Edythe squeezed my hand briefly, then gently pulled from my grip. She turned to her family.
"The pack believes it would be useful to familiarize themselves with our individual scents, to avoid making any mistakes later," she said. "It will make it easier if we all hold very still."
"Of course," Carine answered Samantha. "Whatever you need."
Another growling muttering sound went through the pack, and they sounded anything but thrilled. However, I saw their glittering eyes rise as they each got to their feet.
My eyes flickered toward the east, and I noticed the sky was just beginning to lighten. Though the sun had not yet breached the horizon, I could see its glow reflected faintly off the clouds, just beyond the mountains.
My eyes returned to the forest, and I realized now I could just make out the dark shapes of the wolves as they approached. I could even make out the different colors of their fur.
My exhaustion forgotten, I stared at them.
A great black wolf was in the lead—Sam, of course. Unbelievably huge, powerful, capable of tearing vampires to pieces.
The entire pack emerged from the dark forest, one by one, and they seemed to blot out the sky with their vast forms.
I felt a shiver down my spine, and though rationally I knew these beasts were all girls I knew, and they were no danger to me, the instinct to run was hard to fight. My heart was pounding, sweat had broken out on my palms.
Edythe still stood with her family, but her eyes watched me, with an expression I couldn't quite place. Curious, evaluating...calculating?
Samantha first approached Carine, the rest of the pack following in a rigid line. Jessamine was tense, her eyes carefully watching the wolves' every move, but Eleanor was grinning and looked as though she were enjoying herself.
Sam's entire body was rigid as she bent her head to Carine, and I couldn't tell if that was because she was on alert for an attack or because she could barely stand the smell. She didn't relax as she slowly moved on to Jessamine.
My eyes moved to study the wolves. I saw chocolate brown—that was Quil. Among them I noticed a rather large gray one—I thought she might be even bigger than Sam. The hackles on the back of her neck was raised, and she looked more aggressive than the others, muzzle pulled back from her teeth in a silent snarl. There was another near the back with fur the color of desert sand, smaller than the rest, and I thought, unlike the others, seemed more just nervous than hostile.
My eyes went back to the front of the procession, and my gaze rested on the the large wolf following second, just behind Sam. That wolf had shaggy, rust-colored fur, and walked with a casual, almost unconcerned air that stood out from all the others.
Perhaps the wolf felt my gaze, because at that moment, she turned to look at me with familiar black eyes.
My mind was having a kind of disconnect, from the giant, powerful creature standing behind the black wolf, and the girl I knew, my best friend. But I knew they were the same. I could only stare with wonder, a kind of morbid fascination.
The wolf's muzzle opened, pulling back to reveal rows razor sharp teeth—which would have been menacing, if her tongue hadn't also lolled out the side in a playful, dog-like grin.
I couldn't help it. I grinned back, and suddenly had the stupidest urge to find something chewable to wave to get her to come over. I wondered if she would be up for a game of fetch, or if she would just be thinking what an idiot I was.
Almost as though Jules could read what I was thinking, she left her place in line and approached, ignoring the eyes of the rest of the pack as they followed her, and ignoring Edythe and Archie standing a little ways away. She came to a stop not two feet from me.
I half expected Edythe to leap in front of me to block Jules—she had an overprotective streak a mile long, and I doubted facing giant wolves was an activity she found very acceptable—but Edythe didn't move. She only stood where she was, watching us carefully with an unfathomable expression.
Jules crouched down on her front legs, dropping her large head until our eyes were perfectly level. I tried to read the expression in her dark eyes, and I thought she was measuring my reaction. Just like in the kitchen with the knife, she wanted to see if I was freaked out by what she was, what she was capable of—maybe she needed to find out if everything I said about not caring if she was a werewolf was all just talk.
"Jules?" I said in a low voice, and I know my voice shook slightly at the end.
There was a deep rumble in her chest, almost like a chuckle.
I reached out a hand, slowly, cautiously, until my slightly shaking fingers touched the deep red-brown fur on the side of her head. As soon as I made contact, my hand was suddenly steady.
The black eyes closed, and Jules leaned her enormous head into my hand. A thrumming hum of satisfaction vibrated against my skin. If she'd been a giant cat instead, I had no doubt the sound would have come out a purr.
Curiously, I ran my fingers through the fur, taking note of the texture, which was somehow soft and rough at the same time. My hand moved along down to the neck next, where the color of the fur deepened, and I automatically scratched it like I might have a dog's.
I hadn't quite realized how close I had drifted until Jules, drawing her wolf face close to mine, abruptly licked me from jaw to hairline.
"Agh!" I exclaimed, jumping back. I wiped my face with my hand, then stared down at my palm, now sodden with spit. "Seriously, Jules? You have no class."
Jules gave a coughing bark through her teeth, which sounded a lot like laughter.
I stared back at her with feigned indignation for a second, before my mouth suddenly split into a grin. I reached over to wipe my hand off on her fur. "That was nasty," I said. "I'll pay you back for that." However, I was laughing.
It was then I suddenly remembered we were in a clearing full of vampires and werewolves, and I realized every pair of eyes was on us. The Cullens were observing us with looks that ranged from perplexed to disgusted. The wolves had all frozen and turned to gape at us, the way a dog suddenly stops when it sees a squirrel, or something else it would probably like to chase and maim. I didn't need to be able to read the expressions on their inhuman faces to tell they weren't much happier with the odd scene than the vampires.
Edythe was watching us too, brow furrowed slightly, but otherwise her expression smooth. Our eyes met briefly, then she looked away.
Jules made the laughing-barking sound again.
The others wolves were backing away now, their eyes never moving from the Cullens. Jules didn't move from my side, and instead simply watched them go. They vanished into the murky forest—all except two, who lingered by the trees watching Jules, their postures radiating anxiety.
Edythe who, along with the rest of the Cullens, had been watching the wolves, turned away when they were gone. Ignoring Jules entirely, in a moment she was at my other side. She took my hand.
"Ready to go?" she asked.
I was about to answer, but then Edythe's gaze raised above me to look at Jules. A slight crease formed in her brow.
"No, we haven't quite worked out all the details yet," she said, answering some thought from Jules. "We can get to that once our plans are more concrete."
Jules made a low growl that almost sounded like a grumble.
Edythe's face remained smooth, but her mouth tightened slightly. "I don't know...There are so many factors. It isn't as simple as that. Don't worry—I'll make certain it's safe."
"What?" I asked, looking to Edythe. "What is it?"
"It's nothing," Edythe said lightly. "Just discussing a point of strategy."
Jules looked between our faces for a moment, then she slowly backed away from me.
I watched her, confused. Then she closed her eyes and took a deep, growling breath, and before my eyes, I watched her wolf form shift and change. She seemed to shrink, growing more compact, as though pulling her body back into itself. The fur disappeared, the long snout shortened into a russet face.
Then the wolf was gone, and it was Jules standing there, dressed in a tight black undershirt and biking shorts, feet bare against the cold ground. Her eyes opened and she grinned.
"Wow," I said, gaping at her. "That was..."
"Awesome?" she inserted.
"I was really going for weird, but I guess that works, too."
Jules's grin widened. Then her eyes returned to Edythe and she was all business.
"Okay, if that won't work, how about he stays on the reservation? We're making Carol and Brittany stay behind anyway."
I frowned, suspicious. "Are you two talking about me?"
Jules's eyes shifted to me. "I'm trying to find out where you're going to be during the fight."
Edythe nodded slowly. "She's right, clearly you can't stay in Forks. On the chance someone slipped by us, they'd go right to you."
I felt something icy slowly crawl down into my stomach. The faces of all my friends and neighbors flashed through my mind as they had yesterday, and one face stood out from the rest.
"What about Charlie?" I asked, trying to keep the panic from my voice. "If they got past you and went there..."
"Don't worry," Jules said reassuringly. "It'll be Saturday. There's a game. Bonnie will get him up to our place no matter what she has to do."
"Besides," Edythe added, "getting you away will only be a precaution. As I said, there probably won't be enough of them to keep us entertained."
"So what about La Push?" Jules insisted again. "We can keep him there, can't we?"
Edythe hesitated, then slowly shook her head. "Beau has been there too much—his scent is all over the place. Whoever it is behind all this could decide to make a move while we're preoccupied taking care of the newborns. It would be better if he was somewhere he would be difficult to find—somewhere he has not been frequently, just in case. We must take every precaution."
Jules considered that, then her gaze drifted to the east, to the deep forest of the vast expanse of the Olympic Mountains.
"Yes," Edythe said slowly, "we could hide him there. Except—his scent is too strong. They would follow him wherever we took him. Even if I carried him so he never touched the ground, he would still leave a trace, and even though our scents are all over the range, his combined with mine would be like a beacon, leading them right to him if they happened to cross the trail."
Jules gave an involuntary shiver at the thought, then chewed her lip, trying to think.
"Okay," she muttered. "Okay, but...so...what if..." Her face lit up suddenly, as she hit upon another idea. "Hey," she said. "Our scent disgusts you, right?"
I expected Edythe to immediately shoot down whatever she was thinking, but to my surprise, she was quiet for a moment. At last, she said thoughtfully, "You know, that might just work. We can try, at least."
Edythe turned, calling lightly, "Jessamine?"
Jessamine, who was standing with Archie, turned in our direction. She approached cautiously, Archie a half-step behind. He was frowning again.
"Okay," Jules said, clapping her hands together. "Let's do it." She turned her back to me and gestured—as though for me to climb on.
I glanced back at Edythe, now thoroughly confused and suspicious.
Edythe's expression was composed. "We're going to see if her scent can effectively mask yours," she explained. "Your scent is more potent to me, so it will be a more accurate test for Jessamine to attempt to track you."
I had sort of figured it was something like that, but still I hesitated. I had definitely not forgotten the episode outside Jules's house, and I wasn't sure I wanted to get that close again. Who knew what she might try to pull.
"Come on, we don't have all day," Jules said, rolling her eyes. "Or did you want to go wolf-back?"
At this, I thought about how high off the ground I would be, and the high probability I would lose my grip and fall off.
Grumbling to myself, I carefully climbed onto her back, reluctantly wrapping an arm around her neck and gripping her shoulder, and she reached up to grip my knees. I had to admit, we were a better size-match than when I rode on Edythe's back this way, and I didn't feel quite so huge, but Jules was still wiry, and it didn't feel like she should be able to hoist me up like I weighed ten pounds, as she seemed to be doing now. She readjusted her hold on my legs, then took off at leisurely lope toward the woods.
Jules didn't try to talk to me, for which I was grateful. My chest pressed up against her back and my head next to hers felt too intimate, and I turned my face deliberately away, gazing out into the dark woods as they rushed by us. I concentrated on the quiet sound of her even breathing, and I realized I could feel a slow, rhythmic thudding against my chest, though I couldn't tell if it was my heart or hers.
We didn't go far. She made a wide arc though the forest, then re-emerged into the clearing from a different direction, perhaps half a football field away from where we'd left. Edythe was standing there alone, perfectly still.
"You can let me down now," I said, pushing away from her back and trying to pull my legs free.
Jules shot me a grin over her shoulder. "Let's not chance messing up the experiment...Unless you want another go?"
I scowled, and she laughed.
Jules came to a stop about a dozen feet from where Edythe stood, where she finally let me down.
Still annoyed and without looking at Jules, I quickly returned to Edythe's side. I glanced back, and noticed Archie and Jessamine had suddenly reappeared just beside us, as though they'd never gone.
Jules approached, looking relaxed and casual. "Well?" she asked.
"A success," Jessamine murmured.
"No question," Archie said, pinching his nose. "As long as you don't touch anything, they won't want to get close enough to that to catch your trail. Trust me."
"And," Jessamine added quietly, a sudden spark in her eye, "it gave me an idea."
Archie put a hand on her shoulder. "Which will work," he said, flashing a grin.
"Hmm," Edythe said, looking appreciative. "Very good. I like that."
Jules sighed and rolled her eyes to look at me. "Do they always do that?" she wondered.
"You mean have only half a conversation aloud so you have no idea what they're talking about?" I answered. "All the time."
Edythe ignored Jules and turned back to me. "We're going to have you leave a false trail, right to the clearing where we'll be waiting for them. It will work, Archie has seen it. When they catch our scent, they'll split up and try to come at us from two sides. Half will come around at us, and we won't have a problem with them. The other half go through the forest—Archie can't see what happens to them then, but I think it's a fair guess."
Edythe's eyes turned to Jules, and she was smiling, a gleam in her eye.
Jules was showing all of her teeth. "Huh, I wonder."
It was perhaps the first time I'd seen Edythe and Jules look at each with an expression of something other than hostility or thinly veiled disgust. Their expressions were fierce and eager. United in a common purpose.
It suddenly hit me then. Both Edythe and Jules were going to be in this battle. If something went wrong...they could both fall.
The thought knocked the breath out of me. I felt like something was suddenly clawing in my chest, in my throat. Fear. Fear that, during this battle, the absolute worst might happen—twice.
Could I really let this happen? Could I really bear to see them both take this chance, without doing anything myself?
Edythe's brief smile was abruptly gone, and her lips were curled back from her teeth in a snarl. "No," she snapped.
I blinked, for a second certain that she had somehow read my mind. Jules, too, looked startled, and she automatically backed up a step, looking ready for a fight, but as bewildered as I felt.
However, when Edythe turned, her eyes fell on Jessamine.
Jessamine had her hands up in a conciliatory gesture. "Of course not," she said in a low voice. "I wasn't really considering it, it was just a passing thought."
Archie sighed. "You know, I never thought I'd say this, but I'm almost siding with the wolf girl. That can be so annoying."
Jessamine's eyes flickered to me, then away, and she explained, "If he was in the clearing...actually there...they would be wild, completely unfocused, incapable of seeing anything but him. We would pick them off like flies..."
At Edythe's icy expression, Jessamine continued quickly, "But of course, that would be far too much of a risk. As I said, it was just a passing thought..." However, her eyes flickered irresistibly to me again, and I saw the regret there.
However, the cold look in Edythe's eyes seemed to settle things with absolute finality.
Jessamine took a step back, looking uncomfortable and uncertain. Archie reached over and said casually, deflating the tension, "What do you say we do another few rounds, eh? We'll make it two out of three."
Jessamine seemed relieved at the distraction, and she nodded, and the two of them headed back toward the fighting area again.
Jules watched them go for a minute, her arms folded, eyes narrowed.
Edythe took a steadying breath, then glanced at Jules.
"She's just being strategic," she explained. "She can't help but see all the options—that's just good military sense."
Jules nodded. "Didn't stop you from wanting to rip her face off for a second though, did it? I was thinking about it, too."
Jules had drifted unconsciously closer, absorbed in the planning, and now she and Edythe were less than three feet apart. The moment they'd seemed to be of one purpose seemed to have passed, and the air seemed to vibrate with the tension.
Edythe's voice was cool and even as she returned to business. "We will be here Friday afternoon to lay the false trail. Then we will meet with you, and then you and Beau will travel up the mountain—I know exactly the spot. It is far out of the way, and easy to defend in case of attack, unlikely as that is. I'll take another route and meet you there."
"And you're just going to dump him there and leave him on his lonesome, are you?" Jules raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.
Edythe hesitated. "Well..."
Jules was looking smug for some reason.
Edythe paused, then nodded slowly. "Yes...you're right. I would feel more comfortable with that arrangement."
I sighed, and I was about to ask if there was any point at all asking to be allowed to stay in the loop, but Jules turned to me and, as though determined to play the good guy to keep me clued in, she explained, "We've been trying to talk Sarah into staying behind in La Push with the other two—she's really still too young for this—but she's dug in her heels and she's insisting she's coming. The problem is she really wants to help and she hates the thought of sitting back at home all safe doing nothing while we're out risking our lives. But if we could give her a helpful assignment..."
I understood only too well how Sarah felt. However, my head reeled at the thought of Sarah as a werewolf. I hadn't realized she'd already changed. When had that happened? In my mind, I pictured a shy, smiling girl, barely fifteen, and could have passed as younger than that.
Jules continued, "If she was with you, she obviously wouldn't be in the thick of the fighting, but we'd feel better because the whole pack would know immediately if there was any danger headed your way. Distance is no problem—we can hear each other's thoughts for miles. Three hundred miles is the farthest we've tested."
"Impressive," Edythe murmured. She added reluctantly, "It's a good idea. You're right, I don't think it would be wise for him to be left totally alone there." She made a face. "Although, if someone had told me a month ago I'd be trusting werewolves..."
"Working with bloodsuckers," Jules said, shaking her head tragically. "And after so many years of the Quileute's illustrious history. Now our generation comes along, and our tribe's already got a black mark."
"On the other hand, you'll probably also slay more vampires than any one tribe ever has," Edythe pointed out.
"That's true," Jules admitted ruefully. She grinned, and winked at me. "Just goes to show—there's a bright side to everything."