"Come along," Carmen said encouragingly and reached a hand around to my back to pull me towards her.

For a moment, I lost physical contact with Sophie and, in that moment, I glimpsed a vision of the future that was about to play out. I saw Demetri pull Sophie's head from her shoulders; I saw myself being presented before the Volturi and a black cloak being placed around my shoulders; I saw Victoria returning to Forks and killing a completely unprotected Bella; I saw my family retaliate, facing off with her in a violent spectacle that would bring the wrath of the Volturi down on them. It was enough to make the spell on me flicker, but I wasn't the only one who saw the vision and it was the trigger that finally sent Sophie over the edge.

I heard her primal yell of rage and turned, startled, but Carmen spun with me, positioning herself between me and my friend. Sophie launched herself at the other woman, but I watched wide-eyed as Demetri moved like a blur to intercept the attack and tackle the girl onto the sand.

I wanted to step in and help, but a steady hand against my chest and a calming voice held me rooted to the spot, "Newborns can be a bit of a handful. Let us handle it for you."

I nodded, still not entirely convinced, but I wanted to believe those kind eyes of hers. Over the top of her head, I could see that Sophie was not going down easily. She had kicked Demetri away and regained her feet. Everything from her thoughts to her mood to her posture had been consumed by some kind of battle craze, just as overwhelming as a blood frenzy.

"Nothing left for you to worry about," Carmen continued, pushing gently against my chest, "Let's go to the airplane and settle in."

Despite myself, I began to take steps backwards while the guard kept right up against me. Though it didn't alarm me like it should have, I could feel her hand snaking up toward my neck. I was still distracted by the fight unfolding behind her. Demetri was fast, but Sophie was faster; his moves precise, but hers passionate. I watched in awe through the sprays of sand as my friend dodged, blocked, or forced herself out of every hold the guard tried to trap her in. She landed quite a few strikes on him, but he always bounced back immediately. The only thing she didn't seem aware of was how to use her teeth in this fight. I was rooting for her and I wanted to call out or even join her, if I could, but it seemed that the best I could do was to stop walking backwards and anchor my feet in place while I watched from the sidelines. Even as a savage arm maneuver from the taller vampire slammed Sophie into the ground, I couldn't muster up the control to run to her aid. Her leg lashed out and both of them went down into a blur of sand and tumbling limbs.

Vaguely I registered a hand closing over my neck and fingers digging in for a firm hold. I glanced down at Carmen who held my gaze and emphasized every word, "Keep moving, Edward."

The force of her voice and eyes nearly had me forgetting where I was or what I was doing, but then a more familiar voice broke in with a scream.

"Let him go!"

I looked back up and felt a gut punch of relief before my hazy brain even fully remembered what was going on. Demetri was sprawled on his stomach with Sophie perched over him, his right arm pinned under her foot, his left arm hooked through her elbow and being bent backward at a painful angle, and his neck trapped in the crook of her other elbow. She was looking over at my situation with a fierce focus in her eyes that suggested the battle craze had successfully run its course. I think I must have smiled, because Carmen, who was still looking at me, tilted her head and turned around to finally realize what had happened. Her grip on my neck tightened as her hold on my mind grew less secure.

The two females locked eyes for a tense moment as Carmen weighed her options, but it was Sophie who spoke first, "If you so much as hurt him, I'm taking your partner's head off and coming for yours next."

"Foolish child," Demetri grunted with difficulty through her choke hold, "Even if you manage to kill us-"

Cutting him off, Sophie leaned forward and slammed his head into the sand, then jerked it backwards again at an even more severe angle, growling, "I can manage."

He groaned a little, some kind of sadistic smile flitting across his mouth like he was enjoying this, and corrected himself, "Even if you kill us, the full vengeance of the Volturi will come down on you, him, and the entire Olympic coven. No one will be spared."

Would they really do that? Sophie looked to me.

I nodded grimly, They absolutely would.

There's got to be a way out of this, she frowned and fixed me with a frustrated look, Why won't they let you keep following Victoria?

Their leader, Aro, he's always wanted to put my powers to use for the Volturi, I explained, They've tried to get me to join before. This may just be another way to blackmail me into it.

During the silence, Carmen looked back and forth between us, "Are you two...communicating? Does she have your gift?"

"She's gifted," I felt myself compelled to answer, "But we haven't explored the extent of her power. We only know that she's connected to me."

I felt Sophie's inspiration rise as she picked up on Carmen's interest, Let me hear them.

Opening my mind up like a channel between her and the thoughts of the other vampires, I saw her blink rapidly and shake her head as she tried to sort through all the voices at once, analyze them, and build her own strategy based on what she was hearing. It was a skill that had taken me months to master.

"Let him go," she repeated, more calmly this time, as a plan started to work itself out in her mind, "Edward knows how to be discrete. I was the one who broke your laws, not him, so take me back for judgment while he finishes our hunt. Your boss wants access to Ed's powers? Well, I'm it. I've got the access. If you take him, his family will want him back. It'll cause trouble."

The two guards were actually silent a moment, considering the option.

"How do we know your powers are as good as his?" Carmen finally challenged.

"I see everything he sees and hear everything he hears, which includes your own thoughts," Sophie looked into my eyes and we worked together, picking out the most significant information that flowed between us, "He tells me your boss is Aro and he collects vampires with abilities. He tells me that you are Carmen and you are thinking about bringing me to someone called Chelsea. And you are Demetri, and you're thinking that my gifts wouldn't be all that useful for a guard but you'd like to try to train me anyway, at least for the chance to spar again." With this, she slammed his face back into the sand and leaned her shoulder into the back of his head to pin it there, "So, yeah. If you want to know what Edward hears with his gift, you can take me. He's got better things to do."

This is risky, I thought, What if you lose connection to me after a certain distance? How long will you be able to fake it before they decide you're no longer useful to them?

I can find you anywhere, Ed, she replied and I'd never seen her look so sure of something before, Nothing is going to break our connection.

Some kind of separation anxiety crept through my chest as I desperately thought through the holes on this plan, But what about Victoria? I need you. What if they hurt you? I can't just leave you alone at their mercy.

You'll handle Victoria like you set out to do in the first place, without me, she could feel my anxiousness and bit her lip, And I'm no worse off with the Volturi than I would be if these clowns just killed me here. It's the only way that everyone wins.

Everyone but you.

She smiled half-heartedly, I was never meant to win. I've been in way over my head since the moment I decided to stand guard over you by the cliffs rather than running away from the supernatural monsters. Maybe the Volturi can keep me under control better, maybe I can even spy on them for you, or maybe they kill me. As long as this deal ends with you back on Victoria's trail.

The others were also thinking over the plan, though I had tuned them out until now as Carmen spoke, "I'm inclined to accept this proposal. We can let Aro decide what to do with the newborn's gifts, and we can always come back for Edward, if he orders it. Demetri, what do you think?"

There was a muffled hum until Sophie lifted his face out of the sand and he chuckled, "Give Cullen another chance. Why not? We'll take this one with us to make sure he stays out of trouble. Go ahead, let him go."

Carmen released me, both from her clutch on my neck and her sway on my mind. I was frustrated and helpless and couldn't decide whether I should attack her or try to reason with them more, but instead I just stayed frozen in place.

"Now get off my partner," Carmen turned her persuasion upon Sophie instead.

My friend blinked and scowled, then shook her head quickly to clear it, "It's harder to control crazy," she smirked, "But nice try. I'll let him go after Ed gets a head start to keep you from catching up easily. I can feel how far he is and you-" she tilted Demetri's head up a bit more, "-you can track him too, so we'll both know when he's gone far enough."

"We won't go after him," her prisoner argued, "As long as you come with us and don't cause any more trouble."

She didn't loosen up, "Yeah, that's the plan. Glad you understood it. But I'm not going to give either of you an inch until he has his head start." Go now, Ed!

I took one step back, but even that made me sick, I don't want to leave you.

Don't worry. I should be ok, she tried to assure me but I knew we were both sharing my nervousness, I mean, they're not going to kill me, are they?

I tapped us back into the angry thoughts of the two guards. Carmen was frustrated that her powers were less than effective on this newborn and knew that she stood no chance in a fight without that edge. She was trying to work out ways to boost her control over an unstable mind and had a few tricks that she planned to try out on her victim during the flight home. Demetri was annoyed that he would have to remain uncomfortable for as long as it would take me to get far enough away. His plan was to temporarily disable Sophie with a broken neck or back if she offered any resistance on the way back to Volterra, but neither of the vampires seemed to have any intention of killing her.

No, probably not, I finally answered.

Then get going, she nodded at me, I'll keep in touch.

I hated this. If it weren't for the emotional push from her, I probably wouldn't have willed up the nerve to move at all. But with a wave of urgency and the faces of Bella and my family floating up into my mind, I finally turned and ran as fast as I could through the fog, continuing my way south after Victoria.

**Author's Note: This is the end from Edward's point of view. From here, he continues his actions exactly as they play out in the book. If I ever write more, it would be to wrap things up from Sophie's point of view and explain what happens to her in Volterra that keeps her out of the way. This story is meant to fit in to canon without messing things up too much, and I hoped it could possibly offer more depth to things that do happen later. Thank you so much for reading!

**Author's Recommendation: I've always liked how Stephenie Meyer shared her music playlist from the writing process; so in the spirit of that, I will recommend one song. Every time I listen to it, it always plays out in my mind like a music video for this story. If you're so inclined, check out "Immortalized" by Hidden Citizens & Keeley Bumford.