They emerged one by one from the forest edge, ranging a dozen metres apart. The first male into the clearing fell back immediately, allowing the other male to take the front, orienting himself around the tall, dark-haired man in a manner that clearly displayed who led the pack. The third was a woman; from this distance, all I could see of her was that her hair was a startling shade of red.

They closed ranks before they continued cautiously toward Edward's family, exhibiting the natural respect of a troop of predators as it encounters a larger, unfamiliar group of its own kind.

As they approached, I could see how different they were from the Cullens. Their walk was catlike, a gait that seemed constantly on the edge of shifting into a crouch. They dressed in the ordinary gear of backpackers: jeans and casual button-down shirts in heavy, waterproof fabrics. Their clothes were frayed with wear, and they were barefoot. Both men had cropped hair, but the woman's brilliant orange hair was filled with leaves and debris from the woods.

Their sharp eyes carefully took in the more polished, urbane stance of Carlisle, who, flanked by Emmett and Jasper, stepped guardedly forward to meet them. Without seeing any communication between them, they each straightened into a more casual stance.

The man in the front was easily the most beautiful, his skin olive-toned beneath the typical pallor, his hair a glossy black. He was a medium build, and hard-muscled, but nothing next to Emmett's brawn. He smiled an easy smile, exposing a flash of gleaming white teeth.

The woman was wilder, her eyes shifting restlessly between the men facing her, and the loose grouping around me, her chaotic hair quivering in the light breeze. Her posture was distinctively feline. The second male hovered unobtrusively behind them, slighter than the leader, his light brown hair and regular features both nondescript. His eyes, though completely still, somehow seemed the most vigilant.

Their eyes were different, too. Not the gold or black I had expected, but a deep red-burgundy colour that was both disturbing and sinister.

The dark-haired man, still smiling, stepped toward Carlisle.

"We thought we heard a game," he said in a relaxed voice with the slightest of French accents. "I'm Laurent, these are Victoria and James." He gestured to the vampires beside him.

"I'm Carlisle. This is my family, Emmett and Jasper, Rosalie, Esme and Alice, Edward and Bella." He pointed us out in groups, deliberately not calling attention to individuals. I felt a shock when he said my name.

I knew the moment that the brown-haired vampire, James, recognised me. I was waiting for it. My eyes met his and I could see the recognition dawn on his face. He did not expect me to be there. I hoped that it threw him off balance, swinging the odds favourably in our direction.

Edward stiffened and stepped forward with a low growl, slightly away from me; my attention returned to him quickly.

"Do you have room for a few more players?" Laurent asked sociably.

Carlisle matched Laurent's friendly tone. Actually, we were just finishing up. But we'd certainly be interested another time. Are you planning to stay in the area for long?"

"We're headed north, in fact, but we were curious to see who was in the neighbourhood. We haven't run into any company in a long time."

That explained why Alice didn't see them. They had just made the decision to come this way. I was grateful for that. It meant that they had been distracted from finding my father.

"No, this region is usually empty except for us and the occasional visitor, like yourselves."

The tense atmosphere had slowly subsided into a casual conversation; I guessed that Jasper was using his peculiar gift to control the situation.

"What's your hunting range?" Laurent casually inquired.

Carlisle ignored the assumption behind the inquiry. "The Olympic Range here, up and down the Coast Range on occasion. We keep a permanent residence nearby. There's another permanent settlement like ours up near Denali."

Laurent rocked back on his heels slightly. But James and Victoria glanced at each other, then took a step back and turned and ran off the way they had come with no word or warning. They didn't hesitate to leave Laurent at the mercy of a larger, stronger coven of unknown vampires. That was odd, very odd.

"Why don't you come back to our home with us and we can talk more comfortably?" Carlisle invited the sole vampire, after he watched his companions leave without him. "It's a rather long story."

Laurent nodded politely.

Carlisle measured Laurent's open expression for a moment before he spoke. "We'll show you the way. Jasper, Rosalie, Esme?" he called. They gathered together, blocking me from view as they converged. Alice was instantly at my side, and Emmett fell back slowly, his eyes locked on Laurent as he backed toward us.

"Emmett, Alice, why don't you go with Edward and Bella?" Carlisle suggested blithely, as though he wasn't assigning a protection detail. We all knew that was exactly what it was.

I had worked desperately to protect my father from the world of the supernatural, and I wasn't about to let James and Victoria mess that up. Laurent, included. But I wasn't alone, Edward was with me, and I knew he would go to impossible lengths to protect me, as I would for him. I savoured that knowledge, I would never be alone again.

"Let's go, Bella." Edward's voice was low and measured.

This whole time I'd been rooted in place—Edward had to grip my elbow and pull sharply to break my trance.

At Carlisle's suggestion, the four of us took off into the trees. The others stayed with Laurent to keep his attention away from us. It was a flight of desperation, led by Edward, who was straining to keep himself from outrunning us all.

Alice and Emmett were close behind us now, and I couldn't hear if the main group had left yet. Once we were deep into the trees, and surely out of hearing range, Emmett called out to Edward. "Edward, talk to us. Tell us what's going on,"

He ignored Emmett.

Alice spoke for the first time. "Edward, stop."

He flashed her a hard look, and then sped up.

"Edward, let's just talk this through." She tried again.

"You don't understand," he roared in frustration. I'd never heard his voice so loud. "He's a tracker, Alice, did you see that? He's a tracker!"

We all stopped running, then. I saw Emmett stiffen for a moment, and I wondered at his reaction to the word. It meant something more to the three of them than it did to me; I wanted to understand, but there was no opening for me to ask.

"Listen to me, Alice. I saw his mind. Tracking is his passion, his obsession—and he wants her, Alice—her, specifically. He begins the hunt tonight."

Edward reached for my hand, and I returned his gesture.

"Turning you into a vampire was deliberate, Bella. He came back to find you, after you were changed, but you were gone. And then he tried to track you down, but he couldn't find where you were, you were someone he could not track at all. It made you immeasurably enticing to him."

I almost vibrated with shock and anger; his hands were the only thing holding me up as I gasped unnecessarily for air. Vampires didn't need to breathe, after all.

"My mother. Edward did he go after my mother?" I had to know she was still safe.

"No, he watched her for a while when they went back to Phoenix, you weren't there, obviously. He had the woman go to your school there and get your records. She saw that you had moved to Forks. Which explains why they were headed for Charlie," Edward pulled me into his arms, kissing the top of my hair. "I'm so sorry, Bella."

"Charlie!" I pulled back. "Are they still going after Charlie?"

Edward thought about that for a moment, then he shook his head confidently.

"He stopped thinking about your father when he saw you. He didn't care about him anymore, he was just delighted that he'd found you, even if it was by chance."

"It's all a game to him," I whispered.

Edward hugged me, and then dragged me into a run again, Alice and Emmett close behind.

I turned to look at Alice, who had been silent so far, running through all our options, I guessed. She seemed upset, but didn't stop once as we ran.

We reached the Jeep in an impossibly short time, and Edward barely slowed as he flung me in the backseat.

Emmett slid in beside me.

Alice was already in the front seat, and Edward was starting the engine. It roared to life and we swerved backward, spinning around to face the winding road.

Edward was growling something too fast for me to understand, more profanities.

The jolting trip was much worse this time, and the apparent darkness outside made it only the more frightening.

We hit the main road, and we were headed south, away from Forks.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

No one answered. No one even looked at me.

"Dammit, Edward! Where are you taking me?"

"We have to get you away from here—far away—now." He didn't look back, his eyes on the road. The speedometer read a hundred and five miles and hour.

"Turn around, you have to take me home!" I shouted.

"I have to, Bella, now please be quiet."

"I won't! You have to take me back—Charlie will call the police! They'll be all over your family—Carlisle and Esme! They'll have to leave, to hide forever!"

"Calm down, Bella." His voice was cold. "We've had to relocate before."

"Not over me, you don't! You're not ruining everything over me!" I struggled.

Alice spoke for the first time. "Pull over, Edward." Alice's tone was reasonable, but there was a ring of authority in it I'd never heard before.

The speedometer inched past one-twenty.

"Do it, Edward." Emmett finally spoke, too.

"Bella is right, we can't leave Charlie. He'll only go after him again, to get Bella to come out of hiding."

The car slowed slightly.

"Let's just look at our options for a minute," Alice coaxed.

The car slowed again, more noticeably, and then suddenly we screeched to a stop on the shoulder of the highway.

"There are no options," Edward hissed.

"I'm not leaving Charlie!" I yelled.

He ignored me completely.

"We have to take her back," Emmett agreed.

"No." Edward was absolute.

"He's no match for us, Edward. He won't be able to touch her."

"He'll wait."

Emmett smiled. "I can wait, too."

"You didn't see—you don't understand. Once he commits to a hunt, he's unshakable. We'd have to kill him."

Emmett didn't seem upset by the idea. "That's an option."

"And the female. She's with him. If it turns into a fight, the leader will go with them, too."

"There are enough of us."

"Does anyone want to hear my plan?" I said quietly.

"No," Edward growled. Alice glared at him.

"Listen," I pleaded. "You take me back."

"No." he interrupted.

I glared at him and continued. "You take me back. I tell my dad I want to go home to Phoenix. I pack my bags. We wait till this tracker is watching, and then we run. He'll follow us and leave Charlie alone. Charlie won't have any excuse to call the police on your family, then you can take me any damned place you want."

They stared at me, stunned.

"It's not a bad idea, really." Emmett's surprise was definitely an insult.

"It might work—and we simply can't leave her father unprotected. You know that," Alice said.

Everyone looked at Edward.

"It's too dangerous—I don't want him within a hundred miles of her."

Emmett was supremely confident. "Edward, he's not getting through us."

Alice thought for a minute. "I don't see him attacking. He'll try to wait for us to leave her alone."

"It won't take long for him to realise that's not going to happen." Emmett chuckled.

Edward pressed his fingers to his temples and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Please," I said in a much smaller voice, "I need to go home."

He didn't look up. When he spoke, his voice sounded worn.

"You're leaving tonight, whether the tracker sees or not. You tell Charlie that you can't stand another minute in Forks. Tell him whatever story works. Pack the first things your hands touch, and then get in your car. I don't care what he says to you. You have fifteen minutes. Do you hear me? Fifteen minutes from the time you cross the doorstep."

The Jeep rumbled to life, and he spun us around, the tyres squealing. The needle on the speedometer started to race up the dial.

A few minutes passed in silence, other than the roar of the engine. Then Edward spoke again.

"This is how it's going to happen. When we get to the house, if the tracker is not there, I will walk her to the door. Then she has fifteen minutes." He glared at me in the rearview mirror. "Emmett, you take the outside of the house. Alice, you get the car. I'll be inside as long as she is. After she's out, you two can take the Jeep home and tell Carlisle."

"No way," Emmett broke in. "I'm with you."

"Think it through, Emmett. I don't know how long I'll be gone."

"Until we know how far this is going to go, I'm with you."

Edward sighed. "If the tracker is there," he continued grimly, "we keep driving."

"We're going to make it there before him," Alice said confidently.

Edward seemed to accept that. Whatever his problem with Alice was, he didn't doubt her now.

"What are we going to do with the Jeep?" she asked.

His voice had a hard edge. "You're driving it home."

"No, I'm not," she said calmly.

The unintelligible stream of profanities started again.

"We can all fit in my car," I whispered.

Edward didn't appear to hear me.

"I think you should let me go alone," I said even more quietly.

He heard that.

"Bella, please just do this my way, just this once," he said between clenched teeth.

"Listen, Charlie's not an imbecile," I protested. "If you're not in town tomorrow, he's going to get suspicious."

"That's irrelevant. We'll make sure he's safe, and that's all that matters."

"Then what about this tracker? He saw the way you acted tonight. He's going to think you're with me, wherever you are."

Emmett looked at me, insultingly surprised again. "Edward, listen to her," he urged. "I think she's right."

"Yes, she is," Alice agreed.

"I can't do that." Edward's voice was icy.

"Emmett should stay, too," I continued. "He definitely got an eyeful of Emmett."

"What?" Emmett turned on me.

"You'll get a better crack at him if you stay," Alice agreed.

Edward stared at her incredulously. "You think I should let her go alone?"

"Of course not," Alice said. "Jasper and I will take her."

"I can't do that," Edward repeated, but this time there was a trace of defeat in his voice. The logic was working on him.

I tried to be persuasive. "Stay here for a week—" I saw his expression in the mirror and amended "—a few days. Let Charlie see you haven't kidnapped me, and lead this James on a wild-goose chase. Make sure he's completely off my trail. Then come and meet me. Take a roundabout route, of course, and then Jasper and Alice can go home."

I could see him beginning to consider it.

"Meet you where?"

"Phoenix." Of course.

"No. He'll hear that's where you're going," he said impatiently.

"And you'll make it look like that's a ruse, obviously. He'll know that we'll know that he's listening. He'll never believe I'm actually going where I say I am going."

"She's diabolical," Emmett chuckled.

"And if that doesn't work?"

"There are several million people in Phoenix," I informed him.

"It's not that hard to find a phone book."

"I won't go home."

"Oh?" he inquired, a dangerous note in his voice.

"I'm quite old enough to get my own place."

"Edward, we'll be with her," Alice reminded him.

"What are you going to do in Phoenix?" he asked Alice scathingly.

"Stay indoors." she replied.

"I kind of like it." Emmett thoughts were concerning James, no doubt.

"Shut up, Emmett."

He carried on anyway. "Look, if we try to take him down while she's still around, there's a much better chance that someone will get hurt. Now, if we get him alone . . ." He trailed off with a slow smile. I was right.

The Jeep was crawling slowly along now as we drove into town. Despite my brave talk, I was beyond terrified. I thought about Charlie, alone in the house, and tried to be courageous.

"Bella." Edward's voice was very soft. Alice and Emmett looked out their windows.

"If you let anything happen to yourself—anything at all—I'm holding you personally responsible. I need you to be safe, do you understand that?"

"Yes." I gulped.

He turned to Alice.

"Is Jasper okay with this?"

"Of course he is, Edward. He'd do anything for his family, and you know that."

"Are you okay with this?" he asked.

And graceful little Alice pulled back her lips in a horrific grimace and let loose with a guttural snarl that could have had anyone cowering against their seat in terror.

Edward smiled at her, amused.