Seth's breathing cut off, and - as I'd paced my breaths with his - I noticed.
I stopped breathing, too - too frightened to even make mylungs 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 was my loss?
So quickly that I wasn't 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 Edward's. They stared at each other with absolute concentration for one infinite second. The sun shattered off Edward's skin and sent sparkles dancing across Seth's 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 needed me. 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 Edward's 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. I'd misunderstood.
Relief - nothing had gone wrong in the clearing.
Horror - the crisis was here.
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 didn't matter who heard his answer.
"Victoria," he said, spitting the word, making it a curse. "She's 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 didn't have to be both. Edward could survive this. He was a good fighter, as good as Jasper. If she didn't 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 he'd 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 couldn't see the huge sandy wolf in my head when I thought his name - just the gangly fifteen-year-old boy.
Edward's 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 I'd remembered, more like a flame. There was no wind here, but the fire around her face seemed