I labored to pull myself up despite the dizziness. I realized it was Jacob's arm I was gripping for balance. He was the one shaking, not the couch.

Alice was pulling a small silver phone from her bag when my eyes relocated her. Her fingers dialed the numbers so fast they were a blur.

"Rose, I need to talk to Carlisle now." Her voice whipped through the words. "Fine, as soon as he's back. No, I'll be on a plane. Look, have you heard anything from Edward?"

Alice paused now, listening with an expression that grew more appalled every second.

Rosalie groaned and everyone looked at her. "I must have told him," she said in a hollow voice.

"Why would you do that?" Alice growled. "You knew how he would react!"

"No, I obviously didn't!" Rosalie growled back. "Do you think I would want something to happen to him? You know that I would do anything for my family!"

"Sssssfffff," Alice hissed, she did know that. Rosalie may be very selfish, but she still cared about her family more than anything else. "How could you not see how much he would care?"

"Are you telling me you'd expect him to do this... I mean, if you didn't know about the first chapter of this book, would you have thought he would have done that?" Rosalie asked.

"I don't know, but I would know that it wasn't something that he could handle over the phone!" Alice growled. "How could you be so heartless?"

"I..." Rosalie stammered and her face fell. "I never tried to understand his obsession with her...I don't know how much he loves her."

"It's okay, babe," Emmett said sweetly (yes, he could be sweet if he wanted to be) holding her. "We'll get Eddy before he could do anything stupid."

"Yeah, and it will bring Edward and Bella back together again," Esme said, still sobbing in Carlisle's chest, but it seemed that she had a little hope in her eyes now.

"That's true," Alice agreed, looking thoughtful, the anger leaving her a little. "As long as this works out...it might not be so bad."

"I don't want her anywhere near the Volturi!" Edward hissed, knowing where this was all leading.

"Then you should have thought of that before you went off to get yourself killed!" Alice hissed at him.

Her mouth opened into a little O of horror, and the phone shook in her hand.

"Why?" she gasped. "Why would you do that, Rosalie?"

Whatever the answer was, it made her jaw tighten in anger. Her eyes flashed and narrowed.

"Well, you're wrong on both counts, though, Rosalie, so that would be a problem, don't you think?" she asked acidly. "Yes, that's right. She's absolutely fine – I was wrong… It's a long story… But you're wrong about that part, too, that's why I'm calling… Yes, that's exactly what I saw."

"Did you just say that I would be better without Bella?" Edward snapped his head toward Rosalie.

"I don't know," Rosalie said. "But I don't think that now."

Edward hissed at that, trying to control his temper.

Alice's voice was very hard and her lips were pulled back from her teeth. "It's a bit late for that, Rose. Save your remorse for someone who believes it." Alice snapped the phone shut with a sharp twist of her fingers.

Her eyes were tortured as she turned to face me.

"Alice," I blurted out quickly. I couldn't let her speak yet. I needed a few more seconds before she spoke and her words destroyed what was left of my life. "Alice, Carlisle is back, though. He called just before…"

She stared at me blankly. "How long ago?" she asked in a hollow voice.

"Half a minute before you showed up."

"What did he say?" She really focused now, waiting for my answer.

"I didn't talk to him." My eyes flickered to Jacob.

Alice turned her penetrating gaze on him. He flinched, but held his place next to me. He sat awkwardly, almost as if he were trying to shield me with his body.

"That's likely – it would be his instinct to protect her, since he sees Alice as a threat," Jasper muttered.

"He asked for Charlie, and I told him Charlie wasn't here," Jacob muttered resentfully.

"Is that everything?" Alice demanded, her voice like ice.

"Then he hung up on me," Jacob spit back. A tremor rolled down his spine, shaking me with it.

"You told him Charlie was at the funeral,"

Those words seemed to put a tremble of fear through the room as everyone tensed up.