It does make sense... I really should have seen these things coming, Alice continued to think.

Carlisle was still talking, his voice not quite pleading. Persuasive, but with an edge. Then the edge abruptly won out over the persuasion.

"There's no question of that," Carlisle said in a stern voice. "We have a truce. They haven't broken it, and neither will we. I'm sorry to hear that. . . .Of course. We'll just have to do our best alone."

"They want to go after the wolves," Edward hissed.

"I won't let that happen," Carlisle said.

"Why not...we need their help," Rosalie said. "They're not asking us to help them..."

"It doesn't matter, I won't let that happen," Carlisle argued. "It's not right..."

"They were saving Bella from that monster...he deserved what he got," Edward said harshly. "And Carlisle's right, we have to protect them."

"Hey...we could get the wolves to help us!" Emmett shouted with a wide smirk. "They would love to fight an army of vampires...

"Yeah, they really would," Edward smiled.

"That's an excellent idea," Jasper said, smiling too. "With their help, it would almost be easy... it might be difficult to get them to come with us to Seattle though..."

"If Victoria is really behind this, I don't think we'll have to go to Seattle," Edward said. "And if not, it will be all too easy to get the wolves involved... I'm sure Bella will let them know all this soon enough."

Carlisle shut the phone without waiting for an answer. He continued to stare out into the fog.

"What's the problem?" Emmett murmured to Edward.

"Irina was more involved with our friend Laurent than we knew. She's holding a grudge against the wolves for destroying him to save Bella. She wants -" He paused, looking down at me.

"Go on," I said as evenly as I could.

His eyes tightened. "She wants revenge. To take down the pack. They would trade their help for our permission."

"No!" I gasped.

"Don't worry," he told me in a flat voice. "Carlisle would never agree to it." He hesitated, then sighed. "Nor would I. Laurent had it coming" - this was almost a growl - "and I still owe the wolves for that."

"This isn't good," Jasper said. "It's too even a fight. We'd have the upper hand in skill, but not numbers. We'd win, but at what price?" His tense eyes flashed to Alice's face and away.

I wanted to scream out loud as I grasped what Jasper meant.

We would win, but we would lose. Some wouldn't survive.

Everyone in the room flinched; no one like that idea one bit.

I looked around the room at their faces - Jasper, Alice, Emmett, Rose, Esme, Carlisle . . . Edward - the faces of my family.

And, at that, everyone smiled, despite themselves.

"That's it," Rosalie said and Alice took the book.

Chapter Fourteen

Declaration

"Declaration," Alice read.

"You can't be serious," I said Wednesday afternoon. "You've completely lost your mind!"

"Say whatever you like about me," Alice answered. "The party is still on."

"Did she really think that I would let something like this stop me?" Alice smiled.

"It is a..." Edward started to say, but Alice glared at him.

"It doesn't seem like you have a say in this matter," Emmett chuckled.

I stared at her, my eyes so wide with disbelief it felt like they might fall out and land on my lunch tray.

"Oh, calm down, Bella! There's no reason not to go through with it. Besides, the invitations are already sent."

"But . . . the . . . you . . . I . . . insane!" I spluttered.

"Yeah... that about sums it up," Emmett chuckled.

"You've already bought my present," she reminded me. "You don't have to do anything but show up."

"And then talk to all the people that would have to come to see you," Emmett put in, laughing. "Don't forget to mention that."

"I want her to come, Em," Alice rolled her eyes, "not scare her off."

I made an effort to calm myself. "With everything that is going on right now, a party is hardly appropriate."

"Graduation is what's going on right now, and a party is so appropriate it's almost passé."

"Then why do you want to do it so bad? You're never one to do what's expected," Edward asked.

"Because it's a party," Alice said, looking at him incredulously.

"Right," Edward chuckled. "I forgot who I was speaking to for a second."

"Alice!"

She sighed, and tried to be serious. "There are a few things we need to get in order now, and that's going to take a little time. As long as we're sitting here waiting, we might as well commemorate the good stuff. You're only going to graduate from high school - for the first time - once. You don't get to be human again, Bella. This is a once-in-a-lifetime shot."

"And there's that too," Alice smiled.

"That might be so, but do you have to talk about it in the cafeteria? That's hardly appropriate." Edward grumbled.

"Honestly Edward, do you think any of them would even hear me?" Alice rolled her eyes.

Edward, silent through our little argument, flashed her a warning look. She stuck out her tongue at him. She was right - her soft voice would never carry over the babble of the cafeteria. And no one would understand the meaning behind her words in any case.

"What few things do we need to get in order?" I asked, refusing to be sidetracked.

"Now that one's a shocker," Emmett laughed and Edward smiled.

Edward answered in a low voice. "Jasper thinks we could use some help. Tanya's family isn't the only choice we have. Carlisle's trying to track down a few old friends, and Jasper is looking up Peter and Charlotte. He's considering talking to Maria . . .

"NO!" Alice shouted, glaring at him.

"Er... okay," Jasper stammered uncomfortably.

but no one really wants to involve the southerners."

Alice shuddered delicately.

"How do you shudder delicately?" Emmett scoffed.

"Don't know," Alice shrugged.

"It shouldn't be too hard to convince them to help," he continued. "Nobody wants a visit from Italy."

"But these friends - they're not going to be . . .vegetarians, right?" I protested, using the Cullens' tongue-in-cheek nickname for themselves.

"No," Edward answered, suddenly expressionless.

"Why?" Emmett said.

"I don't want them to come here," Edward said.

"But if it helps us..." Jasper replied, confused.

"It would be good, but I still don't like the idea of them being anywhere near Bella," Edward explained.

"Here? In Forks?"

"They're friends," Alice reassured me. "Everything's going to be fine. Don't worry. And then, Jasper has to teach us a few courses on newborn elimination. . . ."

"That should be fun," Jasper groaned as Emmett cheered.

Edward's eyes brightened at that, and a brief smile flashed across his face.

"It seems like Eddy is looking forward to the lessons too," Emmett chuckled.

"Or the thought of putting a stop to what's threatening Bella," Edward added.

My stomach suddenly felt like it was full of sharp little splinters of ice.

"When are you going?" I asked in a hollow voice. I couldn't stand this - the idea that someone might not come back.

Esme, Alice and Rosalie all shuddered at this.

"Oh...that's how," Emmett said and got smack by his wife and sister.

What if it was Emmett, so brave and thoughtless that he was never the least bit cautious?

"Don't worry, I'm also strong and impossible to catch," Emmett laughed, but Rosalie was looking at her husband with a worried expression; like she agreed with what Bella had just said.

Or Esme, so sweet and motherly that I couldn't even imagine her in a fight?

Everyone shivered at that one. Esme really wasn't one for fighting, and no one liked the idea of her being there.

Or Alice, so tiny, so fragile-looking?

"Poor, fragile, Alice," Emmett chuckled and was smacked hard by the 'fragile' Alice. "Ow!"

"You know I'm not fragile," Alice huffed.

Or . . . but I couldn't even think the name, consider the possibility.

"A week," Edward said casually. "That ought to give us enough time."

The icy splinters twisted uncomfortably in my stomach. I was suddenly nauseated.

"You look kind of green, Bella," Alice commented.

"Yep, worrying about us again," Emmett rolled his eyes.

"As she should be," Esme fretted.

Edward put his arm around me and pulled me tightly against his side. "It's going to be fine, Bella. Trust me."

Sure, I thought to myself. Trust him. He wasn't the one who was going to have to sit behind and wonder whether or not the core of his existence was going to come home.

"Hmm... I suppose she does have a point there," Alice said, looking at Edward. There's no way that you could tolerate that if the roles were reversed.

Edward didn't answer. The look in his eyes seemed to convey both that he knew that was true and that he knew that he would never let Bella be the one to do that.

And then it occurred to me. Maybe I didn't need to sit behind. A week was more than enough time.

"You're looking for help," I said slowly.

"Yes." Alice's head cocked to the side as she processed the change in my tone.