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"Come with us Don’t ain as he glared at me, and a smal part ofhe was looking for just that kind of excuse

Jasper paused as if he’d just thought of so "Close your eyes," he commanded

I hesitated Had he decided to kil ritted my teeth and shut my eyes I felt twice as helpless as I had before

"Fol ow the sound of ot it?"

I nodded, wondering what he didn’t wantto protect a secret There was no reason to do so if he was just going to kil me

"This way"

I walked slowly after hiive him no excuses He was considerate in the way he led, not walking me into any trees, at least I could hear the way the sound changed ere in the open; the feel of the as different, too, and the ser I could feel the warmth of the sun on hter as I sparkled

He led me closer and closer to the muffled crackle of the flames, so close that I could feel the smoke brush my skin I knew he could have kil ed me at any time, but the nearness of the fire stil round arm from the sun and the fire I kept very stil and tried to concentrate on looking haritated Though I was not mad at these va thes of fury It was almost outside myself, as if it were some leftover echo froer didn’t h, because I was too sad - o ays inabout how he must have died I was sure there was no way he would have voluntarily told Riley our secrets - secrets that had given h until it was too late In ain - that cold, smooth expression that had formed as he’d threatened to punish any of us ouldn’t behave I heard again his macabre and oddly detailed description - when I take you to her and hold you as she tears off your legs and then slowly, slowly burns off your fingers, ears, lips, tongue, and every other superfluous appendage one by one I realized now that I’d been hearing the description of Diego’s death

That night, I’d been sure that soed Riley, had hardened hi that Riley had ever told o more than any of the rest of us Had even been fond of him And yet he’d watched our creator hurt hio with her

I wondered how ined it would have taken quite a lot And I was sure it had taken at least that e of Diego screaony out of my head, but it wouldn’t leave

And then there was screa there in the field My eyelids fluttered, but Jasper snarled furiously and I clenched the but heavy lavender s It was loud, and there was a lot of it I couldn’t iine how a face would have to contort to create such a noise, and the not knowingThese yel ow-eyed vampires were so different frouess, since I was the only one left Riley and our creator were long gone by now

I heard names cal ed, Jacob, Leah, Sah the howls continued Of course Riley had lied to us about the nu tapered off until it was just one voice, one agonized, inhuo’s face so clearly in

I heard Carlisle talking over the other voices and the howling He was begging to look at so "Please let me take a look Please letwith him, but for so the dispute

And then the yowling reached a strident new pitch, and suddenly Carlisle was saying "thank you" in a fervent voice, and under the yowl there was the sound of a lot ofcloser

I listened harder and heard so with so - and I’ve never heard anyone in my coven breathe like that - there were dozens of deep thu noises Almost like heartbeats But definitely not human hearts I knew that particular sound welI sniffed hard, but the as blowing from the other direction, and I could only s touched me, clapped down firmly on either side of my head

My eyes started open in panic as I lurched up, straining to jerk free of this hold, and instantly aze about two inches fro me back down on my butt I could only just hear hiainstain, probably at a norled to cals they didn’t want me to hear, either I could live with that - if it meant I could live

For a second I saw Fred’s face behind my eyelids He had said he would wait for one day I wondered if he would keep his word I wished I could tel him the truth about the yel ow-eyes, and how much more there seemed to be that we didn’t know This whole world that we real y knew nothing about It would be interesting to explore that world Particularly with soone He wouldn’t be co the future faintly repugnant I could stil hear so and a few voices Whatever those weird thu sounds had been, they were too muted now for me to examine them

I did make out the words when, a few minutes later, Carlisle said, "You have to" - his voice was too low for a second, and then - " from here now If we could help ould, but we cannot leave"

There was a growl, but it was oddly un beca away from me

It was quiet for a fewthem, but also so - the blindness co for some source of sensory information But al I could sher and clearer than the others, that I could hear most easily

"Another five irl as speaking "And Bel a wil open her eyes in thirty-seven seconds I wouldn’t doubt that she can hear us now"

I tried toforced to keep her eyes shut, like me? Or did she think led again to sht that one voice sounded off - I couldn’t hear any ring to it at alBut I couldn’t be sure with Jasper’s hands so securely over h, clear voice said

Jasper’s hands left my head

"You’d better open your eyes now," he told htened er hinted at in his tone

One whole field of my vision was obscured by the dark sritted together and he was looking at htened Not like he was scared of me, but like he was scared because ofthe cal ed a Volturi I wondered what a Volturi was I couldn’t ierous vampire would be afraid of Behind Jasper, four vampires were spaced out in a loose line with their backs to me One was Esirl, and a dark-hairedthat he was scary just to look at - the one I’d seen kil Kevin For an instant I iely pleasant picture There were threeone I couldn’t see exactly what they were doing with hiround, and next to hiround was another figure, but I couldn’t see much of that one, only jeans and s ether So eight yel ow-eyes total, plus al that howling before, whatever strange kind of vaht more voices involved Sixteen, maybe more More than twice as many as Riley had told us to expect I foundthat those black-cloaked vampires would catch up to Riley, and that they would et slowly to her feet -aardly, almost like she was so the s was invisible except for hih I was not as blind as before, I suddenly felt much more anxious, for so out of the vausted back in the next second, and I could see and s

Jasper hissed at me furiously and shoved round