The days after Christmas developed a strange rhythm.
Train.
Plan.
Wait.
Then do it all over again.
Bella worked with her shield until she could stretch it across most of the clearing behind the house without showing any obvious strain. Kate, Zafrina, Eleazar, and anyone else with a gift took turns testing its edges while Edward called out distances and Carlisle recorded the results.
Jasper spent most of his time organizing people who had not agreed to be organized.
That looked exhausting.
The Romanians wanted to attack.
Garrett wanted to know why we should not attack.
Peter wanted to know where we would attack if we did attack.
Charlotte wanted Peter to stop encouraging Garrett.
Amun wanted Benjamin nowhere near the fighting.
Benjamin wanted Amun to stop answering questions directed at Benjamin.
The Amazons mostly watched everyone argue and somehow managed to look amused without smiling.
Joham had discovered Carlisle's lab and apparently decided to live there.
His daughters had wisely escaped.
Jennifer spent more time with Seth now. Not constantly. She had made it very clear from the beginning that imprinting did not give him permission to attach himself to her side.
Seth had responded by doing exactly what she asked.
Which somehow resulted in Jennifer seeking him out more often.
Leah found that hilarious.
She tried not to.
She failed.
The children knew something was coming, but we had done our best to keep the worst of it away from them. Harry mostly understood that dangerous vampires were coming and that the adults were preparing to meet them.
Nancy understood more.
She usually did.
Renesmee understood far more than either of them.
None of us liked that.
It was late morning when Alice found me outside with the kids.
"I keep seeing the Volturi arrive in a few different places," she said. "I want you to look at them."
That got my attention.
"You think we can choose where this happens?"
"I think we can influence it."
That was good enough for me.
"I'll tell Leah where we're going."
A few minutes later, Alice and I were moving north through the forest.
The first clearing lasted less than five minutes.
Too close to a road.
The second was larger, but the trees crowded both sides.
Too many blind approaches.
Too many places for someone to circle around us unnoticed.
The third was different.
The moment I stepped through the tree line, I slowed.
A broad white field stretched out beneath the winter sky. The northern approach opened gradually, forcing anyone coming from that direction to become visible before reaching the clearing itself.
Our side had a shallow rise.
Nothing dramatic.
Just enough elevation to matter.
Beyond it, thick forest covered the southern approach.
No roads.
No houses.
No civilians wandering through at the worst possible moment.
I walked toward the center.
Alice followed.
"You see them arriving from there?"
I pointed north.
"Most often."
"And us?"
"The southern side."
I turned slowly.
The Volturi would have to cross open ground to reach us.
We would see them coming.
Our side had slightly better elevation.
The forest behind us gave us cover without pressing directly against our formation.
If they wanted to flank us, they would have to expose themselves doing it.
"This one."
Alice smiled faintly. "That was quick."
"The others helped me eliminate bad ideas."
"That sounds less impressive."
"I'm comfortable with that."
I walked toward the shallow rise.
"We wait here."
Alice looked at me. "Here?"
"Once you see them committed to this area, yes."
Understanding appeared.
"You want us here first."
"I want them coming to us."
If the Volturi wanted Renesmee, Carlisle, or whatever excuse Aro had decided justified bringing an army across the world, they would have to approach where we were waiting.
We did not need to predict exactly where Aro preferred to stand.
We could choose the place ourselves and give him a reason to come to it.
"The first time you see them definitely heading for this clearing, we move everyone out here and stay."
Alice nodded slowly.
"That should stabilize some of the decisions around the confrontation."
"Good."
"Aro could change his approach."
"Then he can wander around Washington looking for us while we sit here."
Alice smiled.
"He wouldn't."
"Exactly."
I looked across the field again.
"We don't meet them halfway. They cross the field to us."
"Aro likes controlling the room."
"This isn't his room."
That smile widened.
Alice moved toward the center and went still.
Her eyes lost focus for a moment.
I waited.
When she returned, she pointed.
"Carlisle there."
Near the front of our side.
"Aro there."
Across the open ground.
"Bella close to Carlisle. Edward beside her."
"What about me?"
Alice looked toward me.
"When you're shifted, I can see you."
That remained one of the stranger differences between me and her other supernatural blind spots.
"The pack?"
"Nothing."
"The other hybrids?"
She shook her head. "Nothing. Renesmee, Harry, Nancy, Joham's daughters—they all create holes."
"But once I shift?"
"You're visible."
"Useful."
"Very."
It also created an interesting limitation.
Alice could not see me now.
Not clearly enough to follow my decisions as part of a vision.
The moment I shifted, that changed.
Edward worked almost the same way.
As long as I stayed human, my mind was silent to him.
Once I shifted, he could hear me.
For years, that had mostly been an oddity.
Standing in the middle of a future battlefield, it suddenly looked useful.
We continued walking.
Alice pointed out positions that repeated.
Carlisle.
Aro.
Bella.
Jasper.
The Denalis.
Groups of the Volturi guard.
Nothing involving the pack or hybrids remained stable enough for her to trust.
Eventually I crouched and pushed snow away from the frozen ground.
Alice stopped beside me.
"Benjamin."
I looked up.
"What about him?"
"I've seen him use the ground here."
That sounded less encouraging than it should have.
"How?"
Alice pointed across the field.
"In one version, the Volturi charged."
"And Benjamin?"
"He opened the earth underneath them."
"That sounds useful."
"Until it kept opening."
I stood.
"How bad?"
"A ravine crossed part of both formations."
My jaw tightened.
"I couldn't see the wolves or hybrids," Alice continued. "But I could see vampires from our side falling into it with the Volturi."
"How many?"
"Enough."
That was all I needed.
"Benjamin knows his large-scale control isn't perfect."
"Yes."
"Then we tell him exactly what you saw."
Alice nodded. "He'll listen."
Hopefully Amun would too.
Though probably for completely different reasons.
We spent another hour examining the field.
The rise became the center of my attention.
Because of the children.
They had to be here.
There was no avoiding that.
Renesmee was the accusation.
Harry and Nancy were another example of supernatural children who were growing rather than remaining frozen in childhood.
Joham's daughters were living proof of what Renesmee could become.
But proof did no good if Aro could not examine it.
They would have to come forward.
Close enough for him to see them.
Speak with them.
Ask his questions.
Close enough that no one could later claim Carlisle had hidden something from him.
That meant the children needed two positions.
I walked toward the front of our side and stopped a short distance behind where Alice kept seeing Carlisle.
"Here first."
Alice followed my gaze.
"The children?"
"All of them."
Renesmee.
Harry.
Nancy.
Serena.
Maysun.
Jennifer.
They would stand close enough to Carlisle to be presented without being placed directly between him and the Volturi.
Then I walked back toward the rise.
"This is where they go once we know talking isn't going to work."
The ground dipped behind it enough to give them cover while still allowing anyone standing there to see the field. The forest sat at their back, but not close enough to trap them.
More importantly, anyone trying to reach them would have to come through our main formation first.
"We need a guard here."
"A large one," Alice said.
"Yes."
"And when do they move?"
That was the important question.
Not after someone attacked.
By then it would be too late.
"Before."
Alice looked toward the front of the field.
"Edward."
"Mostly."
Aro would almost certainly touch him.
That was both a problem and an advantage.
Aro would gain everything Edward knew.
Our positions.
Our priorities.
The wolves.
The children's guard.
Any fallback plan Edward had heard.
But Edward would also be standing inside Aro's head afterward.
If Aro accepted the evidence and genuinely intended to leave, Edward would know.
If he was already reaching for another accusation because Renesmee had stopped being a useful excuse, Edward would know that too.
"We need a signal."
Alice nodded.
"And if Edward doesn't catch it?"
"You might."
"I might."
Her visions were unreliable around half our side, but Aro was not a blind spot.
Neither was most of his guard.
If their decisions suddenly turned toward violence, Alice might see the pieces surrounding all the holes.
"And when I get the signal," I said, "I give everyone something else to look at."
Alice studied me.
"How?"
"I'll decide then."
One eyebrow rose.
"I mean it."
I looked toward the empty northern half of the field.
"Aro is going to touch Edward. Anything I tell Edward becomes Aro's information."
Alice glanced toward me.
"But Edward can't hear you now."
"Exactly."
As long as I remained human, I could think whatever I wanted standing right beside Edward and he would hear nothing.
Which meant Aro could not take it from him later.
Once I shifted, Edward would hear me.
If shifting became the distraction, that would not matter. By then I would already be doing it.
If I chose something else, Aro would get no advance warning at all.
I had a few ideas.
Some obvious.
Some considerably older.
There was no reason to decide now.
The situation itself would tell me what would pull the most attention without starting the battle before the children were clear.
"All anyone else needs to know is that when Edward or you gives the signal, I get the Volturi looking at me."
"And the children move."
"Immediately."
Alice nodded.
She did not ask what I was considering.
Good.
That part belonged to me.
Once the children reached the rise, they stayed.
Trying to move them again after violence started would only turn a defensive position into a retreat.
If the rise failed, things had already gone badly enough that we would need an entirely different plan.
When we returned to the Cullen house, Jasper already had maps covering the dining table.
Carlisle and Esme stood at one end.
Bella and Edward were beside them.
Sam and Jacob had come from La Push.
Most of the witnesses crowded around wherever there was room.
Vladimir and Stefan had naturally claimed the positions closest to the map.
Vladimir looked up.
"Well?"
"We found the field."
He smiled immediately.
Carlisle did not.
"The likely location?" he asked.
"The location we're going to make likely," I corrected.
That got Jasper's attention.
I pointed to the map.
"Alice keeps seeing them arrive around this area. There are several clearings they could use. This one gives us the best position."
Jasper leaned over the map.
"Open approach?"
"North."
"Elevation?"
"Slight advantage to us."
"Cover?"
"Behind our position. Their approach is mostly open."
"Flanking routes?"
"They have them, but we should see anyone attempting it."
Jasper nodded.
"I like it."
Carlisle looked toward Alice. "Can we ensure they come there?"
"No. But the first time I see them committed to that clearing, we move everyone there."
"And stay," I added.
Carlisle understood immediately.
"We establish ourselves before they arrive."
"Exactly. They're coming for us. If we're already waiting there, they have no reason to choose somewhere else."
Jasper nodded.
"Once Alice sees their approach settle, we occupy the field and remain there until this is finished."
Alice tapped the map.
"We're not at that point yet."
"How much time?" Carlisle asked.
"A couple of days at the earliest."
That helped.
Not much.
Enough.
"We need to discuss Benjamin," I said.
Amun immediately straightened.
Benjamin looked suspicious.
"What did I do?"
"Nothing."
Alice stepped beside me.
"But I've seen what you might do."
Benjamin's expression changed.
"What?"
"I saw you open a ravine through the battlefield."
Concern replaced suspicion immediately.
"How large?"
"Large enough that vampires on both sides fell into it."
Benjamin frowned.
"Did I lose control?"
"I couldn't tell. The vision broke apart once the wolves and hybrids became involved."
His eyes dropped toward the map.
"My precision decreases as the area increases."
"I know," I said. "That's why I want you to keep your attacks as individual as possible."
"Localized."
"Exactly. One target if possible. Two if necessary. Small barriers. Short fissures. Directed wind. Fire you know you can stop."
Benjamin nodded thoughtfully.
Alice leaned toward him.
"And please avoid making the earth swallow everyone."
"I was not planning to."
"You apparently do in at least one future."
That bothered him.
I could see it immediately.
Good.
Not because I wanted him afraid of his own gift.
Because he understood exactly what a mistake could cost.
Amun stepped forward.
"Then he should not participate."
There it was.
Benjamin closed his eyes.
"Amun."
"This proves precisely what I have been telling you."
"No. It proves I need to exercise restraint."
"It proves your gift is too dangerous to use in a battle."
Benjamin looked at him. "Every gift on that field will be dangerous."
"None will expose you as yours will."
That changed the argument.
Amun was no longer worried about ravines.
He was worried about Benjamin.
"You know what the Volturi will see the moment you demonstrate what you are capable of."
Benjamin's jaw tightened.
"A weapon they want."
"A prize," Amun corrected. "One they will not willingly allow to leave."
Tia moved closer to Benjamin.
Amun continued.
"I have spent years keeping you beyond their notice. You should remain away from this entirely."
Benjamin stared at him.
"And let everyone else stand there?"
"Yes."
"No."
Quiet.
Immediate.
Amun stiffened.
Benjamin continued.
"I know why you hid me. I know what the Volturi might do once they understand my gift."
"Then act like you understand."
"I am."
Benjamin pointed toward the map.
"By standing with the people helping make sure they cannot take me."
"You do not owe these people your life."
"No," Benjamin said. "I choose to risk it."
The room went silent.
Tia slipped her hand into his.
Amun looked toward her.
Then back to Benjamin.
"They will try to take you."
"Then help make sure they cannot."
Amun had no answer for that.
Not one he could give without admitting that somewhere over the years, protecting Benjamin and controlling him had become difficult for him to separate.
I stepped back into the conversation.
"No one is asking Benjamin to tear the field apart."
Amun looked at me.
"I'm specifically asking him not to."
Benjamin nodded.
"Small attacks. Controlled targets."
"And if you aren't sure you can control the full effect?"
"I don't use it."
Alice looked at him.
"Especially the ground."
Benjamin sighed.
"Especially the ground."
That was enough.
The meeting moved on.
Positions came next.
Jasper placed Bella near the center of our main formation.
That was never really in question.
If Jane or Alec acted, Bella was our answer.
Which meant Bella could not afford to spend the confrontation worrying about anything else.
Jacob leaned over the map.
"What about the kids?"
The room quieted.
I placed one marker near Carlisle.
Then a second behind the shallow rise.
"Two positions."
Bella frowned.
I tapped the first.
"They start here."
"Why that close?" she asked.
"Because Aro needs to see them."
Carlisle nodded slowly.
"Renesmee is the reason they claim they're coming," I continued. "Harry and Nancy prove there are other supernatural children who grow. Serena, Maysun, and Jennifer prove exactly what a human-vampire hybrid becomes."
Jennifer crossed her arms.
"I have a feeling I'm going to dislike being evidence."
"You probably will."
"Wonderful."
Joham appeared far less troubled by the idea.
Naturally.
"Aro can examine them," Carlisle said. "Speak with them. Hear their histories."
"As long as he behaves himself," Leah added.
I agreed with that qualification.
Carlisle studied the second marker.
"And afterward?"
"That depends on Aro."
Edward looked toward me.
I pointed at him.
"You'll be standing close enough to hear whether he's honestly considering leaving."
Edward nodded.
"Particularly once he touches me."
The room became quieter.
Everyone understood what that meant.
Aro would know practically everything we had discussed.
Bella frowned. "He'll have the whole plan."
"Everything Edward knows," I corrected.
Edward looked at me.
He understood immediately.
Not everything.
I was standing six feet away from him right now and my mind might as well have been on another continent.
As long as I remained human, Aro could not take thoughts from Edward that Edward had never heard.
Jasper caught the distinction next.
"You're keeping one part compartmentalized."
"Yes."
Edward looked toward the rear marker.
"If Aro is actually convinced, I do nothing."
"And if he isn't?" Carlisle asked.
"If the evidence clears Renesmee and he immediately starts searching for another justification to continue, I signal Thomas."
Alice stepped beside him.
"If I see the decision turn toward violence clearly enough first, I use the same signal."
We settled on something small.
Two fingers briefly touching the left wrist.
Easy to see if you were expecting it.
Meaningless otherwise.
Aro would know what it meant after touching Edward.
That was fine.
The signal itself was not the surprise.
"And then?" Carlisle asked.
"Then I get their attention."
Edward looked toward me.
"How?"
"I'll decide when it happens."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"You already have possibilities."
"Several."
"And you're not telling me."
"No."
He considered that.
Then nodded.
"For once, I see a considerable advantage to not hearing you."
"So do I."
Bella looked between us.
"Aro can't get Thomas's plan from Edward if Edward never knew it."
"Exactly."
The funny part was that I did not need to avoid thinking about it.
I could stand beside Edward and consider every stupid, brilliant, reckless, or useful possibility that came to mind.
He would hear none of it.
At least until I shifted.
That distinction might buy the children the seconds they needed.
"The distraction itself is not anyone else's problem," I said. "When Edward or Alice gives the signal, I move."
I tapped the rear marker.
"Everyone assigned to the children gets them here."
"Immediately," Leah said.
"Yes."
"Do we wait to see if your distraction works?" Jacob asked.
"No."
Jasper nodded. "Good."
He looked around the table.
"Thomas is not part of your movement plan. If the signal comes and he steps forward, you move. Do not turn around. Do not stop to see what he does."
Exactly.
Jacob leaned over the map.
"I'm going with Nessie."
Bella looked at him.
"You need protection too."
Jacob shook his head.
"You need to stay here."
He pointed at her position.
"If Jane or Alec gets through because you're watching Nessie instead of the shield, everyone has a problem."
Bella clearly hated that.
It did not make him wrong.
"And once Renesmee moves back, I stay with her."
Edward did not argue.
Sam stepped closer.
"The pack should stay mostly out of sight in the beginning."
Jasper looked toward him.
I nodded.
"A line of giant wolves makes it look like we're waiting for a battle before Carlisle gets his first sentence out."
"Exactly," Sam said. "Most of us stay in the southern woods."
"Shifted?" Carlisle asked.
"Some. Not all."
Jacob pointed toward the tree line.
"The younger wolves can stay human until we get the signal. Some of the others can already be shifted farther back where the Volturi won't immediately see them."
Aro would know about them once he touched Edward.
There was no avoiding that.
But knowing where the wolves were did not give him time to reposition before they shifted and closed around the rear defense.
Sam tapped the rise.
"I want the younger wolves with the children once they move back."
"How many?" Jasper asked.
"As many as I can put there without weakening everything else."
"I'll be there."
Leah's voice came from beside me.
Edythe immediately turned.
"So will I."
"No."
Leah answered before I could.
Edythe stared at her.
Leah stared right back.
"I'm their mother."
"So am I."
"I know."
There was no challenge in Leah's voice.
That somehow made it stronger.
"I'll be with Harry and Nancy. Jacob will be with Renesmee. The younger wolves will be there. We're adding vampires."
Edythe shook her head slightly.
"They are my children too."
"And Thomas is our husband."
That stopped her.
It stopped me too.
Leah reached over and took Edythe's hand.
"You know what you'll do if we don't decide this now."
Edythe said nothing.
"You'll stand there watching the kids, watching Thomas, and trying to decide which direction you're supposed to go if everything falls apart."
Her expression tightened.
Leah squeezed her hand.
"I'm removing the choice."
Her eyes moved toward me.
"I have the children."
Then back to Edythe.
"You have him."
For several seconds, Edythe did not answer.
Her fingers closed more tightly around Leah's.
Finally, she nodded.
"I have him."
I was not entirely certain how I felt about being assigned like a defensive position on Jasper's map.
But I understood what Leah was doing.
More importantly, so did Edythe.
"I'll stand with the children as well," Siobhan said.
Liam looked at her.
"We will."
Maggie nodded. "Obviously."
That gave us the Irish coven.
People the children already knew.
People I trusted.
"I'll join them," Tia said.
Benjamin turned toward her.
Their eyes met.
No argument.
No attempt to stop her.
He simply nodded.
Benjamin was too useful on the main line.
Tia would add another experienced fighter to the rear defense.
Jennifer raised a hand slightly.
"My sisters and I will already be moving back with them."
Serena nodded.
"So we stay."
Maysun agreed.
That improved things considerably.
Joham's daughters were not simply proof.
They were adult hybrids.
Strong.
Fast.
And if anyone tried to reach the younger children, I doubted any of the three would need instructions about what to do.
Esme stepped forward.
"I should be with them too."
Carlisle looked at her.
She met his eyes.
And hesitated.
I understood immediately.
Esme wanted to protect her grandchildren.
She also wanted to stand beside Carlisle when he faced Aro.
Carlisle took her hand.
"I would rather have you with me."
"I want to be."
Her eyes moved toward the rear marker.
"But—"
"You stay with Carlisle," I said.
They both looked at me.
"Until the signal."
Carlisle frowned slightly.
"I intend to continue speaking with Aro even if the discussion becomes difficult."
"Difficult is fine."
I tapped Edward's marker.
"The signal does not mean Aro irritated us. It means Edward or Alice believes he has already decided not to leave peacefully."
Carlisle considered that.
"You get your chance to talk him down," I continued. "All of it. I'm not taking that from you."
His expression softened slightly.
"But if Edward tells us Aro is only looking for another excuse, you've already gotten your answer."
I looked toward Esme.
"At that point, both of you fall back to the children."
Carlisle started to respond.
I shook my head.
"You've spent your entire life proving vampires can be better than what the Volturi say we are. You deserve to stand there and make that argument."
Then I looked at Esme.
"But I'm not letting you stay in the middle of a battle because you think you might have one more sentence that changes Aro's mind. And I'm not making Esme choose between standing beside you and protecting her grandchildren."
Esme's fingers tightened around Carlisle's.
Carlisle looked at her.
She smiled softly.
"I can live with that."
He closed his eyes briefly.
When they opened, he nodded.
"If diplomacy has truly failed, we fall back."
"Good."
The rear defense was taking shape.
Leah.
Jacob.
The younger wolves.
Siobhan.
Liam.
Maggie.
Tia.
Serena.
Maysun.
Jennifer.
Carlisle and Esme once the signal came.
And whatever additional wolves Sam could spare once the pack shifted.
The children would begin near the front because they had to.
But before anyone attacked, they would be behind a second defensive line.
Bella stared at the markers.
"I need my shield over both positions."
Jasper nodded.
"Can you cover the main group and the rise simultaneously?"
"Yes."
No hesitation.
Kate looked at her.
"While people are moving between them?"
Bella paused.
"Probably."
Jasper shook his head.
"Probably gets people killed."
Bella's jaw tightened.
"Then I'll make it definitely."
"That," Jasper said, "is what the next few days are for."
The next few days were spent making sure everyone understood the plan.
We practiced the signal, the children's movement from the forward position to the rise, and Bella maintaining her shield over both groups during the transition. Jasper repeated it until everyone assigned to the children knew to move immediately without stopping to watch me.
Benjamin concentrated on keeping his gift precise and localized. Alice's warning had affected him more than any restriction I could have given. He knew what could happen if he reached too far, and he had no intention of being responsible for our own people getting caught in one of his attacks.
Amun remained unhappy with Benjamin participating at all.
Benjamin remained unmoved.
Beyond that, there was little left to do.
We trained.
We checked the field.
We prepared supplies and worked out where everyone would stay once we relocated.
And we watched Alice.
We did not move yet.
Moving too early gave the Volturi more time to alter their route.
Moving too late surrendered the ground we had chosen.
So we waited for Alice to see them commit.
Two days later, she froze in the middle of the living room.
Everyone noticed.
Conversation died almost immediately.
Jasper was beside her before the vision ended.
Alice returned with a sharp breath.
Carlisle stepped closer.
"What did you see?"
"The clearing."
I stood.
Alice looked directly at me.
"They're coming there."
"When?"
"Not tomorrow."
That released a breath I had not realized I was holding.
"The earliest possibility I can see is two days from now."
"And the most likely?"
"Three."
Jasper looked toward me.
We had already agreed on what happened next.
I nodded.
"We move tomorrow morning."
Carlisle looked around the crowded room.
"All of us?"
"Everyone who will be standing on that field."
Alice nodded.
"Once we establish ourselves there, their approach should become more stable."
No one spoke for several seconds.
The house suddenly felt different.
For weeks, everything we had done had been preparation for something distant.
Training could be repeated tomorrow.
Plans could be changed.
Positions could be reconsidered.
There had always been another day.
Now there was a field waiting for us.
Tomorrow we would take the children there.
Our witnesses would follow.
The wolves would begin settling into the forest around us.
Everyone who had crossed countries and oceans to stand beside Carlisle would move onto ground Alice had now seen the Volturi approaching.
I looked toward the stairs.
Leah stood there with Edythe beside her.
Harry and Nancy were somewhere above them.
Renesmee too.
Two days at the earliest.
Three was more likely.
Not much time.
Enough to settle onto the field.
Enough to make the Volturi come to us.
Enough to look at my family and understand exactly what failure would cost.
Tomorrow we would take our positions.
After that, there would be no more maps.
No more choosing better ground.
No more pretending the Volturi were still somewhere far away.
We had chosen where we would meet them.
Now we had to be ready when they arrived.