"It looks like they already are," Edward snapped.
"She was never in any danger. There was nothing to see."
"If you're watching Italy, why didn't you see them send-"
"I don't think it's them," Alice insisted. "I would have seen that."
"Who else would leave Charlie alive?"
I shuddered.
"I don't know," Alice said.
"Helpful."
"Stop it, Edward," I whispered.
He turned on me, his face still livid, his teeth clenched together. He glared at me for half a second, and then, suddenly, he exhaled. His eyes widened and his jaw relaxed.
"You're right, Bella. I'm sorry." He looked at Alice. "Forgive me, Alice. I shouldn't be taking this out on you. That was inexcusable."
"I understand," Alice assured him. "I'm not happy about it, either."
Edward took a deep breath. "Okay, let's look at this logically. What are the possibilities?"
Everyone seemed to thaw out at once. Alice relaxed and leaned against the back of the couch. Carlisle walked slowly toward her, his eyes far away. Esme sat on the sofa in front of Alice, curling her legs up on the seat. Only Rosalie remained unmoving, her back to us, staring out the glass wall.
Edward pulled me to the sofa and I sat next to Esme, who shifted to put her arm around me. He held one of my hands tightly in both of his.
"Victoria?" Carlisle asked.
Edward shook his head. "No. I didn't know the scent. He might have been from the Volturi, someone I've never met . . ."
Alice shook her head. "Aro hasn't asked anyone to look for her yet. I will see that. I'm waiting for it."
Edward's head snapped up. "You're watching for an official command."
"You think someone's acting on their own? Why?"
"Caius's idea," Edward suggested, his face tightening again.
"Or Jane's . . . ," Alice said. "They both have the resources to send an unfamiliar face . . ."
Edward scowled. "And the motivation."
"It doesn't make sense, though," Esme said. "If whoever it was meant to wait for Bella, Alice would have seen that. He-or she-had no intention of hurting Bella. Or Charlie, for that matter."
I cringed at my father's name.
"It's going to be fine, Bella," Esme murmured, smoothing my hair.
"But what was the point then?" Carlisle mused.
"Checking to see if I'm still human?" I guessed.
"Possible," Carlisle said.
Rosalie breathed out a sigh, loud enough for me to hear. She'd unfrozen, and her face was turned expectantly toward the kitchen. Edward, on the other hand, looked discouraged.
Emmett burst through the kitchen door, Jasper right behind him.
"Long gone, hours ago," Emmett announced, disappointed. "The trail went East, then South, and disappeared on a side road. Had a car waiting."
"That's bad luck," Edward muttered. "If he'd gone west . . . well, it would be nice for those dogs to make themselves useful."
I winced, and Esme rubbed my shoulder.
Jasper looked at Carlisle. "Neither of us recognized him. But here." He held out something green and crumpled. Carlisle took it from him and held it to his face. I saw, as it exchanged hands, that it was a broken fern frond. "Maybe you know the scent."
"No," Carlisle said. "Not familiar. No one I've ever met."
"Perhaps we're looking at this the wrong way. Maybe it's a coincidence . . . ," Esme began, but stopped when she saw everyone else's incredulous expressions. "I don't mean a coincidence that a stranger happened to pick Bella's house to visit at random. I meant that maybe someone was just curious. Our scent is all around her. Was he wondering what draws us there?"
"Why wouldn't he just come here then? If he was curious?" Emmett demanded.
"You would," Esme said with a sudden, fond smile. "The rest of us aren't always so direct. Our family is very large-he or she might be frightened. But Charlie wasn't harmed. This doesn't have to be an enemy."
Just curious. Like James and Victoria had been curious, in the beginning? The thought of Victoria made me tremble, though the one thing they seemed certain of was that it had not been her. Not this time. She would stick to her obsessed pattern. This was just someone else, a stranger.
I was slowly realizing that vampires were much bigger participants in this world than I'd once thought. How many times did the average human cross paths with them, completely unaware? How many deaths, obliviously reported as crimes and accidents, were really due to their thirst? How crowded would this new world be when I finally joined it?
The shrouded future sent a shiver down my spine.